Coordinates	28°36′36″N77°13′48″N
name	Dave Gorman
birth name	David James Gorman
birth date	March 02, 1971
birth place	Stafford, England
website	http://www.davegorman.com/
occupation	Author, comedian }}

David James Gorman (born 2 March 1971) is an English author, stand-up comedian and presenter. He has performed comedy shows on stage in which he tells stories of extreme adventures and presents the evidence to the audience in order to prove to them that they are true stories. He was a stand-up comedian before he became famous for ''Are You Dave Gorman?'', then took a break from normal stand-up. He returned to stand-up in 2009 with a show called 'Sit Down, Pedal, Pedal, Stop and Stand Up' whose unique feature was that he cycled 1,563 miles from the southernmost point of Great Britain to the easternmost to the westernmost and then to the northernmost with a gig following each night.

Biography

Gorman was born and brought up in Stafford, England, where he attended Walton High School. Through his work he has revealed that he has a twin brother called Nick and that his father is called Derek. He also has two older brothers, Jonathan and Richard and his mother is Fay Collins. His parents are divorced. Dave married his wife Beth in October 2010. He studied mathematics at the University of Manchester (but never graduated) and before his solo successes was in demand as a writer, having co-written three series of ''The Mrs Merton Show'', as well as writing for many other TV series in the UK, including ''The Fast Show''. In 2003, he was listed in ''The Observer'' as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy.

Dave also regularly appeared on the BBC Three show, ''Rob Brydon's Annually Retentive'', a comedy show about the making of a celebrity panel show hosted by Rob Brydon. Dave Gorman is one of the show's team captains. In 2006 he became an occasional contributor on Comedy Central's ''The Daily Show with Jon Stewart''. He also hosts his own radio series, ''Genius'', and his documentary feature, ''America Unchained'', was shown on More4 in February 2008. The book of the series was published in April 2008.

Gorman is a vegetarian, a fact that he revealed in the documentary film ''Dave Gorman In America Unchained''. He lists his hobbies as photography, cycling, rock balancing and playing poker and recently, darts. Staffordshire University awarded him an honorary doctorate in 2006. He is a regular user of Twitter. According to America Unchained, he is an atheist.

Career

Early work

Dave Gorman is a stand-up comedian a writer and a producer. As a producer he contributed to two series featuring Jenny Eclair, as a writer he contributed to ''The Mrs Merton Show''. His other writing credits include Harry Hill and Steve Coogan.

Gorman's first one man "documentary style" show was entitled ''Reasons to be Cheerful''. Billed as "a ninety minute show based on a four minute pop song", it was based on the song "Reasons to be Cheerful, Part 3" by Ian Dury and the Blockheads. The show examined the song's lyrics in detail, with a view to establishing whether or not each of the items listed in the song were really reasons to be cheerful. The visual aspect of the show was provided by each "reason" being illustrated by one of a collection of second hand slides that he had accumulated for the show. The show was first performed at the 1998 Edinburgh Festival Fringe and toured theatres afterwards.

His second full length show, ''Dave Gorman's Better World'', was first performed in Edinburgh in 1999. For the show he wrote anonymous letters to thousands of local newspapers and asked the public to suggest ways in which one man could make the world a better place. He then attempted to carry out their suggestions in order to determine their efficacy.

''Are You Dave Gorman?''

Dave Gorman shot to fame following a drunken bet with his flatmate Danny Wallace. The bet was thus: Dave claimed that he shared the name "Dave Gorman" with the assistant manager of East Fife F.C. and that there must be "loads" of others around. Danny disagreed with him, so the two travelled to Methil (about 450 miles from London), with a Polaroid camera, to meet the assistant manager, whose name was indeed Dave Gorman. The bet soon evolved into a monster: on the way to meet Dave Gormans numbers 4 and 5, Danny decided Dave must meet one for every card in the deck (including the Jokers). His quest to meet this target was described, highlights including 5 people changing their name by deed poll (two of whom were women), and a trip to New York that resulted in failure when he discovered the man he had gone to meet was not Dave Gorman, but B. David Gorman and therefore was ineligible. The trip to New York also included a meeting with an actor who had played a character called David Gorman, the validity of which is hotly contested in the book.

''Dave Gorman's Important Astrology Experiment''

His second television series, broadcast on BBC Two, was entitled ''Dave Gorman's Important Astrology Experiment'' and was based upon the idea of a controlled scientific experiment, although naturally not a serious one. The series had six episodes.

The premise was that it would test whether or not astrology really worked. Over the course of forty days, he would try to follow any instructions given to people with his star sign in a selection of horoscopes, while his "control experiment" (his twin brother, Nick) ignored them. Each would record the events of each day, and how they fared in each of three areas of life: love, health and wealth. On each episode of the show, Dave would show footage of the amusing situations he got into by trying to follow his horoscope, and then asked a panel of "experts", agony aunt Denise Robertson (love), GMTV's Dr. Hilary Jones (health) and financial expert Alvin Hall (money), in the studio to assess how he had fared in the three areas. Following an audience vote, Dave would display on a "happiness graph" the difference between how he and his twin brother had fared that week, and whether it showed that astrology had produced a positive effect, a negative effect, or no significant effect at all.

The results of the 'experiment' were dramatic indeed. The various charts showed that his overall happiness, love and wealth steadily began to recede over time (especially wealth as he was forced to travel excessively). Throughout the experiment he had numerous adventures, including travelling to New York to meet a long lost friend and then leaving a few hours later because he was ordered to spend as much time at home as possible, sharing pizza in a park while dressed in a rubber suit, and the ethical trauma of reading an illegally acquired pornographic magazine at Sunday lunch in front of his mother.

The most notable stunt he had to perform was standing in Covent Garden on one leg with his foot in a bucket of water, a tangerine in one hand, and some breakfast cereal in the other, in a bowl that cost £85 from Harrods, singing the national anthem backwards and balancing three books on his head. This was taken entirely literally from a very odd horoscope by Jonathan Cainer, which Gorman deemed so implausible that he did in fact present the copy of the newspaper which published it in the studio, while noting his suspicion that perhaps the author of the horoscope found out about his experiment and was pulling a prank on him.

He showed that his wealth was rapidly declining, as were happiness and love, until, on the last day he invested the last of his money to travel to Dubai to watch a golf tournament (the ''Dubai Desert Classic'') and bet on Ian Woosnam, a golfer that shared his birthday (and would therefore share his luck). He emptied his account to travel there and, using his lucky number of the day from each of the 40 days of his experiment to determine how much he should bet, went ahead with the plan. However, he then found out that not only was gambling illegal in the country, but also that his lucky number indicated he should bet 2,903 Dirhams, which at the time was £549. Ultimately he borrowed the money from his mother and asked her to bet the sum on Ian Woosnam to win the match of the day - as he had been instructed by his horoscope.

With his happiness at an all time low, love scraping the bottom and his finances in an extremely negative position, the experts, his mother, Danny, the crowd and, of course, Dave himself could only hope the bet would pay off - which it ultimately did at odds long enough to place him not only back at level wealth, but supplying him with twice as much cash as he had started off with.

Therefore, he "proved" that astrology works and has made him happier than the control.

''Dave Gorman's Googlewhack Adventure''

In 2003, he toured Britain with a show entitled ''Dave Gorman's Googlewhack Adventure'', and published a book of the same name. It is another true story. At 31 Dave decided to give up his stupid ways, grow a beard and write a novel. As a result Dave believes people took him more seriously and a new novel was commissioned. While trying to write a novel for his publisher (Random House), Dave became obsessed with Googlewhacks when someone notified him that his site had one (Francophile Namesakes), and caused him to travel across the world finding people who had authored them (one of whom turned out to be one of the Dave Gormans he had met in his first adventure). He eventually spent his publisher's advance on the quest, without writing any of the promised novel, and had to create the ''Dave Gorman's Googlewhack Adventure'' show to pay them back.

This show was premiered at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and then went on to sell out for a two week run at the Sydney Opera House (albeit in its smallest venue: Studio Theatre). It also sold out in a major venue at the 2003 Edinburgh Festival Fringe (George Square Theatre) before embarking on a major UK tour of 75 shows in the space of 3 months. It won Dave the award for Best One Person Show at the HBO U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, Colorado, an award he had previously won for the show ''Are You Dave Gorman?'' He ended up writing a book about his Googlewhack Adventure which went on to be the ''Sunday Times'' Number One Best Seller. During his "Googlewhack Adventure", Gorman had a nervous breakdown which he discusses frankly in the show.

In 2004, a DVD of the popular ''Googlewhack Adventure'' was released which was filmed at Swansea Grand Theatre.

In 2005, he toured the U.S. and performed his ''Googlewhack'' show in several cities including Los Angeles. While in Los Angeles, he appeared on ''The Tonight Show'' elaborating on his travels and his quest. This tour, in which he stayed at chain motels and experienced corporate America, led Dave to undertake a road-trip across the USA in which he avoided such hotels and corporate petrol stations in favour of family owned businesses. The road trip was documented as the book and film America Unchained.

Genius

Radio series

He hosts a BBC Radio 4 show called ''Genius'', in which members of the public submit suggestions to make a better world. Gorman and a guest then assess the idea in order to determine whether it qualifies as "genius". One series of five episodes was broadcast between 27 October and 24 November 2005, with a CD of the first series released on 27 November 2006. The second series was broadcast between 7 September and 12 October 2006, with a CD released in 7 January 2008 and a third series between 1 October and 5 November 2007. He has made many references to disliking Darren Day in various episodes of the show.

TV series

A pilot for a television version of Genius was recorded on 23 November 2007, and a series was commissioned in the spring of 2008. The series was created by Ali Crockatt and David Scott, and is produced by Simon Nicholls.

The six part series started on Friday 20 March, 10pm on BBC2. Episode One had celebrity guest Catherine Tate. Episode Two had celebrity guest Frank Skinner. Episode Three had celebrity guest Jonathan Pryce. Episode Four had celebrity guest Johnny Vegas. Episode Five had celebrity guest Germaine Greer. Episode Six had celebrity guest Stewart Lee.

A second series for 2010 was commissioned by the BBC. The show broadcast its first episode on Monday 27 September 2010 at 10pm on BBC Two, the celebrity guests on the first show were Russell Howard and Hazel Irvine. The second episode broadcast on Monday 4 October 2010 on BBC Two and the celebrity guests were The Hairy Bikers and Jane Moore.

''The Daily Show with Jon Stewart''

On 24 April 2006, Gorman made his first appearance on ''The Daily Show with Jon Stewart'' in which he was credited as the show's Senior News Correspondent. On 27 April, he debuted as the host of the show's satirical statistical analysis piece called "Poll Smoking with Dave Gorman". He was the first ''Daily Show'' correspondent to have been born in England, and the third ''Daily Show'' correspondent to have been born outside of the United States. His most recent appearance on the show was on 5 October 2006. He has also appeared co-hosting a segment called "ConTROVersy" with the Daily Show's other English correspondent, John Oliver, in which the pair calmly and genteelly discussed former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair over tea, parodying American stereotypes of Britons.

''Rob Brydon's Annually Retentive''

Gorman starred in the BBC Three TV series ''Rob Brydon's Annually Retentive'', a show showing a behind-the-scenes view of a fictional comedy panel game. In the show Gorman plays a version of himself in the role of a team captain.

''America Unchained''

Between October 22 and December 5, 2006, Dave Gorman undertook a coast to coast road trip through seventeen states from the west coast to east coast of the United States of America. A book about the trip, entitled ''America Unchained: A Freewheeling Roadtrip In Search of Non-Corporate USA'', was released on 3 April 2008. The rationale for the trip was to discover whether it is possible to travel across the USA without ever patronising any corporate or chain-style businesses : i.e. The Man. Thus Dave ate, slept and filled his car in restaurants, hotels and petrol stations which were all independently owned.

America Unchained also is the name of an annual campaign spearheaded by the American Independent Business Alliance since 2004 to promote the economic, cultural and democratic importance of independent locally-owned businesses.

A documentary film of the adventure was also made and was aired on the British TV channel More4 on 5 February 2008 and released on DVD on 11 February. In 2007, it won the Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature at the Austin Film Festival.

Dave's journey started in Coronado, California and ended in Savannah, Georgia and was continually challenged to find independently owned gas stations, as well as repairing the car itself - which broke down surprisingly little, considering the age and milage (124,000 at start)

Absolute Radio

Dave was a regular guest on The Geoff Show, having been on a guest on the show 3 times (and also entering a phone-in competition whilst undertaking the Important Astrology Experiment), while he also had weekly interviews on Geoff Lloyd's Hometime Show to discuss his bikeathon during his Sit Down, Pedal, Pedal, Stop and Stand Up Tour. He filled in for weekend presenter Frank Skinner for 3 weeks during the summer of 2009. The station subsequently announced that he would have a full-time show; his first show aired on 11 October, with Dave joined by Danielle Ward and Martin White.

Stand Up

Dave has performed numerous times as a stand up earlier in his career but more recently, on 30 August 2009 he began a 32 date tour called Sit Down, Pedal, Pedal, Stop and Stand Up. The tour saw him covering the extremes of the British mainland as he cycled from Britain's southernmost point to its northernmost tip, taking in the most easterly and westerly points along the way and performing each night of the journey.

In 2010 Dave performed a 37 date tour as an extension of his 2009 ''Sit Down, Pedal, Pedal, Stop and Stand Up Tour''. About this show he says: "I won't be cycling to these. Same show, fewer blisters".

On 12 July 2010, he performed the show again - twice in one evening - at the Bloomsbury Theatre in London, which was recorded for a future DVD release. Prior to the recording, Gorman performed the act again as ''The Warm Up Show'' at four small venues in the UK in order to freshen his memory.

Other appearances

Dave appeared on two episodes of ''Have I Got News For You'', including the famous episode in which host Angus Deayton was teased about a story that appeared about him in the news that week. He also appeared in one episode of Sport Comedy Quiz ''They Think It's All Over''. Dave also appeared on episode nine on the A Series of ''QI'' with Jo Brand and Jeremy Hardy, in which he won. Dave was a regular alongside Geoff Lloyd on Virgin Radio's The Geoff Show, also appearing on the same presenter's Hometime Show, following the station's rebranding as Absolute Radio, before Dave joined the station as a presenter himself. He has made many appearances on Channel 5's The Wright Stuff. Dave has appeared on several episodes of Radio 4's Just a Minute. He has listed among his ambitions a wish to become a captain on the quiz show Call My Bluff. He appeared as a guest on the Frank Skinner show Opinionated on 23 April 2010. In 2001, he appeared on ''Absolutely Fabulous'' (for one episode), as Rimmer, a photographer in season 4 episode 3 (''"Paris"'').

Dave appeared on the week-long special Grand Designs Live, in which he showcased eccentric houses in America.

Dave also voiced a campaign for Homebase, the UK DIY chain.

In 2009 he appeared in Robert Llewellyn's online programme Carpool which can be viewed at Llewellyn's website, LlewTube.

He presented Bravo TV's first live PDC darts coverage alongside James Richardson during the 2010 European Championship Darts.

Dave was a guest in an October 2010 episode of Soccer AM, where he revealed he is a Liverpool FC fan.

References

External links

Dave Gorman's website

Dave Gorman's Twitter Stream

Dave Gorman's photos on Flickr

Dave Gorman's profile page on Chortle, including tour dates

Interview – from the B3ta website.

BBC Genius page

Dave Gorman's Blog

Category:1971 births Category:English comedians Category:English satirists Category:Living people Category:People from Stafford Category:English atheists

cy:Dave Gorman

Coordinates	28°36′36″N77°13′48″N
name	Tony Hawks
birth name	Antony Gordon Hawksworth
birth date	May 12, 1960
birth place	Brighton, Sussex, England
other names	Tony Hawks
known for	Morris Minor and the Majors, Stutter Rap (No Sleep Til Bedtime), Playing the Moldovans at Tennis, Round Ireland with a Fridge
occupation	comedian, author
website	http://www.tony-hawks.com/
footnotes	}}

Antony Gordon Hawksworth, better known as Tony Hawks, is a British comedian and author.

Early life

Born in Brighton in 1960, Hawks was educated at Brighton Hove and Sussex Grammar School (1971–76) (became Brighton Hove & Sussex Sixth Form College in 1975) and Brighton College (1976–78). He stated during an appearance on ''I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue'' that he briefly attended the University of Manchester.

Career

He first attempted to break into show business as a serious singer-songwriter, but it was with a novelty record that he had his first brush with fame. As leader of the trio Morris Minor and the Majors, he reached number 4 in the UK charts with the Beastie Boys parody, ''Stutter Rap (No Sleep Til Bedtime)'' in 1988. It went on to sell 220,000 copies, and was number one in Australia. The follow-up, a pastiche of Stock Aitken Waterman called ''This Is the Chorus'', fared less well.

A TV series followed from this, ''Morris Minor's Marvellous Motors'', written by and starring Hawks. In it the fictional bandleader attempted to maintain his pop career while running a garage. It ran for one series in 1989.

Hawks performs stand-up comedy, and is a regular on TV and radio panel games in the UK, including ''I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue'', ''Just a Minute'', ''The Unbelievable Truth'' and ''Have I Got News for You'', although he first came to prominence as one of two resident performers — the other was Jo Brand — on semi-successful BBC monologue show ''The Brain Drain''.

He has also appeared in ''Red Dwarf'' in a number of supporting roles, on several occasions as a voice artist for intelligent machines. Hawks provided the voice of a vending machine in "Future Echoes" and "Waiting for God" and the voice of a suitcase in "Stasis Leak", and appeared onscreen as The Guide in "Better Than Life", The Compere in "Backwards", and Caligula in "Meltdown". He also provided the voice-over for a restaurant ad in the episode "Me²", although this role was uncredited. In the first few seasons of "Red Dwarf," Hawks performed a warm-up act for the live audience before taping began to get them laughing. His continuous presence during the early seasons of the series led to his being nicknamed "The Fifth Dwarfer". More recently he has appeared in the television series ''Grumpy Old Men'' and a contestant on the BBC quiz show ''School's Out''.

In November 2010 he was a guest on a number of TV and radio programmes to discuss the film version of Round Ireland with a Fridge including Simon Mayo's Radio 2 show, ''Loose Ends'', Radio Wales and Radio Scotland. He was also a contestant on a special edition of ''Mastermind'' for Children in Need and featured as part of Comic Relief 2011.

In March 2011 Tony travelled to Japan to appear at the Okinawa International Film Festival where Round Ireland with a Fridge was nominated for Best Comedy.

In September he will begin his first National Theatre tour since 2003 with a new one man show called Random Fun. The 32 dates begin in Lincoln in September 16th and will finish in Swansea on December 7th.

Books

Hawks has written five books:

''Round Ireland with a Fridge'': His first book was an account of his attempt to hitchhike around Ireland with a fridge to win a bar bet. It sold over 800,000 copies. (ISBN 0-09-186777-0)

''Playing the Moldovans at Tennis'': His second book, also the result of a drunken bet (with the comedian Arthur Smith), this time involved an attempt to beat each member of the Moldova national football team in a game of tennis, based on the theory that people good at one sport aren't necessarily good at others. (ISBN 0-09-187456-4)

''One Hit Wonderland'': His third book, describes his attempt, over 10 years after his first, to write a second hit song. This culminates in him performing on Albanian television with Norman Wisdom and Tim Rice (ISBN 0-09-188210-9)

''A Piano in the Pyrenees: The Ups and Downs of an Englishman in the French Mountains'': An account of his purchase of a house in the Pyrenees in the south of France, after deciding that the two things he wanted in life were to meet his soul mate, and to purchase an "idyllic house abroad somewhere abroad". (ISBN 0-09-190267-3)

''The Fridge Hiker's Guide to Life''

Hawks has also contributed to the collection ''The Weekenders''.

Influences

Hawks chose ''The Power of Now'' by Eckhart Tolle as the book he would take with him to a desert island.

Film adaptations

The full-length feature film version of his book ''Round Ireland with a Fridge'', starring Tony, Josie Lawrence, Ed Byrne and Sean Hughes, was released in Autumn 2010. Filming on the follow-up, ''Playing the Moldovans at Tennis'', with Steven Frost, Angus Deayton, Morwenna Banks and Laura Solon, has just been completed.

Other activities

Tony Hawks donated half of the royalties from his book ''Playing the Moldovans at Tennis'' to a trust fund for Moldova, which was used to open the Hippocrates Centre, a medical centre that provides rehabilitative therapy for disabled children from socially vulnerable families. Hawks continues to support Hippocrates through fundraising and personal involvement.

Hawks is the co-founder and public face of the "Tennis for Free" campaign which aims to make Britain's existing municipal tennis facilities available to all.

Hawks is currently collaborating with Chesney Hawkes on various songs available from a MySpace website.

He is frequently confused with Tony Hawk, largely because the latter's video game franchise uses the possessive apostrophe ("Tony Hawk's"). Hawks maintains a list of emails intended for the skateboarder and his mischievous responses to them on his website. On 2 January 2008 he appeared on an edition of ''Celebrity Mastermind'', with Tony Hawk as his chosen specialised subject. Hawks noted that his correspondents "might be able to do backside varials but they can't spell to save their lives."

References

External links

Tony-Hawks.com (Official Website)

Tony Hawks' Twitter

Download Tony Hawks' music free

Tennis For Free website

Tony Hawks and Chesney Hawkes MySpace page

Round Ireland With A Fridge

YouTube interview with Tony Hawks

Category:1960 births Category:English humorists Category:English travel writers Category:Living people Category:2012 Summer Olympics cultural ambassadors Category:People from Brighton Category:Old Brightonians

de:Tony Hawks zh:東尼·霍克

Coordinates	28°36′36″N77°13′48″N
name	Chris Addison
birth place	Didsbury, Manchester, England
nationality	British
active	1995 – present
notable work	''The Thick of It'', ''Lab Rats'', ''Mock the Week'', ''7 Day Sunday''
website	http://www.chrisaddison.com/
footnotes	}}

Chris Addison (born November 1972) is an English stand-up comedian, writer and actor. He is known for his lecture-style comedy shows, two of which he later adapted for BBC Radio 4. In addition to stand-up, in television he plays Ollie in the BBC 2 television satire ''The Thick of It'' and Toby in its spin-off film ''In the Loop'', and he co-created and starred in the BBC 2 sitcom ''Lab Rats''. On radio, he previously hosted the weekly comedy news satire show ''7 Day Sunday'' on BBC Radio 5 Live from 2009 to 2011.

Education

Addison was educated at Manchester Grammar School, an independent school for boys in Manchester, followed by the University of Birmingham, where he studied English literature.

Career

Stand-up

Chris Addison has been performing stand-up comedy since 1995. In that year, he won the City Life Comedian of the Year Award, a stand-up competition in the North West of England.

Addison's first solo show at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe was in 1998, for which he was nominated for Best Newcomer at the Perrier Awards. He continued to bring shows to the Fringe for several years, garnering two Perrier Award nominations — for his 2004 show ''Civilisation'' and 2005's ''Atomicity''.

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

1997 Appeared as part of ''The Comedy Zone'' showcase

1998 Debut solo Edinburgh Fringe show, nominated for Perrier Comedy Award (Best Newcomer)

1999 ''Gentleman, Scholar, Acrobat''

2000 ''Cakes and Ale''

2001 ''Port Out, Starboard Home''

2002 ''The Ape That Got Lucky'' (later adapted for BBC Radio 4)

2004 ''Civilization'' (nominated for Perrier Comedy Award, later adapted for BBC Radio 4)

2005 ''Atomicity'' (nominated for Perrier Comedy Award)

Radio

First airing in 2004, Chris Addison co-wrote and co-starred in the political satire ''The Department'', along with John Oliver and Andy Zaltzman. This ran for fourteen episodes over three series on BBC Radio 4, ending in 2006.

In August 2005, Radio 4 aired ''The Ape That Got Lucky'', Addison's adaptation of his 2002 Edinburgh Festival Fringe show of the same name. This programme featured fellow comedians Geoffrey McGivern, Jo Enright and Dan Tetsell. On 8 May 2006, ''The Ape That Got Lucky'' won the gold award in the comedy production category at the Sony Radio Academy Awards.

In 2006, Chris Addison recorded ''Chris Addison's Civilisation'', again for Radio 4, based on his Edinburgh Fringe show of 2004; this again featured McGivern, Enright and Tetsell and was aired in four parts over the summer.

He has been a panellist on three of Radio 4's comedy panel games: ''Armando Iannucci's Charm Offensive'', first appearing in 2006, ''Just a Minute'', first appearing in 2007, and ''The Unbelievable Truth'', first appearing in 2009.

Addison hosted a series of the Radio 4 comedy series ''4 Stands Up'', which showcases up-coming and established comedy talent. As host, Addison performs a short opening set and introduces the acts, in the style of a compère at a comedy club. The first episode aired on 2 April 2009.

On 10 May 2009, Addison hosted the ''Sunday Night Show'' on Absolute Radio in place of fellow stand-up comedian Iain Lee who was away due to being on his honeymoon.

Chris Addison hosted ''7 Day Sunday'', a satirical news show on BBC Radio 5 Live along with his co-hosts Sarah Millican and Andy Zaltzman. The first episode aired in January 2010. Addison presented the second series of the show until February 2011 when he was replaced by Al Murray.

He is also good friends with Geoff Lloyd on Absolute Radio and has made a few appearances on Geoff Lloyds Hometime Show.

Television

''Dotcomedy''

In 2000 Chris Addison co-hosted the short-lived Channel 4 comedy series ''Dotcomedy'' with Gail Porter. This was a late-night, risque show featuring video clips and other humour derived from the internet.

''The Thick of It''

Since 2005, Addison has appeared in the BBC television satirical comedy series ''The Thick of It'' as Oliver "Ollie" Reeder, Junior Advisor (later Special Advisor) to the Secretary of State (Department of Social Affairs and Citizenship). He appeared in all episodes of the first series, as well as the two specials 'Rise of the Nutters' and 'Spinners and Losers'. Chris Addison reprised his role as Ollie when ''The Thick of It'' returned for a new series.

Addison also featured in the film adaptation of ''The Thick of It'', entitled ''In the Loop'', playing Toby, a character very similar to his part in the television original.

''Lab Rats''

In July 2008, BBC2 aired ''Lab Rats'', a sitcom starring Addison and co-written with Carl Cooper. ''Lab Rats'' featured cast members Jo Enright, Geoffrey McGivern and Dan Tetsell, with whom Addison had worked previously on the radio adaptations of his one-man shows ''The Ape That Got Lucky'' and ''Civilisation''.

''Lab Rats'' was a return to the traditional, joke-heavy, studio based sitcom format that has fallen out of fashion in recent times in favour of the single-camera sitcom. The series was not generally well-received by critics and was not renewed for a second series.

Guest appearances

Addison has made appearances as a panellist on ''Mock the Week'' eleven times during the past two years. He has now become a full time pannelist on the panel show ''Mock the Week''. As well as appearing on 'Have I Got News For You'' and ''Would I Lie To You'' five times each, and ''8 Out of 10 Cats'' twice. Also of note is the appearance in Series 5, Episode 3, of ''Live at the Apollo''. Addison appeared on ''The Graham Norton Show'' on 16 April 2009 promoting ''In the Loop''.

On Sunday 18 April 2010, Addison appeared on The Andrew Marr Show to comment on the week's political issues, including the volcanic ash cloud from Iceland and The First Election Debate. He most recently appeared for the first time as a guest on the panel show QI on October 29, 2010.

Other work

From 2003 to 2005, Addison wrote a fortnightly finance column for ''The Guardian'' entitled "Funny Money". On alternate weeks, when the column was not written by Addison, writing duties passed to fellow stand-up Dominic Holland. He can be seen in the audience for the television taping of ''Are You Dave Gorman'', from 2003.

Addison has written two books, both published by Hodder and Stoughton: ''Cautionary Tales for Grown Ups'' in 2006, followed by ''It Wasn't Me: Why Everybody is to Blame and You're Not'' in 2008.

He is currently appearing in ''Skins'' as Professor David Blood, the college director of Roundview College and father of 3rd Generation main character Grace Violet. He is replacing a character played by Victoria Wicks. On November 4, 2010, Addison hosted the BBC's ''Have I Got News For You'', having previously been a guest on the show. In 2011 he appeared in a range of Direct Line adverts as a Direct Line representative alongside difficult customers, played by fellow comedic performers Alexander Armstrong, Amelia Bullmore and Lorna Watson. On 9th April 2011 he was part of the Comedy Takeover on TV channel Dave where he presented and selected the shows.

In 2011, he took part in three shows of the 16-date ''Uncaged Monkeys'' tour along with Professor Brian Cox, Robin Ince, Ben Goldacre, Simon Singh and Dara Ó Briain . In the summer of 2011, Addison also began filming a new BBC chat show called "Show and Tell".

He has been a keen beekeeper since an early age (which he has mentioned many times in Interviews, including that in "Loaded" in June 2009). He has tried three times to become National President of the Bee Federation UK, most recently in October 2010, but has never progressed beyond the fifth round of the selection process (details on their website bfuk.org.uk).

Stand-Up DVDs

''Live'' (14 November 2011)

References

External links

Official Web Site

"Chris Addison's Civilisation" at BBC Radio 4

Category:1971 births Category:Actors from Manchester Category:People from Didsbury Category:English comedians Category:English television actors Category:English writers Category:Living people Category:Old Mancunians

Coordinates	28°36′36″N77°13′48″N
name	Annie Lennox
background	solo_singer
birth name	Ann Lennox
birth date	December 25, 1954
origin	Aberdeen, Scotland
occupation	Singer-songwriter, activist, humanitarian ambassador
genre	Pop, rock, blue-eyed soul, R&B;
instrument	Vocals, piano, keyboards, guitar, accordion, harmonium, dulcimer, flute
years active	1975–present
associated acts	The Catch, The Tourists, Eurythmics
label	RCA, Arista (1992–2009)Island, Decca (2010–)
website	www.annielennox.com }}

Annie Lennox, OBE (born 25 December 1954), born Ann Lennox, is a Scottish recording artist. After achieving minor success in the late 1970s with The Tourists, with fellow musician David A. Stewart she achieved major international success in the following decade as one half of Eurythmics.

Lennox embarked on a solo career in the 1990s with her debut album ''Diva'' (1992), which produced several hit singles including "Why" and "Walking on Broken Glass". She has released five solo studio albums and a compilation album, ''The Annie Lennox Collection'', in 2009. She is the recipient of eight BRIT Awards. In 2004, she won both the Golden Globe and the Academy Award for Best Original Song for "Into the West", written for the soundtrack to the feature film ''The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King''.

In addition to her career as a musician, Lennox is also a political and social activist, notable for raising money and awareness for HIV charities in Africa. She also objected to the unauthorized use of the 1999 Eurythmics song "I Saved the World Today" in an election broadcast for Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni in 2009.

Known as a pop culture icon for her distinctive contralto vocals and visual performances, Lennox has been named "The Greatest White Soul Singer Alive" by VH1 and one of The 100 Greatest Singers of All Time by ''Rolling Stone''. She has earned the distinction of "most successful female British artist in UK music history" because of her global commercial success since the early 1980s. Including her work within Eurythmics, Lennox is one of the world's best-selling music artists, having sold over 80 million records worldwide.

Early life

Lennox was born on Christmas Day, 1954, in Summerfield Maternity hospital, Aberdeen. Her father worked at the shipyard, and her mother was a cook until she became a housewife. Lennox was an only child and the family lived in a small two-bedroomed apartment in a block of flats with communal laundry facilities. Despite her family's financial status, Lennox had piano lessons at school from the age of seven years at the cost of £4.00 per term. She was interested in singing and, with plenty of time to herself, passed some of the time by singing along to the popular music of the time, including music by The Beatles. She was an unhappy teenager, partly because of a struggle over boundaries for her independence with her overprotective father. She attended Aberdeen High School for Girls, now Harlaw Academy. In 1964, her early talent was demonstrated when she came second in a talent contest at a Butlins holiday camp. She sang the song "Mairi's Wedding".

In the 1970s, Lennox won a place at the Royal Academy of Music in London, where she studied the flute and classical music for three years. She lived on a student grant and worked at part-time jobs for extra money. Lennox was unhappy during her time at the Royal Academy partly because she was lonely and shy, and she missed many history-of-music lessons.

Lennox's flute teacher's final report stated: "Ann has not always been sure of where to direct her efforts, though lately she has been more committed. She is very, very able, however." Two years later, Lennox reported to the Academy: "I have had to work as a waitress, barmaid, and shop assistant to keep me when not in musical work." She also played and sang with a few bands, such as Windsong, during the period of her course. In 2006, the academy made her an honorary Fellow. Lennox also was made a Fellow of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama that year.

Music career

1977–90: The Tourists and Eurythmics

Between 1977 and 1980, Lennox was the lead singer of The Tourists (initially known as The Catch), a moderately successful British pop band and her first collaboration with Dave Stewart. During the time they were in The Tourists, Stewart and Lennox were involved in a relationship, though this had ended by the time they formed Eurythmics.

Lennox and Stewart's second collaboration, the 1980s synthpop duo Eurythmics, resulted in her most notable fame, as the duo's alto, soul-tinged lead singer. Early in Eurythmics' career, Lennox was known for her androgyny, wearing suits and once impersonating Elvis Presley. Eurythmics released a long line of singles in the 1980s, including "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)", "Love Is A Stranger", "Here Comes the Rain Again", "Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves", "Who's That Girl?", "Would I Lie to You?", "There Must Be an Angel (Playing with My Heart)", "Missionary Man", "You Have Placed a Chill in My Heart", "Thorn in My Side", "The Miracle of Love" and "Don't Ask Me Why". Though Eurythmics never officially disbanded, Lennox made a fairly clear break from Stewart in 1990. Thereafter, she began a long and equally-successful solo career.

Lennox and Stewart reconvened Eurythmics in the late 1990s with the album ''Peace'', their first album of new material in ten years. A subsequent concert tour was completed, with profits going to Greenpeace and Amnesty International The duo ultimately disbanded in 2005, having released a compilation album that year.

Lennox has received eight BRIT Awards, the most of any female artist. Four of the awards were given during her time with Eurythmics, and another was given to the duo for Outstanding Contribution to Music in 1999.

The 1988 single with Al Green, "Put a Little Love in Your Heart" (a cover version of Jackie DeShannon's 1969 hit), was recorded for the soundtrack of the movie ''Scrooged''. Though it was produced by Dave Stewart, it was credited to Lennox and Green. This one-off single peaked at #2 on the US Adult Contemporary chart, #9 on the US Hot 100 and was a top 40 hit in the UK. Lennox performed the song "Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye", a Cole Porter song, that same year for a cameo appearance in the Derek Jarman film ''Edward II''. She then made an appearance with David Bowie and the surviving members of Queen at 1992's Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert at London's Wembley Stadium, performing "Under Pressure".

1992–93: ''Diva''

Lennox began working with former Trevor Horn protegé Stephen Lipson, beginning with her 1992 solo début album, ''Diva''. It was a commercial and critical success, charting #1 in the UK, #6 in Germany, and #23 in the US. Lennox's profile was boosted by ''Diva'''s singles, which included "Why" and "Walking on Broken Glass". "Little Bird" also formed a double A-side with "Love Song for a Vampire", a soundtrack cut for Francis Ford Coppola's 1992 movie ''Bram Stoker's Dracula''. The B-side of her single "Precious" was a self-penned song called "Step by Step", which was later a hit for Whitney Houston for the soundtrack of the film ''The Preacher's Wife''. "Step by Step" appeared also on the Mexican and Japanese editions of the album. The song "Keep Young and Beautiful" was included on the CD release as a bonus track (the original vinyl album had only ten tracks).

The album entered the UK album chart at no.1 and has since sold over 1.2 million copies in the UK alone, being certified quadruple platinum. It was also a success in the US where it was a top 30 hit and has sold in excess of 2,700,000 copies there. In 1993, the album was included in ''Q magazine'''s list of the "50 Best Albums of 1992". ''Rolling Stone'' magazine (25 June 1992, p. 41) described the album as "''...state-of-the-art soul pop...''" and it is included in Rolling Stone's (13 May 1999, p. 56) "Essential Recordings of the 90's" list. The album won Best British Album at the 1993 Brit Awards.

1995–2000: ''Medusa'' and return to Eurythmics

Although Lennox's profile decreased for a period because of her desire to bring up her two children outside of the media's glare, she continued to record. Her second album, ''Medusa'', was released in March 1995. It consisted solely of cover songs, all originally recorded by male artists including Bob Marley and The Clash. It entered the UK album chart at No. 1 and peaked in the USA at number 11, spending 60 weeks on the Billboard 200 chart and selling a total of 1,900,000 to date in the United States. It has since achieved double platinum status in both the UK and the US. The album yielded four UK singles: "No More I Love You's" (which entered the UK singles chart at No. 2, Lennox's highest ever solo peak), "A Whiter Shade of Pale", "Waiting in Vain" and "Something So Right". The album was nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album at the Grammy Awards of 1996, losing to ''Turbulent Indigo'' by Joni Mitchell, however, Lennox took home the Best Female Pop Vocal Performance award for her work on the first single "No More I Love You's". Though Lennox declined to tour for the album, she did perform a large scale one-off concert in New York's Central Park, which was filmed and later released on home video.

In 1997, Lennox re-recorded the Eurythmics track "Angel" for the Diana, Princess of Wales tribute album, and also recorded the song "Mama" for ''The Avengers'' soundtrack album. In 1998, following the death of a mutual friend (former Tourists member Peet Coombes), she re-established contact with Dave Stewart. Following their first performance together in eight years at a record company party, Stewart and Lennox began writing and recording together for the first time since 1989. This resulted in the album ''Peace''. The title was designed to reflect the duo's ongoing concern with global conflict and world peace. The record was promoted with a concert on the Greenpeace vessel Rainbow Warrior II, where they played a mixture of old and new songs. "I Saved the World Today" was the lead single, reaching number eleven on the UK singles chart. Another single, released at the beginning of 2000, "17 Again", made the UK top 40, and topped the US dance chart. Critics were impressed overall with the record, although some commented that it "lacked the power" (''NME'') of their previous releases and "quietly acknowledged that their solo careers had failed" (''Q Magazine''), despite the fact that both of Lennox's solo efforts reached the number one position in the UK charts, ''Diva'' going quadruple platinum in the UK and double platinum in the US (''Q'' magazine, themselves placing it in their top 50 albums of 1992) and ''Medusa'' going double-platinum in both countries, respectively.

2003–07: ''Bare'' and work in Africa

In 2003, Lennox released her third solo album, ''Bare''. The album peaked at #3 in the UK and #4 in the US - her highest charting album in the US to date. She embarked on her first tour as a solo artist to promote the album. The tour, simply titled Solo Tour, pre-dated the release of the album and visited both the US and Europe, with only a two-night stop in the UK at Saddler's Wells Theatre in London. The album has been certified Gold in both the UK and the US and was nominated for Best Pop Album at the 46th Grammy Awards. The album was released with a DVD which included interviews and acoustic versions of songs by Lennox. The Japanese edition of the album features a version of Lennox's earlier hit "Cold" recorded live in Toronto.

In 2004, Lennox won the Academy Award for Best Song for "Into the West" from the film ''The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King'', which she co-wrote with screenwriter Fran Walsh and composer Howard Shore. The song also won a Grammy award and a Golden Globe award. She had previously recorded "Use Well the Days" for the movie, which incorporates a number of quotations from Tolkien in its lyrics. This song was not used in the film, but it appears on a bonus DVD included with the "special edition" of the movie's soundtrack CD. In mid-2004, Lennox embarked on an extensive North American tour with Sting. In July 2005, Lennox performed at Live 8 in Hyde Park, London, along with Madonna, Sting, and other popular musicians.

In 2005, Lennox and Stewart collaborated on two new songs for their Eurythmics compilation album, ''Ultimate Collection'', of which "I've Got a Life" was released as a single in October 2005. The promotional video for the song features Lennox and Stewart performing in the present day, with images of past Eurythmics videos playing on television screens behind them. The single peaked at number fourteen in the UK Singles Chart and was a number-one US Dance hit. On 14 November 2005, Sony BMG repackaged and released Eurythmics' back catalogue as 2005 Deluxe Edition Reissues.

2007–08: ''Songs of Mass Destruction'' and AIDS activism

Ending her long association with Stephen Lipson, Lennox's fourth solo album, ''Songs of Mass Destruction'', was recorded in Los Angeles with veteran producer Glen Ballard (known for producing Alanis Morissette's album, ''Jagged Little Pill''). It was released on 1 October 2007, and was the last studio album of Lennox's contract with BMG. It peaked at #7 in the UK and #9 in the US. Lennox stated that she believed the album consisted of "twelve strong, powerful, really emotive songs that people can connect to". If she achieves that, she says, "I can feel proud of [it], no matter if it sells ten copies or 50 million." Lennox described it as "a dark album, but the world is a dark place. It's fraught, it's turbulent. Most people's lives are underscored with dramas of all kinds: there's ups, there's downs - the flickering candle." She added, "Half the people are drinking or drugging themselves to numb it. A lot of people are in pain."

The album's first single was "Dark Road", released on 24 September 2007. Another song on the album, "Sing", is a collaboration between Lennox and 23 prominent female artists: Anastacia, Isobel Campbell, Dido, Céline Dion, Melissa Etheridge, Fergie, Beth Gibbons, Faith Hill, Angelique Kidjo, Beverley Knight, Gladys Knight, k.d. lang, Madonna, Sarah McLachlan, Beth Orton, Pink, Kelis, Bonnie Raitt, Shakira, Shingai Shoniwa, Joss Stone, Sugababes, KT Tunstall, and Martha Wainwright. The song was recorded to raise money and awareness for the HIV/AIDS organization Treatment Action Campaign. Included among the group of vocalists are TAC activist members' own vocal group known as The Generics, whose CD of music inspired Lennox to make "Sing". The track was released as a download single in December 2007, featuring different mixes, and then as a limited CD-single, sold in UK branches of The Body Shop in March 2008.

To promote ''Songs of Mass Destruction'', Lennox embarked on a primarily North American tour called Annie Lennox Sings, which lasted throughout October and November 2007. The tour had 18 stops: San Diego, New York City (two dates), Boston. The venues generally were at medium-size theatres, except in New York, where one of the dates was a United Nations fundraiser at the Midtown restaurant Cipriani.

2008–09: ''The Annie Lennox Collection'' and departing from Sony

Finishing out her contract with Sony BMG, Lennox released the compilation album ''The Annie Lennox Collection''. Initially intended for release in September 2008, the release date was pushed back several months to allow Lennox to recuperate from a back injury. The compilation was eventually released in the US on 17 February 2009, and in the UK and Europe on 9 March 2009. Included on the track listing are songs from her four solo albums, one from the ''Bram Stoker's Dracula'' soundtrack, and two new songs. One of these is a cover of Ash's single, "Shining Light". The other is a cover of a song by the English band Keane, originally the B-side of their first single in 2000. Lennox renamed the song from its original title "Closer Now" to "Pattern of My Life". The track was released as the second single (download only), in the UK on 24 May 2009. A limited 3-disc edition of the album included a DVD compilation featuring most of Lennox's solo videos since 1992, and also featured a second CD of rarer songs including a version of R.E.M.'s "Everybody Hurts" with Alicia Keys and Lennox's Oscar winning "Into the West" from the third ''Lord of the Rings'' film. The album entered the UK album chart at #2 and remained in the top 10 for seven weeks. The collection debuted and peaked at #34 on the US Top 200 Billboard Album chart.

Lennox's recording contract with Sony BMG concluded with the release of ''Songs of Mass Destruction'' and the subsequent retrospective album ''The Collection'', and much was made in the press in late 2007/early 2008 about the apparent animosity between Lennox and the record company. Lennox stated that while on a trip to South Africa in December 2007 to appear at the 46664 campaign in Johannesburg, the regional company office of the label failed to return phone calls and e-mails she made to them for three weeks, and had completely failed to promote the Sing project as planned. Upon her return to the UK, Lennox met with the head of Sony BMG UK, Ged Docherty, who was "mortified" by the problems she had encountered with the South African branch. However, the debacle (partly inflamed when Lennox's dissatisfaction with the South African office was made public on her blog) led to press reports falsely stating that she was being dropped by Sony BMG. The record company themselves quickly refuted the rumour stating that Lennox's contract with them had merely been fulfilled and that they hoped she would consider remaining with them. The British tabloid, ''Daily Mirror'', subsequently printed a retraction of its story about her being dropped by the label.

2010–present: Island Records and ''A Christmas Cornucopia''

In August 2010, Lennox signed a new contract with Island Records in the UK and Decca Records in the US (both part of the Universal Music Group). Her first release was a Christmas album entitled ''A Christmas Cornucopia'', issued on 15 November 2010. The album is a collection of Lennox's interpretations of traditional festive songs such as "Silent Night" and "The First Noel", along with one new composition, "Universal Child", which was released as a download-only single on 13 October 2010. Lennox had previously showcased the song on the ''American Idol Gives Back'' TV show in April 2010. She sang the song "Angels from the Realms of Glory" from the album for the TNT special ''Christmas in Washington''.

A music video was produced for a second single from the album, "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen". Lennox also performed the track on the UK chat show ''Loose Women'' in December 2010, and was also interviewed.

According to Metacritic, ''A Christmas Cornucopia'' has gained "generally favourable reviews". Ian Wade of BBC Music gave the album a very positive review, saying "this collection could find itself becoming as much a part of the holiday season as arguments with loved ones." Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine awarded the album 3.5/5 and said "Lennox seems more inspired on ''A Christmas Cornucopia'' than she has in years." John Hunt of ''Qatar Today'' magazine gave the album 9/10 and said "in particular, the vocal work and musical arrangement of 'God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen' are impactful to the point of being intimidating."

It was confirmed in late-2010 that Lennox would become an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, which she received from Queen Elizabeth on 28 June 2011.

Public image

Charity and political work

In 1990, Lennox recorded a version of Cole Porter's "Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye" for the Cole Porter tribute album ''Red Hot + Blue'', a benefit for AIDS awareness. A video was also produced.

Lennox has been a public supporter of Amnesty International and Greenpeace for many years, and she and Dave Stewart donated all of the profits from Eurythmics' 1999 Peacetour to both charities.

Her song "Sing" was subsequently born out of Lennox's involvement with Nelson Mandela's 46664 campaign and Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), both of which are human rights groups which seek education and health care for those affected by HIV.

In 2006, in response to her humanitarian work, Lennox became patron of the Master's Course in ''Humanitarian and Development Practice'' for Oxford Brookes University. A spokesperson said that the university was "delighted that as a long-term supporter of human rights and social justice campaigns Ms Lennox has agreed to act as patron for its unique MA programme."

In October 2006, Lennox spoke at the British House of Commons about the need for children in the UK to help their counterparts in Africa.

On 25 April 2007, Lennox performed "Bridge over Troubled Water" during the ''American Idol'' "Idol Gives Back" fundraising drive.

In December 2007, Lennox established The SING Campaign, an organisation dedicated to raising funds and awareness for women and children affected by HIV and AIDS.

On 11 December 2007, she performed in the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Oslo, Norway together with a variety of artists, which was broadcast to over 100 countries.

She led a rally against the Gaza War in London on 3 January 2009.

Lennox opened the 2009 Edinburgh Festival of Politics with a stinging attack on Pope Benedict XVI's approach to HIV/AIDS prevention in Africa. She said that the Pope's denunciation of condoms on his recent tour of Africa had caused "tremendous harm" and she criticised the Roman Catholic Church for causing widespread confusion on the continent. Lennox also condemned the media's obsession with "celebrity culture" for keeping the AIDS pandemic off the front page. In an attempt to counter this, during her address, she wore a T-shirt emblazoned with the words "HIV positive". Lennox wore similar T-shirts at the 25th Anniversary Rock & Roll Hall of Fame concert at Madison Square Garden on 30 October 2009, while appearing on ''The Graham Norton Show'' on 30 November 2009 (where she performed the new song "Full Steam", a duet with singer David Gray), also during a recorded performance for American Idol during a 21 April 2010 fund-raiser, Idol Gives Back, and most recently during a performance on the live Comic Relief show on 18 March 2011. In June 2010, she was named as a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for AIDS.

Lennox also supports the Burma Campaign UK, a non-governmental organisation that addresses the suffering in Burma and promotes democratisation.

She was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2011 New Year Honours for services to Oxfam.

Gay icon

Lennox has garnered a significant following within the LGBT community. According to ''The Advocate'', "[h]er distinctive voice and provocative stage persona have made Lennox a longtime gay icon." With Eurythmics' music videos earning regular rotation on MTV in the 1980s, Lennox took part in the shaping of popular culture alongside other gay icons such as Boy George, Madonna, Morrissey, and Michael Stipe.

Music videos

Both during her work with Eurythmics and in her solo career, Lennox has made many music promo videos. Her 1992 album ''Diva'' was accompanied by a video album that included promos for every song except one (Eurythmics made a similar collection for their 1987 album ''Savage''). Actors Hugh Laurie and John Malkovich appeared in the music video for "Walking on Broken Glass", while the video for "Little Bird" paid homage to the different images and personas that have appeared in some of Lennox's previous videos. The clip features Lennox performing on stage with several lookalikes (male and female) that represent her personas from "Why", "Walking on Broken Glass", "Sweet Dreams", "Beethoven", "I Need a Man", "Thorn in My Side", "There Must Be an Angel", and even her stage image from the 1992 Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert. Many of her solo videos have a theatrical feel, often in period settings with dramatic and comedic flourishes.

Personal life

Both of Lennox's parents died of cancer. Her first marriage from 1984 to 1985 was to a German Hare Krishna devotee Radha Raman. From 1988 to 2000, she was married to Israeli film and record producer Uri Fruchtmann. They have two daughters, Lola (born 1990) and Tali (born 1993). A son, Daniel, was stillborn in December 1988. Lennox describes herself as an agnostic and lives in Notting Hill, London.

Lennox was estimated to have a fortune of £30 million in the ''Sunday Times Rich List'' of 2010.

Discography

Studio albums

''Diva'' (1992)

''Medusa'' (1995)

''Bare'' (2003)

''Songs of Mass Destruction'' (2007)

''A Christmas Cornucopia'' (2010)

Compilation albums

''The Annie Lennox Collection'' (2009)

Awards and nominations

Lennox has received a variety of major awards during her career:

; American Music Awards

2008 – AMA Award of Merit for her work and her humanitarian efforts

; Academy Awards

2004 – Best Original Song ("Into the West")

; Grammy Awards

1984 – Best New Artist (Eurythmics) (nominated)

1986 – Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal (Eurythmics, "Would I Lie to You?") (nominated)

1987 – Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal (Eurythmics, "Missionary Man")

1993 – Album of the Year (''Diva'') (nominated)

1993 – Best Female Pop Vocal Performance (''Diva'') (nominated)

1993 – Best Music Video – Long Form (''Diva'')

1996 – Best Pop Album (''Medusa'') (nominated)

1996 – Best Female Pop Vocal Performance ("No More I Love You's")

2004 – Best Pop Album (''Bare'') (nominated)

2005 – Best Song Written For a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media ("Into the West")

; Ivor Novello Awards

1984 – Songwriter of the Year for Lennox and Dave Stewart

1987 – Songwriter of the Year for Lennox and Dave Stewart

1987 – Best contemporary song ("Its Alright, (Baby's Coming Back)")

1993 – Best Song ("Why")

; ASCAP Awards

1984 – Performance Award ("Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)") (US)

1984 – Performance Award ("Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)") (UK)

1985 – Performance Award ("Here Comes the Rain Again") (US)

1985 – Performance Award ("Here Comes the Rain Again") (UK)

1986 – Performance Award ("Would I Lie to You?") (UK)

1993 – Performance Award ("Walking on Broken Glass") (UK)

1993 – Performance Award ("Why") (UK)

1994 – Performance Award ("Walking on Broken Glass") (US)

1994 – Performance Award ("Walking on Broken Glass") (UK)

1996 – Performance Award ("Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)") (UK)

1997 – Performance Award ("Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)") (UK)

1998 – Performance Award ("Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)") (UK)

2000 – Performance Award ("Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)") (UK)

2001 – Performance Award ("Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)") (UK)

2004 – Film Award ("Into the West") (UK)

2006 – Founders Award (US)

2006 – Performance Award ("Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)") (UK)

2008 – Performance Award ("Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)") (UK)

2009 – Performance Award ("Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)") (UK)

2010 – Performance Award ("Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)") (UK)

; BRIT Awards

1984 – Best British Female Artist

1986 – Best British Female Artist

1989 – Best British Female Artist

1990 – Best British Female Artist

1993 – Best British Female Solo Artist

1993 – Best British Album (''Diva'')

1996 – Best British Female Solo Artist

1999 – Outstanding Contribution to British Music (Eurythmics)

; Golden Globe Awards

2004 – Best Original Song – Motion Picture ("Into the West")

; Honorary degrees and awards

1986 - Associate - Royal Academy of Music London

1997 - Fellowship - Royal Academy of Music London

2006 - Honorary Doctor of Music - The Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama

2006 - Fellowship - Edinburgh College of Art

2009 – Honorary Doctorate at the University of Edinburgh (awarded 20 October 2009), in recognition of her work in the field of HIV/AIDS, and her success as a recording artist.

; Other awards / titles / ambassadorships

2002 – Billboard Century Award by ''Billboard''

2008 - OUT magazine honoured Lennox for her work in the HIV and Aids field. The top 100 most influential people in Gay Culture.

2008 - The British Red Cross Services to Humanity Award

2008 - Glamour Magazine's Inspirational Woman of the Year Award

2008 - Honoured at the 2008 Youth AIDS Gala, for her contribution in helping the fight against HIV and AIDS

2008 - The German Sustainability "special achievement" award for her commitment in the fight against HIV and AIDS

2008 - Webby Award for official website www.annielennox.com

2009 - Save the Children "Amigo de los Niños" Award

2009 - Awarded the "Freedom of the City of London" by the British Red Cross for services to humanity in the field of HIV and AIDS

2009 - Nobel Peace Laureates for services to humanity

2010 - Patron of the Elton John Aids Foundation

2010 - Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Scotland

2010 - Ambassador for HIV/AIDS in London

2010 - UNAIDS Goodwill Ambassador

2010 - Barclays Women of the Year Award

2010 - [International Service Award] for Global Defence of Human Rights

2010 - GQ Charity Woman of the Year Award

2010 - Harper's Bazaar Lifetime Achievement Award

2010 - OBE - Order of the British Empire for her work fighting AIDS and poverty in Africa

Footnotes

External links

Official Annie Lennox website

The SING Campaign website, founded By Annie Lennox">The SING Campaign website, founded By Annie Lennox

Annie Lennox official YouTube channel

Category:1954 births Category:Alumni of the Royal Academy of Music Category:Androgyny Category:Arista Records artists Category:Best Song Academy Award winning songwriters Category:BRIT Award winners Category:Decca Records artists Category:Universal Music Group artists Category:Female rock singers Category:Scottish agnostics Category:Scottish singers Category:Scottish singer-songwriters Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Ivor Novello Award winners Category:Living people Category:People associated with Oxford Brookes University Category:People from Aberdeen Category:Scottish musicians Category:Scottish contraltos Category:Scottish female singers Category:Scottish pop singers Category:Scottish rock singers Category:Torch singers Category:Scottish activists Category:AIDS activists Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire Category:People educated at Harlaw Academy

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Coordinates	28°36′36″N77°13′48″N
name	Ed Sheeran
background	solo_singer
birth name	Edward Sheeran
birth date	February 17, 1991
origin	Suffolk, UK
instrument	Vocals, guitar loop pedals
genre	Folk rock, acoustic, hip-hop, grime
occupation	Singer, songwriter
years active	2005–present
label	Asylum / Atlantic Records (2011–present)
associated acts	James Morrison, Jason Mraz Example, Just Jack, Nizlopi, Elro, Devlin, Wiley, Ella Marcham, Ghetts, P Money, Mikill Pane, Wretch 32, Sway DaSafo, Lewis Watson, Griminal, Jamie Woon, Yasmin
website
notable instruments	}}

Edward "Ed" Sheeran (born 17 February 1991) is an English singer/songwriter who is currently signed to Asylum / Atlantic Records. Sheeran broke through commercially in June 2011, when his debut single "The A Team" debuted at number 3 on the UK chart.

Early life

Sheeran was born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, before moving to Framlingham, Suffolk. He learned guitar at a very young age, and began writing songs during his time at Thomas Mills High School in Framlingham. His early childhood memories, that he referred to in a interview on the Zane Lowe show, included listening to Van Morrison on his countless trips to London with his parents and going to an intimate gig with Damien Rice in Ireland when he was 11. He also opened for Nizlopi in Norwich in April 2008 after being one of their guitar technicians.

Music career

2005–2011

Sheeran began recording in 2005, which led to the release of his first EP, ''The Orange Room EP''. Sheeran also released 2 albums, a self-titled one in 2006 and ''Want Some?'' in 2007. He moved to London in 2008 to play gigs, starting off in very small venues, playing every day, to as little as five people . In 2008, he auditioned for the ITV series ''Britannia High''.

In 2009, Sheeran played 312 gigs. He said that he read an interview with James Morrison that said that Morrison had done 200 gigs in a year, and Sheeran wanted to beat him on this number.Also in 2009, he released another EP, ''You Need E's'', just before going on tour with Just Jack. In February 2010 Sheeran posted a video through SB.TV, which led to mainstream rapper Example asking Sheeran to tour with him. Also in February 2010 he released his second independent release, his critically acclaimed ''Loose Change'' EP, which featured one of his most popular songs "The A Team". A video was made for the song, and cost only £20 to make. This was also his debut single once he was signed.

In April 2010, after leaving his old management company, Sheeran bought a ticket to Los Angeles, with no contacts other than one poetry night. He played open mic nights all over the city, before being spotted at 'The Foxxhole' by Jamie Foxx, who invited him to stay at his house and record for the rest of his stay. Throughout 2010, Sheeran began to be seen by more people over the internet through YouTube and his fan-base grew, with him also getting credit from ''The Independent'' newspaper, England football captain Rio Ferdinand and Elton John. Sheeran released three more EPs in 2010, including ''Ed Sheeran: Live at the Bedford'' and ''Songs I Wrote With Amy'' which is a collection of love songs he wrote in Wales with fellow singer songwriter Amy Wadge.

2011–present

On 8 January 2011, Sheeran released his final independent EP, ''No.5 Collaborations Project'' featuring appearances by grime artists including Wiley, JME, Devlin, Sway and Ghetts. With this EP, Sheeran gained mainstream attention for reaching number 1 in the iTunes chart without any promotion or label, selling over 7,000 copies in its first week. Three months later, Sheeran put on a free show to fans at the Barfly in Camden. Over 1,000 fans turned up to see the show, so Sheeran ended up playing four different shows to make sure everyone saw a gig, including a gig outside on the street after the venue had closed. Later that month, Sheeran was signed to Asylum / Atlantic Records.

On 26 April, Sheeran appeared on the TV music show ''Later... with Jools Holland'' – where he performed the song "The A Team". Six weeks later "The A Team" was released as a digital download in the United Kingdom. The release served as the lead single from Sheeran's upcoming debut studio album, entitled ''+'' – which is due for release through Atlantic Records on 12 September 2011. "The A Team" entered the UK chart at number 3, selling over 58,000 copies in the first week. It was congratulated on being the highest-selling and highest-charting debut single of 2011.

During a headline set in the BBC Introducing tent at Glastonbury Festival 2011, Sheeran announced that "You Need Me" would be released on 28 August as the second single from the album.

Sheeran will also be performing at the Festival Republic Stage during the Reading festival, and will perform on the main stage of the 2011 Jersey Live festival.

Discography

Albums

{|class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" border="1" |- ! scope="col" rowspan="2"| Album Title ! scope="col" rowspan="2"| Album details ! scope="col" colspan="1"| Chart positions |- ! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:85%;"| UK |- ! scope="row" | ''+'' |

Release Date: 12 September 2011

Label: Atlantic Records

Format: CD, digital download

| |}

Collaboration albums

{|class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" border="1" |- ! scope="col" rowspan="2"| Album Title ! scope="col" rowspan="2"| Album details ! scope="col" colspan="1"| Chart positions |- ! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:85%;"| UK |- ! scope="row" | ''No. 5 Collaborations Project'' |

Release Date: 10 January 2011

Label: Self-released

Format: Digital Download

| 3 |}

Extended plays

{|class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" border="1" ! scope="col" style="width:15em;"| Title ! scope="col" style="width:15em;"| Album details ! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:85%;"|UK |- ! scope="row" | ''The Orange Room'' |

Released: 2005

| — |- ! scope="row" | ''Ed Sheeran'' |

Released: 2006

| — |- ! scope="row" | ''Want Some?'' |

Released: 2007

| — |- ! scope="row" | ''You Need Me'' |

Released: 2009

| 142 |- ! scope="row" | ''Loose Change'' |

Released: 7 February 2010

Label: Ed Sheeran

Format: Digital Download

| 195 |- ! scope="row" | ''Songs I Wrote With Amy'' |

Released: 4 April 2010

Label: Ed Sheeran

Format: Digital Download

| 199 |- ! scope="row" | ''Live At The Bedford'' |

Released: 2010

| 142 |- ! scope="row" | ''One Take'' |

Released: Early 2011

| — |- ! scope="row" | ''iTunes Festival: London 2011'' |

Released: July 2011

| 177 |}

Singles

{|class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" border="1" ! scope="col" rowspan="2"|Year ! scope="col" rowspan="2"|Single ! scope="col" colspan="3"|Peakpositions ! scope="col" rowspan="2"|Album |- ! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:85%;"| UK ! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:85%;"| IRE ! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:85%;"| SCO |- | rowspan="2"|2011 ! scope="row"| "The A Team" | 3 || 5 || 4 | rowspan="2"|''+'' |- ! scope="row"| "You Need Me" | 140 || — || — |}

As featured artist

{|class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" border="1" ! scope="col" rowspan="2"| Year ! scope="col" rowspan="2"| Single ! scope="col" colspan="2"|Peak position ! scope="col" rowspan="2"|Album |- ! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:85%;"| UK ! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:85%;"| UKIND |- | rowspan="2"|2011 ! scope="row"| "If I Could"(Wiley featuring Ed Sheeran) | — || 26 | ''Chill Out Zone'' |- ! scope="row"| "Young Guns"(Lewi White featuring Ed Sheeran, Yasmin, Griminal & Devlin) | 86 || 10 | |}

Other charted songs

{|class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" border="1" ! scope="col" rowspan="2"| Year ! scope="col" rowspan="2"| Single ! scope="col" colspan="1"| Peakpositions ! scope="col" rowspan="2"| Album |- ! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:85%;"| UK |- |rowspan="2"| 2011 ! scope="row"| "Little Bird" | 186 | ''Loose Change'' |- ! scope="row"| "Cold Coffee" | 191 | |}

Guest appearances

Year	Title	Album	Artist
2011	"Hush Little Baby"	''Black and White''	Wretch 32

References

External links

Interview

Category:1991 births Category:Living people Category:British singer-songwriters

de:Ed Sheeran ru:Ширан, Эд