A Tock board during gameplay.

Tock is a board game, similar to Ludo or Sorry!, in which players race their four tokens around the game board from start to finish—the objective being to be the first to take all of one's tokens "home". Like Sorry!, it is played with cards rather than dice.

Overview[link]

Tock is a Cross and Circle game in the style of Pachisi, an Indian game played since the first millennium BC. Its exact source is unclear, but it probably began as a variant of Ludo, a board game which appeared in England in 1896.

Variations[link]

Some versions of the game use pawns or "men"; other versions use marbles instead, which advance on a wooden board with circular indentations in it to hold the marbles. While the game is designed on the basis of two^{[citation needed]} French decks of cards with jokers, there are some versions that come with cards specially made for the game that depict the actions they allow.

Rules Overview[link]

At the beginning of each round players are dealt a number of cards which they play in turns to move their tokens around the board. While most cards provide only a single specific number of fields to move forward, some cards have special functions. If at any time a token lands exactly on the field occupied by another token then the moved token replaces the resting one (which is placed back into the corresponding player's starting area). If a player has no cards he can execute with his tokens on his turn then he must discard his entire remaining hand and wait for the next hand to be dealt.

Card Functions[link]

Most cards allow the player to move one of his tokens forward for a number of fields corresponding to the card's face value. Some cards however have special functions:

• Ace — Can be used as 1, or to move a pawn from the starting area onto the starting field.
• 4 — Move four fields backward.
• 7 — Make 7 individual moves of one field. These moves can be freely distributed among all of his tokens.
• Jack — Make a move of 11 fields or may swap one of his own tokens with any other token on the circle track.
• Queen — Make a move of 12 fields.
• King — Allows either a move of 13 fields, eliminating any token in his path or to move a pawn from the starting area to the starting field.

Team Variants[link]

Aside from a "Free for all" play style the game also supports a variety of team based modes. Common to all team based variations is that once a team member has managed to bring all of his tokens home he helps move his partners' tokens. Also after every hand is dealt the team members exchange one card with each other.

• Two versus two players standard - Players on opposite sides of the board team up.
• Three versus three players - On a six player board the teams' players are placed in alternating order around the board. Each team member exchanges card with every other team member when a new hand is dealt.
• Two versus two players extended - On a six player board each team will receive an additional common color of tokens. They teams are placed like in a 3 vs 3 game. Each player may move with his own or the common color.
• Two vs. Two vs. Two players - Players on opposite sides of the board team up. This variant is more "cutthroat" than the other team based variants because there are more hostile turns than friendly turns in every round.

See also[link]

Other cross and circle games

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Tock

• Tock Rules
• Tock Board for 4 Players

This board game-related article or section is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Terrence Thornton (born May 14, 1977)^[1] better known by his stage name Pusha T is an American recording artist, occasional actor and one half of the critically acclaimed hip hop duo Clipse. Along with No Malice, his brother and fellow member of Clipse, he released the album Hell Hath No Fury, which was praised by critics, many of whom consider it to be a cornerstone in Hip-Hop and one of the best rap albums ever made. He is also the co-founder and co-chief executive officer (CEO) of Re-Up Records along with his aforementioned brother. In September 2010 he announced his signing to Kanye West's GOOD Music label and on March 21, 2011, released his first solo project, a mixtape titled Fear of God.^[2][3]

Biography[link]

1977-2009: Early life and career beginnings[link]

Pusha T was born Terrence Thornton on May 13, 1977, in The Bronx borough of New York City. Thornton and his family soon relocated to Virginia Beach, Virginia, where he and his brother, Gene 'No Malice' Thornton, grew up. In 1992 Terrence and his brother Gene formed the duo now internationally known as Clipse. With help from Pharell Williams the group eventually signed to Elektra Records in 1997 and released Exclusive Audio Footage, their only album under that label. Of the two brothers, Terrence was more open to features, appearing on Kelis' 1999 single "Good Stuff" and Nivea's 2001 single "Run Away (I Wanna Be with U)", respectively. In 2004, he and his brother launched their record label, Re-Up Records and formed hip hop group Re-Up Gang along with rappers Ab-Liva and Sandman. After four albums as the Clipse, under various record labels both Malice and Pusha T announced that they were taking time off from the duo to focus on their own respective solo projects.^[4]

[edit] 2010-2011: Solo career, GOOD Music and Fear of God

Following his signing to GOOD Music in September 2010, Thornton was featured on a number of fellow label mates' projects such as Kanye West's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy appearing on his hit "Runaway" and premiering the song with him at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards on September 12, 2010. He was also featured on many G.O.O.D. Friday tracks along with appearing on Swizz Beatz's "Bang Bang" for his Monster Mondays series, Lloyd Banks' H.F.M. 2 (Hunger for More 2) and tabi Bonney's Fresh respectively. On the week of December 16, 2010, Thornton signed exclusively with NUE Agency.^[5]

On February 11th, 2011 Funkmaster Flex debuted Thornton's first solo offering on New York City's Hot 97.^[6] The track, titled "My God", was produced by Hit-Boy and was generally well received by the public. Soon after, the song leaked onto the internet but was not officially released through iTunes and Amazon until August 24th, 2011.^[7] On March 21, 2011 Thornton released his first solo project, a mixtape titled Fear of God to critical acclaim. Soon after he began working on his EP Fear of God II: Let Us Pray, which initially included four songs from the mixtape and five original ones. The EP was originally set to released on June 21st, 2011,^[8] it was than pushed back to August 23rd, and for a while September 27th, 2011 was believed to be the date, however on October 6th, 2011 Thornton announced the EP is set to drop November 8th. In addition it was revealed he added four more songs to the EP making it twelve tracks rather than just the nine tracks that were previously announced.^[9] On July 8th, 2011, the first single off Fear of God II: Let Us Pray leaked onto the internet. The song, titled "Trouble on My Mind" features Odd Future frontman, Tyler, The Creator. The second single, "Amen" was released September 13th, 2011. The song, originally meant for Young Jeezy, was produced by Shawty Redd and features verses from Kanye West and Young Jeezy respectively. After the EP's release on November 8th, the project debuted at number sixty-six on the Billboard 200 with 8,900 copies sold in its first week released.^[10][11] It also entered at number ten on Billboard's R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, at number eight on Billboard's Top Rap Albums, and at number twenty-five on its Digital Albums chart. ^[12][13] In 2011 Thornton appeared on the second season of the HBO series How to Make It in America.^[14] He played the role of a henchman for Urban Caribbean League.

He is currently working on his solo debut album, yet to be titled, which is being executive produced by Kanye West and includes production from The Neptunes, Bangladesh, Ryan Leslie and Alex da Kid.^[15][16][17] Thornton has stated that after his solo album and the Re-Up Gang mixtape, Long Live the Cane, he and his brother Malice will release another album as the Clipse.^[18][19] On August 31st, 2011 it was announced Thornton signed a solo record deal with Def Jam.^[20] English pop singer Pixie Lott released "What Do You Take Me For?", the second single off her second studio album Young Foolish Happy which featured Pusha T.^[21] The song was a hit single in the U.K., peaking at number ten on the charts.

2012-present: GOOD Music Compilation and Solo Album[link]

On October 19, 2011, Kanye West announced on his Twitter plans for a Spring 2012 GOOD Music album release.^[22] On April 6, 2012, "Mercy", the lead single from the GOOD Music compilation album, Cruel Summer, was released.^[23] The song, produced by newly-signed in-house producer Lifted, features Pusha T along with Kanye West, Big Sean and southern rapper 2 Chainz.^[24] On May 24, Pusha released a diss track, "Exodus 23:1". It is speculated that the track was aimed at Drake, or Young Money in general. Lil Wayne responded with a diss track "Ghoulish", which debuted on Funkmaster Flex's show.

Controversy[link]

Consequence[link]

After releasing "My God", the first offering off his solo mixtape, former GOOD Music label mate Consequence took to Twitter and claimed Pusha T stole his flow and lyrics from a song of his that Pusha T was supposed to appear on titled "The Last Supper".^[25][26] On July 22, 2011 Consequence released a song titled "The Plagurist Society" where he takes shots and questions Pusha T’s coke-dealing raps. Towards the end of the record the Queens native promises to take aim at Kanye West next saying "You're nothing but a body shield, for that coward from the mid-west/ so yes you can bet, that your boss is next". Pusha T responded to the diss when he appeared on Chicago’s 107.5 WGCI’s The Morning Riot and said nobody is looking for Consequence, as for if he will respond on a record he went on to say "At the end of the day I am an artist and this whole rap thing is fun to me, so I can't say you won't hear nothing, but to go back and forth with him, it's not right, I won't get anything out of it."^[27] Later that day, Consequence called in to Chicago’s WGCI’s The Morning Riot in retaliation to the remarks Pusha T made about him. He also premiered a song titled "Everybody Told Me 2 (Straighten It Out)" where he disses West, Pusha T and GOOD Music in general.^[28][29] Since then Pusha T has responded to Consequence on a record. The song was the remix to Ace Hood's "Go 'N' Get It" which also featured Beanie Sigel, Busta Rhymes and Styles P. In the song Pusha raps "Consequence, nigga, talk is cheap You don't want a problem? Off the beef Before I off his ass with his awful teeth". On August 19, Consequence released Movies on Demand 3 and continued to diss his former label and Pusha T on songs such as "Career Killer" and "Mr.RapFix (Hot Water)". On September 15, 2011 Consequence appeared on MTV's Rap Fix and announced his feud with Kanye West and GOOD Music are over.^[30] While out in Chicago in October 2011, Pusha T appeared on WGCI radio for a second time, and confirmed that the "beef" was indeed over, that it had died out and they have moved on.^[31]

Drake & Lil Wayne[link]

Pusha T released a track titled "Exodus 23:1" as part of GOOD Music's GOOD Fridays dissing Drake and Lil' Wayne. Lil' Wayne responded on Twitter and later recorded a diss "Goulish".

Discography[link]

Albums

• TBA (2012)

Extended plays

• Fear of God II: Let Us Pray (2011)

References[link]

Joell Ortiz (born July 6, 1978) is an American independent rapper from Brooklyn, New York, and a member of the group Slaughterhouse.

Biography[link]

Joell Ortiz was born to Puerto Rican parents. Ortiz grew up in the Cooper Park Houses in the East Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, New York, formerly signed to Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment record label. He was featured in the Unsigned Hype column of the March 2004 issue of The Source Magazine and was also selected as Chairman's Choice in XXL Magazine. During the same time Joell also went on to win the 2004 EA Sports Battle which earned his song Mean Business a spot on the NBA Live 2005 soundtrack. The same year he was offered a contract to Jermaine Dupri's So So Def label. The deal quickly went sour which caused Joell to start beef with Jermaine. Joell has since collaborated with KRS-One and Kool G. Rap. Joell released his street album called "The Brick: Bodega Chronicles" April 24, 2007, on Koch Records. The album was recorded while Joell was trying to get signed and going through some tough times personally. Even though he was signed to Aftermath Entertainment, Dr. Dre allowed him to release the street album on Koch Records. The Brick features productions from Showbiz, The Alchemist, Domingo, Ho Chi from Killahertz Productions, Lil' Fame of M.O.P., Novel, and Moss, among others. Guest spots include Big Daddy Kane, Styles P, Big Noyd, M.O.P, Akon, Immortal Technique, Grafh, Ras Kass, Stimuli, and Novel. Joell Ortiz is 1/4 of supergroup Slaughterhouse who released their highly anticipated Slaughterhouse EP on February 8, 2011. The group are also releasing their highly anticipated second studio album "Welcome To: Our House" in late June.

Music career[link]

The Brick (Bodega Chronicles)[link]

Though signed to Aftermath, Ortiz released an album titled The Brick (Bodega Chronicles) April 24, 2007 on Koch Records.^[1] The Brick features production by Showbiz, Street Radio, and The Alchemist, among others. Guest artists include rappers Big Daddy Kane, Styles P, Big Noyd, Akon, Immortal Technique, Grafh, and Ras Kass.^[2][3]

Ortiz performing in Amager Bio, Denmark in 2007.

Departure from Aftermath and joining Slaughterhouse[link]

Ortiz parted ways with Aftermath Entertainment on April 15, 2008.^[4]

Joe Budden reached out to Crooked I, Royce Da 5'9", Joell Ortiz, and Nino Bless for a track titled "Slaughterhouse" on his digital release, Halfway House.^[5] Based on the reception of the track, they decided to form a super-group, minus Nino Bless, and named it after the first song they made together.^[5] They released numerous songs throughout early 2009, building a buzz for their self-titled album which was released through E1 on August 11, 2009.^[6] The album features production from Alchemist, DJ Khalil, Mr. Porter, Streetrunner, plus guest appearances from Pharoahe Monch, K-Young, and The New Royales.^[7] In 2010 the group signed to Shady Records and left E1 Entertainment.^[8]

A remix of Joell Ortiz' "Hip Hop" featuring Jadakiss and Saigon appeared on a fictitious urban radio station in the popular video game GTA IV.

[edit] Free Agent and new labelr

Ortiz started to have problems with E1 Entertainment and after almost a year, Ortiz left the label on November 5, 2010.^[9][10] In August 2010 Ortiz was in talks, about signing a deal with Steve Rifkind's label SRC Records. However the deal was never finished.

In an October 31, 2010, interview on Conspiracy Worldwide Radio, Ortiz discussed his relationship with Eminem and the flood of record labels that have flocked to sign him after his Free Agent album is released. He also spoke of Eminem's excitement at working with him.^[11]

In 2011, Ortiz became an unsigned independent artist, after failing to sign with SRC Records.

During Slaughterhouse 2012 tour, the group stopped in Las Vegas, Nevada at Bootleg Kev's radio show, where they talked about their upcoming album Welcome to: Our House, their work with Eminem, and was revealed that Ortiz is now signed to Shady Records as a solo act.^[12]

Controversy[link]

Following the release of his 2011 song "Big Pun Back", Ortiz received criticism from Liza Rios (Pun's widow) along with Tony Sunshine and Cuban Link of Terror Squad, claiming the song was "disrespectful" to the late rapper's memory. Ortiz claims the song was meant to be a tribute, and later Fat Joe spoke up in his defense.^[13]

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link] Year Title Peak chart positions US US R&B US Rap US Heat US Ind 2007 The Brick: Bodega Chronicles Released: April 24, 2007 Label: E1 Music — 49 23 16 40 2011 Free Agent Released: February 22, 2011 Label: E1 Music 173 33 15 2 22 2012 Yaowa[14] Released: TBA, 2012 Label: E1 Music TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA EP's[link] 2010: Farewell Summer EP Collaboration albums[link] 2009: Slaughterhouse (with Slaughterhouse) 2011: Slaughterhouse EP (with Slaughterhouse) 2012: Welcome to: Our House (with Slaughterhouse) Mixtapes[link] 2007: Who The F*@k Is Joell Ortiz? (Hosted Big Mike) 2009: Joell Ortiz Covers the Classics 2009: Road Kill 2010: Defying The Predictable (with Novel) 2010: Me, Myself, & I 2010: Pre-Agent 2010: Project Boy 2010: Me, Myself & I (Part 2) 2011: Me, Myself & I (Part 3) TBA: The Life and Times of Sebastian Rios Singles[link] Year Song Chart positions Album U.S. U.S. R&B U.S. Rap 2007 "Hip Hop" — — — The Brick: Bodega Chronicles 2010 "Call Me (She Said)" (featuring Novel) — — — Free Agent 2011 "So Hard" (featuring Ana Yvette) — — — Featured Singles[link] Year Song Chart positions Album U.S. U.S. R&B U.S. Rap 2011 "We Keep It Rockin" (Maino featuring Swizz Beatz, Jim Jones, Jadakiss & Joell Ortiz) — — — The Day After Tomorrow 2011 "Currency" (Emcee Composition featuring Joell Ortiz) — — — Garden Statements 2012 "Venomous Ink Emcees" (J1Three featuring Joell Ortiz & Canibus) — — — TBD References[link] ^ XXL Magazine. Joell Ortiz: A Hip-Hop Happy Ending by Brandon Edwards. November 2007 ^ "News - "Joell Ortiz Set to Release The Brick"". Hiphopgame.com. http://www.hiphopgame.com/news.php3?id=1469. Retrieved 2010-11-11.  ^ AftermathMusic.com News - "JOELL TO RELEASE "THE BRICK" // Jan 16, 2007[dead link] ^ "[News] Joell Ortiz Speaks On Leaving Aftermath". Defsounds.com. 2008-01-31. http://www.defsounds.com/news/Joell_ortiz_speaks_on_leaving_aftermath. Retrieved 2010-11-11.  ^ a b "FEATURE: Crooked I, The Freestyler[Definitive Dozen". Xxlmag.Com. 2009-08-14. http://www.xxlmag.com/online/?p=53509. Retrieved 2012-03-30.  ^ Jeffries, David (2009-08-11). "Slaughterhouse - Slaughterhouse". AllMusic. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r1596722. Retrieved 2010-11-11.  ^ Kuperstein, Slava (2009-08-10). "Slaughterhouse - self-titled | Read Hip Hop Reviews, Rap Reviews & Hip Hop Album Reviews". HipHopDX. http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/reviews/id.1237/title.slaughterhouse-self-titled. Retrieved 2010-11-11.  ^ G5 (2010-04-28). "Slaughterhouse Signs To Shady Records | HipHop-N-More". Hiphop-n-more.com. http://hiphop-n-more.com/2010/04/slaughterhouse-signs-to-shady-records/. Retrieved 2010-11-11.  ^ Joell Ortiz Leaves E1 « Thomas' Official Blog (2010-11-05). "Joell Ortiz Leaves E1 | HipHop-N-More". Hiphop-n-more.com. http://hiphop-n-more.com/2010/11/joell-ortiz-leaves-e1/. Retrieved 2010-11-11.  ^ Langhorne, Cyrus (2010-03-23). "Joell Ortiz Disses Slaughterhouse's Record Label, "E1 Is F*cking C*ckblocking Us From Doing Something Monumental"". Sohh.Com. http://www.sohh.com/2010/03/joell_ortiz_disses_slaughterhouses_recor.html. Retrieved 2010-11-11.  ^ October 30, 2010 07:34 AM PDT (2010-10-30). "Joell Ortiz discusses Eminem Oct 31st Uncensored Radio Interview". Conspiracyworldwide.podomatic.com. http://conspiracyworldwide.podomatic.com/entry/index/2010-10-30T08_58_34-07_00/. Retrieved 2010-11-11.  ^ http://rapradar.com/2012/04/18/bootleg-kev-interviews-slaughterhouse/ ^ Horowitz, Stephen. "Joell Ortiz Addresses "Big Pun's Back" Controversy". Blog Article. Hip Hop Dx. http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/news/id.15550/title.joell-ortiz-addresses-big-puns-back-controversy. Retrieved 2011-10-19.  ^ Joell Ortiz Shares His Tips For Success, Talks "Yaowa" Album HipHopDX. External links[link] Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Joell Ortiz Official website Champmag.com v t e Joell Ortiz Studio albums The Brick: Bodega Chronicles Free Agent Collaborations Slaughterhouse Slaughterhouse EP Extended plays Farewell Summer EP Mixtapes Who The F*@k Is Joell Ortiz? Covers The Classics Road Kill Defying The Predictable Pre-Agent Singles "Hip Hop" "Call Me (She Said)" "So Hard" Related articles Slaughterhouse Shady Records v t e Slaughterhouse Crooked I Joe Budden Joell Ortiz Royce da 5'9" Studio albums Slaughterhouse Welcome to: Our House Extended plays Slaughterhouse EP Singles "The One" "Microphone" "Hammer Dance" "My Life" Crooked I albums Hood Star Joe Budden albums Joe Budden Padded Room The Great Escape Joell Ortiz albums The Brick: Bodega Chronicles Free Agent Royce da 5'9" albums Rock City Death Is Certain Independent's Day Street Hop Success Is Certain Related articles Shady Records v t e Aftermath Entertainment Founder Dr. Dre Current artists Eminem 50 Cent Slim the Mobster Kendrick Lamar Black Hippy Former artists Bishop Lamont Busta Rhymes Eve Game Hittman King Tee Joell Ortiz Marsha Ambrosius Raekwon Rakim RBX Stat Quo The Firm The Last Emperor Truth Hurts Related articles Interscope Records Persondata Name Ortiz, Joell Alternative names Short description Date of birth July 6, 1978 Place of birth Date of death Place of death

Andrew Garcia
Andrew Garcia in July 2010.
Background information
Birth name	Andrew Adrian Garcia
Born	(1985-10-18) October 18, 1985 (age 26)
Origin	Moreno Valley, California, United States
Genres	Pop, R&B
Occupations	Singer
Instruments	Vocals, guitar
Years active	2010–present
Associated acts	Yesterday, Today, Forever
Website	http://teamandrewgarcia.com

Andrew Adrian Garcia (born October 18, 1985)^[1] is an American singer from Moreno Valley, California who was the ninth place finalist on the ninth season of American Idol.

Personal life[link]

Garcia was born to Mexican parents. He also has an older brother. Garcia's fiancée, Christine Concepcion, is a popular artist on YouTube. Garcia has a son, Caeland, with her. Garcia has a tattoo of his son's name on the right side of his neck, a tattoo of an "A" on his wrist, a rose on his front left arm, and a pair of Christine's lips in red on the left side of his neck.

[edit] American Idol

Garcia auditioned for the ninth season in Pasadena, California. He sang "Sunday Morning" by Maroon 5 and was praised by all the judges, notably Simon Cowell, who called him a "genuinely good singer," as well as guest judge Katy Perry. He later appeared in Hollywood, where he sang Paula Abdul's song "Straight Up" and since has been particularly known for that performance.^[2]

He performed "Sugar, We’re Going Down", but according to the judges, did not come up to par with the musicality of "Straight Up", resulting in all four judges calling it "strange" commenting on his past "Straight Up" and urging him to return to the originality of the performance. Lee Dewyze and Andrew have become best friends over the show as told by Lee in his performance of Hey Jude

Garcia was eliminated on April 14, 2010 along with Katie Stevens. He was eliminated first, near the beginning of the show.

Performances/Results[link]

• ^Note 1 When Ryan Seacrest announced the results for this particular night, Garcia was among the Bottom 3 but declared safe second, as Michael Lynche was saved from elimination by the judges.
• ^Note 2 Due to the judges using their one save to save Michael Lynche, the Top 9 remained intact for another week.

[edit] Post-Idol

Garcia was featured in the American Idols LIVE! Tour 2010, where he sang "Straight Up" by Paula Abdul and "Sunday Morning" by Maroon 5.

Garcia released his first single "Crazy" on June 7, 2011.^[3]

In 2011, Garcia began performing with Yesterday, Today, Forever, a musical and comedy performing group.^[4] The group performed their first concert on October 9, 2011 in Honolulu, Hawaii.^[5]

In 2012, Garcia began appearing in Nigahiga videos.^{[citation needed]}

References[link]

External links[link]

• Andrew Garcia on Twitter
• Andrew Garcia at American Idol

Hans Zimmer
Hans Zimmer receiving his star at the Hollywood Walk of Fame (2010)
Background information
Birth name	Hans Florian Zimmer
Born	(1957-09-12) 12 September 1957 (age 54) Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Genres	Film score, Video game score
Occupations	Film composer, Video game composer, Music producer
Instruments	Piano, Keyboard, MIDI Master Keyboard, Synthesizer, Guitar
Years active	1977–present
Labels	Remote Control Productions
Website	hanszimmer.com

Hans Florian Zimmer, German pronunciation: [hans ˈfloːʁi̯aːn ˈtsɪmɐ]; (born 12 September 1957) is a German film composer and music producer. He has composed music for over 100 films, including award winning film scores for The Lion King (1994), Crimson Tide (1995), Gladiator (2000), The Last Samurai (2003),The Dark Knight (2008), and Inception (2010).

Zimmer spent the early part of his career in the United Kingdom before moving to the United States. He is the head of the film music division at DreamWorks studios, and works with other composers through the company which he founded, Remote Control Productions.^[1]

Zimmer's works are notable for integrating electronic music sounds with traditional orchestral arrangements. He has received four Grammy Awards, two Golden Globes, a Classical BRIT Award, and an Academy Award. He was also named on the list of Top 100 Living Geniuses, published by The Daily Telegraph.^[2]

Early life[link]

Zimmer was born in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. As a young child, he lived in Königstein-Falkenstein, where he played the piano at home, but had piano lessons only briefly as he disliked the discipline of formal lessons.^[3] He moved to London as a teenager, where he attended Hurtwood House school.^[4] In an interview with the German television station ZDF in 2006, he commented: "My father died when I was just a child, and I escaped somehow into the music and music has been my best friend."^[5]

Early career[link]

Zimmer began his career playing keyboards and synthesizers. He worked with The Buggles, a New Wave band formed in 1977 with Trevor Horn, Geoff Downes, and Bruce Woolley. Zimmer can be seen briefly in The Buggles' music video for the 1979 song "Video Killed the Radio Star".^[6] After working with The Buggles, he started to work for the Italian group Krisma, a New Wave band formed in 1976 with Maurizio Arcieri and Christina Moser. He was a featured synthesist for Krisma’s third album, Cathode Mamma. He has also worked with the band Helden (with Warren Cann from Ultravox).^[7] Both Zimmer (on keyboards) and Cann (on drums), were invited to be part of the Spanish group Mecano for a live performance in Segovia (Spain) in 1984. Two songs from this concert were included in the "Mecano: En Concierto" album released in 1985 only in Spain. In 1980 Zimmer co-produced a single, "The History Of The World Part 1," with, and for, UK Punk band The Damned, which was also included on their 1980 LP release, "The Black Album," and carried the description of his efforts as "Over-Produced by Hans Zimmer."

While living in London, Zimmer wrote advertising jingles for Air-Edel Associates.^[7] In the 1980s, Zimmer partnered with Stanley Myers, a prolific film composer who wrote the scores for over sixty films. Zimmer and Myers co–founded the London–based Lillie Yard recording studio. Together, Myers and Zimmer worked on fusing the traditional orchestral sound with electronic instruments.^[8] Some of the films on which Zimmer and Myers worked are Moonlighting (1982), Success is the Best Revenge (1984), Insignificance (1985), and My Beautiful Launderette (1985). Zimmer's first solo score was Terminal Exposure for director Nico Mastorakis in 1987, for which he also wrote the songs. Zimmer acted as score producer for the 1987 film The Last Emperor, which won the Academy Award for Best Original Score.^[7]

One of Zimmer's most durable works from his time in the United Kingdom is the theme song for the television game show Going for Gold, which he composed with Sandy McClelland in 1987. In an interview with the BBC, Zimmer said: "Going For Gold was a lot of fun. It's the sort of stuff you do when you don't have a career yet. God, I just felt so lucky because this thing paid my rent for the longest time."^[9]

Hollywood film scoring[link]

A turning point in Zimmer's career occurred with the 1988 film Rain Man.^[8] Hollywood director Barry Levinson was looking for someone to score Rain Man, and his wife heard the soundtrack CD of the anti-Apartheid drama A World Apart, for which Zimmer had composed the music. Levinson was impressed by Zimmer's work, and hired him to score Rain Man.^[10] In the score, Zimmer uses synthesizers (mostly a Fairlight CMI) mixed with steel drums. Zimmer explained that "It was a road movie, and road movies usually have jangly guitars or a bunch of strings. I kept thinking don't be bigger than the characters. Try to keep it contained. The Raymond character doesn't actually know where he is. The world is so different to him. He might as well be on Mars. So, why don't we just invent our own world music for a world that doesn't really exist?".^[11] Zimmer’s score for Rain Man was nominated for an Academy Award in 1989, and the film won four Academy Awards including Best Picture.^[12]

A year after Rain Man, Zimmer was asked to compose the score for Bruce Beresford's Driving Miss Daisy which, like Rain Man, won an Academy Award for Best Picture. Driving Miss Daisy’s instrumentation consisted entirely of synthesizers and samplers, played by Zimmer. According to an interview with Sound On Sound magazine in 2002, the piano sounds heard within the score come from the Roland MKS–20, a rackmount synthesizer. Zimmer joked: "It didn't sound anything like a piano, but it behaved like a piano."^[13]

1991's Thelma & Louise soundtrack by Zimmer featured the trademark slide guitar performance by Pete Haycock on the "Thunderbird" theme in the film. As a teenager, Zimmer was a fan of Haycock, and their collaboration on film scores includes K2 and Drop Zone.^[14]

For the 1992 film The Power of One, Zimmer traveled to Africa in order to use African choirs and drums in the recording of the score. On the strength of this work, Disney Animation Studios approached Zimmer to compose the score for the 1994 film The Lion King. This was to be his first score for an animated film. Zimmer said that he had wanted to go to South Africa to record parts of the soundtrack, but was unable to visit the country as he had a police record there "for doing 'subversive' movies" after his work on The Power of One. Disney studio bosses expressed fears that Zimmer would be killed if he went to South Africa, so the recording of the choirs was organized during a visit by Lebo M.^[15] Zimmer won numerous awards for his work on The Lion King, including an Academy Award for Best Original Score, a Golden Globe, and two Grammys. In 1997, the score was adapted into a Broadway musical version which won the Tony Award for Best Musical in 1998.^[16][17] As of April 2012^[update], the musical version of The Lion King is the highest grossing Broadway show of all time, having grossed $853.8 million.^[18]

	Crimson Tide - "Roll Tide" noicon A clip from the score of the 1995 film Crimson Tide.
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Zimmer's score for Crimson Tide (1995) won a Grammy Award for the main theme, which makes heavy use of synthesizers in place of traditional orchestral instruments. For The Thin Red Line (1998), Zimmer said that the director Terrence Malick wanted the music before he started filming, so he recorded six and a half hours of music.^[11] Zimmer's next project was The Prince of Egypt (1998), which was produced by DreamWorks Animation. He introduced Ofra Haza, an Israeli Yemenite singer, to the directors, and they thought she was so beautiful that they designed one of the characters in the film to look like her.^[11]

Work: 2000–present[link]

	Gladiator - "Battle" noicon A clip from the score of the 2000 film Gladiator.
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In the 2000s, Zimmer has composed scores for Hollywood blockbuster films including Gladiator (2000), Black Hawk Down and Hannibal (2001), The Last Samurai (2003), The Da Vinci Code (2006) The Simpsons Movie (2007), Angels and Demons (2009) and Sherlock Holmes (2009). While writing the score for The Last Samurai, Zimmer felt that his knowledge of Japanese music was extremely limited. He began doing extensive research, but the more he studied, the less he felt he knew. Finally, Zimmer took what he had written to Japan for feedback and was shocked when he was asked how he knew so much about Japanese music.^[11]

During the scoring of The Last Samurai in early 2003, Zimmer was approached by the producer Jerry Bruckheimer, with whom he had worked previously on Crimson Tide, The Rock and Pearl Harbor. Bruckheimer had finished shooting Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, but was unhappy with the music composed for the film by Alan Silvestri and wanted a replacement score.^[19] Bruckheimer wanted Zimmer to rescore the film, but due to his commitments on The Last Samurai, the task of composing and supervising music for Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl was given to Klaus Badelt, one of Zimmer's colleagues at Media Ventures. Zimmer provided some themes that were used in the film, although he is not credited on screen.^[20][21] Zimmer was hired as the composer for the three subsequent films in the series, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006), Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007), and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011), collaborating with Rodrigo y Gabriela.^[22]

For the 2009 film Sherlock Holmes, "The Daily Variety" reported that Zimmer purchased an out-of-tune piano for 200 dollars and used it throughout the scoring process because of its "quirkiness".^[23]

Hans Zimmer in 2008

Zimmer is also noted for his work on the scores of Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins (2005) and The Dark Knight (2008), on which he collaborated with James Newton Howard.^[9] The scores for these films were disqualified from receiving Academy Award nominations for Best Original Score due to too many composers being listed on the cue sheet.^[24] Zimmer succeeded in reversing the decision not to nominate The Dark Knight in December 2008, arguing that the process of creating a modern film score was collaborative, and that it was important to credit a range of people who had played a part in its production.^[25] Zimmer explained his approach to scoring with other musicians in an interview with Soundtrack.net in 2006:

	Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard - "Now We Are Free" noicon A clip from the score of the 2000 film Gladiator.
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"Originally I had this idea that it should be possible to create some kind of community around this kind of work, and I think by muddying the titles - not having "you are the composer, you are the arranger, you are the orchestrator" - it just sort of helped us to work more collaboratively. It wasn't that important to me that I had "score by Hans Zimmer" and took sole credit on these things. It's like Gladiator: I gave Lisa Gerrard the co-credit because, even though she didn't write the main theme, her presence and contributions were very influential. She was more than just a soloist, and this is why I have such a problem with specific credits."^[26]

Zimmer is also composing the score for The Dark Knight Rises, the final installment of Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy. The film is scheduled for release in July 2012.^[27]

Zimmer works with other composers through his company Remote Control Productions, formerly known as Media Ventures. His studio in Santa Monica, California has an extensive range of computer equipment and keyboards, allowing demo versions of film scores to be created quickly.^[28] His colleagues at the studio have included Harry Gregson-Williams, James Dooley, Geoff Zanelli, Henning Lohner, Steve Jablonsky, Mark Mancina, John Van Tongeren, John Powell and Thomas J. Bergersen.

In October 2000, Zimmer performed live in concert for the first time with an orchestra and choir at the 27th Annual Flanders International Film Festival in Ghent.^[29] He has received a range of honors and awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award in film Composition from the National Board of Review, the Frederick Loewe Award in 2003 at the Palm Springs International Film Festival, ASCAP’s Henry Mancini Award for Lifetime Achievement, and BMI's Richard Kirk Award for lifetime achievement in 1996. Recent work includes the Spanish language film Casi Divas,^[30] Sherlock Holmes, The Burning Plain (2009), and Inception (2010). He composed the theme for the television boxing series The Contender, and worked with Lorne Balfe on the music for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, which was his first video game project.^[31] Zimmer also collaborated with composers Borislav Slavov and Tilman Sillescu to create the score for the video game Crysis 2.^[32]

In December 2010, Zimmer received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He dedicated the award to his publicist and long term friend Ronni Chasen, who was shot dead in Beverly Hills the previous month.^[33]

Zimmer composed and produced the music for the 84th Academy Awards with Pharrell Williams of The Neptunes.^[34]

Zimmer lives in Los Angeles with his wife Suzanne, and has four children.^[35][36]

Discography and awards[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

	Book: Hans Zimmer
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