Person of the Year (formerly Man of the Year) is an annual issue of the United States newsmagazine Time that features and profiles a person, group, idea or object that "for better or for worse, ...has done the most to influence the events of the year."^[1]

History[link]

The tradition of selecting a Man of the Year began in 1927 with Time editors contemplating newsworthy stories possible during a slow news week. The idea was also an attempt to remedy the editorial embarrassment earlier that year of not having aviator Charles Lindbergh on its cover following his historic trans-Atlantic flight. By the end of the year, it was decided that a cover story featuring Lindbergh as the Man of the Year would serve both purposes.^[2]

Since then, individual people, classes of people, the computer, and Planet Earth have all been selected for the special year-end issue. In 1989, the title was changed to Person of the Year.^[3] However, the only woman to win the renamed recognition individually have been "The Whistleblowers" (Cynthia Cooper, Coleen Rowley, and Sherron Watkins in 2002) and Melinda Gates (jointly with Bill Gates and Bono in 2005). Before that, four women were granted the title as individuals as Woman of the Year–Wallis Simpson in 1936, Soong May-ling (Madame Chiang Kai-shek) in 1937, Queen Elizabeth II in 1952, and Corazon Aquino in 1986. Several classes of people comprise both men and women or women only, namely Hungarian Freedom Fighter in 1956, "U.S. Scientists" in 1960, Twenty-Five and Under in 1966, The Middle Americans in 1969, "American Women" in 1975, "The American Soldier" in 2003, You in 2006, and "The Protester" in 2011 (represented on the cover by a woman).

Since the list began, every serving President of the United States has been a Person of the Year at least once with the exceptions of Calvin Coolidge, in office at time of the first issue, Herbert Hoover, the next U.S. president, and Gerald Ford. Most were named Person of the Year either the year they were elected or while they were in office; the only one to be given the title before being elected is Dwight D. Eisenhower, who won it in 1944 as Supreme Commander of the Allied Invasion Force, eight years before his election. He subsequently won the title again in 1959, while in office.

The December 31, 1999 issue of Time named Albert Einstein the Person of the Century. Franklin D. Roosevelt and Mahatma Gandhi were chosen as runners-up.^[4]

Franklin D. Roosevelt is the only person to have received the title three times–in 1932, 1934 and 1941.

Despite the magazine's frequent statements to the contrary, the designation is often regarded as an honor, and spoken of as an award or prize, simply based on many previous selections of admirable people.^[5] However Time magazine points out those such as Adolf Hitler in 1938, and Joseph Stalin in 1939 and again in 1942, and the Ayatollah Khomeini in 1979 have also been granted the title.

As a result of the public backlash it received from the United States for naming the Ayatollah Khomeini Man of the Year in 1979, Time has shied away from using figures that are controversial in the United States.^[6] Time's Person of the Year 2001—immediately following the September 11, 2001 attacks—was New York City mayor Rudolph Giuliani, although the stated rules of selection, the individual or group of individuals who have had the biggest effect on the year's news, made Osama bin Laden a more likely choice. The issue that declared Giuliani the Person of the Year included an article that mentioned Time's earlier decision to elect the Ayatollah Khomeini and the 1999 rejection of Hitler as Person of the Century. The article seemed to imply that Osama bin Laden was a stronger candidate than Giuliani, as Adolf Hitler was a stronger candidate than Albert Einstein. The selections were ultimately based on what the magazine describes as who they believed had a stronger influence on history.

Another criticized choice was the 2006 selection of "You", representing most if not all people for advancing the information age by using the Internet (via e.g. blogs, YouTube, MySpace and Wikipedia).^[7]

Persons of the Year[link]

Year	Image	Choice		Lifetime	Notes
1927		Charles Lindbergh	USA	1902–1974	Lindbergh was the first person to fly a plane non-stop from New York City, USA to Paris, France in May 1927.
1928		Walter Chrysler	USA	1875–1940
1929		Owen D. Young	USA	1874–1962	Young chaired a committee which authored the Young Plan, a program for settlement of German reparations debts after World War I.
1930		Mahatma Gandhi	British Raj	1869–1948	Gandhi was the leader of the Indian independence movement. In 1930, he led the Salt Satyagraha, a 240-mile march to protest the imposition of taxes on salt by the British Raj.
1931		Pierre Laval	France	1883–1945	Laval was a four-time Prime Minister of France.
1932		Franklin D. Roosevelt	USA	1882–1945	Roosevelt won the 1932 US Presidential election by a landslide, defeating the incumbent, Herbert Hoover.
1933		Hugh Samuel Johnson	USA	1882–1942	Johnson was then the director of the National Recovery Administration, an agency tasked by US Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt to bring industry, labor and government together to create codes of "fair practices" and set prices.
1934		Franklin D. Roosevelt	USA	1882–1945	Roosevelt was President of the United States from 1933 to 1945.
1935		Haile Selassie I	Ethiopia	1892–1975	Selassie was the Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. In October 1935, Italian forces invaded Ethiopia, starting the Second Italo-Abyssinian War.
1936		Wallis Simpson	USA	1896–1986	In 1936, King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom abdicated his throne to marry Simpson.
1937		Chiang Kai-shek	Republic of China	1887–1975	At the time, Chiang was Premier of the Republic of China.
		Soong May-ling	Republic of China	1898–2003	At the time, Soong was the wife of Chiang Kai-shek.
1938		Adolf Hitler	Nazi Germany	1889–1945
1939		Joseph Stalin	22x20px USSR	1878–1953
1940		Winston Churchill	UK	1874–1965
1941		Franklin D. Roosevelt	USA	1882–1945
1942		Joseph Stalin	22x20px USSR	1878–1953
1943		George Marshall	USA	1880–1959
1944		Dwight D. Eisenhower	USA	1890–1969
1945		Harry S. Truman	USA	1884–1972
1946		James F. Byrnes	USA	1879–1972
1947		George Marshall	USA	1880–1959
1948		Harry S. Truman	USA	1884–1972
1949		Winston Churchill	UK	1874–1965	Man of the half-century
1950		The American fighting-man	USA		Representing Korean War troops
1951		Mohammad Mossadegh	Iran	1882–1967
1952		Elizabeth II	[n 1]	1926–
1953		Konrad Adenauer	West Germany	1876–1967
1954		John Foster Dulles	USA	1888–1959
1955		Harlow Curtice	USA	1893–1962
1956		The Hungarian freedom fighter	Hungary
1957		Nikita Khrushchev	22x20px USSR	1894–1971
1958		Charles de Gaulle	France	1890–1970
1959		Dwight D. Eisenhower	USA	1890–1969
1960		American Scientists	USA		Represented by George Beadle, Charles Draper, John Enders, Donald A. Glaser, Joshua Lederberg, Willard Libby, Linus Pauling, Edward Purcell, Isidor Rabi, Emilio Segrè, William Shockley, Edward Teller, Charles Townes, James Van Allen, and Robert Woodward
1961		John F. Kennedy	USA	1917–1963
1962		Pope John XXIII	Holy See/ Italy	1881–1963
1963		Martin Luther King, Jr.	USA	1929–1968
1964		Lyndon B. Johnson	USA	1908–1973
1965		William Westmoreland	USA	1914–2005
1966		Baby Boomers
1967		Lyndon B. Johnson	USA	1908–1973
1968		The Apollo 8 astronauts	USA		William Anders, Frank Borman, and Jim Lovell
1969		The Middle Americans	USA		Also referred to as the Silent Majority[8]
1970		Willy Brandt	West Germany	1913–1992
1971		Richard Nixon	USA	1913–1994
1972		Richard Nixon	USA	1913–1994
		Henry Kissinger	USA	1923–
1973		John Sirica	USA	1904–1992
1974		King Faisal	Saudi Arabia	1906–1975
1975		American women	USA		Represented by Susan Brownmiller, Kathleen Byerly, Alison Cheek, Jill Conway, Betty Ford, Ella Grasso, Carla Hills, Barbara Jordan, Billie Jean King, Carol Sutton, Susie Sharp, and Addie Wyatt
1976		Jimmy Carter	USA	1924–
1977		Anwar Sadat	Egypt	1918–1981
1978		Deng Xiaoping	People's Republic of China	1904–1997
1979	80px	Ayatollah Khomeini	Iran	1902–1989
1980		Ronald Reagan	USA	1911–2004
1981		Lech Wałęsa	Poland	1943–
1982		The Computer			Machine of the Year
1983		Ronald Reagan	USA	1911–2004
		Yuri Andropov	USSR	1914–1984
1984		Peter Ueberroth	USA	1937–
1985		Deng Xiaoping	People's Republic of China	1904–1997
1986		Corazon C. Aquino	Philippines	1933–2009
1987		Mikhail Gorbachev	USSR	1931–
1988		The Endangered Earth			Planet of the Year
1989		Mikhail Gorbachev	USSR	1931–	Man of the Decade
1990		George H. W. Bush	USA	1924–
1991		Ted Turner	USA	1938–
1992		Bill Clinton	USA	1946–
1993		The Peacemakers	Palestinian Authority  South Africa  Israel		Represented by Yasser Arafat, F.W. de Klerk, Nelson Mandela, and Yitzhak Rabin
1994		Pope John Paul II	Holy See/ Poland	1920–2005
1995		Newt Gingrich	USA	1943–
1996		David Ho	Taiwan/ USA	1952–
1997		Andrew Grove	Hungary/ USA	1936–
1998		Bill Clinton	USA	1946–	Time Magazine held its first online poll to decide the Person of the Year. Wrestler and activist Mick Foley won with over 50% of votes. Foley redacted from the poll, and the award was given to Clinton and Starr. [9]
		Kenneth Starr	USA	1946–
1999		Jeffrey P. Bezos	USA	1964–	See also: Person of the Century
2000		George W. Bush	USA	1946–
2001		Rudolph Giuliani	USA	1944–
2002		The Whistleblowers	USA		Represented by Cynthia Cooper (WorldCom), Coleen Rowley (FBI) and Sherron Watkins (Enron)
2003		The American soldier	USA
2004		George W. Bush	USA	1946–
2005		The Good Samaritans	Ireland  USA		Represented by Bono, Bill Gates, and Melinda Gates
2006		You[10]			Represented by the individual content creator on the World Wide Web
2007		Vladimir Putin[11]	Russia	1952–
2008		Barack Obama[12]	USA	1961–
2009		Ben Bernanke[13]	USA	1953–
2010		Mark Zuckerberg[14]	USA	1984–
2011		The Protester[15]			Representing many global protest movements – for example, the Arab Spring, the Indignants Movement, Tea Party movement and Occupy Movement – as well as protests in Greece, India and Russia, among others

See also[link]

• Canadian Newsmaker of the Year (Time), the magazine's equivalent for Canadians only

References[link]

External links[link]

• TIME's Person of the Year: All 84! - slideshow by Life magazine
• "Time's Person of the Year 1927–2010". Time. 2011. http://www.time.com/time/interactive/0,31813,1681791,00.html. 

v t e Time Persons of the Year   1927–1950 Charles Lindbergh (1927) Walter Chrysler (1928) Owen D. Young (1929) Mahatma Gandhi (1930) Pierre Laval (1931) Franklin D. Roosevelt (1932) Hugh Samuel Johnson (1933) Franklin D. Roosevelt (1934) Haile Selassie I (1935) Wallis Simpson (1936) Chiang Kai-shek / Soong May-ling (1937) Adolf Hitler (1938) Joseph Stalin (1939) Winston Churchill (1940) Franklin D. Roosevelt (1941) Joseph Stalin (1942) George Marshall (1943) Dwight D. Eisenhower (1944) Harry S. Truman (1945) James F. Byrnes (1946) George Marshall (1947) Harry S. Truman (1948) Winston Churchill (1949) The American Fighting-Man (1950)   1951–1975 Mohammed Mosaddeq (1951) Elizabeth II (1952) Konrad Adenauer (1953) John Foster Dulles (1954) Harlow Curtice (1955) Hungarian Freedom Fighters (1956) Nikita Khrushchev (1957) Charles de Gaulle (1958) Dwight D. Eisenhower (1959) U.S. Scientists: George Beadle / Charles Draper / John Enders / Donald A. Glaser / Joshua Lederberg / Willard Libby / Linus Pauling / Edward Purcell / Isidor Rabi / Emilio Segrè / William Shockley / Edward Teller / Charles Townes / James Van Allen / Robert Woodward (1960) John F. Kennedy (1961) Pope John XXIII (1962) Martin Luther King, Jr. (1963) Lyndon B. Johnson (1964) William Westmoreland (1965) The Generation Twenty-Five and Under (1966) Lyndon B. Johnson (1967) The Apollo 8 Astronauts: William Anders / Frank Borman / Jim Lovell (1968) The Middle Americans (1969) Willy Brandt (1970) Richard Nixon (1971) Henry Kissinger / Richard Nixon (1972) John Sirica (1973) King Faisal (1974) American Women: Susan Brownmiller / Kathleen Byerly / Alison Cheek / Jill Conway / Betty Ford / Ella Grasso / Carla Hills / Barbara Jordan / Billie Jean King / Susie Sharp / Carol Sutton / Addie Wyatt (1975)   1976–2000 Jimmy Carter (1976) Anwar Sadat (1977) Deng Xiaoping (1978) Ayatollah Khomeini (1979) Ronald Reagan (1980) Lech Wałęsa (1981) The Computer (1982) Ronald Reagan / Yuri Andropov (1983) Peter Ueberroth (1984) Deng Xiaoping (1985) Corazon Aquino (1986) Mikhail Gorbachev (1987) The Endangered Earth (1988) Mikhail Gorbachev (1989) George H. W. Bush (1990) Ted Turner (1991) Bill Clinton (1992) The Peacemakers: Yasser Arafat / F. W. de Klerk / Nelson Mandela / Yitzhak Rabin (1993) Pope John Paul II (1994) Newt Gingrich (1995) David Ho (1996) Andrew Grove (1997) Bill Clinton / Ken Starr (1998) Jeffrey P. Bezos (1999) George W. Bush (2000)   2001–present Rudolph Giuliani (2001) The Whistleblowers: Cynthia Cooper / Coleen Rowley / Sherron Watkins (2002) The American Soldier (2003) George W. Bush (2004) The Good Samaritans: Bono / Bill Gates / Melinda Gates (2005) You (2006) Vladimir Putin (2007) Barack Obama (2008) Ben Bernanke (2009) Mark Zuckerberg (2010) The Protester (2011) Book:Time Persons of the Year

Person of the Year or Man of the Year may refer to:

Awards[link]

Person of the Year

• Australian of the Year
• Ethiopian Person of the Year
• Financial Times Person of the Year
• Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year
• Le Monde Person of the Year
• MusiCares Person of the Year
• Time Magazine Person of the Year

Man of the Year

• DHL Delivery Man of the Year Award, baseball reliever pitchers
• Hasty Pudding Man of the Year, for entertainers
• IHL Man of the Year, awarded by the International Hockey League
• NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award, basketball
• Rolaids Relief Man of the Year Award, baseball reliever pitchers
• Walter Payton Man of the Year Award, National Football League

Others[link]

• Man of the Year (1995 film), a mockumentary by Dirk Shafer
• Man of the Year (2002 film), a film starring John Ritter
• The Man of the Year (2003 film), or O Homem do Ano, a Brazilian film featuring Wagner Moura
• Man of the Year (2006 film), starring Robin Williams
• "The Man of the Year" (The O.C.), a 2006 episode of The O.C.
• "Man of the Year", a song by Len from You Can't Stop the Bum Rush

See also[link]

• Athlete of the Year
• Man of the Year Competition

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

A person is a being, such as a human, that has certain capacities or attributes constituting personhood, the precise definition of which is the subject of much controversy.^{[vague language]} The common plural of "person", "people", is often used to refer to an entire nation or ethnic group (as in "a people"), so the plural "persons" is often used in contexts which require precision such as philosophical and legal writing.

Etymology[link]

In ancient Rome, the word "persona" (Latin) or "prosopon" (πρόσωπον: Greek) originally referred to the masks worn by actors on stage. The various masks represented the various "personae" in the stage play, while the masks themselves helped the actor's voice resonate and made it easier for the audience to hear.^[1]

In Roman law, the word "persona" became used to refer to a role played in court, and it became established that it was the role rather than the actor that could have rights, powers, and duties, because different individuals could assume the same roles, the rights, powers, and duties followed the role rather than the actor, and each individual could act in more than one role, each a different "person" in law.^{[tortured english][citation needed]}

The concept of a "person" was further developed during the Trinitarian and Christological debates of the first through sixth centuries. Since then, a number of important changes to the word's meaning and use have taken place, and attempts have been made to redefine the word with varying degrees of adoption and influence.

Many modern speakers of colloquial English conflate the meanings of role and actor, which can result in some confusion when they try to enter into legal discourse.^{[citation needed]}

Personhood[link]

An abstract painting of a person by Paul Klee. The concept of a person can be very challenging to define.

Personhood is the status of being a person. Defining personhood is a controversial topic in philosophy and law, and is closely tied to legal and political concepts of citizenship, equality, and liberty. According to law, only a natural person or legal personality has rights, protections, privileges, responsibilities, and legal liability. Personhood continues to be a topic of international debate. Historically, personhood was questioned during the abolition of slavery, the fight for women's rights and animal rights, debates about abortion, fetal rights and reproductive rights as well as debates about corporate personhood.^[2]

Various specific debates have focused and continue to focus on questions about the personhood of different classes of entities. Historically, the personhood of animals, women, and slaves has been a catalyst of social upheaval. Today, most living adult humans are usually considered persons, but depending on the context, theory or definition, the category of "person" may be taken to include such non-human entities as animals, corporations, sovereign states or other polities, estates in probate, artificial intelligences, or extraterrestrial life; and may exclude some human entities in prenatal development or those with extreme mental impairments or injuries. A deceased person may be considered a person or property, depending on jurisdiction.

Personal identity[link]

What does it take for individuals to persist from moment to moment — or in other words, for the same individual to exist at different moments?

Personal identity is the unique numerical identity of persons through time. That is to say, the necessary and sufficient conditions under which a person at one time and a person at another time can be said to be the same person, persisting through time. In the modern philosophy of mind, this concept of personal identity is sometimes referred to as the diachronic problem of personal identity. The synchronic problem is grounded in the question of what features or traits characterize a given person at one time.

Identity is an issue for both continental philosophy and analytic philosophy. A key question in continental philosophy is in what sense we can maintain the modern conception of identity, while realizing many of our prior assumptions about the world are incorrect.

Proposed solutions to the problem of personal identity include continuity of the physical body, continuity of an immaterial mind or soul, continuity of consciousness or memory, the bundle theory of self, and proposals that there are actually no persons or selves which persist over time at all.

See also[link]

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Lukes, Steven; Carrithers, Michael; Collins, Steven, eds. (1987). The category of the person: Anthropology, philosophy, history. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-27757-4. 
• Cornelia J.de Vogel The concept of personality in Greek and Christian thought. In Studies in philosophy and the history of philosophy. Vol. 2. Edited by J. K. Ryan, Washington: Catholic University of America Press 1963. pp. 20–60
• Puccetti, Roland (1968). Persons: A Study of Possible Moral Agents in the Universe. London: Macmillan and Company. 
•  "Person". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1913. 
• Korfmacher, Carsten (May 29, 2006). "Personal Identity". The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. http://www.iep.utm.edu/p/person-i.htm. Retrieved 2011-03-09. 

External links[link]

Look up person in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Rights of Non-Human Persons Program (Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies)

Andy Grammer
Background information
Born	(1983-12-03) December 3, 1983 (age 28)
Origin	Los Angeles, California , United States
Genres	R&B, reggae, acoustic, pop rock, soft rock

Andy Grammer (born December 3, 1983) is an American producer-singer-songwriter signed to Steve Greenberg's S-Curve Records.^[1] His debut album, Andy Grammer, was officially released on June 14, 2011.^[2]

Biography[link]

Andy was born in Los Angeles, but grew up in Chester, New York, graduating from Monroe-Woodbury High School. At 20, he left Binghamton University, and returned to the Los Angeles area,^[3] where he currently resides.^[4] His father is Singer-songwriter, Red Grammer.^[5] In 2007 he graduated from California State University, Northridge, with a B.A.^[6]

Musical career[link]

Grammer started as a busker on the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica.^[1][7] and later performed in the Viper Room, the Roxy Theatre (West Hollywood) and the House of Blues.^[8] He has many popular songs such as Keep Your Head Up, Fine By Me, Lunatic, Ladies, Biggest Man in L.A., Numbers, Stepping Stone, Couple More Sleeves, Fireflies, and The Pocket.

His debut video "Keep Your Head Up" (featuring Rainn Wilson^[1])^[9] was an iTunes Video of the Week in 2010,^[10] and the version on the artist's site uses an interactive interface that allows the viewer to "send the singer into goofy scenarios".^[11] He performed the song on The Rachael Ray Show on November 17, 2010.^[12] It has since debuted at No. 94 on the Billboard Hot 100^[13] and peaked at #53.^[14] Andy Grammer's debut album sales for the first week earned him the No. 1 spot on the Billboard New Artist Chart.^[15]

He opened for Plain White T's for the second leg of their "Wonders of the Younger" tour in Spring of 2011.^[16][17]

In January 2011, he was named an "Artist to Watch" by Billboard magazine.^[18]

He performed at SXSW 2011, playing BMI's Acoustic Brunch,^[19] where he was one of the artists contributing to a recording produced by Hanson to benefit the victims of the 2011 Japan earthquake.^[20]

He won MTV's "O Music Awards" for most innovative video for his "Keep Your Head Up" video on April 25, 2011.^[21][22]

Grammer joined Natasha Bedingfield on her Less is More Tour, starting June 2011. He will also be going on tour with singer Colbie Caillat starting August, 21 2011. Grammer will open shows with Kate Voegele and Kevin Hammond.^[23]

The Grammy Museum in Los Angeles will feature Andy Grammer for the museum's first installment of its homegrown local artist series starting May 2011.^[24]

[edit] 2011–present: Andy Grammer

Andy Grammer's debut album, Andy Grammer, was released June 14, 2011 on iTunes.^[25] The self titled album was produced by Matt Wallace (Maroon 5), Matt Radosevich, Dave Katz, and Sam Hollander (Gym Class Heroes).

On the new album, Grammer says...

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

Singles[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Artist's site

This article is in a list format that may be better presented using prose. You can help by converting this article to prose, if appropriate. Editing help is available. (November 2011)

Owl City
Adam Young performing in 2009
Background information
Origin	Owatonna, Minnesota, United States
Genres	Electronica, synthpop
Years active	2007–present
Labels	Universal Republic
Associated acts	Sky Sailing, Lights, Breanne Düren
Website	owlcitymusic.com
Members
Adam Young

Owl City is an American electronica musical project by singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Adam Young formed in 2007 in Owatonna, Minnesota. Young created the project while experimenting with music in his parents' basement. Owl City developed a following on the social networking site Myspace, like many musicians who achieved success in the late 2000s, before signing with Universal Republic in 2008.

After two independent releases, Owl City gained mainstream popularity with the 2009 major label debut album Ocean Eyes, which spawned the quadruple-platinum^[1] hit single "Fireflies". The album was certified Platinum in the United States in April 2010.^[1]

In 2011, Owl City released its third studio album, All Things Bright and Beautiful.

History[link]

Early years (2007–2009)[link]

Suffering from insomnia while working loading Coca-Cola trucks in his hometown Owatonna, Minnesota, Young turned to composing music.^[2][3][4] He began uploading songs recorded in his parents' basement to Myspace.^[4][5] He started to receive favorable attention for his music and then helped cultivate this nascent fanbase by being an open and accessible web presence, responding to any messages he received and constantly posting blogs.^[6] His manager Steve Burksy later highlighted the significance of Young's engaging online manner in building his following saying: "People feel like they know him, like they've got a direct connection to him because of how he approaches his connection with them online."^[6] Through a deal with the digital aggregator CD Baby, he then started making the songs available for sale through iTunes.^[6] In 2007, Owl City released an EP titled Of June, followed by the 2008 release of the album Maybe I'm Dreaming. Of June reached No. 15 on the Billboard Electronic Albums chart, and Maybe I'm Dreaming peaked on the same chart at No. 13.^[7]

The viral phenomenon that was building through Myspace caught the attention of Universal Republic presidents Avery and Monte Lipman who approached Young with a view to signing the artist.^[6] Republic recommended Young partner up with 27-year-old manager Steve Bursky of Foundations Artist Management and the two began working together in late 2008. When later asked by HitQuarters why the label chose him for a major label act given his relative inexperience, Burksy said:

"I think they saw Owl City as representing the future of our business. This idea of a kid in a tiny town in rural U.S. being able to make songs in his basement that sound like Top 40 radio could never have happened ten years ago. By hiring a young management company who understands the business circa 2011 over a seasoned industry vet, who might not understand the online spaces well, showed a lot of understanding of where this kid was going to end up having success."^[6]

Owl City's label deal with Universal Republic was finally confirmed in February 2009.^[8] According to Bursky there was initially some disagreement about the direction Owl City should follow, telling HitQuarters: "They were ready to send him into the studio with big producers and polish him up to try to become this thing that he wasn't. But we put our foot down and said, 'Look, the reason you signed this kid is because it’s working. Whatever it is about him - his music, his interaction with his fans, his brilliance in the online space - these things are connecting with people, and as soon as you change that you lose what’s special about this artist.' To their credit, they really listened and they got it."^[6]

[edit] Ocean Eyes (2009–2010)

Ocean Eyes, Owl City's third full-length album and major label debut, was released on iTunes on July 14, 2009, with the physical release following on July 28, 2009. The album debuted at No. 27 on the Billboard 200. Owl City has released three official singles from this album: "Umbrella Beach", "Vanilla Twilight" and "Fireflies".^[9] "Fireflies" topped the US and Canadian charts. Ocean Eyes reached the top ten on the US album charts, topped the US electronic charts, and also reached Amazon MP3's top 10 most downloaded album list. By April 2010, it was certified Platinum in the United States. On January 24, 2010, Owl City reached the No. 1 spot in the UK Top 40 Singles chart with "Fireflies". The song "Tidal Wave" also received significant airplay on Christian music radio stations.^{[citation needed]} On January 2, 2011, it was revealed "Fireflies" was the 20th most downloaded song of all time in the UK.^[10]

Young is joined by Breanne Düren on several tracks; the most notable example of which is "The Saltwater Room". Owl City's live band consists of Breanne Düren (background vocals/keyboards), Casey Brown (drums), Laura Musten (violin), Hannah Schroeder (cello), and Daniel Jorgensen (vibes).^[11]

Relient K vocalist Matt Thiessen has toured and collaborated with Owl City on several tracks, including "Fireflies", where Matt can be heard providing the backup vocals. Young also produced Relient K's song "Terminals".

	"Fireflies" (2009) noicon Sample of the song "Fireflies" from Owl City's third album Ocean Eyes.
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

	"Umbrella Beach" (2010) noicon Sample of the song "Umbrella Beach" from Owl City's third album Ocean Eyes.
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

"Fireflies" was released as a free download on the game Tap Tap Revenge 3 by Tapulous. Prior to the July 14, 2009 internet release of Ocean Eyes, and the "Fireflies" single, Steve Hoover was hired as a director for a music video for "Fireflies". The video was to have had an exclusive premiere on MySpace,^[12] but had been leaked onto YouTube and Dailymotion hours earlier. "Fireflies" became a big sleeper hit, topping the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States for the week ending November 7, 2009.^[13]

Owl City is featured on Soundtrack 90210 with a song titled "Sunburn", which was released on October 13, 2009.^[14] Owl City has toured with The Scene Aesthetic, Lights, John Mayer, Maroon 5 and Brooke Waggoner. He was also guest featured in the soundtrack to Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland with a song entitled "The Technicolor Phase" that had already been featured in his debut album.^[15]

In 2010, Young revealed a new musical project known as Sky Sailing, which moved away from his usual electronica genre of music and introduced acoustic guitar and piano accompaniments into his work. The unrefined tracks were recorded in the summer of 2007 before he began making music as Owl City.^[16] His first album under this new project is entitled An Airplane Carried Me to Bed, and was released July 13, 2010 via iTunes.^[17]

In May 2010, Adam Young collaborated with high-profile British electronic composer, producer, musician, and songwriter Nick Bracegirdle. Under his Chicane alias, Bracegirdle released the single "Middledistancerunner" on August 1, 2010 featuring Adam Young on vocals. This is the first single from the fourth Chicane album Giants. He also worked with famed Dutch producer Armin van Buuren, appearing on a track called 'Youtopia' from the van Buuren album Mirage on September 10, 2010.

On September 21, 2010 "To the Sky" was officially released via iTunes on the soundtrack for Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'hoole.

On October 25, 2010, Young released a cover version of the praise and worship song "In Christ Alone" as a streaming MP3 on his website.^[18][19]

On November 13, 2010, a new album called Flight was released on iTunes for one of his other musical projects, Windsor Airlift.^[20]

On November 23, 2010, a new Christmas single called "Peppermint Winter" was released. A preview had been released the previous week on Facebook.

[edit] All Things Bright and Beautiful (2010–2011)

Production on Young's third studio album began around mid-2010, with Young being announced as the executive producer of the album.^[21][22]

On October 18, 2010 Young wrote an entry on his blog regarding his third studio album, saying that the album was nearing completion.^[23]

In February 2011, the title of the album was announced to be All Things Bright and Beautiful and that the album would be released on May 17. However, on April 6, Young released a statement on his website, along with lengthy previews of four of his songs (Dreams Don't Turn to Dust, Alligator Sky Featuring Shawn Chrystopher, Galaxies, and Deer in the Headlights), that the release date for All Things Bright and Beautiful would be pushed back to June 14.^[24]

	"Alligator Sky" (2011) noicon Sample of the song "Alligator Sky" from Owl City's fourth album All Things Bright and Beautiful, featuring Californian rapper Shawn Chrystopher.
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

On March 22, "Alligator Sky" was released as the lead single from the album on iTunes.

In late March and early April, tickets went on sale for The All Things Bright and Beautiful World Tour,^[25][26][27] and All Things Bright and Beautiful became available for preorder.^[28]

On April 19, "Galaxies" was released as the second single from the album.

Owl City performing at the 9:30 club in Washington D.C in November 2011.

On May 6, the music video for "Alligator Sky" was released. Young discussed the concept in a making-of video posted on Owl City's VEVO account, "The concept is basically about these two guys who are leaving Earth. Rather than it being this very dark post-apocalyptic vibe, it's very optimistic, and so it's like people are excited to leave earth."^[29]

On May 23, "Deer in the Headlights", the third single from the album, was released on iTunes.

On June 14, All Things Bright and Beautiful was released on iTunes. Although only a few days prior on May 20, almost all of the album leaked onto the internet.^[30]

On June 30, the music video for "Deer in the Headlights" was released. It features Young driving through the night in the DMC DeLorean featured in the Back to the Future trilogy and Canadian musician Lights makes a cameo appearance in the video.

On July 19, "Lonely Lullaby" was released as a single on iTunes, which was previously available only to Owl City Galaxy members.

Young was interviewed in the August issue of Cliché Magazine. He also appeared on the cover of the magazine and the issue also featured some of Young's very own artwork.

On July 21, at The Club Nokia concert in Los Angeles, Young announced that the concert was being filming for a Live DVD. The Live DVD was eventually released on iTunes in November 2011.^[31]

[edit] The Midsummer Station (2011–present)

In Young's final tour dates of 2011, he performed a new song entitled "I Hope You Think of Me".^[32]

On January 2, 2012, Young wrote an entry on his blog regarding his fourth studio album. Young said that he would be collaborating with more producers and songwriters, saying that his new record "Marks a flying leap in this direction". Young expects the album to be released around late Summer to Fall 2012.^[33] In an interview with Billboard, Young revealed that the new album is around 80-85% complete, and that Dr. Luke, JR Rotem, Norwegian production team Stargate, Brian Kennedy and Emily Wright are involved with the production of the album. He was also unsure whether or not "I Hope You Think of Me" would make the final tracklisting.^[31]

On March 5, 2012, Young, along with Jewel and Jay Sean, released a song in promotion of the Child Hunger Ends Here campaign by ConAgra Foods entitled "Here's Hope".^[34][35]

	"Shooting Star" (2012) noicon Sample of the song "Shooting Star" from Owl City's fifth album The Midsummer Station, showcasing his new musical 'style' on his most recent album.
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

On April 17 2012, "Dementia", a song by Young which was intended to be included on his upcoming album leaked onto the internet. The song features additional vocals by Mark Hoppus of Blink-182.^[36]

On May 3, 2012, Young announced via Twitter that a new EP entitled "Shooting Star" was to be released on May 15. The EP features four songs off his upcoming album. Young stated that he released the EP because he wanted to give his fans a clear taste of what his upcoming album would sound like.^[37]

On May 24, 2012, Young revealed on Twitter that his fourth studio album would be titled The Midsummer Station.^[38]

Musical styles and influences[link]

Owl City's music is described as indietronica and synthpop and is often described as belonging under the "electronic music" label.^[39] Young has stated that he is inspired by disco and European electronic music, as well as instrumental genres such as drone, ambient, and post-rock. He cites his biggest influences as Johnathon Ford of Unwed Sailor and Thomas Newman. Young also incorporates a large amount of his Christian faith into his music, since he is a vocal Christian.^[40][41][42] Young's faith is evident on the new album, "All Things Bright and Beautiful", especially in "Galaxies". Explaining why the faith-filled song was added to the mix, he said, "I feel like if I were ever to hide the fact that that’s what’s so important to me, it would be a crime, that I should probably be put in jail for that." ^[43]

Owl City also has been compared to The Postal Service, often critically, for his combination of fuzzy synths, ironic lyrics and use of female guest singers.^[44] Pitchfork.com goes far enough to say that "The surprise No. 1 single in the country, Owl City's 'Fireflies,' jacks the Postal Service in such a bald-faced, obvious manner that getting into specifics feels redundant at best and tacky at worst."^[45] In response to the suggestion that his work is derivative, Adam Young suggested in a 2009 interview with The New York Times that Ocean Eyes is perhaps the "next chapter" after American band The Postal Service: "The Postal Service released a record in 2003, and that was it. There was really nothing to compare it to until some one else came along and wrote the next chapter. Maybe that's this record. Maybe that's this band." ^[46]

Band members[link]

Current members

• Adam Young – lead vocals, programming, keyboards, piano, synthesizers, guitars, bass guitar, drums, percussion, vibraphone^[47]

Current touring members

While Young writes, composes, records, and produces all of Owl City's music, during live performances he is accompanied by a group of supporting musicians:^[47][11]

• Breanne Düren – keyboards, backing vocals
• Daniel Jorgensen – guitar, vibraphone
• Laura Musten – violin
• Hannah Schroeder – cello
• Casey Brown – drums

Concert tours[link]

Discography[link]

Extended Plays

• Of June (2007)
• Shooting Star (2012)

Studio albums

• Maybe I'm Dreaming (2008)
• Ocean Eyes (2009)
• All Things Bright and Beautiful (2011)
• The Midsummer Station (2012)

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Owl City

• Owl City Official Website