name	Bologna
official name	Comune di Bologna
nicknames	The Learned, the Red and the Fat
image shield	Bologna-Stemma.png
coordinates type	region:IT-BO_type:city(373170)
coordinates display	title
region
province	(BO)
frazioni	Frabazza, Monte Donato, Paderno, Rigosa
mayor party	PD
mayor	Virginio Merola
area total km2	140.7
population total	382,460
population metro	1,000,000
population as of	31 March 2011
elevation m	54
saint	St. Petronius
day	October 4
postal code	40100
area code	+39051
website
footnotes	}}

Bologna (; Emilian: ''Bulåggna'' pronounced ; ) is the principal city (capital) of the Emilia-Romagna Region in Northern Italy. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history, art, cuisine, music, and culture. It is the seventh largest city in terms of population in Italy and it is the heart of a metropolitan area (officially recognized by the Italian government as a metropolitan city) of about 1,000,000 inhabitants. The urban sprawl of Bologna, including nearby Modena, whose metropolises are adjoining, is continuously expanding.

The city, the first settlements of which date back to at least one millennium before Christ, has always been an important urban center, first under the Etruscans (Velzna/Felsina) and the Celts (''Bona''), then under the Romans (''Bononia''), then again in the Middle Ages, as a free municipality (for one century it was the fifth largest European city based on population). Home to the oldest university in the world, University of Bologna, founded in 1088, Bologna hosts thousands of students who enrich the social and cultural life of the city. Famous for its towers and lengthy porticoes, Bologna has a well-preserved historical centre (one of the largest in Italy) thanks to a careful restoration and conservation policy which began at the end of the 1970s, on the heels of serious damage done by the urban demolition at the end of the 19th century as well as that caused by wars.

An important cultural and artistic center, its importance in terms of landmarks can be attributed to homogenous mixture of monuments and architectural examples (medieval towers, antique buildings, churches, the layout of its historical center) as well as works of art which are the result of a first class architectural and artistic history. Bologna is also an important transportation crossroad for the roads and trains of Northern Italy, where many important mechanical, electronic and nutritional industries have their headquarters. According to the most recent data gathered by the European Regional Economic Growth Index (E-REGI) of 2009, Bologna is the first Italian city and the 47th European city in terms of its economic growth rate.

Bologna is home to prestigious cultural, economic and political institutions as well as one of the most impressive trade fair districts in Europe. In 2000 it was declared European capital of culture and in 2006, a UNESCO “city of music”. The city of Bologna was selected to participate in the Universal Exposition of Shanghai 2010 together with 45 other cities from around the world. Bologna is also one of the wealthiest cities in Italy, often ranking as one of the top cities in terms of quality of life in the country: it was ranked 5th in 2006, and 12th in 2007, out of 103 Italian cities. In 2011 Bologna was ranked 1st out of 107 Italian cities.

History[link]

Etruscan, Celtic and Roman times[link]

The area around Bologna has been inhabited since the 9th century BC, as evidenced by the archeological digs in the 19th century in nearby Villanova. This period, and up to the 6th century, is in fact generally referred to as villanovian, and had various nuclei of people spread out around this area. In the 7-6th centuries BC, Etruria began to have an influence on this area, and the population went from Umbrian to Etruscan. The town was renamed Felsina. In the 4th century BC, the city and the surrounding area were conquered by the Boii, a Celtic tribe from Transalpine Gaul. The tribe settled down and mixed so well with the Etruscans, after a brief period of aggression, that they created a civilization that modern historians call Gaul-Etruscan (one of the best examples is the archeological complex of Monte Bibele, in the Apennines near Bologna). The Gauls dominated the area until 196 BC, when they were sacked by the Romans. After the Battle of Telamon, in which the forces of the Boii and their allies were badly beaten, the tribe reluctantly accepted the influence of the Roman Republic, but with the outbreak of the Punic Wars the Celts once more went on a war path. They first helped Hannibal's army cross the Alps then they supplied him with a consistent force of infantry that proved itself decisive in several battles. With the downfall of the Carthaginians came the end of the Boii as a free people, the Romans destroyed many settlements and villages (Monte Bibele is one of them) and then founded the colonia of Bononia in c.189 BC. The settlers included three thousand Latin families led by the consul Lucius Valerius Flaccus. The Celtic population was ultimately absorbed into the Roman society but the language has survived in some measure in the Bolognese dialect, which linguists say belongs to the Gallo-Italic group of languages and dialects. The building of the Via Aemilia in 187 BC made Bologna an important centre, connected to Arezzo by way of the Via Flaminia minor and to Aquileia through the Via Aemilia Altinate. In 88 BC, the city became a municipium: it had a rectilinear street plan with six cardi and eight decumani (intersecting streets) which are still discernible today. During the Roman era, its population varied between c. 12,000 to c. 30,000. At its peak, it was the second city of Italy, and one of the most important of all the Empire, with various temples and baths, a theatre, and an arena. Pomponius Mela included Bononia among the five opulentissimae ("richest") cities of Italy. Although fire damaged the city during the reign of Claudius, the Roman Emperor Nero rebuilt it in the 1st century AD. After the fall of the Empire, this area fell under the power of Odoacre, Theodore the Great (493-526), Byzantium and finally the Longobards, who used it mostly as a military center. In 774, the city fell to Charlemagne, who gave it to Pope Adrian I.

Middle Ages[link]

After a long decline, Bologna was reborn in the 5th century under bishop Petronius. According to legend, St. Petronius built the church of S. Stefano. After the fall of Rome, Bologna was a frontier stronghold of the Exarchate of Ravenna in the Po plain, and was defended by a line of walls which did not enclose most of the ancient ruined Roman city. In 728, the city was captured by the Lombard king Liutprand, becoming part of the Lombard Kingdom. The Germanic conquerors formed a district called "addizione longobarda" near the complex of S. Stefano. Charlemagne stayed in this district in 786. In the 11th century, Bologna began to aspire to being a free commune, which it was able to do when Matilde of Tuscany died, in 1115, and the following year the city obtained many judicial and economic concessions from Henry V. Bologna the joined the Lombard League against Frederick Barbarossa in 1164 which ended with the Peace of Costanza in 1183; after which, the city began to expand rapidly (this is the period in which its famous towers were built) and it became one of the main commercial trade centers thanks to a system of canals that allowed large ships to come and go. Also, in 1088, the Studio was founded, now the oldest university in Europe, which could boast notable scholars of the Middle Ages like Irnerius, and, among its students, Dante, Boccaccio and Petrarca. In the 12th century, the expanding city needed a new line of walls, and at the end of the 13th century, Bologna had between 50,000 and 60,000 inhabitants making it the fifth largest city in Europe (after Cordova, Paris, Venice, and Florence) and tied with Milan as the biggest textile industry area in Italy. The complex system of canals in Bologna, was one of the most advanced hydraulic systems in Europe (the main canals were Canale Navile, the canale di Reno and the Canale di Savena), and took its water from the Savena, Aposa and Reno Rivers. All of this hydraulic energy helped run the numerous textile mills and transport goods. Now these canals are located under the city and some can even be visited on organized rafting tours. In 1256, Bologna promulgated the "Paradise Law", which abolished feudal serfdom and freed the slaves, using public money. At that time the city centre was full of towers (perhaps 180), built by the leading families, notable public edifices, churches, and abbeys. In the 1270s Bologna's politics was dominated by Luchetto Gattilusio, a Genoese diplomat and man of letters who became the city Governor. Like most Italian cities of that age, Bologna was torn by internal struggles related to the Guelph and Ghibelline factions, which led to the expulsion of the Ghibelline family of the Lambertazzi in 1274. After this period of great prosperity, Bologna experienced some ups and downs: it was crushed in the Battle of Zappolino by the Modenese in 1325 but then prospered under the rule of Taddeo Pepoli (1337–1347). Then in 1348, during the Black Plague, about 30,000 inhabitants died, and it subsequently fell to the Visconti of Milan, but returned to Papal control under Cardinal Gil de Albornoz in 1360. In the following years, Republican governments like that of 1377, which was responsible for the building of the Basilica di San Petronio and the Loggia dei Mercanti, alternated with Papal or Visconti resurgences, while the city's families engaged in continual internecine fighting.

Early modern[link]

In 1337, the rule of the noble Pepoli family, nicknamed by some scholars as the "underground nobles" as they governed as "the first among equals" rather than as true nobles of the city. This noble family's rule was in many ways an extension of past rules, and resisted until March 28, 1401 when the Bentivoglio family took over. The Bentivoglio family ruled Bologna, first with Sante (1445–1462) and then under Giovanni II (1462–1506). This period was a flourishing one for the city, with the presence of notable architects and painters who made Bologna a true city of art. During the Renaissance, Bologna was the only Italian city that allowed women to excel in any profession. Women had much more freedom than in other Italian cities; some even had the opportunity to earn a degree at the university. The School of Bologna of painting flourished in Bologna between the 16th and 17th centuries, and rivalled Florence and Rome as the center of painting.

Giovanni's reign ended in 1506 when the Papal troops of Julius II besieged Bologna and sacked the artistic treasures of his palace. From that point on, until the 18th century, Bologna was part of the Papal States, ruled by a cardinal legato and by a Senate which every two months elected a gonfaloniere (judge), assisted by eight elder consuls. In 1530, in front of Saint Petronio Church, Charles V was crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Clement VII. Then a plague at the end of the 16th century reduced the population from 72,000 to 59,000, and another in 1630 to 47,000. The population later recovered to a stable 60,000–65,000. However, there was also great progress during this era: in 1564, the Piazza del Nettuno and the Palazzo dei Banchi were built, along with the Archiginnasio, the center of the University. The period of Papal rule saw the construction of many churches and other religious establishments, and the reincarnation of older ones. At this time, Bologna had ninety-six convents, more than any other Italian city. Artists working during this period in Bologna established the Bolognese School which includes Annibale Carracci, Domenichino, Guercino and others of European fame.

Late modern and contemporary[link]

In 1796, Napoleon took over Bologna with his French troops, and with the rise of Napoleon, Bologna became the capital of the Cispadane Republic, and later, after Milan, the second most important center of the Repubblica Cisalpina and the Italian Kingdom. After the fall of Napoleon, and the Congress of Vienna in 1815, Bologna was once again under the sovereignty of the Papal States, rebelling in 1831 and again 1849, when it temporarily expelled the Austrian garrisons which controlled the city until 1860. After a visit by Pope Pius IX in 1857, the city voted to be annexed into the Kingdom of Sardinia on June 12, 1859, and then becoming part of the Kingdom of Italy in 1860.

The second world war[link]

The city of Bologna was bombed many times during World War II. The strategic importance of the city as a national train hub and as an urban center connecting northern and central Italy made it one of the main targets of the Allied forces. July 16 1943 saw a series of bombing raids which, although strategic, hit much of the historic city center and many of its inhabitants. The main railway station and adjoining areas were decimated, and in the end 44% of the buildings in the center turned out to be either destroyed or severely damaged. Bologna was heavily bombed again on September 25. The raids, which this time were not confined to the city center, left 936 people dead and thousands injured.

During the war, the city was a key center of the Italian resistance movement. On November 7, 1944, a pitched battle around ''Porta Lame'', waged by partisans of the 7th Brigade of the ''Gruppi d'Azione Patriottica'' against Fascist and Nazi occupation forces, did not succeed in triggering a general uprising, despite being one of the largest resistance-led urban conflicts in the European theater.

Liberation forces entered Bologna on the morning of April 21 1945. By this time, the Germans had already largely left the city in the face of the Allied advance, spearheaded by Polish forces advancing from the east during the Battle of Bologna begun on April 9. First to arrive in the center was the 87th Infantry Regiment of the Friuli Combat Group under general Arturo Scattini, who entered the center from ''Porta Maggiore'' to the south. Since the soldiers were dressed in British outfits, they were initially thought to be part of the allied forces; when the local inhabitants heard the soldiers were speaking Italian, they poured out on to the streets to celebrate.

Polish reconnaissance units of the Polish 2nd Corps entered Bologna from another direction on the same morning as the Friuli Combat Group. The fighting to oust the Germans from the town had been mostly undertaken by Polish troops.

Recent history[link]

After World War II the city became a political stronghold for the Italian Communist Party being right in the middle of the famous Italian political "Red Quadrilateral". The city, from 1945 to 1999, had an uninterrupted consecutive series of left wing mayors, the most famous of which was Giuseppe Dozza.

During the administration of Renato Zangheri, on August 2, 1980, at 10:25 am a bomb exploded at the central train station in Bologna killing 85 people, wounding 200: this event became known as the massacre of Bologna. Two people were convicted: Valerio Fioravanti and Francesca Mambro, both of them neo-fascist from the group Nuclei Armati Rivoluzionari, while the ex leader and Grand Master of the mason lodge P2, Licio Gelli, the former agent of SISMI Francesco Pazienza, and the military secret service officers Pietro Musumeci and Giuseppe Belmonte were convicted of hampering the investigation.l

In 1999 the tradition of liberal mayors was interrupted by the historic win of center-right Giorgio Guazzaloca; his leadership ended in 2004 when Sergio Cofferati, a unionist, was elected mayor, thanks to the active participation of the city's people and the political parties Ulivo and Italia dei Valori. The next mayor, Flavio Delbono, elected in June 2009, quit in January 2010, after being accused of several crimes including embezzlement, fraud, and abuse of power during the time that he was vice-president of the Region Emilia-Romagna.

Geography[link]

Territory[link]

Bologna is situated on the edge of the Po Plain at the foot of the Apennine Mountains, at the meeting of the Reno and Savena river valleys. As Bologna's two main watercourses flow directly to the sea, the town lies outside of the drainage basin of the River Po. The Province of Bologna stretches from the western edge of the Po Plain on the border with Ferrara to the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines. The center of the town is 54 meters above sea level (while elevation within the municipality ranges from 29 m in the suburb of Corticella to 300 m in Sabbiuno and the Colle della Guardia). The Province of Bologna stretches from the Po Plain into the Apennines, its highest point being the peak of Corno alle Scale (in Lizzano in Belvedere) at 1,945 m above sea level.

Climate[link]

Bologna has a continental climate, without any influence from the seaside; the Climatic Classification is "zone E, 2259 GR/G". The winters here can be cold (the all time lowest temperature in winter recorded in the area, more precisely in Molinella on the night of January 12, 1985, was , caused by the historic cold wave of January 1985) and snow is never lacking, sometimes it is quite abundant considering that this is a plains area. Some snowfalls that have remained in the record books and memories of many Bologna citizens are that of June 1491 with of snow and that of February,1929 ( when all of the Northeast, in particular Romagna, was hit hard by a snow storm) with about of snow which completely blocked the city for days, with walls of snow and teams of people who removed the snow from roofs which threatened to collapse. Other noteworthy snowfalls, always in the months of January and February, occurred more recently in 1977 (roofs caved in), in January 1985 (caused a 3 day blackout due to downed electrical lines), and in 2004 (more than of snow all at once between the end of February and the beginning of March); but it has even snowed in springtime in Bologna (as on April 21, 1974 or on April 26, 1990). The record lows recorded in the last twenty years are around , while summers are hot and muggy due to the high humidity in this area, and they can be long with long periods of drought (as in 2003); in July and August it is normal for temperatures to rise above .

Spring and fall are, in general, mild and rainy and quite short. Average precipitation oscillates between 450 mm and 900 mm (measurements are taken at the Guglielmo Marconi Airport, while in the past they were taken downtown in a tower of the University of Bologna; at least 70% of precipitation falls in spring and autumn).

Moderate wind contributes to the formation of fog and haze and to an elevated smog due to local traffic, as well as to the combustion in heating systems (most of which have been converted to methane gas) and industrial establishments. Occasionally, despite all of this, there have been days with gusts up to 120 km/hour (for example on December 26, 1996) due to the winds coming down off the mountains (sometimes the buran from the Siberian steppe reaches the foot of the Apennines); during the month of August, in particular, strong gusts of more than 100 km/hour are recorded when there are thunderstorms or other localized storms.

Main sights[link]

:''For a complete list, see Buildings and structures in Bologna

Until the early 19th century, when a large-scale urban reconstruction project was undertaken, Bologna remained one of the best-preserved medieval cities in Europe; to this day it remains unique in its historic value. Despite having suffered considerable bombing damage in 1944, Bologna's historic centre today is Europe's second largest, containing an immense wealth of important Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque artistic monuments.

Bologna developed along the Via Emilia as an Etruscan and later Roman colony; the Via Emilia still runs straight through the city under the changing names of Strada Maggiore, Rizzoli, Ugo Bassi, and San Felice. Due to its Roman heritage, the central streets of Bologna, today largely pedestrianized, follow the grid pattern of the Roman settlement.

The original Roman ramparts were supplanted by a high medieval system of fortifications, remains of which are still visible, and finally by a third and final set of ramparts built in the 13th century, of which numerous sections survive. Over twenty medieval defensive towers, some of them leaning precariously, remain from the over two hundred that were constructed in the era preceding the security guaranteed by unified civic government. For a complete treatment, see Towers of Bologna.

The cityscape is further enriched by elegant and extensive arcades (or porticos), for which the city is famous. In total, there are some 38 kilometres of arcades in the city's historical center (over 45 km in the city proper), which make it possible to walk for long distances sheltered from rain, snow, or hot summer sun. The Portico of San Luca, one of the longest in the world (3.5 km, 666 arcades) connects the Porta Saragozza (one of the twelve gates of the ancient walls built in the Middle Ages, which circled a 7.5 km part of the city) with the San Luca Sanctuary, on Colle della Guardia, over the city (289 m.).

The Sanctuary of the Madonna di San Luca is located just outside the city proper. Traditional place of worship for the presence of an image the Virgin of St. Luca as well as reassuring visual landmark for Bolognese approaching town, the shrine located on top of Guardia hill is one of Bologna's symbol. The 666 vaults of the arcade – unique for his length covering almost four kilometres (3,796 m) – link the shrine with the town and provide a shelter for the procession which every year since 1433 has brought the Byzantine Madonna with Child to the cathedral downtown during the Ascension week. Built in the 11th century, it was much enlarged in the 14th and 18th centuries. The interior contains works of several masters, but probably the most important is the painting of the Madonna with Child attributed to Luke the Evangelist.

Bologna is home to numerous churches. These include:

San Petronio Basilica, one of the world's largest

Bologna Cathedral

St. Stephen basilica and sanctuary

St. Dominic basilica and sanctuary

St. Francis basilica

Santa Maria dei Servi basilica

San Giacomo Maggiore basilica (13th-14th century), featuring numerous Renaissance artworks such as Lorenzo Costa the Elder's Bentivoglio Altarpiece

San Michele in Bosco

St. Paul the Great, basilica

Economy[link]

Bologna is an important railway and motorway hub in Italy. The economy of Bologna is based on an active industrial sector which, traditionally strong in the transformation of agricultural products and in animal husbandry, also includes the footwear, textile, engineering, chemical printing and publishing industries, as well as on flourishing commercial activity. The city's Fiera District (exhibition area) is one of the largest in Europe, with important yearly international expos of the automobile sector (Bologna Motor Show), ceramics for the building industry (International Exhibition of Ceramic Tiles and Bathroom Furnishings) and food industry. Bologna and its metropolitan area have several important industries in the fields of mechanics, food, tobacco and electronics, important retail and wholesale trade (the "Centergross" in the northern part of its metropolitan area, built in 1973), and one of the first Italian vegetable and fruit markets.

Transport[link]

Bologna is home to Guglielmo Marconi International Airport, expanded in 2004 by extending the runway to accommodate larger aircraft. It is the tenth busiest Italian airport for passenger traffic (over than 4 million/year in 2007) and is an intercontinental gateway.

Bologna Central Station is considered the most important train hub in Italy thanks to the city's strategic location. Also, its goods-station (San Donato) with its 33 railway tracks, is the largest in Italy in size and traffic.

Bologna's station holds a memory in Italian public consciousness of the terrorist bomb attack that killed 85 victims in August 1980. The attack is also known in Italy as the ''Strage di Bologna'' ("Bologna massacre").

Bologna is served by a robust system of public bus lines, run by Azienda Trasporti Pubblici Bologna (ATC).

Demographics[link]

At the end of 2010, the city proper had a population of 380,604 (while 1 million live in the greater Bologna area), located in the province of Bologna, Emilia Romagna, of whom 46.7% were male and 53.3% were female. Minors (children ages 18 and younger) totalled 12.86 percent of the population compared to pensioners who number 27.02 percent. This compares with the Italian average of 18.06 percent (minors) and 19.94 percent (pensioners). The average age of Bologna resident is 51 compared to the Italian average of 42. In the five years between 2002 and 2007, the population of Bologna grew by 0.0 percent, while Italy as a whole grew by 3.56 percent. The current birth rate of Bologna is 8.07 births per 1,000 inhabitants compared to the Italian average of 9.45 births.

As of 2009, 89.47% of the population was Italian. The largest immigrant group came from other European countries (mostly Romanians and Albanians): 2.82%, East Asia (mostly Filipino): 1.50%, and the South Asia (mostly from Bangladesh): 1.39%.

Culture[link]

Over the centuries, Bologna has acquired many nicknames: "the learned one" (''la dotta'') is a reference to its famous university; "the fat one" (''la grassa'') refers to its cuisine.

"The red one" (''la rossa'') originally refers to the colour of the roofs in the historic centre, but this nickname is also connected to the political situation in the city, started after World War II: until the election of a centre-right mayor in 1999, the city was renowned as a bastion of socialism and communism in particular the Italian Communist Party. The centre-left regained power again in the 2004 mayoral elections, with the election of Sergio Cofferati. It was one of the first European cities to experiment with the concept of free public transport.

The city of Bologna was appointed a UNESCO City of Music on 26 May 2006. According to UNESCO, "As the first Italian city to be appointed to the Network, Bologna has demonstrated a rich musical tradition that is continuing to evolve as a vibrant factor of contemporary life and creation. It has also shown a strong commitment to promoting music as an important vehicle for inclusion in the fight against racism and in an effort to encourage economic and social development. Fostering a wide range of genres from classical to electronic, jazz, folk and opera, Bologna offers its citizens a musical vitality that deeply infiltrates the city’s professional, academic, social and cultural facets."

Entertainment and performing arts[link]

The theatre was a popular form of entertainment in Bologna until the 16th century. The first public theater was the Teatro alla Scala, active since 1547 in Palazzo del Podestà.

An important figure of Italian Bolognese theatre was Alfredo Testoni, the playwright, author of ''The Cardinal Lambertini'', which had great theatrical success since 1905, then repeated on the screen by the Bolognese actor Gino Cervi.

In 1998, the City of Bologna has initiated the project "Bologna dei Teatri" (Bologna of the Theatres), an association of the major theatrical facilities in the city. This is a circuit of theatres which offer diverse and colourful cultural and theatrical opportunities, ranging from Bolognese dialect to contemporary dance, but with a communications strategy and promoting unity. Specifically, the shows on the bill in various theatres participating in the project are advertised weekly through a single poster.

Bologna hosts a number of festivals and other events, including:

Angelica: International Contemporary Music Festival Bolognafestival: international classical music festival Bologna Jazz Festival: the Italian autumn jazz event Biografilm Festival: International Film Festival devote to Biography BilBolBul:International Comic Festival Casadeipensieri: International Summer Festival of literature and poetry Danza Urbana: International Street Contemporary Dance Festival

F.I.S.Co: International Festival on Contemporary art

Future Film Festival: International Festival on animation and special effects. Il Cinema Ritrovato: International Film Festival about Forgotten Films Gender Bender: International Festival on the gender identity, sexual orientation and body representation Homework festival: electronic music festival Human Rights Film Festival

Netmage: International Festival dedicated to Electronic Art

Some Prefer cake: Italian lesbian film festival

Cuisine[link]

Bologna is renowned for its culinary tradition. It has given its name to the well-known Bolognese sauce, a meat based pasta sauce called in Italy ''ragù alla bolognese'' but in the city itself just ''ragù'' as in ''Tagliatelle al ragù''. Situated in the fertile Po River Valley, the rich local cuisine depends heavily on meats and cheeses. As in all of Emilia-Romagna, the production of cured pork meats such as prosciutto, mortadella and salami is an important part of the local food industry. Well-regarded nearby vineyards include Pignoletto dei Colli Bolognesi, Lambrusco di Modena and Sangiovese di Romagna. Tagliatelle with ragù, lasagne, tortellini served in broth, and mortadella, the original Bologna sausage, are among the local specialties.

Sport[link]

Another nickname for Bologna is ''Basket City'', referring to Bologna's obsession with basketball: the local derby between the city's two principal basketball clubs, Fortitudo and Virtus. (often called after the clubs' principal sponsors), is intense, as you can see here and here. However, the rivalry is temporarily dormant because Fortitudo are no longer in the country's professional ranks. After the 2008–09 season, Fortitudo were relegated from the top-level Lega A to LegADue, and then were relegated further to the nominally amateur Serie A Dilettanti for financial reasons. The impact of basketball in the city is not limited to Fortitudo and Virtus; the Italian Basketball League, which operates both Lega A and LegADue, has its headquarters in Bologna.

Football is still a highly popular sport in Bologna; the main local club is Bologna F.C. 1909, which is currently in Serie A.

Education[link]

The University of Bologna, founded in 1088, is the oldest existing university in the world, and was an important centre of European intellectual life during the Middle Ages, attracting scholars from throughout Christendom. A unique heritage of medieval art, exemplified by the illuminated manuscripts and jurists' tombs produced in the city from the 13th to the 15th century, provides a cultural backdrop to the renown of the medieval institution. The Studium, as it was originally known, began as a loosely organized teaching system with each master collecting fees from students on an individual basis. The location of the early University was thus spread throughout the city, with various colleges being founded to support students of a specific nationality.

In the Napoleonic era, the headquarters of the university were moved to their present location on Via Zamboni (formerly Via San Donato), in the north-eastern sector of the city centre. Today, the University's 23 faculties, 68 departments, and 93 libraries are spread across the city and include four subsidiary campuses in nearby Cesena, Forlì, Ravenna, and Rimini. Noteworthy students present at the university in centuries past included Dante, Petrarch, Thomas Becket, Pope Nicholas V, Erasmus of Rotterdam, Peter Martyr Vermigli, and Copernicus. Laura Bassi, appointed in 1732, became the first woman to officially teach at a college in Europe. In more recent history, Luigi Galvani, the discoverer of biological electricity, and Guglielmo Marconi, the pioneer of radio technology, also worked at the University. The University of Bologna remains one of the most respected and dynamic post-secondary educational institutions in Italy. To this day, Bologna is still very much a university town, and the city's population swells from 400,000 to over 500,000 whenever classes are in session. This community includes a great number of Erasmus, Socrates, and overseas students.

The University of Bologna is also the birthplace of the Kappa Sigma Fraternity. It was founded by Manuel Chrysoloras in 1400. The fraternity was formed for mutual protection against Baldassare Cossa, who extorted and robbed the students of the university, and later usurped the papacy under the name John XXIII.

The university's botanical garden, the Orto Botanico dell'Università di Bologna, was established in 1568; it is the fourth-oldest in Europe.

Bologna is also home to other prominent universities such as the Bologna Center of the Johns Hopkins University, otherwise known as the SAIS Bologna Center.

Some notable people from Bologna[link]

Aldrovandus (Ulisse Aldrovandi, naturalist, 1522–1605)

Antonio Alessandrini (anatomist and parasitologist, 1786–1861)

Maria Gaetana Agnesi (mathematician, humanitarian, and linguist, 1718–1799)

Amico Aspertini (painter, c. 1474–1552)

Pupi Avati (director, born 1938)

Adriano Banchieri (composer, 1568–1634)

Agostino Barelli (architect, 1627–1687)

Antonio Basoli (painter and scene designer, 1774–1848)

Laura Bassi (scientist, first female appointed to university chair in Europe, 1711–1788)

Ugo Bassi (Italian nationalist hero, executed for role in 1848 uprisings, 1800–1849)

Stefano Benni (writer, born 1947)

Benedict XIV (Prospero Lambertini, Pope 1740–58)

Giovanni II Bentivoglio (1443–1508)

Giordano Berti (writer, born 1959)

Amedeo Biavati (footballer, 1915–1979, credited with the invention of the stepover, World Champion 1938, played only for Bologna FC)

Simone Bolelli (Professional Tennis Player, Born 1985)

Giacomo Bolognini (painter, 1664–1734)

Rossano Brazzi (actor, 1916–1994)

Raffaella Carrà (singer, born 1943)

Annibale Carracci (painter, 1560–1609)

Lodovico Carracci (painter, 1555–1619)

Agostino Carracci (painter, 1557–1602)

Chiara Caselli (actress, born 1967)

Pier Ferdinando Casini (politician, born 1955)

Pietro Cataldi (mathematician, 1548-1626)

Pierluigi Collina (football referee, born 1960)

Alessandro Cortini (musician, born 1976)

Giuseppe Maria Crespi (painter, 1665–1747)

Donato Creti (painter, 1671–1749)

Scipione del Ferro (mathematician, solved the cubic equation, 1465–1526)

Francesco Francia (Francesco Raibolini, painter, c. 1450–1517)

Lucio Dalla (singer-songwriter, 1943-2012)

Domenichino (Domenico Zampieri, painter, 1581–1641)

Sara Errani (tennis player, born 1987)

Gianfranco Fini (politician, born 1952)

Aristotile Fioravanti (architect, c. 1415 – c. 1486)

Luigi Galvani (scientist, discoverer of bioelectricity, 1737–1798)

Alessandro Gamberini, (footballer, born 1981)

Serena Grandi (actress, born 1958)

Gregory XIII (Ugo Boncompagni, Pope 1572–85, instituted the Gregorian Calendar)

Gregory XV (Alessandro Ludovisi, Pope 1621-3)

Il Guercino (Giovanni Barbieri, painter, 1591–1666)

Irnerius (jurist, c.1050 – at least 1125)

Claudio Lolli (singer-songwriter, born 1950)

Lucius II (Gherardo Caccianemici dell'Orso, Pope 1144-5)

Marcello Malpighi (physiologist, anatomist and histologist, 1628–1694)

Guglielmo Marconi (engineer, pioneer of wireless telegraphy, Nobel prize for Physics, 1874–1937)

Giovanni Battista Martini (musical theorist, 1706–1784)

Giuseppe Mezzofanti (cardinal, linguist and hyperpolyglot, 1774–1839)

Marco Minghetti (economist and statesman, 1818–1886)

Giorgio Morandi (painter, 1890–1964)

Gianni Morandi (singer, born 1944)

Edgardo Mortara ( Catholic priest that was the subject of the ''Mortara Case'' during the Risorgimento, 1851–1940 )

Gianluca Pagliuca (footballer, born 1966)

Pier Paolo Pasolini (writer, poet, director, 1922–1975)

Roberto Regazzi (luthier, born 1956)

Guido Reni (painter, 1575–1642)

Ottorino Respighi (composer, 1879–1936)

Augusto Righi (physicist, authority on electromagnetism, 1850–1920)

Carlo Ruini (equine anatomist, 1530–1598)

Angelo Schiavio (footballer, 1905–1990, scored the winning goal in overtime in the 1934 World Cup Final, played only for Bologna)

Elisabetta Sirani (painter, 1638–1665)

Alberto Tomba (skier, born 1966)

Ondina Valla (first Italian woman Olympic gold medalist, 1916–2006)

Mariele Ventre (teacher and educator, founder of Piccolo Coro dell' Antoniano choir, 1939–1995)

Christian Vieri (footballer, born 1973)

Vitale da Bologna (painter, fl. 1330, d 1361)

Anteo Zamboni (anarchist who mat the age of 15 attempted to assassinate Benito Mussolini, 1911–1926)

Alex Zanardi (racing driver, born 1966)

Marco Aurelio Zani de Ferranti (writer, musician, and composer, 1801–1878)

In addition to the natives of the city listed above, the following have made Bologna their home:

Giosuè Carducci (poet and academic, Nobel Prize for Literature, born near Lucca, Tuscany, 1835–1907)

Umberto Eco (writer and academic, born in Alessandria, Piedmont, 1932)

Enzio of Sardinia (born c. 1218, King of Sardinia and illegitimate son of Emperor Frederick II, was imprisoned in Palazzo Re Enzo from 1249 until his death in 1272)

Alfonso Lombardi (sculptor, born in Ferrara, ca. 1497-1537)

Niccolò dell'Arca (sculptor, born in Bari, c. 1435-1440 – 2 March 1494)

Juan Ignacio Molina (naturalist, born in Chile, 1740–1829)

Giovanni Pascoli (poet and academic, born in San Mauro di Romagna, 1855–1912)

St. Petronius (San Petronio, bishop of Bologna and patron saint of the city, birthplace unknown, died c. 450 AD)

Romano Prodi (economist, politician, born in Scandiano, Reggio Emilia, 1939)

Gioachino Rossini (opera composer, born in Pesaro, 1792–1868)

Giuseppe Torelli (composer, born in Verona, 1658–1709)

Wu Ming (collective of writers, active since 2000)

Farinelli (Carlo Broschi, castrato opera singer, 1705-1782)

Notable companies[link]

COESIA Group - G.D (packaging)

Coop (supermarket chain)

Ducati Motor Holding (motorcycles)

IMA S.p.A (packaging)

Lamborghini (cars)

Malaguti (motorcycles)

Maserati (cars)

Segafredo Zanetti – (coffee)

Unipol – (bank and insurance)

YOOX Group Spa – (Fashion / Online Apparel Retailer)

International relations[link]

Twin towns – sister cities[link]

Bologna is twinned with:

* Coventry, United Kingdom, since 1984

* Kharkiv, Ukraine, since 1966

* La Plata, Argentina, since 1988

* Leipzig, Germany, since 1962

St. Louis, Missouri>St. Louis, United States, since 1987

Portland, Oregon>Portland, United States, since 2003

* Thessaloniki, Greece, since 1981

San Carlos, Río San Juan>San Carlos, Nicaragua, since 1988

* Saint-Louis, Senegal, since 1991

* Toulouse, France, since 1981

* Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina, since 1994

Valencia (city in Spain)>Valencia, Spain, since 1976

* Zagreb, Croatia, since 1963

Gallery[link]

See also[link]

Bologna metropolitan area

Province of Bologna

Bolognese bell ringing art

Bologna Central Station

Bologna declaration

Bologna process

Bolognese School (painting)

References[link]

External links[link]

Official Site

- Bologna Welcome Tourist Office

ATC – Official Public Transport Site

Virtual Tour

Plans and projects for Bologna

History of Bologna's Fiera

City Guide of Bologna

Bologna pictures

Category:530s BC establishments Category:Cities and towns in Emilia-Romagna Category:European Capitals of Culture Category:Roman sites of Emilia-Romagna Category:University towns Category:Boii

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Name	"Weird Al" Yankovic
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Alfred Matthew Yankovic
Alias	"Weird Al" Yankovic
Birth date	October 23, 1959
Birth place	Downey, California
Origin	Lynwood, California, United States
Instrument	Vocals, accordion, keyboards, theremin
Occupation	Record producer, satirist, parodist, singer-songwriter, musician, director, producer, actor
Years active	1976–present
Genre	Parody, comedy, polka
Religion	Christianity
Label	RCA, Capitol, Scotti Brothers, Volcano
Associated acts	Dr. Demento
Website	weirdal.com }}

Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic (; born October 23, 1959) is an American singer-songwriter, music producer, accordionist, actor, comedian, writer, satirist, and parodist. Yankovic is known for his humorous songs that make light of popular culture and that often parody specific songs by contemporary musical acts. Since his first-aired comedy song in 1976, he has sold more than 12 million albums (as of 2007), recorded more than 150 parody and original songs, and has performed more than 1,000 live shows. His works have earned him three Grammy Awards among nine nominations, four gold records, and six platinum records in the United States. Yankovic's first top ten ''Billboard'' album (''Straight Outta Lynwood'') and single ("White & Nerdy") were both released in 2006, nearly three decades into his career.

Yankovic's success comes in part from his effective use of music video to further parody popular culture, the song's original artist, and the original music videos themselves, scene-for-scene in some cases. He directed later videos himself and went on to direct for other artists including Ben Folds, Hanson, Black Crowes, and The Presidents of the United States of America. In addition to recording his albums, Yankovic wrote and starred in the film, ''UHF'', and television show, ''The Weird Al Show''. He has also made guest appearances on many television shows, in addition to starring in ''Al TV'' specials on MTV.

Early life[link]

Alfred was born in Downey, California, and raised in the town of Lynwood. He is the only child of Nick Louis Yankovic (June 4, 1917 – April 9, 2004) and Mary Elizabeth (née Vivalda; February 7, 1923 – April 9, 2004). His father was born in Kansas City, Kansas of Yugoslavian descent, and began living in California after serving during World War II; he believed "the key to success" was "doing for a living whatever makes you happy" and often reminded his son of this philosophy. Nick Yankovic married Mary Elizabeth Vivalda in 1949. Mary, who was of Italian and English descent, and had come to California from Kentucky, gave birth to Alfred ten years later.

Al's first accordion lesson, which sparked his career in music, was on the day before his sixth birthday. A door-to-door salesman traveling through Lynwood offered the Yankovic parents a choice of accordion or guitar lessons at a local music school. Yankovic claims the reason his parents chose accordion over guitar was "They figured there should be at least one more accordion-playing Yankovic in the world", referring to Frankie Yankovic, to whom he is not related directly. Yankovic said that "[his] parents chose the accordion because they were convinced it would revolutionize rock." He continued lessons at the school for three years before continuing to learn on his own. Yankovic's early accordion role models include Frankie Yankovic and Myron Floren (the accordionist on ''The Lawrence Welk Show'').

In the 1970s, Yankovic was a big fan of Elton John and claims John's ''Goodbye Yellow Brick Road'' album "was partly how I learned to play rock 'n roll on the accordion." As for his influences in comedic and parody music, Yankovic lists artists including Tom Lehrer, Stan Freberg, Spike Jones, Allan Sherman, Shel Silverstein and Frank Zappa "and all the other wonderfully sick and twisted artists that he was exposed to through the ''Dr. Demento Radio Show''." Other sources of inspiration for his comedy come from ''Mad'' magazine, Monty Python, and the Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker parody movies.

Yankovic began kindergarten a year earlier than most children, and he skipped the second grade. "My classmates seemed to think I was some kind of rocket scientist so I was labeled a nerd early on", he recalls. As his unusual schooling left him two years younger than most of his classmates, Yankovic was not interested in sports or social events at school. He was valedictorian of his senior class. Yankovic was active in his school's extracurricular programs, including the National Forensic League, a play based upon ''Rebel Without a Cause'', the yearbook (for which he wrote most of the captions), and the Volcano Worshippers club, "which did absolutely nothing. We started the club just to get an extra picture of ourselves in the yearbook."

Yankovic attended California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo where he earned a degree in architecture.

Career[link]

Dr. Demento and early fame[link]

Yankovic received his first exposure via southern California and syndicated comedy radio personality Dr. Demento's radio show, saying "If there hadn't been a Dr. Demento, I'd probably have a real job now." In 1976, Dr. Demento spoke at Yankovic's school where the then 16 year old Yankovic gave him a homemade tape of original and parody songs performed on the accordion in Yankovic's bedroom into a "cheesy little tape recorder". The tape's first song was "Belvedere Cruisin'", about his family's Plymouth Belvedere, was played on Demento's comedy radio show, launching Yankovic's career. Demento said "'Belvedere Cruising' might not have been the very best song I ever heard, but it had some clever lines [...] I put the tape on the air immediately.". Yankovic also played at local coffeehouses, saying:

During Yankovic's sophomore year as an architecture student at Cal Poly at San Luis Obispo, he became a disc jockey at the university's radio station, KCPR. Yankovic said he had been nicknamed ''Weird Al'' by fellow students and "took it on professionally" as his persona for the station. In 1978, he released his first recording (as Alfred Yankovic), "Take Me Down", on the LP, ''Slo Grown'', as a benefit for the Economic Opportunity Commission of San Luis Obispo County. The song mocked famous nearby landmarks such as Bubblegum Alley and the fountain toilets at the Madonna Inn.

In mid-1979, shortly before his senior year, "My Sharona" by The Knack was on the charts and Yankovic took his accordion into the restroom across the hall from the radio station (to take advantage of the echo chamber acoustics) and recorded a parody titled "My Bologna". He sent it to Dr. Demento, who played it to good response from listeners. Yankovic met The Knack after a show at his college and introduced himself as the author of "My Bologna". The Knack's lead singer, Doug Fieger, said he liked the song and suggested that Capitol Records vice president Rupert Perry release it as a single. "My Bologna" was released as a single with "School Cafeteria" as its B-side, and the label gave Yankovic a six-month recording contract. Yankovic, who was "only getting average grades" in his architecture degree, began to realize that he might make a career of comedic music.

On September 14, 1980, Yankovic was a guest on the ''Dr. Demento Show'', where he was to record a new parody live. The song was called "Another One Rides the Bus", a parody of Queen's hit, "Another One Bites the Dust". While practicing the song outside the sound booth, he met Jon "Bermuda" Schwartz, who told him he was a drummer and agreed to bang on Yankovic's accordion case to help Yankovic keep a steady beat during the song. They rehearsed the song just a few times before the show began. "Another One Rides the Bus" became so popular that Yankovic's first television appearance was a performance of the song on ''The Tomorrow Show'' (April 21, 1981) with Tom Snyder. On the show, Yankovic played his accordion, and again, Schwartz banged on the accordion case and provided comical sound effects.

Band and fame[link]

1981 brought Yankovic on tour for the first time as part of Dr. Demento's stage show. His stage act in a Phoenix, Arizona, nightclub caught the eye of manager Jay Levey, who was "blown away". Levey asked Yankovic if he had considered creating a full band and doing his music as a career. Yankovic admitted that he had, so Levey held auditions. Steve Jay became Yankovic's bass player, and Jay's friend Jim West played guitar. Schwartz continued on drums. Yankovic's first show with his new band was on March 31, 1982. Several days later, Yankovic and his band were the opening act for Missing Persons.

Yankovic recorded "I Love Rocky Road", (a parody of "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" as recorded by Joan Jett and The Blackhearts) which was produced by Rick Derringer, in 1982. The song was a hit on Top 40 radio, leading to Yankovic's signing with Scotti Brothers Records. In 1983, Yankovic's first self-titled album was released on Scotti Bros. He released his second album ''"Weird Al" Yankovic in 3-D'' in 1984. The first single "Eat It", a parody of the Michael Jackson song "Beat It", became popular, thanks in part to the music video, a shot-for-shot parody of Jackson's "Beat It" music video, and what Yankovic described as his "uncanny resemblance" to Jackson. Peaking at number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 on April 14, 1984, "Eat It" remained Yankovic's highest-charting single until "White & Nerdy" placed at number 9 in October 2006.

In 1985, Yankovic co-wrote and starred in a mockumentary of his own life titled ''The Compleat Al'', which intertwined the facts of his life up to that point with fiction. The movie also featured some clips from Yankovic's trip to Japan and some clips from the ''Al TV'' specials. ''The Compleat Al'' was co-directed by Jay Levey, who would direct ''UHF'' four years later. Also released around the same time as ''The Compleat Al'' was ''The Authorized Al'', a biographical book based on the film. The book, resembling a scrapbook, included real and fictional humorous photographs and documents.

Yankovic and his band toured as the opening act for The Monkees in mid-1987 for their second reunion tour of North America. Yankovic claims to have enjoyed touring with The Monkees, despite the fact "the promoter gypped us out of a bunch of money."

Yankovic also appeared on the Wendy Carlos recording of Prokofiev's "Peter and the Wolf" as the narrator in 1988. The album also included a sequel of Camille Saint-Saëns's composition The Carnival of the Animals titled the "Carnival of the Animals Part II", with Yankovic providing humorous poems for each of the featured creatures in the style of Ogden Nash, who had written humorous poems for the original. Rubén Valtierra joined the band on keyboards in 1991, allowing Yankovic to concentrate more on singing and increasing his use of the stage space during concerts.

A factual biographical booklet of Yankovic's life, written by Dr. Demento, was released with the 1994 box set compilation ''Permanent Record: Al in the Box''. The Dr. Demento Society, which issues yearly Christmas re-releases of material from Dr. Demento's Basement Tapes, often includes unreleased tracks from Yankovic's vaults, such as "Pacman", "It's Still Billy Joel To Me" or the live version of "School Cafeteria".

New look and career to present[link]

On January 24, 1998, Yankovic had LASIK eye surgery to correct his extreme myopia. In the same period, he shaved off his moustache and grew out his hair, thus radically changing his signature look (he had previously shaved his mustache in 1983 for the video of "Ricky" to resemble Desi Arnaz and 1996 for the "Amish Paradise" video). Yankovic reasoned, "If Madonna's allowed to reinvent herself every 15 minutes, I figure I should be good for a change at least once every 20 years." He parodied the reaction to this "new look" in a commercial for his nonexistent ''MTV Unplugged'' special. The commercial featured Yankovic in the short-haired wig from the music video for Hanson's "River", claiming his new look was an attempt to "get back to the core of what I'm all about", that being "the music".

Three of his latest albums feature the longest songs Yankovic has ever released. The "Albuquerque" track from ''Running with Scissors'' is 11 minutes and 23 seconds; "Genius in France" from ''Poodle Hat'' runs for 8 minutes and 56 seconds; "Trapped in the Drive-Thru" from ''Straight Outta Lynwood'' is 10 minutes and 53 seconds long. Before 2007 (apart from a one-off performance of "Albuquerque" in Albuquerque, New Mexico), these "epic" songs were not performed live in their entirety due to their length and complexity. ''(See Live performances for details)''

Yankovic has also started to explore digital distribution of his songs. On October 7, 2008, Yankovic released to the iTunes Store "Whatever You Like", a parody of the T.I. song of the same title, which Yankovic said he had come up with two weeks before. Yankovic said that the benefit of digital distribution is that "I don't have to wait around while my songs get old and dated—I can get them out on the Internet almost immediately." In 2009, Yankovic released four more songs: "Craigslist" on June 16, "Skipper Dan" on July 14, "CNR" on August 4, and "Ringtone" on August 25. These five digitally released songs were packaged as a digital EP titled ''Internet Leaks'', with "Whatever You Like" retroactively included in the set.

In 2011, Yankovic completed his thirteenth studio album. This album, titled ''Alpocalypse'', is his first studio album since ''Straight Outta Lynwood'', and was released on June 21, 2011. The album contains the five songs from the previous ''Internet Leaks'' digital download release, a polka medley called "Polka Face", a song called "TMZ" for which Bill Plympton created an animated music video, and five other new songs.

Yankovic had reported an interest in parodying Lady Gaga's material, and on April 20 announced that he had written and recorded a parody of "Born This Way" titled "Perform This Way", to be the lead single for his new album. However, upon first submitting it to Lady Gaga's manager for approval (which Yankovic does as a courtesy), he was not given permission to release it commercially. As he had previously done under similar circumstances (with his parody of James Blunt's "You're Beautiful"), Yankovic then released the song for free on the internet. Soon afterwards, Gaga's manager admitted that he had denied the parody of his own accord without forwarding the song to his client, and upon seeing it online, Lady Gaga granted permission for the parody. Yankovic has stated that all of his proceeds from the parody and its music video will be donated to the Human Rights Campaign, to support the human rights themes of the original song.

Yankovic was also a judge for the 10th annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists' careers.

Personal life[link]

Yankovic married Suzanne Krajewski in 2001; their daughter, Nina, was born in 2003. They also have a pet cockatiel named Bo Veaner and dog named Bambu. They used to have a pet poodle, named Bela (pictured atop Yankovic's head on the cover of his album, ''Poodle Hat''). Yankovic identifies as Christian and has stated that a couple from his church appeared on the cover of ''Poodle Hat''.

Yankovic changed his diet to become a vegan in 1992, after a former girlfriend gave him the book ''Diet for a New America'' and he felt "it made [...] a very compelling argument for a strict vegetarian diet." When asked how he can "rationalize" performing at events such as the ''Great American Rib Cook-Off'' when he is a vegan, he replied, "The same way I can rationalize playing at a college even though I’m not a student anymore."

In 2004, Yankovic's parents were found dead in their Fallbrook, California, home, apparently the victims of accidental carbon monoxide poisoning from their fireplace that had been recently lit. The flue was closed, which trapped the carbon monoxide gas inside the house, suffocating them. Several hours after his wife notified him of his parents' death, Yankovic went on with his concert in Mankato, Minnesota, saying that "since my music had helped many of my fans through tough times, maybe it would work for me as well" and that it would "at least ... give me a break from sobbing all the time." Although Yankovic played the concert as planned, a scheduled meet and greet following the concert was canceled.

Music career[link]

While Yankovic's song parodies (such as "Eat It") have resulted in success on the Billboard charts (''see List of singles by "Weird Al" Yankovic''), he recorded an equally large number of original humorous songs ("You Don't Love Me Anymore" and "One More Minute"). His work depends largely on the satirizing of popular culture, including television (''see The TV Album''), movies ("The Saga Begins"), food (''see The Food Album''), popular music ("Bohemian Polka", "Polkarama"), and sometimes issues in contemporary news ("Headline News"). Yankovic claims he has no intention of writing "serious" music. In his reasoning, "There's enough people that do unfunny music. I'll leave the serious stuff to Paris Hilton and Kevin Federline."

Although many of Yankovic's songs are parodies of contemporary radio hits, it is rare that the song's primary topic lampoons the original artist as a person, or the song itself. Most Yankovic songs consist of the original song's music, with a separate, unrelated set of amusing lyrics. Yankovic considered that his first true satirical song was "Smells Like Nirvana", which references unintelligible lyrics in Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit". Other satirical songs include "Achy Breaky Song", which refers to the song "Achy Breaky Heart", "(This Song's Just) Six Words Long", which refers to the repetitious lyrics in "Got My Mind Set on You", the unreleased "It's Still Billy Joel to Me", and Perform This Way", set to Lady Gaga's "Born This Way".

Yankovic's humor normally lies more in creating unexpected incongruity between an artist's image and the topic of the song, contrasting the style of the song with its content (such as the songs "Amish Paradise", "White & Nerdy", and "You're Pitiful"), or in pointing out trends or works which have become pop culture clichés (such as "eBay" and "Don't Download This Song").

Yankovic is the sole writer for all his songs and, for "legal and personal reasons", does not accept parody submissions or ideas from fans. There exists, however, one exception to this rule in the case of "Like a Surgeon". Madonna was reportedly talking with a friend and happened to wonder aloud when Yankovic was going to turn her "Like a Virgin" into "Like a Surgeon". Madonna's friend was a mutual friend of Yankovic's manager, Jay Levey, and eventually Yankovic himself heard the story from Levey.

Unlike other parody artists such as Allan Sherman, Yankovic strives to keep the backing music in his parodies the same as the original. While Sherman reproduced them orchestrally, Yankovic and his band essentially play the original song with new lyrics. Instead of using instrumental versions of the original songs, Yankovic and his band transcribe the original song by ear and re-record the song for Yankovic's parody version. Sometimes artists whose work Yankovic parodies perform on the recordings,i.e. Dire Straits members Mark Knopfler and Guy Fletcher perform on Yankovic's parody of Dire Straits' "Money for Nothing" and "Money for Nothing/Beverly Hillbillies*".

Yankovic also includes a medley of various songs on most albums, each one reinterpreted as a polka, with the choruses or memorable lines of various songs juxtaposed for humorous effect. Yankovic has been known to say that converting these songs to polka was "...the way God intended". Because the polkas have become a staple of Yankovic's albums, he has said he tries to include one on each album because "fans would be rioting in the streets, I think, if I didn't do a polka medley."

Some of Yankovic's original songs are "style parodies" for which he chooses a band's entire body of work to honor/parody, rather than any single hit by that band. Such bands include Rage Against the Machine with "I'll Sue Ya" (which features many aspects of the hit song "Killing in the Name"), Devo with "Dare to Be Stupid", Talking Heads with "Dog Eat Dog", Frank Zappa with "Genius in France", Nine Inch Nails with "Germs", and Queen with "Ringtone". Others are style parodies in the style of a genre of music, rather than a specific band (for example, country music with "Good Enough For Now" and charity records with "Don't Download This Song").

Yankovic has contributed original songs to several films ("This Is the Life" from ''Johnny Dangerously''; "Polkamon" from the movie ''Pokémon: The Movie 2000'', and a parody of the James Bond title sequence in ''Spy Hard''), in addition to his own film, ''UHF''. Other songs of his have appeared in films or television series as well, such as "Dare to Be Stupid" in ''The Transformers: The Movie''.

One of Yankovic's recurring jokes involves the number 27. It is mentioned in the lyrics of several songs, and seen on the covers for ''Running With Scissors'', ''Poodle Hat'' and ''Straight Outta Lynwood''. He had originally just pulled the number 27 as a random figure to use in filling out lyrics, but as his fans started to notice the reuse of the number after the first few times, he began to purposely drop references to 27 within his lyrics, videos, and album covers. He explains that "It's just a number I started using that people started attaching a lot of importance to." Other recurring jokes revolve around the names Bob (the ''Al TV'' interviews often mention the name, and a song called "Bob" is featured on ''Poodle Hat''), Frank (e.g. "Frank's 2000" TV"), and the surname "Finkelstein" (e.g. the music video for "I Lost on Jeopardy", or Fran Drescher's character, Pamela Finkelstein, in ''UHF''). Also, a hamster called Harvey the Wonder Hamster is a recurring character in ''The Weird Al Show'' and the ''Al TV'' specials, as well as the subject of an original song on ''Alapalooza''. Other recurring jokes include Yankovic borrowing, or being owed, $5. In a number of ''Al TV'' interviews, he often asks if he can borrow $5, being turned down every time. This motif also occurs in "Why Does This Always Happen to Me?", in which his deceased friend owes him $5. Another recurring joke is his attraction to female nostrils or nostrils in general. This also appears in numerous ''Al TV'' interviews as well as in several of his songs ("Albuquerque" and "Wanna B Ur Lovr" to name a few.) Yankovic also asks his celebrity guests if they could "shave his back for a nickel." This also appears in the song "Albuquerque". Yankovic has also put two backmasking messages into his songs. The first, in "Nature Trail to Hell", said "Satan Eats Cheez Whiz"; the second, in "I Remember Larry", said "Wow, you must have an awful lot of free time on your hands."

Yankovic's career in novelty and comedy music has outlasted many of his "mainstream" parody targets, such as Toni Basil, MC Hammer, and Men Without Hats. Yankovic's continued success (including the top 10 single "White & Nerdy" and album ''Straight Outta Lynwood'' in 2006) has enabled him to escape the one-hit wonder stigma often associated with novelty music.

Music videos[link]

While Yankovic's musical parodies generally do not include references to the songs or the artists of the original songs, Yankovic's music videos will sometimes parody the original song's music video in whole or in part. Most notably, the video for "Smells Like Nirvana" uses an extremely similar set to Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit", including using several of the same actors. This video contended with "Smells like Teen Spirit" at the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards for Best Male Video. Other videos that draw directly from those of the original song include "Eat It", "Fat", "Money for Nothing/Beverly Hillbillies*", "Bedrock Anthem", "Headline News", "It's All about the Pentiums", "Amish Paradise", "Like a Surgeon", and "White & Nerdy". The video for "Dare to Be Stupid" is, as stated by Yankovic, a style parody in general of Devo videos.

Several videos have included appearances by notable celebrities in addition to Yankovic and his band. Dr. Demento appeared in several of Yankovic's earlier videos, such as "I Love Rocky Road" and "Ricky". Actor Dick Van Patten is featured in both "Smells Like Nirvana" and "Bedrock Anthem"; Drew Carey, Emo Philips and Phil LaMarr appeared in "It's All About the Pentiums"; Keegan-Michael Key, Jordan Peele, Donny Osmond, Judy Tenuta and Seth Green appeared in "White & Nerdy"; and Ruth Buzzi and Pat Boone appeared in "Gump". The video for "I Lost on Jeopardy" includes an appearance by Greg Kihn, the artist whose song, "Jeopardy", was being parodied, along with Don Pardo and Art Fleming, Jeopardy's original announcer and host, as themselves. Florence Henderson played Yankovic's Amish wife in "Amish Paradise".

While most videos that Yankovic creates are aired on music channels such as MTV and VH1, Yankovic worked with animation artists to create music videos for release with extended content albums. The DualDisc version of ''Straight Outta Lynwood'' features six videos set to songs from the release, including videos created by Bill Plympton and John Kricfalusi; one video, "Weasel Stomping Day" was created by the producers of the show ''Robot Chicken'', and aired as a segment of that program. As of fall 2010, Yankovic is again collaborating with Bill Plympton to create a video for a new song ("TMZ") which will appear on his upcoming album.

Reactions from original artists[link]

Under the "fair use" provision of U.S. copyright law, affirmed by the United States Supreme Court, one does not need permission to record a parody. However, as a personal rule, and as a means of maintaining good relationships within the music community, Yankovic has always requested permission from the original artist before recording his parodies. He claims that only about two to three percent of the artists he approaches for parody permission deny his requests. Also, according to Stanford Libraries, fair use is unlikely to justify a parody song that parodies more than a few lines of song lyrics from an existing song.

Positive[link]

Michael Jackson was a big fan of Yankovic, and Yankovic claimed Jackson "had always been very supportive" of his work. Jackson twice allowed him to parody his songs ("Beat It" and "Bad" became "Eat It" and "Fat", respectively). When Jackson granted Yankovic permission to do "Fat", Jackson allowed him to use the same set built for his own "Badder" video from the ''Moonwalker'' video. Though Jackson allowed "Eat It" and "Fat", he requested that Yankovic not record a parody of "Black or White", titled "Snack All Night", because he felt the message was too important. This refusal, coming shortly after the commercial failure of Yankovic's movie ''UHF'' in theaters, had initially set Yankovic back; he later recognized this as a critical time, as in searching for new parodies, he came across Nirvana and leading to a revitalization of his career with "Smells Like Nirvana". Yankovic has performed a concert-only parody "Snack All Night" in some of his live shows. Yankovic had a cameo appearance, along with many other celebrities, in Jackson's music video for "Liberian Girl".

Dave Grohl of Nirvana said that the band felt they had "made it" after Yankovic recorded "Smells Like Nirvana", a parody of the grunge band's smash hit, "Smells Like Teen Spirit". On his ''Behind the Music'' special, Yankovic stated that when he called Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain to ask if he could parody the song, Cobain gave him permission, then paused and asked, "Um... it's not gonna be about food, is it?" Yankovic responded with, "No, it'll be about how no one can understand your lyrics." According to members of Nirvana interviewed for ''Behind the Music'', when they saw the video of the song, they laughed hysterically. Additionally, Cobain described Yankovic as "a musical genius".

Mark Knopfler approved Yankovic's parody of the Dire Straits song "Money for Nothing" for use in the film ''UHF'' on the provision that Knopfler himself be allowed to play lead guitar on the parody which was later titled "Money for Nothing/Beverly Hillbillies*". Yankovic commented on the legal complications of the parody in the DVD audio commentary for ''UHF'', explaining "We had to name that song 'Money for Nothing 'slash' Beverly Hillbillies 'asterisk' because the lawyers told us that had to be the name. Those wacky lawyers! What ya gonna do?" The ''Permanent Record: Al in the Box'' booklet referred to the song's "compound fracture of a title." When a fan asked about the song's title, Yankovic shared his feelings on the title, replying "That incredibly stupid name is what the lawyers insisted that the parody be listed as. I'm not sure why, and I've obviously never been very happy about it."

The Presidents of the United States of America were so pleased with "Gump", Yankovic's parody of their song "Lump", that they ended the song with his last line instead of their own ("And that's all I have to say about that") on the live recording of "Lump" featured on the compilation album ''Pure Frosting''. In 2008, Yankovic directed the music video for their song "Mixed Up S.O.B."

Don McLean was reportedly pleased with "The Saga Begins", a parody of "American Pie", and told Yankovic that the parody's lyrics sometimes enter his mind during live performances. His parody not only replicates the music from the original Don McLean song, but it replicates the multi-layered rhyming structure in the verses and chorus. Additionally, George Lucas loved the song and a Lucasfilm representative told Yankovic, "You should have seen the smile on his face."

Chamillionaire was also very pleased, even putting Yankovic's parody "White & Nerdy" (a parody of "Ridin'") on his official MySpace page before it was on Yankovic's own page. Chamillionaire stated in an interview, "He's actually rapping pretty good on it, it's crazy [...] I didn't know he could rap like that. It's really an honor when he does that. [...] Weird Al is not gonna do a parody of your song if you're not doing it big." In September 2007, Chamillionaire credited "White & Nerdy" for his recent Grammy win, stating "That parody was the reason I won the Grammy, because it made the record so big it was undeniable. It was so big overseas that people were telling me they had heard my version of Weird Al's song."

In 2011, Yankovic was initially denied permission to parody Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" for his song "Perform This Way" for release on a new album, but through his release of the song on YouTube and subsequent spread via Twitter, Lady Gaga and her staff asserted that her manager had made the decision without her input, and Gaga herself gave Yankovic permission to proceed with the parody's release. Gaga considered herself "a huge Weird Al fan", and she stated that the parody was a "rite of passage" for her musical career and considered the song "very empowering".

Negative[link]

One of Yankovic's most controversial parodies was 1996's "Amish Paradise", based on "Gangsta's Paradise" by hip-hop artist Coolio, which, in turn, was based on "Pastime Paradise" by Stevie Wonder. Reportedly, Coolio's label gave Yankovic the impression that Coolio had granted permission to record the parody, but Coolio maintains that he never did. While Coolio claimed he was upset, legal action never materialized, and Coolio accepted royalty payments for the song. After this controversy, Yankovic has always made sure to speak directly with the artist of every song he parodied. At the XM Satellite Radio booth at the 2006 Consumer Electronics Show Yankovic and Coolio made peace. On his website, Yankovic wrote of this event, ''"I don’t remember what we said to each other exactly, but it was all very friendly. I doubt I’ll be invited to Coolio’s next birthday party, but at least I can stop wearing that bulletproof vest to the mall."''

In 2003, Yankovic was denied permission to make a video for "Couch Potato", his parody of Eminem's "Lose Yourself":{{Block quote|Last year, Eminem forced me to halt production on the video for my 'Lose Yourself' parody because he somehow thought that it would be harmful to his image or career.}}

For the ''Poodle Hat'' ''Al TV'' special, Yankovic raised the question of artistic expression in a fake interview with Eminem. As Yankovic has always done for his ''Al TV'' specials, he edited the footage of a previous Eminem interview and inserted himself asking questions for comic effect.

Refused parodies[link]

On numerous occasions, Prince has refused Yankovic permission to record parodies of his songs. Yankovic has stated in interviews that he has "approached him every few years [to] see if he's lightened up." Yankovic related one story where, prior to the American Music Awards where he and Prince were assigned to sit in the same row, he got a telegram from Prince's lawyers, demanding he not make eye contact with the artist.

Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page is a self-proclaimed Yankovic fan, but when Yankovic wished to create a polka medley of Led Zeppelin songs, Page refused. Yankovic was, however, allowed the very rare opportunity to re-record a sample of "Black Dog" for a segment of "Trapped in the Drive-Thru".

Paul McCartney, also a Yankovic fan, refused Yankovic permission to record a parody of Wings' "Live and Let Die", titled "Chicken Pot Pie", because McCartney is a vegetarian and found the parody to be in bad taste.

In 2006, Yankovic gained James Blunt's permission to record a parody of "You're Beautiful". However, after Yankovic had recorded "You're Pitiful", Blunt's label, Atlantic Records, rescinded this permission, despite Blunt's personal approval of the song. The parody was pulled from Yankovic's ''Straight Outta Lynwood'' due to his label's unwillingness to "go to war" with Atlantic. Yankovic released the song as a free download on his MySpace profile, as well as his official website, and plays it in concert, since it was not Blunt himself objecting to the parody.

Live performances[link]

Yankovic often describes his live concert performances as "a rock and comedy multimedia extravaganza" with an audience that "ranges from toddlers to geriatrics." Apart from Yankovic and his band performing his classic and contemporary hits, staples of Yankovic's live performances include a medley of parodies, many costume changes between songs, and a video screen on which various clips are played during the costume changes. A concert from Yankovic's 1999 tour for the ''Running with Scissors'' album ("Touring with Scissors") was released on VHS in 1999 and on DVD in 2000. Titled ''"Weird Al" Yankovic Live!'', the concert was recorded at the Marin County Civic Center in San Rafael, California, on October 2, 1999. For legal reasons, video clips (apart from those for Yankovic's own music videos) could not be shown for the home release, and unreleased parodies were removed from the parody medley for the performance.

2003 saw Yankovic on tour overseas for the first time. Before 2003, Yankovic and his band had toured only the United States and parts of Canada. Following the success of ''Poodle Hat'' in Australia, Yankovic performed eleven shows in Australia's major capital cities and regional areas in October of that year. Yankovic returned to Australia and toured New Zealand for the first time in 2007 to support the ''Straight Outta Lynwood'' album. On September 8, 2007, Yankovic performed his 1,000th live show at Idaho Falls, Idaho.

He performed his first ever European mini-tour, including an appearance at the All Tomorrow's Parties music festival in Minehead, England in December 2010. Yankovic was picked to perform by the Canadian band Godspeed You Black Emperor who curated the festival's lineup. Yankovic played three other dates in the UK around his festival appearance before performing a single date in the Netherlands.

Other work[link]

''UHF''[link]

In 1989, Yankovic starred in a full-length feature film, co-written by himself and manager Jay Levey, and filmed in Tulsa, Oklahoma called ''UHF''. A satire of the television and film industries, also starring Michael Richards, Fran Drescher, and Victoria Jackson, it brought floundering studio Orion their highest test scores since the movie ''RoboCop''. However, it was unsuccessful in theaters.

The film has since become a cult classic, with out-of-print copies of the VHS version selling for up to $100 on eBay until the release of the DVD in 2002. Yankovic occasionally shows clips from the film at his concerts (to which MGM, the film's current owner, initially objected in the form of a cease and desist letter). In an apparent attempt to make it more accessible to overseas audiences, where the term UHF is used less frequently to describe TV broadcasts, the film was titled ''The Vidiot From UHF'' in Australia and parts of Europe.

''UHF'' shows the creation of Yankovic's signature food—the Twinkie Wiener Sandwich. The snack consists of an overturned Twinkie split open as a makeshift bun, a hot dog, and Easy Cheese put together and dipped in milk before eating. Yankovic has stated that he has switched to using tofu hot dogs since becoming a vegetarian, but still enjoys the occasional Twinkie Wiener Sandwich.

Notable television appearances[link]

Yankovic had a TV series called ''The Weird Al Show'', which aired from September 1997 to December 1997 on CBS. Though the show appeared to be geared at children, the humor was really more for his adult fans (as such, it is often compared to ''Pee-wee's Playhouse''). The entire series was released on DVD by Shout! Factory on August 15, 2006.

Yankovic has hosted ''Al TV'' on MTV and ''Al Music'' on MuchMusic many times, generally coinciding with the release of each new album. For ''Poodle Hat'', ''Al TV'' appeared on VH1 for the first time. A recurring segment of ''Al TV'' involves Yankovic manipulating interviews for comic effect. He inserts himself into a previously conducted interview with a musician, and then manipulates his questions, resulting in bizarre and comic responses from the celebrity.

VH1 produced a ''Behind the Music'' episode on Yankovic. His two commercial failures (his film ''UHF'' and his 1986 album ''Polka Party!'') were presented as having a larger impact on the direction of his career than they really had. Also, Coolio's later disapproval of "Amish Paradise" was played up as a large feud. Much was also made over his apparent lack of a love life, though he got married shortly after the program aired. The episode was updated and re-released in early 2012 as part of the "Behind the Music Remastered" series.

Yankovic has done voice-overs for a number of animated series. He appeared in a 2003 episode of ''The Simpsons'', singing "The Ballad of Homer & Marge" (a parody of John Mellencamp's "Jack and Diane") with his band. The episode, "Three Gays of the Condo", in which Marge hires Yankovic to sing the aforementioned song to Homer in an attempt to reconcile their marriage, later won an Emmy Award for "Outstanding Animated Program (For Programming Less Than One Hour)". Yankovic also had a cameo in a 2008 episode, titled "That '90s Show", during which he records a parody of Homer's grunge hit "Shave Me" titled "Brain Freeze" (Homer's song, "Shave Me", was itself a parody of Nirvana's "Rape Me") making Yankovic one of only a handful of celebrities to appear twice on the show playing themselves. He appeared in the animated Adult Swim show ''Robot Chicken'', which provided him with a music video for the song "Weasel Stomping Day". Yankovic is the voice for Squid Hat on the Cartoon Network show, ''The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy''. He is also the announcer of the cartoon's eponymous video game adaptation. Yankovic had a guest appearance voicing Wreck-Gar, a waste collection vehicle Transformer in the ''Transformers: Animated'' cartoon series; previously, Yankovic's "Dare to Be Stupid" song was featured in the 1986 animated film ''The Transformers: The Movie'', during the sequence in which the Wreck-Gar character was first introduced; as such, the song is referenced in the episode. He also plays local TV talent show host Uncle Muscles on several episodes of ''Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job'' along with other appearances on the show. Weird Al has also supplied the voice of one-shot character 'Petroleum Joe' on ''The Brak Show''. He also voiced himself on a ''Back at the Barnyard'' episode, and he appeared as a ringmaster who helps the regular characters of Yo Gabba Gabba organize a circus in a 2007 episode of the children's show. In 2012, Al was extensively featured in the sixth season episode of ''30 Rock'' called "Kidnapped by Danger", where Jenna tries to come up with a "Weird Al-proof" song.

An exhaustive list of television shows on which Yankovic has appeared is available on his official website.

Directing career[link]

"Weird Al" Yankovic has directed many of his own music videos; he has directed all of his music videos from 1993’s "Bedrock Anthem" to 2006’s "White & Nerdy". He also directed the end sequence of 1986’s "Christmas at Ground Zero" (an original piece juxtaposing Christmas with nuclear warfare) from his ''Polka Party!'' album and the title sequence to ''Spy Hard'', for which he sang the title song. Yankovic wrote, directed and starred in the short 3-D movie attraction "Al's Brain: A 3-D Journey Through The Human Brain", which premiered at the Orange County Fair in Costa Mesa, California in 2009. The $2.5 million project sponsored by the Orange County Fair, including a brief cameo by Sir Paul McCartney that Yankovic directed during McCartney's tour at the 2009 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. Fair CEO Steve Beazley, who supported the project, considers the project a success and is considering leasing the exhibit to other fairs; the second appearance of the exhibit will be at the Puyallup Fair in Washington.

In addition to his own, he has directed several videos for Hanson (the ''Titanic'' sequences in "River"), The Black Crowes ("Only a Fool"), Ben Folds ("Rockin' the Suburbs"), Jeff Foxworthy ("Redneck Stomp" and "Party All Night"), Blues Explosion ("Wail"), and The Presidents of the United States of America ("Mixed Up S.O.B"). He has cameo appearances in his videos for Blues Explosion, Hanson (as the interviewer), and Ben Folds (as the producer fixing Folds' "shitty tracks").

Cartoon Network feature film[link]

On January 25, 2010, Yankovic announced that he signed a production deal with Warner Bros. and is set to write and direct a live-action feature film. Although Yankovic previously wrote the script for ''UHF'', this was to be the first movie Yankovic directed. Little is currently known about the movie. However, Yankovic did state that he would not be starring in the movie, as Cartoon Network wanted a younger protagonist. During an interview on the Comedy Death-Ray Radio, Yankovic revealed that though Cartoon Network "loved" his script, the network decided that they were no longer intending to produce feature films. Yankovic stated that he would instead shop the script around to other potential studios.

Writing[link]

Yankovic wrote ''When I Grow Up'' (ISBN 978-0-06-192691-4), a children's book released on February 1, 2011 and published by HarperCollins. The book features 8-year-old Billy presenting to his class the wide variety of imaginative career possibilities that he is considering. Yankovic stated that the idea for the book was based on his own "circuitous" career path. The book allows Yankovic to apply the humorous writing style found in his music in another medium, allowing him to use puns and rhymes. Yankovic worked with Harper Collins' editor Anne Hoppe—the first time that Yankovic has had an editor—and found her help as a positive experience. The book is illustrated by Wes Hargis, who, according to Yankovic, has a "a childlike quality and a very fun quality and a very imaginative quality" that matched well with Yankovic's writing. The book reached the #4 position on ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list for Children's Picture Books for the week of February 20, 2011.

Other media[link]

Yankovic competed on a week of ''Wheel of Fortune'' taped at Disney's Hollywood Studios in March 1994. He also competed on ''Rock & Roll Jeopardy!''

In 2008, Weird Al joined Michael J. Nelson as a guest on the RiffTrax treatment of ''Jurassic Park''.

On November 10, 2009, Weird Al was a guest "internet scientist" on Rocketboom's "Know Your Meme" video series, in the installment on the topic of Autotune, hosted by Jamie Wilkinson.

Eric Appel produced a Funny or Die movie trailer for "Weird: The Al Yankovic Story", a fictional biographical film that parodies other films based on musicians; Yankovic (played by Aaron Paul) is seen hiding his "weirdness" from his parents (Gary Cole and Mary Steenburgen), making it big using song parodies with the help of Dr. Demento (Patton Oswalt), falling in and out of love with Madonna (Olivia Wilde), and fading into alcoholism and being arrested, where his father finally admits he is "weird" as well. Yankovic himself plays a music producer in the short.

Weird Al joined the band Hanson in their music video for "Thinking Bout Somethin" in which he plays the tambourine.

Yankovic contributes backing vocals for the song "Time" on Ben Folds' album ''Songs for Silverman''.

Yankovic also appeared in the recent ''Halloween II'' as himself on a news channel.

Yankovic was also one of many celebrities who took part in the NOH8 Campaign against Proposition 8 banning same-sex marriage in California.

Yankovic was approached by a beer company to endorse their product. Yankovic had turned it down because he believed that "a lot of my fans were young and impressionable." Yankovic later posted on his Twitter account that he never regretted the decision.

In 2011, Yankovic guest starred as the character "Banana Man" in an episode of ''Adventure Time''. The same year, he appeared as himself in the ''How I Met Your Mother'' episode "Noretta".

Misattribution and imitators[link]

Songs posted to file sharing networks are often misattributed to him due to their humorous subject matter. Often, his surname is misspelled (and thus mispronounced) as "Yankovich", among other variations. Much to the disdain of Yankovic, these misattributed files include songs that are racist, sexually explicit, or otherwise offensive. A young listener who had heard several of these offensive tracks by way of a file sharing service confronted Yankovic online, threatening a boycott due to his supposedly explicit lyrics. Quite a few of the songs, such as "Star Wars Cantina" by the pre-''Lounge Against the Machine'' Mark Jonathan Davis, "Star Wars Gangsta Rap", "Yoda Smokes Weed", "Chewbacca" and several more have a ''Star Wars'' motif. Some songs misattributed to him are not songs, but spoken skits, such as "Sesame Street on crack", which is also widely misattributed to Adam Sandler.

Yankovic cites these misattributions as "his only real beef with peer-to-peer file sharing sites": }}

A list of songs frequently misattributed to Yankovic can be found at The Not Al Page and a list of all commercially released songs recorded by Yankovic can be found on his website.

In an episode of HBO's "Mr. Show with Bob and David" called ''Rudy Will Await Your Foundation'', Bob Odenkirk plays a character called Daffy "Mal" Yinkleyankle, a parody of Weird Al. Al, who claims it was the only genuine parody act on himself he has ever seen, told Odenkirk over e-mail that he was "flattered, in a weird way" and "found it very funny".

Fan-driven campaigns[link]

The Weird Al Star Fund is a campaign started by Yankovic's fans to get him a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Their mission is to "solicit, collect, and raise the necessary money, and to compile the information needed for the application to nominate "Weird Al" Yankovic for a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame." Fans worldwide have sent donations to raise the US$15,000 needed for a nomination. In addition to the preferred method of cash donations, many methods were used to raise money for the cause, such as a live benefit show held April 11, 2006, and selling merchandise on the official website and eBay, including T-shirts, calendars, and cookbooks. On May 26, 2006, the campaign hit the then-$15,000 target, just five days before the May 31 deadline to submit the necessary paperwork. However, Yankovic was not included on the list of inductees for 2007. On February 9, 2007, the Hollywood Chamber Of Commerce raised the price to sponsor a new star to $25,000 and as such the Fund is accepting donations again. Yankovic's application was resubmitted for consideration in 2007, but he was not included among 2008's inductees.

Similar to the Weird Al Star Fund, a second fan-driven campaign called "Make the Rock Hall 'Weird'" has tried to enshrine him into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio, for which he has been eligible since 2004. Previous attempts to raise awareness for the campaign and support Yankovic's nomination included a petition drive from 2006 to 2007, which raised over 9000 signatures; an art competition in 2005; additionally, a documentary film about the campaign is currently being developed. In addition to these efforts, an ongoing campaign is underway in which supporters of Yankovic's nomination are requested to send "sincere, thoughtful" letters to the Rock Hall Foundation's headquarters in New York. The Hall has not considered Yankovic for nomination since the campaign started in 2004. A 2009 ''Rolling Stone'' poll named Weird Al as the top artist that should be nominated for the Hall of Fame, followed by Rush and The Moody Blues in the top ten."

There is a petition on the Internet to have Weird Al perform at the Super Bowl XLVII half time show. It currently has over 5,000 signatures.

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

Title	Releaseyear	Peak chart position
		! style="width:3em;font-size:90%"	Billboard Comedy Album
	1983
''"Weird Al" Yankovic in 3-D''	1984
''Dare to Be Stupid''	1985
''Polka Party!''	1986
''Even Worse''	1988
''UHF – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack and Other Stuff''	1989
''Off the Deep End''	1992
''Alapalooza''	1993
''Bad Hair Day''	1996
	1999
''Poodle Hat''	2003
''Straight Outta Lynwood''	2006
''Alpocalypse''	2011

Note: Billboard Comedy Album chart was first published in November, 2004.

EPs[link]

Title	Release year
''Another One Rides the Bus (EP)	Another One Rides the Bus''	1981
''Selections from Straight Outta Lynwood''	2006
''Internet Leaks''	2009

Compilation albums[link]

Title	Release year
''Greatest Hits (Weird Al)	Greatest Hits''	1988
''The Food Album''	1993
''Permanent Record: Al in the Box''	1994
''Greatest Hits (Volume II)">Greatest Hits Volume II ("Weird Al" Yankovic album)	Greatest Hits (Volume II)''	1994
''The TV Album''	1995
''The Essential "Weird Al" Yankovic''	2009

Awards and nominations[link]

Grammy Awards

!Year	!Nominated work	!Award	!Result
	1984		"Eat It"	Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album	Best Comedy Recording
	Grammy Awards of 1986>1985		''Dare to Be Stupid''
	Grammy Awards of 1988>1987		''Polka Party!''
rowspan="3"		Fat (song)>Fat"	Grammy Award for Best Concept Music Video	Best Concept Music Video
	''Even Worse''	Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album	Best Comedy Recording
	Peter and the Wolf">Peter and the Wolf ("Weird Al" Yankovic & Wendy Carlos album)>Peter and the Wolf''	Grammy Award for Best Album for Children	Best Recording for Children
	Grammy Awards of 1993>1992		''Off the Deep End''
	Grammy Awards of 1995>1994		"Jurassic Park"
	46th Grammy Awards>2003		''Poodle Hat''
rowspan="2"
	52nd Grammy Awards>2009		''Internet Leaks''
rowspan="2"		''Alpocalypse''	Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album	Best Comedy Album
	"Perform This Way"

Gold and platinum records

! Recording	! Gold	! Platinum	! DoublePlatinum
''"Weird Al" Yankovic''	U.S.
''"Weird Al" Yankovic in 3-D''	CanadaU.S.	U.S.
"Eat It"	AustraliaCanadaU.S.
''Dare to be Stupid''	U.S.	U.S.
''Even Worse''	CanadaU.S.	U.S.
''"Weird Al" Yankovic's Greatest Hits''	Canada
''Off the Deep End''	CanadaU.S.	CanadaU.S.
''The Food Album''	U.S.
''Alapalooza''	CanadaU.S.	Canada	Canada
''Greatest Hits Volume II''	Canada
''Bad Hair Day''	CanadaU.S.	CanadaU.S.
''Running With Scissors''	AustraliaCanadaU.S.	U.S.
''Straight Outta Lynwood''	U.S.
"White & Nerdy"	U.S.	U.S.

The "Eat It" single reached the #1 position on the Australian singles chart in 1984.

The "White & Nerdy" single was certified platinum for digital downloads and gold for ringtone downloads in the U.S.

Videography[link]

The following is a comprehensive list of Yankovic's long form videos to date, with the United States release date.

Video title !! Release date
''The Compleat Al''	August 1985
	July 21, 1989
''The "Weird Al" Yankovic Video Library''	May 1992
''Alapalooza: The Videos''	December 1993
''"Weird Al" Yankovic: The Ultimate Collection''	1993
''Bad Hair Day: The Videos''	June 1996
''"Weird Al" Yankovic: The Videos''	January 1998
''"Weird Al" Yankovic Live!''	November 23, 1999
''"Weird Al" Yankovic: The Ultimate Video Collection''	November 3, 2003
''The Weird Al Show - The Complete Series''	August 15, 2006
''- The Alpocalypse Tour">"Weird Al" Yankovic Live	- The Alpocalypse Tour''	October 4, 2011
''Alpocalypse HD''	November 8, 2011

Awards and nominations[link]

{| |- |Grammy Award winners

"Fat" – Best Concept Music Video (1988)

|- |Grammy Award nominees

"Jurassic Park" – Best Music Video, Short Form (1994)

"Perform This Way" – Best Music Video, Short Form (2011)

|- |Australian gold long form videos

''The Ultimate Video Collection''

|- |U.S. gold long form videos

''The "Weird Al" Yankovic Video Library''

''Alapalooza: The Videos''

''"Weird Al" Yankovic Live!''

''Bad Hair Day: The Videos''

|- |U.S. platinum long form videos

''The Ultimate Video Collection''

|}

Cameos and special appearances in film[link]

1988: ''Tapeheads''

1988: ''The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!''

1991: ''The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear''

1994: ''Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult''

1996: ''Spy Hard''

1997: ''Safety Patrol''

2000: ''Nothing Sacred''

2002: ''Desperation Boulevard''

2003: ''Haunted Lighthouse''

2008: ''Nerdcore Rising''

2009: ''Halloween II''

References[link]

External links[link]

Official website

"Weird Al" timeline from Exclaim!

Category:1959 births Category:American accordionists Category:American comedy musicians Category:American male singers Category:American music video directors Category:American people of English descent Category:American musicians of Italian descent Category:American novelty song performers Category:American satirists Category:American singer-songwriters Category:American vegans Category:American vegetarians Category:American voice actors Category:California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo alumni Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Living people Category:Nerdcore hip hop artists Category:Parody musicians Category:Musicians from Los Angeles, California Category:People from Lynwood, California Category:American people of Yugoslav descent Category:Polka musicians Category:RCA Records artists Category:Capitol Records artists

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name	Francesco Guccini
background	solo_singer
birth date	June 14, 1940
birth place	Modena, Italy
death date
genre	Folk Rock, Beat Music
occupation	Musician, Songwriter
instrument	Acoustic guitar
years active	1960–present
label	EMI
website
notable instruments	}}

:''For the album, see Guccini (album).

Francesco Guccini (, born June 14, 1940) is an Italian singer-songwriter, considered one of the most important Cantautori. During the five decades of his music career he has recorded 16 studio albums and collections, and 6 live albums. He is also a writer, having published autobiographic and noir novels, and a comics artist. Guccini also worked as actor, soundtrack composer, lexicographer and dialectologist.

Guccini moved to Pàvana during World War II, then returned to Modena where he spent his teenage years and established his musical career. His debut album, Folk beat n. 1, was released in 1967, but the first success was in 1972 with the album Radici. He was harshly criticised after releasing Stanze di vita quotidiana, and answered to his critics with the song "L'avvelenata". His studio albums production slowed down in the nineties and 2000s, but his live albums continued being successful.

His lyrics have been praised for their poetic and literary value and have been used in schools as an example of modern poetry. Guccini has gained the appreciation of critics and fans, who regard him as an iconic figure. He has received several awards for his works; an asteroid, a cactus species and a butterfly subspecies have been named after him. The main instrument in most of his songs is the acoustic guitar.

Origins [link]

Guccini was born in 1940 in Modena, Italy. His father, Ferruccio Guccini, was a postal employee, and his mother, Ester Prandi, was a housewife. While his father served in the Italian military during World War II, Guccini lived with his grandparents in a small village in the Apennine Mountains in northern Tuscany called Pàvana, where he spent his childhood. His years spent in the somewhat archaic society of the mountains of central Italy was to be a strong inspiration throughout his career, and it became one of the key recurring themes of his songs and books.

When World War II had ended, Guccini moved back to his family in Modena. He studied at the Istituto Magistrale Carlo Sigonio, the same school Luciano Pavarotti had attended, earning his high school diploma in 1958. Guccini spent his teenage years in Modena, as he later recounted in his second novel ''Vacca d'un Cane'' and in songs including "Piccola Città", which paints a bitter portrait of the city as "a strange enemy".

Youth and musical beginnings [link]

Guccini's first job was as a teacher at a boarding school in Pesaro, but he was fired after a month and a half. He then worked as a journalist at the Gazzetta di Modena for two years. In April 1960, Guccini interviewed Domenico Modugno, who had just won two consecutive Sanremo Festivals. This inspired Guccini to write "L'antisociale", his first composition as a singer-songwriter. In 1958 Guccini was guitarist and vocalist in a group first called Hurricanes, then Snakers and finally Gatti. The group included Pier Farri (drums), who would later become Guccini's producer; Victor Sogliani (saxophone), future member of Equipe 84; and Franco Fini Storchi (guitar). Guccini wrote his first songs while in the Snakers, in a style inspired by The Everly Brothers and Peppino di Capri. The group performed for two years, touring around Northern Italy and Switzerland. In 1961 the Guccini family moved to Bologna, and Francesco enrolled at the University of Bologna to study foreign languages. The next year he undertook mandatory military service, an experience he described as "substantially positive". When he returned to Bologna, Guccini was asked to join the band Equipe 84, but he declined in order to continue his studies. He later quit university just before taking his degree (he was conferred a degree honoris causa in science education in 2002). The band Cantacronache was an important influence in Guccini's artistic growth, as was Bob Dylan.

Debut (1967–1969) [link]

Record Producer CGD commissioned Guccini to write a song for the 1967 Sanremo Festival, "Una storia d'amore", to be sung by Caterina Caselli and Gigliola Cinquetti at . The song, though, was not selected for the event, and Guccini was embittered by the edits made by two lyricists engaged by CGD. Guccini made his debut as a singer-songwriter in March 1967, with the album Folk beat n. 1, which received little commercial success. Three of the songs recorded for the album had previously been successes for Nomadi and Equipe 84: "Noi non ci saremo", "L'antisociale" and "Auschwitz". The latter was translated and sung in English by Equipe 84, as well as by Rod MacDonald in his 1994 album ''Man on the Ledge''. Another song from the album, "In morte di S.F.", later renamed "Canzone per un'amica", was recorded by Nomadi in 1968. From 1965 onward, Guccini spent 20 years teaching Italian at the off-campus Dickinson College, in Bologna.

In May 1967 Guccini made his first appearance in television, on ''Diamoci del tu'', hosted by Caterina Caselli and Giorgio Gaber singing "Auschwitz". He wrote several songs for Caselli and for Nomadi, who made his song "Dio è morto" become widely popular; it became one of his most famous songs, despite being censored by the RAI for blasphemy. In 1968 the 45 rpm record ''Un altro giorno è andato/Il bello'' was released; Guccini re-recorded the Side A song in an acoustic version for his 1970 album ''L'isola non trovata''. His first concert was held the same year at the La Cittadella Cultural Centre in Assisi.

1970s[link]

In 1970 Guccini released his second album, ''Due anni dopo'', recorded in the autumn of 1969. The main themes of the album are the passage of time and the analysis of everyday life in the context of bourgeois hypocrisy, with a noticeable influence from French music and from Leopardi's poetic style. After this album Guccini started his 10 year long collaboration with folksinger Deborah Kooperman, who played fingerstyle guitar on it, a style mostly unknown in Italy at the time. Eleven months after ''Due anni dopo'', the album ''L'isola non trovata'' was released. The title was a literary reference to Guido Gozzano, and the song "La collina" contained a reference to J. D. Salinger. Guccini's fame began to spread beyond Bologna, partly thanks to the appearance in the TV show ''Speciale tre milioni'', where he sang some of his songs and befriended Claudio Baglioni. In 1971 he married his long-time girlfriend Roberta Baccilieri, who was pictured on the back cover of his next album.

The turning point in Guccini's career was in 1972 thanks to the album ''Radici'' (roots), about the constant research of one's origins.. This was also conveyed by the image on the front cover of the album, portraying Guccini's grandparents and their siblings next to their old mountain home. ''Radici'' contains some of his most renowned and popular songs, like "Incontro", "Piccola Città", "Il vecchio e il bambino", "La Canzone della bambina portoghese", "Canzone dei dodici mesi", and "La locomotiva", based on a real event and dealing with themes of equality, social justice and freedom, with a style similar to the anarchic music of the end of the 19th century. In the same year Guccini brought Claudio Lolli, a young singer-songwriter, to his record label, EMI Italiana. He later wrote two songs with him, "Keaton" and "Ballando con una sconosciuta".

In 1973 Guccini released ''Opera buffa'', a light-hearted and playful album, which showed his skills as an ironic, theatrical and cultured cabaret artist. Guccini was perplexed by the release of the disc, especially because of its arrangements and because it was recorded live (with overdubs made in a recording studio). One year later ''Stanze di vita quotidiana'' was released, with a mixed reception by fans and critics. It included six long and melancholic songs, a mirror of the crisis Guccini faced, worsened by constant disagreements with his producer Pier Farri. Guccini received harsh criticism, including a slating by the critic Riccardo Bertoncelli, who said the singer songwriter was "a finished artist, who has nothing else to say". Guccini answered with the song "L'avvelenata", a few years later.

Guccini had his first commercial success in 1976, with ''Via Paolo Fabbri 43'', which was the sixth best-selling album of the year. It was named after the address of the house in Bologna where he lived. He sang with a more mature and determined voice, and the musical structure was more complex than in his earlier works. The album contained "L'avvelenata", a bitter and colourful reply to the criticism he received for ''Stanze di vita quotidiana'', which cited one of his critics, Riccardo Bertoncelli. Later Guccini was reluctant in performing the song during concerts, saying it was obsolete. The title track was an abstract description of Guccini's life in Bologna, which referenced Borges and Barthes; it also mentioned the "three heroins of Italian song", Alice, Marinella and Lilly, three women from songs by Italian singer-songwriters De Gregori, De André and Venditti. Other notable tracks were "Canzone quasi d'Amore", characterised by existential poetry, and "Il pensionato", about an old neighbour of Guccini, focusing on the sad psychological situation of some old people. Guccini's next album, ''Amerigo'' was released in 1978. The most popular song was "Eskimo", but Guccini claimed the highest point was the title track, a ballad about an emigrant uncle of his. In 1977 the weekly magazine ''Grand Hotel'' featured Guccini on the cover titled "The father every teenager would have liked to have". Guccini did not endorse the article, which was based on an interview he did not know would be published, and commented: "I cannot understand how they chose that title, I write songs for an audience of people in their thirties, I do not see how an audience of sixteen year olds fresh out of school could relate with the things I say". In the same year, Guccini separated from his wife Roberta (the song "Eskimo" is about this event), and started cohabitating with Angela. In 1978 they had a daughter, Teresa, to whom the songs "Culodritto" and "E un giorno..." are dedicated. In 1979 the live album ''Album concerto'', recorded in a concert with Nomadi, was released. It was peculiar because the songs were performed in duet with Augusto Daolio, and because it included previously unreleased songs: "Dio è morto", "Noi", and "Per fare un uomo".

1980s [link]

The first album released by Guccini in the eighties was ''Metropolis'', which was characterised by the description of cities with a symbolic value: Byzantium, Venice, Bologna and Milan. Their histories mingle with the distress caused by life in the city and with symbolic references. The album had richer arrangements, with saxophones, bass guitars, drums, clarinets, flutes and zufoli. Byzantium is described by Guccini as a fascinating yet oppressive city at the crossroads of two continents and two eras. The song is set at the time of Emperor Justinian I (483–565), and there are many historical references to that period, that have been explained by Guccini himself. The narrator, Filemazio, who some critics believe to be a fictionalized Guccini, senses the decadence of his civilization and the coming of the end. The song was praised by critic Paolo Jachia, who described it as "moving and dreamlike". In 1981 Guccini was the co-author, along with Giorgio Gaber, Sandro Luporini and Gian Piero Alloisio, of the musical ''Gli ultimi viaggi di Gulliver''. The eponymous song "Gulliver" was then included in Guccini's next album, ''Guccini'', which dealt with the same themes found in ''Metropolis''. Notable songs in the album include "Shomèr ma mi llailah?" ("Watchman, what of the night?", from ), "Autogrill", about a love only dreamt of, and "Inutile", which narrates a day two lovers spent in Rimini. The subsequent tour was the first in which Guccini performed with a backing band; previously, Guccini used to perform solo, or with just one or two guitarists. In 1984 the live album ''Fra la via Emilia e il West'' was released. It included live versions of many of his popular songs, recorded mainly at a concert held in Piazza Maggiore in Bologna, in which several guests performed alongside Guccini: Giorgio Gaber, Paolo Conte, I Nomadi, Roberto Vecchioni and Equipe 84.

In 1987 the album ''Signora Bovary'' was released. Several of the songs portray people from Guccini's life: "Van Loon" is his father, "Culodritto" is his daughter Teresa, and "Signora Bovary" is himself. Other songs include "Keaton", written with his friend Claudio Lolli, and "Scirocco", an award-winning song about an episode in the life of the poet Adriano Spatola, a friend of Guccini. In 1988 the singer-songwriter released a live album, ''...quasi come Dumas...'', which included some of his songs from the Sixties, in a rearranged version. The title is a homage to ''Twenty Years After'', the novel by Alexandre Dumas.

1990s [link]

In 1990 Guccini released ''Quello che non...'', which continued in the style of ''Signora Bovary''. Songs included in the album are "Quello che non" and "La canzone delle domande consuete", which received the Club Tenco best song of the year award. Three years later, he released ''Parnassius Guccinii'' referencing a subspecies of butterfly which was named in his honour. The song "Farewell", included in the album, is a homage to Bob Dylan's "Farewell, Angelina", featuring its instrumental introduction and citing a verse ("The triangle tingles, and the trumpet plays slow"). The literary criticist Paolo Jachia commented: "Guccini's enormous poetic and cultural effort has been opening the best tradition of Italian poetry to Dylan-esque ballads". Other songs included in the album are "Canzone per Silvia", dedicated to Silvia Baraldini, and "Acque", composed for Tiziano Sclavi's movie ''Nero''.

It was three years until he released his next album, ''D'amore di morte e di altre sciocchezze'', which achieved significant commercial success. Tracks included are "Cirano", inspired by the play ''Cyrano de Bergerac''; "Quattro stracci", about the ending of the relationship with Angela (the same woman to whom ''Farewell'' was dedicated); "Stelle" about the feelings of powerlessness men feel when looking at the starry night sky; "Vorrei", dedicated to his new partner, Raffaella Zuccari, and "I Fichi", a farcical song.

2000s [link]

''Stagioni'' was Guccini's first album of the 2000s. The key theme is the passage of time and the different temporal cycles connected to it. Songs included are "Autunno", "Ho ancora la forza" (with Ligabue), "Don Chisciotte", in which Guccini takes the role of Don Quixote, and his guitarist that of Sancho Panza), and "Addio", a song akin to "L'avvelenata". The album and its tour were successful, with the unexpected presence of many young people among the audience, establishing Guccini as an iconic artist for three generations. A special limited edition vinyl version of ''Stagioni'' was also released. In 2004 Guccini released ''Ritratti''. Some of the songs contained in the album are imagined dialogues with historical figures, such as Odysseus, Christopher Columbus and Che Guevara. The first track of the album, "Odysseus", is on the theme of travel, and contains references to the Odyssey, to Dante (Canto 27 of Inferno), and to a poem by Foscolo. Another song in the album, "Piazza Alimonda", is about the death of Carlo Giuliani during the demonstrations at the G8 summit in Genoa. ''Ritratti'' received critical acclaim and commercial success, reaching the number one spot in the FIMI Albums Chart, holding it for two weeks, and remaining in the chart for eighteen weeks. In the same year, lyrics from "Canzone per Piero" were included in a final upper secondary school exam"; Guccini claimed he was "embarrassed and glad" about being alongside Cicero and Raphael. In 2005 the live double-album ''Anfiteatro Live'', recorded in the amphitheatre in Cagliari, was released; it also included a DVD of the concert. ''Anfiteatro Live'' was a commercial success, holding the number one spot in the FIMI Chart for one month, and remaining in the chart for twenty-two weeks. In 2006 Guccini received one vote in the 2006 Italian presidential election. The same year, the triple-album ''The Platinum Collection'', containing 47 songs, was released as a celebration of his fortieth year as a musical artist. In October Guccini's official biography, ''Portavo allora un Eskimo innocente'' by Massimo Cotto, was published.

On 21 April 2008, an article on La Stampa affirmed that Guccini had stopped smoking, and that this had caused him to gain weight and lose his inspiration. He denied it on 18 May 2008, in TV show ''Che tempo che fa''. In 2010 the Mondadori published ''Non so che viso avesse'', a book which contains a Guccini autobiography and, in the second part of the book, a critical essay edited by Alberto Bertoni. Luciano Ligabue, friend and colleague of Guccini, entitled him a song, "Caro il mio Francesco" on his album ''Arrivederci, mostro!''. On 28 September 2010 the collection ''Storia di altre storie'' was released, with songs selected by Guccini himself. In the same year the botanist Davide Donati named a new species of mexican cactus, the Corynopuntia guccinii, after him. In the article about the discovery on the botanical magazine ''Piante Grasse'', Donati explained that he discovered the unknown plant whilst listening to Guccini's "Incontro", adding: "I could not have named it after anyone else". On 25 April 2011, Guccini married for the second time , with Raffaella Zuccari, who had been his partner in the last fifteen years.

Style[link]

Guccini's lyrical and poetic style has been praised by many, including famous authors and singer-songwriters. Fellow singer-songwriter Roberto Vecchioni said about Guccini: "he's not a singer of stories, he's a singer of thoughts and a singer of doubts", while Nobel prize winner Dario Fo called him a "voice of truth".

Despite the length of his career, there are some defining characteristics, such as the use of different registers, the literary references to several writers, and the use of a variety of themes in order to reach moral conclusions. His lyrics frequently have a metaphysical tone and existential motifs, and are often centered around portrayals of people and events. Guccini's voice is baritonal, with a noticeable rhotacism. Most of his songs, especially early in his career, are folk rock.

Guccini has been seen as a sociopolitical chronicler, and some of his songs express his opinion about a political issue. In "La primavera di Praga", he expressed criticism of the Sovietic occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1968 , and "Piccola storia ignobile" supported the Italian abortion law. "Canzone per Silvia" was dedicated to Silvia Baraldini, and both "Canzone per il Che" and "Stagioni" were dedicated to Che Guevara. "Piazza Alimonda" was about the riots at the G8 summit in Genoa and "La locomotiva" was about a failed anarchic railroad attack.

Guccini defines himself an anarchic, and he expressed his thoughts about the relation between music and politics in his song "L'avvelenata"; "I never said that with songs you can make revolutions or you can make poetry."

Books [link]

In his career as a writer, Guccini published several novels and essays, experimenting with different genres. His first novel, ''Cròniche Epafàniche'', was published by Feltrinelli in 1989, and was one of his most successful works. Even though it is not explicitly an autobiography, it can be considered the first of three autobiographical books. It describes past events of Pàvana, the town where he spent his childhood. Guccini recounts stories he heard from elderly people living on the Tuscan Apennines; critics praised the "philological accuracy" of the book. His next two novels, ''Vacca d'un cane'' and ''Cittanòva blues'' were also bestsellers, and covered different periods of his life. ''Vacca d'un cane'' depicts a teenage Guccini in Modena, as he realizes that the city's provincialism will be an obstacle to his intellectual growth, while ''Cittanòva Blues'' the last part of his trio of autobiographical books, tells of his time in Bologna, seen as a "little Paris". Guccini also collaborated with Loriano Macchiavelli for a series of Noir books, and published a Dictionary of the dialect of Pàvana which showed his ability as dialectologist and translator.

Guccini has also worked as a comics artist. He is a lover of comics, and some of his songs reference them. He's been author and script writer of comic books, such as ''Vita e morte del brigante Bobini detto «Gnicche»'', illustrated by Francesco Rubino, and ''Lo sconosciuto'', illustrated by Magnus, and script writer of ''Cronache di spazio profondo'', drawn by his friend Bonvi.

Cinema [link]

Guccini's first experience as actor was in the 1976 movie ''Fantasia, ma non troppo, per violino'', directed by Gianfranco Mingozzi, in which he played Giulio Cesare Croce, a poet who narrates the history of Bologna. He then appeared in: ''I giorni cantati'', a 1979 movie directed by Paolo Pietrangeli, which featured two of Guccini's songs in its soundtrack, "Eskimo" and "Canzone di notte n°2"; ''Musica per vecchi animali'', a 1989 movie directed by Umberto Angelucci and Stefano Benni; ''Radiofreccia'', the 1998 directorial debut of singer-songwriter Luciano Ligabue; ''Ormai è fatta'', the 1999 movie directed by Enzo Monteleone. In the 2000s he acted in three movies directed by Leonardo Pieraccioni, ''Ti amo in tutte le lingue del mondo'' (2005), ''Una moglie bellissima'' (2007) and ''Io & Marilyn'' (2009). Guccini wrote the soundtrack of the 1977 movie ''Nenè'', directed by Salvatore Samperi, and his song "Acque" featured in the soundtrack of ''Nero'', the 1992 movie directed by Giancarlo Soldi.

Awards [link]

Awards, accolades and recognitions received by Guccini: In 1992 he received the Librex Montale Award "Poetry for Music", for the song "Canzone delle domande consuete". In 1992 an entomologist discovered a new subspecies of butterfly on the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines, naming it Parnassius mnemosyne guccinii. In 1997 Luciano Tesi and Gabriele Cattani discovered an asteroid, naming it 39748 Guccini. In 2001 his story "La Cena" was included in the anthology "Racconti italiani del Novecento" (I Meridiani – Mondadori). In 2002 the universities of Bologna, Modena and Reggio Emilia awarded him an honorary degree in Science of Education In 2003 the comune of Carpi celebrated Guccini's fortieth year of career dedicating him the show "Stagioni di vita quotidiana". In 2004 Carlo Azeglio Ciampi awarded him the title of Officer of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic. In 2004 he received the Targa Ferré, the award named after Léo Ferré. In 2005 he received the award "Giuseppe Giacosa – Parole per la musica". In 2007, in Catanzaro, he was awarded the "Riccio d'argento" for Best Singer-Songwriter Live Album. In 2008, in Carpi, he received the Arturo Loria award for his book of short stories ''Icaro''. In 2010 the botanist Davide Donati discovered a new species of cactus, naming it Corynopuntia guccinii. In 2012 he was awarded with an honorary degree by the American University of Rome.

From the Club Tenco: 1975 – Premio Tenco, career award along with Fausto Amodei, Umberto Bindi, Fabrizio De André, Vinicius de Moraes, Enzo Jannacci. 1987 – Targa Tenco for the song "Scirocco". 1990 – Targa Tenco for the song "La canzone delle domande consuete''. 1994 – Targa Tenco for the album ''Parnassius Guccinii''. 2000 – Targa Tenco for the song "Ho ancora la forza".

Awards won in collaboration with Loriano Macchiavelli: In 1997 Guccini and Macchiavelli received the ''Alassio Literally Award, un libro per l'Europa'', for the book ''Macaronì: romanzo di santi e delinquenti''. In 1998 Guccini and Macchiavelli won the annual "Police Film Festival" for the book ''Macaronì: romanzo di santi e delinquenti''. In 2007 Guccini and Macchiavelli won an award at the "Serravalle Noir 2007" for their novel ''Tango e gli altri – romanzo di una raffica, anzi tre''.

Discography [link]

1967 – ''Folk beat n. 1''

1970 – ''Due anni dopo''

1970 – ''L'isola non trovata''

1972 – ''Radici''

1973 – ''Opera buffa''

1974 – ''Stanze di vita quotidiana''

1976 – ''Via Paolo Fabbri 43''

1978 – ''Amerigo''

1979 – ''Album concerto'' (live with Nomadi)

1981 – ''Metropolis''

1983 – ''Guccini''

1984 – ''Fra la via Emilia e il West'' (live)

1987 – ''Signora Bovary''

1988 – ''...quasi come Dumas...'' (live)

1990 – ''Quello che non...''

1993 – ''Parnassius Guccinii''

1996 – ''D'amore di morte e di altre sciocchezze''

1998 – ''Guccini Live Collection'' (live)

2000 – ''Stagioni''

2001 – ''Francesco Guccini Live @ RTSI'' (live)

2004 – ''Ritratti''

2005 – ''Anfiteatro Live'' (live)

2006 – ''The Platinum Collection''

2010 – ''Storia di altre storie''

Bibliography[link]

''Cròniche epafàniche'' (1991)

''Al Fatâz di Zardén Margarétta'' (1992)

''Vacca d'un cane'' (1993)

''Storie d'inverno'' (1994, with Giorgio Celli and Valerio Manfredi)

''Novecento e Novecento'' (1995)

''Le parole del mugnaio a Pàvana e nella montagna fra Bologna e Pistoia'' (1995)

''Macaronì'' (1998, with Loriano Macchiavelli)

''Dizionario del dialetto di Pàvana''

''Un disco dei Platters'' (1999, with Loriano Macchiavelli)

''Questo sangue che impasta la terra'' (2001, with Loriano Macchiavelli)

''Storia di altre storie'' (2001, with Vincenzo Cerami)

''Lo spirito e altri briganti'' (2002, with Loriano Macchiavelli)

''Cittanòva blues'' (2003)

''La legge del bar e altre comiche'' (2005)

''L'uomo che reggeva il cielo'' (2005)

''Tango e gli altri, romanzo di una raffica anzi tre'' (2007, with Loriano Macchiavelli)

''Icaro'' (2008)

''Non so che viso avesse'' (2008)

''Malastagione'' (2011, with Loriano Macchiavelli)

Comics[link]

''Storie dello spazio profondo'' (1975, with Bonvi)

''Poche ore all'alba'' (1975, with Magnus)

''Vita e morte del brigante Bobino detto Gnicche'' (1980, with Francesco Rubino)

''Barbùn vs. Realtà'' (1981, with Filippo Scozzari)

''Gerry Pompa'' (1983, with Massimo Cavezzali)

Filmography[link]

''Bologna. Fantasia, ma non troppo, per violino'' (1976, actor)

''Nenè'' (1977, soundtrack)

''I giorni cantati'' (1979, actor as himself and soundtrack)

''Le lunghe ombre'' (1987, actor)

''Musica per vecchi animali'' (1989, actor)

''Nero'' (1992, soundtrack)

''Radiofreccia'' (1998, actor)

''Ormai è fatta'' (1999, actor)

''Il segreto del successo'' (1999, actor as himself)

''Ti amo in tutte le lingue del mondo'' (2006, actor)

''Una moglie bellissima'' (2007, actor)

''Io & Marilyn'' (2009, actor)

Footnotes [link]

External links [link]

Official Site – Official site, including touring schedule Unofficial Site with news and lyrics

Francesco Guccini at the Internet Movie Database

Category:1940 births Category:Living people Category:People from Modena Category:Italian novelists Category:Italian singer-songwriters

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