Look up release, released, or releases in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Release or Released may refer to:

Media[link]

• Film release, the public distribution of a film
• Legal release, a legal instrument
• News release, a communication directed at the news media

Technology[link]

• Software release life cycle, the public distribution of software code and support materials
• Release (ISUP), a code to identify and debug events in ISUP signaling

Science[link]

• Release (phonetics), the opening of the closure of a stop consonant

Film and television[link]

• Release (2010 film), a 2010 British film starring Daniel Brocklebank

Television episodes[link]

• "Release" (Angel), episode 14 of season four in the television show Angel
• "Release" (Law & Order), the 379th episode of NBC's legal drama Law & Order
• Release (The X-Files), the 199th episode of the television series The X-Files

Music[link]

• Release (music), the public distribution of a musical recording
• Release Magazine, a Swedish alternative music web magazine
• Release Entertainment, a subsidiary of Relapse Records
• Release time, in a music synthesizer ADSR envelope, how quickly a sound reaches silence when a note ends
• Bridge in Thirty-two-bar form

Albums[link]

• Release (Cop Shoot Cop album), the fourth and final album by the experimental band Cop Shoot Cop
• Release (David Knopfler album), David Knopfler's first solo album after leaving Dire Straits
• Release (P·A·L album), a 2000 album by German industrial music artist P·A·L
• Release (Pet Shop Boys album), the twelfth studio album, by the English electronic music duo Pet Shop Boys
• Release (Sister Hazel album), Sister Hazel's seventh studio album
• Release, a double album release by George Acosta:
  • Release AM
  • Release PM
• Released (Jade Warrior album), the second studio album by British band Jade Warrior
• Released (Patti LaBelle album), the fourth studio solo album released by singer Patti LaBelle
• Released (Westlife album)
• Released: 1985–1995, an album by Kronos Quartet

Songs[link]

• "Release" (The Tea Party song), a 1998 song by Canadian rock band The Tea Party. It was released as a charity single in Canada and a promotional single in the USA. The music video was shot in Paris and Toronto
• "Release" (Timbaland song), a song recorded by Timbaland and Justin Timberlake on the 2007 album Shock Value
• "Release" (The Tension), a 1980 song by Patti LaBelle
• "Release, Release", a 1978 song by Yes
• "Release", a song by George from Polyserena
• "Release", a song by Pearl Jam from Ten
• "Release", a song by Afro Celt Sound System (featuring vocals by Sinéad O'Connor) from Volume 2: Release
• "Released", a song by Norther from Dreams of Endless War

Organizations[link]

• Release (agency), a UK agency that provides legal services for young people charged with drug possession
• Release International, an organization for monitoring persecution of Christians

See also[link]

• Delayed release, refers to the relatively late release of a product to the public
• Flash release (disambiguation)
• Dismissal (employment), the termination of employment by an employer against the will of the employee
• Layoff or redundancy

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

Nina Simone
Simone at a concert in Morlaix, France May 1982
Background information
Birth name	Eunice Kathleen Waymon
Born	(1933-02-21)February 21, 1933 Tryon, North Carolina, United States
Died	April 21, 2003(2003-04-21) (aged 70) Carry-le-Rouet, Bouches-du-Rhône, France
Genres	Jazz, blues, R&B, folk, gospel
Occupations	Singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger, activist
Years active	1954–2003
Labels	Bethlehem, Colpix, Philips, RCA Victor, CTI, Legacy Recordings
Website	http://www.ninasimone.com/

Eunice Kathleen Waymon (February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003), better known by her stage name Nina Simone /ˈniːnə sɨˈmoʊn/, was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger, and civil rights activist widely associated with jazz music. Simone aspired to become a classical pianist while working in a broad range of styles including classical, jazz, blues, folk, R&B, gospel, and pop.

Born the sixth child of a preacher's family in North Carolina, Simone aspired to be a concert pianist as a child.^[1] Her musical path changed direction after she was denied a scholarship to the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, despite a well-received audition. Simone was later told by someone working at Curtis that she was rejected because she was black.^[2] She then began playing in a small club in Philadelphia to fund her continuing musical education to become a classical pianist and was required to sing as well. She was approached for a recording by Bethlehem Records, and her rendition of "I Loves You Porgy" became a smash hit in the United States in 1958.^[1] Over the length of her career, Simone recorded more than 40 albums, mostly between 1958 — when she made her debut with Little Girl Blue — and 1974.

Her musical style arose from a fusion of gospel and pop songs with classical music, in particular with influences from her first inspiration, Johann Sebastian Bach,^[3] and accompanied with her expressive jazz-like singing in her characteristic low tenor. She injected as much of her classical background into her music as possible to give it more depth and quality, as she felt that pop music was inferior to classical.^[4] Her intuitive grasp on the audience-performer relationship was gained from a unique background of playing piano accompaniment for church revivals and sermons regularly from the early age of six years.^[5]

After 20 years of performing, she became involved in the civil rights movement and the direction of her life shifted once again.^[4] Simone's music was highly influential in the fight for equal rights in the US.^[6]

Biography[link]

Youth (1933–1954)[link]

Simone was born Eunice Kathleen Waymon in Tryon, North Carolina. The sixth of eight children in a poor family, she began playing piano at age three; the first song she learned was "God Be With You, Till We Meet Again". Demonstrating a talent with the instrument, she performed at her local church, but her concert debut, a classical recital, was given when she was twelve. Simone later said that during this performance her parents, who had taken seats in the front row, were forced to move to the back of the hall to make way for white people. Simone said she refused to play until her parents were moved back to the front,^[7][8] and that the incident contributed to her later involvement in the civil rights movement.

Simone's mother, Mary Kate Waymon, was a strict Methodist minister and a housemaid. Simone's father, John Divine Waymon, was a handyman who at one time owned a dry cleaning business, but who also suffered bouts of ill health. Mary Kate's employer, hearing of her daughter's talent, provided funds for piano lessons.^[9] Subsequently, a local fund was set up to assist in Simone's continued education. With the assistance of this scholarship money she attended high school.

After finishing high school, she had studied for an interview with the help of a private tutor to study piano further at the Curtis Institute, but she was rejected. Simone believed that this rejection was related directly to her race.^[10] Simone then moved to New York City, where she studied at the Juilliard School of Music.

Early success (1954–1959)[link]

To fund her private lessons, Simone performed at the Midtown Bar & Grill on Pacific Avenue in Atlantic City, whose owner insisted that she sing as well as play the piano. In 1954 she adopted the stage name Nina Simone. "Nina" (from niña, meaning 'little girl' in Spanish) was a nickname a boyfriend had given to her, and "Simone" was taken from the French actress Simone Signoret, whom she had seen in the movie Casque d'or.^[11] Simone's mixture of jazz, blues, and classical music in her performances at the bar earned her a small, but loyal, fan base.^[12]

In 1958, she befriended and married Don Ross, a beatnik who worked as a fairground barker, but quickly regretted their marriage.^[13] After playing in small clubs, in 1958 she recorded a rendition of George Gershwin's "I Loves You Porgy" (from Porgy and Bess), which she learned from a Billie Holiday album and performed as a favor to a friend. It became her only Billboard top 40 success in the United States, and her debut album Little Girl Blue soon followed on Bethlehem Records. Simone missed out on more than $1 million in royalties (mainly because of the successful re-release of My Baby Just Cares for Me during the 1980s) and never benefited financially from the album, because she had sold her rights to it for $3,000.^[14]

Becoming popular (1959–1964)[link]

After the success of Little Girl Blue, Simone signed a contract with Colpix Records, and recorded a string of studio and live albums. Colpix relinquished all creative control to her, including the choice of material that would be recorded, in exchange for her signing the contract with them. At this point, Simone only performed pop music to make money to continue her classical music studies, and was indifferent about having a recording contract. She kept this attitude toward the record industry for most of her career.^[15]

Simone married a New York police detective, Andrew Stroud, in 1961; Stroud later became her manager.^[16]

Civil rights era (1964–1974)[link]

In 1964, she changed record distributors, from the American Colpix to the Dutch Philips, which also meant a change in the contents of her recordings. Simone had always included songs in her repertoire that drew upon her African-American origins (such as "Brown Baby" and "Zungo" on Nina at the Village Gate in 1962). On her debut album for Philips, Nina Simone In Concert (live recording, 1964), however, Simone for the first time openly addressed the racial inequality that was prevalent in the United States with the song "Mississippi Goddam", her response to the murder of Medgar Evers and the bombing of a church in Birmingham, Alabama that killed four black children. The song was released as a single, and it was boycotted in certain southern states.^[17][18] "Old Jim Crow", on the same album, addressed the Jim Crow Laws.

From then on, a civil rights message was standard in Simone's recording repertoire, becoming a part of her live performances. Simone performed and spoke at many civil rights meetings, such as at the Selma to Montgomery marches.^[19] Simone advocated violent revolution during the civil rights period, rather than Martin Luther King's non-violent approach,^[20] and she hoped that African Americans could, by armed combat, form a separate state. Nevertheless, she wrote in her autobiography that she and her family regarded all races as equal.^[21]

She covered Billie Holiday's "Strange Fruit", a song about the lynching of black men in the South, on Pastel Blues (1965). She also sang the W. Cuney poem "Images" on Let It All Out (1966), about the absence of pride she saw among African-American women. Simone wrote "Four Women", a song about four different stereotypes of African-American women,^[17] and included the recording on her 1966 album Wild Is the Wind.

Simone moved from Philips to RCA Victor during 1967. She sang "Backlash Blues", written by her friend Langston Hughes on her first RCA album, Nina Simone Sings The Blues (1967). On Silk & Soul (1967), she recorded Billy Taylor's "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free" and "Turning Point". The album Nuff Said (1968) contains live recordings from the Westbury Music Fair, April 7, 1968, three days after the murder of Martin Luther King, Jr. She dedicated the whole performance to him and sang "Why? (The King Of Love Is Dead)", a song written by her bass player, Gene Taylor, directly after the news of King's death had reached them.^[22] In the summer of 1969 she performed at the Harlem Cultural Festival in Harlem's Mount Morris Park.

Together with Weldon Irvine, Simone turned the late Lorraine Hansberry's unfinished play To Be Young, Gifted, and Black into a civil rights song. Hansberry had been a personal friend whom Simone credited with cultivating her social and political consciousness. She performed the song live on the album Black Gold (1970). A studio recording was released as a single, and renditions of the song have been recorded by Aretha Franklin (on her 1972 album Young, Gifted and Black) and by Donny Hathaway.^[17][21]

Later life (1974–2003)[link]

Simone left the United States in September 1970, flying to Barbados and expecting Stroud to communicate with her when she had to perform again. However, Stroud interpreted Simone's sudden disappearance, and the fact that she had left behind her wedding ring, as an indication of a desire for a divorce. As her manager, Stroud was in charge of Simone's income.

When Simone returned to the United States she learned that a warrant had been issued for her arrest for unpaid taxes (as a protest against her country's involvement with the Vietnam War), causing her to return to Barbados again to evade the authorities and prosecution.^[23] Simone stayed in Barbados for quite some time and she had a lengthy affair with the Prime Minister, Errol Barrow.^[24][25] A close friend, singer Miriam Makeba, then persuaded her to go to Liberia. Later, she lived in Switzerland and the Netherlands, before settling in France during 1992.

She recorded her last album for RCA, It Is Finished, during 1974. Simone did not make another record until 1978, when she was persuaded to go into the recording studio by CTI Records owner Creed Taylor. The result was the album Baltimore, which, while not a commercial success, did get good reviews and marked a quiet artistic renaissance in Simone's recording output.^[26] Her choice of material retained its eclecticism, ranging from spiritual songs to Hall & Oates' "Rich Girl". Four years later Simone recorded Fodder On My Wings on a French label. During the 1980s Simone performed regularly at Ronnie Scott's jazz club in London, where she recorded the album Live at Ronnie Scott's in 1984. Although her early on-stage style could be somewhat haughty and aloof, in later years, Simone particularly seemed to enjoy engaging her audiences sometimes by recounting humorous anecdotes related to her career and music and by soliciting requests. In 1987, the original 1958 recording of "My Baby Just Cares For Me" was used in a commercial for Chanel No. 5 perfume in the United Kingdom. This led to a re-release of the recording, which stormed to number 4 on the UK's NME singles chart, giving her a brief surge in popularity in the UK. Her autobiography, I Put a Spell on You, was published in 1992. She recorded her last album, A Single Woman, in 1993.

In 1993, Simone settled near Aix-en-Provence in Southern France. She had suffered from breast cancer for several years before she died in her sleep at her home in Carry-le-Rouet, Bouches-du-Rhône on April 21, 2003. (In addition, Simone received a diagnosis of bipolar disorder in the late 1980s).^[27] Her funeral service was attended by singers Miriam Makeba and Patti Labelle, poet Sonia Sanchez, actor Ossie Davis, and hundreds of others. Elton John sent a floral tribute with the message "You were the greatest and I love you".^[28] Simone's ashes were scattered in several African countries. She left behind a daughter, Lisa Celeste Stroud, an actress and singer, who took the stage name Simone, and has appeared on Broadway in Aida.^[29]

Musical style[link]

Simone standards[link]

Throughout her career, Simone assembled a collection of songs that would become standards in her repertoire. These songs were self-written tunes, tributes to works by others with a new arrangement by Simone, or songs written especially for Simone. Her first hit song in America was her rendition of George Gershwin's "I Loves You, Porgy" (1958). It peaked at number 18 in the pop singles chart and number 2 on the black singles chart.^[30] During that same period Simone recorded "My Baby Just Cares for Me", which would become her biggest success years later, in 1987, when it was featured in a Chanel No. 5 perfume commercial. A music video was created by Aardman Studios for the commercial.^[31]

Well known songs from her Philips albums include "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" on Broadway-Blues-Ballads (1964), "I Put a Spell on You", "Ne Me Quitte Pas" (a rendition of a Jacques Brel song) and "Feeling Good" on I Put A Spell On You (1965), "Lilac Wine" and "Wild Is the Wind" on Wild is the Wind (1966).^[32] Especially the songs "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood", "Feeling Good", and "Sinnerman" (Pastel Blues, 1965) have great popularity today in terms of cover versions (most notably a version of the former song by The Animals), sample usage, and its use on soundtracks for various movies, TV-series, and video games. "Sinnerman", in particular, has been featured in the TV series Scrubs, Person of Interest, and Sherlock, and on movies such as The Thomas Crown Affair, Miami Vice, and Inland Empire, and sampled by artists such as Talib Kweli and Timbaland. The song "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" was sampled by Devo Springsteen on "Misunderstood" from Common's 2007 album Finding Forever, and by little-known producers Rodnae and Mousa for the song "Don't Get It" on Lil Wayne's 2008 album Tha Carter III. The song "See-Line Woman" was sampled by Kanye West for "Bad News" on his album 808s and Heartbreak.

Simone's years at RCA-Victor spawned a number of singles and album tracks that were popular, particularly in Europe. In 1968, it was "Ain't Got No, I Got Life", a medley from the musical Hair from the album 'Nuff Said! (1968) that became a surprise hit for Simone, reaching number 4 on the UK pop charts and introducing her to a younger audience.^[33] In 2006, it returned to the UK Top 30 in a remixed version by Groovefinder. The following single, the Bee Gees' rendition of "To Love Somebody" also reached the UK top 10 in 1969. "House of the Rising Sun" was featured on Nina Simone Sings The Blues in 1967, but Simone had recorded the song in 1961 and it was featured on Nina At The Village Gate (1962), predating the versions by Dave Van Ronk and Bob Dylan.^[34][35] It was later covered by The Animals, for whom it became a signature hit.

Performing style[link]

Simone's bearing and stage presence earned her the title "High Priestess of Soul".^{[citation needed]} She was a piano player, singer, and performer, "separately and simultaneously".^[16] On stage, Simone moved from gospel to blues, jazz, and folk, to numbers with European classical styling, and Bach-style fugal counterpoint. She incorporated monologues and dialogues with the audience into the program, and often used silence as a musical element.^[36] Simone compared it to "mass hypnosis. I use it all the time".^[21] Throughout most of her life and recording career she was accompanied by percussionist Leopoldo Fleming and guitarist and musical director Al Schackman.^[37]

Simone had a reputation in the music industry for her volatility. In 1995, she shot and wounded her neighbor's son with a pneumatic pistol after his laughter disturbed her concentration.^[38] She also fired a gun at a record company executive whom she accused of stealing royalties.^[39] According to a biographer, Simone took medication for a condition from the mid-1960s on.^[40] All this was only known to a small group of intimates, and kept out of public view for many years, until the biography Break Down And Let It All Out written by Sylvia Hampton and David Nathan revealed this in 2004 after her death.

Legacy and influence[link]

Music[link]

Musicians who have cited Simone as important for their own musical upbringing include Antony and the Johnsons, Nick Cave, Van Morrison, Christina Aguilera, Elkie Brooks, Talib Kweli, Mos Def, Kanye West, Lena Horne, Bono, John Legend, Elizabeth Fraser, Cat Stevens, Anna Calvi, Peter Gabriel, Maynard James Keenan, Cedric Bixler-Zavala, Mary J. Blige, Michael Gira, Angela McCluskey, Lauryn Hill, Patrice Babatunde, Alicia Keys, Ian MacKaye, Kerry Brothers, Jr. "Krucial", Amanda Palmer, Steve Adey and Jeff Buckley.^{[17][41][42][43][44]} John Lennon cited Simone's version of "I Put a Spell on You" as a source of inspiration for the Beatles song "Michelle".^[44] Musicians who have covered her work (or her specific renditions of songs) include Black Rock Coalition Orchestra, J.Viewz, Carola, Aretha Franklin, Janis Joplin, Marilyn Manson, Donny Hathaway, David Bowie, Elkie Brooks, Roberta Flack, Jeff Buckley, Kimbra, The Animals, Nick Cave, Shivaree (band), Ambrosia Parsley, Muse, Cat Power, Katie Melua, Timbaland, Feist, Shara Worden, Common, Lil Wayne, and Michael Bublé. Simone's music has been featured in soundtracks of various motion pictures and video games, including but not limited to, The Big Lebowski (1998), Point of No Return (AKA The Assassin, 1993), Notting Hill (1999), Any Given Sunday (1999), The Thomas Crown Affair (1999), Six Feet Under (2001), The Dancer Upstairs (film) (2002), Before Sunset (2004), Cellular (2004), Inland Empire (2006), Miami Vice (2006), Sex and the City (2008), The World Unseen (2008), Revolutionary Road (2008), Watchmen (2009), The Saboteur (2009), Repo Men (2010). Frequently her music is used in remixes, commercials, and TV series including Feelin' Good featured prominently in the Season Four Promo of Six Feet Under, 2004.

Film[link]

The documentary Nina Simone: La Legende (The Legend) was made in the 1990s by French filmmakers,^[21] based on her autobiography I Put A Spell On You. It features live footage from different periods of her career, interviews with friends and family, various interviews with Simone then living in the Netherlands, and while on a trip to her birthplace. A portion of footage from The Legend was taken from an earlier 26-minute biographical documentary by Peter Rodis, released in 1969 and entitled simply, Nina.^[45]

Her filmed 1976 performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival is available on video courtesy of Eagle Rock Entertainment, and it is screened annually in New York City at an event called, "The Rise and Fall of Nina Simone: Montreux, 1976,", which is curated by Tom Blunt.^[46]

Plans for a Nina Simone biographical film were released at the end of 2005, to be based on Simone's autobiography I Put A Spell On You (1992) and to focus on her relationship in later life with her assistant, Clifton Henderson, who died in 2006. TV writer Cynthia Mort (Will & Grace, Roseanne) is working on the script, and singer Mary J. Blige will play the lead role. Release of the movie is scheduled for 2012.^[47]

Her song "Sinnerman" was used in the 1999 film "The Thomas Crown Affair" as well as the award winning documentary "Sharkwater" by Rob Stewart in 2007.

Her song "I Got It Bad & That Ain't Good" was used in the 1998 film "The Big Lebowski"

Her music was used in the S4C show, "Alys", in 2010.

A song sung by Nina Simone on her 1970 live album, Black Gold, is used in the film The Dancer Upstairs.

In the film Point of No Return, the protagonist choses "Nina" as her codename in honor of Simone, her mother's favorite musical artist as well as her own. Simone's music features prominently in the film.

The final scene of the film Before Sunset involves the protagonists discussing and playing a Nina Simone CD, with one of them singing along with "Just in Time" while imitating the performer's stage moves.

Honors[link]

On Human Kindness Day 1974 in Washington, D.C., more than 10,000 people paid tribute to Nina Simone.^[48][49] Simone received two honorary degrees in music and humanities, from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Malcolm X College.^[50] She preferred to be called "Dr. Nina Simone" after these honors were bestowed upon her.^[51] Only two days before her death, Simone was awarded an honorary degree by the Curtis Institute, the music school that had refused to admit her as a student at the beginning of her career.^[52] In 2010, Tryon, NC erected a statue in her honor along Trade street.

Discography[link]

References[link]

Bibliography[link]

• Brun-Lambert, David (October 2006) [2006] (in Dutch, translated from French original). Nina Simone, het tragische lot van een uitzonderlijke zangeres. Introduction by Lisa Celeste Stroud, afterword by Gerrit de Bruin. Zwolle: Sirene. ISBN 90-5831-425-1. 
• Feldstein, Ruth (March 2005). ""I Don't Trust You Anymore": Nina Simone, Culture, and Black Activism in the 1960s". Journal of American History 91 (4). 
• Hampton, Sylvia (2004) [2004]. Break Down and Let It All Out. David Nathan, introduction by Lisa Celeste Stroud. London: Sanctuary. ISBN 1-86074-552-0. 
• Simone, Nina; Stephen Cleary (2003) [1992]. I Put a Spell on You. introduction by Dave Marsh (2nd ed.). New York: Da Capo Press. ISBN 0-306-80525-1. 

External links[link]

	Book: Nina Simone
Wikipedia books are collections of articles that can be downloaded or ordered in print.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Nina Simone

Music portal

Main sites[link]

• Official website
• Nina Simone discography at Discogs
• Nina Simone discography at iMusic.am
• Nina Simone in the Encyclopedia of Jazz Musicians
• Nina Simone at Legacy Recordings
• The Nina Simone Database – comprehensive Nina Simone website
• L'hommage: Nina Simone – tribute and archival site

Reviews and other sites[link]

• Nina Simone at The Music Box – a collection of reviews
• Eunice Waymon-Nina Simone Memorial Project North Carolina-based scholarship, statue & music festival
• Nina Simone Biography at About.com
• Obituary from The Daily Telegraph
• Nina Simone: The "Princess Noire" - audio report by NPR

v t e Nina Simone Studio albums Little Girl Blue Nina Simone and Her Friends The Amazing Nina Simone Forbidden Fruit Nina Simone Sings Ellington Broadway-Blues-Ballads I Put a Spell on You Pastel Blues Nina Simone with Strings Wild Is the Wind High Priestess of Soul Nina Simone Sings the Blues Silk & Soul Nina Simone and Piano To Love Somebody Here Comes the Sun Baltimore Fodder on My Wings Nina's Back A Single Woman Compilation albums Nina's Choice The Rising Sun Collection Released Gold Anthology Nina Simone's Finest Hour The Soul of Nina Simone The Very Best of Nina Simone Songs to Sing: the Best of Nina Simone To Be Free: The Nina Simone Story Live albums Nina Simone at Newport Nina at the Village Gate Nina Simone at Carnegie Hall Folksy Nina Nina Simone in Concert Black Gold Backlash Live & Kickin Let It Be Me Live at Ronnie Scott's A Very Rare Evening The Great Show Live In Paris Live and studio Nina Simone at Town Hall Let It All Out 'Nuff Said! Emergency Ward It Is Finished Remix albums Remixed and Reimagined Forever Young, Gifted & Black: Songs of Freedom and Spirit Songs and singles "Ain't Got No, I Got Life" "Alone Again (Naturally)" "Angel of the Morning" "Ballad of Hollis Brown" "Baubles, Bangles, & Beads" "Black Is the Colour (Of My True Love's Hair)" "Brown Eyed Handsome Man" "Cherish" "Cotton-Eyed Joe" "Do Nothing till You Hear from Me" "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" "Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye" "Exactly Like You" "Falling in Love Again (Can't Help It)" "Feeling Good" "Fine and Mellow" "For All We Know" "Four Women" "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands" "Here Comes the Sun" "The House of the Rising Sun" "I Get Along Without You Very Well (Except Sometimes)" "I Loves You, Porgy" "I Put a Spell on You" "I Shall Be Released" "I Think It's Going to Rain Today" "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free" "If I Should Lose You" "It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)" "It Might as Well Be Spring" "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" "Just Like a Woman" "Lilac Wine" "Little Girl Blue" "The Look of Love" "Love Me or Leave Me" "Mississippi Goddam" "Mood Indigo" "The More I See You" "Mr. Bojangles" "My Baby Just Cares for Me" "My Sweet Lord" "My Way" "Ne me quitte pas" "Nobody" "Nobody's Fault but Mine" "Papa, Can You Hear Me?" "The Pusher" "Rich Girl" "(In My) Solitude" "Satin Doll" "Sea Lion Woman" "Sign o' the Times" "Since I Fell for You" "Sinner Man" "Someone to Watch Over Me" "Something Wonderful" "Spring Is Here" "Strange Fruit" "Summertime" "Suzanne" "Take My Hand, Precious Lord" "That's All" "That's All I Want from You" "The Times They Are a-Changin'" "To Be Young, Gifted and Black" "To Love Somebody" "Trouble in Mind" "Turn! Turn! Turn!" "Who Knows Where the Time Goes?" "Wild is the Wind" "Willow Weep for Me" "You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To" Book:Nina Simone

Catherine
Duchess of Cambridge (more)
Catherine at Canada Day celebrations in Ottawa, 2011
Spouse	Prince William, Duke of Cambridge (m. 2011)
Full name
Catherine Elizabeth[fn 1]
House	House of Windsor
Father	Michael Middleton
Mother	Carole Middleton (née Goldsmith)
Born	(1982-01-09) 9 January 1982 (age 30) Reading, Berkshire, England
Religion	Anglican (Church of England)

Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge (Catherine Elizabeth "Kate"; née Middleton; born 9 January 1982)^[1] is the wife of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, and member of the British Royal Family. The Duke of Cambridge is second in line to the thrones of the 16 Commonwealth realms and, should he eventually become King, she would automatically become his queen consort.^[2]

Catherine grew up in Chapel Row at Bucklebury, a village near Newbury, Berkshire, England.^[3] She studied in Scotland at the University of St Andrews, where she met the then Prince William of Wales in 2001. Their engagement was announced on 16 November 2010, and Middleton attended many high-profile royal events before they married on 29 April 2011 at Westminster Abbey. Catherine has created a major impact upon British fashion which has been termed as the "Kate effect", and in 2012, she was selected as one of The 100 Most Influential People in the World by Time Magazine.^[4][5]

Biography[link]

The Royal Family of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms
HM The Queen HRH The Duke of Edinburgh HRH The Prince of Wales HRH The Duchess of Cornwall HRH The Duke of Cambridge HRH The Duchess of Cambridge HRH Prince Harry of Wales HRH The Duke of York HRH Princess Beatrice of York HRH Princess Eugenie of York HRH The Earl of Wessex HRH The Countess of Wessex Viscount Severn Lady Louise Windsor HRH The Princess Royal HRH The Duke of Gloucester HRH The Duchess of Gloucester HRH The Duke of Kent HRH The Duchess of Kent HRH Prince Michael of Kent HRH Princess Michael of Kent HRH Princess Alexandra Sarah, Duchess of York
v t e

Early life and family[link]

Middleton was born at Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading on 9 January 1982 and christened at St Andrew's Bradfield, Berkshire on 20 June 1982.^[6][7]:32 She is the eldest of three children born to Carole (née Goldsmith), a former flight attendant and now part-owner of Party Pieces, a private company with an estimated worth of £30 million,^[8] and Michael Middleton, who also worked as a flight attendant prior to becoming a flight dispatcher for British Airways, currently also an owner of Party Pieces. Her parents married on 21 June 1980, at the Parish Church of Dorney, Buckinghamshire,^[9] and in 1987, founded Party Pieces, a mail order company that sells party supplies and decorations.^[10][11] Middleton has a younger sister, Pippa^{[12][better source needed]} and a younger brother, James Middleton.^[12][13] The family has complained about press harassment of Pippa and Carole since Middleton's engagement.^[14]

Middleton's paternal ancestors were from Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire. Her paternal great-grandmother Olivia was a member of the Lupton family, who were active for generations in Leeds in commercial and municipal work.^[15] Her ancestors include the Revd Thomas Davis, a Church of England hymn-writer.^[16]

Carole Middleton's maternal family, the Harrisons, were working class labourers and miners from Sunderland and County Durham.^[17]

Middleton's parents worked for British Airways in Amman, Jordan from May 1984 to September 1986. In Jordan, Middleton went to an English language nursery school^[18] before returning to their home in Berkshire.^[19] After her return from Amman, Middleton was enrolled at St Andrew's School near the village of Pangbourne in Berkshire, then briefly at Downe House.^[20] She attended Marlborough College, a co-educational independent boarding school in Wiltshire,^[21] and graduated from the University of St. Andrews in Fife, Scotland with an undergraduate MA (2:1 Hons) in the History of Art. While a student at St. Andrews, she met Prince William.^[22]

Career[link]

In November 2006, Middleton accepted a position as an accessory buyer with the clothing chain Jigsaw.^[23] She also worked part-time until January 2011 as a catalogue photographer, webpage designer and marketing officer for her parents' firm "Party Pieces". Despite this, at one point she was given the nickname 'Waity Katie' by the media for her apparent lack of work ethic and seeming desire not to do anything except to wait for a wedding proposal. ^[24]

In 2008, it was reported that she had quit her job at Jigsaw to become a professional photographer, intending to take private classes with photographer Mario Testino, who had taken several well-known photographs of Diana, Princess of Wales and her sons.^[25] Testino later denied that Middleton was going to be working for him.^[26]

Public image and style[link]

Catherine is admired for her fashion sense and has been placed on numerous "best dressed" lists.^[27][28] She was selected by The Daily Telegraph as the "Most Promising Newcomer" in its 2006 list of style winners and losers.^[29] Tatler placed her at number 8 on its yearly listing of the top ten style icons in 2007.^[30] She was featured in People magazine's 2007 and 2010 best-dressed lists.^[31] Middleton was named as one of Richard Blackwell's ten "Fabulous Fashion Independents" of 2007.^[32] In June 2008, Style.com selected Middleton as its monthly beauty icon.^[33] In July 2008, Middleton was included in Vanity Fair's international best-dressed list.^[34] In February 2011, she was named the Top Fashion Buzzword of the 2011 season by the Global Language Monitor.^[35]

The Duchess is known for mixing couture pieces, often by British designers, with 'High Street' retail fashion. Designers worn by the Duchess include Sarah Burton at Alexander McQueen, Issa, Jenny Packham, Beulah London, Alice Temperley, Erdem and Catherine Walker; high street labels worn by the Duchess include Reiss, Zara and L.K.Bennett. In January 2012, she was voted 'Headwear Person of the Year'.^[36]

Relationship with Prince William[link]

Middleton's status as the undeclared girlfriend of Prince William brought her widespread media coverage in Britain and abroad and she was often photographed on her daily outings. On 17 October 2005, she complained through her lawyer about harassment from the media, stating that she had done nothing significant to warrant such publicity.^[37] In February 2006, it was announced that Middleton would receive her own 24-hour security detail supplied by the Royalty Protection branch (SO14). This fuelled further speculation that she and Prince William would soon be engaged, since she would not otherwise be entitled to this service.

Middleton with Prince Harry, June 2008

No engagement was forthcoming and Middleton was not granted an allowance to fund this security. Media attention increased around the time of her 25th birthday in January 2007, prompting warnings from both The Prince of Wales and Prince William and from Middleton's lawyers, who threatened legal action. Two newspaper groups, News International, which publishes The Times and The Sun, and the Guardian Media Group, publishers of The Guardian, decided to refrain from publishing paparazzi photographs of her.^[38] Middleton attended at least one event as an official royal guest, Prince William's Passing Out Parade at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst on 15 December 2006.^[39]

On 17 May 2008, Middleton attended the wedding of Prince William's cousin Peter Phillips to Autumn Kelly, which the prince did not attend.^[40] On 19 July 2008, she was a guest at the wedding of Lady Rose Windsor and George Gilman. Prince William was away on military operations in the Caribbean, serving aboard the HMS Iron Duke.^[41] In 2010, Middleton pursued an invasion of privacy claim against two agencies and photographer Niraj Tanna, who took pictures of her over Christmas 2009.^[42] She obtained a public apology, £5,000 in damages, and legal costs.^[43]

Breakup and reconciliation[link]

On 14 April 2007, The Sun newspaper broke a "world exclusive" suggesting that Prince William and Middleton had split up.^[44] Other media outlets, such as the BBC, confirmed the story as the day progressed. The couple decided to break up during a holiday in the Swiss resort of Zermatt.^[45][46] Clarence House made only one comment about the relationship's end, according to The Times, stating, "We don't comment on Prince William's private life".^[47] Newspapers speculated about the reasons for the split, although these reports relied on anonymous sources.

The original report in The Sun quoted a "close friend of the couple" as saying that Middleton felt Prince William had not been paying her enough attention. The paper highlighted reports that Prince William had been spending time with other young women and said the Prince, aged 24 at the time of the split, felt he was too young to marry.^[48] A report in the Daily Mail blamed a desire by royal courtiers not to "hurry along" a marriage announcement, and Prince William's desire to enjoy his bachelor status within his Army career. The Mail also suggested that a friend of Prince William encouraged the Prince to take a "careless approach" to relationships. The same article suggested that Middleton had "expected too much" in wanting Prince William to demonstrate his commitment to her.^[49]

In June 2007, Middleton and Prince William insisted they were "just good friends" following reports of a reconciliation.^[50] Middleton and her family attended the Concert for Diana at Wembley Stadium, where she and Prince William sat two rows apart.^[51] The couple were subsequently seen together in public on a number of occasions and several news sources, including the BBC and the Daily Mail, stated that they had "rekindled their relationship".^[52] She also joined Prince William and The Prince of Wales on a deerstalking expedition at Balmoral^[53] and attended the wedding of Prince William's cousin, Peter Phillips, even though Prince William, due to a prior commitment, did not. In April 2008, Middleton accompanied Prince William when he was awarded his RAF wings at the Royal Air Force College Cranwell.^[54] On 16 June 2008, she attended Prince William's investiture into the Order of the Garter, along with the Royal Family.

Engagement and wedding[link]

The newly married Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, on the balcony of Buckingham Palace

Prince William and Catherine Middleton became engaged in October 2010 in Kenya, East Africa, during a 10-day trip to the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy to celebrate Prince William passing his RAF helicopter search and rescue course.^[55][56] Clarence House announced the engagement on 16 November 2010.^[55][57] The couple married in Westminster Abbey on 29 April 2011,^[58] (St. Catherine's Day) with the day declared a bank holiday in the United Kingdom. Estimates of the global audience for the wedding ranged around 300 million or more, whilst 26 million watched the event live in the United Kingdom.^[59][60]

In October, several months after the wedding, Commonwealth leaders pledged that they would implement changes in British royal succession law to allow daughters of future monarchs to have equal rights to the throne.^[61]

Royal duties[link]

Public appearances[link]

The Duke and Duchess meet with U.S. President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama at Buckingham Palace a few weeks after the wedding.

Middleton was formally introduced to public life on 24 February 2011, two months before the wedding, when she and Prince William attended a lifeboat naming ceremony in Trearddur, Anglesey, in North Wales.^[62] A day later they appeared in St Andrews and launched the university's 600th anniversary celebrations. On 16 February 2011, Clarence House announced that the Duke and Duchess's first royal tour of Canada would take place in July 2011.^[63]

In May 2011, shortly after the wedding, and while The Prince of Wales was in official visit to the United States, Clarence House announced that the Duke and Duchess would visit California after their Canadian tour. It was the Duchess of Cambridge's first visit to the United States.^[64]

In June 2011, the Duke and Duchess presented medals to members of the Irish Guards.^[65]

The Duchess visited the Canadian Museum of Civilization to attend a citizenship ceremony, on 1 July 2011 in Gatineau, Canada. The newly married Royal Couple were on the second day of their first joint overseas tour. They were joined by thousands of Canadians taking part in the Canada Day celebrations, which mark Canada’s 144th Birthday.^[66]

On 2 November, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visited the UNICEF Supply Division Centre for supplying food to malnourished African children in Copenhagen, Denmark.^[67][68]

On St Patrick's day, 17 March 2012, the Duchess carried out the traditional awarding of shamrocks to the Irish Guards at their base in Aldershot; this was her first solo military engagement.

The couple is due to visit Malaysia, Singapore, Tuvalu and the Solomon Islands as a part of the Royal Jubilee celebrations in 2012.

Patronages[link]

In March 2011, William and Catherine have set up a gift fund held by The Foundation of Prince William and Prince Harry to allow well-wishers who want to give them a wedding gift to donate money to charities they care about instead.^[69] The gift fund supported 26 charities of the couple’s choice, incorporating the armed forces, children, the elderly, art, sport and conservation. These causes are close to their hearts and reflect the experiences, passions and values of their lives so far.^{[70][71][72][73][74]}

In January 2012, the Duchess announced the first charities which she will support.^[75][76]

These are:

• The Art Room^[77][78]
• The National Portrait Gallery, London
• East Anglia's Children's Hospice (EACH)^[79]
• Action on Addiction

She will also be a local volunteer leader with the Scout Association in Anglesey, north Wales, her marital home.^[80]

Titles, styles, honours and arms[link]

Titles and styles[link]

• 9 January 1982 – 29 April 2011: Miss Catherine Elizabeth Middleton
• 29 April 2011 – present: Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cambridge^[81]

Catherine's full title and style is Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cambridge,^[81] Countess of Strathearn, Baroness Carrickfergus.^[82][83]

Unlike the majority of royal brides, and in contrast to most previous consorts-in-waiting for over 350 years, Catherine does not come from a royal or aristocratic background.^[84][85] On the morning of their wedding day on 29 April 2011, at 8:00 am, officials at Buckingham Palace announced that in accordance with royal tradition and on recognition of the day by the Queen, Prince William was created Duke of Cambridge, Earl of Strathearn and Baron Carrickfergus.^[83][86]

Honours[link]

Royal Monogram

See also List of honours of the British Royal Family by country

Honorary military appointments[link]

Canada

• 5 July 2011 – present: Canadian Ranger^[87]

Honorific eponyms[link]

Awards

•  Ontario: Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge Award, University of Waterloo, Waterloo^[88][89]

Arms[link]

Arms of Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge Notes The Duchess bears the arms of her husband, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, impaled with her own arms. Catherine's coat of arms is based on those of her father Michael Middleton, which was granted to him by the College of Arms on 19 April 2011. Thomas Woodcock, Garter King of Arms, the senior officer of the College of Arms, helped the family with the design.[90] Adopted 19 April 2011 Coronet Coronet of a child of the Heir Apparent Escutcheon Quarterly 1st and 4th Gules three lions passant guardant in pale Or armed and langed Azure (England), 2nd Or a lion rampant Gules armed and langued Azure within a double tressure flory counterflory of the second (Scotland), 3rd Azure a harp Or stringed Argent (Ireland), the whole differenced with a label of three points Argent with the central point charged with an escallop Gules (Prince William); Impaled with a shield per pale Azure and Gules, a chevron Or, cotised Argent, between three acorns slipped and leaved Or (Middleton).[90] Symbolism The dividing line (between two colours) down the centre is a canting of the name 'Middle-ton'. The acorns (from the oak tree) are a traditional symbol of England and a feature of west Berkshire, where the family have lived for 30 years. The three acorns also denote the family's three children. The gold chevron in the centre of the arms is an allusion to Carole Middleton's maiden name of Goldsmith. The two white chevronels (narrow chevrons above and below the gold chevron) symbolise peaks and mountains, and the family's love of the Lake District and skiing.[90] Previous versions Her previous coat of arms depicted a lozenge shaped shield of arms which hangs from a blue ribbon, this symbolised her unmarried state. This version of the arms is now used only by her sister Pippa as it denotes an unmarried daughter of their father Michael Middleton.[90]

Ancestry[link]

In a study of the ancestry of Catherine, William Addams Reitwiesner uncovered that she shares ancestors with her husband Prince William; the closest relationship is via Prince William's mother and Catherine's father through a common descent from Sir Thomas Fairfax and his wife Agnes (or Anne) Gascoigne^{[better source needed]}, daughter of Sir William Gascoigne and his wife, née Lady Margaret Percy.^[91] This makes the couple fifteenth cousins.^[92] Sir Thomas Fairfax and Agnes Gascoigne are through Catherine's great-grandmother Olive Lupton, daughter of a Leeds cloth merchant Francis Lupton and his wife Harriet (née Davis) – Fairfax being an ancestor of Lupton. In turn Lady Margaret Percy^{[better source needed]} is descended from Edward III.