Emmy the Great
Emmy the Great performing at the Purcell Room in 2011
Background information
Birth name	Emma-Lee Moss
Born	1984 (age 27–28)
Origin	London, England
Genres	Anti-folk,[1] Indie folk
Occupations	Singer-songwriter
Years active	2005–present
Labels	Fear And Records, Close Harbour
Associated acts	Younghusband, So Say So, Pengilly's, Three Trapped Tigers, Noah and the Whale, Jeremy Warmsley, Johnny Flynn, Brighton Port Authority, Lightspeed Champion, Ash
Website	Official website Myspace
Members
Emma-Lee Moss Euan Hinshelwood Glenn Kerrigan Tom Rogerson Ric Hollingbery Pete Baker

Emma-Lee Moss (born c. 1984^[2]), known by her stage name Emmy the Great, is a London-based singer-songwriter. She has released two albums, First Love and Virtue.

Early life and education[link]

Moss was born in Hong Kong to an English father and a Chinese mother. Interested in music from a young age, she used to go by train to her nearest Tower Records shop so that she could buy the only non-Chinese music they had and, as a result, she developed a liking for bands such as Weezer, The Smashing Pumpkins, and The Lemonheads.^[3]

While in Hong Kong, she attended primary school in Kowloon.

She emigrated with her family to London at the age of 12.^[4] She attended the Michael Hall Rudolf Steiner School in West Sussex.^{[citation needed]}

Moss is dating Tim Wheeler^[5] of the band Ash, as revealed on 6 Music's coverage of Glastonbury Festival 2011, where they did an interview, followed by a cover of a Pixies track together.

Musical career[link]

She has performed with indie folk groups Lightspeed Champion and Noah and the Whale, but is primarily known for her solo work.^[6] She first emerged under the name Emmy the Great in 2004, when she released a series of free demos over the internet. She says the moniker came about when "[she] wanted to be a backing singer and [...] wanted to have something to hand to people... ‘Emmy’ is a name they called me at university, which I hated, and ‘the Great’ I added on because I hated ‘Emmy’ so much."^[7] She formed a backing band which currently includes Euan Hinshelwood of Younghusband, Glenn Kerrigan of So Say So, Tom Rogerson of Three Trapped Tigers and Ric Hollingbery of Pengilly's, and has previously included members of Noah and the Whale and Johnny Flynn.

Her debut single, Secret Circus, was released in April 2006.

She began writing her debut album, First Love, in "dilapidated studios" owned by The Earlies in rural Lancashire^[8] and was released in February 2009. It spawned the singles We Almost Had A Baby and First Love. The album was received with generally positive reviews, while The New York Times compiled their list of "Best Albums of the Year 2009" and ranked First Love at #7.^[9]

Her second album, Virtue, was released on June 13, 2011. The album's lead single "Iris" was released as a digital download on April 29, 2011. Speaking of the album's recording process, Moss said that, "It’s been a very strange few months, and I can’t wait to make a record of them".^[10]

Both albums are released on Emmy's own label Close Harbour Records.

Collaborations[link]

She has collaborated with several other artists, most notably Lightspeed Champion and Fatboy Slim (as part of the Brighton Port Authority project).

She has also worked with alternative rock band Ash (for whom she has shown great admiration^[11]) on an acoustic studio re-recording of the single "D" - "Tracers" and also performed with them on their A-Z tour. Moss recorded a cover of Ash's song "Burn Baby Burn" which was the B-side to her single "First Love".^[12] She provided guest vocals on "Calling Out Your Name Again", the second single from Darren Hayman's Essex Arms album.^[13]

She is a mentor for The Joe Strummer Foundation for New Music (Strummerville)^[14]

In April 2011, Moss collaborated with writers Jack Underwood, Nikesh Shukla, Joe Dunthorne and Miriam Elia for the London Word Festival, along with musician Elizabeth Sankey of Summer Camp.^[15]

In May 2011, Moss and Tim Wheeler covered a song called "Washington Parks" raising money and awareness for multiple sclerosis and the MS Society. Moss said, "I have just recorded a song with Wheeler for the MS Society. The song is called Washington Parks and it was written by Robert Manning. Robert is the word 'awesome'. He writes a really beautiful^[16] about his family life and the pain of MS treatment, and also came up with the idea to get people to record his song for charity. So far Ed Harcourt, Marissa Nadler, and loads more have signed up. Tim has a special Ash collaboration version lined up as well."

In November 2011 Emmy and Tim Wheeler released a Christmas album, entitled This is Christmas (Infectious, 2011)^[17].

Writing[link]

Emmy has written for music magazines The Stool Pigeon, Artrocker and Drowned in Sound, and for the QI Annual. She also has a fortnightly column in the Hong Kong newspaper Ming Pao, and contributed writing to the BBC Radio 4 show The Museum of Curiosity. She claimed in an interview that she has no plans to be a music journalist. An article of hers, based on her time in Omaha with Lightspeed Champion, is featured in the Stool Pigeon compilation book Grace Under Pressure.^[18] She stated that if she had not been a musician, "I’d be a writer of some sort, in different formats."^[7] Her writing styles have been praised as being poetic.^[19]

She is childhood friends with feminist and columnist Jazz Mellor, who is referenced in several Emmy the Great songs.

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

• First Love (Close Harbour/ Absolute, 2009)
• Virtue (2011)^[20]
• This is Christmas (Infectious, 2011) with Tim Wheeler^[17]

Live albums[link]

• Acoustic Bonus CD - Live at 12 Bar, London (Rough Trade Shops, 2009)

EPs[link]

• Take Me I'm Free (2006) self released
• My Bad (Moshi Moshi, 2007)
• Chris Moss EP (Internet release, 2007)
• Edward (Close Harbour/ Absolute, 2009)

Singles[link]

• "Secret Circus" (Drowned in Sound, 2006)
• "The Hypnotist's Son" 7" (Drowned in Sound, 2007)
• "Gabriel" 7" (Moshi Moshi, 2007)
• "We Almost Had A Baby" (Close Harbour, 2008)
• "First Love" (Close Harbour, 2009)
• "A Woman, A Woman, A Century of Sleep" free download (2011)
• "Iris" (2011)

Music videos[link]

• "The Easter Parade" (2007)
• "We Almost Had a Baby" (2008)
• "First Love" (2009)
• "MIA" (2009)
• "Iris" (2011)
• "Paper Forest" (2011)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official Website
• Emmy the Great on Facebook
• Emmy the Great on Twitter
• Emmy the Great on Myspace
• Emmy the Great at Discogs (list of releases)
• Exclusive Interview with Virgin Red Room

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There are many people in history who are commonly appended with the phrase "the Great", or who were called that or an equivalent phrase in their own language. Other languages have their own suffixes such as e Bozorg and e azam in Persian and Urdu respectively.

In Persia, the title "the Great" at first seems to be a colloquial version of the Old Persian title "Great King". This title was first used by the conqueror Cyrus II of Persia.^[1]

The Persian title was inherited by Alexander III of Macedon (336–323 BC) when he conquered the Persian Empire, and the epithet "Great" eventually became personally associated with him. The first reference (in a comedy by Plautus)^[2] assumes that everyone knew who "Alexander the Great" was; however, there is no earlier evidence that Alexander III of Macedon was called "the Great".

The early Seleucid kings, who succeeded Alexander in Persia, used "Great King" in local documents, but the title was most notably used for Antiochus the Great (223–187 BC).

Later rulers and commanders began to use the epithet "the Great" as a personal name, like the Roman general Pompey. Others received the surname retrospectively, like the Carthaginian Hanno and the Indian emperor Ashoka the Great. Once the surname gained currency, it was also used as an honorific surname for people without political careers, like the philosopher Albert the Great.

As there are no objective criteria for "greatness", the persistence of later generations in using the designation greatly varies. For example, Louis XIV of France was often referred to as "The Great" in his lifetime but is rarely called such nowadays, while Frederick II of Prussia is still called "The Great". A later Hohenzollern - Wilhelm I - was often called "The Great" in the time of his grandson Wilhelm II, but rarely later.

Rulers[link]

• Abbas I of Persia (1571–1629), Shah of Iran
• Akbar (1542–1605), ruler of the Mughal Empire of South Asia, mainly India
• Alain I of Albret (1440–1522), French aristocrat
• Alexander the Great (356-323 BC), King of Macedonia, Persia, Greece, Egypt, and all of Mesopotamia
• Alexander I of Georgia (1386–1446), King of Georgia
• Alfonso III of León (c. 848-910), King of León, Galicia and Asturias
• Alfred the Great (848/849-899), King of Wessex
• Antiochus III the Great (c. 241–187 BC), ruler of the Seleucid Empire
• Ashoka the Great (c. 304–232 BC), Indian emperor of the Maurya dynasty
• Ashot I of Iberia “the Great”(died 826/830), presiding prince of Iberia (modern Georgia),
• Askia Mohammad I (c. 1442–1538), ruler of the Songhai Empire
• Bhumibol Adulyadej (born 1927), King of Thailand
• Bolesław I Chrobry (967-1025), sometimes called "the Great", first King of Poland
• Bruno the Great (925–965), Archbishop of Cologne and Duke of Lotharingia (also listed in the following section)
• Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke (1736–1809), founder and ruler of the Rattanakosin Kingdom (in what is now Thailand)
• Cnut the Great (c. 985 or 995-1035), King of Denmark, England, Norway and parts of Sweden
• Casimir III the Great (1310–1370), King of Poland
• Catherine the Great (1729–1796), Empress of Russia
• Chandragupta II (reigned 375-413/415), also known as Vikramaditya, ruler of the Gupta empire in India
• Charlemagne (died 814), King of the Franks and Emperor of the Romans
• Chulalongkorn (1853–1910), King of Siam (now Thailand)
• Chlothar II (584-629), King of Neustria and King of the Franks
• Conrad, Margrave of Meissen (c. 1097-1157), Margrave of Meissen
• Constantine I (c. 272-337), Roman emperor
• Cyaxares the Great (c. 625-585 BC), third king of Media
• Cyrus the Great (c. 600 BC or 576 BC–530 BC), founder and ruler of the Persian or Achaemenid Empire
• Darius the Great (550 – 486 BC), third ruler of the Persian Empire
• Devapala (died 850), ruler of the Pala Empire in the Indian subcontinent
• Dionysius I, Greek tyrant of Syracuse^[3]
• Ferdinand I of León and Castile (c. 1015–1065), King of León and Count of Castile
• Frederick the Great (1712–1786), King of Prussia
• Genghis Khan (1162?-1227), founder and Great Khan of the Mongol Empire
• Gero (c. 900–965), ruler of Marca Geronis, a very large march in Europe
• Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden (1594–1632), King of Sweden, founder of the Swedish Empire, and noted military leader
• Gwanggaeto the Great, King of Goguryeo, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea^[4][5]
• Hanno the Great, the name of three leaders of Carthage, in the 4th, 3rd, and 2nd centuries BC
• Henry I, Duke of Burgundy (946–1002)
• Henry IV of France (1553–1610), King of France and King of Navarre
• Herod the Great (73/74 BC-4 BC), King of Judea
• Hugh the Great (898-956), Duke of the Franks and Count of Paris
• Hugh Magnus of France (1007–1025), co-King of France
• Hugh I, Count of Vermandois (1057–1101)
• Humphrey I de Bohun (died c. 1123), Anglo-Norman aristocrat
• Ivan III of Russia (1440–1505), Tsar of Russia
• John I of Portugal (1358–1433), King of Portugal and the Algarve
• John II of Aragon (1398–1479), King of Aragon and, through his wife, King of Navarre
• Justinian I (483-565), Byzantine Emperor
• Kamehameha I (c. 1758-1819), first King of Hawai'i
• Kanishka (died c. 127), ruler of the Kushan Empire in Central Asia and parts of India
• Kvirike III of Kakheti (1010–1029), King of Kakheti in eastern Georgia
• Kublai Khan (1215–1294), Mongol ruler in the 13th century and Emperor of China; founder of the Yuan Dynasty
• Llywelyn the Great (c. 1172–1240), Prince of Gwynedd and de facto ruler of most of Wales
• Louis I of Hungary (1326–1382), King of Hungary, Croatia and Poland
• Mangrai the Great (1238–1317), Lanna, northern Thailand
• Emperor Meiji (1852–1912), Emperor of Japan
• Mircea I of Wallachia (1355–1418)
• Mithridates II of Parthia (died 88 BC), ruler of the Parthian Empire (in present day Iran)
• Mithridates VI of Pontus (134 BC–63 BC), ruler of Pontus and the Bosporan Kingdom
• Mstislav I of Kiev (1076–1132), Grand Prince of Kievan Rus
• Naresuan (1555–1605), King of Ayutthaya
• Narai (1633–1688), King of Ayutthaya (in what is now modern Thailand)
• Odo the Great (died c. 735), Duke of Aquitaine
• Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor (912-973)
• K'inich Janaab' Pakal (603-683), ruler of the Mayan city-state of Palenque
• Parakramabahu I of Polonnaruwa (1123–1186), King of Sri Lanka
• Peter Krešimir IV of Croatia (died 1075), King of Croatia
• Peter the Great (1672–1725), Tsar of Russia
• Peter III of Aragon (1239–1285), King of Aragon and King of Sicily
• Pompey (106 BC-48 BC), military and political leader of the late Roman Republic, rival of Julius Caesar
• Radama I (1793–1828), first king of greater Madagascar
• Raja Raja Chola I (c. 947-1014), Indian emperor of the Cholas.^[6][7][8]
• Rajendra Chola I (reigned 1014–1044), Tamil King of India
• Ramesses II (reigned 1279 BC – 1213 BC), considered the greatest pharaoh of Ancient Egypt
• Ram Khamhaeng (around 1237 to 1247-1298), King of Sukhothai (in present day Thailand)
• Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona (1082–1131), also Count of Provence and various other counties
• Rhodri the Great (c. 820–878), King of Gwynedd (in present day Wales)
• Roman the Great (after 1160-1205), Grand Prince of Kiev
• Saladin (c. 1138-1193), Kurdish Sultan of Egypt and Syria, founder of the Ayyubid dynasty, and victor over the Crusaders
• Samudragupta (c. 335–375), ruler of the Gupta empire in the Indian subcontinent
• Sancho III of Navarre (c. 992-1035), King of Kingdom of Navarre
• Sargon of Akkad (died c. 2215 BC), ruler of the Akkadian Empire
• Sejong the Great (1397–1450), Korean king^[9]
• Shapur II (309-379), king of the Sassanid Empire, Persia
• Simeon I of Bulgaria (864/865-927), ruler of the First Bulgarian Empire
• Stephen III of Moldavia (1433–1504), Prince of Moldavia (Romania)
• Stephen Uroš IV Dušan of Serbia (c. 1308-1355), King of Serbia and Emperor of the Serbs and Greeks
• Taksin (1734–1782), King of the Thonburi Kingdom (Thailand)
• Tamar (1160-1123), Queen of the Georgian Empire
• Timur (1336–1405), better known as Tamerlane, founder of the Timurid Dynasty
• Theobald II, Count of Champagne (1090–1151), Count of Blois and of Chartres as Theobald IV, Count of Champagne and of Brie
• Theodoric the Great (454-526), King of the Ostrogoths, regent of the Visigoths and a viceroy of the Byzantine Empire
• Theodosius I (347-395), Roman emperor
• Tigranes the Great (140-55 BC), Emperor of Armenia
• Tiridates III of Armenia (285-339), King of Armenia
• Umar (c. 586 to 590–644), second caliph of the Muslim Empire
• Valdemar I of Denmark (1131–1182), King of Denmark
• Valentinian I (364-375), Roman Emperor
• Vladimir I of Kiev (c. 958-1015), ruler of Kievan Rus
• Vytautas (c. 1350-1430), archduke of the Lithuanian Grand Duchy
• William I, Count of Burgundy (1020–1087), Count of Burgandy and Mâcon
• William V, Duke of Aquitaine (969-1030), also Count of Poitou
• Xerxes I (519-465 BC), King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire (Persia)
• Yu the Great (c. 2200-2100 BC), legendary ruler in ancient China

Religious figures[link]

• Abraham the Great of Kashkar (ca. 492-586), monk and saint of the Assyrian Church of the East
• Abraham Kidunaia (died c. 366, hermit, priest, and Christian saint of Mesopotamia
• Albertus Magnus (1193/1206–1280), medieval German philosopher and theologian
• Anthony the Great (c. 251–356), early Christian saint of Egypt
• Babai the Great (c. 551–628), Assyrian church leader
• Basil of Caesarea (330-379), Greek bishop and theologian
• Bruno the Great (925–965), Archbishop of Cologne and Duke of Lotharingia (also listed in the previous section)
• Euthymius the Great (377-473), abbot and Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox saint
• Gertrude the Great (1256-c. 1302), German Benedictine, mystic, theologian and Roman Catholic saint
• Pope Gregory I (c. 540-604)
• Hiyya the Great, 3rd-century rabbi, Palestine
• Pope John Paul II (1920–2005)
• Pope Leo I (c. 391 or 400-461)
• Macarius of Egypt (c. 300-391), Egyptian hermit
• Pope Nicholas I (c. 800-867)
• Photius I of Constantinople (c. 810–c. 893), Eastern Orthodox saint and Patriarch of Constantinople
• William of Maleval (died 1157), founder of the Catholic congregation of Williamites

Other[link]

• Beli Mawr, a figure in medieval Welsh literature and genealogies
• Emmy the Great, folk singer
• Matteo Rosso the Great, Roman politician and father of Pope Nicholas III
• Prokop the Great, Hussite general in Bohemia

See also[link]

• Epithet
• List of monarchs by nickname
• List of nicknames of European Royalty and Nobility: G-I
• James, son of Zebedee, also known as James the Greater, one of the twelve apostles of Jesus
• Ajax (mythology), called Ajax the Greater
• Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, whose common honorific "Mahatma" means "Great Soul"

Notes[link]