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Minutes, also known as protocols, are the instant written record of a meeting or hearing. They typically describe the events of the meeting, starting with a list of attendees, a statement of the issues considered by the participants, and related responses or decisions for the issues.

Minutes may be created during the meeting by a typist or court recorder, who may use shorthand notation and then prepare the minutes and issue them to the participants afterwards. Alternatively, the meeting can be audiorecorded or a group's appointed or informally assigned Secretary may take notes, with minutes prepared later.

It is usually important for the minutes to be terse and only include a summary of discussion and decisions. A verbatim report is typically not useful. The minutes of certain groups, such as a corporate board of directors, must be kept on file and are important legal documents.

Public minutes[link]

Most public meetings and governmental hearings follow prescribed rules. Often speakers' words are recorded verbatim, or with only minor paraphrasing, so that every speaker's comments are included. This is generally required at public hearings that are called to address a particular issue, as distinct from other types of public meetings, which may not strictly required verbatim records of all comments made. Companies are generally required to keep minutes of the proceedings of: (a) general meetings, (b) meetings of Board of Directors and (c) meetings of committee of the Board of Directors.^{[citation needed]}

Format[link]

Generally, minutes begin with the name of the body (e.g. a committee) holding the meeting, place, date, list of people present, and the time that the chair called the meeting to order. The minutes then record what was actually said at the meeting, either in the order that it was actually said or in a more coherent order, regardless of whether the meeting follows any written agenda. A less-used format may record the events in the order they occur on the written agenda, regardless of the actual chronology.

Since the primary function of minutes is to record the decisions made, all official decisions must be included. If a formal motion is proposed, seconded, passed, or not, then this is recorded. The voting tally may also be included. The part of the minutes dealing with a routine motion might note merely that a particular motion was "moved by Ann and passed unanimously." It is not necessary to include the name of the person who seconds a motion. Where a tally is included, it is sufficient to record the number of people voting for and against a motion (or abstaining), but requests by participants to note their votes by name may be allowed. If a decision is made by roll call vote, then all of the individual votes are often recorded by name. If it is made by general consent without a formal vote, then this fact may be recorded. Tallies may be omitted in some cases (e.g. a minute might read "After voting, the Committee agreed to...").

Minutes typically include whether a report was presented, a legal issue was discussed (such as a potential conflict of interest), if a particular aspect of an issue was considered, or that a person arrived late (or left early) at a particular time. The minutes may end with a note of the time that the meeting was adjourned.

Minutes are sometimes submitted by the person who is responsible for them (often the Secretary - not the typist) at a subsequent meeting for review. The traditional closing phrase is "Respectfully submitted," (though this is no longer common) followed by the officer's signature, his or her typed (or printed) name, and his or her title.

If the members of the committee or group then agree that the written minutes reflect what happened at the meeting, then they are approved, and the fact of their approval is recorded in the minutes of the current meeting. If there are significant errors or omissions then the minutes will be redrafted and submitted again at a later date. Minor changes may be made immediately, and the amended minutes may be approved "as amended". It is normally appropriate to send a draft copy of the minutes to all the members in advance of the meeting so that the meeting is not delayed by a reading of the draft.

Minutes also record if a task has been assigned ("an action") and to the specific person responsible for completion. The deadline for the task may also be included in the minutes. Reviewing past actions is typically an important part of meeting agendas.

See also[link]

• Journal and gazette
• Robert's Rules of Order

References[link]

• Henry Campbell Black, Black's Law Dictionary, 6th Edition, entry on Minutes. West Publishing Company, St. Paul, Minnesota, 1991.

Alex Honnold (born August 17, 1985) is an American big wall free solo climber. He has broken a number of speed records, including a free climb of Salathé Wall, as well as a 5h49m aid solo ascent of the 2,900 feet (900 m) Nose of El Capitan, a route normally demanding two to four days.^[1]

Biography[link]

Honnold was born in Sacramento, California, and graduated from Mira Loma High School.^[2]

He started climbing when he was 11 years old. At the age of 18, he dropped out of UC Berkeley, where he was an engineering student, and devoted all his time to climbing. Between climbs, he runs or hikes to maintain fitness.^[3] Honnold lives out of his van, spending less than a thousand dollars per month, enabling him to follow the weather and climb all the time. ^[4]

Honnold prefers big walls and sport climbing, but enjoys any climb calling for extreme commitment, Yosemite being his favorite area because of its impressive walls and favorable weather.^[3]

Honnold is inspired by such noted climbers as Peter Croft, John Bachar and Tommy Caldwell, and even more so by the stark simplicity and beauty of El Capitan.^[3]

In 2010, Honnold was awarded the "Golden Piton" for his climbing achievements.^[5]

Journalist Lara Logan interviewed Honnold as part of CBS 60 Minutes program airing on October 2, 2011. ^[6]

In November 2011, Honnold and Hans Florine missed setting the world record time on the Nose route on Yosemite's El Capitan by 45 seconds with a time of 2:37.^[7]

Honnold is an avid reader, with interests in classic literature, environmentalism, and economics. When asked about his religious or spiritual views, he described himself as a "militant atheist." ^[8]

Selected notable climbs[link]

• Freerider in Yosemite Valley in one day in May 2007 when he was 21 years old.^[9]
• Bushido and Hong Kong Phooey, in Utah, between 9 and 11 March 2008.^[10]
• Free solo of Heaven (5.12d) and Cosmic Debris (5.13b) in Yosemite National Park^[11]
• Second ascent of Ambrosia ; repeat of Kevin Jorgeson's highball boulder problem Ambrosia (V11) in Bishop, California. ^[12]
• Free solo of The Phoenix, the USA's first 5.13a. ^[13]
• Free solo of Astroman and Rostrum in Yosemite Valley in one day in September 2007, becoming the second person after Peter Croft (1987) to do so. ^[14]
• Free solo of Zion's Moonlight Buttress on 1 April 2008. ^[15]
• Free solo of the Regular Northwest Face of Half Dome on 6 September 2008.^[16]
• Repeats of Parthian Shot, New Statesman, Meshuga (solo), an on-sight of Gaia (and subsequently repeated it solo), and an on-sight solo of London Wall during a trip to England at the end of 2008.^[17]

Notable Videos[link]

• The Ascent of Alex Honnold (video) by reporter Lara Logan on 60 Minutes
• Alone on the Wall (video) from National Geographic Adventures TV series First Ascent. Alex Honnold solos of Half Dome in Yosemite and the Moonlight Buttress in Zion
• Citibank ThankYou Card Commercial (video) from YouTube. Alex Honnold and Katie Brown climbing Fisher Towers near Moab, Utah

References[link]

External links[link]

• Onsight of Gaia video from YouTube
• Free Soloing Yosemite (video) from National Geographic
• No Strings Attached article from Outside Magazine

Robert Plant
Plant at Birmingham's Symphony Hall (2010)
Background information
Birth name	Robert Anthony Plant
Born	(1948-08-20) 20 August 1948 (age 63) West Bromwich, Staffordshire (now West Midlands), England
Genres	Rock, hard rock, heavy metal, blues rock, folk rock, world music, country rock
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, musician
Instruments	Vocals, harmonica, percussion, guitar, bass guitar
Years active	1966–present
Labels	Atlantic, Swan Song, Es Paranza, Sanctuary, Mercury, Universal, Rounder
Associated acts	Band of Joy, Led Zeppelin, The Honeydrippers, Page and Plant, Strange Sensation, Alison Krauss, The New Yardbirds
Website	Official website

Robert Anthony Plant, CBE (born 20 August 1948) is an English singer and songwriter best known as the vocalist and lyricist of the iconic rock band Led Zeppelin. He has also had a successful solo career. In 2007, Plant released Raising Sand, an album produced by T-Bone Burnett with American bluegrass soprano Alison Krauss, which won the 2009 Grammy Award for Album of the Year at the 51st Grammy Awards.^[1]

With a career spanning more than 40 years, Plant is regarded as one of the most significant singers in the history of rock music, and has influenced contemporaries and later singers such as Freddie Mercury and Axl Rose.^[2] In 2006, heavy metal magazine Hit Parader named Plant the "Greatest Metal Vocalist of All-Time".^[3] In 2009, Plant was voted "the greatest voice in rock" in a poll conducted by Planet Rock.^[4][5] In 2011, a Rolling Stone readers' pick placed Plant in first place of the magazine's "Best Lead Singers of All Time".^[6]

Life and career[link]

Early career[link]

Plant was born in the Black Country town of West Bromwich (then in Staffordshire now in West Midlands) to parents Robert C. who worked as a civil engineer^[7] and Annie C. (Cain) Plant, but grew up in Kidderminster, in Worcestershire. Plant gained an interest in singing and rock and roll music at an early age.

When I was a kid I used to hide behind the curtains at home at Christmas and I used to try and be Elvis. There was a certain ambience between the curtains and the French windows, there was a certain sound there for a ten year old. That was all the ambience I got at ten years old... I think! And I always wanted to be a curtain, a bit similar to that.^[8]

He left King Edward VI Grammar School for Boys in Stourbridge in his mid-teens and developed a strong passion for the blues, mainly through his admiration for Willie Dixon, Robert Johnson and early rendition of songs in this genre.

I suppose I was quite interested in my stamp collection and Romano-British history. I was a little grammar school boy and I could hear this kind of calling through the airwaves^[9]

He abandoned training as a chartered accountant after only two weeks to attend college in an effort to gain more GCE passes and to become part of the English Midlands blues scene.^[10][11] "I left home at 16", he said "and I started my real education musically, moving from group to group, furthering my knowledge of the blues and of other music which had weight and was worth listening to."^[12]

Plant's early blues influences included Johnson, Bukka White, Skip James, Jerry Miller, and Sleepy John Estes. Plant had various jobs while pursuing his music career, one of which was working for the major British construction company Wimpey in Birmingham in 1967 laying tarmac on roads. He also worked at Woolworths in Halesowen town for a short period of time. He cut three obscure singles on CBS Records^[13] and sang with a variety of bands, including The Crawling King Snakes, which brought him into contact with drummer John Bonham. They both went on to play in the Band of Joy, merging blues with newer psychedelic trends. Though his early career met with no commercial success, word quickly spread about the "young man with the powerful voice".

Led Zeppelin (1968–1980)[link]

Early years[link]

Plant with Led Zeppelin

In 1968, the guitarist Jimmy Page was in search of a lead singer for his new band and met Plant after being turned down by his first choice, Terry Reid, who referred him to a show at a teacher training college in Birmingham— where Plant was singing in a band named Hobbstweedle.^[14] Page explained:

When I auditioned him and heard him sing, I immediately thought there must be something wrong with him personality-wise or that he had to be impossible to work with, because I just could not understand why, after he told me he'd been singing for a few years already, he hadn't become a big name yet. So I had him down to my place for a little while, just to sort of check him out, and we got along great. No problems.^[15]

According to Plant:

I was appearing at this college when Peter and Jimmy turned up and asked me if I'd like to join The Yardbirds. I knew The Yardbirds had done a lot of work in America – which to me meant audiences who would want to know what I might have to offer – so naturally I was very interested.^[12]

derivative of Plant's feather sigil used in the Led Zeppelin IV album

Plant and Page immediately hit it off with a shared musical passion and began their writing collaboration with reworkings of earlier blues songs, although Plant would receive no songwriting credits on the band's first album, allegedly because he was still under contract to CBS Records at the time. Plant brought along John Bonham as drummer, and they were joined by John Paul Jones, who had previously worked with Page as a studio musician. Jones called Page on the phone before they checked out Plant, and Page hired Jones immediately.

Initially dubbed the "New Yardbirds" in 1968, the band soon came to be known as Led Zeppelin. The band's self-titled debut album hit the charts in 1969 and is widely credited as a catalyst for the heavy metal genre. Plant has commented that it is unfair for people to think of Zeppelin as heavy metal, as almost a third of their music was acoustic.^[16]

In 1975, Plant and his wife Maureen (now divorced) were seriously injured in a car crash in Rhodes, Greece. This significantly affected the production of Led Zeppelin's seventh album Presence for a few months while he recovered, and forced the band to cancel the remaining tour dates for the year.

In July 1977 his son Karac died aged five of a stomach infection while Plant was engaged on Led Zeppelin's concert tour of the United States. It was a devastating loss for the family. Plant retreated to his home in the Midlands and for months afterward he questioned his future.^[17] Karac's death later inspired him to write the song "All My Love" in tribute, featured on Led Zeppelin's final studio LP, 1979's In Through the Out Door.

Lyrics[link]

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Plant did not begin writing song lyrics with Led Zeppelin until the making of Led Zeppelin II, in 1969. According to Jimmy Page:

The most important thing about Led Zeppelin II is that up to that point I'd contributed lyrics. Robert hadn't written before, and it took a lot of ribbing to get him into writing, which was funny. And then, on the second LP, he wrote the words of Thank You. He said, "I'd like to have a crack at this and write it for my wife."^[18]

Plant's lyrics with Led Zeppelin were often mystical, philosophical and spiritual, alluding to events in classical and Norse mythology, such as "Immigrant Song", which refers to Valhalla and Viking conquests. However, the song "No Quarter" is often misunderstood to refer to the god Thor; the song actually refers to Mount Thor (which is named after the god). Another example is "The Rain Song".

Plant was also influenced by J. R. R. Tolkien, whose book series inspired lyrics in some early Led Zeppelin songs. Most notably "The Battle of Evermore", "Misty Mountain Hop", "No Quarter", "Ramble On" and "Over the Hills and Far Away" contain verses referencing Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. Conversely, Plant sometimes used more straightforward blues-based lyrics dealing primarily with sexual innuendo, as in "The Lemon Song", "Trampled Under Foot", and "Black Dog".

Welsh mythology also forms a basis of Plant's interest in mystical lyrics. He grew up close to the Welsh border and would often take summer trips to Snowdonia. Plant bought a Welsh sheep farm in 1973, and began taking Welsh lessons and looking into the mythology of the land (such as Black Book of Carmarthen, Book of Taliesin, etc.) Plant's first son, Karac, was named after the Welsh warrior Caratacus. The song "Bron-Y-Aur Stomp" is named after the 18th Century Welsh cottage Bron-Yr-Aur owned by a friend of his father; it later inspired the song "Bron-Yr-Aur". The songs "Misty Mountain Hop", "That's the Way", and early dabblings in what would become "Stairway to Heaven" were written in Wales and lyrically reflect Plant's mystical view of the land. Critic Steve Turner suggests that Plant's early and continued experiences in Wales served as the foundation for his broader interest in the mythologies he revisits in his lyrics (including those myth systems of Tolkien and the Norse).^[19]

The passion for diverse musical experiences drove Plant to explore Africa, specifically Marrakesh in Morocco where he encountered Umm Kulthum.

I was intrigued by the scales, initially, and obviously the vocal work. The way she sang, the way she could hold a note, you could feel the tension, you could tell that everybody, the whole orchestra, would hold a note until she wanted to change.^[20]

That musical inspiration eventually culminated in "Kashmir". Both he and Jimmy Page revisited these influences during their reunion album No Quarter: Jimmy Page and Robert Plant Unledded in 1994. In his solo career, Plant again tapped from these influences many times, most notably in the 2002 album, Dreamland.

Arguably one of Plant's most significant achievements with Led Zeppelin was his contribution to the track "Stairway to Heaven", an epic rock ballad featured on Led Zeppelin IV that drew influence from folk, blues, Celtic traditional music and hard rock among other genres. Most of the lyrics of the song were written spontaneously by Plant in 1970 at Headley Grange. While never released as a single, the song has topped charts as the greatest song of all time on various polls around the world.

Plant is also recognised for his lyrical improvisation in Led Zeppelin's live performances, often singing verses previously unheard on studio recordings. One of the most famous Led Zeppelin musical devices involves Plant's vocal mimicking of band mate Jimmy Page's guitar effects. This can be heard in the songs "How Many More Times", "Dazed and Confused", "The Lemon Song", "You Shook Me", "Nobody's Fault but Mine" and "Sick Again".

He is also known for his light-hearted, humorous, and unusual on-stage banter, often referred to as "plantations". Plant often discusses the origin and background of the songs during his shows, and sometimes provides social comment as well. He frequently talks about American blues musicians as his inspiration, mentioning artists like Robert Johnson, Howlin' Wolf, Blind Willie Johnson, and Willie Dixon at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony and the 2007 Ahmet Ertegün Tribute Concert with Led Zeppelin.

Stage persona[link]

Plant (left) with Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page performing live

Plant enjoyed great success with Led Zeppelin throughout the 1970s and developed a compelling image as the charismatic rock-and-roll front man, similar to his contemporary in The Who, singer Roger Daltrey (who adopted the look in the late 1960s), Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones, and his other fellow contemporary, Jim Morrison of The Doors.^[21] With his mane of long blond hair and powerful, bare-chested appearance, Plant helped to create the "god of rock and roll" or "rock god" archetype. On stage, Plant was particularly active in live performances, often dancing, jumping, skipping, snapping his fingers, clapping, making emphatic gestures to emphasise a lyric or cymbal crash, throwing back his head, or placing his hands on his hips. As the 1960s–1970s progressed he, along with the other members of Led Zeppelin, became increasingly flamboyant on-stage and wore more elaborate, colourful clothing and jewellery.

According to Classic Rock magazine, "once [Plant] had a couple of US tours under his belt, 'Percy' Plant swiftly developed a staggering degree of bravado and swagger that irrefutably enhanced Led Zeppelin's rapidly burgeoning appeal."^[12] In 1994, during his "Unledded" tour with Jimmy Page, Plant himself reflected tongue-in-cheek upon his Led Zeppelin showmanship:

I can't take my whole persona as a singer back then very seriously. It's not some great work of beauty and love to be a rock-and-roll singer. So I got a few moves from Elvis and one or two from Sonny Boy Williamson II and Howlin' Wolf and threw them all together.^[22]

One of the oddest awards he's received is the Rock Scene Magazine "Chest O Rama". Readers of the magazine had to decide who had the best chest in rock and Plant was the winner. When they contacted him about it, he replied: "I'm really greatly honoured although it's hard for me to be eloquent on the subject of my chest."^[23]

Solo career (since 1982)[link]

As a solo artist[link]

After the break-up of Led Zeppelin in 1980 (following the death of John Bonham), Plant pursued a successful solo career beginning with Pictures at Eleven in 1982, followed by 1983's The Principle of Moments. Popular tracks from this period include "Big Log" (a Top 20 hit in 1983), "In the Mood" (1983), "Little by Little" (from 1985's Shaken 'n' Stirred), "Far Post" (originally only on the B-side of "Burning Down One Side" but popularised by airplay on album-oriented rock stations), "Tall Cool One" (a No. 25 hit off 1988's Now and Zen) and "I Believe" (from 1993's Fate of Nations), another song written for and dedicated to his late son, Karac. In 1984, Plant formed a short-lived all-star group with Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck called The Honeydrippers, who had a No. 3 hit with a remake of the Phil Phillips' tune, "Sea of Love" and a followup hit with a cover of Roy Brown's "Rockin' at Midnight". Although Plant avoided performing Led Zeppelin songs through much of this period (he occasionally would improvise his unique Zeppelin screams into his set), his tours in 1983 (with drummer Phil Collins) and 1985 were very successful, often performing to sold-out arena-sized venues.

Through the 1980s and 1990s, Plant co-wrote three solo albums with keyboardist/songwriter Phil Johnstone. Now and Zen, Manic Nirvana, and Fate of Nations (featuring Moya Brennan of Clannad). It was Johnstone who talked Plant into playing Led Zeppelin songs in his live shows, something Plant had resisted, not wanting to be forever known as "the former Led Zeppelin vocalist."

Although Led Zeppelin split in 1980, Plant and Page occasionally collaborated on various projects, including The Honeydrippers: Volume One album in 1984. In the spring 2 years later Robert performed at the Birmingham Heart Beat Charity Concert 1986. The pair again worked together in the studio on the 1988 Page solo effort, Outrider, and in the same year Page contributed to Plant's album Now and Zen. Also, on 15 May 1988 Plant appeared with Page as a member of Led Zeppelin (and in his own right as a solo artist) at the Atlantic Records 40th Anniversary concert.

As Page and Plant (1994–1998)[link]

Page and Plant became a full-fledged performing act from 1994 through 1998, releasing the Unledded album in 1994 and following with an enormously successful tour in 1995: Fourteen years of speculation from their fans and occasional sniping between the two former members ended when Jimmy Page and Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin reconvened their former musical partnership to produce No Quarter. Having long resisted offers from MTV to reform to do an Unplugged show, they finally accepted as part of a deal that also allowed them to visit Morocco to record new material. The album combines the results of both of these projects. The Led Zeppelin material features new arrangements and new instrumentation, including strings, Egyptian musicians and the haunting vocals of British-Asian star Najma Akhtar. Page and Plant recorded their only post-Zeppelin album of original material on the 1998 album, Walking into Clarksdale, an effort that was unsuccessful commercially, leading Plant to return to his solo career. A song from this album, "Please Read the Letter", was re-recorded by Plant with Alison Krauss, winning the 2009 Grammy Award for Record of the Year.

With Priory of Brion (1999–2000)[link]

Starting in mid-1999, Plant performed until the end of 2000 at several small venues with his folk-rock band, named Priory of Brion.

In 1999, Plant contributed to the tribute album for Moby Grape co-founder Skip Spence, who was terminally ill. The album, More Oar: A Tribute to the Skip Spence Album (Birdman, 1999), with the album title referring to Spence's only solo album, Oar (Columbia, 1969), contained Plant's version of Spence's "Little Hands". Plant had been an admirer of Spence and Moby Grape since the release of Moby Grape's eponymous 1967 debut album.^[24]

In 2001, Plant appeared on Afro Celt Sound System's album Volume 3: Further in Time. The song "Life Begin Again" features a duet with Welsh folksinger Julie Murphy, emphasising Plant's recurring interest in Welsh culture (Murphy would also tour in support of Plant).

With The Strange Sensation (2001–2007)[link]

In 2002, with his then newly-formed band Strange Sensation, Plant released a widely acclaimed collection of mostly blues and folk remakes, Dreamland. Contrasting with this lush collection of often relatively obscure remakes, the second album with Strange Sensation, Mighty ReArranger (2005), contains new, original songs. Both have received some of the most favourable reviews of Plant's solo career and four Grammy nominations, two in 2003 and two in 2006.

Plant and the Strange Sensation at the Green Man Festival, 2007.

As a former member of Led Zeppelin, along with Page and John Paul Jones, Plant received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005 and the Polar Music Prize in 2006.

From 2001 to 2007, Plant actively toured the US & Europe with The Strange Sensation. His sets typically included recent, but not only, solo material and plenty of Led Zeppelin favourites, often with new and expanded arrangements. A DVD titled Soundstage: Robert Plant and the Strange Sensation, featuring his Soundstage performance (filmed at the Soundstage Studios in Chicago on 16 September 2005), was released in October 2006.

On 23 June 2006, Plant was the headliner (backed by Ian Hunter's band) at the Benefit For Arthur Lee concert at New York's Beacon Theatre, a show which raised money for Lee's medical expenses from his bout with leukaemia. Plant and band performed thirteen songs – five by Arthur Lee & Love, five Led Zeppelin songs and three others including a duet with Ian Hunter. At the show, Plant told the audience of his great admiration for Arthur Lee dating back to the mid-Sixties. Lee died of his illness six weeks after the concert.

An expansive box set of his solo work, Nine Lives, was released in November 2006, which expanded all of his albums with various b-sides, demos, and live cuts. It was accompanied by a DVD. All his solo works were re-released with these extra tracks individually.

In 2007, Plant contributed two tracks to the Fats Domino tribute album Goin' Home: A Tribute to Fats Domino, "It Keeps Rainin'" with the Lil' Band O' Gold and "Valley of Tears" with The Soweto Gospel Choir.

With Alison Krauss (2007–2008)[link]

Robert Plant on stage with Alison Krauss at Birmingham's NIA, 5 May 2008

From 2007–2008, Plant recorded and performed with bluegrass star Alison Krauss. A duet album, Raising Sand, was released on 23 October 2007 on Rounder Records. The album, recorded in Nashville and Los Angeles and produced by T-Bone Burnett, includes performances of lesser-known material from R&B, Blues, folk, and country songwriters including Mel Tillis, Townes Van Zandt, Gene Clark, Tom Waits, Doc Watson, Little Milton and The Everly Brothers. The song "Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On)" from Raising Sand won a Grammy for Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals in 2008. Raising Sand also won Album of the Year at the 51st Grammy Awards.^[25] The album has been successful critically and commercially, and was certified platinum on 4 March 2008.

Plant and Krauss began an extended tour of the US and Europe in April 2008, playing music from Raising Sand and other American roots music as well as reworked Led Zeppelin tunes. The album was nominated for the Mercury Prize in July 2008.^[26] Also in 2008, Plant performed with bluegrass musicians at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival. He appeared as a surprise guest during Fairport Convention's set at the 2008 Cropredy Festival, performing Led Zeppelin's "The Battle of Evermore" with Kristina Donahue as a tribute to Sandy Denny.

Plant performing with Alison Krauss at the 2008 Bonnaroo Music Festival in Manchester, TN, 2008.

On 8 February 2009, Plant and Krauss won Grammy Awards for Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Pop Collaboration with Vocals, Country Collaboration with Vocals, and Contemporary Folk/Americana Album.

In 2010, Plant realised a lifelong ambition by playing live at Molineux Stadium, home of the Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. Plant performed with the amateur cover band No Rezerve.^{[citation needed]}

With Band of Joy (2010)[link]

Plant with the Band of Joy at Birmingham Symphony Hall, 27 October 2010

In July 2010, Robert Plant embarked on a twelve-date summer tour in the United States with a new group called Band of Joy (reprising the name of his very first band in the 1960s). The group includes singer Patty Griffin, singer-guitarist Buddy Miller, multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Darrell Scott, bassist-vocalist Byron House, and drummer-percussionist-vocalist Marco Giovino.

After a unique show in the United States on 12 September 2010 at the Bowery Ballroom in New York, another eleven-date autumn tour in Europe was announced to last from October to November 2010.^[27] North America tour dates were announced 16 November 2010, with the first show being 18 January 2011 in Asheville, North Carolina.^[28]

A new studio album called Band of Joy was released on 13 September 2010 on the Rounder Records label.^[29]

The band played their final scheduled show together at the Big Chill Festival at Eastnor Castle Deer Park in Herefordshire on 7 August 2011. The show ended with Plant bidding his bandmates "a fond farewell".^[30]

On 30 September 2011, Plant and Band of Joy played in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, as part of the 11th Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival.^[31]

With Sensational Space Shifters (2012)[link]

It was first reported that Robert Plant's new vehicle, The Sensational Space Shifters, would be debuting at 2012's WOMAD festival in Wiltshire, England. An intimate warm up gig was then announced in Gloucester on 8 May to a crowd of 400. Although it was initially reported that there were 10 members of the band, along with Plant the band consists of former Strange Sensation members, Cast guitarist Liam "Skin" Tyson, Justin Adams, Billy Fuller and John Baggot along with Dave Smith, Juldeh Camara and Patty Griffin^[32]. In addition to Womad and the Gloucester show, the Sensational Space Shifters are scheduled for the Sunflower River Blues and Gospel Festival in Clarksdale, Mississippi on August 10-12.^{[33][34][35][36][37]}

Led Zeppelin-related projects and reunion rumours[link]

Plant on stage with Jimmy Page in 2007.

Plant performed with living members of Led Zeppelin both on 13 July 1985 for Live Aid (with Phil Collins and Tony Thompson on drums) and on 15 May 1988 for Atlantic Records 40th Anniversary. At the 1988 reunion, Jason Bonham, the son of Led Zeppelin's late drummer John Bonham, played drums. Both sets featured only a few songs, performed with minimal rehearsal. Plant was unhappy with both performances, saying that "it was like sleeping with your ex-wife but not making love." At the 1990 Silver Clef Award Winners Concert at Knebworth, Plant was joined by Jimmy Page. Some of their set was released on the subsequent live album and video. In 1995, Led Zeppelin were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and Plant performed at the induction show with Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, Jason Bonham, Neil Young, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, performing spirited versions of "Bring It On Home", "Honeybee", and "When the Levee Breaks".

After years of reunion rumours, Led Zeppelin performed a full two-hour set on 10 December 2007 at the Ahmet Ertegün Tribute Concert, with Jason again filling in on drums. Despite enormous public demand, Plant declined a $200 million offer to tour with Led Zeppelin after the 2007 show.^[38] In interviews following the 2007 show, Plant left the door open to possible future performances with Led Zeppelin, saying that he enjoyed the reunion and felt that the show was strong musically.^[39] Although Page, Jones, and Bonham have expressed the strong desire to tour as Led Zeppelin,^[40] Plant has consistently opposed a full tour and has responded negatively to questions about another reunion. In a January, 2008 interview, he stated that he does not want to "tour like a bunch of bored old men following the Rolling Stones around." In a statement on his web site in late 2008, Plant stated, "I will not be touring with Led Zeppelin or anyone else for the next two years. Anyone buying Led Zeppelin tickets will be buying bogus tickets."

Personal life[link]

Robert Plant married Maureen Wilson on 9 November 1968. The couple had three children: daughter Carmen Jane (1968) (married to Charlie Jones, Plant's bass player for solo tours); and sons Karac Pendragon (1972–1977) (died of a virus; the reason Led Zeppelin's 1977 North American Tour was cut short), and Logan Romero (1979). The couple divorced in August 1983. Also, Plant has a younger son, Jesse Lee (1991), the son of Shirley Wilson, sister of Maureen.

On 14 August 2009, it was announced via the Wolverhampton Wanderers text message news service that "Rock Legend and lifelong Wolves fan Robert Plant is to become the club's third Vice President." Plant officially received the honour before kick off at the club's first match of the season against West Ham.^[41] Plant was five years old when he first visited Molineux. He recalled in an interview with his local paper, the Express & Star, in August 2010: "I was five when my dad took me down for the first time and Billy Wright waved at me. Honest, he did. And that was it – I was hooked from that moment.^[42]

According to The Sunday Times Rich List Plant is worth £80 million as of 2009.^[43]

In late 2010 on BBC2, a documentary featured Robert Plant discussing his journey with Led Zeppelin and various projects since.

Legacy[link]

Robert Plant is one of the most significant singers in rock music and has influenced the style of many of his contemporaries, including Geddy Lee, Ann Wilson,^[44] Sammy Hagar,^[45] and later rock vocalists such as Jeff Buckley and Jack White who imitated his performing style extensively. Freddie Mercury of Queen, and Axl Rose of Guns N' Roses were also influenced by Plant.^[2] Encyclopædia Britannica notes "Exaggerating the vocal style and expressive palette of blues singers such as Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters, [Robert] Plant created the sound that has defined much hard rock and heavy metal singing: a high range, an abundance of distortion, loud volume, and emotional excess".^[46] Plant received the Knebworth Silver Clef Award in 1990.^[47]

In 2006, heavy metal magazine Hit Parader named Plant No. 1 on their list of the 100 Greatest Metal Vocalists of All-Time, a list which included Rob Halford (2), Steven Tyler (3), Freddie Mercury (6), Geddy Lee (13), and Paul Stanley (18), all of whom were influenced by Plant.^[3] In 2008, Rolling Stone named Plant as number 15 on their list of the 100 Greatest Singers of All-Time.^[2] In 2009, he was voted the "greatest voice in rock" in a poll conducted by Planet Rock.^[4][5] Plant was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2009 New Year Honours for his "services to popular music".^[48][49] He was included in the Q magazine's 2009 list of "Artists Of The Century" and was ranked at number 8 in their list of "100 Greatest Singers" in 2007.^[50][51] In 2009, Plant also won the Outstanding Contribution to Music prize at the Q Awards.^[52] He was placed at no. 3 on SPIN's list of "The 50 Greatest Rock Frontmen of All Time".^[53]

On 20 September 2010 National Public Radio (NPR) named Plant as one of the "50 Great Voices" in the world.^[54]

Solo discography[link]

Led Zeppelin portal

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Robert Plant

• Led Zeppelin Official Site
• Official Robert Plant Homepage
• Robert Plant and Alison Krauss Official Site

Tina Fey
Fey at the premiere of Baby Mama in 2008.
Born	Elizabeth Stamatina Fey (1970-05-18) May 18, 1970 (age 42) Upper Darby Township, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Education	University of Virginia (BA)
Occupation	Actress, comedian, writer, producer
Years active	1994–present
Spouse	Jeff Richmond (2001–present)
Children	Alice Zenobia Richmond (b. 2005) Penelope Athena Richmond (b. 2011)
Signature	150px

Elizabeth Stamatina "Tina" Fey ( /ˈfeɪ/; born May 18, 1970)^[1] is an American actress, comedian, writer and producer, known for her work on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live (SNL), the NBC comedy series 30 Rock, and films such as Mean Girls (2004) and Baby Mama (2008).

Fey first broke into comedy as a featured player in the Chicago-based improvisational comedy group The Second City. She then joined SNL as a writer, later becoming head writer and a performer, known for her position as co-anchor in the Weekend Update segment. In 2004 she adapted the screenplay Mean Girls in which she also co-starred. After leaving SNL in 2006, she created the television series 30 Rock, a situation comedy loosely based on her experiences at SNL. In the series, Fey portrays the head writer of a fictional sketch comedy series. In 2008, she starred in the comedy film Baby Mama, alongside former SNL co-star Amy Poehler. Fey next appeared in the 2010 comedy films Date Night and Megamind.

She has received seven Emmy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, four Screen Actors Guild Awards, four Writers Guild of America Awards and has been nominated for a Grammy Award for her autobiographical book Bossypants, which topped the The New York Times Best Seller list for five weeks. She was singled out as the performer who had the greatest impact on culture and entertainment in 2008 by the Associated Press, which gave her its AP Entertainer of the Year award for her satirical portrayal of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin in a guest appearance on SNL.^[2] In 2010, Fey was the recipient of the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, the youngest-ever winner of the award.^[3]

Early life[link]

Fey was born in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania – a township just west of Philadelphia. Her mother, Zenobia "Jeanne" (née Xenakes),^[4][5] is a brokerage employee of Greek descent,^[6] and her father, Donald Fey, is a university grant-proposal writer of half German and half Scottish descent.^[4][7][8] She has a brother, who is eight years older, named Peter.^[4][9]

Fey was exposed to comedy early. She has recalled:

I remember my parents sneaking me in to see Young Frankenstein. We would also watch Saturday Night Live, or Monty Python, or old Marx Brothers movies. My dad would let us stay up late to watch The Honeymooners. We were not allowed to watch The Flintstones though: my dad hated it because it ripped off The Honeymooners.^[10] I actually have a very low level of Flintstones knowledge for someone my age.^[11]

She also grew up watching Second City Television (SCTV), and has cited Catherine O'Hara as a role model.^[12]

Fey attended Cardington Elementary School and Beverly Hills Middle School in Upper Darby.^[13] By middle school, she knew she was interested in comedy, doing an independent-study project on the subject in eighth grade.^[10] Fey attended Upper Darby High School, where she was an honor student,^[14] a member of the choir, drama club, and tennis team, and co-editor of the school's newspaper.^[14][15] She also anonymously wrote the newspaper's satirical column, The Acorn.^[16] Following her graduation in 1988,^[13][17] Fey enrolled at the University of Virginia, where she studied playwriting and acting.^[18] She graduated in 1992 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in drama.^[19]

Career[link]

[edit] Saturday Night Live (1997–2006)

While performing shows with The Second City in 1997, Fey submitted several scripts to NBC's variety show Saturday Night Live (SNL), at the request of its head writer Adam McKay, a former performer at Second City.^[6] She was hired as a writer^[20] for SNL following a meeting with SNL creator Lorne Michaels, and moved to New York.^[21] Fey told The New Yorker, "I’d had my eye on the show forever, the way other kids have their eye on Derek Jeter."^[6] Originally, Fey "struggled" at SNL.^[21] Her first sketch to air starred Chris Farley in a Sally Jessy Raphael satire.^[21] Fey went on to write a series of parodies, including one of ABC's morning talk show The View.^[22] She co-wrote the "Sully and Denise" sketches with Rachel Dratch,^[21] who plays one of the teens.^[22]

Fey played an extra in one of the episodes in 1998,^[23] and after watching herself, decided to diet^[24] and lost 30 pounds. She told The New York Times, "I was a completely normal weight. But I was here in New York City, I had money and I couldn't buy any clothes. After I lost weight, there was interest in putting me on camera."^[25] In 1999, McKay stepped down as head writer, which led Michaels to approach Fey for the position.^[21] She became SNL's first female head writer, a milestone she downplays.^[26]

In 2000, Fey began performing in sketches,^[6] and she and Jimmy Fallon became co-anchors of SNL's Weekend Update segment.^[27] Fey said she did not ask to audition, but that Michaels approached her.^[24][28] Michaels explained that there was "chemistry" between Fey and Fallon.^[28] Michaels, however, revealed that choosing Fey was "kind of risky" at the time.^[29] Her role in Weekend Update was well-received by critics. Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly wrote: "...Fey delivers such blow darts – poison filled jokes written in long, precisely parsed sentences unprecedented in Update history – with such a bright, sunny countenance makes her all the more devilishly delightful."^[30] Dennis Miller, a former cast member of SNL and anchor of Weekend Update, was pleased with Fey as one of the anchors for the segment: "...Fey might be the best Weekend Update anchor who ever did it. She writes the funniest jokes".^[31] Robert Bianco of USA Today, however, commented that he was "not enamored" of the pairing.^[32]

In 2001, Fey and the writing staff won a Writers Guild of America Award for SNL's 25th anniversary special.^[6] The following year at the 2002 Emmy Awards ceremony, she and the writing team won the Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Program.^[33]

The pairing of Fey and Fallon ended in May 2004 when Fallon last appeared as a cast member.^[34] He was replaced by Amy Poehler.^[35] It was the first time that two women co-anchored Weekend Update.^[36] Fey revealed that she "hired" Poehler as her co-host for the segment.^[37] The reception to the teaming of Fey and Poehler was positive, with Rachel Sklar of the Chicago Tribune noting that the pairing "has been a hilarious, pitch-perfect success as they play off each other with quick one-liners and deadpan delivery".^[35]

The 2005–2006 season was her last; she thereafter departed to develop 30 Rock.^[38]

[edit] 30 Rock (2006–present)

Fey filming an episode of 30 Rock at Rockefeller Center in October 2007.^[39]

In 2002, Fey suggested a pilot episode for a situation comedy about a cable news network to NBC, who rejected it. The pilot was reworked to revolve around an SNL style series, and was accepted by NBC.^[40] She signed a contract with NBC in May 2003, which allowed her to remain in her SNL head writer position at least through the 2004–2005 television season. As part of the contract, Fey was to develop a primetime project to be produced by Broadway Video and NBC Universal.^[41] She began developing the pilot project under the working title Untitled Tina Fey Project.^[42] The pilot, directed by Adam Bernstein,^[43] centered on the head writer of a variety show and how she managed her relationships with the show's volatile star and its executive producer.^[44] In October 2006, the pilot aired on NBC as 30 Rock. Although the episode received generally favorable reviews,^[45] it finished third in its timeslot.^[46]

The network renewed the series for a second season, which began in October 2007.^[47] The show's third season premiered on October 30, 2008. The premiere episode set records for the highest ratings of the series.^[48] In January 2009, NBC renewed 30 Rock for the 2009–2010 season.^[49]

In 2007, Fey received an Emmy Award^[50] nomination for Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series.^[51] The show itself won the 2007 Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series.^[52] In 2008, she won the Golden Globe,^[53] Screen Actors Guild,^[54] and Emmy awards all in the category for Best Actress in a Comedy Series.^[55] The following year, Fey again won the Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award in the same categories,^[53][56] and was nominated for an Emmy Award.^[57] In early 2010, Fey received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress,^[58] and won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Lead Actress.^[59] 30 Rock was renewed for the 2010–2011 season in March 2010.^[60] It will return for the 2011–2012 season, though due to Fey's pregnancy with her second child, the season premiere will be delayed until midseason.^[61] Fey once mentioned that her performance on the show is inspired by Julia Louis Dreyfus,^[62] and later used Dreyfus to play the stand-in for the character of Liz Lemon in flashback scenes during the live episode of the fifth season.

Feature films[link]

In 2002, Fey appeared in the surreal comedy Martin & Orloff.^[63] She made her debut as writer and co-star of the 2004 teen comedy Mean Girls. Characters and behaviors in the movie are based on Fey's high school life at Upper Darby High School^[64] and on the non-fiction book Queen Bees and Wannabes by Rosalind Wiseman.^[65] The cast includes other past cast members of SNL including Tim Meadows, Ana Gasteyer, and Amy Poehler. The film received favorable reviews,^[66] and was a box office success, grossing US$129 million worldwide.^[67]