The 7th Empire Awards, honoring the best in film in 2001, were held on February 5, 2002 at The Dorchester Hotel^[1] and hosted by Phill Jupitus.^[2] Below is a complete list of nominees and winners.^[3][4] Winners are highlighted in bold.

Winners and Nominees[link]

Best Film[link]

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring^[5]

• A.I. Artificial Intelligence^[5]
• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone^[5]
• The Others^[5]
• Moulin Rouge!^[5]

Best British Film[link]

Bridget Jones's Diary^[6]

• Enigma^[6]
• Lucky Break^[6]
• Mike Bassett: England Manager^[6]
• The Parole Officer^[6]

Best Actor[link]

Elijah Wood — The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring^[7]

• Benicio del Toro — Traffic^[7]
• Billy Bob Thornton — The Man Who Wasn't There^[7]
• Haley Joel Osment — A.I. Artificial Intelligence^[7]
• Viggo Mortensen — The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring^[7]

Best British Actor[link]

Ewan McGregor — Moulin Rouge!^[6]

• Hugh Grant — Bridget Jones's Diary^[6]
• Ian McKellen — The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring^[6]
• Sean Bean — The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring^[6]
• Tim Roth — Planet of the Apes^[6]

Best Actress[link]

Nicole Kidman — Moulin Rouge!^[7]

• Audrey Tautou — Amélie^[7]
• Frances O'Connor — A.I. Artificial Intelligence^[7]
• Nicole Kidman — The Others^[7]
• Renée Zellweger — Bridget Jones's Diary^[7]

Best British Actress[link]

Kate Winslet — Enigma^[1]

• Catherine Zeta-Jones — Traffic^[1]
• Helena Bonham Carter — Planet of the Apes^[1]
• Olivia Williams — Lucky Break^[1]
• Rachel Weisz — The Mummy Returns^[1]

Best Director[link]

Baz Luhrmann — Moulin Rouge!^[8]

• Cameron Crowe — Almost Famous^[8]
• Peter Jackson — The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring^[8]
• Steven Soderbergh — Traffic^[8]
• Steven Spielberg — A.I. Artificial Intelligence^[8]

Best Debut[link]

Orlando Bloom — The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring^[1]

• Billy Boyd and Dominic Monaghan — The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring^[1]
• Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson — Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone^[1]
• Keira Knightley — The Hole^[1]
• Sharon Maguire — Bridget Jones's Diary^[1]

Special Awards[link]

Independent Spirit Award[link]

Alejandro Amenábar — The Others^[8]

• Alejandro González Iñárritu — Amores Perros^[8]
• Jean-Pierre Jeunet — Amélie^[8]
• Terry Zwigoff — Ghost World^[8]

Inspiration Award[link]

Michael Mann^[2]

Lifetime Achievement Award[link]

Christopher Lee^[2]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Empire Awards 2002 - IMDb

Empire Award
17th Empire Awards
220px An Empire award
Awarded for	Excellence in cinematic achievements
Presented by	Empire
Country	United Kingdom
First awarded	1996
Last awarded	March 25, 2012 (2012-03-25)
Official website	2012 Official website

An Empire Award is an accolade bestowed by Empire, Britain's biggest selling film magazine, to recognize excellence of professionals in the local and global film industry. The awards are voted for by readers of the magazine and in an annual ceremony, the Empire Awards, the winners are presented with the award which is covered by Empire and sometimes also televised. They were sponsored by Sony Ericsson^[1] between the 8th and the 13th Empire Awards with the exception of the 12th which was without a ceremony,^[2] and since the 14th Empire Awards are sponsored by Jameson Irish Whiskey.^[3]

The first Empire Awards ceremony was held on 1996, to honour outstanding film achievements of the 1995 film season. The most recent ceremony, honouring films in 2011, was held at Grosvenor House Hotel on March 25, 2012.

Empire Awards categories[link]

Award categories as of 2012[link]

• Best Actor: 1996 to present
• Best Actress: 1996 to present
• Best British Film: 1996 to present; In 2002 it was known as "Sky Movies Best British Film"
• Best Comedy: 2006 to present
• Best Director: 1996 to present
• Best Film: 1996 to present
• Best Horror: 2006 to present
• Best Newcomer: 1996 to present; It was known as "Best Debut" from 1996 to 2002; in 2007 it was split to "Best Male Newcomer" and "Best Female Newcomer"
• Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy: 2006 to present; In 2009 it was known as "Best Sci-Fi/Superhero"
• Best Thriller: 2006 to present
• Done In 60 Seconds Award: 2008 to present

Retired awards[link]

• Best British Actor: 1996 to 2005
• Best British Actress: 1996 to 2005
• Best British Director: 1997 to 2001; 2005
• Sony Ericsson Scene of the Year: 2003 to 2007; In 2007 it was known as "Scene Of The Year"
• Sony Ericsson Soundtrack Award: to 2008 - 2009; In 2009 it was known as "Best Soundtrack"

Special Empire Awards[link]

Current special awards[link]

• Empire Hero Award: 2010 to present
• Empire Inspiration Award: 1997; 1999 to 2002; 2004 to 2006; 2008; 2010 to present
• Icon Award: 2006; 2008 to present

Retired special awards[link]

• Actor Of Our Lifetime: 2009 only
• Contribution to Cinema: 2000 only; Outstanding Contribution to British Cinema: 2005 to 2006; Outstanding Contribution To British Film from 2008 to 2010
• Empire Career Achievement Award: 2004 only
• Empire Independent Spirit Award: 2002 to 2005
• Empire Lifetime Achievement Award: 1996 to 2004; 2006;
• Empire Movie Masterpiece: 1999 to 2000
• Heath Ledger Tribute: 2009 only
• Icon of the Decade: 2005 only

References[link]

External links[link]

• The Jameson Empire Awards 2012 official website (current ceremony)
• Empire Awards at IMDb

Jessie J
Jessie J at the O2 Arena in London in 2011.
Background information
Birth name	Jessica Ellen Cornish
Also known as	Jessie J
Born	(1988-03-27) 27 March 1988 (age 24) Chadwell Heath, London, England, United Kingdom
Genres	pop, hip hop, R&B, dance-pop, soul
Years active	2005–present
Labels	Lava, Universal Republic, Island, Gut
Website	jessiejofficial.com

Jessica Ellen Cornish (born 27 March 1988), better known by her stage name Jessie J, is an English singer and songwriter. Born and raised in London, she studied at the BRIT School before signing with Gut Records and striking a songwriting deal with Sony/ATV Music Publishing where she wrote for artists such as Chris Brown and Miley Cyrus.

Signed with Universal, Jessie J came to prominence following the release of her debut single "Do It Like a Dude" which peaked at number two on the UK Singles Charts. After scoring her first number one in the United Kingdom, France, Ireland and New Zealand with the song "Price Tag", she released her debut album Who You Are (2011) which charted at number two in the UK. Other releases from the album include "Nobody's Perfect", "Who's Laughing Now" and "Who You Are" which charted within the top 20 in the UK but the release of fifth single "Domino" spawned international chart success, peaking at number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US, and becoming her second UK number one. Aside from her musical career, Jessie J is currently a coach and mentor on television show The Voice UK.

Citing various influences, Jessie J is recognized for an unconventional musical and performance style^[1][2] that mixes her soul voice with contemporary R&B, pop, and hip-hop influences. Jessie J has garnered various awards and nominations for her contributions to the music industry, including the 2011 Critics' Choice BRIT Award and the BBC's Sound of 2011. As of April 2012, Jessie has sold over 11 million singles and 2.5 million records worldwide.^[3][4]

Early life[link]

Jessie J was born Jessica Ellen Cornish in Chadwell Heath, London,^[5] daughter of Stephen Cornish and Rose Cornish (née Archer). She was educated at Mayfield High School in the London Borough of Redbridge. She attended Colin's Performing Arts School and as an 11-year old-was cast in Andrew Lloyd Webber's West End production of Whistle Down the Wind.^[6][7][8] Jessie has two sisters, who are five and seven years older than her, who were both head girls at school. Unlike her academic sisters, Cornish has stated she was "never really that good at anything". She said, "At school they were like 'oh, you're a Cornish girl' and they kind of expected me to be the same as my sisters. Give me something to draw or an outfit to pick for someone, or hair, make-up, acting, write a song, I'm fine with it, but anything to do with sums – it was never my thing." She also said she never based her intelligence on her exam results.^[9] She also said she was always good at singing and it was her "thing". At the age of 16 she began studying at the BRIT School and at 17 she joined a girl group named Soul Deep.^[10] She graduated in the class of 2006 along with singers Adele and Leona Lewis.^[11] At 18 she suffered a stroke.^[12]

Music career[link]

2006–2010: Career beginnings[link]

Jessie J was signed to Gut Records, recording an album for the label, but the company went bankrupt before any material was released.^[8][10] She then found success as a songwriter, gaining a Sony ATV publishing contract.^[13] She was also the support act for Cyndi Lauper during Lauper's UK dates of her 2008 Bring Ya To The Brink tour (Lauper invited J to join her on stage for the performances of "Girls Just Want To Have Fun"). Jessie has also written lyrics for artists such as Chris Brown and Miley Cyrus, including "Party in the U.S.A.".^[14][15] Jessie J was also part of a girl band, called Soul Deep, for two years, however she left due to thoughts that "it wasn't going anywhere". Despite people thinking that her first notoriety was through YouTube, Jessie was signed for four years before her first video was posted. Jessie first came to the attention of Lava Records when her publisher at Sony/ATV, Rich Christina, sent Lava president Jason Flom a link to her MySpace page, which the record executive loved.^[16] After seeing an impressive U.S. showcase, Lava was, along with several other labels, keen to sign the artist but progress was hampered by her management's insistence on, what Flom called, a "crazy deal", and their refusal to let Jessie speak to any labels directly.^[16] Despite this, Senior Director of A&R at Lava, Harinder Rana, made surreptitious efforts to meet Jessie on her own in winter of 2008. Later in the year a change in management to Sarah Stennett and Nadia Khan of Crown Music allowed record deal negotiations to take place. Jessie eventually signed with Lava as part of a joint venture with Universal Republic.^[16]

[edit] 2010–2012: Who You Are

Jessie J performing at a concert in New York City in 2011.

Jessie J began recording her debut studio album in 2006 and it was completed on 19 January 2011.^[17][18] She revealed that "Big White Room" would be on the album and was written from an experience she had when she was 11 years old, although she wrote the song at age 17, in hospital, where a ward mate, a little boy, died.^[19] Jessie J says the album's title track, "Who You Are", is one of her proudest creations, she said the song is a "positive role model for young people" and "I always say that I'm half-artist, half-therapist".^[19] In late 2010 Jessie J released her first single, "Do It Like a Dude" which was co-written with George Astasio, Tj Normandin, Jason Pebworth, Jon Shave, Kyle Abrahams and Peter Ighile. Originally, she wrote the song with Rihanna in mind because "Rude Boy" was released at the time, partly inspiring the song. She then sent the song to her label, Island Records, before sending it to Rihanna's management. Island insisted the song become Jessie J's first single.^[20] She wishes to perform the song with Rihanna at one point.^[21] The single gained positive reception from critics.^[22] The single charted at number two on the UK Singles Charts. Her follow-up single "Price Tag" was released in late January 2011. This was written by Jessie J, Lukasz Gottwald, Claude Kelly, and Bobby Ray Simmons, Jr. and charted at number one in the top of the charts. "Price Tag" was released in the United States on 1 February 2011 and peaked at 23 on the Billboard Hot 100.^[23] "Price Tag" also charted at number-one in New Zealand and Ireland and is the most successful online video J has released. As of October 2011, the video has generated over 148 million views on Youtube and Vevo, making it the 22nd most viewed music video of all time.^[24][25] Her first American television appearance was as the musical guest on the 12 March 2011 episode of NBC's Saturday Night Live.^[26]

On 25 February 2011 her debut album, Who You Are, was released.^[27] The album first entered the charts on 6 March 2011 where it charted on the UK Album Charts at number two. The album charted into the top ten in a number of countries and number 11 in the United States.^[28] After the release she went on to release a third single from the album, "Nobody's Perfect".^[29] MTV reported that the single is, so far, only confirmed for release in the United Kingdom.^[30] The album's fourth single was "Who's Laughing Now". "Domino" was her second US single.^[31] The Dr. Luke-produced track was sent to mainstream radio on 6 September 2011.^[32] With the success of Who You Are in North America, Jessie was chosen to tour as the opening act for American pop artist Katy Perry's California Dreams Tour in 2011 but after she was unable to fully recover from her injuries during rehearsals she was forced to pull out under the doctor's orders.^[33] Jessie J served as the house artist at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards, performing several of her original songs along with covers around commercial breaks.^[34]

James Morrison's third studio album, The Awakening features a collaboration with Jessie J called "Up", the song was released as a single on 4 December 2011. Jessie J re-released "Who You Are" on 9 November 2011, featuring the regular tracks plus "Domino" and two new songs. "Domino" became her first top 10 hit in the U.S., following the success of "Price Tag". The song also peaked at number 1 in January 2012 in the UK, before it was even officially released there.

[edit] 2012–present: Second studio album and The Voice

On 4 October 2011, Jessie announced that she will be one of four coaches for new BBC program, The Voice UK.^[35] The show was announced after the success of the US version, The Voice. It premiered in March 2012 on BBC One. It will be presented by Holly Willoughby and Reggie Yates, with will.i.am (of The Black Eyed Peas), Tom Jones and Danny O'Donoghue (of The Script) joining Jessie on the coaching panel.^[36] The first stage of the competition, The Blind auditions, began in London on 18 January 2012 at the BBC Television Centre and finished filming on 22 January 2012. The winner will receive £100,000 and a record deal with Universal Republic. It was also reported that the 4 coaches recorded a cover of the Black Eyed Peas song, "I Gotta Feeling", and will release an accompanying music video to help promote the show.^[37]

On 31 January 2012, Jessie announced that she had begun recording for her second studio album.^[38] She also stated that she hopes to collaborate with many artists this year, possibly including some of her fellow coaches on The Voice.^[39] It was revealed that she has worked in the studio with Cee-Lo Green after he tweeted her on twitter. Jessie has also revealed on twitter that she has worked with Diane Warren as well as reuniting in the studio with her 'Price Tag' co-writer Claude Kelly.

Jessie will embark on her first arena tour in March 2013. Via microblogging website, Twitter, Jessie J confirmed the tour will be called Nice to Meet You Tour.^[40]

Personal life[link]

Jessie J performing at the 2011 The Big Chill, sitting on the "gilded throne" she used for performances while her foot was broken.

In early 2011 she suffered a panic attack on stage after she was forced to perform in the dark. "I did a gig recently and had a panic attack on stage," she told NOW. "The night was called 'Black Out' and I had to perform in the dark. I asked them to turn on the lights and they didn't. I was onstage in pitch black and, because I couldn't see anything, I started to panic. It was awful."^[41]

Jessie J is bisexual and stated in an interview on the "In Demand" radio show on 3 March 2011, "I've never denied it. Whoopie doo guys, yes, I've dated girls and I've dated boys – get over it."^[42][43] However, in April 2012 The Sun outed her as homosexual which she denied via Twitter, calling it a "yet another boring untrue story".^[44] According to The Guardian, Jessie J's sexuality is valuable to young teens, especially for young girls unsure of themselves because of their sexuality and identity, to feel "that this does happen and this is normal."^[45]

On 12 June 2011 at the Capital Radio Summertime Ball, Jessie ruptured several tendons in her foot during rehearsals, and performed her set the following day while sitting on a gilded throne.^[46] For her appearance at Glastonbury Festival 2011 on 25 June 2011, she performed on the throne again, claiming her physician had told her not to perform with her broken foot which would take six weeks to heal.^[47] Jessie J was scheduled to play at several festivals throughout the summer, however it was reported on 1 July 2011 that she would not be able to attend T in the Park, T4 On The Beach, Wembley:Orange, iTunes Festival, Lovebox and Oxegen due to the injuries to her foot. Jessie J personally tweeted before surgery; "Keep making nervous jokes with the doctor and he keeps looking at me blankly. Which is making me laugh even more. It's getting serious. I just took my nose stud out." Tweeting after the surgery, she wrote: "Can't keep tweeting. Still very dizzy and being sick. But I'm OK, I got through it." Her record label released an official statement on 30 June 2011 that under strict orders from her doctor, she will not be able to perform for a number of weeks so she can heal and recuperate properly.^[48] She returned to the concert circuit in late August, including sets at the V Festival^[49] and The Big Chill. For the 2011 VMA's she was still in a cast and using the throne to keep off it.

Jessie J confirmed on 2 August 2011 that she would be shaving her hair off for charity in 2012. Speaking via her official Twitter account she said: "It’s hair, It will grow back. Even if it takes 2 years, if it saves lives it’s worth it. Even if its 1 life that’s something."^[50]

‎Artistry and voice[link]

Jessie J performing at the Bournemouth International Centre in 2011.

Although she was first identified as a soul singer, she primarily records songs of contemporary R&B and pop music with hip-hop influences.

Music critic Matthew Perpetua of Pitchfork Media compared Jessie J to her peers Adele and Amy Winehouse, but suggested she was missing something: "Whereas Adele and Winehouse also have powerhouse voices, they fit into clear aesthetic niches and invest their songs with depth and humanity. Jessie J doesn't have even a fraction of their restraint." Perpetua added: "Her idea of showcasing her gift is to shoot for a blaring melisma on "Mamma Knows Best" that makes Christina Aguilera seem as subtle as Joni Mitchell by comparison."^[51]

Ailbhe Malone of the music magazine NME also recognized Cornish's "undeniably potent voice". However, she pointed out the possible "identity crisis" that might have been caused by Jessie's songwriter past: "This is an album of singles for other artists. There’s Rihanna Jessie (‘Do It...’), Perry Jessie (‘Abracadabra’), Pixie Jessie (‘Mamma Knows Best’), Ellie Jessie ('Big White Room')."^[52]

Caroline Sullivan of The Guardian shared her positive opinion about the singer, saying that "if any singer has the potential to be the British Katy Perry or Pink, with the accompanying millions of sales, it's her". Sullivan also complimented Cornish's attitude: "[Her songs] are delivered with a confidence that money can't buy."^[53]

Entertainment Weekly's music critic Adam Markovitz said of Jessie: "The 23-year-old Brit has all the tools, from a monster voice to an ear for hooks — she co-wrote Miley Cyrus' 'Party in the U.S.A.' — and a manic persona that's equal parts Katy Perry, Kristin Chenoweth, and Alice Cooper."^[54]

Discography[link]

• Who You Are (2011)

Concert tours[link]

Headlining

• Stand Up Tour (2011)
• Heartbeat Tour (2011-12)
• Nice To Meet You Tour (2013)

Filmography[link]

Awards and nominations[link]

References[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Jessie J

External links[link]

• Official website
• Jessie J discography at Discogs
• Jessie J's channel on YouTube
• Jessie J's BBC Sound of 2011 page at BBC Online

Peter Molyneux
Molyneux at the University of Southampton
Born	Peter Douglas Molyneux (1959-05-05) 5 May 1959 (age 53) Guildford, Surrey, UK
Nationality	British
Occupation	Video game designer
Awards	Order of the British Empire Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres

Peter Douglas Molyneux OBE (born 5 May 1959) is an English computer game designer and game programmer. He created the god games Dungeon Keeper, Populous, and Black & White, among others, as well as business simulation games such as Theme Park and more recently, the RPG series Fable.

Despite the success of his games, both critical and financial, Molyneux has acquired a reputation for issuing over-enthusiastic descriptions of games under development, which are found to be somewhat less ambitious when released. The most well-known case of this was with Fable, released in 2004 without many of the features talked about by Molyneux in press interviews during development. After the release, Molyneux publicly apologized for overhyping the game.^[1]

Awards[link]

Molyneux was inducted into the AIAS Hall of Fame in 2004 and was honoured with an OBE in the New Year's Honours list announced on 31 December 2004. He was awarded the title of Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government in March 2007. In July 2007, he was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Science by the University of Southampton. In March 2011, he was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Game Developers Choice Awards^[2] and has received a BAFTA Fellowship at the 2011 British Academy Video Games Awards.^[3]

Early career[link]

Peter Molyneux began his career in 1982 by distributing and selling floppy discs which contained video games for Atari and the Commodore 64. He believed that including games on the discs would improve sales, and later decided that the games were the main selling point.^[4]

He created The Entrepreneur, a text-based business simulation game about running a fledgling company.^[5] "In those days you could literally call a game 'Space Blob Attacks Mars' and sell about 50 million copies. So what did I do? I did a business simulation", Molyneux later said.^[4] Molyneux published the game himself in 1984 by duplicating hundreds of tapes on two Tandy Corporation recorders. After taking an advertising space in a game magazine, he prepared for the game's success; he later stated in an interview, "I was utterly convinced that this game would sell tons. I thought, 'You know, this letter box is just not big enough. It's just not going to fit all the envelopes.' So I cut – and this is no joke – I cut a bigger letter box". However, the game received only two orders, one of which Molyneux speculated was from his mother.^[4] (The effort may not have been totally wasted; in 2007, a GameSpy reviewer commented that the economic gameplay mechanics in Molyneux's Fable II may have been a descendant of The Entrepreneur, stating, "I'm a little concerned that it's Molyneux sneaking in a remix of his first game, Entrepreneur".^[6])

Due to the game's failure, Molyneux retreated from game design, and started Taurus Impex Limited—a company that exported baked beans to the Middle East^[7] —with his business partner Les Edgar. Commodore International mistook it for TORUS, a more established company that produced networking software, and offered to provide Molyneux with ten^[7] free Amiga systems to help in porting "his" networking software.^[4][8] "... it suddenly dawned on me that this guy didn't know who we were", Molyneux later said. "I suddenly had this crisis of conscience. I thought, 'If this guy finds out, there go my free computers down the drain.' So I just shook his hand and ran out of that office".^[4] Taurus designed a database system for the Amiga, called Acquisition^[7] - The Ultimate Database for The Amiga and after clearing up the misunderstanding with Commodore, the program was released and became a moderate success.

Bullfrog Productions[link]

This section requires expansion.

Using money earned from the database program, Molyneux and Les Edgar founded Bullfrog Productions in 1987.^[4][8] Molyneux provided the original concept for Populous, the first god game for the personal computer. Released in 1989, Populous was a major success for Bullfrog and went on to sell over 4 million copies.^[9]

Electronic Arts, Bullfrog's publisher, acquired the studio in January 1995.^[10] Molyneux had become an Electronic Arts vice-president and consultant in 1994, after EA purchased a significant share of Bullfrog. Molyneux's last project at Bullfrog was Dungeon Keeper, which was released in July 1997 to high critical praise. Molyneux left Bullfrog in August 1997 to found Lionhead Studios. The last title released with the Bullfrog logo was published in 2001, and in 2004 Electronic Arts merged Bullfrog Productions into EA UK.

Lionhead Studios and Microsoft[link]

This section requires expansion.

Molyneux came up with the concept for Lionhead's first game, Black & White, and convinced his small staff to take on the task in late 1997.^[11] He paid the $6 million in development costs himself.^[12] After three years, in 2001, the game was finally released.

In April 2006, Lionhead Studios was acquired by Microsoft Game Studios. At E3 2006, Peter Molyneux gave several interviews in the press, in one of which he stated that "I think you're going to see a lot more fantastic games from Lionhead because of that relationship [with Microsoft]."^[13] On 4 June 2009, he was promoted to Creative Director of Microsoft Game Studios, Europe, although he continued to produce video games with Lionhead Studios.

On 7 March 2012, Molyneux announced that he will be leaving Lionhead and Microsoft — after the completion of Fable: The Journey — to begin work at a company founded by former Lionhead Studios CTO Tim Rance called 22Cans.^[14][15]

Media fame[link]

Presentation of Fable II with Molyneux at Festival du jeu vidéo in 2008

As one of the industry's leading and best-known figures, Molyneux has appeared on many television shows and video gaming news discussion or documentaries. He has been repeatedly interviewed for shows that include: GamesMaster, Game Over, Games Wars, Gamezville, Bad Influence!, Gamepad, CHEATS, Gamer.tv, Rapture, Games World, Blue Chip, LanJam, Ultimate Gamer, and GameStars. These however are just the UK productions, and there are a huge host of international broadcast media outlets that have also interviewed him since Populous first debuted. In the Scottish web series Consolevania, he is often portrayed as a dull, uninteresting character.

An entire episode of G4's games retrospective series Icons was devoted to him, during its third season. More recently, a comprehensive two part interview was filmed of him during the 2006 Brighton Games Developer Conference by leading UK website Eurogamer.^[16] He was also featured in the fourth episode of the Discovery Channel mini-series Rise of the Video Game alongside Will Wright and Sid Meier, fellow developers of simulation titles.

He gives keynote addresses and speaks extensively at worldwide conferences, including Games Convention in Leipzig, Germany, Games Convention Asia in Singapore, Develop in Brighton, England, and the Game Developers Conference in San Jose, California.

Molyneux was given the tenth position in "Top Ten Game Creators" Countdown by GameTrailers website.^[17]

Molyneux has gained a great deal of infamy in regards to his over-hyping of games he has worked on, dating back to Black & White. He has a habit of making too many promises about features and content in his games that end up either not being included or not actually as good as he made it seem.^[18] In spite of this, these games are successful both financially and critically.^{[citation needed]}

Games[link]

Pre-Bullfrog[link]

• The Entrepreneur (1984) (designer/programmer)
• Druid 2

Bullfrog Productions[link]

• Fusion (1987) (designer/programmer)
• Populous (1989) (designer/programmer)
• Powermonger (1990) (designer/programmer)
• Populous II: Trials of the Olympian Gods (1991) (designer/programmer)
• Syndicate (1993) (producer)
• Theme Park (1994) (project leader/lead programmer)
• Magic Carpet (1994) (executive producer)
• Hi-Octane (1995) (executive producer)
• Genewars (1996)
• Dungeon Keeper (1997) (project leader/designer)

Lionhead Studios[link]

• Black & White (2001) (concept/lead designer/programmer)
• Fable (2004) (designer)
• Fable: The Lost Chapters (2005) (designer)
• The Movies (2005) (executive designer)
• Black & White 2 (2005) (lead designer)
• The Movies: Stunts & Effects (2006) (executive designer)
• Black & White 2: Battle of the Gods (2006) (lead designer)
• Fable II (2008) (lead designer)
• Fable III (2010) (lead designer)
• Milo and Kate (formerly known as The Dmitri Project) (cancelled) (lead designer)
• Fable: The Journey (TBA)

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Peter Molyneux

• Peter Molyneux at MobyGames
• The Worlds of Peter Molyneux from Wired.com
• Keeper Klan's article about Peter Molyneux
• Populous - Classic Game Postmortem (much autobiographical information)

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (February 2012)

Damon Albarn
Background information
Born	(1968-03-23) 23 March 1968 (age 44) Whitechapel, London, England
Origin	Colchester, England
Genres	Alternative rock, art rock, alternative hip hop, electronic, trip hop, baroque music,[1] Britpop
Occupations	Musician, singer-songwriter, record producer, composer
Instruments	Vocals, piano, guitar, bass guitar, organ, violin, omnichord, recorder, vibraphone, synthesizer, melodica, harmonium, drums, keyboards
Years active	1988–present
Labels	Food, SBK, Virgin, Parlophone, Honest Jon's
Associated acts	Blur, Gorillaz, The Good, the Bad & the Queen, Rocket Juice & the Moon, Massive Attack, De La Soul, Kano

Damon Albarn (/ˈdeɪmən ˈælbɑrn/; born 23 March 1968) is an English musician, singer-songwriter and record producer who has been involved in many high profile projects, coming to prominence as the frontman and primary songwriter of the Britpop band Blur. Albarn's current role is lead vocalist and songwriter of Gorillaz, whose first two studio albums had sold more than 20 million copies combined by 2007.^[2] Albarn has also led projects such as The Good, the Bad & the Queen, Monkey: Journey to the West, Mali Music and Rocket Juice & the Moon. Albarn has released multiple singles and albums which have charted at number one, both in the UK and internationally.

Albarn was voted the fourth greatest frontman of all time in a 2010 UK Poll for Q Music magazine.^[3]

Early life[link]

Albarn was born in Whitechapel, London in 1968, and grew up with his middle-class, Quaker family in Leytonstone, later moving to Colchester.^[4][5] He attended the George Tomlinson Primary School, and studied piano and violin. When he was 9 years old he moved for three months to Turkey, with his parents. When he was aged 12, he became friends with Graham Coxon, a fellow pupil at Stanway School.

He studied acting at the East 15 Acting School in Debden, leaving after the first year. On leaving drama school he worked as a tea boy at the Beat Factory studio. His first band was the synth pop group, Two's a Crowd.^[6] Before Blur, he played with The Aftermath and Real Lives.^[5]

Albarn's father, Keith Albarn, was the manager of Soft Machine and presenter of the BBC's Late Night Line-Up. Keith Albarn was the head of North Essex College of Art, which later became Colchester Institute. Albarn's mother, Hazel, was a theatrical set designer.^[5] He has a sister, Jessica (born 1971).^[5]

Blur[link]

Albarn in 2009

Blur are an English alternative rock band. Formed in London in 1989 as Seymour, the group consists of singer Damon Albarn, guitarist Graham Coxon, bassist Alex James and drummer Dave Rowntree. Blur's debut album Leisure (1991) incorporated the sounds of Madchester and shoegazing. Following a stylistic change—influenced by English guitar pop groups such as The Kinks, The Beatles and XTC—Blur released the Modern Life is Rubbish (1993), Parklife (1994) and The Great Escape (1995) albums. As a result, the band helped to popularise the Britpop genre and achieved mass popularity in the UK, aided by a famous chart battle with rival band Oasis dubbed "The Battle of Britpop".

In recording their follow-up, Blur (1997), the band underwent another reinvention, influenced by the lo-fi style of American indie rock bands such as Pavement. "Song 2", one of the album's singles, brought Blur brief mainstream success in the US. The last album featuring Blur's original line-up, 13 (1999) found the band members experimenting with electronic music and gospel music, as Albarn wrote more personal lyrics. In May 2002, Coxon left Blur during the recording of their seventh album Think Tank (2003). Containing electronic sounds and more minimal guitar work, the album was marked by Albarn's growing interest in hip hop and African music. After a 2003 tour without Coxon, Blur did no studio work or touring as a band, as members engaged in other projects. Subsequently, Blur reunited in 2009 with Coxon back in the fold. Following a series of successful concerts, Blur left the spotlight until they released their first single in a decade by the original line-up, called "Fool's Day". On 21 February 2012, Blur were awarded the Outstanding Contribution to Music award at the Brits. They went on to perform five tracks: "Girls & Boys", "Song 2", "Parklife", "Tender" and "This Is a Low". Blur will headline at Hyde Park, with New Order and The Specials, to celebrate the closing of the 2012 Summer Olympics on 12 August 2012.^[7]

Gorillaz[link]

Gorillaz is a virtual band composed of four animated band members created in 1998 by Albarn and Jamie Hewlett, co-creator of the comic book Tank Girl. The band's music is a collaboration between various musicians, Albarn being the only permanent musical contributor. Their style is broadly alternative rock, but with a large number of other influences including Britpop, dub, hip-hop, and pop music.^[8][9] In 2001, the band's eponymous debut album sold over seven million copies, and featured hits such as the songs "19-2000" and "Clint Eastwood," earning them an entry in the Guinness Book of World Records as the Most Successful Virtual Band.^[10] It was nominated for the Mercury Prize 2001, but the nomination was later withdrawn at the band's request.^[11]

Their second studio album, Demon Days, was released in 2005 and included the singles "Feel Good Inc.", "Dare", "Dirty Harry" and "Kids With Guns"/"El Mañana". Demon Days went five times platinum in the UK,^[12] double platinum in the United States^[13] and earned five Grammy Award nominations for 2006^[14] and won one of them in the Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals category.^[15] In November 2005, they staged the first-ever live performances of Demon Days Live involving many of the artists who had played on the successful Demon Days album, as a launch event for the festival. Gorillaz have also released two B-sides compilations and a remix album. The combined sales of Gorillaz and Demon Days had, by 2007, exceeded 15 million albums.^[16]

Gorillaz released their third studio album, Plastic Beach in early 2010, which was received with high praise. In December 2010, the group released an album called The Fall which was recorded over 32 days during their North American tour. The band also appeared on the Snoop Dogg track: "Sumthing' Like this Night" on his album: "Doggumentary".

During November, Gorillaz announced that on 23 February 2012, Gorillaz will release a new line of Converse sneakers designed by Jamie Hewlett. The selection of footwear is carried at Journeys stores in the US and Schuh stores in the UK. Gorillaz will release a new one off single to accompany with the release of these shoes as a part of Converse's "Three Artists, One Song" campaign.^[17] On 9 February 2012, Gorillaz confirmed that the single will be called "DoYaThing", and that the two collaborators working on this single will be James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem and Andre 3000 of Outkast. 2D will rap for the first two verses, James Murphy will sing the chorus, and Andre 3000 then overtakes the rest of the track with another rap verse. The track is available for free download in Journeys stores by scanning the QR Code on display items. There will also be an explicit, 12 Minute long version of the single released on a later date. It has also been confirmed that Jamie Hewlett is working on a new Music Video for this single, featuring animated versions of the two collaborators on this track.^[18][19] Murdoc also stated that the music video will feature the Gorillaz' new HQ, for which they have abandoned Plastic Beach.

In a recent interview, Albarn talked about the unlikelihood of any future releases from the Gorillaz. His relationship with artist Jamie Hewlett soured when Albarn chose to undercut the role of animation on their Plastic Beach Tour. ^[20]

Solo career and side-projects[link]

He also released Democrazy in 2003, a collection of demos he recorded while staying in hotel rooms on the U.S. portion of Blur's tour for Think Tank.

In late 2011 Damon Albarn confirmed he is recording a solo album under his name, inspired by "empty club music".^[21]

African music[link]

Albarn released Mali Music in 2002, recorded in Mali, during a trip he made to support Oxfam in 2000. He has also visited Nigeria to record music with African drummer Tony Allen.

Collaborating with producers Dan the Automator, XL Recordings, Richard Russell & Rodiadh McDonald, Jneiro Jarel, DJ Darren Cunningham aka Actress, Marc Antoine, Alwest, Remi Kabaka Jr., Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs and Kwes, Damon Albarn went to Kinshasa for one week to record an album called Kinshasa One Two.^[22] The Congolese band Tout Puissant Mukalo joined them as well. All proceeds will benefit Oxfam's work in the DRC.^[23] The album was released by Warp Records. ^[24]

The Good, the Bad and the Queen[link]

Albarn in 2007

In May 2006, NME reported that Albarn was working with Danger Mouse on his first solo album, tentatively titled The Good, the Bad & the Queen. However, in July 2006, NME Music reported that those plans had been switched to the formation of a new band titled The Good, the Bad & the Queen. This proved to be inaccurate, as Albarn and other members of the group have indicated that The Good, the Bad & the Queen is the name of the album and not the band itself.^[25][26][27] The album was awarded Best Album at the 2007 MOJO Awards on 18 June.^[28]

The group's line-up is composed of Albarn, former Clash bassist Paul Simonon, The Verve/Gorillaz guitarist Simon Tong, and drummer Tony Allen of Fela Kuti's band, The Africa '70. Danger Mouse produced the album and decided on the final track listing.

The first single by the line-up, "Herculean", was released in late October 2006, and peaked at No. 22 in the UK Singles Chart. A second single, "Kingdom of Doom", and the band's debut album were then released in January 2007. That single fared slightly better than "Herculean", peaking at No. 20, while the album peaked at No. 2 in the UK Albums Chart and went gold during its first week of release in the UK. "Green Fields" was released as the third single from the album in April 2007, just missing out on the Top 50.

On 27 April 2008, The Good, the Bad & the Queen headlined the Love Music Hate Racism Carnival in Victoria Park where they introduced on stage several guests including ex-Specials keyboard player Jerry Dammers. He also worked with Syrian rapper and friend Eslam Jawaad on the song "Mr. Whippy", though the song does not appear on the album it is a B-Side on the Herculean single.

Rocket Juice & the Moon[link]

Rocket Juice & the Moon is the title of Albarn's new side-project featuring Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea and afrobeat legend Tony Allen. Albarn said that he is not responsible for the name and that someone in Lagos did the sleeve design and that’s the name he gave it, which he said he is fine with because trying to find a name for another band is always tricky. The band performed together for the first time on 28 October 2011 in Cork, Ireland, as part of the annual Cork Jazz Festival, under the moniker Another Honest Jon's Chop Up!. A full tour is not expected anytime soon due to the Red Hot Chili Peppers tour lasting until 2013. Their debut album was released on 26 March 2012.^[29]

Other appearances[link]

Albarn has also appeared on other unrelated works. Albarn was asked, alongside Blur bandmate Graham Coxon, to remix the Massive Attack song "Angel" for the single release, in 1998. Albarn then adopted the pseudonym of "Control Freak" for his remixing career. He only ever used the name once in a remix, when he remixed the Blur song "Bugman" as Control Freak for the single release of "Coffee & TV" in summer 1999. The Rentals' 1999 Album Seven More Minutes features Albarn on the track "Big Daddy C".

Albarn contributed backing vocals to a song on Massive Attack's 100th Window, released in 2003. More recently, on Massive Attack's 2010 Heligoland album, he sang on the track "Saturday Come Slow" and contributed keyboards to the track "Splitting the Atom".^[30] Albarn also appeared on the Nathan Haines' song "Squire for Hire", however Albarn credited it to Gorillaz' frontman 2D instead. Fatboy Slim's 2004 release Palookaville featured Albarn's vocals on the song "Put It Back Together". Albarn provided the voice-over intro and backing vocals in the song "Time Keeps On Slipping" for the rap concept album Deltron 3030, and featured on the track "Lovage (Love That Lovage, Baby)" for the Lovage album Music to Make Love to Your Old Lady By. Both albums were produced by Dan the Automator, who also produced Gorillaz' debut album. In 2008, he also produced parts of Amadou & Mariam's fifth album Welcome to Mali.

Film, theatre and soundtrack work[link]

His song "Closet Romantic" appeared on the soundtrack for Trainspotting alongside an early Blur recording, "Sing". Albarn composed the score with collaboration by Michael Nyman for the 1999 movie Ravenous with Guy Pearce and Robert Carlyle. He composed the soundtrack to the 2000 Icelandic film 101 Reykjavík. In 2000, he composed the main part of the soundtrack for the crime comedy Ordinary Decent Criminal.

In their first major work together since Gorillaz, Albarn and Hewlett, along with acclaimed Chinese theatre and opera director Chen Shi-zheng, adapted for stage the Chinese story Journey to the West. as "Monkey: Journey to the West", which received its world premiere as the opening show of the 2007 Manchester International Festival, on 28 June 2007 at the Palace Theatre, Manchester.^[31] Albarn wrote the score, Hewlett designed the set and costumes. The opera was Albarn and Hewlett's second collaboration with the Manchester International Festival.

In collaboration with theatre director Rufus Norris, Albarn has created an opera for the 2011 Manchester International Festival based on the life of Elizabethan scientist John Dee and titled Doctor Dee.^[32]

Albarn is set to record the film score for the film The Boy in the Oak, which was written by his sister, Jessica Albarn. The film was set for a spring 2011 release in selected theatres.^[33]

Acting career[link]

Albarn starred in Antonia Bird's 1997 film Face alongside Ray Winstone and Robert Carlisle. Albarn was also featured in Gunar Karlsson's 2007 film Anna and the Moods. Albarn also played Bull in Joe Orton's "Up Against It", a Radio 4 play about The Beatles broadcast in 1998.

Personal life[link]

Albarn had a long-standing relationship with Elastica frontwoman Justine Frischmann.^[4] His involvement with her profoundly influenced his songwriting in Blur in the mid-to-late 1990s.

In the 1990s he spent a good deal of time in Reykjavík, and owns a home in Grafarvogur, a suburb of Reykjavík. He currently lives in Bayswater, London with artist Suzi Winstanley, and their daughter.

Albarn's grandfather, Edward Albarn, was a conscientious objector during the Second World War and was involved in a farming community in Lincolnshire. Albarn himself is outspokenly anti-war and has criticised British involvement in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.^{[citation needed]} In 2002, he and Robert Del Naja of Massive Attack took out full page advertisements in the NME challenging the need for war.^{[citation needed]}

In 2005 Albarn, among others, criticised the London Live 8 concert for not featuring enough black artists; among the few included were Ms. Dynamite, Snoop Dogg, and Youssou N'Dour. Eventually the organisers added a separate concert at the Eden Project in Cornwall to the programme in order to showcase African musicians. Albarn said he did not want to perform at Live 8 because he thought it was too "exclusive" and may have been motivated by self-promotion.^[30]

Albarn has been a vocal critic of celebrity culture:

"We need to dismantle very significant parts of our culture and really re-examine them. I suppose you start with the celebrity thing... you have to get rid of things like The X Factor immediately."^[34]

In 2006, Albarn was awarded an honorary Master of Arts degree from the University of East London,^[35] saying it was "great to receive [the] award from an institution where my dad used to work and which I, as a child, used to think of as that big building with lots of interesting people in".^[36]

Albarn is a vegetarian, and a fan of English football club Chelsea.

Solo discography[link]

Solo albums

• Democrazy (2003)

Collaboration albums

• Mali Music (2002) (with Afel Bocoum, Toumani Diabaté & Friends) No. 81 (UK)
• The Good, the Bad & the Queen (2007) (with Tony Allen, Paul Simonon and Simon Tong) No. 2 (UK)
• Kinshasa One Two (2011) (as part of DRC Music)
• Rocket Juice & the Moon (2012) (with Flea and Tony Allen)

Film and theatre soundtracks

• Ravenous (1999) (with Michael Nyman)
• 101 Reykjavík (2002) (with Einar Örn Benediktsson)
• Journey to the West (2008) No. 5 (UK)
• Dr Dee (2012)

See also[link]

• Honorific nicknames in popular music

References[link]