Esotericism or Esoterism signifies the holding of esoteric opinions or beliefs,^[1] that is, ideas preserved or understood by a small group or those specially initiated, or of rare or unusual interest.^[2] The term derives from the Greek ἐσωτερικός (esôterikos), a compound of ἔσω (esô): "within", thus "pertaining to the more inward", mystic. Its antonym is "exoteric".

The term can also refer to the academic study of esoteric religious movements and philosophies, or more generally of alternative or marginalized religious movements or philosophies whose proponents distinguish their beliefs, practices, and experiences from mainstream institutionalized traditions.^[3]

Examples of esoteric religious movements and philosophies include Alchemy, Astrology, Anthroposophy, early Christian mysticism,^[4] Magic, Mesmerism, Rosicrucianism, Swedenborgianism, Spiritualism, the Alawites,^[5] the Christian Theosophy of Jacob Böhme and his followers, and the Theosophical currents associated with Helena Blavatsky and her followers. There are competing views regarding the common traits uniting these currents, not all of which involve "inwardness", mystery, occultism or secrecy as a crucial trait.

Etymology[link]

Plato, in his dialogue Alcibíades (circa 390 BC), uses the expression ta esô meaning "the inner things", and in his dialogue Theaetetus (circa 360 BC) he uses ta exô meaning "the outside things". Aristotle applied this distinction to his own writings. The probable first appearance of the Greek adjective esôterikos is in Lucian of Samosata's "The Auction of Lives", § 26, written around AD 166.^[6]

The term esoteric first appeared in English in the 1701 History of Philosophy by Thomas Stanley, in his description of the mystery-school of Pythagoras; the Pythagoreans were divided into "exoteric" (under training), and "esoteric" (admitted into the "inner" circle). The corresponding noun "esotericism" was coined in French by Jacques Matter in 1828 and popularized by Eliphas Levi in the 1850s.^[7] [1]. It entered the English language in the 1880s via the works of theosophist Alfred Sinnett.

Definition[link]

Among the competing understandings of what unites the various currents designated by "Esotericism" in the scholarly sense, perhaps the most influential has been proposed by Antoine Faivre. His definition is based on the presence in the esoteric currents of four essential characteristics: a theory of correspondences between all parts of the invisible and the visible cosmos, the conviction that nature is a living entity owing to a divine presence or life-force, the need for mediating elements (such as symbols, rituals, angels, visions) in order to access spiritual knowledge, and, fourthly, an experience of personal and spiritual transmutation when arriving at this knowledge. To this are added two non-intrinsic characteristics. Esotericists frequently suggest that there is a concordance between different religious traditions: best example is the belief in prisca theologia (ancient theology) or in philosophia perennis (perennial philosophy). Finally, esotericism sometimes suggests the idea of a secret transmission of spiritual teachings, through initiation from master to disciple.^[8] It should, however, be emphasized that Faivre's definition is one of several divergent understandings of the most appropriate use of the term.

The “perennialist” or “traditionalist” school is represented by authors like the French René Guénon (1886–1951), the Indian Ananda Coomaraswamy (1877–1947), the Swiss Frithjof Schuon (1907–1998), the Italian Julius Evola (1898–1974), the Iranian Seyyed Hossein Nasr (born in 1933), both scholars and esotericists. They postulate that there exists a Primordial Tradition of non-human origin.

“We say that it [the origin of the traditions] is polar, and the pole is nomore Western than it is Eastern. It is only in a later epoch that the seat of the primordial tradition, transferred to other regions, was able to become either Western or Eastern. We consider the origin of the traditions to be Nordic, and even more to be polar, since this is expressly affirmed in the Veda as well as in other sacred books.” ^[9] [2]

In perennialist usage, esotericism is a metaphysical concept referring to a supposed “transcendent unity” of all great religious traditions. Esotericism is the metaphysical point of unity where exoteric religions are believed to converge.^[10] [3]

“Our starting point is the acknowledgment of the fact that there are diverse religions which exclude each other. This could mean that one religion is right and that all the others are false; it could mean also that all are false. In reality, it means that all are right, not in their dogmatic exclusivism, but in their unanimous inner signification, which coincides with pure metaphysics, or in other terms, with the philosophia perennis.” (F. Schuon, 1995).

After all, the esoteric tradition may be recovered if the seeker undergoes initiation.

“Initiation is essentially the transmission of a spiritual influence, a transmission that can only take place through a regular, traditional organization, so that one cannot speak of initiation outside of an affiliation with an organization of this kind. We have explained that 'regularity' must be understood to exclude all pseudo-initiatic organizations, which, regardless of pretention and outward appearance, in no way possess any spiritual influence and thus are incapable of transmitting anything.” ^[11]

History[link]

Since esotericism is not a single tradition but a vast array of often unrelated figures and movements, there is no single historical thread underlying them all.^[12] The developments that one might wish to emphasize in drawing up a history of esotericism furthermore depends on whether esotericism in the dictionary (non-scholarly) or the scholarly sense is intended.

Several historically attested religions emphasize secret or hidden knowledge, and are thus esoteric in the dictionary sense, without necessarily being esoteric movements in the scholarly sense of the word. Thus, the Roman Empire had several mystery religions which emphasized initiation. Some saw Christianity, with its ritual of baptism, as a mystery religion. None of these are "esoteric" in the scholarly sense. The terms "Gnosticism" and "Gnosis" refer to a family of religious movements which claimed to possess secret knowledge (gnosis). Another important movement from the ancient world was Hermeticism or Hermetism. Both of these are often seen as precursors to esoteric movements in the scholarly sense of the word.

Non-Western traditions can also display the characteristics of esoteric movements. The Ismaili Muslims also stress a distinction between the inner and the outer. It is believed that spiritual salvation is attained by receiving the 'Nur' (light) through the "esoteric", that is, spiritual search for enlightenment. Ismaili Islam also has some of the characteristics associated with esotericism as defined by Faivre, e.g. the belief in an intermediate spiritual sphere mediating between humans and the divine. Esoteric movements in Buddhism, which fall under the general category of Vajrayana Buddhism, employ esoteric training into Buddha's teachings, through use of symbols, mantra and hand-gestures, or mudra. Initiation rituals are typically given to students as they progress along these paths, and care is taken not to discuss specific rituals to those lacking the right empowerment.

In order to distinguish esoteric currents based primarily on sources from late Antiquity and the European Middle Ages, from e.g. Islamic or Jewish currents with similar features, the more precise term "Western esotericism" is often employed.

Western esoteric movements in the scholarly sense thus have roots in Antiquity and the Middle Ages. A major phase in the development of Western esotericism begins in the Renaissance, partly as the result of various attempts to revive such earlier movements. During the Italian Renaissance, for example, translators such as Ficino and Pico della Mirandola turned their attention to the classical literature of Neoplatonism, and what was thought to be the pre-Mosaic tradition of Hermeticism. Other pursuits of Antiquity that entered into the mix of esoteric speculation were astrology and alchemy. Beside such revived currents from late Antiquity, a second major source of esoteric speculation is the Kabbalah, which was lifted out of its Jewish context and adapted to a Christian framework by people such as Johannes Reuchlin. Outside the Italian Renaissance, yet another major current of esotericism was initiated by Paracelsus, who combined alchemical and astrological themes (among others) into a complex body of doctrines.

In the early 17th century, esotericism is represented by currents such as Christian theosophy and Rosicrucianism. A century later, esoteric ideas entered various strands of Freemasonry. Later in the 18th century, as well as in the early 19th century, the diffuse movement known as Mesmerism became a major expression of esotericism. In the 19th century, esotericism is also represented by certain aspects of the philosophy, literature and science associated with Romanticism, by spiritualism, and by a notable French wave of occultism.

The major exponent of esotericism in the latter part of the 19th century is the Theosophy of H. P. Blavatsky, not to be confused with the Christian Theosophy mentioned above. In the 20th century, Theosophy was further developed by Annie Besant and Charles Webster Leadbeater, while people like Alice Bailey, Rudolf Steiner and many others, became the source for a whole range of post-theosophical movements such as The Summit Lighthouse. The post-theosophical Anthroposophical movement is a synthesis of occultist, Christian and Neoplatonic ideas with Western esoteric concepts as formulated in the wake of Theosophy. Anthroposophy, which was founded by Rudolf Steiner in the early part of the 20th century, includes esoteric versions of education, agriculture, and medicine.^[13]

Yet another notable esoteric strain stems from the teachings of G. I. Gurdjieff and P. D. Ouspensky.

Theosophy is also considered a major influence on the many less institutionally organized varieties of esotericism in metaphysical milieus, "Ascended Master Activities", and within the New Age.

Finally, it can be noted that Carl Gustav Jung can be seen as an exponent of esotericism: his writings concern esoteric subject matter such as alchemy, and rephrased the concept of correspondences in a modern, psychologizing terminology in his theory of synchronicity.

Methodology[link]

Wouter J. Hanegraaff is Professor of “History of Hermetic Philosophy and Related Currents” at the University of Amsterdam (1999). The Universiteit van Amsterdam (UvA) is the world's first academic institution to have created a complete program for research and teaching in the field of Western Esotericism.[4] He is also president of the European Society for the Study of Western Esotericism. Essential to Hanegraaff’s methodology is what he calls an “empirical” approach, with an informed, open, and, so much as possible, neutral mind. He makes a sharp division between a “religionist” perspective and an “empiricist” one.

“Empirical research must be based on methodological agnosticism with regard to religious and philosophical ‘first principles’, and must fully recognize the historicity of religious phenomena. This empirical perspective is applied to the newly emerging academic field of esotericism.” ^[14]

Secondly, Hanegraaff follows a distinction between an “emic” and an “etic” approach to religious studies. [5] The emic approach is that of the alchemist or theosopher as an alchemist or theosopher. The etic approach is that of the scholar as an historian, a researcher, with a critical look. An empirical study of esotericism needs “emic material and etic interpretation”.

“The principal theoretical tool to safeguard scientific legitimity in this situation is the distinction between emic and etic. Emic denotes the believer’s point of view. On the part of the researcher, the reconstruction of this emic perspective requires an attitude of empathy which excludes personal biases as far as possible. Scholarly discourse about religion, on the other hand, is not emic but etic. Scholars may introduce their own terminology and make theoretical distinctions which are different from those of the believers themselves.” ^[15]

Pierre A. Riffard (Ph.D., University of the French West Indies) studies the method used by esotericists themselves (alchemists, magicians, Rosicrucians, Anthroposophists...).^[16] He examines some of their procedures. 1) Mythological origins. The esotericists trace the origins of their doctrine or practice to an extremely distant past. They situate the life of Hermes in times immemorial. 2) Cosmic cycles. For Gaston Georgel, “history is governed by cycles of 540, 1080 and 2160 years”. 3) The chains of initiation. Some Rosicrucians include Francis Bacon among their masters and trace their origins back to the time of Thutmosis III. 4) The secret books. Esotericists prefer to base their beliefs on secret writings, unknown to the majority of people and inaccessible to the uninitiated: for instance, among the Theosophists, The Book of Dzyan. 5) Spiritual interpretations. The esotericists are able to endow the most profane texts with an occult meaning. The alchemists discover within the Greek and Roman myths the Great Work of alchemy. 6) Magical uses. A book can be used as a talisman, a divinatory machine... The Sortes Sanctorum (Lots of the saints) were, in early Christianity, a divination which consists in taking passages of the Bible at chance, and drawing conclusions from them concerning future. [6]

Arthur Versluis (Professor, Ph.D., Michigan State University) proposes the term “sympathetic empiricism” as the approach that he finds most amenable in the study of Western Esotericism. 

“While I am convinced of the critical importance of historiography in the study of esotericism (and for this reason all of my academic books are firmly grounded in historical method) I do not believe that historiography is adequate in itself to convey the complex, multivalent nature of esoteric thought, traditions, or most of all, experience.  Esotericism, given all its varied forms and its inherently multidimensional nature, cannot be conveyed without going beyond purely historical information: at minimum, the study of esotericism, and in particular mysticism, requires some degree of imaginative participation in what one is studying.”^[17] [7]

See also[link]

Archeosophy Behmenism Clairvoyance Esoteric Buddhism Esoteric Christianity Esoteric cosmology Esoteric healing Esotericism in Germany and Austria Freemasonry Huna Illuminati Karma List of Buddhist topics List of spirituality-related topics List of religious, esoteric, metaphysical and mystical symbols Magic and religion Martinism Merkabah

Spirituality portal Mysticism New World Order Numerology Obscurantism Occult Odic force Plane (esotericism) (Planes of existence) Qigong Reincarnation Scientology Spiritual evolution Spirituality Telepathy Western Esotericism (academia) Western mystery tradition

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Aries: Journal for the Study of Western Esotericism, Leiden: Brill, since 2001. [8]
• Aries Book Series: Texts and Studies in Western Esotericism, Leiden: Brill, since 2006. [9]
• Esoterica, East Lansing, Michigan State University (MSU). An online resource since 1999 [10]. I (1999) [11]; VIII (2006) [12]; IX (2007) [13]
• Antoine Faivre, Access to Western Esotericism (1986), Albany: State University of New York Press (“SUNY Séries in Western Esoteric Traditions”), 1994, X-369 p. [14]
• Antoine Faivre, Theosophy, Imagination, Tradition: Studies in Western Esotericism (1996), Albany: SUNY Press (“SUNY Séries in Western Esoteric Traditions”), 2000, XXXV-269 p. [15]
• René Guénon, Perspectives on initiation (1946), New York: Sophia perennis, 2004, 320 p. [16]
• Wouter J. Hanegraaff, “The Study of Western Esotericism: New Approaches to Christian and Secular Culture”, in Peter Antes, Armin W. Geertz and Randi R. Warne, New Approaches to the Study of Religion, vol. I: Regional, Critical, and Historical Approaches, Berlin / New York: Walter de Gruyter, 2004, 497 p. [17]
• Wouter J. Hanegraaff (ed.), in collaboration with Antoine Faivre, Roelof van den Broek, Jean-Pierre Brach, Dictionary of Gnosis and Western Esotericism, Leiden / Bristol: Brill, 2005, 2 vols., 1228 p. ISBN 90-04-14187-1.
• Édouard Schuré, The Great Initiates: A Study of the Secret History of Religions (1889), Blauvelt (N.Y.): Garber Books, 1992, 480 p. [18] “Rama, Krishna, Hermes, Moses, Orpheus, Pythagoras, Plato, and Jesus.”
• Kocku von Stuckrad, Western Esotericism: A Brief History of Secret Knowledge (2004), London / Oakville: Equinox Publishing, 2005, XVII-167 p. [19]
• Arthur Versluis, Magic and Mysticism: An Introduction to Western Esotericism, Plymouth: Rowman and Littlefield, 2007, 208 pages. [20]
• Benjamin Walker, Encyclopedia of Esoteric Man: The Hidden Side of the Human Entity, London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1977, 353 p. ISBN 0-7100-8479-X. New title: Body Magic, London: Granada Publishing, “Paladin Books”, 1979, 478 p. ISBN 0-586-08323-5. Arranged alphabetically.
• Benjamin Walker, Man and the Beasts Within: The Encyclopedia of the Occult, the Esoteric, and the Supernatural, New York: Stein and Day, 1978, 343 p. ISBN 0-8128-1900-4

External links[link]

Look up esotericism in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Esotericism

• University of Amsterdam Center for Study of Western Esotericism Research & BA/MA programs in Western esotericism.
• University of Exeter Centre for the Study of Esotericism (EXESESO)
• ESSWE European Society for the Study of Western Esotericism, with many links to associated organizations, libraries, scholars etc.
• Association for the Study of Esotericism
• What is understood by “Western Esotericism”? (Prof. Wouter Hanegraaff)
• What is Esoteric? (Prof. Arthur Versluis)

The Creators is a non-fiction work of cultural history by Daniel Boorstin published in 1992 and is the second volume in what has become known as the Knowledge Trilogy. It was preceded by The Discoverers and succeeded by The Seekers.

Contents[link]

The Creators, subtitled A History of Heroes of the Imagination, is the story of mankind's creativity. It highlights great works of art, music and literature but it is more than a recitation or list. It is a book of ideas and the people behind those ideas. It encompasses architecture, music, literature, painting, sculputure, the performing arts, theater, religious expression and philosophy. It can be viewed as a companion to The Discoverers which chronicled the history of invention, exploration and technology. The Creators traces the creative process from pre-history Egypt to modern times and like The Discoverers, follows both a topical and chronological structure. Boorstin writes in "A Personal Note to the Reader", "After The Discoverers... "I was more than ever convinced that the pursuit of knowledge is only one path to human fulfillment. This companion book, also a view from the literate West, is a saga of Heroes of the Imagination. While The Discoverers told of the conquest of illusions - the illusion of knowledge - this will be a story of vision (and illusions) newly created..." If The Discoverers is the story of the inventive human mind then The Creators is the story of the searching soul. The work is in twelve major parts that have been grouped into four books.

The Riddle of Creation: Prologue[link]

Part I. "Worlds Without Beginning"

Part II. "A Creator God"

Book One: Creator Man[link]

Part III. "The Power of the Stone"

Part IV. "The Magic of Images"

Part V. "The Immortal Word"

Book Two: Re-creating the World[link]

Part VI. "Otherworldly Elements"

Part VII. "The Human Comedy: A Composite Work"

Part VIII. "From Craftsman to Artist"

Part IX. "Composing for the Community"

Part X. "Conjuring with Time and Space"

Book Three: Creating the Self[link]

Part XI: "The Vanguard Word"

Part XII. "The Wilderness Within"

Praise and criticism[link]

The Creators was widely praised by both professional and non-professional readers but had its share of critics. It has been criticized for factual mistakes, poor research, literary ignorance, incorrect conclusions, a bias toward Western culture to the exclusion of other cultures, a tendency to overlook the negative and lack of attribution.^[1] Kenneth S. Lynn, a Harvard professor of history, accused Boorstin of philosophical bias and blatant myth-making. He has been called superficial because his works are popular with the general public.^[2]

Writing style and themes[link]

Boorstin follows the pattern he established in the previous book, The Discoverers. The book is built around the lives and contributions of individuals. These vignettes are the anchor of the work and reflects the author's belief that history is molded by men and women of daring and genius rather than ideological movements or academic theories. The subtitles in all three books of the Knowledge Trilogy pay homage to this idea. The trail of personal vignettes stretches from Confucius to Pope Gregory to Bach to Mozart to Dostoyevsky - a panorama of creators. Boorstin also adheres to an incremental approach to history. Although genius is unpredictable, it still builds upon the accomplishments of those who came before. Repeatedly Boorstin links changes in the way we view ourselves to artistic and creative changes.

The Question of Western culture[link]

Boorstin announces in his "Note to the Reader" (above) that he approaches the subject from a Western orientation. His concern is not strictly identifying great creators and their creations but also asking "Why?" and this question forms the basis of his Western orientation. Why were European painting styles and techniques in constant flux while China's remained relatively unchanged? Why did music acquire polyphony and instrumentation and evolve into a myriad of related "styles" while Indian music saw little evolution? Why did architecture undergo such radical transformation in the West? Why did Europe become the land of literacy and books? These question led Boorstin to certain proposals.

He suggests that "people of the Book" (Jews and Christians) came to view themselves in a different light than other cultures. Their belief in a Creator God led them to view human creation as participating in God's creation. As their God created, so did they also. They became a creative people, scrutinizing, questioning and imagining.^[3] Other cultures had moments of creative impulses but the idea of creativity for its own sake was not sustained. Other cultures, for other reasons, declined the creative road. Hinduism viewed the universe and our lives as cyclic, having no beginning, ending only when we merged with the Oneness and escaped this world.^[4] Buddhism did not ask "Why" but instead preached submissive acceptance of our lot in life.^[5] Confucianism concerned itself not with ultimate questions about God and the universe but with rules for practical, daily life.^[6] Although China had an ancient painting tradition, the intertwining of calligraphy with art as well the codification of the rules for painting resulted in an unchanging, static style.^[7] Islam held that Allah alone was Creator and claiming an act of creation was considered heretical.^[8] The Koran itself was not considered a document penned by Muhammed but a sacred text created at the beginning of time.^[9] Islam went so far as to ban the display of the human image which had dire consequences for the development of painting, sculpture, photography and much of the performing arts in the Islamic world.

With the rest of the world thus discussed, Boorstin begins his journey with the first Western state, Greece. The Homeric poems of the Gods, recited so often, became theater when participants and spectators separated.^[10] Greece initiated the cultural patterns that persist and define the Western world - dance, theater, poetry, sports, sculpture, literature, architecture, philosophy and democracy. At some point they began asking and attempting to answer fundamental questions about the world and themselves. When Europe rediscovered the writings of Greek philosophers, an artistic Renaissance exploded upon the scene. Along the way, the reader is introduced to a pantheon of heroes of the imagination - Moses, Plato, Aristotle, Paul of Tarsus, Dante, Michelangelo, Dostoyevsky...all of whom advocated the free pursuit of learning. Boorstin considers this pursuit fundamental to Western culture.

Although the focus is on the West, references to other cultures are included. The chapter "The Road Not Taken: The Japanese Triumph of Wood", is devoted to Japanese architecture. Chinese art and the reasons for its unchanging nature over time are discussed in "The Painted Word: The Inward Path of Tao". Islam, its art and attitudes toward art, are featured in "Satan's Handiwork".

The impact of literature[link]

Literature and its development comprises a major portion of the book. This reflects the high regard in which Boorstin held the written word. He has stated that the book is the greatest technological invention of all time.^[11] He suggests that literary evolution both changed and reflected new ways of thinking about the self. Indeed, literature was the driving force behind changes in personal perspectives starting (once again) with Greece. In another reference to incrementalism he traces the path from writing to religious poetry, the two being intertwined. Boorstin suggests that poetry in both form and substance was written to remember. Prose, a new form of literature, emerged and with it the theater. The play was transformed from a religious exercise to a creative one that saw the appearance of comedy, drama and tragedy. Because prose was not in a form that made for easy memorization, a greater imagination was required by the author. The theater served those purposes admirably and Greeks both loved and excelled at the performing arts.^[12] The spectators who viewed these works began asking the same questions and changing their perspective.^[13]

The introduction of prose also led to education and the areas of study became the foundation of a Classical education to this day - rhetoric, logic, grammar, astronomy, mathematics and philosophy. The latter existed because of the skeptical nature of some Greek thinkers who dared to ask why; it could only exist because of prose. Boorstin proposes that prose also encouraged the development of democracy by inviting participation from the citizenry. Other literary forms rose. The epic and its tales of gods and heroes and their great deeds continued, although somewhat abated. History as story began with Herodotus (fifth century BC) and The Histories. But it was the novel, what Boorstin calls "re-creating life out of life",^[14] that democratized literature. The novel inspired new ways of thinking about ourselves and our world and the forms created were revelations to the Western mind - the essay, the biography, stories of our own feelings and views,^[15] adventure tales and streams of consciousness in which time itself is manipulated. The author had finally discovered the self as a resource of art, the internal rather than the external universe serving as the source of inspiration.^[16]

Other creations[link]

Boorstin places the origins of Western music in the liturgy of the Catholic Church. The early practice of congregational singing of psalms (adopted from Judaism) ceased with the introduction of the choir. This institution gave rise to the Gregorian chant and one of the most important creations in music, polyphony, still the hallmark of Western music.^[17] Over time, the emphasis within Music turned to the instruments rather than the human voice. Again, a change in attitude allowed the new event. Up to this time Church leaders had looked askance upon "wordless" music but the Reformation induced a change of assumptions. From Bach, the acceleration of instrument creation led to yet another peculian Western invention, the orchestra. Boorstin demonstrates repeatedly how one creation led to another and another. The concerto and symphony were created and opera caused a sensation. Music moved out of the palace into the concert hall for the masses.^[18] Music continued to evolve and new forms like atonality were heard in the rush to be creative and innovative.^[19]

As an example of megalithic architecture, Boorstin selects Stonehenge.^[20] The Pyramids of ancient Egypt ("Castles of Eternity") and the famous architecture of Greece ("Temples of Community") precede the work of the Romans. Concrete, the dome, the arch, one creation after another change the physical shells that gather and protect us. The final evolution of grand architecture, the skyscraper, gives us the architect as hero.

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: The Creators

• Raymond Keating - Columns: Book Review: The Creators: A History of Heroes of the Imagination
• Hilton Kramer, NY Times, Entranced by the People Who Made History
• NNDB
• Answers.com - Daniel J. Boorstin
• Booknotes interview with Boorstin on Creators, December 6, 1992.

César Millan
Born	César Millán Favela (1969-08-27) August 27, 1969 (age 42) Culiacán, Sinaloa, Mexico
Residence	Santa Clarita, California, U.S.
Nationality	American
Occupation	Dog psychologist
Known for	Dog Whisperer (TV series)
Spouse	Ilusión Millan (1994-2010; filed for divorce)[1]
Website
CesarsWay.com

Cesar Millan, (born César Millán Favela; August 27, 1969) is a Mexican-born American dog trainer.^[2] A self-taught expert, he is widely known for his television series The Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan, now in its eighth season and broadcast in more than eighty countries worldwide.^[3] Prior to The Dog Whisperer series, Millan focused on rehabilitating especially aggressive dogs^[4] and founded the Dog Psychology Center^[5] in South Los Angeles (2002–2008) — under construction in a new Los Angeles location as of late 2009.^[6]

Millan's first three books, including Cesar's Way, all became New York Times best sellers, have cumulatively sold two million copies in the United States, and are available in 14 other countries.^[6] In 2009, in conjunction with IMG, Millan introduced a monthly magazine also titled Cesar's Way — with The Wall Street Journal reporting at that time that half of American consumers recognized Millan.^[7] With Ilusión Millan, his former wife, he founded the Cesar and Ilusión Millan Foundation — since renamed the Millan Foundation. He is working with Yale University to create a children's curriculum based on his work.^[6]

Millan's most important tool in both his success with dogs and business has sometimes been attributed to a personal sense of balance,^[6] what The New York Times called "a sort of über-balanced mien".^[6]

Personal life[link]

Born in 1969 to Felipe Millán Guillen and María Teresa Favela de Millán in Culiacán, Sinaloa, Mexico, Millan grew up working with animals on his grandfather's Sinaloa farm.^[8] Because of his natural way with dogs, he was called el Perrero, "the dog boy."^[8] The family later moved to Mazatlán, and there — at age 13, on their way to his judo competition and standing in front of a large statue — Millan declared to his mother he would one day be the best dog trainer in the world.^[9]

Millan illegally crossed the border into the US when he was 21 years old, spoke no English and knew no one in the USA.^{[8][10][11][12]} He first worked in a dog grooming store, working with the most aggressive dogs — later creating the Pacific Point Canine Academy and developing a following. Jada Pinkett Smith became one of Millan's first clients and supporters — when he was working as a limousine driver^[3] — providing him with an English tutor for a year.^[9][10] Subsequently, Millan created the Dog Psychology Center, a 2-acre (8,100 m²) facility in South Los Angeles—specializing in working with large breed dogs.^[13]

Millan became a legal resident of the U.S. in 2000, became a U.S. citizen in 2009, and lives in Santa Clarita, California. He married Ilusión Wilson Millan in 1994, with whom he had two sons, Andre (b. 1995) and Calvin (b. 2001).

In June 2010, Millan announced his divorce.^[14] His wife, Ilusión Millan, filed for divorce, seeking primary physical custody of their children with visitation for Cesar, as well as spousal support.^[15] The divorce agreement stipulates that Millan pay his ex-wife a single payment of $400,000, a monthly spousal payment of $23,000 and $10,000 for monthly child support,^[16] and that the parties respect specific confidentiality terms.^[16]

[edit] Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan

In 2002, after a profile in the Los Angeles Times, Millan worked with MPH Entertainment, Inc. developing a television pilot for the Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan, a reality television series that follows Millan as he works in the field of dog rehabilitation. The series premiered on September 13, 2004 on the National Geographic Channel and now airs exclusively on the Nat Geo WILD channel. The show would become National Geographic's #1 show during its first season.^[17] The show is also known as Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan or The Dog Whisperer, outside the USA, and is now in its seventh season and broadcast in more than eighty countries worldwide.^[3]

The program demonstrates Cesar Millan's application of his philosophy that healthy, balanced dogs require strong 'pack leadership' from their owners, specifically in the form of exercise, discipline and affection (in that order),^[10] with Millan demonstrating how owners can achieve and maintain a leadership role with their dogs. The program highlights Millan at work rehabilitating dogs, and is not intended as a dog training guide.^[17] Each episode contains repeated warnings that viewers should not try some of the behavior modification techniques at home.^[10]

Millan's book Cesar's Way debuted with the show's second season, becoming a bestseller.^[18] Millan works with a broad spectrum of individuals, including celebrities Oprah Winfrey, Nicolas Cage, Will Smith, and Vin Diesel.^[13]

Principles[link]

Millan's work focuses on handling a dog with what he calls "calm-assertive energy", which ought to transfer from the owner to the dog.^[6] He approaches dog behavior by teaching dog owners to understand the natural needs and responses of a dog, to understand that dogs are pack animals, to assist owners in establishing their role as calm-assertive pack leaders.^[10]

Millan prioritizes fulfilling and balancing a dog's primary needs:^[10] exercise, discipline and affection—in that order.^[19] In other words, it is the owner's responsibility to fulfill the dog's energy level through challenging exercise; to provide clearly communicated rules, boundaries and limitations^[20] for the dog's behavior; and to give the dog affection at the right time. Millan encourages owners to give affection, but to give affection when the dog is in a balanced state of mind, not when the dog is fearful, anxious, avoidant or excited — when the affection itself can reinforce imbalance. According to Millan, a common pitfall for dog owners is to give a great deal of affection with very little discipline and even less exercise.^[20]

Millan emphasizes the importance of walking a dog, not only for the dog's exercise, but for the owner and dog to bond—with the dog ultimately recognizing the owner as its leader. He also encourages owners to watch their dog for subtle cues in the dog's posture, movement and facial expression—to eliminate poor behavior before it arises or escalates. And he encourages owners to understand the profound effect their own attitudes, internal emotions and physical postures have on a dog's behavior, counseling owners to hold strong posture (i.e. shoulders high and chest forward) and to project energy that is calm-assertive.^[8][21]

Millan also stresses that owners identify their dog in a hierarchy of three levels:

• Firstly and most importantly, as a dog with canine rather than human needs.
• Secondly, as a particular breed of dog — for example, a Boxer-Rottweiler mix — with a breed-specific energy level and behavioral instinct.^[22]
• Thirdly, as their individual dog, e.g., "Bella".

Millan is widely known for using vocal marks, e.g., his tsch or tsst^[9] sounds, while working with a dog (rather than words, especially the dog's name), and he encourages owners to create their own unique sound that works for them.^[21]

Millan stresses that when meeting a new dog, making eye contact, speaking, and touching it are to be avoided, in favor of letting the dog approach on its own terms.^[10]

Daddy[link]

One of Millan's many dogs, Daddy, was an American Pit Bull Terrier integral to Millan's work and his television series, Dog Whisperer.^[23] Daddy was known for his calm temperament, tolerance for smaller dogs and capacity for empathy.^[24] Prior to Daddy's death in February 2010 at age 16,^[25] Millan selected another pit bull puppy, Junior, as Daddy's protégé — to apprentice with Daddy and learn his temperament.

Philanthropy[link]

In 2007, Cesar and Ilusión Millan created the Cesar and Ilusión Millan Foundation: "a national, non-profit foundation designed to aid and support the rescue, rehabilitation and placement of abused and abandoned dogs."^[26] Together they have also founded the Shelter Stars program to provide education materials to new dog adopters,^[6] The foundation has since been renamed the Millan Foundation.

Millan has supported other projects, including K-9 Connection, for at-risk teens;^[27] Pups on Parole, a program for inmates;^[28] the Pets911 project,^[29] which works to "effect social change in this country by providing a free public service that will one day ensure an environment where all animals are valued companions and have lifetime, loving homes.";^[30] and the It Gets Better project supporting at-risk LGBT youth.^[31] His 2006 seminar tour donated a portion of the proceeds to the hosting rescue groups.

Media and guest appearances[link]

Millan has been featured twice on The Oprah Winfrey Show,^[32][33] as well as on ABC World News Tonight (2002), CBS-TV (2001), Channel 7 News (May 2005), CNN (April 2006), Creative Arts Emmys 2006 (August 2006), Entertainment Insider (December 2004), Good Day Live (February 2005), Good Morning America With Diane Sawyer (September 2004), KTLA-TV (2002), Last Call with Carson Daly (November 2006), Martha Stewart Show (April 2006), Megan Mullally Show (November 2006), Nightline (July 2006), NBC-TV (2001), Today Show (April 2006), Tonight Show With Jay Leno (February 2005), The View (July 2006), WUSA-TV 9 News (April 2006), season 4 of the Emmy Award winning reality show Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List.

Millan guest-starred as himself in Ghost Whisperer in Season 2, Episode 18, "Children of Ghost". In the episode, Melinda (Jennifer Love Hewitt) seeks out Millan for advice on how to help "Homer", Ghost Whisperer's Ghost Dog (from Season 1), cross over into the light.

Millan was portrayed in a tenth-season episode of the Comedy Central animated series South Park (entitled "Tsst") that aired on May 3, 2006. In the episode, Millan is hired to train not a dog, but Eric Cartman, to behave after popular "nannies" (see Nanny 911, Super Nanny) fail to rein in his behavior.

Millan played himself in "The Finger in the Nest", the September 17, 2008, episode of Bones, helping the lead characters to determine if a location was used for dogfighting.

Millan played himself in Beethoven's Big Break which premiered in cinemas on December 30, 2008.

Millan played himself in The Back-Up Plan, which was released April 23, 2010 in theaters.

Millan made a guest appearance as a judge on Episode #3 of the 10th season of The Apprentice.

Millan made a guest appearance on the April 27, 2011 episode of "Jeopardy".^[34]

Legal issues[link]

In 2006, Millan's original publicists, Makeda Smith and Foster Corder, sued Millan, alleging copyright infringement, breach of contract and breach of confidential relationship,^[35] later settling out of court.^{[dead link][36]} Also in 2006, Floyd Suarez sued Millan, alleging that his dog had been injured while on a treadmill at the Dog Psychology Center,^[37] and also eventually settled out of court.^{[dead link][38]}

Criticism[link]

Also in 2006, Jean Donaldson, the San Francisco SPCA director of The Academy for Dog Trainers, criticized Millan for physically confronting aggressive dogs and using choke chains for fearful dogs. This criticism was published by the American Humane Association, which asked National Geographic to stop airing Dog Whisperer.^[39]

In November 2009, Millan invited the American Humane Association to the set of Dog Whisperer, at which time, according to Millan, "they changed their state of mind about what is cruel".^[40] The association announced in February 2010 that despite "sharp differences of view in the past" and some lingering areas of disagreement, they shared many areas of interest with Millan.^[41] They also invited him that month to participate in a symposium on humane dog training "to discuss issues of concern".^[42]

Dr. Ian Dunbar and dog behaviorist Jean Donaldson collaborated on a 2007 DVD titled "Fighting Dominance in a Dog Whispering World" that addresses their concerns with Cesar Millan and similar dominance-based theories of training and behavior modification.^[43]

The American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior has also expressed their concerns over the resurgence of "dominance theory"-based training methods that fixate inappropriately on pack leadership. They cite behaviorist Dr. Sophia Yin and Knowles/Saxberg, saying "In our relationship with our pets, priority access to resources is not the major concern. The majority of behaviors owners want to modify, such as excessive vocalization, unruly greetings, and failure to come when called, are not related to valued resources and may not even involve aggression. Rather, these behaviors occur because they have been inadvertently rewarded and because alternate appropriate behaviors have not been trained instead. Consequently, what owners really want is not to gain dominance, but to obtain the ability to influence their pets to perform behaviors willingly. ... The AVSAB recommends that veterinarians not refer clients to trainers or behavior consultants who coach and advocate dominance hierarchy theory and the subsequent confrontational training that follows from it."^[44]

Punishment and attempts at dominating dogs to correct behavioral issues can potentially worsen the problem, AVSAB further notes: "Even in the relatively few cases where aggression is related to rank, applying animal social theory and mimicking how animals would respond can pose a problem. First, it can cause one to use punishment, which may suppress aggression without addressing the underlying cause. Because fear and anxiety are common causes of aggression and other behavior problems, including those that mimic resource guarding, the use of punishment can directly exacerbate the problem by increasing the animal’s fear or anxiety."^[44]

Bibliographies and DVDs[link]

Books:

• Cesar's Way: The Natural, Everyday Guide to Understanding and Correcting Common Dog Problems. New York: Three Rivers Press. March 2007. ISBN 978-0-307-33797-9. 
• Be the Pack Leader: Use Cesar's Way to Transform Your Dog . . . and Your Life. New York: Three Rivers Press. March 2007. ISBN 978-0-307-38167-5. 
• A Member of the Family: Cesar Millan's Guide to a Lifetime of Fulfillment with Your Dog. New York: Three Rivers Press. March 2008. ISBN 978-0-307-40891-4. 
• How to Raise the Perfect Dog: Through Puppyhood and Beyond. New York: Three Rivers Press. 2009. ISBN 978-0-307-46129-2. 
• Cesar's Rules: Your Way to Train a Well-Behaved Dog. New York: Crown Archetype. 2010. ISBN 978-0-307-71686-6. 

DVDs:

Awards[link]

• 2005, the Humane Society of the United States Genesis Award Committee presented Millan with a Special Commendation for his work in rehabilitating animals.
• 2007, Millan was awarded the Michael Landon Award for Inspiration to Youth Through Television. Young Artists Awards.org
• 2006, 2007 and 2009, Millan's TV show, Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan, was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Reality Program.
• 2006, Millan and his wife, Ilusión, were awarded honorary membership of the International Association of Canine Professionals (IACP).^[45]
• 2008, The Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan won the award for TV Best Variety or Reality Show at the 23rd Annual Imagine Awards.
• 2008, Cesar Millan was recognized as a "Treasure of Los Angeles" for his contributions to the City of Los Angeles.^[46]
• 2010, Millan's TV show, Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan, won the People's Choice Award for Favorite Animal Show.^[47]

References[link]

• Biography Today, Vol. 15 (3): pp. 73–83
• Millan, Cesar and Peltier, Melissa Jo (2006), Cesar's Way: The Natural, Everyday Guide to Understanding and Correcting Common Dog Problems, Harmony Books, New York, ISBN 0-307-33733-2.
• Millan, Cesar and Peltier, Melissa Jo (2007), Be the Pack Leader, Harmony Books, New York, ISBN

External links[link]

• Official website
• The Millan Foundation
• The Dog Whisperer at NationalGeographic.com
• Cesar Millan Kids
• What the Dog Saw, Malcom Gladwell, May 22, 2006
• Coming Back to the Pack, Devin Gordon, October 9, 2007
• Whispering to Rottweilers, and to C.E.O.’s , Amy Wallace, October 10, 2009
• Cesar Millan talks about UK tour, BBC, 27 November 2009
• "The Dog Whisperer Should Just Shut Up" Esquire (magazine)
• The Dog Whisperer is really the People Whisperer, CBS, October 3, 2010

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (January 2008)

Gary Numan
Gary Numan – Bestival – September 2008
Background information
Birth name	Gary Anthony James Webb
Born	(1958-03-08) 8 March 1958 (age 54) Hammersmith, west London, United Kingdom
Genres	1977–1994: New Wave, synthpop, electronic, experimental rock 1994–present: Industrial rock, gothic rock, Dark Wave
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, musician, producer
Instruments	Vocals, piano, synthesiser, guitar, bass, drums
Years active	1977–present
Labels	Metropolis, Beggars Banquet, Numa, IRS, Eagle, Mortal, Atco
Associated acts	Tubeway Army, Dramatis, Nine Inch Nails, Paul Gardiner, Bill Sharpe, Fear Factory
Website	www.garynuman.co.uk
Notable instruments
Minimoog, Polymoog, ARP Odyssey

Gary Numan (born Gary Anthony James Webb on 8 March 1958) is an English singer, composer, and musician, most widely known for his chart-topping 1979 hits "Are 'Friends' Electric?" (as Tubeway Army) and "Cars". His signature sound consisted of heavy synthesiser hooks fed through guitar effects pedals.

Numan is considered a pioneer of commercial electronic music.^[1][2] His use of themes from science fiction, and his combination of aggressive punk energy with electronics, have been widely imitated.

Biography[link]

Early life[link]

Born in Hammersmith, Gary Anthony James Webb was the son of a British Airways bus driver based at Heathrow Airport. Webb was educated at Town Farm Junior School Stanwell, Ashford County Grammar School, Middlesex, Slough Grammar School^[3] and Brooklands Technical College. He joined the Air Training Corps as a teenager. He then briefly did various jobs including fork lift truck driver, air conditioning ventilator fitter and clerk in an accounts department. A guitar was purchased for him at an early age and he began writing songs when he was about 15 years old. He played in various bands, including Mean Street and The Lasers, before forming Tubeway Army with his uncle, Jess Lidyard, and Paul Gardiner. His initial pseudonym was "Valerian", probably in reference to the hero in French science fiction comic series Valérian and Laureline.^[4] Later he picked the name "Numan" from an advert in the "Yellow Pages" for a plumber "A. Neumann".^[5]

1970s[link]

Tubeway Army[link]

Numan rose to prominence at the end of the 1970s as front man, writer and producer for Tubeway Army. After recording an album's worth of punk-influenced demo tapes (released in 1984 as The Plan), he was signed by Beggars Banquet Records in 1978 and quickly released two singles, "That's Too Bad" and "Bombers", neither of which charted.

A self-titled, New Wave-oriented debut album later that same year sold out its limited run and introduced Numan's fascination with dystopian science fiction and, more importantly, synthesisers. Tubeway Army's third single, the dark-themed and slow-paced "Down in the Park" (1979) also failed to chart but it would prove to be one of Numan's most enduring and oft-covered songs; it was featured with other contemporary hits on the soundtrack for the movie Times Square, and a live version of the song can also be seen in the movie Urgh! A Music War. After exposure in a television advertisement for Lee Cooper jeans with the jingle "Don't be a dummy", Tubeway Army released the single "Are 'Friends' Electric?" in May 1979. The single took seven weeks before it finally reached No. 1 at the end of June; the parent album Replicas simultaneously reached #1.

As Gary Numan[link]

A few months later Numan found success in the charts on both sides of the Atlantic with "Cars", which peaked at No. 1 in the UK in 1979 and No. 1 in Canada^[6] and No. 9 in US in 1980. "Cars" and the 1979 album The Pleasure Principle were both released under Numan's own (assumed) name. A sell-out tour ('The Touring Principle') followed; the concert video it spawned is often cited as the first full-length commercial music video release.^[7][8] The Pleasure Principle was a rock album with no guitars; instead, Numan used synthesisers fed through guitar effects pedals to achieve a distorted, phased, metallic tone. The Pleasure Principle remains one of Numan's most highly-regarded efforts to date. A second single from the album "Complex" made it to No. 6 in the UK charts.

Personality and style[link]

While angry like his punk contemporaries, Numan suppressed his anger and "got really hung up with this whole thing of not feeling, being cold about everything, not letting emotions get to you, or presenting a front of not feeling".^[9]

Around this time, Numan also developed his distinctive style. According to Numan, this was an unintentional result of acne; before an appearance on Top of the Pops, he had "spots everywhere, so they slapped about half an inch of white makeup on me before I'd even walked in the door. And my eyes were like pissholes in the snow, so they put black on there. My so-called image fell into place an hour before going on the show".^[9] His "wooden" stage presence was, in his words, a result of extreme self-consciousness and lack of "showmanship".^[9] He also wore costumes and openly proclaimed his influences: David Bowie, Marc Bolan, and contemporary electronic acts such as John Foxx's Ultravox. His persona was aloof, alien, and androgynous; Numan was not seen to be part of the punk or New Romantic movements. During this period, Numan generated an army of fans calling themselves "Numanoids", providing him with a fanbase which maintained their support through the latter half of the 1980s, when his fortunes began to fall precipitously.^[9]

1980s[link]

Numan performing in February 1980.

In 1980 Numan topped the album charts with Telekon, with the concurrent singles "We Are Glass", "I Die: You Die" and "This Wreckage" reaching No. 5, No. 6 and No. 20, respectively. The final studio album of what Numan retrospectively termed the "Machine" section of his career,^[10] Telekon reintroduced guitars to Numan's music and featured a wider range of synthesisers. The same year he embarked on his second major tour ("The Teletour") with an even more elaborate stage show than The Touring Principle the previous year. Although considered a success^{[by whom?]}, Numan claimed the tour actually lost him a great deal of money because of the vast expense in mounting it. He announced his retirement from touring with a series of sell-out concerts at Wembley Arena in April 1981, supported by experimental musician Nash the Slash and Shock, a rock/mime/burlesque troupe whose members included Barbie Wilde, Tik and Tok and Carole Caplin. The decision to retire would be short-lived.

Moving away from the pure electro-pop that he had made his name with, Numan then experimented with jazz, funk and ethereal, rhythmic pop. His first album after his 1981 farewell concerts was the bleak, atmospheric and experimental Dance (1981). The album charted as high as No. 3 on the UK charts, with an eight week chart run and produced one hit single ("She's Got Claws") reaching No. 6. The album featured several distinguished guest players; Mick Karn (bass, saxophone) and Rob Dean (guitar) of Japan, Roger Mason (keyboards) of Models and Roger Taylor (drums) of Queen.

With his former backing band, Chris John Payne (Keyboards, Viola) Russell Bell (Guitar) and Ced Sharpley (Drums) now reformed as Dramatis, Numan contributed vocals to the minor hit "Love Needs No Disguise" from the album For Future Reference. However, Numan's career had begun to experience a gradual decline, and he was eclipsed initially by acts such as Adam Ant, and later by The Human League, Duran Duran, and Depeche Mode. Each album also saw a new "image", none of which captured the public's imagination to nearly the same extent as the lonely android of 1979.^[9]

The more upbeat and danceable I, Assassin (1982) fared less well than Dance. Despite producing one Top 10 and two Top 20 singles, the album peaked at No. 8 with a six week chart run. Numan supported the album with a concert tour in America in late 1982 (where he was living as a tax exile), which were his first series of live shows since his farewell at Wembley.

Warriors (1983) further developed Numan's jazz-influenced style and featured contributions from avant-garde musician Bill Nelson (who fell out with Numan during recording and chose to be uncredited as the album's co-producer) and saxophonist Dick Morrissey (who would play on most of Numan's albums until 1991). The album peaked at No. 12, produced two hit singles including the Top 20 title track and, like I, Assassin, spent six weeks in the charts. Warriors was the last album Numan recorded for Beggars Banquet Records, and was supported by a 40-date UK tour (again with support from robotic mime and music duo Tik and Tok) – Numan's first live tour in the UK since his Wembley appearances in 1981. Numan's look for the album artwork and tour was a Mad Max-influenced black leather costume against a post-apocalyptic backdrop, but this latest image change was scorned by the music press.

Now battling against the increasing public perception that he was a spent force, Numan issued a series of albums and singles on his own record label, Numa. As the decade continued, he experienced a creative malaise, trying to recapture his former chart glory with less distinguished albums, some of which were stylistically derivative of artists like Robert Palmer and Prince.

The first album released on Numa, 1984’s Berserker was also notable for being Numan's first foray into music computers/samplers, in this case the PPG Wave. Berserker moved away from the fluid, fretless sound that characterised Numan's previous three albums, featuring instead harder-edged electric bass and drum sounds. The album was also accompanied by a striking blue-and-white visual image, a tour, a live album/video and produced two hit singles, but it divided critics and fans and commercially was Numan’s least successful release to that date. This year also saw the death of Paul Gardiner, who was Numan's bassist and friend since his Tubeway Army days, from a fatal heroin overdose on 4 February 1984. Numan's song 'A Child With The Ghost' is about Paul Gardiner and also featured on Tik & Tok's album 'Intolerance' (1984).

Numan's next album, The Fury (1985), charted slightly higher than Berserker, produced four hit singles and featured another new image of white suit and red bow tie. To date, The Fury is the last Numan album to crack the British Top 30.

Collaborations with Bill Sharpe of Shakatak helped little, though two singles the duo recorded, "Change Your Mind", did see chart action, reaching No.17 and "No More Lies" reaching No.35 in 1988 in Britain. Numa Records, which had been launched in a flurry of idealistic excitement, folded after the release of Numan's Strange Charm album (1986). In addition to Numa's commercial failure, a lack of radio play (his records were removed from the BBC Radio 1 playlist) and sales drained the fortune (he estimated £4.5 million) Numan had amassed in the late 1970s. Numan signed to IRS Records and his final studio album of the 1980s, the edgy, industrial-funk Metal Rhythm (1988) found favour with fans and scored some positive reviews in the UK music press, but it sold poorly despite two hit singles. Metal Rhythm's sales were arguably confounded by the lack of strong promotion and IRS's inappropriate choices of singles (the record label also changed the album's title to New Anger, changed the album colour shade from black to blue, and remixed several of its tracks for its American release against Numan's wishes). 1989 saw the release of the Sharpe + Numan album Automatic. A more lightweight-pop effort than Numan's solo albums, Automatic fared less well than Metal Rhythm, and has been out of print since its initial release, fetching high prices on auction sites.

1990s[link]

In 1991, Numan ventured into film-scoring by co-composing the music for The Unborn with Michael R. Smith (the score was later released as an instrumental album in 1995, Human). After Outland (1991), another critical and commercial disappointment and his second and last studio album with IRS, Numan reactivated Numa Records, under which he would release his next two albums. However, even Numan considers his 1992 Machine + Soul, a misguided attempt at a purely commercial release recorded solely to pay off debts, a career low point. The album sold only a few thousand copies. By 1994, Numan decided to stop attempting to crack the pop market and concentrate instead on exploring more personal themes, including his vocal atheism. His future wife Gemma encouraged him to strip away the influences of the previous years. Numan re-evaluated his career and went in a harsher, more industrial direction with his songwriting on the album Sacrifice — for the first time he played almost all the instruments himself. The move was critically well-received, as Numan's harder and darker sound emerged just as Numan-influenced bands like Nine Inch Nails were enjoying their first rush of fame. The influence was two-way; Numan claimed that Nine Inch Nails' song "Closer" is his favourite hit single of all time, and influenced his music. Sacrifice was the last album Numan made before shutting down Numa Records permanently. His next two albums, Exile (1997) and Pure (2000), restored his critical reputation. Numan toured the U.S. in support of Exile, his first stateside concerts since the early 1980s.^[9]

2000s[link]

Gary Numan performing in 2007

Numan has become acknowledged and respected by his peers, with such musicians as Dave Grohl (of Foo Fighters and Nirvana), Trent Reznor (of Nine Inch Nails), and Marilyn Manson proclaiming his work an influence and recording cover versions of old Numan hits.^[11][12] The band Basement Jaxx had a huge hit in 2002 with "Where's Your Head At?", which relied on a sample of Numan's "M.E." – from The Pleasure Principle – for its hook. Fear Factory produced a cover of "Cars" (featuring a prominent guest appearance by Numan himself) for the digipak version of their album Obsolete. Nine Inch Nails covered the song "Metal" on The Fragile remix album Things Falling Apart as did Afrika Bambaataa (with Numan himself) on the album Dark Matter Moving at the Speed of Light. "Cars" remains Numan's most enduring song; it was a hit again in 1987 (remixed by Zeus B. Held) and 1996, in the latter case thanks to an appearance in an advert for Carling beer. In 2000 DJ Armand Van Helden sampled the track and mixed it up in his single "Koochy" which conquered the dancefloors. In 2002, UK pop trio Sugababes scored a No. 1 with "Freak Like Me" – a mashup of Adina Howard's "Freak Like Me" and "Are Friends Electric?" by Numan's Tubeway Army.

Other musicians, and at least one comedian, who have sung Numan's praises in recent years include Beck, Grant Nicholas, Tricky, Damon Albarn & Matt Sharp, Jarvis Cocker, Queens of the Stone Age, David Bowie, Noel Fielding and Afrika Bambaataa, who spoke of the influence Numan's music had on the fledgling American DJ scene: "In the late 70s and early 80s Gary had the rhythms that DJs wanted to get hold of and people waited for his records on the dance floor." "^{[cite this quote]} Cars" was featured on the soundtrack for the blockbuster 2002 videogame Grand Theft Auto: Vice City as part of the New Wave radio station Wave 103, although it did not appear on the soundtrack CD release for the game. "Are Friends Electric" appeared on EA's game Need For Speed: Carbon in 2006.

In 2002, Numan enjoyed chart success once again with the single "Rip", reaching No. 29 in the UK chart and in 2003 with the Gary Numan vs Rico single "Crazier", which reached No. 13 in the UK chart. Rico also worked on the remix album Hybrid which featured reworkings of older songs in a more contemporary industrial style as well as new material. Other artists and producers who contributed on these remixes included Curve, Flood, Andy Gray, Alan Moulder, New Disease and Sulpher. 2003 also saw Numan performing the vocals on a track named "Pray For You" on the Plump DJs album Eargasm, which was well received. In 2004 Numan took control of his own business affairs again, launching the label Mortal Records and releasing a series of live DVDs. In late 2006, Numan announced on his website that recording would begin on his new album in January 2007, with Ade Fenton co-producing. Numan stated "think of Jagged and Pure, but faster, with bigger choruses, more energy, and more aggression"^{[cite this quote]} to describe the album's intended sound. The album, Jagged, was duly released on 13 March 2006. An album launch gig took place at The Forum, London on 18 March followed by UK, European and US tours in support of the release. Numan also launched a Jagged website to showcase the new album, and made plans to have his 1981 farewell concert (previously released as Micromusic on VHS) issued on DVD by November 2006 as well as releasing the DVD version of the Jagged album launch gig. Numan undertook a Telekon 'Classic Album' tour in the UK in December 2006.

On 6 November 2006, Numan took part in the Sky1 reality show The Race. It pitted ten celebrities (five male, five female) against each other in a series of Formula One-style car races. These races were held at Silverstone over the next five days, and varied in racing styles, ultimately culminating in one final Grand Prix race on Sunday, 12 November. Numan did win on the overall leaderboard, though he lost the final race to AC/DC lead singer Brian Johnson.

Numan contributed vocals to four tracks on the April 2007 release of Fenton's debut solo album Artificial Perfect on his new industrial/electronic label Submission, including songs "The Leather Sea", "Slide Away", "Recall" and the first single to be taken from the album, "Healing". The second single to be released in the UK was "The Leather Sea" on 30 July 2007.

Promoting the 2008 Replicas Tour

He sold out a fifteen-date UK tour in Spring 2008 during which he performed his 1979 number one album Replicas in full, and all the Replicas-era music including B-sides.^[13] The highly successful tour also raised Numan's profile in the media again due to the fact that it coincided with his 30th anniversary in the music business. The tour was also notable for the Manchester gig on 8 March 2008 which also happened to fall on his 50th birthday. The band, along with wife Gemma, helped Numan celebrate by bringing a large cake onstage. A recording of the concert was released on DVD under the title "Replicas Live".

In November 2007, Numan confirmed via his website that work on a new album, with the working title of Splinter, would be under way throughout 2008, after finishing an alternate version of Jagged (called Jagged Edge) and the CD of unreleased songs from his previous three albums (confirmed to be titled Dead Son Rising on 1 December 2008 via official mailing list message). He wrote that Splinter was likely to be released in early 2010. Numan has recently completed a four-date run of gigs in Australia and will be touring the UK in the coming months.^{[citation needed]}

In July 2009, Gary Numan appeared as a special guest at the "Wave Goodbye" Nine Inch Nails concert at The O2 arena (London) in London. Before coming on stage, Trent Reznor explained how Numan was "vitally important and a huge inspiration" to him during the past 20 years. Numan then went on to play two songs with Nine Inch Nails; "Cars" and "Metal". Numan appeared once again at the final run of the "Wave Goodbye" shows in Los Angeles, CA. In August 2009 he played at the Hevy Music Festival in Folkestone, UK. On 2 September 2009 at the Hollywood Palladium, Numan joined Reznor on stage to perform "Metal" and "Cars" near the end of the Nine Inch Nails set. He then joined the band onstage a third time at the Echoplex in Los Angeles, CA, this time performing "Metal" and "I Die: You Die" from the album Telekon. He then joined them a fourth time at the Henry Fonda Theater, performing "Down In The Park", "Metal" and "Cars". Mike Garson initially played "Down In The Park (Piano Version)" before they started the song. He then joined them for the final show at the Wiltern Theater.

In a September 2009 interview with The Quietus, Numan says that he and Trent Reznor plan to make music together.^[14]

2010s[link]

He was set to perform a small number of American live dates in April 2010, including a Coachella Festival appearance in California, but had to cancel because air travel in Europe was halted by the Icelandic volcanic ash cloud. As a result, the tour was not only postponed but expanded, and his Pleasure Principle 30th Anniversary Tour's American and Mexican dates began on 17 October 2010, at Firestone Live in Orlando, Florida.

Gary Numan toured Australia in May 2011 performing his seminal album The Pleasure Principle in its entirety to celebrate its thirtieth anniversary. Joining him on tour was renowned Australian electronic band Severed Heads, coming out of retirement especially for the shows.^[15]

Numan lent his vocals to the track "My Machines" off Battles's 2011 album "Gloss Drop". He has been chosen by Battles to perform at the ATP Nightmare Before Christmas festival that they co-curate in December 2011 in Minehead, England.^[16] Numan's new album Dead Son Rising was released on 16 September 2011 which had a full U.K tour split in two halves, 15–21 September and 7–11 December, Both parts were supported by Welsh soloist Jayce Lewis in an interview during the tour; Gary praised the Welshman to being the best supporting act ever in his 30 years of touring, later documenting the tour in a Tour diary and publicly inviting Jayce to join him for an American tour in 2012.^[17][18][19]

Numan also provided narration for Voltaire's short film Odokuro in 2011.

Personal life[link]

Numan is a positive atheist and has incorporated anti-religious motifs and images in his music.^[20] Numan was an outspoken supporter of the Conservative Party and of Margaret Thatcher after her inauguration as Prime Minister.^[21][22] He later expressed regret for giving his public support, calling it "a noose around my neck".^[22] He has recently said that he considers himself neither left-wing nor right-wing and that he does not support Tony Blair or David Cameron.^[22] He also said, "I'm not socialist, I know that. I don't believe in sharing my money."^[21]

Numan married a member of his fan club, Gemma O'Neill, a native of Sidcup.^[23][24] In 2003, after some pregnancy difficulties, the couple had their first child, Raven. In 2005 they had a second daughter, Persia. In 2007 the couple had their third child, Echo. Numan resides with his family in East Sussex.^[25] He published his autobiography, Praying to the Aliens, in 1997 (updated edition 1998), in collaboration with Steve Malins. (Malins also wrote the liner notes for most of the CD reissues of Numan's albums in the late 1990s, as well as executive producing the Hybrid album in 2003.)

Numan is known for his love of flying, a passion which has featured in some of his music videos ("Warriors", "I Can't Stop"). He has owned several small aircraft. Numan was a member of the Air Training Corps. He is one of a very small handful of flyers with the credentials and qualifications to train aerobatic instructor pilots.^{[citation needed]} He was once forced to emergency-land his light aircraft on the A3051 near Southampton. Numan is referenced several times in the BBC TV series The Mighty Boosh as Vince Noir, one of the main characters, is a huge Gary Numan fan. Examples of this are in the episode "Tundra" where Numan gives Noir a lift to the Antarctic in his personal jet (a black jet with a red trim with "NUMAN" written in white), in the episode "Electro" Numan's influence is clear to see on Noir when he joins electro band "Kraftwork Orange". Along with making several other references to Numan (notably a scene where Noir states he's made some 'tapes' for a journey saying "This is the best of the 60s (holding one tape), this is the best of the 70s (holding another tape) and THIS (picks up a horde of tapes) is Gary Numan!"), Numan guest-starred in "The Power of the Crimp", being locked in a cupboard and is used (unsuccessfully) to cheer Vince up.^{[citation needed]}

At age 15, after a series of outbursts in which Numan would "smash things up, scream and shout, get in people's faces and break stuff", he was prescribed antidepressants and anxiolytics.^[9] Numan's wife, then a nail technician, considered him to have Asperger syndrome. He has never been medically diagnosed.^[26] In a 2001 interview, he said: "Polite conversation has never been one of my strong points. Just recently I actually found out that I'd got a mild form of Asperger's syndrome which basically means I have trouble interacting with people. For years, I couldn't understand why people thought I was arrogant, but now it all makes more sense.".^[27]

Following the harassment of his wife while his family was walking on High Street and the 2011 England Riots Numan filed papers to emigrate to the United States. He plans to live in Santa Monica, California. Numan said "Every village and town in England has a bunch of thugs running around in it. The riots were the nail in the coffin".^[28]

In late August 2011, in the Q&A section of NuWorld, in answer to the question "Is it true you now hate England and want to leave?" he replied, "No, that’s utter rubbish." He explained that he'd "never been abused in my local high street," and has "made no firm decision about leaving the UK" but thugs are helping make such a decision, pointing out that the rioting "makes us look like a country of ignorant savages, beating up people already injured, pretending to help while stealing their things, hitting old men, killing them." He went on to explain that soundtracks may be a logical step, as he gets older and since "in the UK we have no meaningful film industry to speak of," a move to the U.S. might be more reasonable. He concluded by saying his family are highest priority and, "If I see somewhere that seems safer, happier and will give them a better life than the UK, I’ll take them there if I possibly can."

Discography[link]

• Tubeway Army (1978) (with Tubeway Army)
• Replicas (1979) (with Tubeway Army)
• The Pleasure Principle (1979) (Numan's first album under his own name)
• Telekon (1980)
• Dance (1981)
• I, Assassin (1982)
• Warriors (1983)
• Berserker (1984)
• The Fury (1985)
• Strange Charm (1986)
• Metal Rhythm (1988) (New Anger in the United States)
• Automatic (1989) (With Bill Sharpe)
• Outland (1991)
• Machine and Soul (1992)
• Sacrifice (1994) (Dawn in the US)
• Exile (1997)
• Pure (2000)
• Hybrid (2003)
• Jagged (2006)
• Dead Son Rising (2011)

References[link]

• Paul Goodwin (2004). Electric Pioneer: An Armchair Guide To Gary Numan.
• Guinness Book of British Hit Singles 7th Edition

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Gary Numan

• NuWORLD: Official website
• Complete discography, unofficial
• Review: Exposure – NXLive.co.uk
• North American Gary Numan Fan Club, unofficial