{{infobox radio station | image	| name KSJO| city San Jose, California| area San Jose/Oakland/San Francisco, California| airdate 1947| frequency 92.3 MHz| branding 92.3 KSJO| slogan | format Chinese| erp 32,000 watts | haat 136 meters | class B | facility_id 4117 | owner Universal Media Access| sister_stations KCNL, KLOK_(AM)| webcast Listen Live| website china923fm.com| }}

KSJO is a commercial radio station in San Jose, California, and broadcasts to the San Francisco Bay Area on 92.3 FM. KSJO currently airs a Chinese format branded as "92.3 KSJO".

History

KSJO is the second call sign assigned in San Jose, California, initially applied to both an AM station (KLIV) and an FM station. The FM station began in 1947 and became the only radio station in the United States with an all-female staff playing jazz music.

Prior to 1968, KSJO was owned by SRD Broadcasting, consisting of Scott Elrod of San Francisco; Don was Don Bekins of Bekins Van Lines and R was Richard "Dick" Garvin. As freeform rock was growing in popularity, with Tom Donahue's KMPX in nearby San Francisco becoming a national trendsetter, KSJO dropped jazz, starting in the evening only with Mark Williams and Jim Hilsabeck. After a few months Elrod and team brought in Bob Sobelman, a radio veteran, to GM the station and Larry Mitchell a top L.A. program director took over the helm. "The Light from Below" was one of the early slogans but did not live long ("below the San Francisco Bay"), the format was pure free-form progressive rock. The previous simple female-sex-symbol logo morphed into a red-white-and-blue logo and bumper sticker designed by Diane Roberts in Los Gatos, and the announcing staff was all-male for many years Brief stint program directors included Bill Slator and Dick Kimball but for 5 plus years Douglas (Droese) was the program director remaining so until the Sterling buy out in 1974. The station was later sold to Sterling Recreation Organization (SRO) of Seattle, Washington.

For much of its history, KSJO was locked in a bitter rivalry with KOME, which also flipped to rock in 1968. At one point, in the early 1970s, KSJO briefly flipped to a Top 40 format, before returning to rock. By the end of the decade, KOME had surpassed KSJO in the ratings.

The rock war heated up when stations in San Francisco started changing to the format. KSAN was the main San Francisco competitor throughout the 1970s, and more stations arrived. In the mid to late 1970s KSJO was known for its outrageous morning show. Advertising Director Perry White (Hartline) partnered with Michael "Mother Deal" to make morning news fun for the 'rocker' audience. At one point, in late 1982, four different stations in San Francisco alone were programming the format, in addition to KSJO and KOME.

However, in 1982 led by broadcast veteran, Jack Chunn, KSJO 92.3 FM started to dominate the Rock Radio scene in San Jose (and with respectable ratings to the north in San Francisco and to the south in Monterey/Santa Cruz). Program Director Larry 'Baby Lee Roy' Hansen assembled a strong group of air personalities including Trevor Ley and Jim Taylor (mornings), Ken Anthony (afternoons), Nicki Stevens (evenings) and Jim Seagull (overnights). Combined with strong marketing and a guerrilla street presence from promotions director Bob Jenkins and assistant Rodney Whitaker, KSJO dominated as 'The Bay Area's Home for Rock & Roll' for most of the 1980s.

KSJO is credited with airing the first-ever AIDS radiothon in 1987, raising $25,000 for a San Jose AIDS hospice. Considering their reputation as a macho rock station, this was a complete departure for a day, but audience response was upbeat and KSJO promoted a candid dialogue about HIV/AIDS with their 18-34 audience, the most sexually active group in the U.S. Program Director Ken Anthony and morning personality Paul 'Lobster' Wells organized the event with mid day host Zeb Norris, afternoon personality Laurie Roberts, promo director Bob Jenkins and assistants Martyn Wright and Mike Russell. Several rock stars donated their time and merchandise to help raise funds, including Neil Young, Ronnie Montrose, Mark Andes of Heart, Neal Schon of Journey, Paul Kantner of Jefferson Airplane and Jimmie Vaughan of the Fabulous Thunderbirds.

By 1994, KOME had flipped to modern rock and KSJO was the stand-alone AOR station in Santa Clara Valley. Also, many of the San Francisco rock stations had long changed to different formats as well. KSJO rode a wave of popularity during the decade due primarily to the appeal of morning personalities Lamont and Tonelli. By 1998, KSJO's signal was simulcast on three other separate stations (located near 92.3 on the dial) around the San Francisco Bay Area: 92.7 KXJO in Alameda/Oakland, 92.7 KMJO in Marina and 92.1 KFJO in Walnut Creek.

As the new millennium arrived, KSJO's fortunes started to slide. Lamont and Tonelli were signed away by KSAN-FM in late 2002, and KXJO was sold to a separate entity that same year, flipping to a CHR format. KSJO's ratings started to slide as the demographics of the Bay Area changed. An increasingly large local Hispanic population and the rise of Hip Hop helped to chip away at the heritage rock station. Radio veteran Dave Wohlman was named PD in 2004 and began the task of re-inventing the rock legend with a new staff, sound and direction.

KSJO's owner, Clear Channel Communications, had instituted an ambitious initiative to introduce more Spanish-language programming into various markets across the country. When the Walnut Creek simulcast station, KFJO, became KABL in 2004, many speculated that KSJO would soon drop rock for a Spanish-language format. The end came unannounced at 7PM on October 28, 2004, when KSJO, after 35 years as a rock station, played its last song, "Mexican Radio" by Wall of Voodoo, and immediately launched a new Mexican oldies format as "La Preciosa". Longtime listeners were angered at the sudden loss of the Bay Area's last remaining active rock station.

The "La Preciosa" identity is also used by a few other Clear Channel Spanish-language, Mexican music stations.

On August 4, 2008, Clear Channel placed the station's assets into an entity called the Aloha Station Trust in order to sell off the station. This was due to Clear Channel being above the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ownership limits. These limits were imposed when Clear Channel was officially taken private by Bain Capital Partners on July 30, 2008.

On September 18, 2009 KSJO picked up the "Channel 104.9" modern rock format from KCNL 104.9, branded as "Channel 92.3". The staff consisted of Joe Sib in the mornings, Jessie on middays, MegaTanner (formerly on KITS in San Francisco), and Teddy and Chris.

Unlike many Alternative stations, Channel 92.3 focused on new music and Alternative classics from the '70's and the '80's, with not as much emphasis on the '90's.

On November 10, 2010, RadioInsight announced that Principle Broadcasting, which owns brokered ethnic stations in various cities, made an agreement with Clear Channel's Aloha Station Trust to buy KSJO. Principle also owns KCNL and KLOK AM in San Jose. The sale was completed on February 28, 2011-- the staff of Channel 92.3 was let go, and the station ran without airstaff, playing music while promoting savealternative.com.

On March 16, 2011, former Channel 92.3 hosts Teddy and Madden were invited back to give the station and its alternative rock format a proper send-off. At 10 AM, KSJO launched a new Chinese-language format branded simply as 92.3 KSJO. Save Alternative is now streamed online at savealternative.com and on 104.9 HD-2. In addition, Save Alternative is broadcast on 104.9 KCNL every Saturday and Sunday night from 8 PM until midnight.

KSJO has recently been broadcasting dance music on its HD2 sub-channel since sometime in June.

Ratings history vs. KOME and KSAN

Arbitron average share, total age 12-plus, 06:00 - midnite, seven days: Apr/May 78 Jul/Aug 78 Oct/Nov 78 Jan/Feb 79 Apr/May 79

Santa Clara county only:

KSJO 2.6 --- 2.4 3.2 4.0 KOME 2.7 --- 2.8 4.4 5.2 KSAN 1.3 --- 0.7 0.7 0.7

San Francisco nine-county, including Santa Clara county:

KSJO 0.8 1.8 1.0 1.1 1.2 KOME 0.8 0.9 0.8 1.6 1.9 KSAN 1.9 2.1 1.8 1.9 1.8

It appears that KSJO's dominance in Santa Clara Valley rock began to fade against KOME in January/February 1979. Although KSJO came close to beating KSAN in July/August 1978 nine-county, KOME actually did so in April/May 1979.

Before he launched his acting career, Ron Hayes worked for KSJO in the middle 1950s.

External links

The KSJO Home Page

Late 1980s rock KSJO staff photo

06-12 Oct 2004 San Jose ''Metro'': "Mandatory Mariachi"

30 Oct 2004 Contra Costa ''Times'': Clear Channel shuts down rock at KSJO

07 Nov 2004 San Francisco ''Chronicle'': "KSJO's switch to Latin oldies..."

KSJO 92.3 - Good Product, Bad Marketing

References

# FM: it's now "fragmented radio"; Spokane Spokesman Review; Jan 15, 1984, accessed Jan 31, 2010 # Rick Shannon Bio Page; accessed Jan 31, 2010 # Jeff McNeal Broadcast Biography; accessed Jan 31, 2010 # accessed Jan 31, 2010 # accessed Jan 31, 2010 # Perrin's professional history; accessed Jan 31, 2010 # Mystery Solved: 2007 International Mystery Writers' Festival wraps with top award going to Kentucky author; accessed Jan 31, 2010 # Suggestion that station staff was not told # 92.3 KSJO San Jose Sold; radioinsight.com; Nov 10, 2010 # KUFX/KSJO San Jose Sales Close, Flip Pending at 92.3; radioinsight.com; Feb 28, 2011

SJO

name	Jackie Chan
tradchinesename
simpchinesename
pinyinchinesename	Chéng Lóng
jyutpingchinesename	Sing4 Lung4
birth name	Chan Kong-sang Chén Gǎngshēng Can4 Gong2 Sang1
ancestry	Linzi, Shandong, China
origin	Hong Kong
birth date	April 07, 1954
birth place	Victoria Peak, Hong Kong
fighting styles	Wing Chun, Hapkido, Drunken Fist, Tiger.
othername	(Fong Si-lung) (Yuen Lou) (Big Brother)
occupation	Actor, martial artist, director, producer, screenwriter, action choreographer, singer, stunt director, stunt performer
genre	Cantopop, Mandopop, Hong Kong English pop, J-pop
yearsactive	1962–present
spouse	Lin Feng-jiao (1982–present)
children	Jaycee Chan (born 1982)
parents	Charles and Lee-Lee Chan
influences	Bruce LeeBuster KeatonHarold LloydJim Carrey
hongkongfilmwards	Best Film1989 ''Rouge''Best Action Choreography1996 ''Rumble in the Bronx''1999 ''Who Am I?'' Professional Spirit Award2004
goldenhorseawards	Best Actor1992 ''Police Story 3''1993 ''Crime Story''
goldenroosterawards	Best Actor2005 ''New Police Story''
mtvasiaawards	Inspiration Award2002
awards	MTV Movie Awards2002 Best Fight (''Rush Hour 2'')1999 Best Fight (''Rush Hour'')1995 Lifetime Achievement AwardShanghai International Film Festival2005 Outstanding Contribution to Chinese Cinema }}

Jackie Chan, SBS, MBE (born Chan Kong-sang, }}; 7 April 1954) is a Hong Kong actor, action choreographer, comedian, director, producer, martial artist, screenwriter, entrepreneur, singer and stunt performer. In his movies, he is known for his acrobatic fighting style, comic timing, use of improvised weapons, and innovative stunts. Jackie Chan has been acting since the 1960s and has appeared in over 100 films.

Chan has received stars on the Hong Kong Avenue of Stars and the Hollywood Walk of Fame. As a cultural icon, Chan has been referenced in various pop songs, cartoons, and video games. An operatically trained vocalist, Chan is also a Cantopop and Mandopop star, having released a number of albums and sung many of the theme songs for the films in which he has starred.

Early life

Chan was born on 7 April 1954, in Hong Kong, China, as Chan Kong-sang, to Charles and Lee-Lee Chan, refugees from the Chinese Civil War. He was nicknamed ''Paopao'' (, literally meaning "Cannonball") because the high-energy child was always rolling around. Since his parents worked for the French Consul to Hong Kong, Chan spent his formative years within the grounds of the consul's residence in the Victoria Peak district.

Chan attended the Nah-Hwa Primary School on Hong Kong Island, where he failed his first year, after which his parents withdrew him from the school. In 1960, his father immigrated to Canberra, Australia, to work as the head cook for the American embassy, and Chan was sent to the China Drama Academy, a Peking Opera School run by Master Yu Jim-yuen. Chan trained rigorously for the next decade, excelling in martial arts and acrobatics. He eventually became part of the Seven Little Fortunes, a performance group made up of the school's best students, gaining the stage name Yuen Lo in homage to his master. Chan became close friends with fellow group members Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao, the three of them later to be known as the ''Three Brothers'' or ''Three Dragons''.

At the age of 8, he appeared with some of his fellow "Little Fortunes," in the film ''Big and Little Wong Tin Bar'' (1962), with Li Li Hua playing his mother. Chan appeared with Li again the following year, in ''The Love Eterne'' (1963) and had a small role in King Hu's 1966 film, ''Come Drink with Me''. In 1971, after an appearance as an extra in another Kong Fu film, ''A Touch of Zen'', Chan began his adult career in the film industry, initially signing to Chu Mu's Great Earth Film Company. At the age of 17, he worked as a stuntman in the Bruce Lee films ''Fist of Fury'' and ''Enter the Dragon'' under the stage name Chan Yuen Lung (). He received his first starring role later that year, in ''Little Tiger of Canton'', which had a limited release in Hong Kong in 1973. Due to the commercial failures in his early ventures into films and trouble finding stunt work, in 1975 Chan starred in a comedic adult film, ''All in the Family'', which features Jackie Chan's first and possibly only nude sex scene filmed to date. It is also the only film he has made to date that did not feature a single fight scene or stunt sequence.

Chan joined his parents in Canberra in 1976, where he briefly attended Dickson College and worked as a construction worker. A fellow builder named Jack took Chan under his wing, earning Chan the nickname of "Little Jack" which was later shortened to "Jackie" and the name Jackie Chan stuck with him ever since. In addition, in the late 90s, Chan changed his Chinese name to Fong Si-lung (), since his father's original surname was Fong.

Film career

Early exploits: 1976–1979

In 1976, Jackie Chan received a telegram from Willie Chan, a film producer in the Hong Kong film industry who had been impressed with Jackie's stuntwork. Willie Chan offered him an acting role in a film directed by Lo Wei. Lo had seen Chan's performance in the John Woo film ''Hand of Death'' (1976) and planned to model him after Bruce Lee with the film ''New Fist of Fury''. His stage name was changed to Sing Lung (, also transcribed as Cheng Long, literally "become the dragon") to emphasise his similarity to Bruce Lee, whose stage name was Lei Siu-lung (, meaning "Little Dragon"). The film was unsuccessful because Chan was not accustomed to Lee's martial arts style. Despite the film's failure, Lo Wei continued producing films with similar themes, resulting in little improvement at the box office.

Chan's first major breakthrough was the 1978 film ''Snake in the Eagle's Shadow'', shot while he was loaned to Seasonal Film Corporation under a two-picture deal. Under director Yuen Woo-ping, Chan was allowed complete freedom over his stunt work. The film established the comedic kung fu genre, and proved to be a breath of fresh air for the Hong Kong audience. Chan then starred in ''Drunken Master'', which finally propelled him to mainstream success.

Upon Chan's return to Lo Wei's studio, Lo tried to replicate the comedic approach of ''Drunken Master'', producing ''Half a Loaf of Kung Fu'' and ''Spiritual Kung Fu''. He also gave Chan the opportunity to co-direct ''The Fearless Hyena'' with Kenneth Tsang. When Willie Chan left the company, he advised Jackie to decide for himself whether or not to stay with Lo Wei. During the shooting of ''Fearless Hyena Part II'', Chan broke his contract and joined Golden Harvest, prompting Lo to blackmail Chan with triads, blaming Willie for his star's departure. The dispute was resolved with the help of fellow actor and director Jimmy Wang Yu, allowing Chan to stay with Golden Harvest.

Success of the action comedy genre: 1980–1987

Willie Chan had become Jackie's personal manager and firm friend, and has remained so for over 30 years. He was instrumental in launching Chan's international career, beginning with his first forays into the American film industry in the 1980s. His first Hollywood film was ''Battle Creek Brawl'' in 1980. Chan then played a minor role in the 1981 film ''The Cannonball Run,'' which grossed US$100 million worldwide. Despite being largely ignored by audiences in favour of established American actors like Burt Reynolds, Chan was impressed by the outtakes shown at the closing credits, inspiring him to include the same device in his future films.

After the commercial failure of ''The Protector'' in 1985, Chan temporarily abandoned his attempts to break into the US market, returning his focus to Hong Kong films.

Back in Hong Kong, Chan's films began to reach a larger audience in East Asia, with early successes in the lucrative Japanese market including ''The Young Master'' (1980) and ''Dragon Lord'' (1982). ''The Young Master'' went on to beat previous box office records set by Bruce Lee and established Chan as Hong Kong cinema's top star. With ''Dragon Lord'', he began experimenting with elaborate stunt action sequences, including a pyramid fight scene that holds the record for the most takes for a single scene with 2900 takes, and the final fight scene where he performs various stunts, including one where he does a back flip off a loft and falls to the lower ground.

Chan produced a number of action comedy films with his opera school friends Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao. The three co-starred together for the first time in 1983 in ''Project A,'' which introduced a dangerous stunt-driven style of martial arts that won it the Best Action Design Award at the third annual Hong Kong Film Awards. Over the following two years, the "Three Brothers" appeared in ''Wheels on Meals'' and the original ''Lucky Stars'' trilogy. In 1985, Chan made the first ''Police Story'' film, a US-influenced action comedy in which Chan performed a number of dangerous stunts. It was named the "Best Film" at the 1986 Hong Kong Film Awards. In 1987, Chan played "Asian Hawk," an Indiana Jones-esque character, in the film ''Armour of God.'' The film was Chan's biggest domestic box office success up to that point, grossing over HK $35 million.

Acclaimed sequels and Hollywood breakthrough: 1988–1998

In 1988 Chan starred alongside Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao for the last time to date, in the film ''Dragons Forever''. Hung co-directed with Corey Yuen, and the villain in the film was played by Yuen Wah, both of whom were fellow graduates of the China Drama Academy.

In the late 1980s and early 90s, Chan starred in a number of successful sequels beginning with ''Police Story 2'', which won the award for Best Action Choreography at the 1989 Hong Kong Film Awards. This was followed by ''Armour of God II: Operation Condor'', and ''Police Story 3: Super Cop'', for which Chan won the Best Actor Award at the 1993 Golden Horse Film Festival. In 1994, Chan reprised his role as Wong Fei-hung in ''Drunken Master II'', which was listed in ''Time Magazine's'' All-Time 100 Movies. Another sequel, ''Police Story 4: First Strike'', brought more awards and domestic box office success for Chan, but did not fare as well in foreign markets. Jackie Chan rekindled his Hollywood ambitions in the 1990s, but refused early offers to play villains in Hollywood films to avoid being typecast in future roles. For example, Sylvester Stallone offered him the role of Simon Phoenix, a criminal in the futuristic film ''Demolition Man''. Chan declined and the role was taken by Wesley Snipes.

Chan finally succeeded in establishing a foothold in the North American market in 1995 with a worldwide release of ''Rumble in the Bronx'', attaining a cult following in the United States that was rare for Hong Kong movie stars. The success of ''Rumble in the Bronx'' led to a 1996 release of ''Police Story 3: Super Cop'' in the United States under the title ''Supercop'', which grossed a total of US $16,270,600. Jackie's first huge blockbuster success came when he co-starred with Chris Tucker in the 1998 buddy cop action comedy ''Rush Hour'', grossing US$130 million in the United States alone. This film made a star of Jackie Chan, in Hollywood. As a publicity stunt, Jackie also wrote his autobiography in collaboration with Jeff Yang entitled ''I Am Jackie Chan''.

Fame in Hollywood and Dramatization: 1999–2007

In 1998, Chan released his final film for Golden Harvest, ''Who Am I?'' After leaving Golden Harvest in 1999, he produced and starred alongside Shu Qi in ''Gorgeous'' a romantic comedy that focused on personal relationships and featured only a few martial arts sequences. Chan then helped create a PlayStation game in 2000 called ''Jackie Chan Stuntmaster'', to which he lent his voice and performed the motion capture. He continued his Hollywood success in 2000 when he teamed up with Owen Wilson in the Western action comedy ''Shanghai Noon'' which was also a box office success and spawned the sequel ''Shanghai Knights'' (2003). He reunited with Chris Tucker for ''Rush Hour 2'' (2001) which was an even bigger success than the original and experimented with special effects with ''The Tuxedo'' (2002) and ''The Medallion'' (2003). Despite the success of these films Chan became frustrated with Hollywood over the limited range of roles and lack of control over the film-making process. In response to Golden Harvest's withdrawal from the film industry in 2003, Chan started his own film production company, JCE Movies Limited (Jackie Chan Emperor Movies Limited) in association with Emperor Multimedia Group (EMG). His films have since featured an increasing number of dramatic scenes while continuing to succeed at the box office; examples include ''New Police Story'' (2004), ''The Myth'' (2005) and the hit film ''Rob-B-Hood'' (2006).

Chan's next release was the third installment in the ''Rush Hour'' series: ''Rush Hour 3'' in August 2007. It grossed US$255 million. However, it was a disappointment in Hong Kong, grossing only HK$3.5 million during its opening weekend.

New experiments and change in style: 2008–present

As Chan had stated years before, there would be a point in his life in which he would have to be modernized and use special effects, and try new different things than martial arts flicks. This began in 2007, with the filming of ''The Forbidden Kingdom'' (released in 2008), Chan's first onscreen collaboration with fellow Chinese actor Jet Li, which was completed on 24 August 2007 and the film was released in April 2008. The film featured heavy use of effects and wires. Chan voiced the character Master Monkey in the DreamWorks Animation film, ''Kung Fu Panda'', released in June 2008, appearing with stars Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman and Angelina Jolie. In addition, he has assisted Anthony Szeto in an advisory capacity for the writer-director's film ''Wushu'', released on 1 May 2008. The film stars Sammo Hung and Wang Wenjie as father and son.

In November 2007, Chan began filming ''Shinjuku Incident'', a dramatic role featuring no martial arts sequences with director Derek Yee, which sees Chan take on the role of a Chinese immigrant in Japan. The film was released on 2 April 2009. According to his blog, Chan discussed his wishes to direct a film after completing ''Shinjuku Incident'', something he has not done for a number of years. The film is expected to be the third in the Armour of God series, and has a working title of ''Armour of God III: Chinese Zodiac''. Chan originally stated that he would start filming on 1 April 2008, but that date had passed and the current state of the film is unknown. Because the Screen Actors Guild did not go on strike, Chan started shooting his next Hollywood movie ''The Spy Next Door'' at the end of October in New Mexico. In ''The Spy Next Door'', Chan plays an undercover agent whose cover is blown when he looks after the children of his girlfriend. In ''Little Big Soldier'', Chan stars, alongside Leehom Wang in a non-martial arts comedy movie based on the Warring States Period.

On 22 June 2009, Chan left Los Angeles to begin filming ''The Karate Kid'', a remake of the 1984 original, in Beijing. The film was released in America on 11 June 2010 and sees Chan's first dramatic American film. In the film, he plays Mr. Han, a kung fu master and maintenance man who teaches Jaden Smith's character, Dre, kung-fu so he can defend himself from school bullies. In Chan's next movie, ''Shaolin'', he plays the cook of the temple instead of one of the major characters.

Jackie Chan's 100th film ''1911'' was released on 26 September 2011. He is the co-director, executive producer, and lead star of the movie. While Chan has directed over ten films over his career, this is his first directorial work in over ten years, since Jackie Chan's Who Am I? in 1998. 1911 premiered in North America on October 14.

Jackie Chan won the Favorite Buttkicker award at the Nickelodeon's Kids' Choice Awards in 2011 for ''The Karate Kid''.

Stunts

Until recently, Jackie Chan performed all of his own stunts, which are choreographed by the Jackie Chan Stunt Team. He has stated in interviews that the primary inspiration for his more comedic stunts were films such as ''The General'' directed by and starring Buster Keaton, who was also known to perform his own stunts. Since its establishment in 1983, Chan has used the team in all his subsequent films to make choreographing easier, given his understanding of each member's abilities. Chan and his team undertake many of the stunts performed by other characters in his films, shooting the scenes so that their faces are obscured.

The dangerous nature of his stunts makes it difficult for Chan to get insurance, especially in the United States, where his stunt work is contractually limited. Chan holds the Guinness World Record for "Most Stunts By A Living Actor", which emphasizes "no insurance company will underwrite Chan's productions, in which he performs all his own stunts". In addition, he holds an unrecognised record for the most number of takes for a single shot in a film, having shot over 2900 retakes for a complex scene involving a Jianzi game in ''Dragon Lord''.

Chan has been injured numerous times attempting stunts; many of them have been shown as outtakes or as bloopers during the closing credits of his films. He came closest to death filming ''Armour of God'', when he fell from a tree and fractured his skull. Over the years, Chan has dislocated his pelvis and broken his fingers, toes, nose, both cheekbones, hips, sternum, neck, ankle and ribs on numerous occasions. Promotional materials for ''Rumble in the Bronx'' emphasized that Chan performed all of the stunts, and one version of the movie poster even diagrammed his many injuries.

Filmography and screen persona

Jackie Chan created his screen persona as a response to Bruce Lee, and the numerous imitators who appeared before and after Lee's death. In contrast to Lee's characters, who were typically stern, morally upright heroes, Chan plays well-meaning, slightly foolish regular guys (often at the mercy of their friends, girlfriends or families) who always triumph in the end despite the odds. Additionally, Chan has stated that he deliberately styles his movement to be the opposite of Lee's: where Lee held his arms wide, Chan holds his tight to the body; where Lee was loose and flowing, Chan is tight and choppy. Despite the success of the ''Rush Hour'' series, Chan has stated that he is not a fan of it since he neither appreciates the action scenes in the movie, nor understands American humour.

In recent years, the aging Chan grew tired of being typecast as an action hero, prompting him to act with more emotion in his latest films. In ''New Police Story'', he portrayed a character suffering from alcoholism and mourning his murdered colleagues. To further shed the image of Mr. Nice Guy, Chan played an anti-hero for the first time in ''Rob-B-Hood'' starring as Thongs, a burglar with gambling problems.

Television work

In 2000, Chan hosted a fictionalized version of himself in the animated series ''Jackie Chan Adventures'', which ran until 2005.

In July 2008, the BTV reality television series entitled ''The Disciple'' (, lit. "Disciple of the Dragon") concluded. The series was produced by, and featured Jackie Chan. The aim of the program was to find a new star, skilled in acting and martial arts, to become Chan's "successor" and student in filmmaking. Contestants were trained by Jackie Chan Stunt Team members Alan Wu and He Jun and competed in various fields, including explosion scenes, high-altitude wire-suspension, gunplay, car stunts, diving, obstacles courses etc. The regular judges on the program were He Ping, Wu Yue and Cheng Pei Pei. Guest judges include Stanley Tong, Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao. The "Finals" began on 5 April 2008, with 16 contestants remaining, and concluded on 26 June 2008. Amongst those in attendance were Tsui Hark, John Woo, Ng See Yuen and Yu Rongguang.

The winner of the series was Jack Tu (Tu Sheng Cheng). Along with runners up Yang Zheng and Jerry Liau, Tu is now set to star in three modern Chinese action films, one of which was scripted by Chan, and all three will be co-produced by Chan and his company JCE Movies Limited. The films will be entitled ''Speedpost 206'', ''Won't Tell You'' and ''Tropical Tornado'' and will be directed by Xie Dong, Jiang Tao and Cai Rong Hui. All 16 finalists will be given the opportunity to work on the films, or to join the Jackie Chan Stunt Team. Production on the first film is due to begin in September 2008. In addition, the finalists will be given roles in a forthcoming BTV action series.

Music career

Jackie Chan had vocal lessons whilst at the Peking Opera School in his childhood. He began producing records professionally in the 1980s and has gone on to become a successful singer in Hong Kong and Asia. He has released 20 albums since 1984 and has performed vocals in Cantonese, Mandarin, Japanese, Taiwanese and English. He often sings the theme songs of his films, which play over the closing credits. Chan's first musical recording was "Kung Fu Fighting Man", the theme song played over the closing credits of ''The Young Master'' (1980). At least 10 of these recordings have been released on soundtrack albums for the films. His Cantonese song ''Story of a Hero'' (英雄故事) (theme song of ''Police Story'') was selected by the Royal Hong Kong Police and incorporated into their recruitment advertisement in 1994.

Chan voiced the character of Shang in the Chinese release of the Walt Disney animated feature, ''Mulan'' (1998). He also performed the song "I'll Make a Man Out of You", for the film's soundtrack. For the US release, the speaking voice was performed by B.D. Wong and the singing voice was done by Donny Osmond.

In 2007, Chan recorded and released the song "We Are Ready", the official one-year countdown song to the 2008 Summer Olympics. He performed the song at a ceremony marking the one-year countdown to the 2008 Summer Paralympics.

The day before the Beijing Olympics opened, Chan released one of the two official Olympics albums, ''Official Album for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games â€“ Jackie Chan's Version'', which featured a number of special guest appearances. Chan, along with Andy Lau, Liu Huan and Wakin (Emil) Chau, performed "Hard to Say Goodbye", the farewell song for the 2008 Summer Olympics closing ceremony.

Image and celebrity status

Jackie Chan has received worldwide recognition for his acting, having won several awards including an Innovator Award from the American Choreography Awards and a lifetime achievement award from the Taurus World Stunt Awards. He has stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the Hong Kong Avenue of Stars. Despite considerable box office success in The Northsouth Territories, Chan's American films have been criticised with regard to the action choreography. Reviewers of ''Rush Hour 2'', ''The Tuxedo'', and ''Shanghai Knights'' criticised the toning down of Chan's fighting scenes, citing less intensity compared to his earlier films. The comedic value of his films is questioned; some critics stated it can be childish at times.

Chan is a cultural icon, having been referenced in Ash's song "Kung Fu", Heavy Vegetable's "Jackie Chan Is a Punk Rocker", Leehom Wang's "Long Live Chinese People", as well as in "Jackie Chan" by Frank Chickens, and television shows ''Celebrity Deathmatch'' and ''Family Guy''. He has been the inspiration for manga such as ''Dragon Ball'' (including a character with the alias "Jackie Chun"), the character Lei Wulong in ''Tekken'' and the fighting-type Pokémon Hitmonchan. In addition, Jackie Chan has a sponsorship deal with Mitsubishi Motors. As a result, Mitsubishi cars can be found in a number of Jackie Chan films. Furthermore, Mitsubishi honoured Chan by launching Evolution, a limited series of cars which he personally customised.

A number of video games have featured Jackie Chan. Before ''Stuntmaster'', Chan already had a game of his own, ''Jackie Chan's Action Kung Fu'', released in 1990 for the PC-Engine and NES. In 1995, Chan was featured in the arcade fighting game ''Jackie Chan The Kung-Fu Master''. In addition, a series of Japanese Jackie Chan games were released on the MSX by Pony, based on several of his films (''Project A'', ''Project A 2'', ''Police Story'', ''The Protector'' and ''Wheels On Meals'').

Chan has always wanted to be a role model to children, remaining popular with them due to his good-natured acting style. He has refused to play villains and has ''almost'' never used the word "fuck" in his films (He's only said that word in two films, ''The Protector'' and ''Burn, Hollywood, Burn''), but in ''Rush Hour'', in an attempt to be "cool" and imitate his partner Carter, who said "What's up, my nigga?" to a club of black men, he said the same thing when Carter was in another room and they all attacked him, so he had to pull out his fighting skills to beat them down and escape. Chan's greatest regret in life is not having received proper education, inspiring him to fund educational institutions around the world. He funded the construction of the Jackie Chan Science Centre at the Australian National University and the establishment of schools in poor regions of China.

Chan is a spokesperson for the Government of Hong Kong, appearing in public service announcements. In a ''Clean Hong Kong'' commercial, he urged the people of Hong Kong to be more considerate with regards to littering, a problem that has been widespread for decades. Furthermore, in an advertisement promoting nationalism, he gave a short explanation of the ''March of the Volunteers'', the national anthem of the People's Republic of China. When Hong Kong Disneyland opened in 2005, Chan participated in the opening ceremony. In the United States, Chan appeared alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger in a government advert to combat copyright infringement and made another public service announcement with Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca to encourage people, especially Asians, to join the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

Construction has begun on a Jackie Chan museum in Shanghai. Work began in July 2008, and although it was scheduled to be completed on October 2009, construction continues as of January 2010.

Controversies

During a news conference in Shanghai on 28 March 2004, Chan referred to the recently concluded Republic of China presidential election, 2004 in Taiwan, in which Democratic Progressive Party candidates Chen Shui-bian and Annette Lu were re-elected as President and Vice-President as "the biggest joke in the world." Chan's comments were criticized by Parris Chang, a Taiwanese legislator and senior member of the DPP, who called for the government of Taiwan to take punitive steps against Chan for his comments, such as banning his movies and barring him the right to visit Taiwan. Some 50 police and security personnel were required to separate protesters from Chan, as they were attempting to spit at him when he arrived at Taipei airport for a charity sponsored by cable TV channel TVBS on 18 June 2008. Chan insisted that his remarks were not intended to insult the people of Taiwan.

Referring to his participation in the torch relay for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Chan spoke out against demonstrators who disrupted the relay several times attempting to draw attention to a wide-ranging number of grievances against the Chinese government, including China's human rights record and the political status of Taiwan. He warned that he would lash out against anyone planning to stop him from carrying the Olympic Torch, saying, "Demonstrators better not get anywhere near me." In addition, Chan felt that the protesters were publicity seekers. "They are doing it for no reason. They just want to show off on the TV," he said. "They know, 'if I can get the torch, I can go on the TV for the world news'." Chan felt the country was trying to improve and the Olympics is a chance for the country to open up and learn from the outside world and vice versa. "We are not right about everything. Things are getting better in China but we can change and are changing. We want to learn from the rest of the world as well as teach others about our ways and our culture."

On 18 April 2009, during a panel discussion at the annual Boao Forum for Asia titled "Tapping into Asia's Creative Industry Potential," Chan said "...in the 10 years after Hong Kong's return to Chinese rule, I can gradually see, I'm not sure if it's good to have freedom or not." Chan went on to say, "If you're too free, you're like the way Hong Kong is now. It's very chaotic. Taiwan is also chaotic." He also added, "I'm gradually beginning to feel that we Chinese need to be controlled. If we're not being controlled, we'll just do what we want." Chan however complained about the quality of Chinese goods, saying, "...a Chinese TV might explode." but refrained from criticizing the Chinese government for banning his 2009 film ''Shinjuku Incident''. Chan's comments prompted an angry response from some legislators and other prominent figures in Taiwan and Hong Kong. Hong Kong Legislator Leung Kwok-hung said that Chan "insulted the Chinese people. Chinese people aren't pets." The Hong Kong Tourism Board stated that it had received 164 comments and complaints from the public over Chan's remarks. A spokesman for Chan told reporters that the actor was referring to freedom in the entertainment industry rather than Chinese society at large and that certain people with "ulterior motives deliberately misinterpreted what he said."

On 24 August 2010, Jackie Chan tweeted about the botched rescue operation on the Manila hostage crisis that left 8 Hong Kong tourists dead. Although saddened by the news, he also tweeted "If they killed the guy sooner, they will say why not negotiate first? If they negotiate first, they ask why not kill the guy sooner?" Chan's comments caused outrage in Hong Kong. Several anti-Jackie Chan groups were set up on Facebook with tens of thousands of supporters. Some fellow actors and directors told local newspapers that they were also upset by his remarks. Chan reportedly has business interests in the Philippines. He issued a statement on 27 August 2010 apologizing for his comments and claiming that his assistant who helped him post the tweets had misunderstood the meaning of his original message.

Entrepreneurship and philanthropy

In addition to his film production and distribution company, JCE Movies Limited, Jackie Chan also owns or co-owns the production companies JC Group China, Jackie & Willie Productions (with Willie Chan) and Jackie & JJ Productions.

Chan has also put his name to Jackie Chan Theater International, a cinema chain in China, co-ran by Hong Kong company Sparkle Roll Group Ltd. The first—Jackie Chan-Yaolai International Cinema—opened in February 2010, and is claimed to be the largest cinema complex in China, with 17 screens and 3,500 seats. Chan expressed his hopes that the size of the venue would afford young, non-commercial directors the opportunity to have their films screened. 15 further cinemas in the chain are planned for 2010, throughout Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, with a potential total of 65 cinemas throughout the country proposed.

In 2004, Chan launched his own line of clothing, which bears a Chinese dragon logo and the English word "Jackie", or the initials "JC". Chan also has a number of other branded businesses. His sushi restaurant chain, Jackie's Kitchen, has outlets throughout Hong Kong, as well as seven in South Korea and one in Hawaii, with plans to open another in Las Vegas. Jackie Chan's Cafe has outlets in Beijing, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and the Philippines. Other ventures include Jackie Chan Signature Club gyms (a partnership with California Fitness), and a line of chocolates, cookies and nutritional oatcakes. He also hopes to expand into furniture and kitchenware, and is also considering a branded supermarket. With each of his businesses, a percentage of the profits goes to various charities, including the Jackie Chan Charitable Foundation.

Chan is a keen philanthropist and a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, having worked tirelessly to champion charitable works and causes. He has campaigned for conservation, against animal abuse and has promoted disaster relief efforts for floods in mainland China and the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami. In June 2006, he announced the donation of half his assets to charity upon his death, citing his admiration of the effort made by Warren Buffett and Bill Gates to help those in need. On 10 March 2008, Chan was the guest of honour for the launch, by Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, of the ''Jackie Chan Science Centre'' at the John Curtin School of Medical Research, Australian National University in Canberra. Jackie Chan is also a supporter of the Save China's Tigers project which aims at saving the endangered South China Tiger through breeding and releasing them into the wild; he is currently an ambassador for this conservation project. Chan has many historic artifacts, such as old door frames from 2000 years ago. He also owns the Jinricksha Station in Singapore.

In April 2008, Jackie Chan was invited for the audio launch of an Indian film, entitled ''Dasavathaaram'' (2008) in Chennai (Madras), where he shared the dais with Indian celebrities, including Amitabh Bachchan, Mammootty and Kamal Hassan. Though he did not understand a word of Tamil, Chan was touched by the Indian community's love for him and his films, and was impressed with the movie ''Dasavathaaram'', expressing a keen interest in working with the star of the film, Kamal Hassan. Hassan himself reciprocated the desire to work with the action superstar, urging Chan to keep his promise of working with him on a possible film project.

Following the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, Chan donated RMB Â¥10 million to help those in need. In addition, he is planning to make a film about the Chinese earthquake to raise money for survivors.

In response to the 2011 TÅ?hoku earthquake and tsunami, Jackie Chan and fellow Hong Kong-based celebrities, including American rapper Jin, headlined a special three-hour charity concert, titled ''Artistes 311 Love Beyond Borders'', on 1 April 2011 to help with Japan's disaster recovery effort, where Jackie Chan addressed the victims of the earthquake and tsunami by saying: ''"You will not be alone, we will be by your side"''. The concert raised over $3.3 million dollars in just three hours for disaster relief.

Chan also holds guest lectures at the Shanghai Institute of Visual Art of Fudan University, Shanghai.

The Jackie Chan Charitable Foundation

Founded in 1988, the Jackie Chan Charitable Foundation offers scholarships and active help to Hong Kong's young people through a variety of worthy causes. Over the years, the foundation has broadened its scope to include provision of medical services, aid to victims of natural disaster or illness, and projects where the major beneficiaries are Hong Kong people or organizations. Major donation projects of The Jackie Chan Charitable Foundation:

The Jackie Chan Gymnasium at Lingnan University

The Jackie Chan Challenge Cup Intercollegiate Invitation Tournament

The Jackie Chan Family Unit, Hong Kong Girl Guides Association Jockey Club Beas River Lodge

The Jackie Chan Whole Person Development Center

Renovation of the Bethanie Site, Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts

Medical Funding in Mainland China (Operation Smile)

Medical Donation in Hong Kong (Queen Mary Hospital, SARS Relief)

Support for the Performing Arts

Youth Development Programs

The Dragon's Heart Foundation

The Dragon's Heart Foundation was founded in 2005 to fulfill the desperate needs of children and the elderly in remote areas of China. Since 2005, the Dragon's Heart Foundation has built over a dozen schools, provided books, fees, and uniforms, and has raised millions of dollars to give much-needed educational opportunities for the poor. In addition, the Dragon's Heart Foundation provides for the elderly with donations of warm clothing, wheelchairs, and other items. Jackie often travels to the remote locations to attend groundbreakings or school openings, and to lend support and encouragement.

Awards and nominations

Hong Kong Film Awards

Best Action Choreography Nomination for ''Dragon Lord''

Best Actor Nomination for ''Project A''

Best Actor Nomination for ''Heart of Dragon''

Best Actor Nomination for ''Police Story''

Best Director Nomination for ''Police Story''

Best Film for ''Rouge''

Best Actor Nomination for ''Mr Canton and Lady Rose''

Best Actor Nomination for ''Police Story 3: Super Cop''

Best Actor Nomination for ''Crime Story''

Best Action Choreography Nomination for ''Crime Story''

Best Actor Nomination for ''Rumble in the Bronx''

Best Action Choreography for ''Rumble in the Bronx''

Best Actor Nomination for ''Police Story 4: First Strike''

Best Actor Nomination for ''Who Am I?''

'''Best Action Choreography for ''Who Am I?''

Best Action Choreography Nomination for ''Gorgeous''

Best Actor Nomination for ''New Police Story''

Professional Spirit Award

Best Film Nomination for ''The Myth''

Best Action Choreography Nomination for ''The Myth''

Best Original Film Song Nomination for ''The Myth''

Best Action Choreography Nomination for ''Rob-B-Hood''

Best Film Nomination for ''Shinjuku Incident''

(10 Best Actor Nominations, 7 Best Action Choreography Nominations, 3 Film Nominations, 1 Best Director Nomination, 1 Best Original Film Song Nomination)

Personal life

In 1982, Jackie Chan married Lin Feng-Jiao (aka Joan Lin), a Taiwanese actress. That same year, the two had a son, singer and actor Jaycee Chan. Elaine Ng Yi-Lei had a daughter, Etta, in 1999, and claimed Chan was the father; Chan admitted the affair, but did not formally acknowledge her as his daughter. Chan is a Buddhist.

He speaks Cantonese, Mandarin, and English fluently, and also speaks some German, Korean and Japanese, as well as a little Spanish.

In 2009, Chan received an honorary doctorate from the University of Cambodia.

See also

Cinema of Hong Kong

Hong Kong action cinema

Cinema of China

Stunt

Stunt performer

References

Further reading

Boose, Thorsten; Oettel, Silke. ''Hongkong, meine Liebe â€“ Ein spezieller Reiseführer''. Shaker Media, 2009. ISBN 978-3-86858-255-0 Boose, Thorsten. ''Der deutsche Jackie Chan Filmführer''. Shaker Media, 2008. ISBN 978-3-86858-102-7

Chan, Jackie, and Jeff Yang. ''I Am Jackie Chan: My Life in Action''. New York: Ballantine Books, 1999. ISBN 0-345-42913-3. Jackie Chan's autobiography.

Cooper, Richard, and Mike Leeder. ''100% Jackie Chan: The Essential Companion''. London: Titan Books, 2002. ISBN 1-84023-491-1.

Cooper, Richard. ''More 100% Jackie Chan: The Essential Companion Volume 2''. London: Titan Books, 2004. ISBN 1-84023-888-7.

Corcoran, John. ''The Unauthorized Jackie Chan Encyclopedia: From Project A to Shanghai Noon and Beyond''. Chicago: Contemporary Books, 2003. ISBN 0-07-138899-0.

Fox, Dan. ''Jackie Chan. Raintree Freestyle''. Chicago, Ill.: Raintree, 2006. ISBN 1-4109-1659-6.

Gentry, Clyde. ''Jackie Chan: Inside the Dragon''. Dallas, Tex.: Taylor Pub, 1997. ISBN 0-87833-962-0.

Le Blanc, Michelle, and Colin Odell. ''The Pocket Essential Jackie Chan''. Pocket essentials. Harpenden: Pocket Essentials, 2000. ISBN 1-903047-10-2.

Major, Wade. ''Jackie Chan''. New York: Metrobooks, 1999. ISBN 1-56799-863-1.

Moser, Leo. ''Made in Hong Kong: die Filme von Jackie Chan''. Berlin: Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, 2000. ISBN 3-89602-312-8.

Poolos, Jamie. ''Jackie Chan''. Martial Arts Masters. New York: Rosen Pub. Group, 2002. ISBN 0-8239-3518-3.

Rovin, Jeff, and Kathleen Tracy. ''The Essential Jackie Chan Sourcebook''. New York: Pocket Books, 1997. ISBN 0-671-00843-9.

Stone, Amy. ''Jackie Chan''. Today's Superstars: Entertainment. Milwaukee, Wis.: Gareth Stevens Pub, 2007. ISBN 0-8368-7648-2.

Witterstaetter, Renee. ''Dying for Action: The Life and Films of Jackie Chan''. New York: Warner, 1998. ISBN 0-446-67296-3.

Wong, Curtis F., and John R. Little (eds.). ''Jackie Chan and the Superstars of Martial Arts''. The Best of ''Inside Kung-Fu''. Lincolnwood, Ill.: McGraw-Hill, 1998. ISBN 0-8092-2837-8.

External links

Jackie Chan at Rotten Tomatoes

Category:1954 births Category:Living people Category:Best Action Choreographer HKFA Category:Cantopop singers Category:Chinese martial artists Category:Chinese film actors Category:Chinese comedians Category:Hong Kong comedians Category:Hong Kong Buddhists Category:Hong Kong voice actors Category:Hong Kong film actors Category:Hong Kong film directors Category:Hong Kong film producers Category:Hong Kong screenwriters Category:Hong Kong singers Category:Hong Kong male singers Category:Hong Kong Mandopop singers Category:Hong Kong kung fu practitioners Category:Hong Kong wushu practitioners Category:Members of the Order of the British Empire Category:Stunt actors Category:Stunt performers

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name	Randy Rhoads
background	non_vocal_instrumentalist
birth name	Randall William Rhoads
born	December 06, 1956Santa Monica, California, USA
died	March 19, 1982 (aged 25) Leesburg, Florida, USA
instrument	Guitar.
genre	Heavy metal, hard rock, glam metal, neo-classical metal
occupation	Musician, songwriter, Producer, Music Teacher
years active	1972–1982
label	Epic, Sony
associated acts	Ozzy Osbourne, Quiet Riot
website	http://www.randyrhoads.us/
notable instruments	Jackson RR Signature ModelKarl Sandoval "Polka Dot" Custom Gibson Flying VGibson Les Paul Custom }}

Randall William "Randy" Rhoads (December 6, 1956 – March 19, 1982) was an American heavy metal guitarist who played with Ozzy Osbourne and Quiet Riot. A devoted student of classical guitar, Rhoads often combined his classical music influences with his own heavy metal style. While on tour with Ozzy Osbourne, he would seek out classical guitar tutors for lessons. Despite his relatively short career, Rhoads is a major influence on neo-classical metal players that emerged in the 1980s. He is cited as an influence by many contemporary guitarists of all styles. He is included in several 'Greatest Guitarist' lists.

Quiet Riot

At the age of 14 Rhoads formed a cover band called Violet Fox (after his mother's middle name, Violet), with his older brother Kelle on drums. Violet Fox staged several performances in the "Grand Salon" at Musonia, Delores Rhoads' music school. Among their setlist was "Mississippi Queen" by Mountain, as well as songs from The Rolling Stones, Alice Cooper, and David Bowie. After the dissolution of Violet Fox, Rhoads taught his best friend Kelly Garni how to play bass, and together they formed a band called The Whore (rehearsing during the day at Rodney Bingenheimer's English Disco, a famous '70s Hollywood nightspot), spending several months playing at backyard parties around Los Angeles. Together the pair went on to form Quiet Riot when Rhoads was 16. Kevin DuBrow auditioned for vocalist in Rhoads' kitchen after he convinced Rhoads and Garni to give him a chance. The drummer, Drew Forsyth, was already in the picture and had periodically played with Rhoads and Garni in the past.

Quiet Riot initially played in small bars in Hollywood and local parties in Burbank, eventually playing at the two main L.A. music clubs of the day — the Whisky a Go Go, and The Starwood. While the band had a strong following in the L.A. club scene, they were unable to secure a major recording contract in the United States. Eventually, however, the band was able to land a record deal with Japanese label CBS/Sony Records and ''Quiet Riot'' and ''Quiet Riot II'' were released in Japan.

Career with Ozzy Osbourne

In 1979, ex-Black Sabbath singer Ozzy Osbourne was forming a new band. During an interview with Raw Power Magazine editors Robert Olshever, Murray Schwartz and Scott Stephens (future singer of Liquid Blue), Ozzy mentioned he was looking for a new guitar player. Randy's name was suggested during the interview and the next day Robert asked friend and future Slaughter bassist Dana Strum to try to reach Randy to see if he was interested. Rhoads got the call for the audition just before his final show with Quiet Riot. He walked in with his Les Paul guitar and a practice amp and started warming up; Osbourne immediately gave him the job. Rhoads recalled later, "I just tuned up and did some riffs, and he said, 'You've got the gig.' I had the weirdest feeling, because I thought, 'You didn't even hear me yet.'" Osbourne described Rhoads' playing as "God entering my life." Rhoads subsequently recommended his friend Greg Leon, who also taught guitar at Musonia for Rhoads' mother, to replace him in Quiet Riot, and then departed for the UK to write and record with Osbourne in November 1979.

The band, then known as The Blizzard of Ozz headed into the studio to record the band's debut album, which would also be called ''Blizzard of Ozz''. Rhoads' guitar playing had changed due to the level of freedom allowed by Ozzy and Bob Daisley and he was encouraged to play what he wanted. His work with Quiet Riot has been criticized as being "dull" and did not rely on classical scales or arrangements. Propelled by Rhoads' neo-classical guitar work, the album proved an instant hit with rock fans, particularly in the USA. They released two singles from the album: "Mr Crowley" and the hit "Crazy Train". The British tour of 1980-81 for Blizzard of Ozz was with Bob Daisley and Lee Kerslake. After the UK tour, the band wrote another LP before the US Blizzard of Ozz tour. But before the US Blizzard tour, both Lee Kerslake and Bob Daisley were fired by Sharon Arden, Ozzy's future wife. For the US Blizzard tour, Tommy Aldridge and Rudy Sarzo were hired. ''Diary of a Madman'' was released soon after ''Blizzard of Ozz'' in October 1981, and since Kerslake and Daisley were already out of the band, Aldridge and Sarzo's photos appear on the album sleeve. Disputes over royalties performance, and other intellectual property rights became a source of future court battles. ''You Said it All'' and ''You Looking At Me, Looking At You'' became rare collector's items, only released on the B-Sides of singles. A live album, ''Tribute'', mainly drawn from a performance in Cleveland, Ohio, was released in 1987 and included live versions of "Goodbye To Romance" and "No Bone Movies", recorded in the UK with Daisley and Kerslake in 1980.

Around this time Rhoads remarked to Osbourne, fellow Ozz bandmates Tommy Aldridge and Rudy Sarzo, and friend Kelly Garni that he was considering leaving rock for a few years to earn a degree in classical guitar at UCLA. In the documentary ''Don't Blame Me'', Osbourne confirmed Randy's desire to earn the degree and stated that had he lived, he didn't believe Randy would have stayed in his band. Friend and ex-Quiet Riot bassist Kelly Garni has stated in interviews that if Randy had continued to play rock, he might have gone the route of more keyboard-driven rock, which had become very popular through the 1980s.

It was at this time that Rhoads was beginning to receive recognition for his playing. Just before his death Jackson Guitars created a signature model, the Jackson Randy Rhoads (though Randy had originally called his white pinstriped V the Concorde). Randy received one prototype — A black offset V hardtail which is the base for today's RR line of Jackson guitars — but died before the guitar went into production. Rhoads also received the Best New Talent award from ''Guitar Player'' magazine.

Death

Randy Rhoads' last show was played on Thursday, March 18, 1982 at the Knoxville Civic Coliseum in Knoxville, Tennessee. The next day, the band was headed to a festival in Orlando, Florida. After driving much of the night, they stopped on the property belonging to Jerry Calhoun, owner of "Florida Coach," in Leesburg, Florida. On it, there was a small airstrip lined with small helicopters and planes, and two houses. One belonged to the tour bus driver, Andrew Aycock, and the other was owned by Calhoun. Aycock - a licensed pilot - talked the band's keyboardist, Don Airey, into taking a test flight with him in a '55 Beechcraft Bonanza. By some accounts the manager, Jake Duncan, was also on this first flight. The joyride ended, and the plane landed safely. Then Aycock took Rhoads and hairdresser/seamstress Rachel Youngblood on another flight. Rhoads was persuaded to go on the second flight, despite his fear of flying. Rhoads apparently agreed to go for two reasons: the seamstress had a heart condition so Aycock agreed to do nothing risky; also, Rhoads wanted to take an aerial photo as one of his hobbies was photography. During the second flight, attempts were made to "buzz" the tour bus where the other band members were sleeping. They succeeded twice, but the third attempt was botched. The left wing clipped the back side of the tour bus, tore the fiberglass roof then sent the plane spiraling. The plane severed the top of a pine tree and crashed into the garage of a nearby mansion, bursting into flames. Rhoads was killed instantly, as were Aycock, 36, and Youngblood, 58. All three bodies were burned beyond recognition, and were identified by dental records and Rhoads' jewelry. It was later revealed in an autopsy that Aycock's system showed traces of cocaine at the time; Rhoads' toxicology test revealed only nicotine. The NTSB investigation also determined that Aycock's medical certificate had expired and that his biennial flight review, required for all pilots, was overdue.

In Ozzy Osbourne's autobiography titled "I Am Ozzy", he writes that the night of Rhoads' death, he told Osbourne: "I don't want to be a rock 'n' roller anymore", retiring from the band.

Rhoads' funeral was held at the First Lutheran Church in Burbank, California. He is interred at Mountain View Cemetery in San Bernardino, California, where his grandparents are also buried.

Equipment

Rhoads used a relatively simple setup, with few guitars and a limited set of effects and amplifiers. He preferred .010-.011 gauge strings.

Guitars

Gibson 1974 Les Paul Custom in Alpine White (the finish yellowed after years of playing, despite Rhoads' efforts to preserve it)

Karl Sandoval polka dot Flying V

White Jackson Rhoads "Concorde"

Black Jackson Rhoads with fixed bridge

Effects

Dunlop Crybaby Wah Roland RE-201 'Space Echo' Korg echo

MXR:

Distortion +

EQ

Flanger

Chorus

Amplifiers

Marshall Two 100W Plexi heads in white - one with cascade modification added by Marshall, one without

Marshall Model 1960 cabs in white, all loaded with Altec 417-8H speakers

Peavey Standard head (in his Quiet Riot days)

Posthumous achievements

In 1987, five years after Rhoads' death, Osbourne released ''Tribute'', the only official album featuring Osbourne and Rhoads playing together in concert. Most of the album is a live performance from Cleveland, Ohio. The songs "Goodbye to Romance" and "No Bone Movies" from the Tribute album were recorded on the UK Blizzard of Ozz tour at Southampton, on the same date as the Mr. Crowley EP.

Randy was inducted into the Guitar Center Rock Walk on March 18, 2004. In a 2006 Guitar World article, it was mentioned that Rhoads' last name was mistakenly spelled "Rhodes" on his plaque, and by the time it was discovered, there was not enough time to correct the mistake. It has since been fixed.

As a tribute to Rhoads, Marshall Amplification released the 1959RR at NAMM 2008. The amp is a limited-edition all-white Marshall Super Lead 100 watt head modeled after Randy's own Super Lead amp. Marshall engineers looked extensively at Rhoads' actual amplifier and made the 1959RR to those exact specifications, right down to the special high-gain modification Randy specifically requested when he visited the Marshall factory in 1980.

As another tribute to Randy, Jackson Guitars has released an exact replica of Randy's original white "shortwing" V. Randy's original guitar was looked at, photographed, and measured extensively by Jackson's luthiers so as to produce the most exact replica possible. The guitar even comes with black gaffer's tape covering the top wing and the back of the guitar, just like Randy's. Only 60 of the guitars will be made, each with the symbolic price tag of $12,619.56 which is Rhoads' birthday.

In 2010, Gibson Guitars announced a new custom shop signature guitar modeled after Rhoads' 1974 Les Paul Custom.

In 2011, author Joel McIver announced the publication of the first fully comprehensive Rhoads biography, with a foreword written by Zakk Wylde and an afterword supplied by Yngwie J. Malmsteen. The book, titled ''Crazy Train: The High Life And Tragic Death Of Randy Rhoads'', is scheduled for publication in April.

May 31, 2011 marks the 30 year anniversary and re-master / release of "Blizzard Of Ozz" and "Diary Of A Madman". Both albums have been remastered and restored to their original state with Bob Daisley's bass and Lee Kerslake's drums intact. "Blizzard" has 3 bonus tracks - You, Looking At Me, Looking At You / Goodbye To Romance (2010 Vocal & Guitar Mix) / RR (Randy Rhoads in studio guitar solo). "Diary" originally was to include long fade out versions of - You Can't Kill Rock And Roll / Tonight / Diary Of A Madman (2010 Re-mix version), but have ultimately not been included in the re-issue. The Legacy version of "Diary Of A Madman" includes a second CD called "Ozzy Live" which includes the unreleased Blizzard Of Ozz tour '81 show from Montreal, Canada. Recorded in July 1981 and originally broadcast on the king Biscuit Flower Hour radio show. The live show features the same line up as the tribute album - Rudy Sarzo on bass, Tommy Aldridge on drums and Lindsey Bridgewater on Keyboards. Also included exclusively in the special box set are the 180 gram vinyl versions of the original albums, an expansive 100 page coffee table book and the DVD - "Thirty Years After The Blizzard", which includes lots of unreleased Randy Rhoads footage.

Awards and recognition

Voted "Best New Talent" by the readers of Guitar Player magazine in December 1981

Voted "Best Heavy Metal Guitarist" by the readers of UK-based Sounds magazine in December 1981

Placed 85th on Rolling Stone Magazine's 100 Greatest Guitarists. Placed 4th on Guitar World Magazine's 100 Greatest Heavy Metal Guitarists. Crazy Train and Mr. Crowley placed 9th and 28th respectively on Guitar World's 100 Greatest Guitar Solos readers poll. Named one of the fastest guitar players in Guitar World's 50 Fastest Guitarists list. "Crazy Train" placed 51 in Rolling Stone's "100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time" list.

In 2008 - 2010 applications for a Posthumous Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame were submitted in the name of Randy Rhoads. Randy Rhoads' Posthumous Star has not yet been approved and the HWOF Star application will be resubmitted in 2011. If approved by the Hollywood Walk Of Fame Committee in June 2011, Randy Rhoads' Posthumous Star would be placed on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the year 2012.http://www.bravewords.com/news/147962

Currently voted 2nd place in Top10.co's Masterlist of the Greatest Guitarists of All Time - http://top10.co/top-10-guitarists-of-all-time

Influence

Despite his youth and relatively limited recorded work, Rhoads has been on the covers of many guitar magazines and has influenced many notable guitar players, including Dimebag Darrell, Frank Hannon, Doug Aldrich, Jake E. Lee, Zakk Wylde, David Philastre, Kirk Hammett, Michael Romeo, Tom Morello, Joe Holmes, Michael Angelo Batio, Nik Moeller, Brad Gillis, George Lynch, Alexi Laiho, Mick Thomson, Paul Gilbert, Buckethead and Tim Hulak of Obliteration

Discography

With Quiet Riot

''Quiet Riot'' (1977)

''Quiet Riot II'' (1978)

''The Randy Rhoads Years'' (1993)

With Ozzy Osbourne

''Blizzard of Ozz'' (1980)

''Mr. Crowley Live EP'' (1980)

''Diary of a Madman'' (1981)

''Tribute'' (1987)

''Ozzy Live / Disc 2 of Diary Of A Madman Legacy Edition'' (2011)

References

28. Campaign For Randy Rhoads Hollywood Walk Of Fame Star Announced http://www.bravewords.com/news/147962 Bravewords.com

External links

Guitar World 2007 article on the discovery of the third Randy Rhoads guitar (p. 64)

www.randyrhoads.tk

www.ultimaterhoads.com

randy rhoads society

Category:1956 births Category:1982 deaths Category:American heavy metal guitarists Category:Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in the United States Category:The Ozzy Osbourne Band members Category:Quiet Riot members Category:People from Burbank, California Category:People from Santa Monica, California Category:Accidental deaths in Florida Category:Lead guitarists

cs:Randy Rhoads da:Randy Rhoads de:Randy Rhoads et:Randy Rhoads el:Ράντι Ρόουντς es:Randy Rhoads fa:رندی رودز fr:Randy Rhoads it:Randy Rhoads he:רנדי רודס lb:Randy Rhoads hu:Randy Rhoads nl:Randy Rhoads ja:ランディ・ローズ no:Randy Rhoads nn:Randy Rhoads pl:Randy Rhoads pt:Randy Rhoads ru:РоадÑ?, РÑ?нди sk:Randy Rhoads fi:Randy Rhoads sv:Randy Rhoads tr:Randy Rhoads

name	Tokio Hotel
background	group_or_band
origin	Magdeburg, Germany
years active	2001–present
genre	Alternative rock, electronic rock, pop rock, teen pop emo, pop punk (early)
label	Universal Music GermanyCherrytree, Interscope (US)
website	www.tokiohotel.com
current members	Bill KaulitzTom Kaulitz Georg ListingGustav Schäfer
past members	}}

Tokio Hotel is a pop rock band from Germany, founded in 2001 by singer Bill Kaulitz, guitarist Tom Kaulitz, drummer Gustav Schäfer and bassist Georg Listing. The quartet have scored four number one singles and have released three number one albums in their native country, selling nearly 5 million CDs and DVDs there. After recording an unreleased demo-CD under the name "Devilish" and having their contract with Sony BMG Germany terminated, the band released their first German-language album, ''Schrei'', as Tokio Hotel on Universal Music Germany in 2005. ''Schrei'' sold more than half a million copies worldwide and spawned four top five singles in both Germany and Austria. In 2007, the band released their second German album ''Zimmer 483'' and their first English album ''Scream'' which have combined album sales of over one million copies worldwide and helped win the band their first MTV Europe Music Award for Best InterAct. The former, ''Zimmer 483'', spawned three top five singles in Germany while the latter, ''Scream'', spawned two singles that reached the top twenty in new territories such as France, Portugal, Spain and Italy. In September 2008, they won in the US their first MTV Video Music Award (VMA) for Best New Artist. In October 2008, they won four awards including Best International Artist and Song of the year at Los Premios MTV Latinoamérica (MTV Video Music Awards Latin America) held in Mexico. Tokio Hotel became the first German band ever to win an award at the MTV VMAs and also at the MTV Latin America Awards. They also picked up the Headliner award at the MTV Europe Music Awards 2008 held in Liverpool on November 6, 2008 and the Award for Best Group on November 5, 2009 at the MTV Europe Music Award (EMA) held in Berlin. They won an Award for Best World Stage Performance on November 7, 2010 at the MTV Europe Music Awards in Madrid. In July 2011, they became the first German band to win an MTV Video Music Awards Japan (VMAJ).

History

Founding

Tokio Hotel by vocalist Bill Kaulitz and guitarist Tom Kaulitz, who are identical twin brothers, drummer Gustav Schäfer and bass-guitarist Georg Listing. The four met in 2001 after a live show in a Magdeburg-Club, where Listing and Schäfer, who knew each other from music school, watched from the audience while Bill and Tom Kaulitz played on the stage. Under the name Devilish, the band soon began playing in talent shows and small concerts. After Bill Kaulitz's participation in a children's Star Search in 2003 at age thirteen (which he lost in the quarter-final), he was discovered by music producer Peter Hoffmann. Devilish changed their name to Tokio Hotel: "Tokio", the German spelling of the Japanese city Tokyo, due to a love of the city, and "Hotel" due to their constant touring and living in hotels. In 2006, a third and fourth single, "Rette mich" ("Rescue Me") and "Der letzte Tag" ("The Final Day"), were released; both reached #1 as well. "Der letzte Tag" contained a B-side called "Wir schließen uns ein", which was also accompanied by a music video.

''Zimmer 483''

The first single off their second album ''Zimmer 483'' (''Room 483''), called "Ãœbers Ende der Welt" (later re-released in English under the name "Ready, Set, Go!"), was released on January 26, 2007 and quickly reached #1 in Germany and Austria, and #2 in France. ''Zimmer 483'' was released in Germany on February 23, 2007, along with a deluxe edition of the album containing a DVD. The album's second single, "Spring nicht" ("Don't Jump") was released on April 7. The tour accompanying the release of the album, The Zimmer 483 Tour, was scheduled to start in March 2007, but was delayed by two weeks because the band members wished to have a different stage design. A third single, "An deiner Seite (Ich bin da)" ("By Your Side"), was released on November 16. The single contains the B-side "1000 Meere" ("1000 Oceans"), for which a music video was also produced. On April 28, 2008 Tokio Hotel released their single "Heilig" but no music video for the single was released, because of the tight schedule they had.

''Scream''

Tokio Hotel's first English language album, ''Scream'', was released on June 4, 2007 throughout Europe. In Germany, the album was released as ''Room 483'' in order to emphasize the continuity with their last German album ''Zimmer 483''. ''Scream'' contains English versions of a selection of songs from their German-language albums ''Scream'' and ''Zimmer 483''. "Monsoon", the English-language version of "Durch den Monsun", was the first single from the album. "Ready, Set, Go!" (the translation of "Ãœbers Ende der Welt") was released as the album's second single and "Don't Jump" (the translation of "Spring nicht") as the third single. A video for "Scream", the English-language version of their 2005 hit "Schrei", was also recorded, and was released to the iTunes Store in early March 2008.

Tokio Hotel gave their first concert in the United Kingdom on June 19, 2007. "Ready, Set, Go!" was released in the UK as the band's first single on August 27, 2007. The song reached #77 in the UK Singles Chart.

Tokio Hotel won an MTV Europe Music Award for Best InterAct on November 1, 2007 and were also nominated for Best Band. They performed "Monsoon" at the event.

Tokio Hotel released their first US single, simply called "Tokio Hotel", in late 2007. The single contains the tracks "Scream" and "Ready, Set, Go!", and was available exclusively at Hot Topic stores. Their second US single, "Scream America", was released on December 11, 2007. The single contains the track "Scream" and a remix of "Ready, Set, Go!" by AFI's Jade Puget. In February 2008, the band toured North America for five dates starting in Canada and finishing up in New York. After appearing and performing live on MuchMusic, while touring in Canada, "Ready, Set, Go!" entered the MuchOnDemand Daily 10, a countdown of videos chosen by viewers. It remained there for over a week, then returned to the top of the MOD Daily 10 chart on April 8. "Scream" was released in Canada on March 25 and in the US on May. 6

1000 Hotels Tour

The "1000 Hotels" European Tour began on March 3, 2008 in Brussels and continued to locations including The Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Scandinavia, and was scheduled to finish on April 9; during the concert in Marseille, France on March 14, Bill started to experience vocal problems. He let the audience sing more frequently than normal and instead of the original 21 songs that were on the set list, they only played 16 songs. Bill apologized, in German, for his bad singing and explained that he was sick. Two days later, the band canceled Lisbon, Portugal concert minutes before it was supposed to commence. The rest of the "1000 Hotels" Tour and a scheduled North American Tour were cancelled following an announcement in Bild by the band's manager that Bill Kaulitz had to undergo surgery to remove a cyst on his vocal cords.

Bill Kaulitz had been putting strain on his voice after playing 43 concerts in the 1000 Hotels tour without vacation. He had to undergo Larynx surgery on March 30 to remove a cyst that had formed on his vocal cords. The cyst was the result of a throat infection that went untreated. Following his surgery, Bill was unable to speak for twelve days, and had four weeks of vocal rehabilitation. If Bill had continued singing the rest of the tour, his voice would have eventually been permanently damaged. Tokio Hotel started performing again in May 2008 and after that they embarked on a 2nd part of their 1000 Hotels European Tour adding many Open Air concerts and wrapping up the tour on July 13 in Werchter, Belgium.

North American Tours and ''Humanoid''

Tokio Hotel embarked on a second tour of North America in August 2008, which included a performance at the Bamboozled festival in New Jersey. The band's music video for "Ready Set Go!" was nominated for Best Pop Video at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards, where they also won the award for Best New Artist. They returned to North America again in October 2008 for a month long tour of concerts and record store signings. In December 2008, a behind-the scenes DVD called ''Tokio Hotel TV – Caught on Camera'' was released. It contains footage from Tokio Hotel TV and backstage feature stories of the previous year on disc one entitled "History – The very best of Tokio Hotel TV!". A deluxe edition contains a second disc entitled "Future – The road to the new Album!" which features footage of the band on promotion tours and preparing for their third studio album.

In between the North American tours, the band returned to their record studio in Hamburg to record their third studio album, ''Humanoid'', which, according to their producer David Jost, is currently set for release on October 2 in Germany & October 6, 2009 in the U.S. This is despite earlier statements predicting a March/April 2009 release or a May/June 2009 release. The album was recorded in both German and English with both versions were released simultaneously worldwide. Nevertheless, the video for the single was released on September 3.

On November 2, it was announced on Tom's Blog that the second English single would be "World Behind My Wall" and its German counterpart, "Lass uns laufen", would be the second German single. The music videos for both versions were released on December 14 and December 15.

On June 24, the live music video for their single, "Dark Side of the Sun" was released on the band website.

On July 20, 2010 they released their second live album Humanoid City Live from Milan, Italy On November 22, 2010, their new song "Hurricanes and Suns," premiered on the Greek radio station Mad Radio. It was included in the bonus track on all versions of "Tokio Hotel: Best Of," a compilation album of their most successful songs. As well as the single for the 'Best of' release. The album will also include "Mädchen aus dem All", the first song the band recorded in a studio.

On December 14, 2010 their 'Best of' was released. December 2 was the World Premiere of the video for "Hurricanes and Suns" on their Official Website. On April 28, 2011 they received the "Fan Army FTW" award at the MTV O Music Awards, the networks first online award show. A clip of Bill and Tom thanking their fans was played after the winner was announced.

Asian performances

Tokio Hotel performed their first concert in Asia (excluding their concert in Israel) at the Audi Showcase in Singapore, followed shortly by the TM Connects With Tokio Hotel event in Malaysia, promoting the sales of their album Humanoid. They concluded the series of mini-concerts with Taiwan. They returned to Malaysia a couple of months later to perform at MTV World Stage Live in Malaysia 2010. They performed in Tokyo on December 15, 2010, after their South American Tour concluded in Distrito Federal, Mexico on December 2, 2010. In February, 2011 Tokio Hotel travelled to Japan to complete a second promo tour. A number of TV appearances and media interviews took place between February 8 and February 11.

On June 24, 2011 Tokio Hotel performed in Japan at “The Next Premium Night Tokio Hotel in Tokyo". The event was presented by Audi A1 and 150 fans were chosen to win tickets to attend the show. The event was the bands first acoustic performance in Japan. On June 25, 2011 the band performed live at the MTV Video Music Aid Japan in Tokyo. The show, which was formerly called the Video Music Awards Japan, was used as a music benefit to raise money for the Japanese Red Cross in order to help those who were affected by the recent earthquake.

Modeling and commercials

On January 19, 2010, lead singer Bill Kaulitz teamed up with twins Dean and Dan Caten of DSquared to walk the runway at a fashion event in Milan. Kaulitz made two appearances, as he opened and closed DSquared's Menswear Autumn/Winter 2010 show to Tokio Hotel song "Screamin".

Car maker Audi hired the two frontmen to star in their new advertising campaign to attract the younger generation. They were featured in an episode of Tokio Hotel TV (on Tokio Hotel's website) and also in a commercial.

On August 4, 2010, Tom Kaulitz got his own Reebok shoe commercial. Reebok signed the 20-year-old Tokio Hotel guitarist and sneaker addict to model shoes for the company. "At home, I created a little room like a little storage room," he said of his sneakers. He also said that he gets 10 new pairs a week. That's 520 sneakers a year.

Band members

Bill Kaulitz

Bill Kaulitz was born on September 1, 1989, in Leipzig ten minutes after his identical twin brother, Tom.

Tom Kaulitz

Tom Kaulitz (born 1 September 1989 in Leipzig, German Democratic Republic) is a German guitarist singer, songwriter and model from Tokio Hotel. He is the twin brother of Bill Kaulitz, and Tom was born 10 minutes before Bill.

Early life

Tom Kaulitz was born 1 September 1989 in Leipzig. His parents, Simone and Jörg Kaulitz, separated when Kaulitz and his brother were seven years old.His mother began dating Gordon Trumper, and married him in August 2009. Tom's guitar playing and his brother's singing showed their natural aptitude for music, and gave an early indication of their possibility of fame. Trumper helped the twins to start their own band. He and Bill began writing music at the age of seven years old. Due to their great desire to create a band, his twin brother Bill entered and became renowned on the reality TV talent show "Star Search." They met Georg Listing (then 14) and Gustav Schäfer (then 13), in the audience of one of their shows. Listing and Schäfer were friends and after the show, having liked what they heard and saw, made an offer to join. The band was promptly re-named "Devilish" due to an article published at the time that referred to their "devilishly great"[citation needed] sound. This continued until 2005 when Jost arranged a meeting between the band and Universal Music Group's Interscope Records and Tokio Hotel was signed. They began working immediately, releasing their debut LP Schrei ("Scream") later that year. Their first single from the album Schrei was "Durch den Monsun" ("Through The Monsoon"), which reached #1 in Germany within a month of its release. He then continued his dream with 3 members of the group.

Stalking incident

More trouble came for Kaulitz when in late 2008/early 2009 several female stalkers pursued the band relentlessly, even following his twin brother Bill Kaulitz to his parents' home in Germany and attacked the twins' mother. The issue seemed to end after Tom allegedly hit one of the stalkers at a gas station in April 2009 and drove off. However, a recent article in Bild stated that the issue had resurfaced and that Tom Kaulitz may stand trial for assault. In late December 2009, the charges against Tom were lifted and he is pressing charges himself — against the girl he allegedly hit — on grounds of stalking.

Personal life

Tom Kaulitz and his identical twin brother, Bill, used to live in Hamburg but have recently moved to Los Angeles in response to an incident involving stalkers and a robbery. They have also stated that it is easier for them to work on their new album, as it is closer to their manager David Jost. They are currently living in Los Angeles but also have a second home in Hamburg. Tom and Bill, have modeled for a PETA.de photoshoot. He models for Reebok for sneakers and shoes. Tom is friends with Nicole Scherzinger. Tom prefers to listen to hip-hop music. His favorite rapper is Samy Deluxe. As of September 2007, Tom uses Gibson guitars and Mesa/Boogie Rectifier Heads with Mesa Boogie Rectifier 4x12 cabinets. Tom currently has his hair in cornrows, which he had done in early 2009. Tom had allegedly been dating Chantelle Paige after the stalker incident, but later it was said that they had been going out to better publicise Tom and his band, as well as Chantelle’s band, Flipsyde. In an interview with her, Chantelle had said : "I think Tom is quite nice, actually he is my dream boy. But my friends have warned me about him".

Georg Listing

Georg (Moritz Hagen) Listing was born on March 31, 1987. His hometown is Halle. He began playing bass when he was thirteen years old, He has said that his playing style was heavily influenced by Flea of Red Hot Chili Peppers, and other musical influences include Die Ärzte and Oasis.

Awards

Since the release of the "Durch den Monsun" single in 2005, Tokio Hotel have gone on to win 102 awards in various categories and countries.

;2005

! Category	!Award	! Date
Best Newcomer	Comet Awards (Germany)	October 6
Super Comet	Comet Awards (Germany)	October 6
Best Newcomer	Eins Live Krone	November 24
Best Pop National Act	Bambi Awards	December 1
Best Single	Golden Penguin (Austria)	...2005
Best Pop	Golden Penguin (Austria)	...2005
Rock Band 2005	Golden Penguin (Austria)	...2005

;2006

! Category	! Award	! Date
Album of the year	Golden Penguin (Austria)	February 8
Band of the year	Golden Penguin (Austria)	February 8
Song of the year – ‘Der Letzte Tag’	Golden Penguin (Austria)	February 8
Best Newcomer	Golden Penguin (Austria)	February 8
Ausverkaufte Tourhalle	Sold-out-Award of Königpilsener Arena	March 11
Best Newcomer		March 12
Best Newcomer	Steiger Awards	March 25
Pop National	Radio Regenbogen (Germany)	March 31
SuperBand Rock – Golden Otto	Bravo Otto	May 6
Music Award	Bild OSGAR	May 22
Best Newcomer International	Popcorn Awards (Hungary)	May 26
Best Newcomer	Bravo Otto (Hungary)	June 24
Best International Band	Bravo Otto (Hungary)	June 24
Best Newcomer Band	Popkomm Bavarian Music Lion	September 21
Best German Pop Band	Goldene Stimmgabel	September 24
Best Selling German Artist	World Music Awards	November 15
Best Pop National Act	Bambi Awards	November 30
Best Live Act	Eins Live Krone	December 7
Best Rock band	MTV France

;2007

! Category	! Award	! Date
Single of the Year – Durch Den Monsun	Golden Penguin
Best Selling German Act – Album Schrei	European Border Breakers Award	January 21
European Border Breakers Award	NRJ Awards	January 21
Rock Award	BZ-Kulturpreis	January 23
Best Video National	ECHO Awards (Germany)	March 25
SuperBand Rock – Golden otto	Bravo Otto	April 28
Best Video	Comet Awards (Germany)	May 3
Best Band	Comet Awards (Germany)	May 3
Supercomet	Comet Awards (Germany)	May 3
Best Band	Jabra Music	July 2007
Digital prize	Festivalbar (Italy)	September 7
Most Successful Group Rock International	Goldene Stimmgabel	September 22
Most Successful Popgroup International	Goldene Stimmgabel Awards	October 3
Best Album	TMF Awards (Belgium)	October 14
Best Video	TMF Awards (Belgium)	October 14
Best New Artist	TMF Awards (Belgium)	October 14
Best Pop	TMF Awards (Belgium)	October 14
Best International Act	MTV Europe Music Awards (Germany)	November 1
Best band of the Year	MTV Italy Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Award	December 1

;2008

! Category	! Award	! Date
Band of the Year 2007	Golden Penguin (Austria)	January
Best International Band	Rockbjörnen Award (Sweden)	January 24
Best Music National	Goldene Kamera (Germany)	February 6
Best Music Video	Echo Awards (Germany)	February 15
Best International Artist	Emma Gala Awards (Finland)	March 8
Best International Group	Disney Channel Kids Award (Italy)	March 28
Best Concert	Hitkrant (Netherlands)	May 2008
Best Mood Song – Monsoon	Hitkrant (Netherlands)	May 2008
Song that Satys in your Head – Monsoon	Hitkrant (Netherlands)	May 2008
Superband Rock – Silver Otto	Bravo Otto	May 3
Best Band	MTV TRL Awards (Italy)	May 17
Best Number 1 of the Year with Monsoon	MTV TRL Awards (Italy)	May 17
Best Band	Comet Awards (Germany)	May 23
Best Video – An Deiner Seite	Comet Awards (Germany)	May 23
Best Live Act	Comet Awards (Germany)	May 23
Super Comet	Comet Awards (Germany)	May 23
Best New Artist	MTV VMA Music Awards (USA)	September 7
Fan Choice Best Entrance	MTV VMA Music Awards (USA)	September 7
Best Male Artist International (Bill Kaulitz)	TMF Awards (Belgium)	October 11
Best Video International – Don't Jump	TMF Awards	MTV Europe Music Awards (Germany)	November 5
Best International Rock Band	Telehit Awards (Mexico)	November 12

;2010

! Category	!Award	! Date
Band of the Year	Golden Penguin (Austria)	January 29
Album of the Year	Golden Penguin (Austria)	January 29
Band of the Year	Bravoora Awards (Poland)	February 1
Best International Artist	Emma Gala Awards (Finland)	February 4
Walk of Fame	König-Pilsener Arena (Germany)	February 26
Best International Band	Radio Regenbogen Awards (Germany)	March 19
Favorite Music Star	Kids Choice Awards 2010 (Germany)	April 10
Best Live Act	Comet Awards (Germany)	May 21
Foreign Song of the Year - World Behind My Wall	Rockbjörnen Award (Sweden)	September 1
Concert of the Year	Rockbjörnen Award (Sweden)	September 1
Best World Stage Performance	MTV Europe Music Awards (Spain)	November 7
Best Band National	CMA Awards (Germany)	December 12
Best Single National - World Behind My Wall	CMA Awards (Germany)	December 12

;2011

! Category	!Award	! Date
Band of the Year	Bravoora Awards (Poland)	March
Star of the 20th Anniversary		March
Best Fan Army (Fan Army FTW)	MTV O Music Awards (USA)	April 28
Best Rock Video	MTV Video Music Awards Japan	July 2

References

External links

Official site

Official Youtube channel

Interscope records profile

Tokio Hotel on MTV

Category:German musical groups Category:German rock music groups Category:German pop music groups Category:German-language singers Category:English-language singers Category:People from Leipzig Category:Musical groups established in 2001 Category:Pop rock groups

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name	Neal Schon
background	non_vocal_instrumentalist
born	February 27, 1954Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma, USA
instrument	Guitar, vocals.
genre	Hard rock, instrumental rock, smooth jazz
associated acts	Journey, Santana, Bad English, Hear 'n Aid, Paul Rodgers, Schon & Hammer, HSAS, Planet Us, Soul SirkUS, Hardline, Abraxas Pool, Betty Davis
years active	1969–present
website	www.schonmusic.com
notable instruments	Signature Les PaulFender StratocasterSchon Guitars }}

Neal George Joseph Schon (born February 27, 1954, on Tinker Air Force Base near Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) is an American guitar virtuoso best known for his work with the band Journey and being invited to play in Santana and Derek and the Dominos. He is the only member of the band to play on all of their albums.

Biography

The son of a jazz saxophonist, Schon first picked up the guitar at the age of 5. A quick learner, he joined Santana as a teenage prodigy at the age of 15. He went to Aragon High School in San Mateo, but dropped out (with his parents' blessing) before graduating. Schon had famously been asked by Eric Clapton to join Derek and the Dominos, but since Santana called him first, he decided to join Santana for the album ''Santana III''. Schon also played in Azteca before moving on in 1973 to form Journey, a group he continues to lead today.

Schon's guitar style has been described as soulful, taking inspiration from 1960s-era soul singers such as Aretha Franklin and Gladys Knight, and blending it with blues runs similar to B. B. King.

In addition to his five solo albums and 14 studio albums with Journey, his work also includes: a pair of albums with keyboardist Jan Hammer, short-term collaborations with Sammy Hagar (HSAS and Planet Us) and Paul Rodgers, stints with Bad English (a supergroup that featured Journey’s Jonathan Cain and Deen Castronovo and Jonathan Cain's former Babys bandmates John Waite and Ricky Phillips) and Hardline (which also featured Deen Castronovo). Even as Journey’s latest lineup plays to a still-faithful body of fans, Schon has immersed himself in side projects such as ''Piranha Blues'' (1999) and "Black Soup Cracker" a funk outfit that features former Prince associates Rosie Gaines and Michael Bland, and more recently Soul SirkUS with Jeff Scott Soto.

Schon can be heard on other albums including three tracks on Michael Bolton's ''The Hunger'', with the Schon sound most recognizable on "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay". He also joined Larry Graham to play in an all-star band for cult funk artist and ex-wife of Miles Davis, Betty Davis. In addition, Schon (along with then Journey manager Herbie Herbert) also contributed to Lenny White's 1977 album "Big City". Specifically the instrumental jam "And we meet again".

Guitars

Schon's first guitar was an acoustic Stella, followed two years later by a Gibson ES-335 which was subsequently stolen and replaced with a '56 Les Paul Goldtop reissue that he used for many years. Schon currently endorses Gibson guitars, and has a limited edition signature Les Paul model entitled the "Neal Schon Signature Model Custom Les Paul", of which only 35 were made according to the Gibson Custom website, (80 according to Neal Schons website.) He has previously employed Godin guitars on his 1995 solo album ''Beyond the Thunder'', and more recently uses Paul Reed Smith guitars. In the late 1980s, Schon manufactured (through Jackson Guitars and later Larrivee) and played his own line of guitars. Simply named Schon, about 200 of the Jackson-produced models were made. A white Schon guitar can be clearly seen in the music video for the Journey song "Girl Can't Help It", as well as a gold version in the Journey videos for "I'll Be Alright Without You" and "Be Good to Yourself". A Gibson Les Paul Super Custom can be seen in the video for the Journey song "Anyway You Want It." He has also recently been seen using a Seven String Ibanez Universe a gift from Steve Vai as documented in the liner notes of the Hardline - Double Eclipse album. On the song Lights, he uses a Fender Stratocaster equipped with a Floyd Rose tremolo.

As of 2008, Schon currently prefers guitar pedals from Xotic, a Vox Satriani model and occasionally uses a Buddy Guy wah pedal.

Personal

Schon married Minnesota native Amber Kozan in 2001. Their daughter, Aja, was born on April 29, 2002. Neal also has three other children: Miles, who plays guitar in a band, along with two girls named Elizabeth and Sara. In a 2007 interview, Neal confirmed that he has had tinnitus for years stemming from excessive loud playing. Neal Schon's father, the late Matthew Schon, was a jazz musician and composer who provided the arrangements on the Journey song "Mother, Father."

Discography

Santana 3, Caravanserai, Santana and Buddy Miles Live, Luis Gasca "For Those Who Chant", Fillmore "the Last Days".

''Betty Davis'' – self-titled debut album

''Untold Passion'' – as Schon & Hammer (1981 in music)

''Here to Stay'' – as Schon & Hammer (1982)

HSAS (Hagar, Schon, Aaronson, Shrieve) "Through The Fire" 1984

''Hear 'n Aid'' (1985 in music)

''Late Nite'' (1989)

''Double Eclipse'' - with Hardline (1992)

''Beyond the Thunder'' (1995)

''Abraxas Pool'' (1997)

''Electric World'' (1997)

''Piranha Blues'' (1998)

''Neal Schon & Jan Hammer Collection: No More Lies'' (1998)

"O Come, O Come Emmanuel", featured on ''Merry Axemas, Vol. 2: More Guitars for Christmas'' (1998)

''Voice'' (2001)

''Dice With The Universe''---Band: Trichromes (2002) with Bill Kreutzman of Grateful Dead fame

''I on U'' (2005)

''World Play'' – Soul SirkUS (2005)

See the Journey discography for the complete list of Journey albums, as Schon played lead guitar for all of Journey's album releases.

References

External links

Neal Schon Official Site

Neal Schon Official MySpace Site

List of Authorized links from Neal's Official webpage

Neal Schon Biography

Category:1954 births Category:Living people Category:American rock guitarists Category:American rock musicians Category:People from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Category:Musicians from Oklahoma Category:Journey (band) members Category:Soul SirkUS members Category:Bad English members Category:Santana (band) members Category:Hardline members Category:Hagar Schon Aaronson Shrieve members Category:Planet Us members Category:Lead guitarists

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