Ryan may refer to:

Places[link]

Australia

• Division of Ryan, an electoral district in the Australian House of Representatives, in Queensland
• Ryan, New South Wales

United States

• Ryan, California
• Ryan, former name of Lila C, California
• Ryan, Iowa
• Ryan, Minnesota
• Ryan, Oklahoma
• Ryan Park, Wyoming
• Ryan Township, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania

Film, radio, television and web[link]

• Ryan (film), an animated documentary
• Ryan (TV series), 1970s Australian TV series
• Von Ryan's Express, a 1965 World War II adventure film

Other uses[link]

• RYAN, Russian acronym for Raketno-YAdernoe Napadenie ("Nuclear Missile Attack") intelligence operation
• Ryan Aeronautical Company (Claude Ryan)
• Ryanair (Tony Ryan)
• Ryan International Airlines (Ron Ryan)
• Ryan International School
• Ryan-Pitman Theory (Black Sea deluge theory)
• Panama Refining Co. v. Ryan
• Ryansdóttir, Icelandic patrynomic for daughter of Ryan

People and fictional characters[link]

• Ryan (surname), a surname (includes a list)
• Ryan (given name), a given name (includes a list)

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (August 2010)

Ryan Sheckler

Sheckler in 2008
Personal information
Full name	Ryan Allan Sheckler
Born	(1989-12-30) December 30, 1989 (age 22) San Clemente, California, U.S.
Height	5 feet 9 inches (1.75 m)
Weight	150 pounds (68 kg)
Sport
Country	United States
Sport	Skateboarding
Medal record Summer X Games medal record Competitor for  United States Gold 2003 Los Angeles Park Gold 2008 Los Angeles Street Gold 2010 Los Angeles Street Silver 2006 Los Angeles Street Bronze 2011 Los Angeles Street

Ryan Allen Sheckler (born December 30, 1989) is an American professional skateboarder and was the star of the MTV reality show, Life of Ryan.^[1][2]

His sponsors are Plan B Skateboards, Red Bull, Independent Trucks, Etnies, Volcom, Grizzly Griptape, Oakley, CCS, and FKD Bearings. His past sponsors are Almost Skateboards, Bones, Vans, and Silver Trucks.

Contest history[link]

Sheckler has been competing in street skating and park contests since 2002.^[3]

2003

• Gravity Games, first place (street discipline)
• Slam City Jam, first place (street discipline)
• X Games; first place (park discipline)
• United States Skateboarding Championships, third place (street discipline)
• Vans Triple Crown, overall first place (street discipline)
• World Cup of Skateboarding, overall first place (street discipline)

2004

• Gravity Games, third place (street discipline)
• United States Skateboarding Championships, first place (street discipline)
• Vans Triple Crown, Vancouver event; third place (street discipline)
• Vans Triple Crown, Cleveland event; third place (street discipline)
• World Cup of Skateboarding, overall second place (street discipline)

2005

• AST Dew Tour, Louisville event; first place (park discipline)
• AST Dew Tour, Denver event; first place (park discipline)
• AST Dew Tour, Portland event; second place (park discipline)
• AST Dew Tour, San Jose event; first place (park discipline)
• AST Dew Tour, Orlando event; third place (park discipline)
• AST Dew Tour; overall first place (park discipline)
• Globe World Cup, Melbourne event; second place (street discipline)
• World Championship of Skateboarding, third place (street discipline)

2006

• Tampa Pro, Florida event, fifth place (street), biggest slam
• AST Dew Tour, Louisville event; first place (park discipline)
• AST Dew Tour, Denver event; fourth place (park discipline)
• AST Dew Tour, Portland event; first place (park discipline)
• AST Dew Tour, San Jose, California event; first place (park discipline)
• AST Dew Tour, Orlando event; second place; second place (park discipline)
• AST Dew Tour; overall first place (park discipline)
• X Games, Los Angeles event; second place (park discipline)
• Globe World Cup, Melbourne event; first place (street discipline)

2008

• Thrasher Magazine's Bust or Bail Competition
• X Games; 1st place (street discipline)

2010

• Tampa Pro sixth place street
• X Games; 1st place (street discipline)

2011

• X Games; 3rd Place (Street Discipline)

Recent activities[link]

Ryan Sheckler is sponsored by Red Bull, Etnies Shoes, Plan B Skateboards, Oakley, Nixon, Go Pro, Independent Trucks, Kicker Car Audio, Power Balance, Grizzy Griptape, CCS, Ethika, and Panasonic. Sheckler is currently on tour making a few appearances nationwide for Journey's Backyard Barbecue (2009). In May 2009, Sheckler launched his new clothing line, RS, that is sold at J.C. Penney stores nationwide. In 2008, the Sheckler Foundation^[4] was created to help the less fortunate, and also to donate to injured and recovering athletes.

Film and television career[link]

Sheckler has appeared in the movies Grind, Dishdogz, Street Dreams, and MVP 2: Most Vertical Primate. He also starred in his own MTV reality show "Life of Ryan", from 2007-2009.^[5]

Filmography[link]

Video games[link]

Sheckler is a playable character in Tony Hawk's Underground 2, Tony Hawk's American Wasteland, Tony Hawk's Project 8, Tony Hawk's Proving Ground, and Tony Hawk: Ride.^{[citation needed]}

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ryan Sheckler

• Official website
• Red Bull USA Profile
• Dew Tour Profile
• Ryan Sheckler at EXPN Online
• Ryan Sheckler at the Internet Movie Database
• Official Life of Ryan website

Ryan Leslie
Ryan Leslie on set of the "Good Girl" video in Las Vegas - December 2011
Background information
Birth name	Anthony Ryan Leslie
Born	(1978-09-25) September 25, 1978 (age 33) Washington, D.C.
Genres	R&B, Neo Soul, hip hop
Occupations	Music producer, singer-songwriter, musical arranger, rapper
Instruments	Guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, drums, vocals, trumpet
Years active	2000-present
Labels	NextSelection Lifestyle Group, Casablanca Records, Universal Republic
Associated acts	Cassie, Fabolous, Keri Hilson, Jadakiss, Booba, Jim Jones, LL Cool J, Lloyd Banks, Kanye West
Website	http://www.ryanleslie.com/

Anthony Ryan Leslie, known professionally as Ryan Leslie, (born September 25, 1978) is an American record producer, multi-instrumentalist, rapper, entrepreneur, and singer. Founder of the media company NextSelection Lifestyle Group, Leslie has produced singles for a number of artists in a variety of genres ranging from R&B/Hip-Hop to Pop to Gospel. From 2005–2006, he had his most commercial success to date with NextSelection/Bad Boy/Atlantic recording artist Cassie and her single "Me & U". Leslie's debut album, Ryan Leslie (2009), features the songs "Diamond Girl," "Addiction," and "How It Was Supposed To Be." He was nominated for a Grammy in 2011.^[1]

Biography[link]

Ryan Leslie was born into a multicultural family. Leslie is the oldest son of mother (Evangeline) Mooi Leslie who is of Caribbean Dutch, Chinese, and African descent, and father Clement Leslie who is from Barbados and of Irish ancestry, raised in Trinidad.^{[citation needed]} His parents are Salvation Army officers who frequently relocate for work. Ryan has lived in various states, cities, and countries. At an early age, Leslie taught himself how to play the piano under the guidance of Marc Styles. He developed the ability to recite music, as well as arrange chords to create songs.^[2] At the age of 14, Leslie scored a 1600 on his SATs—a perfect score—while attending Bear Creek High School, in Stockton, CA.^[3] In 1993, he applied to four University of California campuses as well as Stanford, Yale and Harvard. In his application essays he explained his interest in matriculating from his junior year in high school without having earned a diploma. He was accepted to all except for Stanford. He ultimately decided to attend Harvard College.^[2] At the age of 19, Leslie graduated from Harvard with a degree in Government, concentrating in Political Science and Macroeconomics.^[4] During his commencement ceremonies, Ryan delivered the prestigious Harvard Oration.^[5]

Music[link]

During his freshman year at Harvard, Leslie devoted many hours per week to creating and developing music in a studio basement on campus. He taught himself basic production skills and also developed a musical style of his own. As the semesters progressed, Leslie spent more and more time in the school's studio molding his craft.^[2] He also performed many events around campus and was a part of the school's all male a cappella group The Krokodiloes.^[3] Due to the conflict with music and school, Leslie was put on academic probation three times during his college career.^[2] He has said in many interviews that during those college years, he became accustomed to getting 2 to 3 hours of sleep per night.^[2] To earn disposable income during these years, Leslie sold instrumentals to local artists in the Boston area.^{[citation needed]}

After graduating college, Leslie urged his parents to allow him to go in to the music industry. They told him that he could have a better future considering he graduated from college at the age of 19. Leslie insisted that he was going to pursue his musical interests for two years and if he didn't like it he would stop. Leslie remained in Boston because of its music scene. He took on community service jobs to help support himself and would spend nights in the recording studio working on his music.^[6] Eventually, Leslie moved back home with his parents in Phoenix where he convinced them to take out a loan for a production studio so that he could pursue music full-time. He vowed to his family that he would pay back the $15,000 loan one day, even if it meant going back to school and getting a more traditional job. For the next several months, Leslie worked towards developing a distinct sound. During this period, Leslie has said that he ate and slept very little.^{[citation needed]} In the summer of 2003, Ryan landed a production internship with producer Younglord. He has said in interviews that he considers this 30-day internship the jump-start of his career in the music industry. Within the first week, Leslie produced the song “Keep Giving Your Love To Me” that would later be performed by Beyoncé for the Bad Boys II soundtrack. ^[7] The soundtrack was supervised by Sean “Diddy” Combs, who was impressed by Leslie’s production style and offered him a management contract upon meeting him.^[8]

Under the management of Combs, Leslie worked on various Bad Boy Records projects including releases from Loon, Cheri Dennis, B5, New Edition and Danity Kane. During that time, Leslie also co-produced a record for Britney Spears. Also in 2003, Leslie was introduced by his then attorney Ed Woods to Tommy Mottola. Mottola soon became a mentor of Leslie’s and offered him a publishing deal with Aspen Songs and a recording contract with Casablanca, Mottola's imprint distributed by Universal Music Group. Under the mentorship of Mottola and Combs, Leslie signed then-aspiring model Cassie Ventura to his imprint, NextSelection in 2005.^[8]

In late 2003, Leslie began recording his debut album entitled Just Right, and released two singles: "The Way That U Move Girl" and "Used 2 Be" (with Fabolous). The album was never officially released due to creative differences between Leslie and his record label.^[9]

Debut album, Transitions, & Leaving Label[link]

Ryan Leslie returned to the studio in 2006 to record a new debut album. The lead single, "Diamond Girl", was released in December 2007.^[10] The video for "Diamond Girl" was premiered on BET’s 106 & Park, and released on Leslie’s YouTube channel with a special behind the scenes clip. In November 2007, he released a video for a song named "I-R-I-N-A" that was produced in-house and released through his YouTube channel as well.

His second single, "Addiction," features pop singer and protege Cassie with a rap cameo from long-time collaborator, rapper Fabolous. The song was officially released in August 2008.^[10] Of the two music videos made for the song, the "Making of 'Addiction'" clip became Leslie's most popular video on YouTube, with more than 3.2 million views.

His third single, "How It Was Supposed To Be," also has two music videos: a rock version and a military take on the song, which was Leslie's directorial debut and was co-directed by model Tyson Beckford.^[11] The single was released March 23, 2009. After many setbacks, his self-titled album, Ryan Leslie, was finally released on February 10, 2009. Leslie wrote, arranged, produced, and performed every song on his album. Notable instrumentalists on his debut set include Tommy Mottola, Tom "T-Bone" Wolk, and Brent Paschke.

Ryan Leslie enamored old and new fans alike (June 23) during the first of two back-to-back performances at New York City's Bowery Ballroom. The R&B singer/rapper/songwriter/producer/multi-instrumentalist(who parted ways with former label Universal Motown mid 2010) celebrated his new-found independence with performances of former hits like "Addicted" and "How It Was Supposed to Be," as well as two new tracks: "Glory" and "Maybachs and Diamonds."

"Never had a top ten, but they still respect my art," Ryan Leslie sang during "Glory," which is slated to be included on his third release, "Les Is More" -- his first independent album following 2009's self-titled debut and "Transition." "Maybachs and Diamonds" is a slow, groovy tune about flourishing his partner with more than just material things, like "Maybachs and Diamonds."

Initially, Leslie had a four-album deal with Universal, but toward the end of that contract, "Universal was interested in reshaping my deal to more of a 360, and they actually made a counter-offer from the initial recording fund," Leslie tells Billboard.com. "At that point I saw that as a window to potentially branch off and try something that was going to be new and dynamic."

While Leslie did not make any formal announcements about his departure from Universal Motown during the set, he took some subtle jabs at his previous label home. "I've always wanted to play these songs but I couldn't before," he said while singing "Guardian Angel." "I always felt like this song should be a single.

Les Is More[link]

Ryan Leslie announced on Twitter and Facebook in January 2011, that his third album would be released July 4th, 2011. His first official single from the album released was 'Glory', despite the first singles performed being 'Beautiful Lie' and 'Breathe'. However Leslie would later announce on his website and Twitter account that the album has now been pushed back for a release 'This Fall'. On October 11th, he sent an e-mail to his fanbase saying "I promise 'Les Is More' is just a few weeks away.".

Les is More is now a visual album. So far "Glory", "Beautiful Lie", "Good Girl" and "5 Minute Freshen Up" are out on his website. The latter was released on March 20, 2012. "Dress You To Undress You" and "Swiss Francs" are still scheduled for release. Other Tracks Mentioned to be on the album by Leslie via his official Twitter are "Ready or Not" and " Live Good (Rivera Flow) Feat. Raekwon". Leslie has preformed the tracks "Breathe (Feat. Mr Hudson) and "One Lonely Heart" live and said they would be included on Les is More. "Joan Of Arc" was released in Mid-2011 and Leslie stated at that time that it would be included on Les is More.

Ryan Leslie has announced a date for his album "Les Is More" via Twitter. The artist's third album is set to be released on June 5.

Online presence[link]

Leslie’s blog, YouTube channel, MySpace page and most recently Twitter have been the biggest contributors to his growing fanbase.^[12] His videos have become some of the most popular on YouTube, bringing accolades such as "Top 10 Most Subscribed Users".^[2] Leslie also posts videos documenting his interaction with his audience, including giving away free iPods,^[13] backstage passes to his concerts,^[14] and invitations to have dinner with him.^[15] His energy and creative spontaneity have earned him the respect from those inside and outside of the music industry. On his website/video diary, there is a clip featuring artists such as Boyz II Men, Chrisette Michelle, Musiq Soulchild, Keri Hilson, Christina Milian, and David Banner praising him for the inspiration they have received from his videos.

Prior to his 2009 MySpace Release concert, Leslie encouraged aspiring musical artists to utilize digital media while marketing themselves.^[16]

NextSelection Lifestyle Group[link]

While working as a producer, Leslie went on to create NextSelection Lifestyle Group, his music-media company he founded with online marketing partner Rasheed Richmond.^[17][18] Ryan signed his first artist, Cassie in 2005. Under Ryan’s guidance, Cassie went on to become one of the fastest rising R&B acts that year. Her breakout smash "Me & U" (written and produced by Leslie) spent 20 weeks on the Top 40 and went on to reach number three on the Billboard Hot 100, selling over a million digital units. Me & U also went on to become one of the biggest records in the history of Atlantic Records.^[19]

Recently, Ryan signed Krys Ivory as his newest act under NextSelection.^[20] He also signed YouTube star Mia Rose.^[6]

Musical influences[link]

Leslie has stated in many interviews that Stevie Wonder is one of the biggest influences on his music. He attributes Michael Jackson, Prince, Jimi Hendrix, James Brown, VBak, Quincy Jones, The Beatles, Sconch & McGubbs, Tom Waits and D'Angelo as musical heroes as well.^{[citation needed]}

Celebrity[link]

Leslie was named one of "New York's 50 Hottest Bachelors" in 2009 by PageSix Magazine, published by the New York Post.^[21] He is currently romantically linked to Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue Model Kenza Fourati.^[22]

Discography[link]

Studio Album[link]

• 2005: Just Right (Unreleased)
• 2007: Used To Be (Mixtape)
• 2009: Ryan Leslie
• 2009: Transition
• 2012: Les Is More

Awards/Nominations[link]

• BET Awards
  • 2009, Best Male R&B Artist [Nominated]
  • 2009, Best New Artist [Nominated]

• Grammy Awards
  • 2011, Best Contemporary R&B Album: Transition (Nominated)

• Soul Train Awards
  • 2009, Best New Artist [Nominated]

• Academic Awards
  • 2010, AMBLE Vanguard Award from Harvard University^[23]

References[link]

This article may contain inappropriate or misinterpreted citations that do not verify the text. Please help improve this article by checking for inaccuracies. (help, talk, get involved!) (October 2010)

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ryan Leslie

• Official website
• Ryan Leslie Discography & Production
• French Interview for SoulRnB.com
• Ryan Leslie on Soulrnb.com French Artist Page

Ryan Tedder
Tedder in Austria, 2010
Background information
Birth name	Ryan Benjamin Tedder
Also known as	Alias Ryan "Alias" Tedder
Born	(1979-06-26) June 26, 1979 (age 33) Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States
Genres	Pop rock, R&B, alternative rock, teen pop, cello rock
Occupations	Singer, musician, songwriter, record producer, multi-instrumentalist
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, piano, organ, bass, drums, synthesizers, clarinet, glockenspiel, vibraphone
Years active	1999 – present
Labels	Columbia Records Interscope Records (2007–present)
Associated acts	OneRepublic, Far East Movement, Adele, Gym Class Heroes
Website	myspace.com/aliastheproducer

Ryan Benjamin Tedder (born June 26, 1979) is a Grammy Award winning singer-songwriter and record producer.^[1][2] He is best known as the frontman of the pop rock band, OneRepublic, though he has an independent career as songwriter and producer for various artists such as Adele, Jennifer Lopez, Beyoncé, B.o.B., Kelly Clarkson, Far East Movement, Adam Lambert, Jordin Sparks, Leona Lewis, Gavin DeGraw, Demi Lovato, Sebastian Ingrosso, Maroon 5, and Paul Oakenfold.^[3]

Early life and education[link]

Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Tedder was raised by an extended family of missionaries and pastors and grew up in the church.^[4][5] He began learning to play the piano at the age of three via the Suzuki method.^[4] His early interest in music was prompted by his musician father and school-teacher mother, who coaxed their young son into practicing piano in exchange for candy corn.^[4] Tedder started singing at the age of seven.^[2] A self-taught vocalist, Tedder began honing this skill at the age of twelve by imitating his favorite artists, who ranged from The Beatles to acts as diverse as Peter Gabriel, Stevie Wonder and Sting. He has commented, "I sang for two hours a day every day of my life until I was eighteen."^[4] He continued to perform musically during his adolescence through church, school, and personally formed groups.^[2]

In his senior year, he moved to Colorado Springs, Colorado.^[6] There he met and became friends with future OneRepublic band-mate Zach Filkins on their soccer team at the Colorado Springs Christian School. He attended Oral Roberts University in Oklahoma and began to showcase his own material there. Tedder completed his college education and graduated from ORU in 2001 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Public Relations and Advertising.^[7]

Career[link]

Early musical career[link]

For years Tedder worked as a waiter, and also as a shop assistant at Pottery Barn, before securing an internship at DreamWorks SKG in Nashville, singing on demos to break into the music scene. He produced demos for songwriters and labels, charging $300 to $400 a track.^[4] Tedder claims that DreamWorks offered him his first publishing deal shortly after his arrival; however, he was intent on pursuing a career as an artist and his first venture in that arena came via a different route all together.

At the age of twenty-one, Tedder competed in a singer-songwriter competition and was selected by 'N Sync singer Lance Bass as one of five finalists to perform on a one-hour special on MTV, performing original material in front of millions of viewers.^[8] The prize for the winner was a music contract with Bass's now-defunct management company, Free Lance Entertainment.^[8] The contestants performed live and were then rated by judges and the audience; the highest scoring artist winning the contract. Tedder's performance of one of his songs, "The Look", received the most votes from the judges and fans, and he won the competition; however, a contract with a recording label was not finalized and no album was released.^[8] Tedder later revealed the record and publishing deal he was offered "wasn't real. It was just a bunch of hype that didn't turn into anything."^[9]

Producing and writing[link]

One year after winning the MTV competition, Tedder caught the attention of the hip hop producer Timbaland.^[10] Tedder commented that he was with Timbaland from 2002-2004 to develop as an artist while producing for other artists at the time.^[9] Tedder's work crossed many musical genres (ranging from hip hop, R&B, rock, pop to dance/techno) and he has had many chart successes both in America and the United Kingdom with a number of artists. In June 2007, Tedder signed a worldwide publishing administration deal with Kobalt Music Publishing. The deal included Tedder's new works and all songs not performed by OneRepublic.

Tedder performing on stage, 2009

Tedder is the writer of the worldwide smash hit, "Apologize", performed by his band OneRepublic, which as of 2008 is the best-selling and charting single of the decade.^[11] The song broke the US Top 40 Radio Airplay Record with 10,331 spins in one week. It was the number-one most played song for five months until May 7, 2008 when Leona Lewis's "Bleeding Love" (a song that Tedder co-wrote and produced), broke the record previously set by "Apologize", with 10,665 spins in one week.^[12] "Bleeding Love" was the best-selling single of 2007 in the United Kingdom, topping the UK charts for seven weeks and was the fastest selling CD of 2007 receiving the most radio airplay worldwide prior to its US debut. The song also earned a Best British Single award nomination at the Brit Awards in February 2008 and reached number one in over 35 countries. Tedder and co-writer Jesse McCartney received an ASCAP award for writing the song. Tedder is also credited for writing the treatment for the second music video that was filmed for the US release of "Bleeding Love". It also earned a Record Of The Year nomination at the February 2009 Grammy awards.^[13]

Tedder has written and produced singles with artists such as Jennifer Lopez, Adele, Carrie Underwood, Leona Lewis, Jennifer Hudson, Alexandra Burke, Backstreet Boys, Beyoncé, Monrose, David Cook, Jordin Sparks, AJ McLean, Chris Cornell, Ashley Tisdale, Ludacris, Gavin Degraw, James Blunt, James Morrison, Paula DeAnda, Hilary Duff, Timbaland, Bubba Sparxxx, Dima Bilan, Shayne Ward, Lemar, Esmee Denters, Clay Aiken, t.A.T.u., Menudo, Ashanti, Natasha Bedingfield, Whitney Houston, Westlife, Charice, Varsity Fanclub, Sugababes, Daughtry, Mario, DJ Tiesto and a number of songs with various rock acts in the US and abroad.^[14] He worked with Jennifer Lopez on her 2007 single Do It Well from her album Brave, then worked with Kelly Clarkson on her 2009 album All I Ever Wanted, penning the songs "If I Can't Have You", "Impossible", "Save You", "Tip Of My Tongue" and "Already Gone", which features vocals from Ryan. He also worked with Beyoncé on her album I Am… Sasha Fierce, penning the song "Halo." The similarity between the songs "Already Gone" and "Halo" prompted Clarkson to publicly state that she did not know about "Halo" and that both songs were co-written by Tedder.^[15] Tedder's work with Beyoncé also earned him two Grammy nominations with Record Of The Year for "Halo" and Album Of The Year for I Am...Sasha Fierce at the January 2010 Grammy Awards. Tedder worked extensively on Leona Lewis's second album Echo, writing and producing many songs with her, three of which have made the album, including the first single "Happy", "You Don't Care" which features vocals from Ryan and "Lost Then Found", which features OneRepublic. Tedder co-wrote and produced Jordin Sparks' lead single "Battlefield" from her second album of the same name. Tedder worked on American Idol Season 8 runner up, Adam Lambert's debut album For Your Entertainment.

In late 2009, Tedder launched his own record company, Patriot Records. Recently signed buzz artist My Name Is Kay, will release her debut EP through Interscope in 2012. Nikki Flores' single "City Lights" was released in the fall of 2010 on Universal/Republic Records. Tedder also formed his own publishing company, Patriot Games Publishing, in 2009 in alliance with Kobalt Music Publishing Worldwide. To date he has a stable of top notch writers and producers such as Inflo, cellist/bassist Noel Zancanella, and Brent Kutzle of OneRepublic). The Patriot team of writers and producers with Tedder are credited with "I Was Here" by Beyoncé, "Good Life" by OneRepublic, "I Just Had Sex" by The Lonely Island featuring Akon, "Lost Then Found" by Leona Lewis and OneRepublic, "Just a Guy" by BC Jean, "Count on You" by Big Time Rush featuring Jordin Sparks, and "And Then We Dance," the #1 hit single from Australia's Got Talent winners Justice Crew.

More recently, Ryan is credited with writing and producing hits from some of 2011's most anticipated albums, including Adele's "21," Beyoncé's "4," Colbie Caillat's "All Of You," Gavin Degraw's "Sweeter," among others.

Tedder worked on Demi Lovato's third album Unbroken, released on September 20, 2011. About working with her, Tedder commented, "Demi blew me out of the water vocally! I had no idea how good her voice is. She's one of the best singers I've ever worked with. Literally, that good... I mean, she's a Kelly Clarkson-level vocalist. And Kelly has a set of pipes". In 2011, he composed a new song for Vanness Wu, "Is this All" in Taiwan. He co-wrote David Cook's "The Last Goodbye" from his second album.^[16] He produced a song for K'naan titled "Better".^[17] He co-wrote "Good in Goodbye" for Carrie Underwood's third album Blown Away, released on May 1, 2012. He produced tracks for Maroon 5's new album Overexposed, set to release in June 2012 and has also been working on tracks for Jennifer Lopez's new untitled 2012 album, one of the songs being "Clothes Off".^[18] Tedder co-wrote and co-produced the song "Sattelite" for British band The Wanted which appears on their US album released on April 24, 2012.^[19] He also worked on B.o.B's Strange Clouds, released in May 2012; he produced and co-wrote single "So Good" and is featured on "Never Let You Go".

Tedder was featured in Far East Movement's 2010 hit single "Rocketeer," as well as the current Gym Class Heroes single,"The Fighter". He has also recorded vocal tracks for Sebastian Ingrosso and Alesso's dance music track he also co-wrote, titled "Calling."^[20]

Tedder is currently working with Ellie Goulding, Trey Songz, Jason Derulo, Cody Simpson, Lady Antebellum, Marina and the Diamonds, Dan Black, and Lights on their forthcoming studio albums.^{[citation needed]}

Tedder was also a judge for the 10th annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists' careers.^[21]

OneRepublic[link]

As well as producing, Tedder also sings lead vocals and plays guitar and piano for the band, OneRepublic. The five member band consisting of Tedder, Filkins, Eddie Fisher, Drew Brown, and Brent Kutzle was formed in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 2002 by Tedder and his high school classmate Zach Filkins.^[22] Tedder has since revealed that the band was formed at a "crossroads" in his life: "I was offered two publishing deals within two months of being in Nashville…I could have just written songs and lived a carefree life, but I knew that I had to be an artist. I wanted to form a rock band and create my own sound."^[4] Based in Los Angeles, OneRepublic started out as an unsigned act on the social networking website, MySpace. Since June 2004, they have accumulated over fifty million plays for their music on the site. As of 2009, they are the number-one band on MySpace and have been in the MySpace Music's Top Artists since the summer of 2006.^[23]

The band gained further exposure when their 2007 single, "Apologize", was re-mixed and re-released on Timbaland's compilation album, Timbaland Presents Shock Value. The remix became an international chart hit in the fall of 2007. The song broke records after gaining 10,331 spins in one week. According to SoundScan, "Apologize" is the most legally downloaded song in US digital history with sales of over 4.3 million digital downloads in the US alone.^[24] It is also the second best-selling song of the decade.^[25] OneRepublic's debut album, Dreaming Out Loud, includes both the song's original version and version with Timbaland, and was released on November 20, 2007 on Timbaland's Mosley Music Group imprint via Interscope Records.^[26] The band had previously been signed to Columbia Records, and their album was due to be released in 2006, but this did not occur. Tedder explained, "Crap happened. People got fired. Labels merged and politics abounded".^[27] Subsequently, the band was released from their deal with Columbia, and they were signed by Timbaland in the summer of 2006 becoming the first rock band to be signed to Mosley Music Group.^[27] Tedder has commented on the success of his band's hit single, "Apologize": "The toughest thing to do is write a hit song, but we had a hit song before we had an album… What has happened has been really strange and really great."^[26]

Tedder is a multi-instrumentalist. During OneRepublic's performances, he often switches from singing lead vocals to playing guitar, bass guitar, glockenspiel, tambourine or piano. On rare occasions, he plays drums alongside the band's main percussionist, Eddie Fisher.

The band finished recording their second album, titled "Waking Up" on August 25, 2009, and released their lead single, "All the Right Moves" to radio and iTunes everywhere except Germany and Austria, where "Secrets" was released instead. The album was released on November 17, 2009 in the United States. To date, the second US single, "Secrets" has reached over 2M digital downloads, and third single "Good Life" continues to climb the charts, breaking into the Top 10 on iTunes and radio everywhere.

In January 2012, the band was working on their upcoming album.^[28] Upon an interview from the 2012 Grammys, Ryan announced that they were half way through working on it.

Personal life[link]

Ryan Tedder is married. He openly acknowledged and thanked his wife, Genevieve, in the liner notes of OneRepublic's debut album Dreaming Out Loud. Ryan and Genevieve have a son, Copeland Cruz Tedder, born on August 2, 2010 in Denver, Colorado.^[29] Tedder's cousins, Adam, Ashley and Austin Clark comprise the band Sons of Sylvia and were formerly in The Clark Family Experience. He co-wrote their song "Love Left to Lose".^[30] Despite being a Christian, he does not want to be labeled as a "Christian artist".^[5] He has on one arm a tattoo written in old Japanese which he got while he was in Osaka, meaning "God's will" and literally means "God gives and God takes".^[31][32]

Tedder became involved with Southern Hospitality, a restaurant co-created in 2007 by Justin Timberlake at Second Avenue in Manhattan,^[33] when it opened a second location in Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan.^[34] On August 22, 2011, it was announced that Tedder had become the first franchisee of the Southern Hospitality BBQ brand and that there were plans to bring the concept in ten cities across the United States including Denver, Nashville, Dallas, Austin, Houston, New Orleans, Atlanta, Phoenix, Palo Alto and Washington, D.C..^[35] They will open a restaurant in the St. Elmo Hotel in October 2012.^[33]

Writing and production credits[link]

References[link]

Ryan Giggs

Ryan Giggs in November 2009
Personal information
Full name	Ryan Joseph Giggs[1]
Date of birth	(1973-11-29) 29 November 1973 (age 38)
Place of birth	Cardiff, Wales
Height	1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)[2]
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Manchester United
Number	11
Youth career
1985–1987	Manchester City
1987–1991	Manchester United
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1991–	Manchester United	638	(112)
National team
1989	England U16	1	(1)
1989	Wales U18	3	(0)
1990	Wales U21	2	(0)
1991–2007	Wales	64	(12)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 22:26, 13 May 2012. † Appearances (Goals).

Ryan Joseph Giggs OBE^[3] (born Ryan Joseph Wilson on 29 November 1973) is a Welsh footballer who plays for Manchester United. Giggs made his first appearance for the club during the 1990–91 season and has been a regular player since the 1991–92 season. He established himself as a left winger during the 1990s, and continuing in this position well into the 2000s, though he has been increasingly used in a deeper playmaking role in his latter years. Giggs is known for his tireless running, ball possession and ability to create goalscoring opportunities for those around him.^[4]

Giggs is the most decorated player in English football history.^[5] He also holds the club record for competitive appearances.^[6] During his time at United, he has won 12 Premier League winner's medals, four FA Cup winner's medals, three League Cup winner's medals and two Champions League winner's medals. He has two runner-up medals from the Champions League, three FA Cup finals and two League Cup finals, as well as being part of the team five times when it finished second in the Premier League. In recent years, Giggs has captained the team on numerous occasions, particularly in the 2007–08 season when regular captain Gary Neville was ruled out with various injuries.

Giggs has a number of personal achievements. He was the first player in history to win two consecutive PFA Young Player of the Year awards (1992 and 1993), though he did not win the PFA Player of the Year award until 2009. He is the only player to have played and scored in every season of the Premier League.^[7][8] He has been elected into the PFA Team of the Century in 2007,^[9] the Premier League Team of the Decade, in 2003, as well as the FA Cup Team of the Century. Giggs holds the record for the most assists in Premier League history, with 271.^[10]

At international level, Giggs played for the Welsh national team prior to his retirement from international football on 2 June 2007, and was once the youngest player to ever represent his country.

In addition to the many honours Giggs has received within football such as being named in the Football League 100 Legends (the last active player in the list), he was appointed an OBE in the Queen's 2007 Birthday Honours List, and was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2005, for his services to English Football. He was named as BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 2009.^[11] On 31 January 2011, Giggs was named Manchester United's greatest ever player by a worldwide poll conducted by United's official magazine and website.^[12] On 10 October 2011, Giggs was honoured with the 2011 Golden Foot Award.

Early years[link]

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (June 2011)

Born as Ryan Joseph Wilson^[13] (he later adopted his mother's maiden name as his professional surname) at St David's Hospital in Canton, Cardiff, to Danny Wilson, at the time a rugby union player for Cardiff RFC who would go on to become a Wales international representative in rugby league, and Lynne Giggs (now Lynne Johnson). As a child Giggs grew up in Ely, a suburb of western Cardiff. His younger brother, Rhodri, manages non-league Salford City.

He spent much time with his mother's parents and playing football on the roads outside their house in Pentrebane. In 1980, when Giggs was six years old, his father switched rugby codes and signed for Swinton RLFC, forcing the whole family to move north to Swinton, a town in Salford, Greater Manchester. The move was a traumatic one, as Giggs was very close to his grandparents in Cardiff, but he would often return there with his family at weekends or on school holidays. Giggs is mixed race – his paternal grandfather is from Sierra Leone – and has spoken of the racism he faced as a child.^[14]

After moving to Salford, Giggs appeared for the local team, Deans FC, who were coached by Manchester City scout Dennis Schofield. Schofield recommended Giggs to Manchester City, and he was signed up to their School of Excellence. Meanwhile, Giggs continued to play for Salford Boys, who went on to reach the final of the Granada Schools Cup competition at Anfield in 1987. Giggs captained the Salford team to victory over their Blackburn counterparts, and the trophy was presented to him by Liverpool chief scout Ron Yeats.

While playing for Deans, Giggs was observed regularly by local newsagent and Old Trafford steward Harold Wood. Wood spoke personally to Alex Ferguson who sent a scout, and Giggs was eventually offered a trial over the 1986 Christmas period. Giggs played in a match for Salford Boys against a United Under-15s side at The Cliff and scored a hat trick, with Ferguson watching from his office window. On 29 November 1987 (his 14th birthday), Ferguson turned up at Giggs's house with United scout Joe Brown and offered him two years on associate schoolboy forms. They offered to waive YTS forms, and persuaded Giggs to sign by offering the opportunity to turn professional in three years. Using the name Ryan Wilson, Giggs captained England at schoolboy level, playing at Wembley Stadium against Germany in 1989.^[15] He changed his surname at the age of 16, when his mother remarried. His parents had separated two years earlier.^[16]

Manchester United first team[link]

1990-1995: Debut and early career[link]

Giggs was offered his first professional contract on 29 November 1990 (his 17th birthday). He accepted the contract and became a professional two days later (1 December 1990).

At this time, United had recently won the FA Cup – their first major trophy since the appointment of Alex Ferguson as manager in November 1986. After two seasons in the league where they had finished mid table, they were finally starting to threaten the dominance of Liverpool and Arsenal, though they only managed to finish sixth that season. Ferguson's quest for a successful left winger had not been an easy one since the departure of Jesper Olsen two years earlier; he had initially signed Ralph Milne, but the player was not a success at United and lasted just one season in the first team before Ferguson secured the Southampton winger Danny Wallace in September 1989. Wallace had failed to shine at Old Trafford, and by the time Giggs turned professional Wallace was contending with 19-year-old Lee Sharpe for the role of first choice left winger.^{[citation needed]}

Giggs made his League debut against Everton at Old Trafford on 2 March 1991, as a substitute for the injured full-back Denis Irwin in a 2–0 defeat. In his first full start, Giggs was credited with his first ever goal in a 1–0 win in the Manchester derby on 4 May 1991, though it appeared to be a Colin Hendry own goal. However, he was not included in the squad of 16 that defeated Barcelona in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final 11 days later. Lee Sharpe, who had won the race to displace Danny Wallace, took to the field as United's left winger, while Wallace was selected as a substitute. Giggs became a first-team regular early in the 1991–92 season, yet remained active with the youth system and captained the team, made up of many of "Fergie's Fledglings", to an FA Youth Cup triumph in 1992.^{[citation needed]}

Giggs broke into the first team even though he was still aged only 17, and paved the way as the first of many Manchester United youth players to rise into the first team under Ferguson. As the youngest member of the United first team squad, Giggs looked to the older players such as Bryan Robson for advice. Robson recommended that Giggs sign up with Harry Swales, the agent that he himself had inherited from Kevin Keegan.^[17]

That season, Giggs played in the team that finished as runners-up to Leeds United in the final year of the old First Division before the advent of the Premier League. United had led the table for much of the season before a run of dismal results in April saw them overtaken by the West Yorkshire side. Giggs collected his first piece of silverware on 12 April 1992 as United defeated Nottingham Forest in the League Cup Final, after Giggs had set up Brian McClair to score the only goal of the game. At the end of the season, he was voted PFA Young Player of the Year – the award which had been credited to his colleague Lee Sharpe a year earlier.^{[citation needed]}

By the start of the 1992–93 season, the first season of the newly formed Premier League, Giggs had ousted Sharpe to become United's first-choice left winger. He was recognised one of English football's two best emerging young wingers, alongside Steve McManaman,^[18] who were notable for being a throwback to the Stanley Matthews era of the 1950s' wingers.^[19] Giggs helped United to their first top division title win for 26 years.

Giggs playing for United.

His emergence and the arrival of Eric Cantona heralded the dominance of United in the Premier League. Ferguson was protective of him, refusing to allow Giggs to be interviewed until he turned 20, eventually granting the first interview to the BBC's Des Lynam for Match of the Day in the 1993–94 season. United won the double that season, and Giggs was one of their key players alongside the likes of Eric Cantona, Paul Ince and Mark Hughes. Giggs also played for United in the Football League Cup final, where they lost 3–1 to Aston Villa.

Off the pitch, newspapers claimed Giggs had "single-handedly revolutionised football's image" when he appeared as teenager "with pace to burn, a bramble patch of black hair bouncing around his puppy popstar face, and a dazzling, gluey relationship between his impossibly fleet left foot and a football."^[20] As a result of this, he was afforded many opportunities not normally offered to footballers at his young age, such as hosting his own television show, Ryan Giggs' Soccer Skills, which aired in 1994, and also had a book based on the series. Giggs was part of the Premier League's attempt to market itself globally, and he featured on countless football and lad mag covers, becoming a household name and fuelling the era where footballers started to become celebrity idols on a par with pop stars,^[21] in and around the mid to late 1990s. Despite his aversion to attention, Giggs also became a teenage pin-up and was once described as the "Premiership's First Poster Boy",^[22] and the "boy wonder",.^[23] He was hailed as the first football star to capture the public imagination in a way unseen since the days of George Best;^[24] the irony was that Best and Bobby Charlton used to describe Giggs as their favourite young player, turning up at The Cliff training ground just to watch him. Best once quipped, "One day they might even say that I was another Ryan Giggs."^[24]

At the end of the 1993–94 season, Giggs won a second title in a row, and became the first player in history to win two consecutive PFA Young Player of the Year awards, a feat equalled by Robbie Fowler and Wayne Rooney.^[25]

Giggs proved to be a scorer of great goals, with many of them being shortlisted for various Goal of the Season awards. Widely regarded as among his best were those against Queens Park Rangers in 1993, Tottenham in 1994, Everton in 1995, Coventry in 1996, and his solo-goal against Arsenal in the replay of the 1999 FA Cup semi-final. During extra time, Giggs picked up possession after Patrick Vieira gave the ball away, then ran from the half-way line, dribbled past the whole Arsenal back line, including Tony Adams, Lee Dixon and Martin Keown before launching his left-footed strike just under David Seaman's bar and beyond his reach. He famously whipped off his shirt as he ran to celebrate with his teammates. It also has the distinction of being the last ever goal scored in an FA Cup semi-final replay as, from the following season, the FA Cup semi-finals are decided in a single game, with extra time and a penalty shootout if required.^{[citation needed]}

1995-2000[link]

1994–95 saw Giggs restricted through injury to 29 Premier League games and only 1 goal. Later in the season he recovered his form and fitness, though it was too late to help United to any major trophies. A failure to beat West Ham United on the final day of the season saw them lose the Premier League title to Blackburn Rovers. A week later, Giggs came on as a substitute in the FA Cup final against Everton, but United lost 1–0.

On a more positive side in the 1994–95 season, Giggs did get on the scoresheet twice in the opening Champions League game against IFK Gothenburg (a 4–2 win, although United ultimately failed to progress to the quarter-finals) and also managed a goal in the FA Cup fourth around victory over Wrexham, meaning that he had managed four goals in all competitions that season.

In 1995–96 Giggs returned to full form and played a vital part in United's unique second double, with his goal against Everton at Goodison Park on 9 September 1995 being shortlisted for the "goal of the season" award, though it was eventually beaten by a goal by Manchester City's Georgi Kinkladze. In November that season, Giggs scored two goals in a Premier League match against Southampton, where United won 4–1 to keep up the pressure on a Newcastle United side who actually went 10 points clear on 23 December but were finally overhauled by United in mid March. Giggs was also in the side for United's FA Cup final win over Liverpool on 11 May 1996, though Eric Cantona scored the only goal of the game. By now, Giggs had several new key colleagues in youngsters Gary Neville, Phil Neville, Nicky Butt, David Beckham and Paul Scholes. Beckham took over from Andrei Kanchelskis on the right wing and Butt succeeded Paul Ince in central midfield to complete a new look United midfield along with Giggs and Roy Keane.^{[citation needed]}

The following season, Giggs had his first real chance to shine in Europe. Having played a key role in United winning their third league title in four seasons, he helped them reach the UEFA Champions League semi-finals, the first United side in 28 years to achieve this. However, their hopes of European glory were ended by Borussia Dortmund, who edged them out by winning each leg of the semi-final 1–0. At the end of this season, Juventus' Alessandro Del Piero told Italian media that Giggs was one of his two favourite players, and gave the following memorable quote:"This is embarrassing to say but I have cried twice in my life watching a football player; the first one was Roberto Baggio and the second was Ryan Giggs."^[26]

In 1997–98, United were pipped to the Premier League title by Arsenal, following a dismal run of form in March and early April, leaving them without a trophy for only the second time since 1989. The following season, Giggs missed a lot of games through injury, but when he was fit his form was excellent and he played in both of United's cup finals that season. Memorable moments were his extra-time goal in the FA Cup semi-final against arch-rivals Arsenal giving United a 2–1 win, and his 90th minute equaliser in the home leg of the UEFA Champions League semi-final against Juventus.

The highpoint in the 1998–99 season was when Giggs set up the equalising goal scored by Teddy Sheringham in the 1999 UEFA Champions League Final that set United on their way to the Treble.

Giggs was also the Man of the Match as United beat Palmeiras 1–0 to claim the Intercontinental Cup later that year.^[27]

2000–2005[link]

Ryan Giggs, 2006

Giggs became United's longest serving player when Denis Irwin left in May 2002, and he became a pivotal part of the club, despite still being in his twenties. Giggs continued to excel in the four years that followed the Treble triumph of 1999. United were Premier League champions in three of the four seasons following the treble, as well as reaching the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals three times and the semi-finals once. He celebrated his 10-year anniversary at Old Trafford with a testimonial match against Celtic at the start of the 2001–02 campaign. However, this was one of the most disappointing seasons United had endured since Giggs made his debut for them, as a dismal run of form in early winter ultimately cost them the league title and they were surprisingly knocked out of the Champions League on away goals in the semi finals by German underdogs Bayer Leverkusen. A year later, in the autumn of 2002, he bagged his 100th career goal in a draw with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.^{[citation needed]}

He played in his fourth FA Cup triumph on 22 May 2004, making him one of only two players (the other being Roy Keane) to have won the trophy four times while playing for Manchester United. He has also finished with a runners-up medal three times (1995, 2005 and 2007). His participation in the victory over Liverpool in September 2004 made him the third player to play 600 games for United, alongside Sir Bobby Charlton and Bill Foulkes. He was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2005 in recognition of his contribution to the English game.

2005-present[link]

Giggs signed a two-year contract extension with United when chief executive David Gill relented on his normal policy of not signing players over 30 to contracts longer than one year. Giggs benefited from being largely injury-free aside from a series of hamstring problems.

On 6 May 2007, with Chelsea only able to manage a 1–1 draw with London rivals Arsenal, Manchester United became the champions of England. In doing so, Giggs set a new record of nine league titles, beating the previous record of eight he shared with Alan Hansen and Phil Neal (who won all of their titles with Liverpool). Giggs played a starring role in United's 2007 Charity Shield victory after netting in the first half to bring the game to a 1–1 draw, which led to penalty triumph for the Red Devils after keeper Edwin van der Sar saved all of Chelsea's first three penalties.

In the 2007–08 season, Alex Ferguson adopted a rotation system between Giggs and newcomers Nani and Anderson.

Giggs after the match against Manchester City in February 2008

Giggs scored his 100th league goal for United against Derby County on 8 December 2007, which United won 4–1.^[28] More landmarks have been achieved: on 20 February 2008 he made his 100th appearance in the UEFA Champions League in a game against Lyon^[29] and on 11 May 2008 he came on as a substitute for Park Ji-Sung to equal Sir Bobby Charlton's record of 758 appearances for United.^[30] Giggs scored the second goal in that match, sealing his, and United's, tenth Premier League title. Ten days later, on 21 May 2008, Giggs broke Bobby Charlton's appearance record for United when coming on as an 87th minute substitute for Paul Scholes in the Champions League Final against Chelsea. United won the final, defeating Chelsea 6–5 on penalties after a 1–1 draw after extra time, with Giggs converting the winning penalty in sudden-death.

At the start of Manchester United's 2008–09 campaign, Sir Alex Ferguson began placing Giggs at central midfield, behind the forwards, instead of his favoured wing position. Sir Alex Ferguson said in an interview, "(Giggs) is a very valuable player, he will be 35 this November but at 35, he can be United's key player. At 25, Ryan would shatter defenders with his run down the flank, but at 35, he will play deeper."^[31] Giggs has begun taking his coaching badges and Ferguson has hinted that he would like Giggs to serve as his coaching staff after retirement like Ole Gunnar Solskjær did.^[32]

Following speculation earlier in the year,^[33] in February 2009, Giggs signed a one-year extension to his current contract – which was due to expire in June 2009.^[34] After a successful season, Giggs was short-listed along with four other Manchester United team mates for the PFA Player of the Year.^[35] On 26 April 2009, Giggs received the award, despite having started just twelve games throughout the 08/09 season (at the time of receiving the trophy). This was the first time in his career that Giggs had received the award.^[36] Prior to the awards ceremony, Alex Ferguson had given his backing for Giggs to win the award and stated that it would be fitting, given Giggs' long term contribution to the game.^[37] Giggs made his 800th appearance for Manchester United on 29 April 2009, in the 1–0 semi-final win over Arsenal in the UEFA Champions League.^[38] On 16 May 2009, Manchester United won the Premier League after a 0–0 draw against Arsenal, both United's and Giggs' 11th Premier League titles.

Giggs scored his first Manchester United hat-trick in a pre-season friendly against Hangzhou Greentown after coming on as a second-half substitute.^[39]

Giggs in a match against MLS All-Stars on 29 July 2010

On 12 September 2009, Giggs made his 700th start for United.^[40] Giggs scored his 150th goal for United, only the ninth player to do so for the club, against Wolfsburg in his first Champions League game of the season. On 28 November 2009, the eve of his 36th birthday, Giggs scored his 100th Premier League goal – all for Manchester United – scoring the final goal in a 4–1 victory over Portsmouth at Fratton Park, and becoming only the 17th player to reach the milestone in the Premier League.^[41]

On 30 November 2009, the day after his 36th birthday, it was reported that Giggs would be offered an additional one-year contract which would run until the end of the 2010–11 season and see him past the 20th anniversary of his first game and first goal for United.^[42] On the same day, Giggs was nominated for BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2009, which he subsequently won.^[43] On 12 December 2009, Giggs' surpassed countryman Gary Speed's outfield record of 535 Premier League games. On 18 December 2009, Giggs signed a one-year contract extension with United, keeping him at the club until June 2011, taking him past the 20th anniversary of his first professional contract and that of his first team debut – a rare occurrence of a player reaching the 20-year mark with the same club and with unbroken service.^[44] On 31 December 2009, Giggs was named the Manchester United Player of the Decade.^[45] On 24 April 2010, Giggs scored the first ever league penalties of his career, netting two penalties in a 3–1 home win over Tottenham Hotspur.^[46][47]

On 16 August 2010, Giggs kept up his record of scoring in every Premier League season since its inception as he netted United's third in their 3–0 home victory over Newcastle United in their opening fixture of the new campaign. As he found the net in the final two seasons of the old Football League First Division, he has now scored in 21 successive top division campaigns.^[48] On 17 January 2011, Giggs reached 600 league appearances (all for Manchester United), as he played in their goalless draw against Tottenham at White Hart Lane.^[49] Giggs signed a one-year contract extension with Manchester United on 18 February, keeping him at the club until June 2012.^[50] On 6 March 2011, Giggs surpassed the Manchester United league appearance record of Bobby Charlton by playing his 607th game against Liverpool. On 26 April, against Schalke 04 in the Champions League Semi-Final First Leg, Giggs scored the first goal from a Wayne Rooney pass, also making himself the oldest goalscorer in Champions League history to date.^[51] Giggs also played in the 2011 Champions League final, where Manchester United were defeated 3–1 by Barcelona.^[52]

Giggs made his first start of the 2011–12 season in the UEFA Champions League away at Benfica. He scored United's equalising goal in a 1–1 draw at the Estádio da Luz, in the process breaking his own record for the oldest goalscorer in Champions League history. He also became the first man ever to score in 16 different Champions League campaigns, moving clear of Raúl who was tied with Giggs on 15 seasons.Raúl though holds the record for scoring in 14 consecutive Champions league seasons. On 19 November, Giggs played in a league game in his home country of Wales for the first time in his distinguished career against Swansea City at the Liberty Stadium in a United 1–0 win. Giggs maintained his record of scoring in each of the past 22 top-flight seasons by scoring United's third goal against Fulham at Craven Cottage in a 5-0 win on 21 December, his first of the season in the league. On 10 February 2012, Giggs signed a one-year contract extension with Manchester United.^[53]

On 26 February 2012, Giggs made his 900th appearance for Manchester United, in a 2-1 away win against Norwich City. He marked the occasion by scoring the winning goal in the 90th minute, scoring from a cross by Ashley Young.^[54] After the match, Alex Ferguson told BBC Sport he believed that a player playing in 900 games for one club "won't be done again".^[55] Ryan Giggs has since played with 140 different players in the first team.^[56]

International career[link]

Giggs captaining Wales in the friendly against Brazil in September 2006

Born in Cardiff to Welsh parents, Giggs represented Wales at international level. As a youngster, Giggs captained England Schoolboys. Contrary to popular belief, he was never eligible for the full England team (eligibility at the schoolboy level depends solely upon the location of the school, in Giggs' case Moorside High School in Salford).^[57] He has stated that he would have chosen to play for Wales anyway.

When Giggs made his international debut in 1991, he broke the record as the youngest debutant for Wales and held it for some seven years when it was broken by Ryan Green in June 1998.^[58] He went on to win 64 caps, and scored twelve goals for the Welsh national team between 1991 and 2007. He was appointed captain of Wales in 2004.

His first senior goal for Wales came on 31 March 1993 in a 3–0 win over Belgium in Cardiff in a World Cup qualifying game, the same game in which Ian Rush scored for Wales for a record 24th time.^[59]

After his international debut in 1991 against Germany, Giggs did not attend a friendly international until some nine years later, after which he missed a further 18 consecutive friendly games. Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson had a policy of refusing to release the player for friendly games.^[60]

In a qualifier against England for the 2006 FIFA World Cup at Old Trafford where Wales lost 2-0, Giggs played against some present and former Manchester United teammates including David Beckham, Gary Neville, and Wayne Rooney.^[61][62][63] During a 2006 World Cup qualifier against Azerbaijan on 12 October 2005, Giggs scored a rare double in a 2–0 win but Wales failed to reach the play-offs.^[64]

In September 2006, he played in a friendly against Brazil at White Hart Lane where Wales lost 2-0. Brazil coach Dunga complimented Gigg's performance by stating he would not look out of place playing for the five-time world champions alongside stars such as Kaká and Ronaldinho.^[65]

Giggs announced his retirement from international football on Wednesday, 30 May 2007, at a press conference held at The Vale of Glamorgan Hotel, drawing the curtain on a 16-year international career.^[32] He cited concentrating on his United career as the main reason for stepping down. His final game for Wales, and as captain, was the Euro 2008 qualifier against the Czech Republic on 2 June at Cardiff. He earned his 64th cap in this game and won the Man of the Match award as Wales drew 0–0.^[66] In November, he was one of three players in the final nomination by the FAW for the Wales Player of the Year award, which was ultimately won by Craig Bellamy.^[67]

In an interview with the Western Mail on 26 March 2010, Giggs hinted that he might be tempted to come out of international retirement for his country's UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying campaign, in order to cover for the injured Aaron Ramsey.^[68] He later clarified his position to BBC Radio Manchester, saying that he would only return to Wales duty in an emergency.^[69]

International goals[link]

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	31 March 1993	Cardiff, Wales	Belgium	2–0	Win	1994 FIFA World Cup Qual.
2	8 September 1993	Cardiff, Wales	Czech Republic	2–2	Draw	1994 FIFA World Cup Qual.
3	7 September 1994	Cardiff, Wales	Albania	2–0	Win	UEFA Euro 1996 Qual.
4	2 June 1996	Serravalle, San Marino	San Marino	5–0	Win	1998 FIFA World Cup Qual.
5	11 November 1997	Brussels, Belgium	Belgium	2–3	Loss	1998 FIFA World Cup Qual.
6	4 September 1999	Minsk, Belarus	Belarus	2–1	Win	UEFA Euro 2000 Qual.
7	29 March 2000	Cardiff, Wales	Finland	1–2	Loss	Friendly
8	29 March 2003	Cardiff, Wales	Azerbaijan	4–0	Win	UEFA Euro 2004 Qual.
9	8 October 2005	Belfast, Northern Ireland	Northern Ireland	3–2	Win	2006 FIFA World Cup Qual.
10	12 October 2005	Cardiff, Wales	Azerbaijan	2–0	Win	2006 FIFA World Cup Qual.
11
12	21 May 2006	Bilbao, Spain	Basque Country	1–0	Win	Non-FIFA representative friendly
13	28 March 2007	Cardiff, Wales	San Marino	3–0	Win	UEFA Euro 2008 Qual.

Discipline[link]

Giggs has never been sent off when playing for Manchester United and only once when playing for Wales, on 5 September 2001 in a World Cup qualifier against Norway;^[70] Giggs received a second yellow card in the 86th minute.^[71] In November 2003, he was found guilty of improper conduct by the FA due to his behaviour during the Battle of Old Trafford game against Arsenal (one of two United and six Arsenal players charged over the incident);^[72] Giggs received a £7,500 fine but avoided suspension.^[73] In the same week, Giggs received a two-match suspension from international football for deliberately elbowing Russian player Vadim Evseev in the face during the first leg of the Euro 2004 play-offs.^[74] The offence was missed by referee Lucílio Batista, but Giggs was later charged using video evidence.^[74]

Career statistics[link]

Club[link]

As of 22:26, 13 May 2012.^[75]

International[link]

^[66][76]

Honours[link]

Club[link]

Manchester United

• Premier League (12): 1992–93, 1993–94, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2002–03, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2010–11
• FA Cup (4): 1993–94, 1995–96, 1998–99, 2003–04
• Football League Cup (4): 1991–92, 2005–06, 2008–09, 2009–10
• FA Community Shield (8): 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2010
• UEFA Champions League (2): 1998–99, 2007–08
• UEFA Super Cup (1): 1991
• Intercontinental Cup (1): 1999
• FIFA Club World Cup (1): 2008

Individual[link]

• PFA Young Player of the Year (2): 1991–92, 1992–93
• PFA Team of the Year (6): 1992–93, 1997–98, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2006–07, 2008–09
• PFA Team of the Century (1): 1997–2007^[77]
• PFA Players' Player of the Year (1): 2008–09
• FWA Tribute Award: 2007
• Bravo Award (1): 1993
• BBC Sports Personality of the Year (1): 2009
• BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year (2): 1996, 2009
• GQ Sportsman of the Year (1): 2010^[78]
• Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year (1): 1997–98
• Jimmy Murphy Young Player of the Year (2): 1990–91, 1991–92
• Premier League 10 Seasons Awards (1992–93 to 2001–02): Overall Team of the Decade
• Premier League 20 Seasons Awards (1992–93 to 2011–12): Most Player Appearances (596)
• UEFA Champions League 10 Seasons Dream Team (1992 to 2002): 2002
• Wales Player of the Year Award (2): 1996, 2006
• Premier League Player of the Month (3): September 1993, August 2006, February 2007
• Goal of the Season (1): 1998–99
• English Football Hall of Fame Inductee: 2005
• Golden Foot: 2011

Orders and special awards[link]

• OBE for services to football: 2007^[3]
• Honorary Master of Arts degree from Salford University for contributions to football and charity work in developing countries: 2008^[79]
• Freedom of the City of Salford: 7 January 2010.^[80] He is the 22nd person to receive the Freedom of the City of Salford.^[80]

Records[link]

Ryan Giggs with the Premier League trophy

• Has won a record 12 top division English league titles as a player, and only Manchester United player to have winner's medals from all 12 Premier League title wins.
• Most Premier League appearances for a player, with 588.^[81]
• Most Premier League assists (accurate records are only available from 2002 onwards).^[82]
• Only player to have played and scored in every Premier League campaign.
• Only player to have scored in sixteen different Champions League tournaments. (Includes eleven consecutive tournaments, 1996–97 to 2006–07; only Raúl has a better record with 14.)
• Most goals by a British player in the Champions League/European Cup proper history, and 14th overall (not including preliminary rounds).^[83]
• Most appearances by a Manchester United player.
• Most starts by a Manchester United player, started in 757 games.
• First player to score 100 Premier League goals for Manchester United.
• Second midfielder to have scored 100 goals in the Premier League for a single club (first being Matt Le Tissier).
• One of four Manchester United players to win two Champions League Medals (others are Paul Scholes, Gary Neville and Wes Brown).
• Oldest (37 years, 289 days) player to score in the Champions League, when he scored against Benfica on 14 September 2011.^[51]
• One of two Manchester United Players to win at least 10 Top division medals (the other one is Paul Scholes.)

Endorsements and public image[link]

Giggs has been featured in adverts for Reebok, Sovil Titus, Citizen Watches, Givenchy, Fuji, Patek Phillipe, Quorn Burgers, ITV Digital and Celcom.^{[citation needed]}

According to an article by BBC Sport: "In the early 1990s, Giggs was David Beckham before Beckham was even holding down a place in the United first team. If you put his face on the cover of a football magazine, it guaranteed you the biggest sales of the year. Why? Men would buy it to read about 'the new Best' and girls bought it because they wanted his face all over their bedroom walls. Giggs had the million-pound boot deal (Reebok), the lucrative sponsorship deals in the Far East (Fuji) and the celebrity girlfriends (Dani Behr, Davinia Taylor) at a time when Beckham was being sent on loan to Preston North End."^[84]

Personal life[link]

Family[link]

Giggs married his longtime partner, Stacey Cooke, in a private ceremony on 7 September 2007.^[85] They have two children, both born in Salford: Liberty Beau (known as Libby, born 2003) and Zachary Joseph (known as Zach, born 2006),^[86][87] and live in Worsley, Salford, Greater Manchester.^[88]

Activism[link]

In August 2006 Giggs became an Ambassador for UNICEF UK, in recognition for his work with Manchester United's 'United for UNICEF' partnership with the children's organisation.^[89] Giggs visited UNICEF projects in Thailand and told the BBC: "As a footballer I can't imagine life without the use of one of my legs... Sadly this is exactly what happens to thousands of children every year when they accidentally step on a landmine."^[90]

Post-playing career[link]

In October 2010, Giggs said he would "probably finish [his] career here [Old Trafford]", and that he could not see himself "dropping down leagues and playing at a lesser level." He said he wanted to go into coaching, calling managing Manchester United or Wales "the two ultimate jobs", and that he was halfway through his UEFA 'A' coaching licence.^[91]

Gagging order[link]

In May 2011, it was reported in non-UK media sources that Giggs was the identity of CTB in CTB v News Group Newspapers,^[92] a footballer who had obtained an anonymised gagging order in relation to an alleged extra-marital affair with model Imogen Thomas. Giggs took legal action against the social networking site Twitter after he was named by a user in a list of identities of individuals who had allegedly taken out so-called "super-injunctions".^[93] A blogger for Forbes magazine remarked that Giggs had "not heard of the Streisand effect", observing that mentions of his name had increased significantly after the case against Twitter had been reported.^[94]

On 22 May 2011, the Sunday Herald, a Scottish newspaper, published a thinly disguised photograph of Giggs on its front page, with the word "CENSORED" covering his eyes.^[95][96] Sunday Herald editor Richard Walker stated that the London High Court ruling had no force in Scotland, unless copies of the paper were sold in England or Wales.^[97]

On 23 May 2011, the gagging order set off a political controversy, with Prime Minister David Cameron commenting that the law should be reviewed to "catch up with how people consume media today".^[98] On the same day, Liberal Democrat MP John Hemming used parliamentary privilege to name Giggs as CTB.^[99]

Notes[link]

1. ^ Includes other competitive competitions, including the FA Community Shield, UEFA Super Cup, Intercontinental Cup, FIFA Club World Cup

References[link]