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8 Canada Square
8 Canada Square (also known as HSBC Group Head Office, or HSBC Tower) is a skyscraper located at Canary Wharf in London Docklands, Borough of Tower Hamlets. The building serves as the global headquarters for the HSBC Group, the world's largest company by the Forbes Global 2000 in 2008 and houses around 8,000 staff.
The tower was designed by Sir Norman Foster's team of architects. Construction began in 1999 and was completed in 2002. There are 45 floors in the 200 metres (656 ft) high tower, the joint fourth tallest in the United Kingdom with the Citigroup Centre.
With the movement of HSBC Group's headquarters from Hong Kong to London in 1993, the firm decided that having thousands of employees scattered across the City of London was not an ideal situation. Between 1995 and 1997 a number of proposals were considered, including the redevelopment of the previous Group Head Office at 10 Lower Thames Street, London, however the DS-2 plot at Canary Wharf was chosen for the location and space available.
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Admiralty Arch
Admiralty Arch is a large office building in London which incorporates an archway providing road and pedestrian access between The Mall, which extends to the South-West, and Trafalgar Square to the North-East. It was designed by Sir Aston Webb, constructed by John Mowlem & Co and completed in 1912. It adjoins the Old Admiralty Building, hence the name.
The building was commissioned by King Edward VII in memory of his mother Queen Victoria, although he did not live to see its completion. A Latin inscription along the top reads:
(In the tenth year of King Edward VII, to Queen Victoria, from most grateful citizens, 1910)
The sculptural figures of Navigation and Gunnery were designed by the English sculptor Thomas Brock.
Admiralty Arch is a Grade I listed building. In 2000, the Cabinet Office moved into offices in the building, while maintaining its headquarters on Whitehall. It was also home to the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit and the Social Exclusion Task Force. In 2011, as part of the government's austerity programme, the building became vacant and was put up for sale for a reported 75 million pounds.
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Albert Memorial
The Albert Memorial is situated in Kensington Gardens, London, England, directly to the north of the Royal Albert Hall. It was commissioned by Queen Victoria in memory of her beloved husband, Prince Albert who died of typhoid in 1861. The memorial was designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott in the Gothic Revival style. Opened in July 1872 by Queen Victoria, with the statue of Albert ceremonially "seated" in 1875, the memorial consists of an ornate canopy or pavilion, in the style of a Gothic ciborium over the high altar of a church, containing a statue of the prince facing south. The memorial is 176 feet (54 m) tall, took over ten years to complete, and cost £120,000 (the equivalent of about £10,000,000 in 2010). The cost was met by public subscription.
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Alhambra Theatre
The Alhambra' was a popular theatre and music hall located on the east side of Leicester Square, in the West End of London. It was built originally as The Royal Panopticon of Science and Arts [1] opening on 18 March 1854. It was closed after two years and reopened as the Alhambra. The building was demolished in 1936. The name was also adopted by many other British music hall theatres located elsewhere; in Bradford, in Hull and in Glasgow etc. The name comes from association with the Moorish splendour of the Alhambra palace in Granada.
The Alhambra was originally known as The Royal Panopticon and was a landmark building at 23–27 Leicester Square, completed in 1854 by T. Hayter Lewis as a venue for showcasing the finest in the arts and for scientific demonstrations and popular education. This lasted for two years, and then the decision to add a circus ring was taken. When it reopened on 3 April 1858 it was renamed The Alhambra.
The 1858 building conversion to the Alhambra Circus, was also by T. Hayter Lewis. It had a 104 feet (31.7 m) frontage and was very tall for the time. It was built in a Moorish style, with lavish fenestration, two towers and a dome, similar to the eponymous Bradford theatre in architectural style. It was a complete contrast with the neighbouring buildings. Inside there was a central rotunda 94 feet (29 m) in diameter and 94 feet (29 m) high. There was a secondary entrance to the rear on Charing Cross Road.
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ArcelorMittal Orbit
The ArcelorMittal Orbit is a 115-metre-high (377 ft) observation tower in the Olympic Park in Stratford, London. The steel sculpture is Britain's largest piece of public art, and is intended to be a permanent, lasting legacy of London's hosting of the 2012 Summer Olympics, assisting in the post-Olympics regeneration of the Stratford area. Sited between the Olympic Stadium and the Aquatics Centre, it allows visitors to view the whole Olympic Park from two observation platforms.
Orbit was designed by Anish Kapoor and Cecil Balmond. Announced on 31 March 2010, the tower was expected to be completed by December 2011, though like many projects on the Olympic Park, that date was pushed back. The project came about after Mayor of London Boris Johnson and Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell decided in 2008 that the Olympic Park needed "something extra". Designers were asked for ideas for an "Olympic tower" at least 100 metres (330 ft) high, and Orbit was the unanimous choice from various proposals considered by a nine-person advisory panel.
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Baker Street
Baker Street is a street in the Marylebone district of the City of Westminster in London. It is named after builder William Baker, who laid the street out in the 18th century. The street is most famous for its connection to the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes, who lives at a fictional 221B Baker Street address. The area was originally high class residential, but now is mainly occupied by commercial premises.
Baker St is a busy thoroughfare, lying in postcode areas NW1/W1 and forming part of the A41 there. It runs south from Regent's Park, the intersection with Park Road, parallel to Gloucester Place, intersecting Marylebone Road, Portman Square and Wigmore Street. At the intersection with Wigmore St, Baker St turns into Orchard Street, which ends when it intersects with Oxford Street. After Portman Square the road continues as Orchard Street. Selfridges, a landmark department store is on the corner of Orchard Street and Oxford Street.
The street is served by the London Underground by Baker Street tube station, one of the world's oldest surviving underground stations. Next door is Transport for London's lost property office.
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Barbican Estate
The Barbican Estate is a residential estate built during the 1960s and the 1970s in the City of London, in an area once devastated by World War II bombings and today densely populated by financial institutions. It contains, or is adjacent to, the Barbican Arts Centre, the Museum of London, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, the Barbican public library, the City of London School for Girls and a YMCA, forming the Barbican Complex. The complex is a prominent example of British brutalist architecture and, with the exception of Milton Court (which contained a fire station, medical facilities and some flats and which was demolished to allow the construction of a new apartment complex which also contains additional facilities for the Guildhall School of Music and Drama), is Grade II listed as a whole.
During World War II, the City suffered serious damage and loss of life. The Cripplegate area was virtually demolished and by 1951 the resident population of the City stood at 5,324 of whom 48 lived in Cripplegate. Discussions began in 1952 about the future of the site, and the decision to build new residential properties was taken by the Court of Common Council on 19 September 1957.
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Battersea Park
Battersea Park is a 200 acre (83-hectare) green space at Battersea in the London Borough of Wandsworth in England. It is situated on the south bank of the River Thames opposite Chelsea, and was opened in 1858.
The park occupies a mix of marshland reclaimed from the Thames, and land formerly used for market gardens that served the London population.
Prior to 1846 the area now covered by the park was known as Battersea fields, and was once a popular spot for duelling. On March 21, 1829, the Duke of Wellington and the Earl of Winchilsea met on Battersea fields to settle a matter of honour. When it came time to fire, the Duke deliberately aimed his duelling pistol wide and Winchilsea fired his into the air. Winchilsea later wrote the Duke a groveling apology.
Separated from the river by a narrow raised causeway, the fields consisted of low, but fertile, marshes intersected by streams and ditches where the chief crops were carrots, melons, lavender (all the way up to Lavender Hill) and the famous ‘Battersea Bunches’ of asparagus. These crops served the London markets.
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Bond Street
Bond Street is a major shopping street in the West End of London that runs north-south through Mayfair between Oxford Street and Piccadilly. It has been a fashionable shopping street since the 18th century and is currently the home of many high price fashion shops. The southern section is known as Old Bond Street, and the northern section, which is rather more than half the total length, is known as New Bond Street. This distinction, however, is not generally made in everyday usage. It is one of the most expensive strips of real estate in the world.
Bond Street takes its name from Sir Thomas Bond, the head of a syndicate of developers who purchased a Piccadilly mansion called Clarendon House from Christopher Monck, 2nd Duke of Albemarle in 1683 and proceeded to demolish the house and develop the area. They also built nearby Dover Street and Albemarle Street. At that time the house backed onto open fields and the development of the various estates in Mayfair was just getting underway. It moved predominantly from south to north, which accounts for the southern part of the street being "Old" Bond Street, and the Northern half being "New" Bond Street, the latter being added in a second phase as London continued to grow. John Rocque's map of London published in 1746 shows the whole length of Bond Street and all its side streets fully built up.
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Borough Market
Coordinates: 51°30′17.67″N 0°5′27.92″W / 51.5049083°N 0.0910889°W / 51.5049083; -0.0910889
Borough Market is a wholesale and retail food market in Southwark, London, England. It is one of the largest food markets in London, and sells a large variety of foods from all over the world.
The wholesale market operates on all weekday mornings from 2 a.m. to 8 a.m., but the retail market operates only on Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Fridays from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The market, which has focused historically on fruits and vegetables, has in recent years added stalls dealing with the fine food retail market, including some of the market's most famous traders Artisan Bakers DeGustibus, Furness Fish & Game Supplies, Peter Gott and Sillfield Farm, and the Spanish company Brindisa.
The present market, located on Southwark Street and Borough High Street just south of Southwark Cathedral on the southern end of London Bridge, is a successor to one that originally adjoined the end of London Bridge (and made a considerable nuisance of itself in the process). It was first mentioned in 1276, although the market itself claims to have existed since 1014 "and probably much earlier" and was subsequently moved south of St Margaret's church on the High Street. The City of London received a royal charter from Edward VI in 1550 to control all markets in Southwark (see Guildable Manor), which was confirmed by Charles II in 1671. However, the market caused such traffic congestion that in 1754 it was abolished by an Act of Parliament.
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Brent Cross
Coordinates: 51°34′37″N 0°13′08″W / 51.577°N 0.219°W / 51.577; -0.219
Brent Cross is an area of north London, in the London Borough of Barnet. It is located near the A41 Brent Cross Flyover over the A406 North Circular Road. Brent Cross is best known for its shopping centre and the proposed Brent Cross Cricklewood development.
Brent Cross is in the London Borough of Barnet and contains the Brent Cross Shopping Centre. The area takes its name from an old crossroads near the River Brent and is not in the London Borough of Brent (that local authority lies to the west of the nearby A5 Edgware Road). It has no specific boundaries but in general only premises west of the Brent Cross Flyover, east of the M1 motorway and close to the North Circular are described as being in Brent Cross. The River Brent passes through it, flowing from east to west in a man-made channel.
"Brent Cross" was originally the name of a crossroads in the vicinity of the current Brent Cross Flyover. By 1944 the term was being used to describe addresses north of the A406 North Circular Road and west of the A41 Hendon Way and after the eponymous shopping centre was built it was also used to describe business addresses south of the North Circular.
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British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the largest empire in history and, for over a century, was the foremost global power. By 1922 the British Empire held sway over about 458 million people, one-fifth of the world's population at the time, and covered more than 33,700,000 km2 (13,012,000 sq mi), almost a quarter of the Earth's total land area. As a result, its political, linguistic and cultural legacy is widespread. At the peak of its power, it was often said that "the sun never sets on the British Empire" because its span across the globe ensured that the sun was always shining on at least one of its numerous territories.
During the Age of Discovery in the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal and Spain pioneered European exploration of the globe, and in the process established large overseas empires. Envious of the great wealth these empires generated, England, France and the Netherlands began to establish colonies and trade networks of their own in the Americas and Asia. A series of wars in the 17th and 18th centuries with the Netherlands and France left England (and then, following union between England and Scotland in 1707, Great Britain) the dominant colonial power in North America and India. The loss of the Thirteen Colonies in North America in 1783 after a war of independence deprived Britain of some of its oldest and most populous colonies.
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British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom, and is the world's largest library in terms of total number of items. The library is a major research library, holding over 150 million items from many countries, in many languages and in many formats, both print and digital: books, manuscripts, journals, newspapers, magazines, sound and music recordings, videos, play-scripts, patents, databases, maps, stamps, prints, drawings. The Library's collections include around 14 million books (second only to the United States' Library of Congress), along with substantial holdings of manuscripts and historical items dating back as far as 2000 BC.
As a legal deposit library, the British Library receives copies of all books produced in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, including a significant proportion of overseas titles distributed in the UK. It also has a programme for content acquisitions. The British Library adds some three million items every year occupying 9.6 kilometres (6.0 mi) of new shelf space.
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British Museum
Coordinates: 51°31′10″N 0°07′37″W / 51.519459°N 0.126931°W / 51.519459; -0.126931
The British Museum, in London, is widely considered to be one of the world's greatest museums of human history and culture. Its permanent collection, numbering some eight million works, is amongst the finest, most comprehensive, and largest in existence and originates from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its beginnings to the present.
The British Museum was established in 1753, largely based on the collections of the physician and scientist Sir Hans Sloane. The museum first opened to the public on 15 January 1759 in Montagu House in Bloomsbury, on the site of the current museum building. Its expansion over the following two and a half centuries was largely a result of an expanding British colonial footprint and has resulted in the creation of several branch institutions, the first being the British Museum (Natural History) in South Kensington in 1887. Some objects in the collection, most notably the Elgin Marbles from the Parthenon, are the objects of intense controversy and of calls for restitution to their countries of origin.
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Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace is the official London residence and office of the British monarch. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is a setting for state occasions and royal hospitality. It has been a focus for the British people at times of national rejoicing and crisis.
Originally known as Buckingham House, the building which forms the core of today's palace was a large townhouse built for the Duke of Buckingham in 1705 on a site which had been in private ownership for at least 150 years. It was subsequently acquired by George III in 1761 as a private residence for Queen Charlotte, and known as "The Queen's House". During the 19th century it was enlarged, principally by architects John Nash and Edward Blore, forming three wings around a central courtyard. Buckingham Palace finally became the official royal palace of the British monarch on the accession of Queen Victoria in 1837. The last major structural additions were made in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including the East front which contains the well-known balcony on which the Royal Family traditionally congregate to greet crowds outside. However, the palace chapel was destroyed by a German bomb in World War II; the Queen's Gallery was built on the site and opened to the public in 1962 to exhibit works of art from the Royal Collection.
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Burgess Park
Coordinates: 51°29′01″N 0°04′55″W / 51.483576°N 0.081841°W / 51.483576; -0.081841
Burgess Park is a public park situated in the London Borough of Southwark, in an area between Camberwell, Walworth and Peckham. At 46ha (113 acres), it is one of the largest parks in South London.
Unlike most other parks in London, Burgess Park was carved out of a highly built-up area of the city. Virtually all the land now occupied by the park was previously housing, industry and transport infrastructure. The idea for Burgess Park came out of the 1943 Abercrombie plan for open spaces in London, and the land has been gradually assembled and landscaped over the subsequent decades, first by the London County Council, then the Greater London Council, and since the mid-1980s, the London Borough of Southwark. An important stage in the construction of the park was the closure of the Grand Surrey Canal in the early 1970s, which terminated at Addington Wharf on Walworth Road. The Canal served the Surrey Commercial Docks, and the area near Camberwell was full of 19th century streets, houses and industrial buildings (including a ginger beer factory), many of which had suffered heavy bomb damage during WWII. The stretch of canal now incorporated in the Park is the site of Camberwell Wharf, which was virtually straight. Other land incorporated in the park was occupied by housing. While some of this housing was in very poor condition, a lot of perfectly serviceable homes were demolished to build the park, and this has resulted in very strong local feelings about the park.
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Burlington Arcade
The Burlington Arcade is a covered shopping arcade in London that runs behind Bond Street from Piccadilly through to Burlington Gardens. It is one of the precursors of the mid-19th century European shopping gallery and the modern shopping centre. The Burlington Arcade was built "for the sale of jewellery and fancy articles of fashionable demand, for the gratification of the public".
The arcade was built to the order of Lord George Cavendish, younger brother of the 5th Duke of Devonshire, who had inherited the adjacent Burlington House, on what had been the side garden of the house and was reputedly to prevent passers-by throwing oyster shells and other rubbish over the wall of his home. His architect was Samuel Ware. The Arcade opened in 1819. It consisted of a single straight top-lit walkway lined with seventy-two small two storey units. Some of the units have now been combined, reducing the number of shops to around forty. The ponderous Piccadilly façade in a late version of Victorian Mannerism was added in the early 20th century.
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Centre Point
Coordinates: 51°30′57.1″N 00°07′46.9″W / 51.515861°N 0.129694°W / 51.515861; -0.129694
Centre Point is a substantial concrete and glass office building in central London, England, occupying 101-103 New Oxford Street, WC1, close to St Giles Circus and almost directly above Tottenham Court Road tube station. The site was once occupied by a gallows. The building was designed by Richard Seifert with engineers Pell Frischmann and was constructed by Wimpey Construction from 1963 to 1966. It is 117 m (385 ft) high, has 34 floors and 27,180 m2 (292,563 sq ft) of floor space and is the joint 27th tallest building in London. It was one of the first skyscrapers in London. It is a grade II listed building.
Centre Point was built as speculative office space by property tycoon Harry Hyams, who had leased the site at £18,500 a year for 150 years. Hyams and Seifert engaged in negotiations with the London County Council over the height of the building, which was much taller than would normally be allowed and was highly controversial; eventually he was allowed to build 32 floors in return for providing a new road junction between St Giles Circus, Oxford Street and Tottenham Court Road, which the LCC could not afford to build on its own. Hyams intended that the whole building be occupied by a single tenant.
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Charing Cross Road
Charing Cross Road is a street in central London running immediately north of St Martin-in-the-Fields to St Giles Circus (the intersection with Oxford Street) and then becomes Tottenham Court Road. It is so called because it serves Charing Cross railway station (named for the nearby Charing Cross).
Charing Cross Road was developed, in conjunction with Shaftesbury Avenue, by the Metropolitan Board of Works under an 1877 Act of Parliament at a cost of £778,238. The two streets and others such as the Thames Embankment, Northumberland Avenue, Kingsway and Aldwych were built to improve traffic flow through central London. It incorporated the routes of several older streets.
Charing Cross Road is renowned for its specialist and second-hand bookshops. The section from Leicester Square tube station to Cambridge Circus is home to specialist bookshops, and more general second-hand and antiquarian shops such as Quinto Bookshop, Henry Pordes and Any Amount of Books. Most of these shops are located on the ground floor of a block owned by a housing association, which decided in 2001 to raise the rents sharply to bring them closer to the market level. This was opposed by the book dealers, who felt that they were providing a valuable service and contributing to the unique character of the area, and should not be treated in this way by a not-for-profit body. The association's counter-argument was that if the booksellers did not pay a market rent they were being subsidized by its low-income tenants. The booksellers attracted considerable public support and a reduced rent increase was imposed. Several of the bookshops closed nonetheless, including Silver Moon, apparently Europe’s largest women’s interest bookshop, which became part of Foyles. Other shops closed more recently, Zwemmers art bookshop, Shipley the art bookshop in December 2008 and Murder One in 2009. Smaller second-hand and specialist antiquarian bookshops can be found on the adjoining Cecil Court.
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Choice FM
Choice FM, branded on-air as London's Choice, is a brand used by the UK's biggest radio company, Global Radio for its urban music radio station. It is anchored by an FM operation in London, and is also broadcast via DAB Digital Radio, Sky, TalkTalk TV, Virgin Media and online.
Choice 96.9 began as an independent company in March 1990, broadcasting from studios in Trinity Gardens, Brixton. It was Britain’s first 24 hour black music radio station with a licence, covering South London. The group won a second licence (see Buzz FM) in 1995, bringing a local version of their London offering to Birmingham, on 102.2 FM - in place of Buzz FM.
The advent of digital radio in the UK saw Choice, which already had an active webstream, joining the new MXR consortium and launching a DAB service which anchored London output with news inserts produced by the consortium's news service DNN.
The Birmingham licence was sold to Chrysalis Radio in 1999 and became Galaxy Birmingham, but Choice expanded within the capital in May 2000 when a largely independent North London licence was awarded for Choice 107.1, with the intention of reaching a larger Afro-Caribbean audience outside the limited range of the coverage from Brixton. The station was now broadcasting from Borough High Street, Borough, London.
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City of Westminster
The City of Westminster
i/ˈwɛstmɪnstə/ is a London borough occupying much of the central area of London, England, including most of the West End. It is located to the west of and adjoining the ancient City of London, directly to the east of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, and its southern boundary is the River Thames. It is an Inner London borough and was created in 1965 when Greater London was established. At its creation Westminster was awarded city status, which had been previously held by the smaller Metropolitan Borough of Westminster. Aside from a number of large parks and open spaces, the population density of the district is high. Many sites commonly associated with London are located in the borough, including Buckingham Palace, the Houses of Parliament, and 10 Downing Street. The borough is divided into a number of localities including the ancient political district of Westminster around the Palace of Westminster; the shopping areas around Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Bond Street; and the night time entertainment district of Soho. Much of the borough is residential, and in 2008 it was estimated to have a population of 236,000. The local authority is Westminster City Council.
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Clarence House
Clarence House is a royal home in London, situated on The Mall, in the City of Westminster. It is attached to St. James's Palace and shares the palace's garden. For nearly 50 years, from 1953 to 2002, it was home to Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, but has since been the official residence of The Prince of Wales, The Duchess of Cornwall and Prince Harry. Clarence House also served as the official residence for Prince William from 2003 until his 2011 marriage. It is open to visitors for approximately two months each summer. It is one of many royal buildings in London.
The house was built between 1825 and 1827 to a design by John Nash. It was commissioned by Prince William, Duke of Clarence, who became King William IV in 1830. He lived there in preference to the nearby St. James's Palace, which he found too cramped. It passed to his sister Princess Augusta Sophia and, following her death in 1840, to Queen Victoria's mother, the Duchess of Kent. In 1866, it became the home of Queen Victoria's second son and fourth child Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Duke of Edinburgh until his death in 1900. His younger brother Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, Queen Victoria's third son, used the house from 1900 until his death in 1942, during which time the house suffered damage inflicted by enemy bombing. It was used by the Red Cross and the St. John Ambulance Brigade as their headquarters during the rest of World War II, before being given to Princess Elizabeth and her husband, The Duke of Edinburgh. Princess Anne was born there in 1950. After the death of George VI, the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret moved there in 1953, though the latter eventually moved to an apartment in Kensington Palace.
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Coliseum Theatre
The London Coliseum (also known as the Coliseum Theatre) is an opera house and major performing venue on St. Martin's Lane, central London. It is one of London's largest and best-equipped theatres and opened in 1904, designed by theatrical architect Frank Matcham (designer of the London Palladium), for impresario Oswald Stoll. Their ambition was to build the largest and finest 'People's palace of entertainment' of its age.
The inaugural performance was a variety bill on 24 December 1904. In 1911, dramatist W. S. Gilbert produced his last play here, The Hooligan.
The theatre changed its name from the London Coliseum to the Coliseum Theatre between 1931 and 1968 when 651 performances of the musical comedy White Horse Inn started on 8 April 1931). It reverted to the original name when the Sadler's Wells Opera Company (having moved from Sadler's Wells Theatre) moved to the Coliseum in 1968. The Company changed its name to the English National Opera in 1974 and bought the freehold of the building for £12.8m.
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Covent Garden
Coordinates: 51°30′43″N 0°07′22″W / 51.51197°N 0.1228°W / 51.51197; -0.1228
Covent Garden (
/ˈkɒvənt/) is a district in London on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St. Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit and vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site, and the Royal Opera House, which is also known as "Covent Garden". The district is divided by the main thoroughfare of Long Acre, north of which is given over to independent shops centred on Neal's Yard and Seven Dials, while the south contains the central square with its street performers and most of the elegant buildings, theatres and entertainment facilities, including the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, and the London Transport Museum.
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Coventry Street
Coventry Street is a short London street, within the City of Westminster, running from Piccadilly Circus to Leicester Square. The street is the main conduit between Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square and at the weekend up to 150,000 people walk from one to another along the street. Buses travelling south from Regent Street or west along Shaftesbury Avenue inevitably pass along the top of the street, where it intersects The Haymarket, with the consequence that the street can be heavily congested. It has a yellow square on the Monopoly board named after it.
The street has been a centre for high-volume food outlets. Platinum Lace Gentlemen's Club & Bar, Trocadero shopping centre, the Café De Paris, and the Prince of Wales Theatre are all located on this street.
Charles Hirsch, a French bookseller, sold French literature and ran a clandestine trade in expensive pornography from his bookshop "Librairie Parisienne" in Coventry Street between 1890 and 1900.
Coordinates: 51°30′37″N 0°07′58″W / 51.5102°N 0.1328°W / 51.5102; -0.1328
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Cutty Sark
The Cutty Sark is a clipper ship. Built in 1869 for the Jock Willis shipping line, she was one of the last tea clippers to be built and one of the fastest, coming at the end of a long period of design development which halted as sailing ships gave way to steam propulsion.
The opening of the Suez Canal (also in 1869) meant that steam ships now had a much shorter route to China, so Cutty Sark spent only a few years on the tea trade before turning to the trade in wool from Australia, where she held the record time to Britain for ten years. Improvements in steam technology meant that gradually steamships also came to dominate the longer sailing route to Australia and the ship was sold to the Portuguese company Ferreira and Co. in 1895, and renamed Ferreira. She continued as a cargo ship until purchased by retired sea captain Wilfred Dowman in 1922, who used her as a training ship operating from Falmouth, Cornwall. After his death she was transferred to the Thames Nautical Training College, Greenhithe in 1938 where she became an auxiliary cadet training ship alongside HMS Worcester. By 1954 she had ceased to be useful as a cadet ship and was transferred to permanent dry dock at Greenwich, London on public display.
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England
Englandi/ˈɪŋɡlənd/ is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, while the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separate it from continental Europe. Most of England comprises the central and southern part of the island of Great Britain in the North Atlantic. The country also includes over 100 smaller islands such as the Isles of Scilly and the Isle of Wight.
The area now called England was first inhabited by modern humans during the Upper Palaeolithic period, but it takes its name from the Angles, one of the Germanic tribes who settled during the 5th and 6th centuries. England became a unified state in AD 927, and since the Age of Discovery, which began during the 15th century, has had a significant cultural and legal impact on the wider world. The English language, the Anglican Church, and English law—the basis for the common law legal systems of many other countries around the world—developed in England, and the country's parliamentary system of government has been widely adopted by other nations. The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the world's first industrialised nation. England's Royal Society laid the foundations of modern experimental science.
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Epping Forest
Epping Forest is an area of ancient woodland in south-east England, straddling the border between north-east Greater London and Essex. It is a former royal forest, and is managed by the City of London Corporation.
It covers 2,476 hectares and contains areas of woodland, grassland, heath, rivers, bogs and ponds. Stretching between Forest Gate in the south and Epping in the north, Epping Forest is approximately 19 kilometres (12 mi) long in the north-south direction, but no more than 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) from east to west at its widest point, and in most places considerably narrower. The forest lies on a ridge between the valleys of the rivers Lea and Roding; its elevation and thin gravelly soil (the result of glaciation) historically made it unsuitable for agriculture. It gives its name to the Epping Forest local government district which covers part of it.
The name "Epping Forest" was first recorded in the 17th century; prior to this it was known as Waltham Forest (which gives its name to the present-day London Borough of Waltham Forest, which covers part of the modern forest).
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Finsbury Park
Coordinates: 51°34′16″N 0°06′03″W / 51.5712°N 0.1009°W / 51.5712; -0.1009
Finsbury Park is a 46 hectare (115 acre) public park in the London Borough of Haringey. Officially part of the London area of Harringay, it is also adjacent to Stroud Green, the Finsbury Park district and Manor House. It was one of the first of the great London parks laid out in the Victorian era.
The park provides a large green space in central north London. It has a mix of open ground, formal gardens, avenues of mature trees and an arboretum area with a mix of more unusual trees. There is also a lake, a children's play areas, a cafe and an art exhibition space.
The Parkland Walk, a linear park, starts here, and provides a pleasant, traffic free, pedestrian and cycle route with much of the feel of a country walk, that links the park with Crouch Hill Park, Crouch End, and Highgate tube station.
Sports facilities in the park include football pitches, a bowling green, an athletics stadium, and tennis and basketball courts. Unusually for London, the park hosts two facilities for "American" sports: an American football field, home to the 2007, 2009, 2010 and 2011 national champions London Blitz, and diamonds for softball and baseball, home to the 2007 and 2008 national champions the London Mets.
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Fleet Street
Coordinates: 51°30′51″N 0°06′32″W / 51.51417°N 0.10889°W / 51.51417; -0.10889
Fleet Street is a street in the City of London named after the River Fleet, London's largest underground river. It was the origin and home of the British newspapers until the 1980s. Even though the last major British news office, Reuters, left in 2005, the term Fleet Street continues to be used as a metonym for the British national press.
As early as the 13th century, it seems to have been known as Fleet Bridge Street, and in the early part of the 14th century it began to be mentioned frequently by its present name, spelled, of course, in accordance with the customs of those days. Fleet Street began as the road from the commercial City of London to the political hub of Westminster. The length of Fleet Street marks the expansion of the City in the 14th century. At the east end of the street is where the River Fleet flowed against the medieval walls of London; at the west end is the Temple Bar which marks the current City of London/City of Westminster boundary, extended there in 1329.
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Hamleys
Hamleys is one of the world's largest toy shops. Its flagship store in Regent Street, London, is the world's largest toy store. Other major stores worldwide include Dublin,Dubai,Amman,Glasgow, Mumbai, Chennai and Riyadh.
The flagship store is considered one of London's major tourist attractions, and receives about five million visitors a year.
Unlike many companies using possessive names, Hamleys intentionally forgoes the use of an apostrophe in its name.
Hamleys is named after William Hamley, who founded a toy shop called "Noah's Ark" at 231 High Holborn in London in 1760. A branch at 200 Regent Street was opened in 1881, and the Holborn branch was destroyed by fire in 1901 and was relocated from 231 to 86– 87 High Holborn.
In 1938, Queen Mary, the consort of King George V, gave Hamleys a royal warrant. During World War II, the Regent Street store was bombed five times. In 1955, Queen Elizabeth II gave the company a second royal warrant as a "toys and sports merchant".
Hamleys moved its flagship store to its current address at 188–196 Regent Street in 1981, which is the largest toy shop in the world.
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Hampstead Heath
Coordinates: 51°33′47″N 0°10′6″W / 51.56306°N 0.16833°W / 51.56306; -0.16833 Hampstead Heath (locally known as "the Heath") is a large, ancient London park, covering 320 hectares (790 acres). This grassy public space sits astride a sandy ridge, one of the highest points in London, running from Hampstead to Highgate, which rests on a band of London Clay. The Heath is rambling and hilly, embracing ponds, recent and ancient woodlands, a lido, playgrounds, and a training track, and it adjoins the stately home of Kenwood House and its grounds. The SE part of the Heath is Parliament Hill, whose view over London is protected by law.
The Heath has long been a popular place for Londoners to walk and take in the air. Running along its eastern perimeter are a chain of ponds - including three open-air public swimming pools - which were originally reservoirs for drinking water from the River Fleet. The Heath is a Local Nature Reserve and a Site of Metropolitan Importance, and part of Kenwood is a Site of Special Scientific Interest. Lakeside concerts are held there in summer. The Heath is managed by the City of London Corporation, and lies mostly within the London Borough of Camden with the adjoining Hampstead Heath Extension and Golders Hill Park in the London Borough of Barnet.
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Hampton Court Palace
Hampton Court Palace is a royal palace in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, Greater London; it has not been inhabited by the British royal family since the 18th century. The palace is located 11.7 miles (18.8 km) south west of Charing Cross and upstream of Central London on the River Thames. It was originally built for Cardinal Wolsey, a favourite of King Henry VIII, circa 1514; in 1529, as Wolsey fell from favour, the palace was passed to the King, who enlarged it.
The following century, William III's massive rebuilding and expansion project intended to rival Versailles was begun. Work halted in 1694, leaving the palace in two distinct contrasting architectural styles, domestic Tudor and Baroque. While the palace's styles are an accident of fate, a unity exists due to the use of pink bricks and a symmetrical, albeit vague, balancing of successive low wings.
Today, the palace is open to the public, and a major tourist attraction. It is cared for by an independent charity, Historic Royal Palaces which receives no funding from the Government or the Crown.
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Harrods
Harrods is an upmarket department store located in Brompton Road in Brompton, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London. The Harrods brand also applies to other enterprises undertaken by the Harrods group of companies including Harrods Bank, Harrods Estates, Harrods Aviation and Air Harrods, and to Harrods Buenos Aires, sold by Harrods in 1922 and closed as of 2011[update], with plans announced to reopen in 2013.
The store occupies a 5-acre (20,000 m2) site and has over one million square feet (90,000 m2) of selling space in over 330 departments. The UK's second-biggest shop, Oxford Street's Selfridges, is a little over half the size with 540,000 square feet (50,000 m2) of selling space.
The Harrods motto is Omnia Omnibus Ubique—All Things for All People, Everywhere. Several of its departments, including the seasonal Christmas department and the Food Hall, are world famous.
Throughout its history, the store has had a total of five owners. On 8 May 2010, Mohamed Al-Fayed sold the store to Qatar Holdings for £1.5 billion.
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Haymarket Theatre
The Theatre Royal Haymarket (also known as Haymarket Theatre or the Little Theatre) is a West End theatre in the Haymarket in the City of Westminster which dates back to 1720, making it the third-oldest London playhouse still in use. Samuel Foote acquired the lease in 1747, and in 1766 he gained a royal patent to play legitimate drama (meaning spoken drama, as opposed to opera, concerts or plays with music) in the summer months. The original building was a little further north in the same street. It has been at its current location since 1821, when it was redesigned by John Nash. It is a Grade I listed building, with a seating capacity of 888. The freehold of the theatre is owned by the Crown Estate.
The Haymarket has been the site of a significant innovation in theatre. In 1873, it was the venue for the first scheduled matinée performance, establishing a custom soon followed in theatres everywhere. Its managers have included Benjamin Nottingham Webster, John Baldwin Buckstone, Squire Bancroft, Cyril Maude, Herbert Beerbohm Tree, and John Sleeper Clarke, brother-in-law of John Wilkes Booth, who quit America after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Famous actors who débuted at the theatre included Robert William Elliston (1774–1831) and John Liston (1776–1846).
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Hectare
The hectare ( /ˈhɛktɛər/ or /ˈhɛktɑr/; symbol ha) is a metric unit of area defined as 10,000 square metres (100 m by 100 m), and primarily used in the measurement of land. In 1795, when the metric system was introduced, the 'are' was defined as being 100 square metres and the hectare ('hecto-' + 'are') was thus 100 'ares' or 1/100 km2. A hectare of land is about 2.47 acres.
When the metric system was further rationalised in 1960, resulting in the International System of Units (SI), the are was not included as a recognised unit. The hectare is one of the non-SI units accepted for use with the SI units.
The metric system of measure was first given a legal basis in 1795 by the French Revolutionary government. The law of 18 Germinal, Year III (7 April 1795) defined five units of measure:
Although the law defined the length of the metre, there was no practical way of accurately measuring the metre (and hence the are) until 1799 when the first standard metre was manufactured and adopted.
The standard metre remained in the custody of successive French governments until 1875 when, under the Convention of the Metre, its supervision passed into international control under the auspices of the General Conference on Weights and Measures (GCPM). At the first meeting of the GCPM in 1889 when a new standard metre, manufactured by Johnson Matthey & Co of London was adopted, the are and hectare were automatically redefined.
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Heron Tower
Heron Tower, located at and also referred to as 110 Bishopsgate, is a skyscraper owned by Heron International in London, United Kingdom. It was completed in 2011.
Heron Tower stands 230 m tall including its 28 m mast, or 202 m excluding the mast - making it the tallest building in the City of London and the third tallest in Greater London, after One Canada Square and Shard London Bridge.
Designed by architects Kohn Pedersen Fox, the height of Heron Tower was planned to be 183 m, identical to that of the City of London's then tallest building, Tower 42.
The skyscraper attracted some controversy when first announced due to its proximity to St Paul's Cathedral when viewed from Waterloo Bridge. English Heritage was notably vocal in expressing concerns. A public inquiry was subsequently held, the outcome of which was decided by deputy prime minister John Prescott, who ruled in the developers' favour. The tower was given final approval for construction in July 2002.
Three years later, the project had yet to begin construction. In September 2005 the Heron Property Corporation submitted a planning application to increase the height of its approved building. Heron's revised plans now proposed a 202-metre (663 ft) tall tower topped by a 28-metre (92 ft) mast, giving it a 230-metre (755 ft) total height. Although the design was largely identical to the previous scheme, the tower's crown and southern façades were refined. In January 2006, the revised project was approved by the City of London Corporation.
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Holland Park
Coordinates: 51°30′10″N 0°12′14″W / 51.5028°N 0.2038°W / 51.5028; -0.2038
Holland Park is a district and a public park in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, in west London, England.
Holland Park has a reputation as an affluent and fashionable area, known for attractive large Victorian townhouses, and high-class shopping and restaurants. There are many popular shopping destinations located around Holland Park such as High Street Kensington, Notting Hill, Holland Park Avenue, Portobello Market, Westbourne Grove, Clarendon Cross and Ledbury Road.
Though there are no official boundaries, they are roughly Kensington High Street to the south, Holland Road to the west, Holland Park Avenue to the north and Kensington Church Street to the east. Holland Park Avenue is at the boundaries of four CAS wards: Norland, Holland, Pembridge and Campden.
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Horse Guards Parade
Horse Guards Parade is a large parade ground off Whitehall in central London, at grid reference TQ299800. It is the site of the annual ceremonies of Trooping the Colour, which commemorates the monarch's official birthday, and Beating Retreat.
Horse Guards Parade was formerly the site of the Palace of Whitehall's tiltyard, where tournaments (including jousting) were held in the time of Henry VIII. It was also the scene of annual celebrations of the birthday of Queen Elizabeth I.
The area has been used for a variety of reviews, parades and other ceremonies since the 17th century.
It was once the Headquarters of the British Army. The Duke of Wellington was based in Horse Guards when he was Commander-in-Chief of the British Army. The current General Officer Commanding London District still occupies the same office and uses the same desk. Wellington also had living quarters within the building, which today are used as offices.
For much of the late 20th century, Horse Guards Parade was used as a car park for senior civil servants; about 500 were granted the privilege, which was known as the 'Great Perk'. The Provisional IRA's mortar attack on 10 Downing Street on 7 February 1991, which was carried out from a vehicle parked in Horse Guards Avenue near to Horse Guards Parade, led to concern about security. In April 1993 the Royal Parks Review Group, headed by Dame Jennifer Jenkins, recommended that Horse Guards Parade should be restored for public use, and linked to St James's Park by closing Horse Guards Road. The proposal was taken up by the Department of National Heritage but then resisted by senior Cabinet members, apparently under pressure from the civil servants who were to lose their parking places. Public revalation of the resistance led to considerable criticism, with Simon Jenkins urging the Head of the Home Civil Service Sir Robin Butler to remove the car park as a part of his reforms.
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Kensington Gardens
Kensington Gardens, once the private gardens of Kensington Palace, is one of the Royal Parks of London, lying immediately to the west of Hyde Park. It is shared between the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. The park covers an area of 111 hectares (275 acres). The open spaces of Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park, Green Park and St. James's Park together form an almost continuous "green lung" in the heart of London between Kensington and Westminster.
Kensington Gardens was carved out of the western section of Hyde Park and designed c.1728-1738 by Henry Wise and Charles Bridgeman, with fashionable features including the Round Pond, formal avenues and a sunken Dutch garden.
Charles Bridgeman created the Serpentine in the 1730s by damming the eastern outflow of the River Westbourne from Hyde Park for Queen Caroline. The part of the Serpentine that lies within Kensington Gardens is known as "The Long Water". At its north-western end (originally the inflow of the River Westbourne) in an area known as "The Italian Garden", there are four fountains and a number of classical sculptures. At the foot of the Italian Gardens is a parish boundary marker, delineating the boundary between Paddington and St George Hanover Square parishes, on the exact centre of the Westbourne river.
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Kensington Palace
Coordinates: 51°30′19″N 0°11′18″W / 51.50528°N 0.18833°W / 51.50528; -0.18833
Kensington Palace is a royal residence set in Kensington Gardens in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, England. It has been a residence of the British Royal Family since the 17th century and is the official London residence of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and Prince and Princess Michael of Kent, while the Duke and Duchess of Kent reside at Wren House. Kensington Palace is also used on an unofficial basis by Prince Harry, as well as his cousin Zara Phillips.
On 6 November 2011, it was announced that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will move from their temporary residence in Kensington Palace to the four-story, 20-room Apartment 1-A, formerly the residence of Princess Margaret. It is expected that they will move in 2013, with renovation work taking place in 2012. Once the Duke and Duchess move into their new apartment, Prince Harry is expected to move his official residence from Clarence House to the residence the Duke and Duchess vacate.
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Lambeth Palace
Coordinates: 51°29′44″N 0°7′11″W / 51.49556°N 0.11972°W / 51.49556; -0.11972
Lambeth Palace is the official London residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury in England. It is located in Lambeth, on the south bank of the River Thames a short distance upstream of the Palace of Westminster on the opposite shore. It was acquired by the archbishopric around 1200. It is bounded by Lambeth Palace Road to the north and west and Lambeth Road to the south.
The south bank of the Thames, not part of historic London, developed slowly because the land was low and sodden: it was called Lambeth Marsh, as far downriver as the present Blackfriars Road. The name "Lambeth" embodies "hithe", a landing on the river: archbishops came and went by water, as did John Wycliff, who was tried here for heresy. In the English peasants' revolt of 1381 the Palace was attacked.
The oldest remaining part of the palace is the Early English chapel. The so-called Lollard’s Tower, which retains evidence of its use as a prison in the 17th century, dates from 1440. There is a fine Tudor brick gatehouse built by Cardinal John Morton in 1495. Cardinal Pole lay in state in the palace for 40 days after he died there in 1558. The fig tree in the palace courtyard is possibly grown from a slip taken from one of the White Marseille figs reputedly planted by Cardinal Pole. In 1786 there were three ancient figs, two "nailed against the wall" and still noted in 1826 as "two uncommonly fine... traditionally reported to have been planted by Cardinal Pole, and fixed against that part of the palace believed to have been founded by him. They are of the white Marseilles sort, and still bear delicious fruit. ...On the south side of the building, in a small private garden, is another tree of the same kind and age." By 1882 their place had been taken by several massive offshoots.
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Leadenhall Market
Leadenhall Market is a covered market in the City of London, located at Gracechurch Street but with vehicular access also available via Whittington Avenue to the north and Lime Street to the south and east and additional pedestrian access via a number of narrow passageways.
The market dates back to the 14th century. It is open weekdays from 7am until late, and primarily sells fresh food; among the vendors there are cheesemongers, butchers and florists. Originally a meat, game and poultry market, it stands on what was the centre of Roman London. A number of commercial retailers are also located in the market, including clothes shops and a pen shop.
The ornate roof structure, painted green, maroon and cream, and cobbled floors of the current structure, designed in 1881 by Sir Horace Jones (who was also the architect of Billingsgate and Smithfield Markets), make the market a tourist attraction. It was used to represent the area of London near The Leaky Cauldron and Diagon Alley in the film Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, and is featured in the films The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, Hereafter, and Love Aaj Kal. It is also popular among local City workers.
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Leicester Square
Coordinates: 51°30′37″N 0°7′49″W / 51.51028°N 0.13028°W / 51.51028; -0.13028
Leicester Squarei/ˈlɛstər/ is a pedestrianised square in the West End of London, England. The Square lies within an area bound by Lisle Street , to the north; Charing Cross Road, to the east; Orange Street, to the south; and Whitcomb Street, to the west. The park at the centre of the Square is bound by Cranbourn Street, to the north; Leicester Street, to the east; Irving Street, to the south; and a section of road designated simply as Leicester Square, to the west. It is within the City of Westminster, and about equal distances (about 400 yards / 370 metres) north of Trafalgar Square, east of Piccadilly Circus, west of Covent Garden, and south of Cambridge Circus.
The Square is named after Robert Sidney, 2nd Earl of Leicester, who purchased four acres (1.6 hectares) in St. Martin's Field in 1630; by 1635, he had built himself a large house, Leicester House, at the northern end. The area in front of the house was then enclosed, depriving inhabitants of St Martin in the Fields parish of their right to use the previously common land. The parishioners appealed to King Charles I, and he appointed three members of the Privy Council to arbitrate. Lord Leicester was ordered to keep part of his land (thereafter known as Leicester Field and later as Leicester Square) open for the parishioners.
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London
Londoni/ˈlʌndən/ is the capital city of England and the United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its founding by the Romans, who named it Londinium. London's ancient core, the City of London, largely retains its square-mile mediaeval boundaries. Since at least the 19th century, the name London has also referred to the metropolis developed around this core. The bulk of this conurbation forms the London region and the Greater London administrative area, governed by the elected Mayor of London and the London Assembly.
London is a leading global city, with strengths in the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, professional services, research and development, tourism and transport all contributing to its prominence. It is the world's leading financial centre alongside New York City and has the fifth-largest city GDP in the world (and the largest in Europe). London has been described as a world cultural capital. It was the world's most visited city during 2011 and London Heathrow is the world's busiest airport by number of international passengers. London's 43 universities form the largest concentration of higher education in Europe. In 2012 London will become the first city to host the modern Summer Olympic Games three times.
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London IMAX
The BFI London IMAX is an IMAX cinema in the South Bank district of London, England, just north of Waterloo Station. It is operated by the British Film Institute.
The cinema is located in the centre of a roundabout on Waterloo Road. Stamford Street is to the north-east, York Road is to the south-west and Waterloo Bridge is to the north-west.
The BFI London IMAX was designed by Bryan Avery of Avery Associates Architects and completed in May 1999. The screen is the largest in Britain (20m high and 26m wide). It has a seating capacity of just under 500 and a 12,000 Watt digital surround sound system. Although the site is surrounded by traffic and has an underground line just four metres below, the architects and engineers accounted for this in their design and the entire upper structure sits on anti vibration bearings to prevent noise transference.
The cinema won several awards at the time of opening, including a Design Council Millennium Products Award in 1999 and a Civic Trust Award in 2000.
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Marble Arch
Coordinates: 51°30′47″N 0°9′32″W / 51.51306°N 0.15889°W / 51.51306; -0.15889
Marble Arch is a white Carrara marble monument that now stands on a large traffic island at the junction of Oxford Street, Park Lane, and Edgware Road, almost directly opposite Speakers' Corner in Hyde Park in London, England. Until 1851 it stood in front of Buckingham Palace.
Historically, only members of the royal family and the King's Troop, Royal Horse Artillery, have been allowed to pass through the arch in ceremonial procession.
The name "Marble Arch" also refers to the locality in west London where the arch is situated, particularly, the southern portion of Edgware Road. There also is an underground station named after it.
The arch was designed in 1825 by John Nash as ceremonial entrance to the courtyard of the new Buckingham Palace, which he was then rebuilding from the former Buckingham House. The palace, as designed by Nash, was laid out around three sides of the courtyard., with the Marble Arch placed on its open, eastern side.
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Millbank Tower
Millbank Tower is a 118-metre (387 ft) high skyscraper in the City of Westminster at Millbank, on the banks of the River Thames in London, in the United Kingdom. The Tower was constructed in 1963 for Vickers and was originally known as Vickers Tower. It was designed by Ronald Ward and Partners and built by John Mowlem & Co. It is a landmark on the London skyline, sitting beside the River Thames, half a mile upstream from the Palace of Westminster. The tower has been owned by David and Simon Reuben since 2002, while still being managed by its former owner Tishman Speyer Properties. It is a Grade II listed building.
The 2003 edition of the Pevsner architectural guide says that Millbank Tower is "one of the few London office towers to have won affection", and contrasts it with the "boxy structure" of the Shell Tower at Waterloo.
In November 2010, Conservative Party offices in nearby building 30 Millbank were damaged and illegally occupied by protesters as part of a demonstration against cuts to education funding.
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Mitcham Common
Coordinates: 51°23′37″N 0°8′49″W / 51.39361°N 0.14694°W / 51.39361; -0.14694
Mitcham Common or Seven Islands is 182 hectares (460 acres) of common land situated in South London. It is predominantly in the London borough of Merton, with parts straddling the borders with Sutton and Croydon.
In feudal times, the poorest, least productive soil in a parish was designated as common land available for parishioners to graze animals and cut turf and timber for fuel. Members of this community with these rights were known as commoners. However, in the 19th century when material for road building became a valuable resource, the old grazing land was replaced by a series of pits for gravel extraction.
These works reached such a proportion that public opposition, led by George Parker Bidder QC, culminated in the protection of the common under the Metropolitan Commons Act and the cost of its maintenance was split between the parish councils of Mitcham, Beddington, Wallington and Croydon according to the proportion of the common within each parish boundary.
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Museum of London
The Museum of London documents the history of London from the Prehistoric to the present day. The museum is located close to the Barbican Centre, as part of the striking Barbican complex of buildings created in the 1960s and 70s as an innovative approach to re-development within a bomb damaged area of the City. It is a few minutes' walk north of St Paul's Cathedral, overlooking the remains of the Roman city wall and on the edge of the oldest part of London, known as the City, now the financial district. It is primarily concerned with the social history of London and its inhabitants throughout history. The museum is a non-departmental public body.
The amalgamation of the collections previously held by the City Corporation at the Guildhall Museum and of the London Museum, which was located in Kensington Palace was agreed in 1964. The Museum of London Act, allowing for the merger, was passed in the following year.
The museum was opened in December 1976 as part of the Barbican Estate, The architects were Philip Powell and Hidalgo Moya, who adopted an innovative approach to museum design, whereby the galleries were laid out so that there was only one route through the museum - from the prehistoric period to the modern galleries.
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National Gallery
Coordinates: 51°30′31″N 0°07′42″W / 51.5086°N 0.1283°W / 51.5086; -0.1283
The National Gallery is an art museum on Trafalgar Square, London, United Kingdom. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The gallery is an exempt charity, and a non-departmental public body of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Its collection belongs to the public of the United Kingdom and entry to the main collection (though not some special exhibitions) is free of charge.
Unlike comparable art museums in continental Europe, the National Gallery was not formed by nationalising an existing royal or princely art collection. It came into being when the British government bought 38 paintings from the heirs of John Julius Angerstein, an insurance broker and patron of the arts, in 1824. After that initial purchase the Gallery was shaped mainly by its early directors, notably Sir Charles Lock Eastlake, and by private donations, which comprise two thirds of the collection. The resulting collection is small in size, compared with many European national galleries, but encyclopaedic in scope; most major developments in Western painting "from Giotto to Cézanne" are represented with important works. It used to be claimed that this was one of the few national galleries that had all its works on permanent exhibition, but this is no longer the case.
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Odeon West End
The Odeon West End is a cinema on the south side of Leicester Square, London. It contains two screens—screen 1 seats 500 and screen 2 seats 832 [1]. Both house large screens in comfortable auditoria. It is often used for smaller film premieres, and yearly hosts the BFI London Film Festival.
The Odeon was built in 1930 as The Leicester Square Theatre, a name it largely remained with until 1988. The theatre was built as a cine-variety venue for Jack Buchanan - a penthouse apartment was housed on the roof for the star - and showcased both film and short variety performances, before going over to film on a more permanent basis. A large single screen was housed in an ornate, three-tiered auditorium.
It was sold to J. Arthur Rank in 1937 and became Rank's first cinema, although not named Odeon for many years to come.
On July 26, 1951, the cinema hosted the world premiere of Disney's feature Alice in Wonderland (1951).
The cinema was modernised in 1968 into a much blander shell, based around a remodelled stalls and single circle and was twinned into a two-screen venue in 1988 (Screen 1 in the former circle and Screen 2 in the stalls) and renamed Odeon West End.
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Old Bailey
The Central Criminal Court in England and Wales, commonly known as the Old Bailey from the street in which it stands, is a court building in central London, one of a number of buildings housing the Crown Court. The Crown Court sitting at the Central Criminal Court deals with major criminal cases from Greater London and, in exceptional cases, from other parts of England and Wales. Part of the present building stands on the site of the medieval Newgate Gaol, on Old Bailey, a road which follows the line of the City of London's fortified wall (or bailey), which runs from Ludgate Hill to the junction of Newgate Street and Holborn Viaduct.
As there is a requirement for justice to be seen to be done, trials at the Old Bailey, as at other courts, are open to the public, subject to stringent security procedures.
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One Canada Square
One Canada Square (often incorrectly called Canary Wharf, after its location) is a skyscraper in Canary Wharf in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It was the tallest completed building in the United Kingdom from 1991 until 2010, standing at 235 metres (770 ft) above ground level and containing 50 storeys. In the autumn of 2010, it was surpassed in height by the Shard London Bridge, which is currently under construction and will become the tallest completed building in the United Kingdom by mid 2012.
One Canada Square was designed by principal architect Cesar Pelli, who based the design and shape mainly on the World Financial Center and Big Ben. One of the predominant features of the building is the pyramid roof which contains a flashing aircraft warning light, a rare feature for buildings in the United Kingdom. The distinctive pyramid pinnacle is at 240 metres (800 ft) above sea level.
One Canada Square is primarily used for offices, though there are some retail units on the lower ground floor. It is a prestigious location for offices and as of February 2012 was 100% let. The building is recognised as a London landmark and it has gained much attention through film, television and other media because of its status as one of the tallest buildings in the United Kingdom.
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One Hyde Park
One Hyde Park is a major residential and retail complex located in London, United Kingdom. The development includes three retail units (Rolex, McLaren Automotive and Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank) totalling 385,000 sq ft (35,800 m2) and 86 residential properties marketed with prices starting at around £20 million.
The building is owned by Project Grande (Guernsey) Limited, a joint venture between the Christian Candy-owned CPC Group and Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani, the Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Qatar. It was designed by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, built by Laing O'Rourke and was financed via a £1.15 billion development loan from Eurohypo AG. Candy & Candy were the development managers and interior designers for the scheme.
The building is located in the Knightsbridge area of central London, adjacent to Hyde Park and the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park. The actual address is One Hyde Park: The Residences at Mandarin Oriental, 100 Knightsbridge, London, SW1X 7LJ.
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One New Change
Coordinates: 51°30′49″N 0°05′45″W / 51.5137°N 0.0958°W / 51.5137; -0.0958
One New Change is a major office and retail development in London, United Kingdom. It comprises 560,000 square feet (52,000 m2) of floor space, including 220,000 square feet (20,000 m2) of retail space and 330,000 square feet (31,000 m2) of office space and is currently the only large shopping centre in the City of London. It cost £500 million to build and was completed in October 2010.
The complex is located on New Change, a road linking Cannon Street with Cheapside, in one of the areas of the City historically associated with retailing and markets. It is close to St. Paul's Cathedral. The nearest London Underground stations are St. Paul's and Mansion House.
The development's sensitive location — opposite St Paul's Cathedral — and its modern architecture led to some controversy during its planning and construction, including criticism from Prince Charles. The architect was Jean Nouvel and the developer was Land Securities. The new six-storey, 34 m high centre replaced an 11-storey, 40 m building constructed in the 1950s for the Bank of England, which was demolished in 2007. The complex's distinctive appearance has given it the nickname "the stealth bomber".
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Oxford Street
Oxford Street is a major thoroughfare in the City of Westminster in the West End of London, United Kingdom. It is Europe's busiest shopping street, and as of 2011 had approximately 300 shops. The street was formerly part of the London-Oxford road which began at Newgate, City of London, and was known as the Oxford Road. Today it forms part of the A40 trunk road, although like many roads in central London which are no longer through routes it is not signposted with the road number.
Roughly halfway along Oxford Street is Oxford Circus, a busy intersection with Regent Street. A diagonal crossing at Oxford Circus opened in 2009, currently the only one of its kind in central London.
Common sights on Oxford Street include preachers (such as Philip Howard) and political demonstrations (such as the 2001 May Day protests).
Oxford Street runs for approximately one and a half miles (two and a half kilometres) from Marble Arch at the north east corner of Hyde Park, through Oxford Circus to St Giles Circus, at the intersection with Charing Cross Road and Tottenham Court Road. Eastwards, the road then becomes New Oxford Street until it runs into High Holborn. Oxford Street intersects with other London roads including Park Lane, New Bond Street and Regent Street. West of Marble Arch, Oxford Street becomes Bayswater Road, then Notting Hill Gate and Holland Park Avenue until it becomes the Uxbridge Road at Shepherd's Bush Roundabout. At Uxbridge it becomes the Oxford Road again, all the way to Oxford, save for some short sections where it has been given a local name.
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OXO Tower
The OXO Tower is a building with a prominent tower on the south bank of the River Thames in London. The building currently has a set of bijou arts and crafts shops on the ground and first floors. A well-known restaurant is located on the 8th floor, which is the roof top level of the main building. The second to 7th floors contain 78 residential apartments.
The OXO Tower is located towards the eastern end of London's South Bank cultural area, and is within the London Borough of Southwark. A continuous river-side walkway, actually part of the Thames Path, passes in front of and below the building, and links it with other river-side attractions such as the Festival Hall, the National Theatre, the Tate Modern and the Globe Theatre.
The building is flanked on the upstream, western side by Bernie Spain Gardens and Gabriel's Wharf market place, and to the east by Sea Containers House.
The building was originally constructed as a power station for the Post Office, built towards the end of the 19th century. It was subsequently acquired by the Liebig Extract of Meat Company, manufacturers of Oxo beef stock cubes, for conversion into a cold store.
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Parliament Square
Parliament Square is a square at the northwest end of the Palace of Westminster in London. It features a large open green area in the centre with trees to its west and it contains numerous statues of statesmen and other notable individuals.
As well as being one of London's main tourist attractions, it is also the place where many demonstrations and protests are held. Symbolically it represents different arms of the state on each side of the square[citation needed]: legislature to the east (in the Houses of Parliament), executive offices to the north (on Whitehall), the judiciary to the west (the Supreme Court), and the church to the south (with Westminster Abbey).
Buildings looking upon the square include the churches Westminster Abbey and St Margaret's, Westminster, the Middlesex Guildhall which is the seat of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, Government Offices Great George Street serving HM Treasury and HM Revenue and Customs, and Portcullis House.
Roads that branch off the Parliament Square are St. Margaret Street (towards Millbank), Broad Sanctuary (towards Victoria Street), Great George Street (towards Birdcage Walk), Parliament Street (leading into Whitehall), and Bridge Street (leading onto Westminster Bridge).
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Piccadilly
Piccadilly is a major street in central London, England, running from Hyde Park Corner in the west to Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is completely within the city of Westminster. The street is part of the A4 road, London's second most important western artery. St James's lies to the south of the eastern section of the street, while the western section is built up only on the northern side and overlooks Green Park. The area to the north is Mayfair.
It is the location of Fortnum & Mason, the Royal Academy, the Ritz Hotel, the RAF Club, and Hatchards book shop. Simpson's, once amongst the United Kingdom's leading clothing stores, opened on Piccadilly in the 1930s. The store closed in 1999 and the site is now the flagship shop of the booksellers Waterstone's.
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Regent Street
Regent Street is one of the major shopping streets in London's West End, well known to tourists and Londoners alike, and famous for its Christmas illuminations. It is named after the Prince Regent (later George IV), and is commonly associated with the architect John Nash, whose street layout survives, although all his original buildings except All Souls Church have since been replaced.
The street was completed in 1825 and was an early example of town planning in England, cutting through the 17th and 18th century street pattern through which it passes. It runs from the Regent's residence at Carlton House in St James's at the southern end, through Piccadilly Circus and Oxford Circus, to All Souls Church. From there Langham Place and Portland Place continue the route to Regent's Park.
Every building in Regent Street is protected as a Listed Building, at least Grade II status, and together they form the Regent Street Conservation Area.
The street is one of the locations on the standard UK version of the Monopoly board game, and it is referred to in the 1966 song Dedicated Follower of Fashion by The Kinks.
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Richmond Park
Richmond Park is a 2,360 acre (9.55 km2; 3.69 sq mi) park within London. It is the largest of the Royal Parks in London and Britain's second largest urban walled park after Sutton Park, Birmingham. It is close to Richmond, Ham, Kingston upon Thames, Wimbledon, Roehampton and East Sheen. The park is famous for its red and fallow deer, which number over six hundred.
The Isabella Plantation is an important and attractive woodland garden.
There is a protected view of St Paul's Cathedral from King Henry VIII's Mound, and a view of central London's London Eye, Natwest Tower and 'The Gherkin', appearing to be close to each other.
The Park contains notable buildings, ten of which, plus the whole wall of the park, are listed buildings.
King Henry VIII's Mound is the highest point within the park and is located within the public gardens of Pembroke Lodge. It is named after Henry VIII of England.
There is speculation that the mound has an older history, and may have originally been a barrow.
From the Mound there is a protected view of St Paul's Cathedral in the City of London over 10 miles (16 km) to the east which was established in 1710. (A telescope is installed on the mound, for a better viewing experience.) This vista is protected by a 'dome and a half' width of sky on either side. The Mayor of London (Ken Livingstone) sought to overturn this protection in 2005, and reduce it to 'half a dome'. No final decision has yet been made public. To the west is a panorama of the Thames Valley.
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Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall situated on the northern edge of the South Kensington area, in the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941.
Since its opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from several performance genres have appeared on its stage and it has become one of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings. Each year it hosts more than 350 events including classical concerts, rock and pop, ballet and opera, sports, award ceremonies, school and community events, charity performances and banquets.
The hall was originally supposed to have been called The Central Hall of Arts and Sciences, but the name was changed by Queen Victoria to Royal Albert Hall of Arts and Sciences when laying the foundation stone as a dedication to her deceased husband and consort Prince Albert. It forms the practical part of a national memorial to the Prince Consort – the decorative part is the Albert Memorial directly to the north in Kensington Gardens, now separated from the Hall by the road Kensington Gore.
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Royal Festival Hall
The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,900-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge. It is a Grade I listed building - the first post-war building to become so protected (in 1981) . The London Philharmonic Orchestra and Philharmonia Orchestras perform the majority of their London concerts in the hall.
The hall was built as part of the Festival of Britain by Holland, Hannen & Cubitts for London County Council, and was officially opened on 3 May 1951. When the Greater London Council (LCC's successor) was abolished in 1986, the Hall was taken over by the Arts Council. Since the late 1980s the hall has operated an 'open foyers' policy, opening up the substantial foyer spaces to the public throughout the day, even if there are no performances. This has proved very popular and the foyers are now one of the most used public spaces in London.
Each year Southbank Centre puts on a festival known as "Meltdown". In 2010 the festival was curated by Richard Thompson and featured events across the Royal Festival Hall and Queen Elizabeth Hall.
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Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, and the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House. Originally called the Theatre Royal, it served primarily as a playhouse for the first hundred years of its history. In 1734, the first ballet was presented. A year later, Handel's first season of operas began. Many of his operas and oratorios were specifically written for Covent Garden and had their premieres there.
The current building is the third theatre on the site following disastrous fires in 1808 and 1857. The façade, foyer, and auditorium date from 1858, but almost every other element of the present complex dates from an extensive reconstruction in the 1990s. The Royal Opera House seats 2,256 people and consists of four tiers of boxes and balconies and the amphitheatre gallery. The proscenium is 12.20 m wide and 14.80 m high. The main auditorium is a Grade 1 listed building.
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Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard, though an official Scotland Yard never has existed) is a metonym for the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service of the British capital, London. It derives from the location of the original Metropolitan Police headquarters at 4 Whitehall Place, which had a rear entrance on a street called Great Scotland Yard. The Scotland Yard entrance became the public entrance to the police station. Over time, the street and the Metropolitan Police became synonymous. The New York Times wrote in 1964 that, just as Wall Street gave its name to the New York financial world, Scotland Yard did the same for police activity in London. The Metropolitan Police moved away from Scotland Yard in 1890, and the name "New Scotland Yard" was adopted for the new headquarters.
Commonly known as the "Met", the Metropolitan Police Service is responsible for law enforcement within Greater London, excluding the square mile of the City of London, which is covered by the City of London Police. The London Underground and national rail network are the responsibility of the British Transport Police. The Metropolitan Police was formed by Home Secretary Sir Robert Peel with the implementation of the Metropolitan Police Act, passed by Parliament in 1829. Peel, with the help of Eugène-François Vidocq, selected the original site at 4 Whitehall Place for the new police headquarters. The first two Commissioners, Charles Rowan and Richard Mayne, along with various police officers and staff, occupied the building. Previously a private house, 4 Whitehall Place backed onto a street called Great Scotland Yard.
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Shell Centre
Coordinates: 51°30′13.8″N 00°7′0.8″W / 51.503833°N 0.116889°W / 51.503833; -0.116889
Shell Centre, in London, United Kingdom is one of the two "central offices" of oil major Shell (the other is in The Hague). Shell Centre is located on the Belvedere Road in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is a prominent feature on the South Bank of the River Thames near County Hall, and now forms the backdrop to the London Eye.
Shell Centre was constructed in 1961, to a design by Sir Howard Robertson, and the tower stands at 107 metres (351 ft) with 27 storeys (26 numbered and a mezzanine level) and extends three storeys below ground. The tower was the first London office tower to exceed the height of the Victoria Tower of the Palace of Westminster. On completion the building also held the record for the largest office building, by floor space, in Europe.
The current Shell Centre comprises the tower building and three adjoining nine-storey wings (collectively formerly known as the "Upstream Building"). The original development also included a separate building known as the "Downstream Building", which was separated from the Upstream Building by the railway viaduct between Charing Cross and Waterloo East. The Downstream Building was disposed of by Shell in the 1990s and is now a block of residential apartments known as the White House, and has been heightened by a storey.
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Somerset House
Somerset House is a large building situated on the south side of the Strand in central London, England, overlooking the River Thames, just east of Waterloo Bridge. The central block of the Neoclassical building, the outstanding project of the architect Sir William Chambers, dates from 1776–96. It was extended by classical Victorian wings to north and south. A building of the same name was first built on the site more than two centuries earlier. The East Wing of Somerset House forms part of King's College London.
In the sixteenth century, the north bank of the Thames between London and Westminster was a favoured site for the mansions of the nobility. In 1539, Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford, obtained a grant of land at "Chester Place, outside Temple Bar, London" from Henry VIII of England. When the boy-king Edward VI of England came to the throne in 1547, Seymour became Duke of Somerset and Lord Protector. About 1549 he pulled down an old Inn of Chancery and other houses that stood on the site and began to build himself a truly imposing residence, making liberal use of the other nearby buildings including some of the chantries and cloisters at St. Paul's Cathedral which were demolished at the behest of Somerset and other leading Protestant nobles as part of the ongoing Dissolution of the Monasteries. It was a two storey house built around a quadrangle with a gateway rising to three stories and was one of the earliest examples of Renaissance architecture in England. It is not known who designed the building.
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Southwark Cathedral
Southwark Cathedral or The Cathedral and Collegiate Church of St Saviour and St Mary Overie, Southwark, London, lies on the south bank of the River Thames close to London Bridge.
It is the mother church of the Anglican Diocese of Southwark. It has been a place of Christian worship for over 1,000 years, but a cathedral only since the creation of the diocese of Southwark in 1905. The church was in the diocese of Winchester until 1877, when the parish of St Saviour's, along with other South London parishes was transferred to the diocese of Rochester The present building is mainly Gothic, from 1220 to 1420, although the nave is a nineteenth-century reconstruction in a thirteenth-century style.
Borough Market is immediately to its south and the Hall of the Worshipful Company of Glaziers and Painters of Glass is on the riverside part of Montague Close on its north.
The earliest reference to the site was in the Domesday Book survey of 1086, wherein the "minster" of Southwark seems to be under the control of Bishop Odo of Bayeux (William the Conqueror's half-brother). It is unlikely that this minster pre-dates the conversion of Wessex in the mid-seventh century, or the foundation of the "burh" ca AD 886. There is no proof of any claims, as presently made by the Cathedral authorities, that a convent was founded on the site in 606 nor of the claim that a monastery was founded by St Swithun in the ninth century. The Old English minster was a collegiate church servicing a south Thames area. In 1106, Henry I's reign, the latter became an Augustinian Priory: this was founded with the patronage of the Bishops of Winchester which relationship was re-inforced by the establishment of their London palace immediately neighbouring the Priory to the west in 1149; a remaining wall and rose window of the refectory of the Palace survives on nearby Clink Street. Norman stonework can still be seen, and Thomas Becket preached here before departing to Canterbury, days before his murder in 1170.
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Tate Britain
Coordinates: 51°29′27″N 0°07′38″W / 51.490833°N 0.127222°W / 51.490833; -0.127222
Tate Britain is an art gallery situated on Millbank in London, and part of the Tate gallery network in Britain, with Tate Modern, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives. It is the oldest gallery in the network, opening in 1897. It houses a substantial collection of the works of J. M. W. Turner.
It is housed in the Tate's original premises on Millbank on the site of Millbank Prison. The front part of the building was designed by Sidney R. J. Smith with a classical portico and dome behind. Construction, undertaken by Higgs and Hill, commenced in 1893. The gallery opened on 21 July 1897 as the National Gallery of British Art, but became commonly known as the Tate Gallery, after its founder Sir Henry Tate. There have been several extensions over the years. The central sculpture gallery was designed by John Russell Pope.
Crises during its existence include flood damage to work from the River Thames and bomb damage during World War II, though most of the collection was in safe storage elsewhere, and a large Stanley Spencer painting, deemed too big to move, had a protective brick wall built in front of it.
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Tate Modern
Coordinates: 51°30′28″N 0°05′57″W / 51.507778°N 0.099167°W / 51.507778; -0.099167
Tate Modern is a modern art gallery located in London, England. It is Britain's national gallery of international modern art and forms part of the Tate group (together with Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool, Tate St Ives and Tate Online). It is the most-visited modern art gallery in the world, with around 4.7 million visitors per year. It is based in the former Bankside Power Station, in the Bankside area of Central London.
The galleries are housed in the former Bankside Power Station, which was originally designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, the architect of Battersea Power Station, and built in two stages between 1947 and 1963. The power station closed in 1981. The building was converted by architects Herzog & de Meuron and contractors Carillion, after which it stood at 99m tall. The history of the site as well as information about the conversion was the basis for a 2008 documentary Architects Herzog and de Meuron: Alchemy of Building & Tate Modern. The southern third of the building was retained by the French power company EDF Energy as an electrical substation (in 2006, the company released half of this holding).
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Thames Barrier
Coordinates: 51°29′52″N 0°02′12″E / 51.4977°N 0.0367°E / 51.4977; 0.0367
The Thames Barrier is the world's second-largest movable flood barrier (after the Oosterscheldekering in the Netherlands) and is located downstream of central London. Its purpose is to prevent London from being flooded by exceptionally high tides and storm surges moving up from the sea. It needs to be raised (closed) only during high tide; at ebb tide it can be lowered to release the water that backs up behind it. Its northern bank is in Silvertown in the London Borough of Newham and its southern bank is in the New Charlton area of Charlton in the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The report of Sir Hermann Bondi into the North Sea flood of 1953 affecting parts of the Thames Estuary and parts of London was instrumental in the building of the barrier.
London is vulnerable to flooding. A storm surge generated by low pressure in the Atlantic Ocean sometimes tracks eastwards past the north of Scotland and may then be driven into the shallow waters of the North Sea. The surge tide is funnelled down the North Sea which narrows towards the English Channel and the Thames Estuary. If the storm surge coincides with a spring tide, dangerously high water levels can occur in the Thames Estuary. This situation combined with downstream flows in the Thames provides the triggers for flood defence operations.
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The Oval
The Oval, referred to as the Kia Oval due to a commercial sponsorship deal, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, in the London Borough of Lambeth. In the past it was also sometimes called the Kennington Oval. In past years it was officially named as the 'Fosters Oval', 'AMP Oval', 'Brit Insurance Oval', due to previous commercial sponsorship deals.
The Oval is the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club, and also traditionally hosts the final Test match of each English summer season in late August or early September. The Oval was the first ground in the United Kingdom and second in the world (after the Melbourne Cricket Ground) to host Test cricket.
The nearest Tube station is Oval, but Vauxhall is only half a mile away.
In 1844, Kennington Oval was a market garden. The Oval was then (and still is) owned by the Duchy of Cornwall. Surrey County Cricket Club was set up in 1845. The Duchy was willing to grant a lease of the land for the purpose of a cricket ground, and, on 10 March 1845, the club signed a lease with the Otter Trustees, who held the land from the Duchy of Cornwall, 'to convert it into a subscription cricket ground', for 31 years at a rent of £120 per annum plus taxes (£20 more). The original contract for turfing the Oval cost £300; 10,000 grass turfs came from Tooting Common.
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Tower 42
Tower 42 is the second tallest skyscraper in the City of London and the fifth tallest in Greater London. The original name was the National Westminster Tower, having been built to house the National Westminster Bank's International Division. Seen from above, the tower closely resembles the NatWest logo (three chevrons in a hexagonal arrangement).
The tower, designed by Richard Seifert and engineered by Pell Frischmann, is located at 25 Old Broad Street. It was built by John Mowlem & Co between 1971 and 1980, first occupied in 1980, and formally opened on 11 June 1981 by HM Queen Elizabeth II.
The construction cost was £72 million (approximately £230 million today). It is 183 metres (600 ft) high, which made it the tallest building in the UK until the topping out of One Canada Square in the Docklands in 1990. It held the status of tallest building in the City of London for 30 years, until it was surpassed by the Heron Tower in December 2009.
The building today is multi-tenanted and comprises Grade A office space and restaurant facilities. In 2011 it was bought by the South African businessman Nathan Kirsh for £282.5M.
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Tower Bridge
Coordinates: 51°30′20″N 0°04′32″W / 51.50556°N 0.07556°W / 51.50556; -0.07556
Tower Bridge (built 1886–1894) is a combined bascule and suspension bridge in London, England, over the River Thames. It is close to the Tower of London, from which it takes its name. It's also very fitting of the name as the bridge itself has two towers. It has become an iconic symbol of London.
The bridge consists of two towers tied together at the upper level by means of two horizontal walkways, designed to withstand the horizontal forces exerted by the suspended sections of the bridge on the landward sides of the towers. The vertical component of the forces in the suspended sections and the vertical reactions of the two walkways are carried by the two robust towers. The bascule pivots and operating machinery are housed in the base of each tower. The bridge's present colour scheme dates from 1977, when it was painted red, white and blue for the Queen Elizabeth II's silver jubilee. Originally it was painted a mid greenish-blue colour.
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Tower of London
Coordinates: 51°30′29″N 0°4′34″W / 51.50806°N 0.07611°W / 51.50806; -0.07611
Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, separated from the eastern edge of the City of London by the open space known as Tower Hill. It was founded towards the end of 1066 as part of the Norman Conquest of England. The White Tower, which gives the entire castle its name, was built by William the Conqueror in 1078, and was a resented symbol of oppression, inflicted upon London by the new ruling elite. The castle was used as a prison since at least 1100, although that was not its primary purpose. A grand palace early in its history, it served as a royal residence. As a whole, the Tower is a complex of several buildings set within two concentric rings of defensive walls and a moat. There were several phases of expansion, mainly under Kings Richard the Lionheart, Henry III, and Edward I in the 12th and 13th centuries. The general layout established by the late 13th century remains despite later activity on the site.
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Wandsworth Common
Wandsworth common is a public common in Wandsworth, south London. It is close to Clapham Common and Wandsworth Common railway station. It is wholly in the London borough of Wandsworth. It is 73 hectares (175 acres) large and is maintained and regulated by Wandsworth Council. Wandsworth Common railway station is located at the junction of Bellevue Road, St. James's Drive and Nightingale Lane and broadly divides the common up into two strips on the West and East side. A footbridge crosses the railway approximately half way along the length of the open part of the common.
There is a large area to the east of the train line, which is mainly used for competitive sports (mostly football, touch rugby and rounders). There are a number of ponds and a lake, which can be used for fishing (with a permit).
Facilities include an educational centre in an area dedicated to wildlife known locally as 'The Scope' (named after the Craig telescope, which was once the largest refracting telescope in the world). There are also tennis courts, a bowling green and a cafe bar in the grounds, named 'Common Ground'. A fitness trail has been developed and the Common is popular with local runners, dog walkers and cyclists.
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West End of London
The West End of London (more commonly referred to as simply the West End) is an area of central London containing many of the city's major tourist attractions, shops, businesses, government buildings, and entertainment venues (including the commercial West End theatres). Use of the term began in the early 19th century to describe fashionable areas to the west of Charing Cross. For strategic planning the area is identified as one of two international centres in the London Plan.
The West End is the most expensive location in the world in which to rent office space.
Located to the west of the historic Roman and Mediaeval City of London, the West End was long favoured by the rich elite as a place of residence because it was usually upwind of the smoke drifting from the crowded City. It was also located close to the royal seat of power at Westminster, and is largely contained within the City of Westminster (one of the 32 London boroughs). Developed in the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, it was originally built as a series of palaces, expensive town houses, fashionable shops and places of entertainment. The areas closest to the City around Holborn, Seven Dials and Covent Garden historically contained poorer communities that were cleared and redeveloped in the nineteenth century.
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Westfield London
Westfield London is a shopping centre in White City in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. The centre was developed by the Westfield Group at a cost of £1.6bn, on a site bounded by the West Cross Route (A3220), the Westway (A40) and Wood Lane (A219), and opened on 30 October 2008.
The site is part of the White City district, where several other large scale development projects are under way or in the planning stages. The development is on a large brownfield site, part of which was once the location of the 1908 Franco-British Exhibition; the initial site clearance demolished the set of halls still remaining from the exhibition (their cheap-to-build white-painted blank facades said to be the origin of the name "White City"). Much of the site was in use by a railway depot excavated to a lower level and built over.
The centre is noted for its size: with a retail floor area of 150,000m² (1.615m ft²), the equivalent of about 30 football pitches. At the time of its opening it was reported to be the largest shopping centre in Europe.
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Whitehall
Whitehall is a road in the City of Westminster, in central London, which forms the first part of the A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea. It is the main thoroughfare running north from Parliament Square, towards Charing Cross at the southern end of Trafalgar Square. Recognised as the centre of Her Majesty's Government, the street is lined with government departments and ministries; the name "Whitehall" is thus also frequently used as a metonym for overall British governmental administration, as well as being a geographic name for the surrounding area.
The name is taken from the vast Palace of Whitehall that used to occupy the area but which was largely destroyed by fire in 1698. Whitehall was originally a wide road that led to the front of the palace. Trafalgar Square was built at its northern extremity in the early 19th century. The southernmost portion by Parliament Square is named Parliament Street, but aside from a street name sign there is no longer any obvious distinction between the two on the ground. Combined, the streets cover a total distance of about 0.6 mile (1 km).
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Wimbledon Common
Wimbledon Common is a large open space in Wimbledon south-west London, totalling 460 hectares (1140 acres). There are three named areas: Wimbledon Common, Putney Heath, and Putney Lower Common which together are managed under the name Wimbledon and Putney Commons. Putney Lower Common is separated from the rest of the Common by about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) of built-up area of southwest Putney.
Wimbledon Common together with Putney Heath and Putney Lower Common is legally protected by the Wimbledon and Putney Commons Act of 1871 from being enclosed or built upon. The common is for the benefit of the general public for informal recreation and the preservation of natural flora and fauna. It is the largest expanse of heathland in the London area. There is an area of bog with unique flora. The western slopes, which lie on London Clay, support mature mixed woodland. The Commons are also a flagship site for the stag beetle.
Most of the Common is a Site of Special Scientific Interest and a Special Area of Conservation under the EC Habitats Directive.English Nature work with the Conservators on the management plan for the area.
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Adam Sandler
Adam Richard Sandler (born September 9, 1966) is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, musician and film producer. After becoming a Saturday Night Live cast member, Sandler went on to star in several Hollywood feature films that grossed over $100 million at the box office. He is best known for his comedic roles, such as in the films Billy Madison (1995), Happy Gilmore (1996), The Waterboy (1998), Big Daddy (1999), and Mr. Deeds (2002), though he has ventured into more dramatic territory. In 1999, Sandler founded Happy Madison, a film and television production company that has produced numerous films and developed the 2007 television series Rules of Engagement.
Adam Sandler was born in Brooklyn, New York to Jewish parents, Stanley, an electrical engineer, and Judy Sandler, a nursery school teacher. When he was five, his family moved to Manchester, New Hampshire, where he attended Manchester Central High School. He found he was a natural comic, and nurtured his talent while at New York University by performing regularly in clubs and on campuses. Sandler graduated from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts in 1988.
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Alicia Silverstone
Alicia Silverstone ( /əˈliːsiə ˈsɪlvərstoʊn/; born October 4, 1976) is an American actress, author, and animal rights and environmental activist.
Silverstone was born in San Francisco, California, the daughter of Deirdre "Didi" (née Radford), a Scottish-born former Pan Am flight attendant, and Monty Silverstone, a real estate agent born in England. She has two older siblings, a half-sister from her father's previous marriage named Kezi Silverstone and a brother named David Silverstone. She grew up in an upper-middle class home in the San Francisco suburb of Redwood City, California.[citation needed] Her father is Jewish and her mother converted to Conservative Judaism before marriage. She began modeling when she was six years old, and was subsequently cast in television commercials, the first being for Domino's Pizza. She attended Crocker Middle School and then San Mateo High School.
Silverstone won several awards for her film performances. She received multiple MTV Movie Awards and a Young Artist Award for The Crush. For Clueless she received multiple MTV Movie Awards and a Young Artist Award once again, plus awards from Blockbuster Entertainment Award, Kids' Choice Awards, National Board of Review, and an American Comedy Award.
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Amy Winehouse
Amy Jade Winehouse (14 September 1983 – 23 July 2011) was an English singer and songwriter known for her powerful deep contralto vocals and her eclectic mix of musical genres including R&B, soul and jazz. Winehouse's 2003 debut album, Frank, was critically successful in the UK and was nominated for the Mercury Prize. Her 2006 follow-up album, Back to Black, led to six Grammy Award nominations and five wins, tying the then record for the most wins by a female artist in a single night, and made Winehouse the first British female to win five Grammys, including three of the "Big Four": Best New Artist, Record of the Year and Song of the Year.
In 2007 she won a Brit Award for Best British Female Artist; she had also been nominated for Best British Album. She won the Ivor Novello Award three times: once in 2004 for Best Contemporary Song (musically and lyrically) for "Stronger Than Me", once in 2007 for Best Contemporary Song for "Rehab", and once in 2008 for Best Song Musically and Lyrically for "Love Is a Losing Game".
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Anthony Head
Anthony Stewart Head (born 20 February 1954), usually credited as Anthony Head, is an English actor and musician. He rose to fame in the UK following his role in television advertisements for Nescafé Gold Blend (Taster's Choice in the U.S.), and is known for his roles as Rupert Giles in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and as Uther Pendragon in Merlin.
Head was born in Camden Town, London. His father was Seafield Laurence Stewart Murray Head (1919–2009), a documentary filmmaker and a founder of Verity Films, and his mother was actress Helen Shingler (best remembered for her role as Mme. Maigret opposite Rupert Davies in the original television series), who married in 1944 in Watford. His older brother is actor and singer Murray Head. Both brothers have played the part of Freddy Trumper in the musical Chess at the Prince Edward Theatre, London, with Murray a part of the original cast in 1986, whilst Anthony was in the final cast in 1989.
Head was educated at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA). His first role was in the musical Godspell; this led to roles in television on both BBC and ITV, one of his earliest being an appearance in the series Enemy at the Door (ITV, 1978–1980). In the early 1980s he sang with the band Red Box. In the late 1980s, he appeared in a storyline series of twelve coffee commercials with Sharon Maughan for Nescafé Gold Blend. (A version made for the US featured the American brand name Taster's Choice.) The soap opera nature of the commercials brought him wider recognition, along with a part in the Children's ITV comedy drama Woof!
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Boy George
Boy George (born George Alan O'Dowd on 14 June 1961) is an English singer-songwriter, who was part of the English New Romanticism movement which emerged in the early 1980s. His music is often classified as blue-eyed soul, which is influenced by rhythm and blues and reggae. His 1990s and 2000s-era solo music has glam influences such as David Bowie and Iggy Pop. He also founded and was lead singer of Jesus Loves You during the period 1989–1992. Being involved in many activities (among them songwriting, DJing, writing books, designing clothes and photography), he has released fewer music recordings in the last decade.
Boy George was born George Alan O'Dowd at Barnehurst Hospital in Bexley, Kent on 14 June 1961, to Jeremiah and Dinah O'Dowd (née Glynn), who were originally from Thurles, County Tipperary, Ireland. He attended Eltham Green School in Eltham. He is one of six children. His siblings are Richard, Kevin, David, Gerald, and Siobhan.
He was a follower of the New Romantic movement which was popular in Britain in the early 1980s. George frequently lived at the infamous Warren Street Squat in Central London. George and his friend Marilyn were regulars at The Blitz, a trendy London nightclub run by Steve Strange of the group Visage. George and Marilyn also worked at the nightclub as cloakroom attendants.[citation needed]
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Brandon Routh
Brandon James Routh (born October 9, 1979) is an American actor and former fashion model. He grew up in Iowa before moving to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career, and subsequently appeared on multiple television series throughout the early 2000s. In 2006, he gained greater recognition for his role as the titular hero of the 2006 film Superman Returns. He also had a recurring role in the TV series Chuck, as Daniel Shaw. Following this, he has had several supporting roles in television and film. In 2011, he portrayed the eponymous protagonist of another comic book film, Dylan Dog: Dead of Night.
Routh, the third of four children, was born in Norwalk, Iowa, on October 9, 1979, the son of Catherine (née Lear), a teacher, and Ronald Ray Routh, a carpenter. Routh's family, which is Methodist, has German, French, English, and Native American ancestry. Routh grew up in Norwalk, approximately 100 miles (160 km) south of Woolstock, the hometown of George Reeves, the first actor to play Superman on television. During his childhood, Routh thought a full-time acting career was unrealistic, citing his small-town background. In his spare time, he played the trumpet and the piano. Routh attended Norwalk High School, where he played sports and participated in music and theatre. He has described himself as a "momma's boy" and not "the most popular kid" during his school years. Routh has also noted that during his younger years, he was fond of the Superman films and comic books.
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Busta Rhymes
Trevor Tahiem Smith, Jr., (born May 20, 1972), better known by his stage name Busta Rhymes, is an American rapper, producer and actor. Chuck D of Public Enemy gave him the alias Busta Rhymes after NFL wide receiver George "Buster" Rhymes. Early in his career, he was known for his wild style and fashion, and today is best known for his intricate rapping technique, which involves rapping at a fast rate with lots of internal rhyme and half rhyme, and to date has received eleven Grammy nominations for his musical work. About.com included him on its list of the 50 Greatest MCs of Our Time (1987–2007), while Steve Huey of Allmusic called him one of the best and most prolific rappers of the '90s.
Busta was born in Red Hook, Brooklyn, New York, and grew up in Flatbush, Brooklyn, to Jamaican parents Geraldine Green and Trevor Smith, Sr. in 1972. Smith attended George Westinghouse Career and Technical Education High School, alongside Jay-Z, DMX and The Notorious B.I.G. He went to Uniondale High School on Long Island, graduating in 1990.
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Carmen Electra
Tara Leigh Patrick (born April 20, 1972), better known by her stage name Carmen Electra, is an American glamour model, actress, television personality, singer, and dancer. She gained fame for her appearances in Playboy magazine, on the MTV game show Singled Out, on the TV series Baywatch, and dancing with the Pussycat Dolls, and has since had roles in the parody films Scary Movie (as well as the fourth film), Date Movie, Epic Movie, Meet the Spartans, and Disaster Movie.
Electra was born in Sharonville, Ohio, the daughter of Patricia, a singer, and Harry, a guitarist and entertainer. She attended Ann Weigel Elementary School and then studied dance at Dance Artists dance studio under Gloria J. Simpson, in Western Hills, a neighborhood of Cincinnati. Her mother died of a brain tumor in 1998. Her older sister Debbie died from a heart attack, also in 1998. Carmen graduated from Princeton High School in Sharonville. She also attended the School for Creative and Performing Arts (SCPA) in the Cincinnati Public School District (CPS). She has Irish, German, and Cherokee ancestry.
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Christian Slater
Christian Michael Leonard Slater (born August 18, 1969) is an American actor. He made his film debut with a small role in The Postman Always Rings Twice before playing a leading role in the 1985 film The Legend of Billie Jean. He then played a monk's apprentice alongside Sean Connery in The Name of the Rose before gaining recognition for his breakthrough role in the cult film Heathers and Pump Up the Volume.
In the 1990s, Slater featured in many big budget films including Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles, Broken Arrow, and Hard Rain. He was also featured in the cult film True Romance. Since 2000, Slater has combined work in the film business with television, including appearances in The West Wing and Alias and starring in Breaking In.
Slater was married to Ryan Haddon between 2000 and 2005; they had two children together. Slater has had widely publicized brushes with the law, including being sentenced to three months in jail for assault in 1997.
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Christina Aguilera
Christina María Aguilera (born December 18, 1980) is an American recording artist and actress. Aguilera first appeared on national television in 1990 as a contestant on the Star Search program, and went on to star in Disney Channel's television series The Mickey Mouse Club from 1993 to 1994. Aguilera signed to RCA Records after recording "Reflection", the theme song for the animated film Mulan (1998).
In 1999, Aguilera came to prominence following her debut album Christina Aguilera, which was a commercial success spawning three number one singles on the Billboard Hot 100—"Genie in a Bottle", "What a Girl Wants", and "Come On Over Baby (All I Want Is You)." Her sophomore and her debut Latin-pop album, Mi Reflejo (2000), a Christmas third studio album, My Kind of Christmas (2000), and several collaborations followed which garnered Aguilera worldwide success, though she was displeased with her lack of input in her music and image. After parting from her management, Aguilera took creative control over her fourth studio album, Stripped (2002). The album's second single, "Beautiful", was a commercial success and helped the album's commercial performance amidst controversy over Aguilera's image. Aguilera followed up Stripped with the soul, jazz and blues inspired, Back to Basics (2006), released to positive critical acclaim. The album produced three singles "Ain't No Other Man", "Hurt" and "Candyman". Four years later Aguilera released her sixth studio album, Bionic (2010), which incorporated aspects of R&B, electropop, and synthpop and was met with mixed reviews and low sales. Aguilera's seventh studio album is set to be released in 2012.
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Dannii Minogue
Danielle Jane Minogue also known as "Dannii" Minogue (born 20 October 1971) is an Australian singer-songwriter, actress, television personality, radio personality, fashion designer and model. She rose to prominence in the early 1980s for her roles in the Australian television talent show Young Talent Time and the soap opera Home and Away, before commencing her career as a pop singer in the early 1990s. Minogue achieved early success with hits such as "Love and Kisses" and "This is It", though by the release of her second album, her popularity as a singer had declined, leading her to make a name for herself with award-winning performances in musicals with Grease and also in Notre Dame De Paris, as well as other acting credits in The Vagina Monologues and as Lady Macbeth. The late 1990s saw a brief return to music after Minogue reinvented herself as a dance artist with "All I Wanna Do", her first number one UK Club hit.
In 2001, Minogue further returned to musical success with the release of her biggest worldwide hit to date, "Who Do You Love Now?", while her subsequent album, Neon Nights, became the most successful of her career. In the UK, she has achieved twelve consecutive number one dance singles, becoming the best-performing artist on the UK Upfront Club Chart. Since 2007, Minogue has established herself as a successful talent show judge and television personality. She is currently a judge on Australia's Got Talent in Australia and, until 2010, The X Factor in the UK, where she was the winning judge in both 2007 and 2010 with Leon Jackson and Matt Cardle, respectively. On 9 November 2011, Dannii received an honorary doctorate degree in Media and Arts from Southampton Solent University for her 30-year varied career in the showbiz and media industry.
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David Hasselhoff
David Michael Hasselhoff (/ˈhæsəlhɒf/; born July 17, 1952) is an American actor, singer, producer and businessman. He is best known for his lead roles as Michael Knight in the popular 1980s US series Knight Rider and as L.A. County Lifeguard Mitch Buchannon in the series Baywatch. Hasselhoff also produced Baywatch for a number of seasons in the 1990s up until 2001, when the series ended with Baywatch Hawaii. Hasselhoff also crossed over to a music career during the end of the 1980s and the early 1990s. He was noted for his performance at the Berlin Wall at New Year's Eve 1989; he enjoyed a short-lived success as a singer primarily in German-speaking Europe.
More recently, Hasselhoff has been involved with talent shows. He was the first celebrity eliminated from the eleventh season of Dancing with the Stars on September 21, 2010. He was also a judge on NBC's America's Got Talent from 2006 to 2009. In 2011, he joined the Britain's Got Talent judging panel, alongside Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden and Michael McIntyre. He appeared as himself in the 2004 film The Spongebob Squarepants Movie.
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Graham Norton
Graham William Walker, known by his stage name Graham Norton, (born 4 April 1963) is an Irish actor, comedian, television presenter and columnist. He is the host of comedy chat programme The Graham Norton Show on BBC One in the UK and BBC America in the US. Hot Press has described him as "the 21st century's answer to Terry Wogan", with both men sharing an Irish background and the common link of being a BBC Radio 2 presenter and the BBC television commentator of the Eurovision Song Contest. Norton has won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Entertainment Performance on five occassions.
Norton was born in Clondalkin, a suburb of Dublin, but grew up in Bandon, County Cork, Ireland to a Protestant family. He was educated at Bandon Grammar School, in County Cork and then University College Cork but did not complete his studies.
In 1992 his stand-up comedy drag act in the Edinburgh Festival Fringe as a tea-towel clad Mother Teresa of Calcutta made the press when Scottish Television's religious affairs department mistakenly thought he represented the real Mother Teresa.
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Jamie Foxx
Eric Marlon Bishop (born December 13, 1967), professionally known as Jamie Foxx, is an American actor, singer-songwriter, rapper, stand-up comedian, and talk radio host who began playing the piano when he was five years old. As an actor, his work in the film Ray earned him the Academy Award and BAFTA Award for Best Actor as well as the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a musical/comedy. He is also a Grammy Award winning musician, producing three albums which have charted highly on the Billboard 200: Unpredictable, which topped the chart, Best Night of My Life and Intuition.
Born in Terrell, Texas, Foxx was raised by his mother's adoptive parents. He performed in high school and was awarded with a scholarship to United States International University. In his twenties, Foxx began performing stand-up at comedy clubs, and eventually joined the cast of In Living Color in 1991; this exposure helped him land film roles and star in his own sitcom, The Jamie Foxx Show. He released his debut album, Peep This, in 1994, but he did not gain significant musical success until 2004 when he was featured in Twista's song "Slow Jamz". Also in 2004, Foxx played critically acclaimed roles in the films Collateral and Ray. He released his second album, Unpredictable, in 2005, which was helped by his collaboration on Kanye West's number-one single "Gold Digger". His third album Intuition was released in 2008 and was anchored by the single "Blame It". Foxx released his fourth studio album, Best Night of My Life, in 2010.
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Jesus
Jesus ( /ˈdʒiːzəs/; Greek: Ἰησοῦς; 7–2 BC/BCE to 30–36 AD/CE), also referred to as Jesus Christ or simply Christ, is the central figure of Christianity and most Christian denominations venerate him as God the Son incarnated. In Islam, Jesus (in Arabic: عيسى in Islamic usage, commonly transliterated as Isa) is considered one of God's important prophets.
Most modern historians agree that Jesus existed and was a Jewish teacher from Galilee in Roman Judaea, who was baptized by John the Baptist, and was crucified in Jerusalem on the orders of the Roman Prefect, Pontius Pilate. Scholars have offered competing descriptions and portraits of Jesus, which at times share a number of overlapping attributes, such as a rabbi, a charismatic healer, the leader of an apocalyptic movement, a self-described Messiah, a sage and philosopher, or a social reformer who preached of the "Kingdom of God" as a means for personal and egalitarian social transformation. Scholars have correlated the New Testament accounts with non-Christian historical records to arrive at an estimated chronology of Jesus' life.
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John Lennon
John Winston Ono Lennon, MBE (9 October 1940 – 8 December 1980) was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founder members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Together with Paul McCartney, he formed one of the most celebrated songwriting partnerships of the 20th century.
Born and raised in Liverpool, Lennon became involved as a teenager in the skiffle craze; his first band, The Quarrymen, evolved into The Beatles in 1960. As the group disintegrated towards the end of the decade, Lennon embarked on a solo career that produced the critically acclaimed albums John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band and Imagine, and iconic songs such as "Give Peace a Chance" and "Imagine". After his marriage to Yoko Ono in 1969, he changed his name to John Ono Lennon. Lennon disengaged himself from the music business in 1975 to devote time to raising his infant son Sean, but re-emerged with Ono in 1980 with the new album Double Fantasy. He was murdered three weeks after its release.
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Julian Barratt
Julian Barratt (born Julian Barratt Pettifer on 4 May 1968 in Leeds) is an English comedian, musician, music producer and actor. Barratt is best known for playing the character of Howard Moon in the cult comedy The Mighty Boosh, which he also co-wrote with comedy partner Noel Fielding. In 2012 Barratt directed his first music video for the song "All of Me" by New York's Tanlines.
Barratt stars as the character Howard Moon opposite Noel Fielding's Vince Noir in the comedy series The Mighty Boosh. Howard labels himself a "jazz maverick" and claims to be a multitalented intellectual, calling himself a 'man of action', but he is actually unsuccessful in his literary and romantic ventures. He is unpopular with many of the characters, including Mrs. Gideon (who always forgets his name), Bob Fossil (who often uses Howard as a puppet for his bizarre schemes), and Bollo (who often says his name wrong or ignores him completely).
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Kate Bosworth
Catherine Ann "Kate" Bosworth (born January 2, 1983) is an American actress. Bosworth starred in the television series Young Americans, in which she played Bella Banks. She became known with a leading role in 2002's Blue Crush. The following year, Bosworth played the teenage girlfriend of porn star John Holmes in Wonderland opposite Val Kilmer. In 2004, she portrayed Sandra Dee in Kevin Spacey's Beyond the Sea. Bosworth since appeared in several notable films, including Superman Returns (2006), where she played Lois Lane, and 2008's blackjack drama film 21. In 2008, she became both Calvin Klein Jeans newest model and spokeswoman for Coach newest luxury bags.
Bosworth was born January 2, 1983 in Los Angeles, California. She is the only child of Patricia (née Potter), a homemaker, and Harold Bosworth, a former executive for Talbots. At the age of six, Bosworth's family relocated from San Francisco to various parts of the country due to her father's job. She was raised mainly on the East Coast, spending the rest of her youth in Massachusetts and Connecticut.
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Katy Perry
Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson (born October 25, 1984), known by her stage name Katy Perry, is an American singer, songwriter and actress. Perry grew up with gospel music, and during her first year of high school she pursued a music career as Katy Hudson, releasing her first studio album called Katy Hudson which failed to chart. She recorded a solo album later, which was never released. After signing with Capitol Music Group in 2007, her fourth record label in seven years, she adopted the stage name Katy Perry.
She first gained recognition with the release of her first mainstream album, One of the Boys in 2008, which spawned three Billboard Hot 100 top-ten songs—"I Kissed A Girl", "Hot n Cold" and "Waking Up In Vegas". Perry supported the album with her Hello Katy Tour. In 2010, her third studio album, Teenage Dream (2010), which topped the Billboard 200 chart, and spawned five number one singles—"California Gurls", "Teenage Dream", "Firework", "E.T." and "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)"—Teenage Dream was the only album (after Michael Jackson's Bad)—to do so, and the first female in history to achieve this milestone. She embarked on the California Dreams Tour, which grossed nearly $60 million worldwide. Perry re-released the album under the name of Teenage Dream: The Complete Confection on March 26, 2012, and the re-release has already spawned the number-one single "Part of Me".
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Kelly Brook
Kelly Brook (born Kelly Ann Parsons;(1979-11-23)23 November 1979) is an English model, actress, entrepreneur, television presenter and Playboy model.
Brook was born and brought up in Rochester, Kent, England. She is the daughter of Sandra, a cook, and Kenneth Parsons, a scaffolder. She has a younger brother, Damian, and an older half-sister, Sasha. Kenneth died aged 57 in Rochester from lung cancer on 26 November 2007, during Brook's time on Strictly Come Dancing.
Brook attended the Thomas Aveling School in Warren Wood, Rochester. She then studied at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts in London for three years before becoming a professional model.
Brook's modelling career began at 16 after winning a beauty competition, in which she was entered by her mother. She later worked on a range of advertising campaigns, including for Foster's Lager, Renault Mégane, Walker's crisps, Piz Buin and Bravissimo, a company that specialises in bras and lingerie for large-breasted women. Her figure eventually caught the eye of the editorial team of the Daily Star tabloid, which began featuring her as a Page Three girl.
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Kevin Spacey
Kevin Spacey, CBE (born Kevin Spacey Fowler; July 26, 1959) is an American actor, director, screenwriter, producer, and crooner. He grew up in California, and began his career as a stage actor during the 1980s, before being cast in supporting roles in film and television. He gained critical acclaim in the early 1990s, culminating in his first Academy Award for The Usual Suspects (Best Supporting Actor), followed by a Best Actor Academy Award win for American Beauty (1999). His other starring roles in Hollywood include Seven, L.A. Confidential, Pay It Forward, K-PAX, and Superman Returns in a career which has earned him several Emmy and Golden Globe nominations. Since 2003, he has been artistic director of the Old Vic theatre in London.
Spacey was born in South Orange, New Jersey, the son of Kathleen Ann (née Knutson; December 5, 1931 – March 19, 2003), a secretary, and Thomas Geoffrey Fowler (June 4, 1924 – December 24, 1992), a technical writer and data consultant. He has two older siblings: a sister, Julie, and a brother, Randy. He attended Northridge Military Academy, Canoga Park High School (in tenth and eleventh grades), and then Chatsworth High School in Chatsworth, Los Angeles, where he graduated valedictorian of his class. At Chatsworth High, he starred in the school's senior production of The Sound of Music, playing the part of Captain Georg von Trapp, opposite Mare Winningham's character, Maria.
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Matt Willis
Matthew James Willis (born 8 May 1983) is an English singer-songwriter. He found fame as a founding member of the band Busted.
Willis was born Matthew James Willis in Tooting, London, later moving to East Molesey, Surrey, where he grew up, and later moved to Woking, Surrey.
Willis has an older brother, Darren; their parents split up when Matt was three years old. His mother later remarried and had his half-sister, Amanda, who is an Ambassador for a charity called Whizz-Kidz. Willis has had three different last names legally whilst growing up; Willis after his birth father, this was changed to Woods after his parents split and later changed to Sargent after his mother married her now current husband.
Willis has made it clear that he was a "problem" child, regularly sneaking out of the house by shimmying down drain pipes. He also as a child suffered from brittle bone disease, tunnel vision, asthma and hyperactivity problems.
Willis attended Woking High School after being asked to leave his previous secondary school, before leaving to attend the independent fee-paying Sylvia Young Theatre School in Marylebone, London, where he met his now close friends Lee Ryan, Tom Fletcher, Billie Piper, Jodi Albert, and Amy Winehouse who had openly said that she fancied Matt at school: "Yeah we all loved Matt at school. I fancied him, Everyone did."
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Nerina Pallot
Nerina Pallot (born Nerina Natasha Georgina Pallot, 26 April 1975, London) is a platinum selling, BRIT Award and Ivor Novello Award nominated British singer and songwriter. Although born in London, Pallot was brought up in Jersey to a half-French father and mother from Allahabad, India.
Pallot played piano as a child and wrote her first song aged 13. She has identified seeing singer and pianist Kate Bush perform her hit song "This Woman's Work" on television as a catalyst for her to pursue a music career. She attended Jersey College for Girls.
Pallot released her debut album, Dear Frustrated Superstar, on Polydor records in August 2001. This spawned two commercial singles, "Patience" and "Alien", with a third, "If I Know You" mooted, a video for which was filmed, but has never been publicly shown. Her album was withdrawn shortly before an arena tour with Bryan Adams, pending a planned reissue.
Subsequently she was dropped from the label partly as a result of a message she wrote on the Tipsheet message board relating to the actions of her A&R man around remixes of "Photograph", a track intended to be on the re-issued Dear Frustrated Superstar. This incident and many others related to the industry and her experiences with her debut album are discussed in stories on her official website.
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Noel Fielding
Noel Fielding (born 21 May 1973) is a British surrealist, comedian, actor, artist, DJ and musician. He is known for his role as Vince Noir in The Mighty Boosh, which he co-wrote with comedy partner Julian Barratt, and as a team captain on the music panel show Never Mind the Buzzcocks. His solo comedy sketch show Noel Fielding's Luxury Comedy began broadcasting in January 2012 on the UK's E4.
Born in Westminster, London, Fielding performed regularly as a stand-up comedian during the late 1990s, and appeared repeatedly on the television stand-up showcase Lee Mack's Gas. His highly animated stand-up routine included surreal stories, physical comedy, characters, and songs, much like his later work in The Mighty Boosh.
In 2010, Fielding was to perform a solo tour across the country. It was cancelled, however, so he could concentrate on writing The Mighty Boosh film and album with Barratt. Fielding announced via Twitter that he was too busy to do the tour.
In 2010, Fielding took part in Channel 4's Comedy Gala, a benefit show held in aid of Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital and filmed live at the O2 Arena in London on 30 March.
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Noel Gallagher
Noel Thomas David Gallagher (born 29 May 1967) is an English musician and singer-songwriter, formerly the lead guitarist, occasional lead singer and principal songwriter of the rock band Oasis. He is currently fronting his solo project, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds. Raised in Burnage, Manchester with Liam, Noel began learning guitar at the age of thirteen. After a series of odd jobs in construction, he worked for local Manchester band Inspiral Carpets as a roadie and technician in 1988. Whilst touring with them, he learned that Liam had formed a band of his own, known as The Rain, which eventually took on the name Oasis. After Gallagher returned to England, he was invited by his brother to join Oasis as songwriter and guitarist.
Oasis' debut album, Definitely Maybe (1994), marked the beginning of the band's rise to fame as head of the Britpop movement. Oasis' second album, (What's the Story) Morning Glory?, reached the top of the album charts in many countries and their third studio album, Be Here Now, became the fastest-selling album in UK chart history. Britpop eventually declined in popularity and Oasis' next two albums failed to revive it. However, the band's final two albums, Don't Believe the Truth (2005) and Dig Out Your Soul (2008), were hailed as its best efforts in over a decade and found renewed success. On 28 August 2009, following an altercation with Liam prior to a gig in Paris, Gallagher announced his departure from Oasis and on 23 October 2009, he confirmed he would embark on a solo career.
wn.com/Noel_Gallagher -
Rob Brydon
Rob Brydon (born Robert Brydon Jones; 3 May 1965) is a BAFTA-nominated Welsh actor, comedian, radio and television presenter, singer and impressionist. He played Uncle Bryn in the comedy drama Gavin and Stacey, is the host of panel quiz show Would I Lie to You?, plays a parody of himself in Rob Brydon's Annually Retentive and played Keith Barret in the BBC comedy Marion and Geoff and its spin-off The Keith Barret Show. He also hosts The Rob Brydon Show, a chat show for the BBC. Brydon has worked with a number of comedians and actors, notably Steve Coogan and Julia Davis.
Robert Brydon Jones was born on 3 May 1965 in Swansea. His mother, Joy Jones (née Brydon), was a school teacher, and his father, Howard Jones, was a car dealer. He grew up near Swansea in Baglan in the town of Port Talbot.
Brydon was educated at two independent schools: St. John's School in Porthcawl, which Eddie Izzard also attended as did Ruth Jones whom he later worked with in Gavin and Stacey, and Dumbarton House School in Swansea until the age of 14; this was followed by Porthcawl Comprehensive School, where he became a member of the school's youth theatre group. While at Dumbarton he once stole fellow pupil Catherine Zeta-Jones's dinner money (which he admitted while participating in a series-four episode of Would I Lie To You?).
wn.com/Rob_Brydon -
Ross Noble
Ross Markham Noble (born 5 June 1976 in Newcastle upon Tyne) is an English stand-up comedian from Cramlington, Northumberland.
Noble rose to mainstream popularity through making appearances on British television, particularly interviews and on celebrity quiz shows such as Have I Got News for You. He has also released DVDs of several of his tours.
In 2007 he was voted the 10th greatest stand-up comic on Channel 4's 100 Greatest Stand-Ups and again in the updated 2010 list as the 11th greatest stand-up comic.
Noble's stand-up routine is a largely improvised and surreal performance with a stream of consciousness delivery. Often, a large percentage of his set becomes based around heckles and conversations with members of the audience. Although he does often have a few set topics which he performs throughout a tour, he describes the planning for the entire show as "about four words on a piece of scrap paper".
Noble often mimes actions on-stage to help the audience visualise his surreal ideas, for example, telling the audience to never put a blanket over an owl, and exactly what an owl neck detection device is ("just a stick with a pointy bit on it") or showing the audience how to serve double header ice creams properly after considering his own made-up plot of 24 in which Jack Bauer escapes a cell using a greasy goose.
wn.com/Ross_Noble -
Russell Brand
Russell Edward Brand (born 4 June 1975) is an English comedian, actor, columnist, singer, author and radio/television presenter.
Brand achieved mainstream fame in the UK in 2004 for his role as host of Big Brother spin-off, Big Brother's Big Mouth. His first major film role was in the 2007 film St Trinian's. He became known to American audiences when he got a major role in Forgetting Sarah Marshall which led to a starring role in 2010's Get Him to the Greek. He has also been a voice actor for animated films such as 2010's Despicable Me and the 2011 film Hop. He starred in the 2011 remake of the 1981 Dudley Moore film Arthur.
Brand is noted for his eccentricity and his controversies in the British media, including his dismissal from MTV for dressing up as Osama bin Laden and controversies while presenting at various award ceremonies, as well as his former substance abuse. The 2008 prank telephone calls he made to Andrew Sachs while co-hosting The Russell Brand Show with Jonathan Ross led to his resignation from the BBC and major policy changes in that organisation. His prior drug use, alcoholism and promiscuity influenced his comedic material and public image. He married American pop singer Katy Perry in October 2010, and filed for divorce from her in December 2011; the divorce was finalised in 2012.
wn.com/Russell_Brand -
Stephen Merchant
Stephen James Merchant (born 24 November 1974) is an English writer, director, radio presenter, comedian, and actor. He is best known for his collaborations with Ricky Gervais, as the co-writer and co-director of the popular British sitcom The Office, as the co-writer, co-director and a co-star of Extras, and as the co-host of The Ricky Gervais Show in its radio, podcast, audiobook and television-show forms. The Ricky Gervais Show in radio form has won a bronze Sony Award.
Merchant appeared in the BBC TV series Life's Too Short in which he co-wrote and co-directs. He also voiced the character Wheatley in the popular 2011 video game Portal 2, co-developed Sky TV travel series An Idiot Abroad, and performs as a stand-up comedian. He has won three BAFTA Awards, four British Comedy Awards, and an Emmy.
Merchant was born in Bristol, England, the son of Jane Elaine (née Hibbs), a nursery nurse, and Ronald John Merchant, an insurance representative. He attended Hanham High School. As he has described in Xfm London shows and podcasts, Merchant was a very shy child, tending to focus more on school work as opposed to sport. His school yearbook predicted that he would enjoy success.
wn.com/Stephen_Merchant -
Steve Coogan
Stephen John "Steve" Coogan (born 14 October 1965) is a BAFTA-winning English actor, comedian, writer, impressionist and producer. Born in Middleton, Lancashire, he began his career as a stand-up comedian and impressionist, working as a voice artist throughout the 1980s on satirical puppet show Spitting Image. In the early 1990s, Coogan began creating original comic characters which he presented in stage shows, this led to him winning the 1992 Perrier Award at the Edinburgh Fringe, for his show with long-time collaborator John Thomson. The most prominent characters he developed at this time were Paul Calf, a stereotypical lower class Mancunian and his sister the promiscuous Pauline (played by Coogan in drag).
Working with Chris Morris, Patrick Marber and Armando Iannucci for On the Hour and The Day Today, Coogan developed his most popular and most developed character; Alan Partridge, a socially awkward and politically incorrect regional media personality, who developed to feature in his own eponymous television series, Knowing Me Knowing You with Alan Partridge and I'm Alan Partridge, which were well received and were nominated for five BAFTAs in total. Outside the UK, Coogan is better known for his roles in films including 24 Hour Party People, The Wind in the Willows, Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, Night at the Museum, Tropic Thunder, Hamlet 2, A Cock and Bull Story, The Trip and The Other Guys.
wn.com/Steve_Coogan -
Tim Westwood
Timothy Westwood (born 3 October 1957) is an English DJ and presenter of radio and television. He also presents the UK version of the MTV show Pimp My Ride. He is often referred to by other DJs and artists appearing on his shows simply as Westwood.
During his career Westwood has DJed for many radio stations, including the newly formed radio stations Kiss FM (which he co-owned) and LWR in the 1980s, followed by mainstream station Capital FM (from 1987). In December 1994, following a shake up of Radio 1 by the then chief executive Matthew Bannister, he was given the new and somewhat innovative national Radio 1 Rap Show. He was the Radio 1 Rap Show's first presenter and has been its only permanent presenter; he is now one of Radio 1's longest-serving broadcasters.
His first broadcast on a legal station appears to have been on 23 March 1985, when he was already working as a pirate DJ.[original research?] He was a guest on a BBC World Service programme called Meridian where he discussed early hip-hop culture in London. After appearing in the 1987 BBC Open Space documentary Bad Meaning Good, which was an early work of his own company Justice Entertainment, he achieved TV exposure in the late 1980s on the ITV programme Night Network, produced by London Weekend Television.
wn.com/Tim_Westwood -
Tom Cruise
Thomas Cruise Mapother IV ( /ˈtɒməs ˈkruːz ˈmeɪpɒθər/; born July 3, 1962), widely known as Tom Cruise, is an American film actor and producer. He has been nominated for three Academy Awards and has won three Golden Globe Awards for the same movies: Born on the Fourth of July (1989), Jerry Maguire (1996), Magnolia (1999). He started his career with the movie Endless Love. Cruise's first appearance in a major film was in 1981's Taps. His first leading role was in the film Risky Business, released in August 1983. Cruise played the role of a heroic naval pilot in the popular and successful 1986 film Top Gun, and also secret agent Ethan Hunt in the series of Mission: Impossible action films.
He has starred in a variety of other successful films, including: Rain Man (1988), Days of Thunder (1990), A Few Good Men (1992), Vanilla Sky (2001), Minority Report (2002), The Last Samurai (2003), Collateral (2004), and War of the Worlds (2005).
Since 2005, Cruise and Paula Wagner have been in charge of the United Artists film studio, with Cruise as producer and star and Wagner as the chief executive. Cruise is also known for his support of and adherence to the Church of Scientology.
wn.com/Tom_Cruise -
Uma Thurman
Uma Karuna Thurman (born April 29, 1970) is an American actress and model. She has performed in leading roles in a variety of films, ranging from romantic comedies and dramas to science fiction and action movies. She received an Academy Award nomination for the Quentin Tarantino film Pulp Fiction (1994) and she won a Golden Globe Award for her performance in Hysterical Blindness (2002).
Thurman was born in Boston to Nena von Schlebrügge and Robert Thurman, and grew up mostly in Amherst, Massachusetts, where she went to Amherst Regional Middle School, and then moved to Woodstock, New York. Her father gave his children a Buddhist upbringing, and she is named after an Dbuma Chenpo (in Tibetan, the "db" is silent; from Mahamadhyamaka in Sanskrit, meaning "Great Middle Way"). Regarding religion, she now calls herself agnostic. She has three brothers, Ganden (b. 1968), Dechen (b. 1973), and Mipam (b. 1978), and a half-sister named Taya (b. 1960), from her father's previous marriage. She and her siblings spent time in Almora, Uttarakhand, India, during childhood, and the Dalai Lama sometimes visited their home. She is described as having been an awkward and introverted girl who was teased for her tall frame, angular bone structure, enormous feet and unusual name (sometimes using the name “Uma Karen” instead of her birth name). When she was 10 years old, a friend's mother suggested a nose job. As a child, she suffered bouts of body dysmorphic disorder, which she discussed in an interview with Talk magazine in 2001. She attended Amherst Public Schools. In the 8th grade she discovered her love for acting. Talent scouts noticed her performance as Abigail in a production of The Crucible, and offered her the chance to act professionally. Thurman attended Northfield Mount Hermon School, an elite preparatory school in Massachusetts, before dropping out to pursue a career in acting.
wn.com/Uma_Thurman -
Will Ferrell
John William "Will" Ferrell (/ˈfɛrəl/; born July 16, 1967) is an American comedian, impressionist, actor, and writer. Ferrell first established himself in the mid 1990s as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, and has subsequently starred in the comedy films Old School, Elf, Anchorman, Talladega Nights, Stranger than Fiction, Blades of Glory, Semi-Pro, and The Other Guys. He is considered a member of the "Frat Pack", a generation of leading Hollywood comic actors who emerged in the late 1990s and the 2000s, including Jack Black, Ben Stiller, Steve Carell, Vince Vaughn, and brothers Owen and Luke Wilson.
Ferrell was born in Irvine, California, the son of Betty Kay (née Overman), a teacher who taught at Old Mill School elementary school and Santa Ana College, and Roy Lee Ferrell, Jr., a musician with The Righteous Brothers. His parents were both natives of Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina, and moved to California in 1964; Ferrell has Irish ancestry. Ferrell has a younger brother, Patrick. When he was 8, his parents divorced. Ferrell said of the divorce, "I was the type of kid who would say, 'Hey Look at the bright side! We'll have two Christmases.'" The divorce was amicable and both parents were committed to their children. The biggest problem was Lee's line of work. As a person in show business, his paychecks were never steady and he was gone from home months at a time. Growing up in the environment made Ferrell not want to go into show business, but get a steady job.
wn.com/Will_Ferrell -
Zach Braff
Zachary I. "Zach" Braff (born April 6, 1975) is an American actor, screenwriter, producer, comedian, and director. Braff first became known in 2001 for his role as Dr. John Dorian on the television series Scrubs, for which he was nominated for an Emmy Award and three Golden Globe Awards.
In 2004, Braff made his directorial debut with Garden State. Braff returned to his home state New Jersey to shoot the film, which was produced for $2.5 million. The film made over $35 million at the box office and was praised by critics. Braff wrote the film, starred in it, and compiled the soundtrack record. He won numerous awards for his directing work, and also won the Grammy Award for Best Soundtrack Album in 2005.
Braff was born in South Orange, New Jersey. His mother, Anne Brodzinsky (born Anne Hutchinson Maynard), is a clinical psychologist, and his father, Harold Irwin "Hal" Braff, is a trial attorney and sociology professor. His parents divorced and re-married others during Braff's childhood. One of his siblings, Joshua, is an author. Braff's father was born into a Jewish family, and Braff's mother, originally a Protestant, converted to Judaism before marrying his father (through his mother's New England ancestors, Braff is a distant cousin of politician Mitt Romney). Braff was raised in Conservative Judaism, and has said that he is "not a huge organized religion guy".
wn.com/Zach_Braff
1 Leicester Square
Cast
- Russell Brand
- Karen Hayley
- Kimberly Stewart
- Trisha Goddard
- Sophie Anderton
- Noel Gallagher
- Busta Rhymes
- Dannii Minogue
- Fabrizio Moretti
- Nerina Pallot
- Anthony Head
- Tom Jones
- Kelly Brook
- Boy George
- Jesse Metcalfe
- Tara Palmer-Tomkinson
- Stephen Dorff
- Jamie Foxx
- Tim Westwood
- Jorge Garcia
- Uma Thurman
- Jade Jagger
- Tom Cruise
- Nikolai Fraiture
- Mackenzie Crook
- Season 1
-
Episode 1: (#1.1)
- Episode 2: (#1.2)
- Episode 3: (#1.3)
- Episode 4: (#1.4)
UK:23 April 2006...- Episode 5: (#1.5)
UK:30 April 2006...- Episode 6: (#1.6)
UK:7 May 2006...- Episode 7: (#1.7)
UK:14 May 2006...- Episode 8: (#1.8)
UK:21 May 2006...- Episode 9: (#1.9)
UK:28 May 2006...- Episode 10: (#1.10)
UK:4 June 2006...- Episode 11: (#1.11)
UK:11 June 2006...- Episode 12: (#1.12)
UK:18 June 2006...- Episode 13: (#1.13)
UK:25 June 2006...- Episode 14: (#1.14)
UK:2 July 2006...- Episode 15: (#1.15)
UK:9 July 2006...- Episode 16: (#1.16)
UK:16 July 2006...
Send this Playlist by SMSEmail this Page
Mighty Boosh on 1 Leicester Square Part 1/2- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 9:25
- Updated: 17 Dec 2012
Mighty Boosh on 1 Leicester Square.. Part 1/2http://wn.com/Mighty_Boosh_on_1_Leicester_Square_Part_1_2
Mighty Boosh on 1 Leicester Square.. Part 1/2
The Strokes on 1 Leicester Square 2006- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 6:38
- Updated: 30 Dec 2012
Russell Brand interviewing Fabrizio Moretti and Nikolai Fraiture. June 2006http://wn.com/The_Strokes_on_1_Leicester_Square_2006
Russell Brand interviewing Fabrizio Moretti and Nikolai Fraiture. June 2006
- published: 21 Jul 2011
- views: 15853
- author: FojeFan
Christina Aguilera on 1 Leicester Square (Part 1/4)- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:26
- Updated: 18 Dec 2012
Russell Brand interviewing Christina Aguilera on MTV's 1 Leicester Square in 2006.http://wn.com/Christina_Aguilera_on_1_Leicester_Square_Part_1_4
Russell Brand interviewing Christina Aguilera on MTV's 1 Leicester Square in 2006.
- published: 10 Mar 2011
- views: 36902
- author: LaurenRoseHavok
Russell Brand talks to Steve Coogan, 2006- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 6:03
- Updated: 27 Dec 2012
From 1 Leicester Sq.http://wn.com/Russell_Brand_talks_to_Steve_Coogan,_2006
Stephen Merchant on 1 Leicester Square- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:51
- Updated: 30 Dec 2012
Stephen Merchant of "The Office" and "Extras" recounting why he doesn't wear contacts.http://wn.com/Stephen_Merchant_on_1_Leicester_Square
Stephen Merchant of "The Office" and "Extras" recounting why he doesn't wear contacts.
- published: 08 Jun 2007
- views: 178630
- author: zenigmatic
1 Leicester Square: Russell Brand and Ashlee Simpson Part 1- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:51
- Updated: 16 Dec 2012
Russell Brand interviewing Ashlee Simpson on 1 Leicester Square.http://wn.com/1_Leicester_Square_Russell_Brand_and_Ashlee_Simpson_Part_1
Russell Brand interviewing Ashlee Simpson on 1 Leicester Square.
- published: 02 Mar 2008
- views: 111069
- author: agata521
Russell Brand talks to Uma Thurman, 2006- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:17
- Updated: 31 Dec 2012
From 1 Leicester Sq.http://wn.com/Russell_Brand_talks_to_Uma_Thurman,_2006
Kasabian on 1 Leicester Square - Interview- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:13
- Updated: 31 Dec 2012
http://wn.com/Kasabian_on_1_Leicester_Square_Interview
1 Leicester Square Vanessa Feltz Part 1 of 2- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:46
- Updated: 29 Jul 2012
http://wn.com/1_Leicester_Square_Vanessa_Feltz_Part_1_of_2
Russell Brand and Milla Jovovich- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:41
- Updated: 03 Jan 2013
1 Leicester Square, 2006http://wn.com/Russell_Brand_and_Milla_Jovovich
Melanie C @ Interview on MTV Leicester Square 2006 - Part 1/2- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 9:02
- Updated: 01 Jan 2013
Melanie C interviewed by Russell Brandhttp://wn.com/Melanie_C_@_Interview_on_MTV_Leicester_Square_2006_Part_1_2
Russell Brand interviews David Hasselhoff [1/3]- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 8:39
- Updated: 31 Aug 2012
1 Leicester square:click,2006 Part2: www.youtube.comhttp://wn.com/Russell_Brand_interviews_David_Hasselhoff_1_3_
1 Leicester square:click,2006 Part2: www.youtube.com
- published: 29 Feb 2008
- views: 90142
- author: sltr1
1 Leicester Square: Russell Brand and Ashlee Simpson Part 3- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:23
- Updated: 30 Aug 2012
Russell Brand interviewing Ashlee Simpson on 1 Leicester Squarehttp://wn.com/1_Leicester_Square_Russell_Brand_and_Ashlee_Simpson_Part_3
Russell Brand interviewing Ashlee Simpson on 1 Leicester Square
- published: 12 Mar 2008
- views: 34125
- author: agata521
Christina Aguilera on 1 Leicester Square (Part 2/4)- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:52
- Updated: 03 Jan 2013
Russell Brand interviewing Christina Aguilera on MTV's 1 Leicester Square in 2006.http://wn.com/Christina_Aguilera_on_1_Leicester_Square_Part_2_4
Russell Brand interviewing Christina Aguilera on MTV's 1 Leicester Square in 2006.
- published: 10 Mar 2011
- views: 11495
- author: LaurenRoseHavok
Russell Brand inteviews Dita Von Teese- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:58
- Updated: 04 Jan 2013
Taken from 1 leicester square 2006http://wn.com/Russell_Brand_inteviews_Dita_Von_Teese
1 Leicester Square: Russell Brand and Ashlee Simpson Part 4- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:38
- Updated: 13 Aug 2012
Russell Brand interviewing Ashlee Simpson on 1 Leicester Squarehttp://wn.com/1_Leicester_Square_Russell_Brand_and_Ashlee_Simpson_Part_4
Russell Brand interviewing Ashlee Simpson on 1 Leicester Square
- published: 12 Mar 2008
- views: 53383
- author: agata521
1 Leicester Square: Russell Brand and Ashlee Simpson Part 2- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:12
- Updated: 24 Dec 2012
Russell Brand interviewing Ashlee Simpson on 1 Leicester Square.http://wn.com/1_Leicester_Square_Russell_Brand_and_Ashlee_Simpson_Part_2
Russell Brand interviewing Ashlee Simpson on 1 Leicester Square.
- published: 02 Mar 2008
- views: 56955
- author: agata521
Mighty Boosh on 1 Leicester Square Part 2/2- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 8:31
- Updated: 17 Dec 2012
Mighty Boosh on 1 Leicester Square.. Part 2/2http://wn.com/Mighty_Boosh_on_1_Leicester_Square_Part_2_2
Mighty Boosh on 1 Leicester Square.. Part 2/2
- published: 07 Apr 2008
- views: 40887
- author: mightybooshfreak
1 Leicester Square Vanessa Feltz Part 2 of 2- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:55
- Updated: 19 Nov 2012
http://wn.com/1_Leicester_Square_Vanessa_Feltz_Part_2_of_2
Duke - Sound - No.1 Leicester Square- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 8:11
- Updated: 01 Apr 2012
Duke @ sound - No.1 Leicester Square playing at Music Box Jam hosted by Patrick Allen himself...http://wn.com/Duke_Sound_No1_Leicester_Square
Duke @ sound - No.1 Leicester Square playing at Music Box Jam hosted by Patrick Allen himself...
- published: 01 Dec 2006
- views: 17242
- author: dukechelt
The Boosh at 1 Leicester Square- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 9:25
- Updated: 08 Nov 2012
The Boosh at 1 Leicester Square hosted by Russel Brandhttp://wn.com/The_Boosh_at_1_Leicester_Square
The Boosh at 1 Leicester Square hosted by Russel Brand
- published: 26 Aug 2008
- views: 11199
- author: iluvjulianbarratt
Christina Aguilera on 1 Leicester Square (Part 4/4)- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:46
- Updated: 03 Jan 2013
Russell Brand interviewing Christina Aguilera on MTV's 1 Leicester Square in 2006.http://wn.com/Christina_Aguilera_on_1_Leicester_Square_Part_4_4
Russell Brand interviewing Christina Aguilera on MTV's 1 Leicester Square in 2006.
- published: 10 Mar 2011
- views: 10005
- author: LaurenRoseHavok
Christina Aguilera on 1 Leicester Square (Part 3/4)- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:36
- Updated: 05 Dec 2012
Russell Brand interviewing Christina Aguilera on MTV's 1 Leicester Square in 2006.http://wn.com/Christina_Aguilera_on_1_Leicester_Square_Part_3_4
Russell Brand interviewing Christina Aguilera on MTV's 1 Leicester Square in 2006.
- published: 10 Mar 2011
- views: 7307
- author: LaurenRoseHavok
Send this Playlist by SMSEmail this Page
Forgetting Sarah Marshall - Video Diaries - Day 28- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:00
- Updated: 01 Jan 1970
http://wn.com/Forgetting_Sarah_Marshall_Video_Diaries_Day_28
Forgetting Sarah Marshall Deleted Scenes - Lamp (Part 1)- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:30
- Updated: 01 Jan 1970
http://wn.com/Forgetting_Sarah_Marshall_Deleted_Scenes_Lamp_Part_1
Sarah and Aldous in Bed- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:05
- Updated: 01 Jan 1970
Forgetting Sarah Marshall Deleted Scene. Reuploaded in better quality. :)http://wn.com/Sarah_and_Aldous_in_Bed
Forgetting Sarah Marshall Deleted Scene. Reuploaded in better quality. :)
- published: 30 Sep 2011
- views: 82846
- author: chrissy198653
Russell Brand Scandalous Tour - Private Glancer (Part 1)- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 6:23
- Updated: 01 Jan 1970
Private Glancer extra from Russell's Scandalous Tour 2009 DVDhttp://wn.com/Russell_Brand_Scandalous_Tour_Private_Glancer_Part_1
Private Glancer extra from Russell's Scandalous Tour 2009 DVD
- published: 30 Sep 2011
- views: 4954
- author: chrissy198653
Russell Brand Scandalous Tour - Private Glancer (Part 2)- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 6:19
- Updated: 01 Jan 1970
Private Glancer extra from Russell's Scandalous Tour 2009 DVDhttp://wn.com/Russell_Brand_Scandalous_Tour_Private_Glancer_Part_2
Private Glancer extra from Russell's Scandalous Tour 2009 DVD
- published: 30 Sep 2011
- views: 2223
- author: chrissy198653
Christina Aguilera on 1 Leicester Square (Part 1/4)- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:26
- Updated: 01 Jan 1970
Russell Brand interviewing Christina Aguilera on MTV's 1 Leicester Square in 2006.http://wn.com/Christina_Aguilera_on_1_Leicester_Square_Part_1_4
Russell Brand interviewing Christina Aguilera on MTV's 1 Leicester Square in 2006.
- published: 30 Sep 2011
- views: 36984
- author: chrissy198653
Christina Aguilera on 1 Leicester Square (Part 2/4)- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:52
- Updated: 01 Jan 1970
Russell Brand interviewing Christina Aguilera on MTV's 1 Leicester Square in 2006.http://wn.com/Christina_Aguilera_on_1_Leicester_Square_Part_2_4
Russell Brand interviewing Christina Aguilera on MTV's 1 Leicester Square in 2006.
- published: 30 Sep 2011
- views: 11507
- author: chrissy198653
Christina Aguilera on 1 Leicester Square (Part 3/4)- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:36
- Updated: 01 Jan 1970
Russell Brand interviewing Christina Aguilera on MTV's 1 Leicester Square in 2006.http://wn.com/Christina_Aguilera_on_1_Leicester_Square_Part_3_4
Russell Brand interviewing Christina Aguilera on MTV's 1 Leicester Square in 2006.
- published: 30 Sep 2011
- views: 7321
- author: chrissy198653
Christina Aguilera on 1 Leicester Square (Part 4/4)- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:46
- Updated: 01 Jan 1970
Russell Brand interviewing Christina Aguilera on MTV's 1 Leicester Square in 2006.http://wn.com/Christina_Aguilera_on_1_Leicester_Square_Part_4_4
Russell Brand interviewing Christina Aguilera on MTV's 1 Leicester Square in 2006.
- published: 30 Sep 2011
- views: 10019
- author: chrissy198653
Russell Brand on The Seven (Part 2)- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:49
- Updated: 01 Jan 1970
This video uploaded a little choppy. Sorry guys!http://wn.com/Russell_Brand_on_The_Seven_Part_2
This video uploaded a little choppy. Sorry guys!
- published: 30 Sep 2011
- views: 2772
- author: chrissy198653
Russell Brand the at Edinburgh Book Festival 2004- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:40
- Updated: 01 Jan 1970
I just found this video in a news article. So cute!http://wn.com/Russell_Brand_the_at_Edinburgh_Book_Festival_2004
I just found this video in a news article. So cute!
- published: 30 Sep 2011
- views: 4388
- author: chrissy198653
Russell Brand's wild ride- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 7:29
- Updated: 01 Jan 1970
Serena Altschul visits the backlots of Universal studios in Hollywood with English bad boy comedian Russell Brand as he shoots the remake of the 1981 Academy Award winning comedy "Arthur."http://wn.com/Russell_Brand's_wild_ride
Serena Altschul visits the backlots of Universal studios in Hollywood with English bad boy comedian Russell Brand as he shoots the remake of the 1981 Academy Award winning comedy "Arthur."
- published: 03 Oct 2011
- views: 51418
- author: chrissy198653
Russell Brand in New York City (Part 5)- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:03
- Updated: 01 Jan 1970
no copyright infrigement is intendedhttp://wn.com/Russell_Brand_in_New_York_City_Part_5
Russell Brand in New York City (Part 6)- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:00
- Updated: 01 Jan 1970
no copyright infrigement is intendedhttp://wn.com/Russell_Brand_in_New_York_City_Part_6
Russell Brand in New York City (Part 7)- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:49
- Updated: 01 Jan 1970
no copyright infrigement is intendedhttp://wn.com/Russell_Brand_in_New_York_City_Part_7
Part 1 - Russell Brand Interview- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 9:57
- Updated: 01 Jan 1970
http://www.puamethod.com/Copy%20of%20pua%20bootcamp.php learn how to pick up like Russell Brand here. Comedian Dawn French interviewing Comedian Russell Brand. I'd recommend this interview to anyone who still thinks of him as "that annoying loud bloke from Big Brother". There's not much of his usual madness here. Instead, what you'll find is an amazingly detailed interview which provides insight into his comedy, his background and his life. It really broke down my perception of him when I first watched it. Fantastic interview.http://wn.com/Part_1_Russell_Brand_Interview
http://www.puamethod.com/Copy%20of%20pua%20bootcamp.php learn how to pick up like Russell Brand here. Comedian Dawn French interviewing Comedian Russell Brand. I'd recommend this interview to anyone who still thinks of him as "that annoying loud bloke from Big Brother". There's not much of his usual madness here. Instead, what you'll find is an amazingly detailed interview which provides insight into his comedy, his background and his life. It really broke down my perception of him when I first watched it. Fantastic interview.
- published: 03 Oct 2011
- views: 311948
- author: chrissy198653
Part 2 - Russell Brand Interview- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 7:24
- Updated: 01 Jan 1970
http://www.puamethod.com/Copy%20of%20pua%20bootcamp.php learn how to pick up like Russell Brand here. Comedian Dawn French interviewing Comedian Russell Brand. I'd recommend this interview to anyone who still thinks of him as "that annoying loud bloke from Big Brother". There's not much of his usual madness here. Instead, what you'll find is an amazingly detailed interview which provides insight into his comedy, his background and his life. It really broke down my perception of him when I first watched it. Fantastic interview.http://wn.com/Part_2_Russell_Brand_Interview
http://www.puamethod.com/Copy%20of%20pua%20bootcamp.php learn how to pick up like Russell Brand here. Comedian Dawn French interviewing Comedian Russell Brand. I'd recommend this interview to anyone who still thinks of him as "that annoying loud bloke from Big Brother". There's not much of his usual madness here. Instead, what you'll find is an amazingly detailed interview which provides insight into his comedy, his background and his life. It really broke down my perception of him when I first watched it. Fantastic interview.
- published: 03 Oct 2011
- views: 112289
- author: chrissy198653
Part 3 - Russell Brand Interview- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 7:50
- Updated: 01 Jan 1970
http://www.puamethod.com/Copy%20of%20pua%20bootcamp.php learn how to pick up like Russell Brand here. Comedian Dawn French interviewing Comedian Russell Brand. I'd recommend this interview to anyone who still thinks of him as "that annoying loud bloke from Big Brother". There's not much of his usual madness here. Instead, what you'll find is an amazingly detailed interview which provides insight into his comedy, his background and his life. It really broke down my perception of him when I first watched it. Fantastic interview.http://wn.com/Part_3_Russell_Brand_Interview
http://www.puamethod.com/Copy%20of%20pua%20bootcamp.php learn how to pick up like Russell Brand here. Comedian Dawn French interviewing Comedian Russell Brand. I'd recommend this interview to anyone who still thinks of him as "that annoying loud bloke from Big Brother". There's not much of his usual madness here. Instead, what you'll find is an amazingly detailed interview which provides insight into his comedy, his background and his life. It really broke down my perception of him when I first watched it. Fantastic interview.
- published: 03 Oct 2011
- views: 92287
- author: chrissy198653
Part 4 - Russell Brand Interview- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:40
- Updated: 01 Jan 1970
http://www.puamethod.com/Copy%20of%20pua%20bootcamp.php learn how to pick up like Russell Brand here. Comedian Dawn French interviewing Comedian Russell Brand. I'd recommend this interview to anyone who still thinks of him as "that annoying loud bloke from Big Brother". There's not much of his usual madness here. Instead, what you'll find is an amazingly detailed interview which provides insight into his comedy, his background and his life. It really broke down my perception of him when I first watched it. Fantastic interview.http://wn.com/Part_4_Russell_Brand_Interview
http://www.puamethod.com/Copy%20of%20pua%20bootcamp.php learn how to pick up like Russell Brand here. Comedian Dawn French interviewing Comedian Russell Brand. I'd recommend this interview to anyone who still thinks of him as "that annoying loud bloke from Big Brother". There's not much of his usual madness here. Instead, what you'll find is an amazingly detailed interview which provides insight into his comedy, his background and his life. It really broke down my perception of him when I first watched it. Fantastic interview.
- published: 03 Oct 2011
- views: 73425
- author: chrissy198653
Russell Brand - Cambridge- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 7:47
- Updated: 01 Jan 1970
Russell live in Cambridge on his 'Only Joking' tour. He couldn't get the number he wanted, so started reading an audience members phonebook.http://wn.com/Russell_Brand_Cambridge
Russell live in Cambridge on his 'Only Joking' tour. He couldn't get the number he wanted, so started reading an audience members phonebook.
- published: 03 Oct 2011
- views: 98565
- author: chrissy198653
Russell Brand on Rove (full interview)- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 10:44
- Updated: 01 Jan 1970
Russell Brand on Aussie tv show Rove Live, 15th March 2009http://wn.com/Russell_Brand_on_Rove_full_interview
Russell Brand on Aussie tv show Rove Live, 15th March 2009
- published: 03 Oct 2011
- views: 121335
- author: chrissy198653
Russell Brand in New York City DVD Extra - Loose Cannon Drunk Girl- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:46
- Updated: 01 Jan 1970
Russell expertly handles a group of hecklers at his gig. A special feature on his new (and first) U.S. DVD, Russell Brand in New York City.http://wn.com/Russell_Brand_in_New_York_City_DVD_Extra_Loose_Cannon_Drunk_Girl
Russell expertly handles a group of hecklers at his gig. A special feature on his new (and first) U.S. DVD, Russell Brand in New York City.
- published: 03 Oct 2011
- views: 100771
- author: chrissy198653
Russell Brand interview on 'Loose Women' 24/04/08- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:43
- Updated: 01 Jan 1970
Carol McGiffin interview Russell...or attempts to...http://wn.com/Russell_Brand_interview_on_'Loose_Women'_24_04_08
Carol McGiffin interview Russell...or attempts to...
- published: 03 Oct 2011
- views: 100383
- author: chrissy198653
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Russell Brand the at Edinburgh Book Festival 2004- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:40
- Updated: 01 Jan 1970
I just found this video in a news article. So cute!http://wn.com/Russell_Brand_the_at_Edinburgh_Book_Festival_2004
I just found this video in a news article. So cute!
- published: 28 May 2012
- views: 4388
- author: Ean Weichsel
Russell Brand on The Seven (Part 2)- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:49
- Updated: 01 Jan 1970
This video uploaded a little choppy. Sorry guys!http://wn.com/Russell_Brand_on_The_Seven_Part_2
This video uploaded a little choppy. Sorry guys!
- published: 28 May 2012
- views: 2772
- author: Ean Weichsel
Russell Brand's Guide to Manners- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:58
- Updated: 01 Jan 1970
Russell teaches Josh some good manners.http://wn.com/Russell_Brand's_Guide_to_Manners
Russell Brand: Josh Gets Invited to the Wedding.- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:03
- Updated: 01 Jan 1970
Russell invites Josh to his wedding.http://wn.com/Russell_Brand_Josh_Gets_Invited_to_the_Wedding
Russell Brand: Any Addictions Left?- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:08
- Updated: 01 Jan 1970
http://wn.com/Russell_Brand_Any_Addictions_Left?
Christina Aguilera on 1 Leicester Square (Part 4/4)- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:46
- Updated: 01 Jan 1970
Russell Brand interviewing Christina Aguilera on MTV's 1 Leicester Square in 2006.http://wn.com/Christina_Aguilera_on_1_Leicester_Square_Part_4_4
Russell Brand interviewing Christina Aguilera on MTV's 1 Leicester Square in 2006.
- published: 28 May 2012
- views: 10019
- author: Ean Weichsel
Christina Aguilera on 1 Leicester Square (Part 3/4)- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:36
- Updated: 01 Jan 1970
Russell Brand interviewing Christina Aguilera on MTV's 1 Leicester Square in 2006.http://wn.com/Christina_Aguilera_on_1_Leicester_Square_Part_3_4
Russell Brand interviewing Christina Aguilera on MTV's 1 Leicester Square in 2006.
- published: 28 May 2012
- views: 7321
- author: Ean Weichsel
Christina Aguilera on 1 Leicester Square (Part 2/4)- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:52
- Updated: 01 Jan 1970
Russell Brand interviewing Christina Aguilera on MTV's 1 Leicester Square in 2006.http://wn.com/Christina_Aguilera_on_1_Leicester_Square_Part_2_4
Russell Brand interviewing Christina Aguilera on MTV's 1 Leicester Square in 2006.
- published: 28 May 2012
- views: 11507
- author: Ean Weichsel
Christina Aguilera on 1 Leicester Square (Part 1/4)- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:26
- Updated: 01 Jan 1970
Russell Brand interviewing Christina Aguilera on MTV's 1 Leicester Square in 2006.http://wn.com/Christina_Aguilera_on_1_Leicester_Square_Part_1_4
Russell Brand interviewing Christina Aguilera on MTV's 1 Leicester Square in 2006.
- published: 28 May 2012
- views: 36984
- author: Ean Weichsel
Russell Brand shares some ideas for improving kisses- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 0:32
- Updated: 01 Jan 1970
Russell talks to Josh Horowitz at the 2010 MTV Movie Awards about the Sandra Bullock/Scarlett Johansson kiss.http://wn.com/Russell_Brand_shares_some_ideas_for_improving_kisses
Russell talks to Josh Horowitz at the 2010 MTV Movie Awards about the Sandra Bullock/Scarlett Johansson kiss.
- published: 28 May 2012
- views: 1123
- author: Ean Weichsel
Mile High Club - Get Him to the Greek Deleted Scene- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 0:30
- Updated: 01 Jan 1970
http://wn.com/Mile_High_Club_Get_Him_to_the_Greek_Deleted_Scene
Behind the Scenes: Russell Brand's Complex Photoshoot- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:50
- Updated: 01 Jan 1970
YouTube removed the original audio so I just replaced it with Paralyzer by Finger Eleven in AudioSwap (it doesn't go with the video that well but it was the first thing I saw!)http://wn.com/Behind_the_Scenes_Russell_Brand's_Complex_Photoshoot
YouTube removed the original audio so I just replaced it with Paralyzer by Finger Eleven in AudioSwap (it doesn't go with the video that well but it was the first thing I saw!)
- published: 28 May 2012
- views: 2880
- author: Ean Weichsel
Russell Brand: Aldous Snow- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:47
- Updated: 01 Jan 1970
A short extra from the Forgetting Sarah Marshall DVD where Russell discusses his character Aldous Snow.http://wn.com/Russell_Brand_Aldous_Snow
A short extra from the Forgetting Sarah Marshall DVD where Russell discusses his character Aldous Snow.
- published: 28 May 2012
- views: 5908
- author: Ean Weichsel
Access Hollywood's Shaun Robinson Interviews Russell Brand- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:11
- Updated: 01 Jan 1970
Shaun Robinson interviews Russell about his new movie, The Tempest.http://wn.com/Access_Hollywood's_Shaun_Robinson_Interviews_Russell_Brand
Shaun Robinson interviews Russell about his new movie, The Tempest.
- published: 28 May 2012
- views: 6719
- author: Ean Weichsel
Sarah and Aldous in Bed- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:05
- Updated: 01 Jan 1970
Forgetting Sarah Marshall Deleted Scene. Reuploaded in better quality. :)http://wn.com/Sarah_and_Aldous_in_Bed
Forgetting Sarah Marshall Deleted Scene. Reuploaded in better quality. :)
- published: 28 May 2012
- views: 82846
- author: Ean Weichsel
Forgetting Sarah Marshall - Video Diaries- Day 26- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:30
- Updated: 01 Jan 1970
http://wn.com/Forgetting_Sarah_Marshall_Video_Diaries_Day_26
Forgetting Sarah Marshall - Video Diaries - Day 17- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:17
- Updated: 01 Jan 1970
Reuploaded in better quality. :)http://wn.com/Forgetting_Sarah_Marshall_Video_Diaries_Day_17
Forgetting Sarah Marshall - Video Diaries - Day 8 (Part 1)- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:51
- Updated: 01 Jan 1970
I've reuploaded all of the video diaries with Russell in better quality. Enjoy. :)http://wn.com/Forgetting_Sarah_Marshall_Video_Diaries_Day_8_Part_1
I've reuploaded all of the video diaries with Russell in better quality. Enjoy. :)
- published: 28 May 2012
- views: 5464
- author: Ean Weichsel
Get Him to the Greek Exclusive- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:13
- Updated: 01 Jan 1970
Russell walks around the set of Get Him to the Greekhttp://wn.com/Get_Him_to_the_Greek_Exclusive
Russell walks around the set of Get Him to the Greek
- published: 28 May 2012
- views: 330
- author: Ean Weichsel
Russell Brand Interviews Anna Faris 10/4/08- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 9:35
- Updated: 01 Jan 1970
Russell and Alan Carr interview Anna Faris on BBC Radio 2, 10/4/08http://wn.com/Russell_Brand_Interviews_Anna_Faris_10_4_08
Russell and Alan Carr interview Anna Faris on BBC Radio 2, 10/4/08
- published: 28 May 2012
- views: 3633
- author: Ean Weichsel
Brandy Russell Interviews Russell Brand- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:14
- Updated: 01 Jan 1970
Russell Brand gets interviewed by Brandy Russell in this exclusive interview with funnyordie.comhttp://wn.com/Brandy_Russell_Interviews_Russell_Brand
Russell Brand gets interviewed by Brandy Russell in this exclusive interview with funnyordie.com
- published: 28 May 2012
- views: 788
- author: Ean Weichsel
Russell Brand Scandalous Tour - Private Glancer (Part 2)- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 6:19
- Updated: 01 Jan 1970
Private Glancer extra from Russell's Scandalous Tour 2009 DVDhttp://wn.com/Russell_Brand_Scandalous_Tour_Private_Glancer_Part_2
Private Glancer extra from Russell's Scandalous Tour 2009 DVD
- published: 28 May 2012
- views: 2223
- author: Ean Weichsel
Russell Brand Scandalous Tour - Private Glancer (Part 1)- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 6:23
- Updated: 01 Jan 1970
Private Glancer extra from Russell's Scandalous Tour 2009 DVDhttp://wn.com/Russell_Brand_Scandalous_Tour_Private_Glancer_Part_1
Private Glancer extra from Russell's Scandalous Tour 2009 DVD
- published: 28 May 2012
- views: 4954
- author: Ean Weichsel
1:00
Forgetting Sarah Marshall - Video Diaries - Day 28...published: 30 Sep 2011author: chrissy198653Forgetting Sarah Marshall - Video Diaries - Day 28
- published: 30 Sep 2011
- views: 2886
- author: chrissy198653
1:30
Forgetting Sarah Marshall Deleted Scenes - Lamp (Part 1)...published: 30 Sep 2011author: chrissy198653Forgetting Sarah Marshall Deleted Scenes - Lamp (Part 1)
- published: 30 Sep 2011
- views: 19821
- author: chrissy198653
2:05
Sarah and Aldous in BedForgetting Sarah Marshall Deleted Scene. Reuploaded in better quality. :)...published: 30 Sep 2011author: chrissy198653Sarah and Aldous in BedForgetting Sarah Marshall Deleted Scene. Reuploaded in better quality. :)
- published: 30 Sep 2011
- views: 82846
- author: chrissy198653
6:23
Russell Brand Scandalous Tour - Private Glancer (Part 1)Private Glancer extra from Russell's Scandalous Tour 2009 DVD...published: 30 Sep 2011author: chrissy198653Russell Brand Scandalous Tour - Private Glancer (Part 1)Private Glancer extra from Russell's Scandalous Tour 2009 DVD
- published: 30 Sep 2011
- views: 4954
- author: chrissy198653
6:19
Russell Brand Scandalous Tour - Private Glancer (Part 2)Private Glancer extra from Russell's Scandalous Tour 2009 DVD...published: 30 Sep 2011author: chrissy198653Russell Brand Scandalous Tour - Private Glancer (Part 2)Private Glancer extra from Russell's Scandalous Tour 2009 DVD
- published: 30 Sep 2011
- views: 2223
- author: chrissy198653
5:26
Christina Aguilera on 1 Leicester Square (Part 1/4)Russell Brand interviewing Christina Aguilera on MTV's 1 Leicester Square in 2006....published: 30 Sep 2011author: chrissy198653Christina Aguilera on 1 Leicester Square (Part 1/4)Russell Brand interviewing Christina Aguilera on MTV's 1 Leicester Square in 2006.
- published: 30 Sep 2011
- views: 36984
- author: chrissy198653
3:52
Christina Aguilera on 1 Leicester Square (Part 2/4)Russell Brand interviewing Christina Aguilera on MTV's 1 Leicester Square in 2006....published: 30 Sep 2011author: chrissy198653Christina Aguilera on 1 Leicester Square (Part 2/4)Russell Brand interviewing Christina Aguilera on MTV's 1 Leicester Square in 2006.
- published: 30 Sep 2011
- views: 11507
- author: chrissy198653
3:36
Christina Aguilera on 1 Leicester Square (Part 3/4)Russell Brand interviewing Christina Aguilera on MTV's 1 Leicester Square in 2006....published: 30 Sep 2011author: chrissy198653Christina Aguilera on 1 Leicester Square (Part 3/4)Russell Brand interviewing Christina Aguilera on MTV's 1 Leicester Square in 2006.
- published: 30 Sep 2011
- views: 7321
- author: chrissy198653
5:46
Christina Aguilera on 1 Leicester Square (Part 4/4)Russell Brand interviewing Christina Aguilera on MTV's 1 Leicester Square in 2006....published: 30 Sep 2011author: chrissy198653Christina Aguilera on 1 Leicester Square (Part 4/4)Russell Brand interviewing Christina Aguilera on MTV's 1 Leicester Square in 2006.
- published: 30 Sep 2011
- views: 10019
- author: chrissy198653
1:49
Russell Brand on The Seven (Part 2)This video uploaded a little choppy. Sorry guys!...published: 30 Sep 2011author: chrissy198653Russell Brand on The Seven (Part 2)This video uploaded a little choppy. Sorry guys!
- published: 30 Sep 2011
- views: 2772
- author: chrissy198653
3:40
Russell Brand the at Edinburgh Book Festival 2004I just found this video in a news article. So cute!...published: 30 Sep 2011author: chrissy198653Russell Brand the at Edinburgh Book Festival 2004I just found this video in a news article. So cute!
- published: 30 Sep 2011
- views: 4388
- author: chrissy198653
7:29
Russell Brand's wild rideSerena Altschul visits the backlots of Universal studios in Hollywood with English bad boy...published: 03 Oct 2011author: chrissy198653Russell Brand's wild rideSerena Altschul visits the backlots of Universal studios in Hollywood with English bad boy comedian Russell Brand as he shoots the remake of the 1981 Academy Award winning comedy "Arthur."
- published: 03 Oct 2011
- views: 51418
- author: chrissy198653
4:03
Russell Brand in New York City (Part 5)no copyright infrigement is intended...published: 03 Oct 2011author: chrissy198653Russell Brand in New York City (Part 5)no copyright infrigement is intended
- published: 03 Oct 2011
- views: 368330
- author: chrissy198653
3:00
Russell Brand in New York City (Part 6)no copyright infrigement is intended...published: 03 Oct 2011author: chrissy198653Russell Brand in New York City (Part 6)no copyright infrigement is intended
- published: 03 Oct 2011
- views: 316481
- author: chrissy198653
Youtube results:4:49
Russell Brand in New York City (Part 7)no copyright infrigement is intended...published: 03 Oct 2011author: chrissy198653Russell Brand in New York City (Part 7)no copyright infrigement is intended
- published: 03 Oct 2011
- views: 314104
- author: chrissy198653
9:57
Part 1 - Russell Brand Interviewhttp://www.puamethod.com/Copy%20of%20pua%20bootcamp.php learn how to pick up like Russell...published: 03 Oct 2011author: chrissy198653Part 1 - Russell Brand Interviewhttp://www.puamethod.com/Copy%20of%20pua%20bootcamp.php learn how to pick up like Russell Brand here. Comedian Dawn French interviewing Comedian Russell Brand. I'd recommend this interview to anyone who still thinks of him as "that annoying loud bloke from Big Brother". There's not much of his usual madness here. Instead, what you'll find is an amazingly detailed interview which provides insight into his comedy, his background and his life. It really broke down my perception of him when I first watched it. Fantastic interview.
- published: 03 Oct 2011
- views: 311948
- author: chrissy198653
7:24
Part 2 - Russell Brand Interviewhttp://www.puamethod.com/Copy%20of%20pua%20bootcamp.php learn how to pick up like Russell ...published: 03 Oct 2011author: chrissy198653Part 2 - Russell Brand Interviewhttp://www.puamethod.com/Copy%20of%20pua%20bootcamp.php learn how to pick up like Russell Brand here. Comedian Dawn French interviewing Comedian Russell Brand. I'd recommend this interview to anyone who still thinks of him as "that annoying loud bloke from Big Brother". There's not much of his usual madness here. Instead, what you'll find is an amazingly detailed interview which provides insight into his comedy, his background and his life. It really broke down my perception of him when I first watched it. Fantastic interview.
- published: 03 Oct 2011
- views: 112289
- author: chrissy198653
7:50
Part 3 - Russell Brand Interviewhttp://www.puamethod.com/Copy%20of%20pua%20bootcamp.php learn how to pick up like Russell ...published: 03 Oct 2011author: chrissy198653Part 3 - Russell Brand Interviewhttp://www.puamethod.com/Copy%20of%20pua%20bootcamp.php learn how to pick up like Russell Brand here. Comedian Dawn French interviewing Comedian Russell Brand. I'd recommend this interview to anyone who still thinks of him as "that annoying loud bloke from Big Brother". There's not much of his usual madness here. Instead, what you'll find is an amazingly detailed interview which provides insight into his comedy, his background and his life. It really broke down my perception of him when I first watched it. Fantastic interview.
- published: 03 Oct 2011
- views: 92287
- author: chrissy198653
3:40
Russell Brand the at Edinburgh Book Festival 2004I just found this video in a news article. So cute!...published: 28 May 2012author: Ean WeichselRussell Brand the at Edinburgh Book Festival 2004I just found this video in a news article. So cute!
- published: 28 May 2012
- views: 4388
- author: Ean Weichsel
1:49
Russell Brand on The Seven (Part 2)This video uploaded a little choppy. Sorry guys!...published: 28 May 2012author: Ean WeichselRussell Brand on The Seven (Part 2)This video uploaded a little choppy. Sorry guys!
- published: 28 May 2012
- views: 2772
- author: Ean Weichsel
3:58
Russell Brand's Guide to MannersRussell teaches Josh some good manners....published: 28 May 2012author: Ean WeichselRussell Brand's Guide to MannersRussell teaches Josh some good manners.
- published: 28 May 2012
- views: 54488
- author: Ean Weichsel
1:03
Russell Brand: Josh Gets Invited to the Wedding.Russell invites Josh to his wedding....published: 28 May 2012author: Ean WeichselRussell Brand: Josh Gets Invited to the Wedding.Russell invites Josh to his wedding.
- published: 28 May 2012
- views: 3948
- author: Ean Weichsel
2:08
Russell Brand: Any Addictions Left?...published: 28 May 2012author: Ean WeichselRussell Brand: Any Addictions Left?
- published: 28 May 2012
- views: 16562
- author: Ean Weichsel
5:46
Christina Aguilera on 1 Leicester Square (Part 4/4)Russell Brand interviewing Christina Aguilera on MTV's 1 Leicester Square in 2006....published: 28 May 2012author: Ean WeichselChristina Aguilera on 1 Leicester Square (Part 4/4)Russell Brand interviewing Christina Aguilera on MTV's 1 Leicester Square in 2006.
- published: 28 May 2012
- views: 10019
- author: Ean Weichsel
3:36
Christina Aguilera on 1 Leicester Square (Part 3/4)Russell Brand interviewing Christina Aguilera on MTV's 1 Leicester Square in 2006....published: 28 May 2012author: Ean WeichselChristina Aguilera on 1 Leicester Square (Part 3/4)Russell Brand interviewing Christina Aguilera on MTV's 1 Leicester Square in 2006.
- published: 28 May 2012
- views: 7321
- author: Ean Weichsel
3:52
Christina Aguilera on 1 Leicester Square (Part 2/4)Russell Brand interviewing Christina Aguilera on MTV's 1 Leicester Square in 2006....published: 28 May 2012author: Ean WeichselChristina Aguilera on 1 Leicester Square (Part 2/4)Russell Brand interviewing Christina Aguilera on MTV's 1 Leicester Square in 2006.
- published: 28 May 2012
- views: 11507
- author: Ean Weichsel
5:26
Christina Aguilera on 1 Leicester Square (Part 1/4)Russell Brand interviewing Christina Aguilera on MTV's 1 Leicester Square in 2006....published: 28 May 2012author: Ean WeichselChristina Aguilera on 1 Leicester Square (Part 1/4)Russell Brand interviewing Christina Aguilera on MTV's 1 Leicester Square in 2006.
- published: 28 May 2012
- views: 36984
- author: Ean Weichsel
0:32
Russell Brand shares some ideas for improving kissesRussell talks to Josh Horowitz at the 2010 MTV Movie Awards about the Sandra Bullock/Scarl...published: 28 May 2012author: Ean WeichselRussell Brand shares some ideas for improving kissesRussell talks to Josh Horowitz at the 2010 MTV Movie Awards about the Sandra Bullock/Scarlett Johansson kiss.
- published: 28 May 2012
- views: 1123
- author: Ean Weichsel
0:30
Mile High Club - Get Him to the Greek Deleted Scene...published: 28 May 2012author: Ean WeichselMile High Club - Get Him to the Greek Deleted Scene
- published: 28 May 2012
- views: 29866
- author: Ean Weichsel
1:50
Behind the Scenes: Russell Brand's Complex PhotoshootYouTube removed the original audio so I just replaced it with Paralyzer by Finger Eleven i...published: 28 May 2012author: Ean WeichselBehind the Scenes: Russell Brand's Complex PhotoshootYouTube removed the original audio so I just replaced it with Paralyzer by Finger Eleven in AudioSwap (it doesn't go with the video that well but it was the first thing I saw!)
- published: 28 May 2012
- views: 2880
- author: Ean Weichsel
5:47
Russell Brand: Aldous SnowA short extra from the Forgetting Sarah Marshall DVD where Russell discusses his character...published: 28 May 2012author: Ean WeichselRussell Brand: Aldous SnowA short extra from the Forgetting Sarah Marshall DVD where Russell discusses his character Aldous Snow.
- published: 28 May 2012
- views: 5908
- author: Ean Weichsel
3:11
Access Hollywood's Shaun Robinson Interviews Russell BrandShaun Robinson interviews Russell about his new movie, The Tempest....published: 28 May 2012author: Ean WeichselAccess Hollywood's Shaun Robinson Interviews Russell BrandShaun Robinson interviews Russell about his new movie, The Tempest.
- published: 28 May 2012
- views: 6719
- author: Ean Weichsel
Youtube results:2:05
Sarah and Aldous in BedForgetting Sarah Marshall Deleted Scene. Reuploaded in better quality. :)...published: 28 May 2012author: Ean WeichselSarah and Aldous in BedForgetting Sarah Marshall Deleted Scene. Reuploaded in better quality. :)
- published: 28 May 2012
- views: 82846
- author: Ean Weichsel
1:30
Forgetting Sarah Marshall - Video Diaries- Day 26...published: 28 May 2012author: Ean WeichselForgetting Sarah Marshall - Video Diaries- Day 26
- published: 28 May 2012
- views: 4593
- author: Ean Weichsel
1:17
Forgetting Sarah Marshall - Video Diaries - Day 17Reuploaded in better quality. :)...published: 28 May 2012author: Ean WeichselForgetting Sarah Marshall - Video Diaries - Day 17Reuploaded in better quality. :)
- published: 28 May 2012
- views: 4141
- author: Ean Weichsel
1:51
Forgetting Sarah Marshall - Video Diaries - Day 8 (Part 1)I've reuploaded all of the video diaries with Russell in better quality. Enjoy. :)...published: 28 May 2012author: Ean WeichselForgetting Sarah Marshall - Video Diaries - Day 8 (Part 1)I've reuploaded all of the video diaries with Russell in better quality. Enjoy. :)
- published: 28 May 2012
- views: 5464
- author: Ean Weichsel
Al Jazeeraphoto: AP / Juan Karita
04 Jan 2013Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner has released a public letter urging the United Kingdom to relinquish its control over the disputed Falkland Islands. ... The veterans delivered a letter addressed to the British Ambassador in Argentina, John Freeman, criticising the British government for refusing to discuss the sovereignty of the islands with the Argentine government ... 508 Source.. Al Jazeera and agencies. Share....(size: 19.6Kb)The Daily Telegraphphoto: WN / Imran Nissar
03 Jan 2013A gang of men accused of repeatedly raping a 23-year-old student on a moving bus in New Delhi in a deadly crime that repulsed the nation are to appear in court today for the first time. A British tourist join others in a candlelight vigil to mourn the death of a gang rape victim, in Kolkata, India Photo. AP. 3.52AM GMT 03 Jan 2013 ... Police have ordered a bone test to determine his age and whether he can stand trial in an adult court....(size: 11.3Kb)Pittsburgh Post-Gazettephoto: AP / Ng Han Guan
02 Jan 2013SEOUL -- In a domestically televised New Year's Day speech, North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong Un said he wanted to "remove confrontation" on this divided peninsula and called on "anti-reunification forces" in South Korea to cease their hostility toward the North. The lengthy address, which laid out the national goals for 2013, marked Mr ... Mr. Kim on Tuesday asked for a detente -- but with prerequisites that the conservative Ms ... ....(size: 3.2Kb)Zeenewsphoto: US Navy / HMC Josh Ives
03 Jan 2013Washington. Aiming to get cooperation through dialogue, the US said that it is working hard to create an environment within Afghanistan and also in the region to have support for Afghan-Afghan reconciliation ... Responding to questions, Nuland said the US supports an Afghan-led process of reconciliation ... Saying that Pakistan needs to engage with Afghanistan directly, Nuland said the US supports dialogue between the two ... PTI ... First Published....(size: 2.3Kb)NZ Heraldphoto: AP / Mohammad Hannon
02 Jan 2013The United Nations has estimated that more than 60,000 people have been killed in Syria's 21-month-old uprising against authoritarian rule, a toll one-third higher than what anti-regime activists had counted. The UN human rights chief called the toll "truly shocking". Opposition activist groups had been estimating the death toll at more than 45,000 and this was the first time that the UN estimate was higher ... 30, 2012 ... - AP. ....(size: 6.3Kb)
Huffington Post05 Jan 2013Also on HuffPost. Loading Slideshow ... 3 ... Blake Lively at the 12-12-12 Concert benefitting the victims of Hurricane Sandy at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Dec ... Cate Blanchett attended the premiere of "The Hobbit" at Odeon Leicester Square in London on Dec ... Tom Cruise walked the red carpet for the first time since his divorce from Katie Holmes at the world premiere of 'Jack Reacher' at The Odeon Leicester Square on Dec....(size: 12.9Kb)Huffington Post05 Jan 2013(We didn't believe it either.) ... Sisqó ... Blake Lively at the 12-12-12 Concert benefitting the victims of Hurricane Sandy at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Dec ... Cate Blanchett attended the premiere of "The Hobbit" at Odeon Leicester Square in London on Dec ... Tom Cruise walked the red carpet for the first time since his divorce from Katie Holmes at the world premiere of 'Jack Reacher' at The Odeon Leicester Square on Dec....(size: 19.6Kb)Huffington Post05 Jan 2013Kerry Washington is a true style star ... Nay. It's awful!. VOTE ... 2004 ... Actress Kerry Washington arrives at the premiere of 'The Sea Inside' at the UA Union Square Theater December 9, 2004 in New York City ... Kerry Washington wearing a Marchesa dress arrives at the UK Premiere of 'The Last King Of Scotland' during the opening gala of The Times BFI London Film Festival, at the Odeon Leicester Square on October 19, 2006 in London, England ... Like ... ....(size: 13.4Kb)The Daily Telegraph Australia04 Jan 2013Battlefront cost only $40,000 as a yearling while Messara's other runner today, Leicester Square was sold for $2 million at the 2008 Easter Sales. Leicester Square, now a six-year-old, is unlikely to ever recoup his purchase price but he goes into the Warwick Farm Handicap (1300m) today in the best form of his career with successive wins at Hawkesbury and Scone since resuming from a spell ... ....(size: 1.8Kb)The Daily Telegraph04 Jan 2013ANDREW CROWLEY ... The artists were "ambassador" shareholders of St John Hotel in Leicester Square, but the company that owned the hotel went into administration in October after it opened a year late. The venture, run by Mr Henderson and his business partner Trevor Gulliver, suffered various setbacks including a legal dispute with builders, building work in nearby Leicester Square and the tourism slump during the Olympic Games ... ... ....(size: 10.1Kb)Huffington Post04 Jan 2013Also on HuffPost. Loading Slideshow ... 3 ... Blake Lively at the 12-12-12 Concert benefitting the victims of Hurricane Sandy at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Dec ... Cate Blanchett attended the premiere of "The Hobbit" at Odeon Leicester Square in London on Dec ... Tom Cruise walked the red carpet for the first time since his divorce from Katie Holmes at the world premiere of 'Jack Reacher' at The Odeon Leicester Square on Dec....(size: 12.2Kb)Huffington Post04 Jan 2013Breaking news, y'all ... Great GPA ... 2 ... 30 ... Blake Lively at the 12-12-12 Concert benefitting the victims of Hurricane Sandy at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Dec ... Cate Blanchett attended the premiere of "The Hobbit" at Odeon Leicester Square in London on Dec ... Tom Cruise walked the red carpet for the first time since his divorce from Katie Holmes at the world premiere of 'Jack Reacher' at The Odeon Leicester Square on Dec ... ....(size: 12.2Kb)Huffington Post04 Jan 2013Also on HuffPost. Loading Slideshow ... 3 ... Blake Lively at the 12-12-12 Concert benefitting the victims of Hurricane Sandy at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Dec ... Cate Blanchett attended the premiere of "The Hobbit" at Odeon Leicester Square in London on Dec ... Tom Cruise walked the red carpet for the first time since his divorce from Katie Holmes at the world premiere of 'Jack Reacher' at The Odeon Leicester Square on Dec....(size: 12.4Kb)Huffington Post04 Jan 2013Also on HuffPost. Loading Slideshow ... 3 ... Blake Lively at the 12-12-12 Concert benefitting the victims of Hurricane Sandy at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Dec ... Cate Blanchett attended the premiere of "The Hobbit" at Odeon Leicester Square in London on Dec ... Tom Cruise walked the red carpet for the first time since his divorce from Katie Holmes at the world premiere of 'Jack Reacher' at The Odeon Leicester Square on Dec....(size: 12.8Kb)Huffington Post04 Jan 2013Hulk Hogan isn't letting up ... 4 ... 16 ... 2 ... Blake Lively at the 12-12-12 Concert benefitting the victims of Hurricane Sandy at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Dec ... Cate Blanchett attended the premiere of "The Hobbit" at Odeon Leicester Square in London on Dec ... Tom Cruise walked the red carpet for the first time since his divorce from Katie Holmes at the world premiere of 'Jack Reacher' at The Odeon Leicester Square on Dec ... ....(size: 12.8Kb)Huffington Post04 Jan 2013(The answer. black currant.) ... 3 ... 2 ... 30 ... Blake Lively at the 12-12-12 Concert benefitting the victims of Hurricane Sandy at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Dec ... Cate Blanchett attended the premiere of "The Hobbit" at Odeon Leicester Square in London on Dec ... Tom Cruise walked the red carpet for the first time since his divorce from Katie Holmes at the world premiere of 'Jack Reacher' at The Odeon Leicester Square on Dec ... ....(size: 13.0Kb)Huffington Post04 Jan 2013Here, the two pose on New Year's Eve ... Blake Lively at the 12-12-12 Concert benefitting the victims of Hurricane Sandy at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Dec ... Cate Blanchett attended the premiere of "The Hobbit" at Odeon Leicester Square in London on Dec ... Tom Cruise walked the red carpet for the first time since his divorce from Katie Holmes at the world premiere of 'Jack Reacher' at The Odeon Leicester Square on Dec....(size: 13.5Kb)1 Leicester Square 250px
Titlecard for 1 Leicester SquareGenre Chatshow Presented by Russell Brand Opening theme "Moby Dick" by Led Zeppelin Country of origin United Kingdom Language(s) English Production Camera setup Multi-camera Running time 45–48 minutes Broadcast Original channel MTV UK Original run 2 April 2006 (2006-04-02) – 31 December 2006 (2006-12-31) External links Website 1 Leicester Square is a British chatshow hosted by Russell Brand which ran from 2 April to 31 December 2006 on MTV UK. The show featured celebrity guests, musical entertainment and various asides featuring the presenter. The show was widely viewed as a vehicle for the comeback of Brand after his sacking from MTV in 2001.
Contents
Format[link]
The show begins with an announcer introducing Brand. Controversially, he was once introduced as being "bigger than Jesus" in reference to a misquoted claim by John Lennon claiming that The Beatles were bigger than Jesus. After entering Brand sits in a flamboyantly upholstered chair with a zebra fabric for the seat covering. He then introduces the musical act for the show and they will play a track. After this, an announcer will introduce the first guest (usually the biggest star) with a comically fabricated fact or anecdote about them. The guest will then be interviewed whilst they sit on a sofa next to Brand. After this interview, there is usually a commercial break.
After the break, Brand usually interviews the musical act that is on the show this week in another area of the studio. This is usually punctuated with a sketch and Daniel and Len's Video Review (see below). This interview is typically followed with another interview by Brand next to a mock bar with another celebrity. After this interview there is another commercial break.
The last portion of the show is taken up with the segment For Pity's Sake Help Us (see below), followed by another performance from the guest musical act.
Guests[link]
The show has featured many guests on it. These include:
The show has occasionally featured interviews that are pre-recorded, outside of the studio. Guests that have been interviewed in this fashion include: -
Musical acts[link]
Musical acts that have appeared on the show include: -
Short features[link]
In series 2 of the show, all of the short features have been removed from the show with the exception of For Pity's Sake Help Us. Daniel and Len later appeared on Russell Brand's Got Issues, introducing each show with a skit loosely connected to the week's topic.
Daniel and Len's Video Review[link]
Daniel and Len's Video Review is a weekly feature of the programme in which there are typically three different reviews of videos that have been recently released. The actual reviewing takes a backseat to discussion of developments in the lives of Daniel and his grandson Len (who despite his small size is in fact a teenager). Daniel is played by Russell Brand and is portrayed as an old man, whilst Len (played by Brand's friend and BBC Radio 2 colleague Matt Morgan) is portrayed as a very pale boy. There is an ongoing theme of Daniel's struggle to seduce Elaine, a social worker who was assigned to look after Len. Dogtanian was also frequently referred to, being championed by Len and damned by Daniel after he lived in their house, strutting around in a vest top 'giving it the big I am'.
Pimp My Application[link]
Pimp My Application is a spoof of the popular MTV UK show Pimp My Ride UK. It has only appeared once on the show. Russell Brand parodies Tim Westwood, giving him a hook for a hand, a peg leg and a squawking voice. Brand lampoons the show by using over-exaggerated street speak when describing how they are going to 'pimp' up a person's CV when he is applying for a job.
For Pity's Sake Help Us[link]
This is a feature that Brand always ends the show with, save the last musical performance. Audience members are asked if they have any problems and these are then answered by some of the celebrities that have appeared earlier in the show.
The Rats[link]
The Rats is a sketch that is performed before each of the commercial breaks and at the end of the show. Two rats are crudely manipulated and given human voices. They will usually engage in a short, humorous conversation that loosely relates to a topic of discussion in the previous segment.
Minor characters[link]
Gatwick[link]
Gatwick is a model of a man that loosely resembles Prince Charles and is occasionally used by Brand as a prop on the show.
Dan the Researcher[link]
Dan is the show's mysterious researcher that Brand alludes to after fabricating or bringing up an obscure fact about his interviewee.
External links[link]
Presenting RE:Brand · Kings of Comedy · Big Brother's Big Mouth · NME Awards · 1 Leicester Square · Russell Brand's Got Issues · The Russell Brand Show · BRIT Awards · Russell Brand's Ponderland · MTV Video Music AwardsFilmography Voice acting Radio Literature Related articles http://wn.com/1_Leicester_Square
This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1_Leicester_Square
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
Coordinates: 51°30′37″N 0°7′49″W / 51.51028°N 0.13028°W / 51.51028; -0.13028
Leicester Square at night in December 2005: a view towards the northeast corner.
Leicester Square
i/ˈlɛstər/ is a pedestrianised square in the West End of London, England. The Square lies within an area bound by Lisle Street , to the north; Charing Cross Road, to the east; Orange Street, to the south; and Whitcomb Street, to the west. The park at the centre of the Square is bound by Cranbourn Street, to the north; Leicester Street, to the east; Irving Street, to the south; and a section of road designated simply as Leicester Square, to the west. It is within the City of Westminster, and about equal distances (about 400 yards / 370 metres) north of Trafalgar Square, east of Piccadilly Circus, west of Covent Garden, and south of Cambridge Circus.Contents
History[link]
Leicester Square in 1750, looking north. The large house set behind a forecourt at the northeast corner is Leicester House, then the residence of Frederick, Prince of Wales.
Leicester Square in 1880, looking north east.The Square is named after Robert Sidney, 2nd Earl of Leicester, who purchased four acres (1.6 hectares) in St. Martin's Field in 1630; by 1635, he had built himself a large house, Leicester House, at the northern end. The area in front of the house was then enclosed, depriving inhabitants of St Martin in the Fields parish of their right to use the previously common land. The parishioners appealed to King Charles I, and he appointed three members of the Privy Council to arbitrate. Lord Leicester was ordered to keep part of his land (thereafter known as Leicester Field and later as Leicester Square) open for the parishioners.[1]
The area was developed in the 1670s. It was initially fashionable and Leicester House was once residence of Frederick, Prince of Wales but by the late 18th century, the Square was no longer a smart address and began to serve as a venue for popular entertainments. Leicester House became home of a museum of natural curiosities called the Holophusikon in the 1780s and was demolished about 1791–1792.[1]
In 1848, Leicester Square was the subject of the land-law case of Tulk v. Moxhay. The plot's previous owner had agreed upon a covenant not to erect buildings. However, the law would not allow purchasers who were not 'privy' to the initial contract to be bound by subsequent promises. The judge, Lord Cottenham, decided that future owners could be bound by promises to abstain from activity. Otherwise, a buyer could sell land to himself to undermine an initial promise.[2] Arguments continued about the fate of the garden, with Charles Augustus Tulk's heirs erecting a wooden hoarding around the property in 1873. Finally, in 1874 the flamboyant Albert Grant (1830–1899) purchased the outstanding freeholds and donated the garden to the Metropolitan Board of Works, laying out a garden at his own expense. The title passed to the succeeding public bodies and is now in the ownership of the City of Westminster.[3]
By the 19th century, Leicester Square was known as an entertainment venue, with many amusements peculiar to the era, including Wyld's Great Globe, which was built for the Great Exhibition of 1851 and housed a giant scale map of the Earth.[4] Several hotels grew up around the square, making it popular with visitors to London. The Alhambra, a large theatre built in 1854, dominated the site,[5] to be joined in 1884 by the Empire Theatre of Varieties. The square remains the heart of the West End entertainment district today.
During the Labour government's 1979 Winter of Discontent, refuse collectors went on strike. Leicester Square was used as an overflow dump, earning it the nickname of "Fester Square".[6]
Features[link]
Gardens[link]
The Shakespeare fountain and statueIn the middle of the Square is a small park, in the centre of which is a 19th century statue of William Shakespeare surrounded by dolphins. The four corner gates of the park have one bust each, depicting Sir Isaac Newton, the scientist; Sir Joshua Reynolds, the first President of the Royal Academy; John Hunter, a pioneer of surgery; and William Hogarth, the painter. The most recent addition is a statue of film star and director Charlie Chaplin. On the pavement are inscribed the distances in miles to countries of the former British Empire.
Entertainment[link]
Tom Cruise's handprintsLeicester Square is the centre of London's cinema land, and one of the signs marking the Square bears the legend "Theatreland". It is claimed that the Square contains the cinema with the largest screen and the cinema with the most seats (over 1600). The square is the prime location in London for world leading film premières and has seen blockbusters including Harry Potter and James Bond film series, Avatar, Alice in Wonderland, and animation films such as Shrek; and co-hosts the London Film Festival each year.[7][8][9][10][11] Similar to Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, the square is surrounded by floor mounted plaques with film stars names and cast handprints.
The Square is also the home for tkts, formerly known as the Official London Half-Price Theatre Ticket Booth. This booth is jointly operated by TKTS and LondonTown.com. Tickets for theatre performances taking place around the West End that day are sold from the booth for about half the usual price. The popularity of the booth has given rise to many other booths and stores around the Square that advertise half-price tickets for West End shows. It is claimed that at least some of these booths operate fraudulently. Despite having names like 'Official Half-Price Ticket Booth', they are not official and they do not always advertise the booking fees which commonly come with purchasing tickets.
The Square is home to several nightclubs, making it often very busy, particularly on Friday and Saturday evenings.
Major cinemas[link]
Leicester Square's Odeon.
Leicester Square's Empire on a rainy night in May 2003- Odeon Leicester Square, which dominates the east side of the square, had the first digital projector in Europe (1999), hosting most premieres with capacity for 1683 people, arranged in circle and stalls.
- The adjacent Odeon Mezzanine has five smaller auditoria (capacities of 50–60 each).
- Empire, on the north of the Square, is the next-largest cinema, with 1,330 seats in the main screen, as well as eight smaller screens, with 349, 96, 58, 49, 48, 42 and 23 seats. Eight of the screens are digital. The main screen and one smaller one can also play 3D films. Many premieres are hosted here.
- Odeon West End, on the south side, contains two screens, which can seat 1,000 altogether. Screen 1 holds 400 people and Screen 2 holds 600. It is used for smaller premieres.
- Vue, on the north side, near the north east corner, was previously the Warner Brothers Village, a multiplex that hosted only Warner Bros. film premieres. Together with the rest of the Warner Village chain, it was bought out by Vue in 2004.
Other cinemas[link]
- A short distance from the west of the Square, on the south side of Panton Street, is the Odeon Panton Street, another four-screen Odeon cinema.
- Just to the North of the square, Prince Charles Cinema is a cheap-ticket second-run and cult cinema famed for its regular showing of The Rocky Horror Picture Show and a sing-along version of The Sound of Music.
- Cineworld is a short distance down Coventry Street in the Trocadero Centre.
Clubs, bars, restaurants[link]
Just off Leicester Square
- Hippodrome, London
- The Venue Leicester Square (West End theatre)
Media[link]
Global Radio has its headquarters on the east side of Leicester Square, close to the Odeon Leicester Square. The building houses the radio stations Capital, Classic FM, Choice FM, Gold, Heart, LBC and Xfm London.
In what was formerly Home (a seven-floor superclub launched in 1999, which went into receivership[12] after having its licence revoked by police for one month[13] in March 2001 because of drugs issues, and at which Paul Oakenfold was a resident D.J.), is now an MTV UK television studio, used for the UK version of Total Request Live and the Russell Brand–fronted show 1 Leicester Square. It was also used for the first series of BBC Saturday morning show TMi.
Leicester Square is mentioned in the song "Emit Remmus" on the Californication album by the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Other attractions[link]
Leicester Square Christmas Fair.The square regularly hosts a fair each winter and a stage is erected for performances connected to other events such as the Chinese New Year.
Infrastructure[link]
The main electrical substation for the West End is beneath the Square. The electrical cables to the substation are in a large tunnel ending at Leicester Square, and originating in Wimbledon, at Plough Lane, behind the former Wimbledon FC football ground, before which the cables are above ground.[14]
Redevelopment[link]
The square has undergone significant redevelopment in recent years. The works have retained the square's historic character, whilst enhancing its function as a backdrop for film premieres. The works commenced in December 2010, lasting for 17 months after being reopened on 24 May 2012, in time for the 2012 Summer Olympics.[15]
See also[link]
References[link]
- ^ a b Leicester Square, North Side, and Lisle Street Area: Leicester Estate: Leicester House and Leicester Square North Side (Nos 1-16), Survey of London: volumes 33 and 34: St Anne Soho (1966), pp. 441-472 accessed: 06 November 2007
- ^ Tulk v. Moxhay (1848) 41 ER 1143 (Court Rolls)
- ^ Leicester Square Area: Leicester Estate, Survey of London: volumes 33 and 34: St Anne Soho (1966), pp. 416-440 accessed: 06 November 2007
- ^ A Journey Round the Globe Punch (Jul.-Dec. 1851) (Victorian London) accessed 6 November 2007
- ^ Alhambra Theatre (Arthur Lloyd) accessed 23 October 2007
- ^ "Then was the winter of our discontent". BBC News. 2008-09-05. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7598366.stm. Retrieved 2009-06-07.
- ^ "Cinema Treasures - Odeon Leicester Square". Cinema Treasures. http://cinematreasures.org/theater/841/. Retrieved 2009-11-16.
- ^ Stars out for Bond royal premiere BBC News (14 November 2006) Retrieved 24 March 2011
- ^ Odeon Leicester Square: World Premiere of 'Harry Potter' And The Deathly Hallows Pt 1 MTV Retrieved 24 March 2011
- ^ The world premiere of Avatar at Odeon Leicester Square The Telegraph Retrieved 24 March 2011
- ^ Alice in Wonderland premiere in Leicester Square, London The Telegraph Retrieved 24 March 2011
- ^ "Home club owners in receivership". BBC News. 2001-04-12. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/1273766.stm. Retrieved 2010-05-07.
- ^ "Home nightclub shut by police". BBC News. 2001-03-30. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/1251385.stm. Retrieved 2010-05-07.
- ^ Tunnelling Under London: Developments in cable tunnel design provide an economic and environmental solution to system reinforcement John Mathews (London Electricity, 1996) accessed 6 November 2007
- ^ "New-look Leicester Square reopens". The Independent. 2012-05-23. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/newlook-leicester-square-reopens-7781842.html. Retrieved 2012-05-23.
External links[link]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Leicester Square London/Leicester Square travel guide from Wikitravel
- History of Leicester Square
- Leicester Square Webcam - 8 preset views from the Radisson Edwardian Hampshire Hotel
- Detailed information about the history and buildings of Leicester Square from the Survey of London
- Leicester Square webcam
- More on the history of Leicester Square at www.VictorianLondon.org
- Leicester Square Television
- History of Leicester Square's Theatres and Cinemas
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This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leicester_Square
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
For other places with the same name, see Leicester (disambiguation).Coordinates: 52°38′03″N 1°08′19″W / 52.63422°N 1.13852°W / 52.63422; -1.13852
Leicester (/lɛstər/ LESS-tər
pronunciation (help·info)) is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England, and the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest. In 2010, the population of the Leicester unitary authority was estimated at 306,600, the second highest in the region, whilst 441,213 people lived in the wider Leicester Urban Area in 2006, making Leicester the tenth most populous settlement in the United Kingdom and the UK's fourteenth largest urban area. It is the largest city in the East Midlands yet has the second largest urban area in the region behind Nottingham Urban Area. Eurostat's Larger Urban Zone listed the population of the area at 772,400 people as of 2004.Ancient Roman pavements and baths remain in Leicester from its early settlement as Ratae Corieltauvorum, a Roman military outpost in a region inhabited by the Celtic Corieltauvi tribe. Following the demise of Roman society the early medieval Ratae Corieltauvorum is shrouded in obscurity, but when the settlement was captured by the Danes it became one of five fortified towns important to the Danelaw. The name "Leicester" is thought to derive from the words castra of the "Ligore", meaning camp of the dwellers on the (river) Legro.[2] Leicester appears in the Domesday Book as "Ledecestre". Leicester continued to grow throughout the Early Modern period as a market town, although it was the Industrial Revolution that facilitated a process of rapid unplanned urbanisation in the area.
A newly constructed rail and canal network routed through the area stimulated industrial growth in the 19th century, and Leicester became a major economic centre with a variety of manufacturers engaged in engineering, shoemaking and hosiery production. The economic success of these industries, and businesses ancillary to them, resulted in significant urban expansion into the surrounding countryside. Leicester is one of the oldest cities in England, it was the centre of the bishopric from around 670, endowing it with city status. However, it lost city status in the 11th century during a time of struggle between the church and the aristocracy and did not regain it again until 1919. The boundaries of Leicester were extended several times in the 19th and 20th centuries; it became a county borough in 1889, and was re-granted city status in 1919.
Today, Leicester is located on the Midland Main Line and close to the M1 motorway. The city has a large ethnic minority population, particularly of South Asian origin, a product of immigration to the United Kingdom since the Second World War. To cater for the South Asian community, there are many Hindu, Sikh and Muslim places of worship and the Melton Road district serves as a focus, containing large numbers of Asian restaurants and other small businesses. Leicester is a centre for higher education, with both the University of Leicester and De Montfort University being based in the city.
Contents
History[link]
Further information: History of LeicestershireRoman[link]
Main article: Ratae Corieltauvorum
Leicester is one of the oldest cities in England, with a history going back at least 2,000 years. The first recorded name of the city is the Roman label Ratae Corieltauvorum. (The name of the this tribe was formerly thought to be "Coritani", so "Ratae Coritanorum" is used in older references to it.) Before being settled by Romans it was the capital of the Celtic Corieltauvi tribe ruling over roughly the same territory as what is now known as the East Midlands.
Ratae Corieltauvorum was founded around AD 50 as a military settlement along the Fosse Way, a Roman road between Exeter and Lincoln. After the military departure, Ratae Corieltauvorum grew into an important trading centre and one of the largest towns in Roman Britain. The remains of the baths of Roman Leicester can be seen at the Jewry Wall and other Roman artefacts are displayed in the Jewry Wall Museum adjacent to the site.
Anglo-Saxon and Viking[link]
Knowledge of the town in the 5th century is limited. Certainly there is some continuation of occupation of the town, though on a much reduced scale in the 5th and 6th centuries. The area was first settled by the Middle Angles and was subsequently included in the kingdom of Mercia. Leicester was chosen as the centre of a bishopric (and therefore a city) in 679/80 which survived until the 9th century, when Leicester was captured by the Danes (Vikings) and became one of the five boroughs (fortified towns) of Danelaw, although this position was short lived. The Saxon Bishop of Leicester fled to Dorchester-on-Thames and Leicester was not to become a bishopric again until the 20th century.
It is believed the name "Leicester" is derived from the words castra (camp) of the Ligore, meaning dwellers on the 'River Legro' (an early name for the River Soar). In the early 10th century it was recorded as Ligeraceaster = "the town of the Ligor people". The Domesday Book later recorded it as Ledecestre.
Medieval[link]
Leicester Guildhall, dating from the 14th centuryLeicester had become a town of considerable importance by Medieval times[citation needed]. It was mentioned in the Domesday Book as 'civitas' (city), but Leicester lost its city status in the 11th century owing to power struggles between the Church and the aristocracy. It was eventually re-made a city in 1919, and the Church of St Martin became Leicester Cathedral in 1927. The tomb of King Richard III is located in the central nave of the cathedral although he is not actually buried there. He was originally buried in the Greyfriars Church in Leicester, but there is a legend that his corpse was exhumed under orders from Henry VII and cast into the River Soar, although there is no evidence for this and some historians believe that his tomb and bones were destroyed with the dissolution of the church.
The town is mentioned in Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae, written around 1136. According to Monmouth's pseudohistorical work[3][4] a mythical king of the Britons King Leir founded the city of Kaerleir ('Leir's chester' – i.e. fortified town). Today the name of the city in the Welsh language is Caerlŷr. Leir was supposedly buried by Queen Cordelia in a chamber beneath the River Soar near the city dedicated to the Roman god Janus, and every year people celebrated his feast-day near Leir's tomb.[5] William Shakespeare's King Lear is loosely based on this story and there is a statue of Lear in Watermead Country Park.
Tudor[link]
On 4 November 1530, Cardinal Thomas Wolsey was arrested on charges of treason and taken from York Place. On his way south to face dubious justice at the Tower of London, he fell ill. The group escorting him was concerned enough to stop at Leicester. There, Wolsey's condition quickly worsened and he died on 29 November 1530 and was buried at Leicester Abbey, now Abbey Park.
Lady Jane Grey, (1536/7 – 12 February 1554), a great-granddaughter of Henry VII, was born at Bradgate Park near Leicester, and reigned as uncrowned Queen Regnant of England for nine days in July 1553, and for that reason is called "The Nine Days Queen".[6]
Queen Elizabeth I's personal favoured courtier, Robert Dudley, who the Queen had one time thought of marrying, and who has been named and known as her possible lover for centuries, was given the Earldom of Leicester.
Civil War[link]
Leicester was a Parliamentarian stronghold during the English Civil War. In 1645, Prince Rupert decided to attack the city to draw the New Model Army away from the Royalist headquarters of Oxford. Royalist guns were set up on Raw Dykes and after an unsatisfactory response to a demand for surrender, the Newarke was stormed and the city was sacked on 30 May. Although hundreds of people were killed by Rupert's cavalry, reports of the severity of the sacking were exaggerated by the Parliamentary press in London.[7]
18th and 19th centuries[link]
The construction of the Grand Union Canal in the 1790s linked Leicester to London and Birmingham and by 1832 the railway had arrived in Leicester; the new Leicester and Swannington Railway providing a supply of coal to the town from nearby collieries. By 1840 the Midland Counties Railway had linked Leicester to the national railway network and by the 1860s, Leicester had gained a direct rail link to London (St Pancras) with the completion of the Midland Main Line.
These developments in transport encouraged and accompanied a process of industrialisation which intensified throughout the reign of Queen Victoria (1837–1901). Factories began to appear, particularly along the canal and the River Soar. Between 1861 and 1901 Leicester's population increased from 68,000 to 212,000 and the proportion employed in trade, commerce, building and the city's new factories and workshops rose steadily. Hosiery, textiles and footwear became major industrial employers joined, in the latter part of the century, by engineering.
During this period a number of what were to become substantial Engineering business were established these included Taylor & Hubbard Ltd, Kent Street, Leicester (Crane Makers, Founders), William Gimson and Company, Vulcan Road (Steam Boilers, Founders), Richards & Co, Martin Street(Founders, Structural Steel workers).
Years of consistent economic growth meant that, for many, living standards increased. The second half of the 19th century also witnessed the creation of many public institutions that we now take for granted such as the town council, the Royal Infirmary and the Leicester Constabulary and the acceptance that municipal organisations had a responsibility for water supply, drainage and sanitation.
The borough expanded throughout the 19th century, most notably in 1892 annexing Belgrave, Aylestone, North Evington, Knighton and the rapidly expanding residential suburb of Stoneygate, home to many of the city's wealthier families and some of its growing middle class. Leicester became a county borough in 1889, but, as with all county boroughs, was abolished by the Local Government Act 1972 in 1974, becoming an ordinary district of Leicestershire. It regained its unitary status in 1997.
The early 20th century[link]
Edwardian LeicesterLeicester was formally recognised as a city in 1919 and a cathedral city on the consecration of St Martin's in 1927. It obtained its current boundaries in 1935, with the annexation of the remainder of Evington, Humberstone, Beaumont Leys and part of Braunstone. In 1900 an important new transport link, the Great Central Railway provided a new goods and passenger route to London.
By the time of Queen Victoria's death in 1901 the rapid population growth of the previous decades had already began to slow and the Great War of 1914–18 and its aftermath had a marked social and economic impact. Leicester's diversified economic base and lack of dependence on primary industries meant that it was much better placed than many other cities to weather the severe economic challenges of the 1920s and 1930s. The Bureau of Statistics of the newly formed League of Nations identified Leicester in 1936 as the second richest city in Europe[citation needed] and it became an attractive destination for refugees fleeing persecution and political turmoil in continental Europe. These years witnessed the growth in the city of trade unionism and particularly the co-operative movement. The Co-op became an important employer and landowner and when Leicester played host to the Jarrow March on its way to London in 1936, the Co-op provided the marchers with a change of boots. In 1938 Leicester was given the first A.D.C.C (Air Defence Cadet Corp) or known as today The Air Training Corp. The Squadron Number is 1F.
Post World War II[link]
The War Memorial in Victoria ParkThe years after World War II, particularly from the 1960s onwards, brought many social and economic challenges. There was a steady and irreversible decline in Leicester's traditional manufacturing industries and in the city centre working factories and light industrial premises have now been almost entirely displaced by new businesses. The 1960s and 1970s saw the movement of passengers and freight by rail and barge eclipsed by the growth of road transport. The Great Central Railway and the Leicester and Swannington Railway both closed and the northward extension of the M1 motorway linked Leicester into a growing motorway network. By the 1990s Leicester's central position and its good road transport links to the rest of the country had given it a new strategic importance as a distribution centre and the south western boundaries of the city have attracted many new businesses in both service and manufacturing sectors.
Mass housebuilding continued across Leicester for some 30 years after World War II ended in 1945. Existing housing estates such as Braunstone were expanded, while several completely new estates – of both private and council tenure – were built.[citation needed] The last major development of this era was Beaumont Leys in the north of the city, which was developed in the 1970s as a mix of private and council housing.[citation needed] With the loss of much of the city's industry during the 1970s and 1980s, some of the old industrial jobs were replaced by new jobs in the service sector, particularly in retail. The opening of the Haymarket Shopping Centre in 1971 was followed by a number of new shopping centres in the city, including St Martin's Shopping Centre in 1984 and the Shire Shopping Centre in 1992.[8] The Shires was subsequently expanded in September 2008 and rebranded as Highcross.
Since the war Leicester has experienced large scale immigration from across the world. Immigrant groups today make up around 40% of Leicester's population, making Leicester one of the most ethnically diverse cities in the United Kingdom. Many Polish servicemen were prevented from returning to their homeland after the war by the communist regime, and they established a small community in Leicester. Economic migrants from the Irish Republic continued to arrive throughout the post war period. Immigrants from the Indian sub-continent began to arrive in the 1960s, their numbers boosted by Asians arriving from Kenya and Uganda in the early 1970s.[9][10]
In the 1990s, apparently drawn by the city's free and easy atmosphere and by the number of mosques, a group of Dutch citizens of Somali origin settled in the city. Since the 2004 enlargement of the European Union a significant number of East European migrants have settled in the city. While some wards in the northeast of the city are more than 70% Asian, wards in the west and south are all over 70% white. The Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) had estimated that by 2011 Leicester would have approximately a 50% ethnic minority population, making it the first city in Britain not to have a white British majority.[11]
This prediction was based on the growth of the ethnic minority populations between 1991 (Census 1991 28% ethnic minority) and 2001 (Census 2001 – 36% ethnic minority). However Professor Ludi Simpson at the University of Manchester School of Social Sciences said in September 2007 that the CRE had "made unsubstantiated claims and ignored government statistics" and that Leicester's immigrant and minority communities disperse to other places.[12][13] The Leicester Multicultural Advisory Group is a forum, set up in 2001 by the editor of the Leicester Mercury, to coordinate community relations with members representing the council, police, schools, community and faith groups, and the media.
Geography[link]
Snow in Spinney Hill Park, LeicesterWards of Leicester[link]
Leicester is divided into several administrative wards, that correspond to many historical suburbs, villages and districts in the unitary authority area:
Ward Suburbs, villages and districts Abbey Abbey Ward, Frog Island, Mowmacre Hill, Stocking Farm Aylestone Aylestone, Aylestone Park, Saffron Beaumont Leys Beaumont Leys, Heathley Park Belgrave Belgrave Braunstone Park & Rowley Fields Braunstone, Rowley Fields Castle City Centre, Blackfriars, Clarendon Park, Southfields Charnwood Northfields Coleman Crown Hills, North Evington Evington Evington, Goodwood, Rowlatts Hill Eyres Monsell Eyres Monsell, Saffron Fosse Newfoundpool, West End, Woodgate Freemen Knighton Fields, Saffron Humberstone & Hamilton Hamilton, Humberstone, Humberstone Garden Suburb, Netherhall Knighton Stoneygate, Knighton, South Knighton, West Knighton Latimer St. Mark's New Parks New Parks Rushey Mead Rushey Mead Spinney Hills Spinney Hills, St. Matthew's, St. Peter's Stoneygate Highfields, Horston Hill, Evington Valley Thurncourt Thurnby Lodge Westcotes Bede Island Western Park Western Park, Dane Hills The Office for National Statistics has defined a Leicester Urban Area, which consists of the conurbation of Leicester, although it has no administrative status. The area contains the unitary authority area and several towns, villages and suburbs outside the city's administrative boundaries.
Climate[link]
Leicester experiences a maritime climate type with mild winters and cool summers, rain spread throughout the year, and low sunshine levels. The nearest official Weather Station was Newtown Linford, about 5 miles (8.0 km) North West of Leicester city centre and just outside the edge of the urban area. However, observations stopped in 2003. The current nearest Weather Station is Market Bosworth, about 10 miles (16 km) west of the city centre.
The highest temperature recorded at Newtown Linford was 34.5c(94.1f)[14] during August 1990, although a temperature of 35.1 °C (95.2 °F) was achieved at Leicester University during August 2003.[15] More typically the highest temperature would reach 28.7c(83.7f)[16] – the average annual maximum. 11.3 days[17] of the year should attain a temperature of 25.1c(77.2f) or above.
The lowest temperature recorded at Newtown Linford was −16.1c(3.0f)[18] during January 1963. Typically, 54.9 air frosts will be recorded during the course of the year.
Rainfall averages 684.4mm[19] per year, with 1mm or more falling on 120.8 days.[20] All averages refer to the period 1971–2000.
Climate data for Newtown Linford, elevation 119m, 1971–2000, extremes 1960–2003 Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year Record high °C (°F) 13.6
(56.5)17.9
(64.2)21.7
(71.1)23.9
(75.0)26.5
(79.7)31.5
(88.7)32.3
(90.1)34.5
(94.1)27.7
(81.9)23.3
(73.9)16.2
(61.2)14.6
(58.3)34.5
(94.1)Average high °C (°F) 6.3
(43.3)6.9
(44.4)9.7
(49.5)12.2
(54.0)16.0
(60.8)18.6
(65.5)21.4
(70.5)21.1
(70.0)17.7
(63.9)13.5
(56.3)9.1
(48.4)7.1
(44.8)13.3
(55.9)Average low °C (°F) 0.5
(32.9)0.5
(32.9)2.1
(35.8)3.3
(37.9)6.0
(42.8)8.7
(47.7)10.8
(51.4)10.7
(51.3)8.8
(47.8)6.0
(42.8)2.8
(37.0)1.3
(34.3)7.1
(44.8)Record low °C (°F) −16.1
(3.0)−11.7
(10.9)−11.1
(12.0)−6.6
(20.1)−3.3
(26.1)−0.9
(30.4)2.8
(37.0)2.8
(37.0)0.0
(32.0)−6.2
(20.8)−7.4
(18.7)−14.4
(6.1)−16.1
(3.0)Precipitation mm (inches) 61.65
(2.4272)48.91
(1.9256)51.86
(2.0417)43.86
(1.7268)50.83
(2.0012)63.07
(2.4831)46.08
(1.8142)59.25
(2.3327)61.50
(2.4213)60.58
(2.385)60.34
(2.3756)68.82
(2.7094)684.37
(26.9437)Source: KNMI[21] Government[link]
On 1 April 1997, Leicester City Council became a unitary authority, local government up until then having been a two-tier system with the city and county councils being responsible for different aspects of local government services (a system which is still in place in the rest of Leicestershire). Leicestershire County Council retained its headquarters at County Hall in Glenfield, just outside the city boundary but within the urban area. The administrative offices of Leicester City Council are in the centre of the city at the New Walk Centre and other office buildings near Welford Place. Some services (particularly the police and the ambulance service) still cover the whole of the city and county, but for the most part the two councils are independent.
After a long period of Labour administration (since 1979), the city council from May 2003 was run by a Liberal Democrat/Conservative coalition under Roger Blackmore, which collapsed in November 2004. The minority Labour group ran the city until May 2005, under Ross Willmott, when the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives formed a new coalition, again under the leadership of Roger Blackmore.
In the local government elections of 3 May 2007, Leicester’s Labour Party once again took control of the council in what can be described as a landslide victory. Gaining 18 new councillors, Labour polled on the day 38 councillors, creating a governing majority of +20. Significantly however, the Green Party gained its first councillors in the Castle Ward, after losing on the drawing of lots in 2003, though one of these subsequently resigned and the seat was lost to Labour in a by-election on 10 September 2009. The Conservative Party saw a decrease in their representation, whilst the Liberal Democrat Party was the major loser, dropping from 25 councillors in 2003 to only 6 in 2007.
In the local government elections of 5 May 2011, Labour won 52 of the city's 54 seats, with the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats winning one seat each.[22]
Leicester is divided into three Parliamentary constituencies, all controlled by the Labour Party : Leicester East, represented by Keith Vaz, Leicester South, represented by Jon Ashworth, and Leicester West represented by Liz Kendall. In April 2011 the then Leicester South MP Sir Peter Soulsby left the House of Commons to seek election as Mayor of Leicester.
On 5 May 2011, Peter Soulsby became the first directly elected Mayor of Leicester.
Coat of arms[link]
File:Arms-leicester.pngCoat of arms, LeicesterThe Corporation of Leicester's coat of arms was first granted to the city at the Heraldic Visitation of 1619, and is based on the arms of the first Earl of Leicester, Robert Beaumont. The field is a white cinquefoil on a red background, and this emblem is used by the city council.
After Leicester became a city again in 1919, the city council applied to add to the arms, permission for which was granted in 1929, when the supporting lions, from the Lancastrian Earls of Leicester, were added.
The motto "Semper Eadem" was the motto of Queen Elizabeth I, who granted a royal charter to the city. It means "always the same" but with positive overtones meaning unchanging, reliable or dependable. The crest on top of the arms is a white or silver legless wyvern with red and white wounds showing, on a wreath of red and white. The legless wyvern distinguishes it as a Leicester wyvern as opposed to other wyverns. The supporting lions are wearing coronets in the form of collars, with the white cinquefoil hanging from them.
Demography[link]
Leicester compared[23] UK Census 2001 Leicester East Midlands England Total population 292,600 4,172,174 49,138,831 Foreign born 23.0% 6.0% 9.2% White (2001) 63.9% 93.5% 90.9% White (2006) 62.0% 91.4% 88.7% South Asian (2001) 29.9% 4.0% 4.6% South Asian (2006) 29.4% 4.8% 5.5% Black (2001) 3.1% 0.9% 2.3% Black (2006) 4.6% 1.4% 2.8% Mixed (2001) 2.3% 1.0% 1.3% Mixed (2006) 2.6% 1.4% 1.6% East Asian and Other (2001) 0.8% 0.5% 0.9% East Asian and Other (2006) 1.5% 1.0% 1.4% Christian 44.7% 72.0% 71.7% No religion 17.4% 15.2% 14.6% Hindu 14.7% 1.6% 1.1% Muslim 11.0% 1.7% 3.1% The United Kingdom Census 2001 showed a total resident population for Leicester of 279,921, a 0.5% decrease from the 1991 census.[24] Approximately 62,000 were aged under 16, 199,000 were aged 16–74, and 19,000 aged 75 and over.[24] 76.9% of Leicester's population claim they have been born in the UK, according to the 2001 UK Census. Mid-year estimates for 2006 indicate that the population of the City of Leicester stood at 289,700 making Leicester the most populous city in East Midlands.[25]
The population density is 3,814 /km2 (9,880 /sq mi)[26] and for every 100 females, there were 92.9 males. Of those aged 16–74 in Leicester, 38.5% had no academic qualifications, significantly higher than 28.9% in all of England.[27] 23.0% of Leicester’s residents were born outside of the United Kingdom, higher than the English average of 9.2%.[28]
In terms of districts by ethnic diversity, the City of Leicester is ranked 11th in England. According to 2006 estimates, 58.3% of residents are white British (just under 170,000 people), 3.7% other white (around 10,000 people), 29.4% Asian or Asian British (some 84,000 people), 4.6% black or black British (some 9,000 people), 2.6% mixed race (approximately 6,000 individuals) and 1.5% Chinese or other ethnic group (over 2,000 people).[29] Amongst some of Leicester's emerging ethnic groups are the Poles who now number an estimates 30,000 in the city.[30]
Christianity is the predominant faith in Leicester. There are also approximately 41,000 Hindus, 31,000 Muslims, and 12,000 Sikhs.[31] There are three active synagogues in the city, one Progressive, one Orthodox and one Messianic.
Languages[link]
A demographic profile of Leicester published by the city council in 2008 noted:
Alongside English there are around 70 languages and/or dialects spoken in the city. In addition to English, eight languages are commonly spoken: Gujarati is the preferred language of 16% of the city's residents, Punjabi 3%, Somali 4% and Urdu 2%. Other smaller language groups include Hindi, Bengali and Polish. ... With continuing migration into the city, new languages and or dialects from Africa, the Middle East and Eastern Europe are also being spoken in the city. In primary schools in Leicester, English is not the 'preferred' language of 45% of pupils and the proportion of children whose first language is known, or believed to be, other than English, is significantly higher than other cities within the region, or within the UK.[32]Population change[link]
Population growth in Leicester since 1901 Year 1901 1911 1921 1931 1939 1951 1961 1971 2001 Population 211,579 227,222 234,143 239,169 261,339 285,181 273,470 284,208 279,921 Source: A Vision of Britain through Time Economy[link]
Highcross Leicester shopping centreLeicester has the largest economy in the East Midlands. A recent study by emda/Experian estimated the GVA to be £15.3 billion.[33] Companies that have their head office based in the area include Next, Jessops, Shoe Zone, Goldsmiths and the British Gas Business. Caterpillar, Wal-Mart, and DHL all have sites in Leicester.[34]
Engineering[link]
Engineering is an important part of the economy of Leicester. Companies include Jones & Shipman (machine tools and control systems), Richards Engineering (foundry equipment), Transmon Engineering (materials handling equipment) and Trelleborg (suspension components for rail, marine, and industrial applications). Local commitment to nurturing the upcoming cadre of British engineers includes apprenticeship schemes with local companies, and academic-industrial connections with the engineering departments at Leicester University, De Montfort University, and Loughborough University. Leicester was also home to the famous Gents' of Leicester clock manufacturers.
Shopping[link]
In 2008 Leicester was positioned thirteenth in the retail shopping league of England (CACI Retail Footprint 2008).
There are two main shopping centres in Leicester – the Haymarket Shopping Centre and Highcross Leicester. The Haymarket Shopping Centre was opened on the site in 1974, and was the first to be built in the City, with parking for up to 500 cars on several levels, two levels of shopping with bus station, and was also the site of the former Haymarket Theatre. Highcross Leicester opened in 2008 after work to redevelop "The Shires Centre" was completed at a cost of £350 million (creating 120 stores, 15 restaurants, a cinema, 110,000 m2 of shopping space). Smaller shopping centres include St Martin's Square. The Leicester Lanes area has numerous designer and specialist shops. Leicester Market is the largest outdoor covered market in Europe selling a wide variety of goods. The Golden Mile is the name given to a stretch of Belgrave Road renowned for its authentic Indian restaurants, sari shops, and jewellers, The Diwali celebrations in Leicester are focused on this area and are the largest outside India[35]
Leicester has a number of department stores including Fenwick, House of Fraser, John Lewis, and Debenhams.
Food and drink[link]
Henry Walker was a successful pork butcher who moved from Mansfield to Leicester in the 1880s to take over an established business in High Street. The first Walker's production line was in the empty upper storey of Walker's Oxford Street factory in Leicester. In the early days the potatoes were sliced up by hand and cooked in an ordinary fish and chip fryer. In 1971 the Walker's crisps business was sold to Standard Brands, an American firm, who sold on the company to Frito-Lay. Walker's crisps currently makes 10 million bags of crisps per day at two factories in Beaumont Leys, and is the UK's largest grocery brand.[36] The Beaumont Leys manufacturing plant is the largest crisp factory in the world.[37]
Meanwhile the sausage and pie business was bought out by Samworth Brothers in 1986. Production outgrew the Cobden Street site and pork pies are now manufactured at a meat processing factory and bakery in Beaumont Leys, coincidentally situated near the separately owned crisp factories. Sold under the Walker's name and under UK retailers own brands such as Tesco's Finest, over three million hot and cold pies are made each week.[38] Henry Walker's butcher shop at 4–6 Cheapside is still in business, selling Walker's sausages and pork pies, and is currently trading under the ownership of Scottish company Fife Fine Foods which bought up the Walker's butchers stores chain from Dewhursts in 2006.
Leicester Market is the largest outdoor covered marketplace in Europe[citation needed] and selling fruit, vegetables, fresh fish and meat. Every year during the summer the Leicester City Council hold cultural festivals here. In 2009 the Leicester Mela was held in the market area. In 2011 a new area called "Market Corner" was opened with various different food and drink on offer on Fridays and Saturdays. The market was given royal consent in 1229 by Henry III. One famous stallholder family is the Lineker's, who have operated a fruit and vegetable store since the late 1960s. Other markets in Leicester include Beaumont Leys Market. There are other markets, including the farmer's market and the continental markets usually held on Humberstone Gate or Gallowtree Gate.
Financial and business services[link]
Financial and business service companies with operations in Leicestershire include Santander (previously Alliance & Leicester), Royal Bank of Scotland, Barclays Bank, State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, Bank of Baroda and HSBC. All of the major accounting firms have offices in Leicester. One of Aviva's seven UK administrative hubs is based in Leicester.
Statistics[link]
This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Leicester at current basic prices published (pp. 240–253) by Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.
Year Regional Gross
Value Added[39]Agriculture[40] Industry[41] Services[42] 1995 3,561 - 1,425 3,088 2003 5,087 1 1,289 3,797 Births, marriages and deaths[link]
The staff at the Leicester office registers 9,500 births and 5,700 deaths annually. In addition around 1,000 marriage ceremonies take place within the building every year together with an increasing number of civil partnership registrations. As part of the legal preliminaries to their wedding the citizens of the city of Leicester who wish to marry anywhere other than the Church of England must give a legal notice of their intention to marry. In the course of a year more than 2,000 notices are entered in the records of this office.
The original records of all births, marriages and deaths which have taken place in Leicester since 1837 are kept at the register office. Every year approximately 12,000 certified copies are issued from these historic records.
Business awards[link]
The Leicestershire Business Awards has categories including Investing in Leicestershire, Contribution to the Community, and Entrepreneur of the Year.
Recent Leicestershire winners of the Queen’s Award for Enterprise are Guidance Ltd, listed on the Lord Lieutenant's website. Guidance Monitoring Limited (GML) specialises in the design and manufacture of sophisticated electronic tagging/tracking systems for asset protection and personnel monitoring including for security and criminal justice applications.[3]
Landmarks[link]
There are ten Scheduled Monuments in Leicester and thirteen Grade I listed buildings: some sites, such as Leicester Castle and the Jewry Wall, appear on both lists.
20th century architecture: Leicester University Engineering Building (James Stirling & James Gowan : Grd II Listed), Kingstone Department Store, Belgrave Gate (Raymond McGrath : Grd II Listed)
Older architecture:
Tourist: Discover Leicester Tour is an open top tour bus linking many of the Leicestershire tourist sites in and around the city. See [4].
Parks: Abbey Park, Botanic Gardens, Castle Gardens, Gorse Hill City Farm, Grand Union Canal, Knighton Park, Nelson Mandela Park, River Soar, Victoria Park, Watermead Country Park.
Industry: Abbey Pumping Station, National Space Centre, Great Central Railway.
Places of worship: Shree Jalaram Prarthana Mandal (Hindu temple),[43] the Stake Centre of the LDS Church's Leicester England Stake,[citation needed] Jain Centre,[44] Leicester Cathedral, Leicester Central Mosque,[45] Masjid Umar[46] (Mosque),[47] Guru Nanak Gurdwara (Sikh), Neve Shalom Synagogue (Progressive Jewish).
Historic buildings: Town Hall, Guildhall, Belgrave Hall, Jewry Wall, Secular Hall, Abbey, Castle, St Mary de Castro, The City Rooms, Newarke Magazine Gateway.
Shopping: Haymarket Shopping Centre, Highcross, Market, Golden Mile, Beaumont Shopping Centre, Fosse Shopping Park, St Martin's Square, Silver Arcade.
Sport: King Power Stadium – Leicester City FC, Welford Road – Leicester Tigers, Grace Road – Leicestershire County Cricket Club, John Sanford Sports Centre – Leicester Riders, Saffron Lane Sports Centre – Leicester Coritanian Athletics Club, City Cricket Academy.
Leicester as viewed looking west to north from the top floor of the Attenborough Tower at the University of Leicester. In the foreground are Welford Road Cemetery and various buildings associated with the University of Leicester, and more distant landmarks visible include the King Power Stadium (Leicester City FC), Welford Road (Leicester Tigers RFC), Leicester Royal Infirmary, New Walk Centre (Leicester City Council), and St. George's Tower.Transport[link]
Railway[link]
The rail network is of growing importance in Leicester, and with the start of Eurostar international services from London St Pancras International in November 2007 giving Leicester railway station almost direct links to the continent, this growth is expected to continue.
East Midlands Trains are the InterCity operator running 'fast' and 'semi-fast' services to and from London to northern England, and provide local services throughout the East Midlands, regional services to the West Midlands and East Anglia are provided by CrossCountry.
Rail routes run north–south through Leicester along the route known as the Midland Main Line, going south to Bedford, Luton and London; and north to Lincoln, Sheffield, Leeds and York. Junctions north and south of the station link the east–west cross country route, going east to Cambridge, Stansted Airport and Norwich; and west to Nuneaton and Birmingham. Leicester is 99 miles (159 km) from London on the Midland Main Line, the fastest trains taking 1 hour and 07 minutes. Journeys to Sheffield take around 1 hour, Leeds and York are approximately a 2 hour journey. Birmingham and Peterborough are around 1 hour away.
Passengers using the railway station can include a PlusBus ticket with their train ticket which gives unlimited bus travel in a designated area.
Network Rail has plans afoot to re-develop the station incorporating the city council's plans for the surrounding area.[48]
Great Central Railway[link]
Main article: Great Central RailwayLeicester was also on a competing line from London to the North, built by the Great Central Railway in the late 1890s. Served by Leicester Central railway station, the Great Central Main Line closed as a through route in the late 1960s. A preserved section remains, from the newly opened Leicester North railway station (the original route through Leicester has now been rebuilt on), to Loughborough is now a heritage steam railway.
Motorways[link]
Leicester is close to the heart of the M1 motorway at Junction 21, this section considered to be the busiest part in the country[citation needed]. The M69 motorway also starts near Leicester, and runs to the M6 Motorway and is contiguous with Coventry's eastern bypass.
Airport[link]
East Midlands Airport is near Castle Donington which is in North West Leicestershire. Served by low-cost international airlines like Ryanair & Bmibaby and serves charter holidays like Thomson Holidays. This makes Leicester easily accessible from other parts of the world providing regular services to many principal European destinations. This includes Amsterdam, Berlin & Paris. Also there are internal flights to Belfast, Edinburgh & Glasgow and limited services to transcontinental destinations such as Barbados, Mexico & Orlando.
Also Birmingham Airport is only about a 45 or 50 minute drive from Leicester, and London Luton Airport can be reached in an hour or just over. Luton serves similar destinations to East Midlands though Luton services are more regular. Birmingham airport generally flies to places like Amsterdam, Brussels, Frankfurt, Munich & Paris with airlines like Air France, KLM & Lufthansa.
Leicester's other local airport is Leicester Airport at Stoughton, Leicestershire.
Buses[link]
Leicester has two main bus stations St Margaret's Bus Station and Haymarket Bus Station.
There are three permanent Park and ride sites located at Meynells Gorse (Leicester Forest East), Birstall and Enderby buses operate every 15 mins from all sites. The park and ride services are branded as quicksilver shuttle and are contracted to Roberts from the City Council and County Council, buses use a purpose built terminal near St. Nicholas Circle.
The main bus operators for Leicester are Arriva Midlands, Centrebus, Kinchbus, First Leicester, Coachmaster and Roberts.
The Skylink Leicester bus service to East Midlands Airport and Derby operated by Kinchbus operates 24/7 every 30 mins daytime and hourly between 7pm and 5am.
National Cycle Network[link]
National Cycle Network Route 6 passes through Leicestershire along with other secondary routes. The Leicester Bike Park is also located in the city centre. The city is also home to Cyclemagic, a community cycling organisation with probably the widest range of bikes and pedal powered machines in the world.
Education[link]
Schools[link]
Main article: List of schools in LeicesterLeicester is home to a number of comprehensive schools and independent schools. Leicester Grammar School, a HMC member school, was founded in the 1980s after the city's loss of its state-funded grammar schools. There are three sixth form colleges, all of which were previously grammar schools.
The Leicester City Local Education Authority initially had a troubled history when formed in 1997 as part of the local government reorganisation – a 1999 Ofsted inspection found "few strengths and many weaknesses", although there has been considerable improvement since then. While many state schools provide a good standard of education, there have been problems with one or two of the large community colleges, in particular New College on Glenfield Road. However, recent changes of leadership at New College have seen a turnaround in the school's prospects.
Recent plans to improve the city's education system included the opening of The Samworth Enterprise Academy, an academy whose catchment area draws in children from the Saffron and Eyres Monsell estates, co-sponsored by the Church of England and David Samworth, chairman of Samworth Brothers. State school status has also been granted to the Madani High School, a Leicester Islamic academy. The city's special schools are currently undergoing reorganisation.
Under the "Building Schools for the Future" project, Leicester City Council has contracted with developers Miller Consortium for £315 million to rebuild Beaumont Leys School, Judgemeadow Community College in Evington, and Soar Valley College in Rushey Mead, and to refurbish Fullhurst Community College in Braunstone.[49]
Leicester City Council underwent a major reorganisation of children's services in 2006, creating a new Children & Young People's Services department.
Leicester was one of the last places in the UK where milk was supplied to primary schools in third pint glass bottles. In 2007 the supplier changed to plastic bottles.
Tertiary[link]
University of Leicester seen from Victoria Park – Left to right: the Department of Engineering, the Attenborough Tower, the Charles Wilson Building.
Magazine Square, with the Grade I listed Magazine Gateway and De Montfort University's Hugh Aston building.
The National Space Centre in LeicesterLeicester is home to two universities, the University of Leicester, which attained its Royal Charter in 1957 and is one of Britain's leading universities ranked 12th by the 2009 Complete University Guide, and De Montfort University, which opened in 1969 as Leicester Polytechnic and achieved university status in 1992.
It is also home to the National Space Centre located off Abbey Lane, due in part to the University of Leicester being one of the few universities in the UK to specialise in space sciences.
Culture[link]
Curve theatre
Phoenix Square cinema and media complexThe city hosts an annual Pride Parade (Leicester Pride), a Caribbean Carnival (the largest in the UK outside London), the largest Diwali celebrations outside of India and the largest comedy festival in the UK Leicester Comedy Festival. One of the best known places in the city is Melton Road, near the city centre, which contains many diverse retail stores and restaurants for both locals and tourists. From clothing to fine cuisines,specialist bridal/groom makeup and home appliances, this road promotes and holds many authentic cultures globally. Melton Road is regarded as the pin point of Leicester as a multifaith city. For many residents of Leicester, Melton Road is place with strong links to their roots and origins. From an ethnic point of view, this is just one of the many sites within the city that enables every person to feel a sense of homeliness and strong pride of cutlture.
The Leicester International Short Film Festival [5] is an annual event; it began life with humble beginnings in 1996 under the banner title of "Seconds Out". It has become one of the most important short film festivals in the U.K. It usually runs in early November, with venues including the Phoenix Arts Centre.
Arts venues in the city include:
- Curve: New purpose-designed performing arts centre, designed by Rafael Vinoly, opened in Autumn 2008,[50] replaced the Haymarket Theatre
- The De Montfort Hall
- The Y Theatre
- The Little Theatre
- The City Gallery, one of the region's leading contemporary art galleries
- The Peepul Centre, Designed by Andrzej Blonski Architects, the £15 million building was opened in 2005 and houses an auditorium, restaurant, cyber café, gym and dance studio for the local people, as well as being used for conferences and events. The centre has even been host to former Prime Minister Gordon Brown and other senior Labour Party figures for hustings during the deputy leadership contest.
- Phoenix Square, which replaced the Phoenix Arts Centre in 2009.
- Fabrika The Independent Arts Centre, 68-70 Humberstone Gate. An Independent Art centre designed to help everyone in the community in a number of different ways.
Museums[link]
-
Newarke Houses Museum (Grade II*)
Music[link]
While Leicester has often been neglected as a centre for popular music, with the new O2 Academy that has recently been built in the city more established acts have been booked to play. It has had a vibrant history that has thrown up a large number of notable, as well as forgettable, artists. Current venues for music include: De Montfort Hall, which has a standing capacity of 1602 and seating capacity of 2000. One of Leicester's main live music venues, The Charlotte, closed in January 2009. It briefly reopened in October 2009 before being closed permanently on 14 March 2010.
1960s[link]
Leicester's main small venue for pop and rock was the Il Rondo on Silver Street. The roll call of bands who played at the Il Rondo runs like a who's Who of early–mid sixties pop and rock. The Yardbirds and The Animals played there before passing into rock history along with less well remembered groups like the Graham Bond Organisation. It also played host to many visiting American blues musicians including Howlin' Wolf, Freddie King, Lowell Fulson, Otis Spann and John Lee Hooker. The Beatles also came to De Montfort Hall.
Colin Hyde (East Midlands Oral History Archive) carried out a range of interviews about growing up in Leicester in the 1950s and 1960s and began to map where all of the venues of the day were.[51] He identified a number of clubs, pubs, and coffee bars like the Chameleon, run by Pete Joseph, the El Casa, or the El Paso – cafes which stayed open after the pubs closed. Among others, people also remembered the Blue Beat club on Conduit Street, run by Alex Barrows who later started the House of Happiness on Campbell Street. Night clubs such as the Burlesque or the Nite Owl became more popular as the 1960s progressed, and they opened up the opportunity to dance all night.
A local beat band called The Foresights were signed to EMI. They were notable for all members wearing glasses.
Also emerging during this period was the band Family, fronted by Leicester man Roger Chapman.
1970s[link]
The seventies saw the emergence of the well known cabaret band Showaddywaddy from the city with lead singer Dave Bartram and their 1950s-themed songs. The De Montfort Hall held the first of its annual One-World festivals, with the aim of celebrating the cultural diversity of the city and breaking down the barriers of hostility and suspicion that had a potential to foment racial conflict. Adult and children's groups performed traditional dances and music from the many communities settled here – British, Irish, East European, Asian, African and Caribbean. These festivals continued until the 1980s.
1980s[link]
The early 1980s saw Leicester punk band Rabid have two minor indie hits, and there were greater successes later in the decade for Yeah Yeah Noh. The mid-1980s saw the emergence of bands such as Gaye Bykers on Acid, Crazyhead, The Bomb Party, and The Hunters Club, who were all associated with the Grebo scene. The Deep Freeze Mice had formed in 1979 and went on to release ten albums in total. Diesel Park West had their first top 75 hits in the late 1980s. Other notable Leicester bands from this decade included Po!, Blab Happy and Chrome Molly.
1990s[link]
The band Prolapse, was formed by a group of Leicester University and Polytechnic students in 1992. The band rose in popularity, and quickly gained a record deal with Cherry Red Records, recorded a number of John Peel sessions for Radio 1, and toured with Sonic Youth, Stereolab and Pulp. 1992 also saw the formation in Leicester of Cornershop, an Anglo-Asian agit pop band, who became most famous for the 1998 Number 1 single "Brimful of Asha". Perfume and Delicatessen both also rose to critical acclaim. Leicester is home of the influential Rave – Drum & Bass Formation Records label and associated 5HQ Record Shop.
Post-2000[link]
Since 2000 the city has once more seen a notable upsurge in the success of the local music scene. Several Leicester musicians and/or acts have received considerable media attention in their fields since 2003–2004. Kasabian, followed by Pacific Ocean Fire, The Displacements,[52] Kyte,[53] and Maybeshewill have all risen from the city to national attention. The Go! Team were first signed to local label Pickled Egg Records, other Leicester musicians (such as Frank Benbini) feature in notable national and international bands such as; Fun Lovin' Criminals, Happy Mondays, The Holloways, Envy & Other Sins, and A Hawk and a Hacksaw.
Kasabian albums Empire and West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum both achieved number one status in the UK Albums Chart in 2006 and 2009 respectively. Success followed in 2010 when the band won the Best British Group Award at the BRIT Awards 2010.
Other Leicester acts enjoying chart success in the Official UK Singles Chart during the 2000s include bassline act H "Two" O eventually reaching number two, and remaining there for three weeks, with their hit single "What's It Gonna Be". Dance music project Stunt eventually reached number nine with their collaborative hit single "Raindrops (Encore Une Fois)" (with Sash!). They have also gone on to collaborate with Europop sensation Basshunter.
The development of the award-winning music festival Summer Sundae with connecting Summer Sundae Fringe Festival (run by the local arts collective Pineapster) as well as other music festivals focused on blues and folk music may well provide the city with more of a focus for its local bands to break out nationally. 2006 saw the closure of The Attik, a venue that for over twenty years had played host to hundreds of bands.
In popular culture[link]
Leicester is the setting for the fictional diaries of Adrian Mole, created by Sue Townsend. He lives in a fictional suburb known as 'Mangold Parva'. There, Mole lives and owns a second hand bookshop in the laters novels, notably, Townsend's latest, Adrian Mole: The Prostrate Years. The local Leicestershire MP is Pandora Braithwaite, a fictional Labour MP since the 1997 General Election.
Sport[link]
The Sports Statue on Gallowtree Gate
The Caterpillar stand at Welford Road StadiumProfessional & semi professional sports teams include: Leicester Tigers (rugby union), Leicester City (football), Leicester Lions (speedway), and the Leicestershire County Cricket Club.
Sports clubs include: Leicester Coritanian A.C. (athletics) and Leicester Penguins Swimming Club who were awarded Sports Club of the Year by the Leicester Mercury at their annual sports awards for 2007 & 2008.
Leicester Racecourse is located to the south of the city in Oadby.
After a period of success for the football, cricket and rugby teams around the turn of the millennium, Leicester was for some time dubbed (by the local press and local inhabitants at least) the sporting capital of the UK, and a statue commemorating this period was erected in the town centre.
Leicester Tigers on Welford Road are one of the most successful rugby union teams in Europe, having won the European cup twice, the first tier of English rugby eight times, and the Anglo-Welsh cup six times. Notable former players include England's Rugby World Cup winning captain Martin Johnson, Neil Back, Dean Richards and Austin Healey.
Leicester City have also enjoyed a fair degree of success. They have championed the second tier of the English league system on no less than six occasions, competed in the top flight regularly during their history, won three Football League Cups and reached the FA Cup Final four times although they have never won the trophy. In the 2008–09 season they competed in and won League One (third tier), to which they were relegated for the first time. Their current stadium is the King Power Stadium, situated south of the city centre and near to the site Filbert Street from which they relocated in 2002 after 111 years. Notable former managers include Jimmy Bloomfield, David Pleat, Brian Little, and Martin O'Neill. Notable former players include Gordon Banks, Peter Shilton, Frank Worthington, Gary Lineker, Alan Smith, Emile Heskey, Neil Lennon, Simon Grayson and Matt Elliott.
Motorcycle speedway racing has been staged in Leicester on and off since 1928. In the pioneer days speedway was staged at a track known as Leicester Super situated in Melton Road and at 'The Stadium' in Blackbird Road. Post war, the Leicester Hunters joined the National League Division Three in 1949 and operated at various levels until closure at the end of 1962. The sport was revived for a spell from 1968 before the sale and subsequent redevelopment of the site ended the first Leicester Lions era in 1983. Planning permission was granted in October 2009 for a brand-new speedway track at Beaumont Park, with Leicester Lions returning to action in 2011 in the Premier League.
Leicester is also home to the Leicester Falcons, an American football team that competes as part of the BAFA National Leagues and in 2011 was promoted to the BAFA Premier League, the highest tier of British American Football. The Falcons' home ground is located at Babington Community College, in the Beaumont Leys area of the city.
Leicester Phoenix are a rugby league club based in the centre of the city. The club was founded in 1986. After playing in different British Amateur Rugby League Association leagues (namely the Midlands and South West Amateur Rugby League and the East Midlands Amateur Rugby League) the Phoenix were one of the 10 founder members of the Rugby League Conference (then the Southern Conference League) in 1997 reaching the grand final in the inaugural season. Since then they have been one of the league's most consistent performers. Their 1st Grade Team currently compete in the Midlands Premier division of the Rugby League Conference.
Leicester Rowing Club is a rowing and sculling club based in the centre of the city on the River Soar. Formed in 1882 they represent Leicester in Regatta and Head Races around Great Britain and Worldwide. The club insignia is based on the mythical Wyvern and rowers compete in the club's colours of black and white.[54]
The city also hosted British and World track cycling and Road Racing championships at its Saffron Lane velodrome in August 1970. The cycle track was improved specially for the event which was televised all over the world. Another first meant that sponsors were allowed to buy sections of the track to utilise for advertising purposes. This was also the first time that a public road – the A46 – was closed in the UK to allow the Road Race to take place:- See The Benny Foster Story published by Fretwell 1971.[citation needed] However, this was the second world championships to be hosted by the city, in 1883 the first ever Bicycling World Championships were held at the Belgrave Road Grounds.[citation needed]
In 1989 and 2009, the city hosted the British Special Olympics. This was the adopted charity for the Lord Mayor of Leicester 2008–2009,Councillor Manjula Sood.[55]
Until its demolition in 1999 Granby Halls was a popular live music, exhibition and sports arena in the city. It was also notable as the long serving home of professional basketball team, the Leicester Riders, from 1980 until 1999.
The Dolly Rockit Rollers roller derby league are based in Leicester. They were ranked amongst the top eight UKRDA members for 2011, and played at the Association's 2012 championship tournament as a result.
Hockey Club are based at Leicester Grammar School in Great Glen.
Leicester was also the '2008 European City of Sport'.[56]
Public services[link]
In the public sector, University Hospitals Leicester NHS Trust is one of the larger employers in the city, with over 12,000 employees working for the Trust. Leicester City Primary Care Trust employs over 1,000 full and part time staff providing healthcare services in the city. Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust employs 3,000 staff providing mental health and learning disability services in the city and county.
In the private sector are Nuffield Hospital Leicester and the Spire Hospital Leicester.
Notable people[link]
Main article: List of people from LeicesterLocal media[link]
Leicester is home to the Leicester Mercury newspaper, and the Midlands Asian Television channel known as MATV Channel 6.
BBC Radio Leicester was the first BBC Local Radio station in Britain, opening on 8 November 1967. Other analogue FM radio stations are Demon FM which is Leicester's student radio station broadcasting from Demontfort University, Takeover Radio, Capital FM East Midlands Gem 106, 106.6 Smooth Radio and Hindu Sanskar Radio, which only broadcasts during Hindu religious festivals. BBC Asian Network and Sabras Radio broadcast on AM.
The local DAB multiplex has the following stations:
- Capital FM East Midlands
- Demon FM
- BBC Radio Leicester
- Sabras Radio
- Galaxy Digital
- Highways Agency Traffic Radio
- XFM
- Classic Gold GEM
- Gem 106
- Asian Plus – also known as Hindu Sanskar Radio
- Takeover Radio
- Smooth Radio
There are two hospital radio stations in Leicester, Radio Fox and Radio Gwendolen. The first children's radio station, Takeover Radio, broadcasts in Leicester.
Twin cities[link]
Leicester is twinned with six cities.[57]
Strasbourg, France (1960)
Krefeld, Germany (1969)
Masaya, Nicaragua (1987)
Chongqing, China (1993)
Rajkot, India (1996)
Haskovo, Bulgaria (2008)
References[link]
- Notes
- ^ "Neighbourhood Statistics". http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadTableView.do?a=3&b=276827&c=leicester&d=13&e=13&g=394575&i=1001x1003x1004&m=0&r=1&s=1206486958671&enc=1&dsFamilyId=1812.
- ^ Leicester is on the River Soar and Legro or Leire could have been the name of the tributary at Leire. "Legorensis civitas" (803) and "Ligera ceaster" (917) are the earliest forms; William of Malmesbury says Leicester is named "a Legra fluvio" (from the river Legra). Ekwall, E. (1940) The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names; 2nd ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press; p. 280
- ^ Wright, Neil (1984). The Historia Regum Britannie of Geoffrey of Monmouth. Woodbridge, England: Boydell and Brewer. pp. xvii–xviii. ISBN 978-0-85991-641-7.
- ^ "...the Historia does not bear scrutiny as an authentic history and no scholar today would regard it as such.": Wright (1984: xxviii)
- ^ Geoffrey of Monmouth, The History of the Kings of Britain, translated by Lewis Thorpe, p. 81 and 86, Harmondsworth, 1966
- ^ "Official Website of the British Monarchy – Jane". http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/Page44.asp. [dead link]
- ^ "1645:The Storming of Leicester and the Battle of Naseby". http://www.british-civil-wars.co.uk/military/1645-leicester-naseby.htm.
- ^ [1]
- ^ Leicester's Ugandan Asian success story. Retrieved 28 November 2010.
- ^ A history of Leicester. Retrieved 28 November 2010.
- ^ Equality and Human Rights Commission – home page[dead link]
- ^ Research (The University of Manchester)[dead link]
- ^ "Equality and Human Rights Commission – home page". http://www.ccsr.ac.uk/research/mrpd/events/documents/BSPS07SimpsonFinneyMinorityWhiteCities.doc.
- ^ "August 1990 Maximum". http://eca.knmi.nl/utils/monitordetail.php?seasonid=14&year=1990&indexid=TXx&stationid=1852. Retrieved 26 February 2011.
- ^ "August 2003 Maximum". http://web.archive.org/web/20030819214645/http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/interesting/aug03maxtemps.html. Retrieved 23 February 2012.
- ^ "1971-00 Average annual maximum". http://eca.knmi.nl/utils/calcdetail.php?seasonid=0&periodid=1971-2000&indexid=TXx&stationid=1852. Retrieved 26 February 2011.
- ^ "Max >25c days". http://eca.knmi.nl/utils/calcdetail.php?seasonid=0&periodid=1971-2000&indexid=SU&stationid=1852. Retrieved 26 February 2011.
- ^ "Jan 1963 Minimum". http://eca.knmi.nl/utils/monitordetail.php?seasonid=7&year=1963&indexid=TNn&stationid=1852. Retrieved 26 February 2011.
- ^ "1971-00 average rainfall". http://eca.knmi.nl/utils/calcdetail.php?seasonid=0&periodid=1971-2000&indexid=RR&stationid=1852. Retrieved 26 February 2011.
- ^ "1971-00 average raindays". http://eca.knmi.nl/utils/calcdetail.php?seasonid=0&periodid=1971-2000&indexid=RR1&stationid=1852.. Retrieved 23 February 2011.
- ^ "Climate Normals and extremes". KNMI. July 2011. http://eca.knmi.nl/utils/mapserver/climatology.php?indexcat=**&indexid=TXx&periodidselect=1971-2000&seasonid=0&scalelogidselect=no&minx=-374761.904762&miny=-4711904.761905&maxx=491904.761905&maxy=-4061904.761905&MapSize=560%2C420&imagewidth=560&imageheight=420&mainmap.x=185&mainmap.y=168&CMD=QUERY_POINT&CMD=QUERY_POINT#bottom. Retrieved 26 Feb 2011.
- ^ [2]
- ^ United Kingdom Census 2001 (2001). "Leicester (Local Authority)". neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk. http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadDatasetList.do?a=3&b=276827&c=leicester&d=13&g=394575&i=1001x1003&m=0&r=1&s=1198285960875&enc=1&domainId=16. Retrieved 28 December 2007.
- ^ a b "Leicester profile of 2001 census". Office for National Statistics. 2003. http://www.statistics.gov.uk/census2001/profiles/00fn.asp. Retrieved 28 December 2007.
- ^ "Mid-year estimates for 2006" (XLS). Office of National Statistics. 2007. http://www.statistics.gov.uk/statbase/Expodata/Spreadsheets/D9664.xls. Retrieved 28 December 2007.
- ^ "Leicester population density". Statistics.gov.uk. http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadTableView.do?a=3&b=276827&c=leicester&d=13&e=16&g=394575&i=1001x1003x1004&o=1&m=0&r=1&s=1198800250139&enc=1&dsFamilyId=789. Retrieved 28 December 2007.
- ^ "Leicester key statistics". Statistics.gov.uk. http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=3&b=276827&c=leicester&d=13&e=16&g=394575&i=1001x1003x1004&o=1&m=0&r=1&s=1198801397203&enc=1. Retrieved 28 December 2007.
- ^ "Leicester country of birth data". Statistics.gov.uk. http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadTableView.do?a=3&b=276827&c=leicester&d=13&e=16&g=394575&i=1001x1003x1004&o=1&m=0&r=1&s=1198800401075&enc=1&dsFamilyId=85. Retrieved 28 December 2007.
- ^ "Leicester ethnic grouping percentages". Office of National Statistics. 2001. http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadTableView.do?a=3&b=276827&c=leicester&d=13&e=16&g=394575&i=1001x1003x1004&o=1&m=0&r=1&s=1198799473446&enc=1&dsFamilyId=87. Retrieved 28 December 2007.
- ^ Leicester's Polish Community (17 January 2008). "Leicester – Features – Leicester's Polish Community". BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/leicester/content/articles/2008/01/17/polish_community_feature.shtml. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
- ^ Dilwar Hussain (2010). [http://www.soros.org/initiatives/home/articles_publications/publications/leicester-report-20100422/a-muslims-leicester-20100422.pdf Muslims in Leicester] (Report). Open Society Institute. http://www.soros.org/initiatives/home/articles_publications/publications/leicester-report-20100422/a-muslims-leicester-20100422.pdf.
- ^ "The Diversity of Leicester May 2008, A Demographic Profile". Leicester City Council. Archived from the original on 8 January 2009. http://web.archive.org/web/20090108034740/http://www.leicesterpartnership.org.uk/EasySite/lib/serveDocument.asp?doc=111607&pgid=113861. Retrieved 16 November 2008.
- ^ http://www.prospectleicestershire.co.uk/why-here
- ^ http://www.uk.cat.com/cda/layout?m=65333&x=7
- ^ Panesar, Jeevan (2006-10-13); "Diwali in Leicester, BBC, Accessed 25 January 2011.
- ^ Walkers Crisps, Coming to the crunch – The Manufacturer, October 2006
- ^ http://www.pepsico.co.uk/our-company/contact-us/our-offices-factories-and-sites
- ^ Our company[dead link] – Samworth Brothers, October 2007
- ^ Components may not sum to totals due to rounding
- ^ includes hunting and forestry
- ^ includes energy and construction
- ^ includes financial intermediation services indirectly measured
- ^ "Leicester 360° Images – 360 degree tour of Shree Jalaram Prathana Mandal". BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/leicester/360_images/2002/11/shree_jalaram_prathana_mandal.shtml. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
- ^ "Leicester 360° Images – 360 degree tour of Jain Centre". BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/leicester/360_images/2002/11/jain_temple.shtml. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
- ^ http://www.islamiccentre.org/
- ^ http://www.masjid-umar.org/
- ^ "Leicester – In Pictures – Masjid Umar mosque". BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/leicester/content/panoramas/masjid_mosque_360.shtml. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
- ^ "Plans for £150m station facelift". BBC News. 6 March 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/leicestershire/7280724.stm.
- ^ Schools building deal is signed and sealed[dead link] – Leicester Mercury, 19 December 2007
- ^ "Curve website". http://www.leicesterpac.co.uk/.
- ^ talking history:the newsletter of the East Midlands Oral History Archive. Number 7: May 2003.
- ^ "The Displacements - Track Reviews - NME.COM". http://www.nme.com/reviews/the-displacements/9338.
- ^ "Kyte Announce New 2008 Tour Dates". http://www.glasswerk.co.uk/index.php?db=national&page=news,article&id=3503.
- ^ "Leicester Rowing Club at British Rowing". Britishrowing.org. http://www.britishrowing.org/clubs/leicester-rc. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
- ^ "City to host its second 'games'". BBC News. 13 July 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/leicestershire/6898257.stm. Retrieved 14 July 2007.
- ^ "Leicester City Council – European City of Sport 2008". Leicester.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 7 May 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080507020151/http://www.leicester.gov.uk/index.asp?pgid=75325. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
- ^ "Twinning". Leicester City council. http://www.leicester.gov.uk/your-council-services/lc/twinning/. Retrieved 5 February 2010.
- Further reading
- Hoskins, W. G. (1957) Leicestershire: an illustrated essay on the history of the landscape. London: Hodder & Stoughton
External links[link]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Leicester - "Leicester Tourist Guide". http://www.goleicestershire.com/.
- "One Leicester". http://www.oneleicester.com/.
- "Leicester City Council". http://www.leicester.gov.uk/.
Suburbs of LeicesterWards Areas - Abbey Rise
- Ashton Green
- Aylestone
- Beaumont Leys
- Bede Island
- Belgrave
- Blackfriars
- Braunstone Frith
- Charnwood
- City Centre
- Clarendon Park
- Crown Hills
- Dane Hills
- Evington
- Evington Valley
- Eyres Monsell
- Frog Island
- Gilmorton
- Goodwood
- Hamilton
- Highfields
- Horston Hill
- Humberstone
- Humberstone Garden
- Kirby Frith
- Knighton
- Montrose
- Mowmacre Hill
- Netherhall
- Newfoundpool
- New Parks
- North Evington
- Northfields
- Rowlatts Hill
- Rowley Fields
- Rushey Mead
- Saffron
- Southfields
- South Knighton
- Spinney Hills
- Stocking Farm
- Stoneygate
- St. Matthew's
- St. Mark's
- St. Peters
- Thurnby Lodge
- West End
- West Knighton
- Western Park
- Woodgate
Unitary authorities LeicesterBoroughs or districts Major settlements Topics Derbyshire 
Leicestershire Blaby • Charnwood • Harborough • Hinckley and Bosworth • Leicester • Melton • North West Leicestershire • Oadby and Wigston
Lincolnshire Nottinghamshire Ashfield • Bassetlaw • Broxtowe • Gedling • Mansfield • Newark and Sherwood • Nottingham • Rushcliffe
Northamptonshire Rutland Cities of the United KingdomEngland - Bath
- Birmingham
- Bradford
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- Cambridge
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- Chester
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- Leicester
- Lichfield
- Lincoln
- Liverpool
- London
- Manchester
- Newcastle upon Tyne
- Norwich
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- Peterborough
- Plymouth
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- Preston
- Ripon
- St Albans
- Salford
- Salisbury
- Sheffield
- Southampton
- Stoke-on-Trent
- Sunderland
- Truro
- Wakefield
- Wells
- Westminster
- Winchester
- Wolverhampton
- Worcester
- York
Scotland Wales Northern Ireland Overseas Territories 25 largest settlements in the UK by urban core population*- London: 7,172,091
- Birmingham: 970,892
- Glasgow: 629,501
- Liverpool: 469,017
- Leeds: 443,247
- Sheffield: 439,866
- Edinburgh: 430,082
- Bristol: 420,556
- Manchester: 394,269
- Leicester: 330,574
- Coventry: 303,475
- Kingston-upon-Hull: 301,416
- Bradford: 293,717
- Cardiff: 292,150
- Belfast: 276,459
- Stoke-on-Trent: 259,252
- Wolverhampton: 251,462
- Nottingham: 249,584
- Plymouth: 243,795
- Southampton: 234,224
- Reading: 232,662
- Derby: 229,407
- Dudley: 194,619
- Newcastle upon Tyne: 189,863
- Northampton: 189,474
*Based on 2001 Census data.Districts - Bath and North East Somerset
- Bedford Borough
- Blackburn with Darwen
- Blackpool
- Bournemouth
- Bracknell Forest
- Brighton and Hove
- Bristol
- Central Bedfordshire
- Cheshire East
- Cheshire West and Chester
- Cornwall
- County Durham
- Borough of Darlington
- Derby
- East Riding of Yorkshire
- Borough of Halton
- Borough of Hartlepool
- Herefordshire
- Isle of Wight
- Kingston upon Hull
- Leicester
- Luton
- Medway
- Middlesbrough
- Borough of Milton Keynes
- North East Lincolnshire
- North Lincolnshire
- North Somerset
- Northumberland
- Nottingham
- Peterborough
- Plymouth
- Poole
- Portsmouth
- Reading
- Redcar and Cleveland
- Rutland
- Shropshire
- Slough
- Southampton
- Southend-on-Sea
- South Gloucestershire
- Borough of Stockton-on-Tees
- Stoke-on-Trent
- Borough of Swindon
- Telford and Wrekin
- Thurrock
- Torbay
- Warrington
- West Berkshire
- Wiltshire
- Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead
- Wokingham Borough
- York
Councils http://wn.com/Leicester
Related pages:
http://it.wn.com/Leicester
http://cs.wn.com/Leicester
http://id.wn.com/Leicester
http://es.wn.com/Leicester
http://ru.wn.com/Лестер
http://pl.wn.com/Leicester
http://fr.wn.com/Leicester
http://de.wn.com/Leicester
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This article is about the singer and actress. For her album, see Christina Aguilera (album). For the Thai singer, see Christina Aguilar.Christina Aguilera 
Aguilera attending the launch of the Montblanc John Lennon edition in September 2010.Background information Birth name Christina María Aguilera Born (1980-12-18) December 18, 1980 (age 31)
Staten Island, New York, U.S.Origin Wexford, Pennsylvania, U.S. Genres Pop, R&B, soul, dance-pop[1] Occupations Singer-songwriter,[2][3][4] record producer, dancer, television personality,[5] actress Instruments Vocals Years active 1993–present Labels RCA Website christinaaguilera.com Christina María Aguilera (born December 18, 1980) is an American recording artist and actress. Aguilera first appeared on national television in 1990 as a contestant on the Star Search program, and went on to star in Disney Channel's television series The Mickey Mouse Club from 1993 to 1994. Aguilera signed to RCA Records after recording "Reflection",[6] the theme song for the animated film Mulan (1998).
In 1999, Aguilera came to prominence following her debut album Christina Aguilera, which was a commercial success spawning three number one singles on the Billboard Hot 100—"Genie in a Bottle", "What a Girl Wants", and "Come On Over Baby (All I Want Is You)."[7] Her sophomore and her debut Latin-pop album, Mi Reflejo (2000), a Christmas third studio album, My Kind of Christmas (2000), and several collaborations followed which garnered Aguilera worldwide success, though she was displeased with her lack of input in her music and image.[8] After parting from her management, Aguilera took creative control over her fourth studio album, Stripped (2002).[9] The album's second single, "Beautiful", was a commercial success and helped the album's commercial performance amidst controversy over Aguilera's image.[10][11][12] Aguilera followed up Stripped with the soul, jazz and blues inspired, Back to Basics (2006), released to positive critical acclaim.[13] The album produced three singles "Ain't No Other Man", "Hurt" and "Candyman". Four years later Aguilera released her sixth studio album, Bionic (2010), which incorporated aspects of R&B, electropop, and synthpop and was met with mixed reviews and low sales.[14][15][16][17] Aguilera's seventh studio album is set to be released in 2012.
Aside from being known for her vocal ability, music videos and image, musically, she includes themes of dealing with public scrutiny, her childhood, and female empowerment in her music.[18] Apart from her work in music, she has also dedicated much of her time as a philanthropist for charities, human rights and world issues which include her work as a UN ambassador for the World Food Programme.[19][20] She made her feature film debut in the musical Burlesque (2010), earning Aguilera a Golden Globe nomination for Best Original Song. Aguilera's work has earned her numerous awards and accolades, including a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, four Grammy Awards and one Latin Grammy Award, amongst seventeen and three nominations respectively. Rolling Stone ranked her number fifty-eight on their list of the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time, ranking as the youngest and only artist on the list under the age of thirty.[21] She was ranked the 20th Artist of the 2000–09 decade by Billboard[22] and is the second top selling single artist of the 2000s behind Madonna.[23] Aguilera's albums sales are estimated at over 50 million units worldwide, making her one of the best-selling music artists of all time.[24][25] Aguilera is currently a coach and judge on The Voice.
Contents
- 1 Life and career
- 1.1 1980–98: Early life and career beginnings
- 1.2 1999–01: Christina Aguilera, Mi Reflejo and new management
- 1.3 2002–05: New image, Stripped and marriage
- 1.4 2006–09: Back to Basics, motherhood and greatest hits album
- 1.5 2010–11: Bionic, Burlesque and The Voice
- 1.6 2012–present: Seventh studio album and current projects
- 2 Artistry
- 3 Other ventures
- 4 Philanthropy
- 5 Discography
- 6 Filmography
- 7 Tours
- 8 See also
- 9 References
- 10 External links
Life and career[link]
1980–98: Early life and career beginnings[link]
Aguilera was born in Staten Island, New York, to Fausto Wagner Xavier Aguilera, a sergeant in the US Army at the time, and Shelly Loraine (née Fidler), a Spanish teacher. Aguilera's father was born in Guayaquil, Ecuador[26] and her mother, who is American, is of German, Irish, Welsh, and Dutch ancestry.[27] Her father was stationed at Earnest Harmon Air Force Base in Stephenville, Newfoundland and Labrador and Japan. Aguilera lived with both her father and mother, up until their divorce when she was seven years old. Aguilera then lived with her mother, and her younger sister Rachel, at her grandmother's home in Rochester, Pennsylvania, a town outside Pittsburgh. According to both Aguilera and her mother, her father was very controlling, as well as physically and emotionally abusive. In an interview with Rolling Stone Aguilera revealed, "there was so much domestic violence going on when I grew up with my dad travelling in the military. I think the reason that my drive was so strong and I was so passionate about music was because I grew up in an environment of domestic violence."[28] She later sang about her difficult childhood in the songs "I'm OK" on Stripped, and "Oh Mother" on Back to Basics. Even though he has made several attempts to reconnect with her, Aguilera ruled out any chance of a reunion.[29] Since then, her mother has married a paramedic named Jim Kearns, and has changed her name.[30]
As a child, Aguilera aspired to be a singer. She was known locally as "the little girl with the big voice",[29] singing in local talent shows and competitions. She attended Rochester Area School District, Marshall Middle School near Wexford and North Allegheny Intermediate High School. On March 15, 1990, she appeared on Star Search singing "A Sunday Kind of Love", but lost the competition at number 2. Soon after losing on Star Search, she returned home and appeared on Pittsburgh's KDKA-TV's Wake Up With Larry Richert to perform the same song. Throughout her youth in Pittsburgh, Aguilera sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" before Pittsburgh Penguins hockey, Pittsburgh Steelers football and Pittsburgh Pirates baseball games, including during the 1992 Stanley Cup Finals.[31] Her talent was kept a secret to avoid bullying of other children. Following her television appearances Aguilera experienced resentment and bullying including an incident in which her peers slashed the tires on her family's car.[32] Following several incidents Aguilera was later home schooled.[29] Aguilera recalls, "doing what I did and maybe being a little smaller, I was definitely picked on and bullied for the attention that I got. It was definitely unwanted attention and there was a lot of unfairness about it."[33]
In 1991, Aguilera auditioned for a role on The Mickey Mouse Club; however, she did not meet the age requirements. Two years later, she joined the cast, performing musical numbers and sketch comedy, until the show's cancellation in 1994.[34] Her co-stars included Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, Ryan Gosling and Keri Russell where they nicknamed her "the Diva"[35] for her performance style and voice. At the age of fourteen, Aguilera recorded her first song, "All I Wanna Do", a hit duet with Japanese singer Keizo Nakanishi.[36] In 1997, she represented the United States at the international Golden Stag Festival with a two-song set.[37] Aguilera entered talent contests on "teen night" at the Pegasus Lounge, a gay and lesbian nightclub in Pittsburgh,[38] and later at Lilith Fair.[39] In 1998, Aguilera sent in a demo of her singing Whitney Houston's "Run to You" to Disney who were looking for a singer to record the song "Reflection" for their animated feature film Mulan (1998).[40] The demo caught the attention of producer and label executive Ron Fair who would later mentor her throughout her career and led to Aguilera earning a contract with RCA Records the same week.[9] "Reflection" peaked within the top twenty on the Adult Contemporary Singles Chart, and it was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song.
[edit] 1999–01: Christina Aguilera, Mi Reflejo and new management
Under the exclusive representation of Steve Kurtz, Aguilera's self-titled debut album Christina Aguilera was released on August 24, 1999. It reached the top of the Billboard 200 and Canadian album charts, shipping eight million copies in the US[41] and over seventeen million copies worldwide.[42] The album is also included in the Top 100 Albums of All Time list of The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) based on US sales.[43] Released during the teen pop era of 1999 the album was well received by several critics, Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic writes that Aguilera's debut "remains firmly within the teen-oriented dance-pop genre, but done right." Concluding that the album is "lightweight in the best possible sense – breezy, fun, engaging, and enjoyable on each repeated listen. Out of the deluge of teen-pop albums in 1999, this feels like the best of the lot."[44] Her debut single, "Genie in a Bottle" was an instant hit reaching No.1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and in several countries worldwide. Her follow-up singles "What a Girl Wants" and "Come On Over Baby (All I Want Is You)" topped the Hot 100 as well during 1999 and 2000 while "I Turn to You" reached number three. She is one of the few artists to have multiple No.1 singles from a debut album in Billboard's history.[45] She made a cameo appearance on an episode of Beverly Hills, 90210, performed on MTV's New Year's Special as MTV's first artist of the millennium, and the Super Bowl XXXIV halftime show. Aguilera wanted to display the range and audacity in her voice during the promotion of the album, and performed acoustic sets and appeared on television shows accompanied only by a piano. At the 42nd Grammy Awards Aguilera received a Best Female Pop Vocal Performance Grammy nomination for "Genie in a Bottle" and despite earlier predictions, she won the Grammy Award for Best New Artist.[46]
In 2000, Aguilera began recording her first Spanish-language album with producer Rudy Pérez in Miami.[47][48] Later in 2000, Aguilera, first emphasized her Latin heritage by releasing her first Spanish album, Mi Reflejo on September 12, 2000. This album contained Spanish versions of songs from her English debut as well as new Spanish tracks. Though some criticized Aguilera for trying to cash in on the Latin music boom at the time. According to Pérez, Aguilera was only semi-fluent, while recording. She understood the language, because she has grown up with her father, who is a native of Ecuador. He added "Her Latin roots are undeniable".[47] The album peaked at number twenty-seven on the Billboard 200 and went No.1 on the Billboard Latin charts for a record 20 weeks. In 2001, it won Aguilera a Latin Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Album. The album was later certified 6× Platinum (Latin field) in the US Aguilera won the World Music Award and Billboard award as the best selling Latin artist that year. Aguilera also released a Christmas album, My Kind of Christmas, on October 24, 2000 and performed "The Christmas Song" at the White House that year.[41] The album's only single, "The Christmas Song" made Aguilera one of three artists to take the song into the top twenty on the Billboard Hot 100.[49] The single and My Kind of Christmas were both certified Platinum in the US[50][51] Aguilera was Billboard's top female artist for 2000.[52]
Aguilera's first concert tour, Christina Aguilera: In Concert (also known as "Sears & Levis Tour ") began in the summer of 2000 in the US and ended early 2001 where she toured South America and Asia. A concert special aired on ABC titled My Reflection which was released to DVD and certified Gold in the US.[53] Aguilera was rumored to have dated MTV VJ Carson Daly.[54] Rumors of their relationship were fueled after the release of Eminem's song, "The Real Slim Shady" in which he also insinuated a romance between her and rocker Fred Durst. Aguilera responded saying the lyrics were "disgusting, offensive and, above all, not true."[55] Their feud ended two years later backstage at the Video Music Awards after Aguilera presented the rapper an award onstage.[56] She dated Puerto Rican dancer Jorge Santos. Santos appeared on her tour and music videos throughout 2000. They dated for nearly two years until the relationship ended on September 11, 2001.[57] He remained her dancer well into 2002.[58]
Ricky Martin asked Aguilera to duet with him on the track "Nobody Wants to Be Lonely" from his album Sound Loaded; released in 2001 as the album's second single. The single reached No.1 on the World Chart and top ten in several countries. In 2001, Aguilera, Lil' Kim, Mýa, and Pink were chosen to remake Labelle's 1975 single "Lady Marmalade" for the film Moulin Rouge! and its soundtrack. The song peaked at No.1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for five weeks and was the most successful airplay-only single in history.[59] It also reached number one in eleven other countries and earned all four performers a Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals. Aguilera's appearance in the music video was compared to that of Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider.[60] The video won two MTV Video Music Awards including Video of the Year in 2001, where Aguilera accepted the award saying, "I guess the big hair paid off."[61]
That same year, the single "Just Be Free" emerged into record stores which was one of the demos Aguilera recorded when she was around fifteen years old. When RCA Records discovered the single, they advised fans not to purchase it.[62] Months later, Warlock Records was set to release Just Be Free, an album which contains the demo tracks. Aguilera filed a breach of contract and unfair competition suit against Warlock and the album's producers to block the release.[63] Instead, the two parties came to a settlement to release the album. Aguilera lent out her name, likeness and image for an unspecified amount of damages. Many of the details of the lawsuit remain confidential. When the album was released in August 2001, it had a photograph of Aguilera when she was fifteen years old.[64]
Although Aguilera's debut album was commercially successful, she was dissatisfied with the music and image her management had created for her. Aguilera was marketed as a bubblegum pop singer because of the genre's upward financial trend.[65] She mentioned plans of her next album to have much more depth, both musically and lyrically.[66] Aguilera's views of Steve Kurtz's influence in matters of the singer's creative direction, the role of being her exclusive personal manager and overscheduling had in part caused her to seek legal means of terminating their management contract. In October 2000, Aguilera filed a breach of fiduciary duty lawsuit against her manager Kurtz for improper, undue and inappropriate influence over her professional activities, as well as fraud. According to legal documents, Kurtz did not protect her rights and interests. Instead, he took action that was for his own interest, at the cost of hers. She petitioned the California State Labor Commission to nullify the contract. Aguilera revealed while recording her then upcoming album, "I was being overworked. You find out that someone you thought was a friend is stealing money behind your back, and it's heartbreaking. I put faith in the people around me, and unfortunately, it bit me in the butt."[67] After terminating Kurtz's services, Irving Azoff was hired as her new manager.
[edit] 2002–05: New image, Stripped and marriage
On October 26, 2002, Aguilera's fourth studio album, Stripped, was released. The album sold more than 330,000 copies in the first week and peaked at number two on the Billboard 200. Unlike her previous work, the album showcased Aguilera's raunchier side.[68] The majority of Stripped was co-written by Aguilera (who had recently signed a global music publishing contract with BMG Music Publishing), and was influenced by many different subjects and music styles, including contemporary R&B, gospel, soul, balladry, pop rock, and hip hop.[69] The majority of the album was produced by Scott Storch and singer-songwriter Linda Perry who produced her more personal records. Rockwilder and singer Alicia Keys also contributed a track each. Upon initial release, the album was very well received by critics, although Aguilera's vocals were overlooked as she began to cultivate a more sexually provocative image.[70] After the release of the album, she took part in photoshoots for magazines, many of these photographs featured her nude or semi-nude. Her cover for Rolling Stone,[71] featured the singer only wearing boots and a well-placed electric guitar. It was during this time Aguilera referred to herself as "Xtina", even getting a tattoo of her nickname on the back of her neck and several piercings.[72]
Aguilera performing during during Stripped Live... on Tour in 2003Initially, the raunchy image had a negative effect on Aguilera in the US, especially after the release of her controversial "Dirrty" music video.[11] She denied that this change was a matter of publicity, claiming that the image better reflected her true personality than did the image she cultivated back in 1999. Aguilera defended the video stating it was about power and control adding, "I'm also at the forefront. I'm in the power position, in complete command of everything around me."[41] While the video for "Dirrty" became very popular on MTV, it disappointed on the US singles chart. However, the single was a hit worldwide, reaching No.1 in the UK and Ireland. The second single, "Beautiful" received critical praise. The classically influenced ballad reached number one in several countries and peaked at No.2 in the US. "Beautiful" earned Aguilera the Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. Three more singles ("Fighter", "Can't Hold Us Down" featuring Lil' Kim, "The Voice Within") were released in the following two years and were hits that helped the album stay on the charts for the next two years. Stripped stayed on the U.S. and UK album charts well into 2004, and went on to be certified four-times platinum in the US with over thirteen million copies sold worldwide.[73] It appeared at number ten on Billboard's year-end album chart and Aguilera was the top female artist for 2003.[74] Kelly Clarkson's second single "Miss Independent" was co-written by Aguilera, having been half-finished for Stripped.
Aguilera performing during Stripped Live... on Tour in 2003Aguilera joined Justin Timberlake that June on the final leg of his international Justified tour, held in the US. This portion of the tour became a co-headliner called the Justified/Stripped Tour. In August, an overhead lighting grid collapsed from the ceiling of the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey, causing major damage to the sound and video equipment below. Because the collapse occurred hours before the show, only a few stagehands were injured, but a few shows were cancelled or postponed. In the fourth quarter of that year, Aguilera continued to tour internationally without Timberlake, and changed the name of the tour to the Stripped World Tour. She also dyed her hair black. It was one of the top-grossing tours of that year, and sold out most of its venues. Rolling Stone readers named it the best tour of the year.[75] That same year she hosted the 2003 MTV Europe Music Awards and was a special guest performer with the Pussycat Dolls' dance troupe performing at the Roxy Theatre and Viper Room in Los Angeles. She also appeared on a Maxim spread alongside them, her second Maxim cover that year set record sales for the issue making it the top selling issue to date. By the end of the year she topped the annual Hot 100 list saying, "we had fun working with certain clothes, or the lack thereof."[76][77][78]
Aguilera's first DVD live-recording from a concert tour, Stripped Live in the U.K., was released in November 2004. In light of the tour's success, another U.S. tour was scheduled to begin in mid-2004 with a new theme. The tour however was scrapped because of the vocal cord injuries Aguilera suffered shortly before the tour's opening date. In a tribute to Madonna's performance at the inaugural MTV Video Music Awards, Aguilera performed a kiss with the singer-actress at the 2003 edition of the ceremony in August. The incident occurred during the opening performance of Madonna's songs "Like a Virgin" and "Hollywood" with fellow popstar Britney Spears.[41] Also in 2004, she hosted a Saturday Night Live episode which included a Sex & The City skit where she portrayed Samantha Jones revealing to everyone she was a man the entire time.[79]
Aguilera later decided to embrace a more mature image; this move was met with more praise than criticism, with articles using punch lines such as "From Crass to Class."[80] She eventually dyed her hair cherry blonde and recorded a jingle, "Hello", for a Mercedes-Benz ad. Shortly after, she dyed her hair flaxen blonde and cut it short, and took on a Marilyn Monroe look; she is one of the main proponents (along with Dita Von Teese, Gwen Stefani, and Ashley Judd) in bringing back the 1920s–1940s Hollywood glamour look.[81][82] In late summer 2004, Aguilera released two singles. The first, "Car Wash", was a remake of the Rose Royce disco song recorded as a collaboration with rapper Missy Elliott for the soundtrack to the film Shark Tale. She voiced a small singing part in the film playing a Rastafarian jellyfish in the film's closing musical number. The second song was also a collaboration, but this time as a second single from one of Nelly's double-release albums, Sweat, titled "Tilt Ya Head Back". Both singles failed commercially in the US, but did considerably better in other parts of the world. Aguilera collaborated with jazz artist Herbie Hancock on a cover of Leon Russell's "A Song for You" recorded for Hancock's album Possibilities, released in August 2005. Aguilera and Hancock were later nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals. She helped open the 50th Anniversary for Disneyland performing "When You Wish upon a Star", and she also collaborated with Andrea Bocelli on the song "Somos Novios" for his album Amore. Aguilera began dating music marketing executive Jordan Bratman in 2002. Their engagement was announced in February 2005,[83] and they married on November 19, 2005, in a Napa Valley estate.[84]
[edit] 2006–09: Back to Basics, motherhood and greatest hits album
Aguilera performing during the Sanremo Story festival in 2006Aguilera's fifth studio album, Back to Basics was released August 15, 2006. The album debuted at No.1 in the US, the UK and eleven other countries. Aguilera described the double CD as "a throwback to the 20s, 30s, and 40s-style jazz, blues, and feel-good soul music, but with a modern twist."[85] The album received generally positive reviews, although many critics commented on the album's length saying, "At one disc, this would have been nothing short of masterful."[86] A review in AllMusic adds, "Back to Basics also makes clear that Stripped was a necessary artistic move for Christina: she needed to get that out of her system in order to create her own style, one that is self-consciously stylized, stylish, and sexy."[87] The critically acclaimed lead single "Ain't No Other Man" was a substantial success, reaching No. 2 on the World Chart, No.6 in the US, and No.2 in the UK. Producers on the album included DJ Premier, Kwamé, Linda Perry, and Mark Ronson. The follow-up singles did very well in different regions, "Hurt" in Europe and "Candyman" in the Pacific. She co-directed both music videos, the former with Floria Sigismondi who directed her "Fighter" video, and the latter, "Candyman", with director/photographer Matthew Rolston which was inspired by The Andrews Sisters.[88] Back to Basics has sold 4.5 million units worldwide,[89] with over 1.7 million sold in the US.[90]
In late 2006, Aguilera collaborated with Sean "Diddy" Combs on a track, titled "Tell Me", from his album Press Play. She also began the Back to Basics Tour in Europe[91] followed by a 41-date North American tour in early 2007.[92] After this, she toured Asia and Australia, where it was supposed to end on August 3, however she canceled her dates in Melbourne and her final two in Auckland due to an illness.[93] Her extravagant arena tour included cabaret, three-ring circus and juke joint sets and 10 piece costumes designed by Roberto Cavalli.[94] She released her concert DVD Back to Basics: Live and Down Under the following year. The tour grossed nearly 50 million by the end of the year in North America and an additional 40 million worldwide in her Europe and Australia dates, grossing almost 90 million by the end of the tour.[95][96] It was the most successful US tour by a female in 2007.[97]
At the 49th Grammy Awards, Aguilera again won the Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for "Ain't No Other Man". She made a noteworthy performance at the ceremony paying tribute to James Brown with her rendition of his song "It's a Man's Man's Man's World".[98] In January 2007, she was named the 19th richest woman in entertainment by Forbes, with a net worth of US$60 million.[99] Aguilera performed "Steppin' Out With My Baby" with Tony Bennett on his NBC special Tony Bennett: An American Classic and on Saturday Night Live. They performed at the 59th Primetime Emmy Awards where both specials received Emmys. "Steppin' Out" was nominated for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards.
Aguilera confirmed she was pregnant on November 4, 2007,[100] though Paris Hilton accidentally revealed her pregnancy several weeks prior during a party Aguilera hosted.[101] She gave birth to her son, Max Liron Bratman, in Los Angeles on January 12, 2008 and held a bris for him with Bratman, who is of Jewish descent, where the baby was circumcised in accordance with Jewish practice.[102] Aguilera was reportedly paid $1.5 million by People for her son's baby pictures—the sixth most expensive celebrity baby photos ever taken.[103]
In 2008, Aguilera appeared in the Martin Scorsese documentary Shine a Light which chronicles a two day Rolling Stones concert in New York City's Beacon Theatre. The film features Aguilera performing "Live With Me" alongside Mick Jagger. Shine a Light premiered at the Berlin Film Festival and was released worldwide on April 4, 2008. She also had brief cameo in the comedy film Get Him to the Greek,[104] and appeared as a guest judge on the sixth season of Project Runway on Lifetime Television. She and designer Bob Mackie were the inspiration for the challenge in which they had to design a stage outfit for Aguilera. To commemorate Aguilera's ten years in the music industry, RCA Records released, Keeps Gettin' Better: A Decade of Hits on November 11, 2008, exclusively at Target stores in the US. The greatest hits included her first three number one singles, and other songs released from her previous three albums. "Lady Marmalade" and several Spanish singles from Mi Reflejo were included in the worldwide releases. The album's only single, "Keeps Gettin' Better", was premiered at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards, which debuted and peaked at No.7 on the Billboard Hot 100, her highest debut on the chart. Following the greatest hits, Aguilera took over a year hiatus in 2009 working on her then upcoming album and film. She was one of Billboard's Top 20 Artists of the Decade in their year-end charts.[105]
[edit] 2010–11: Bionic, Burlesque and The Voice
Aguilera's sixth studio album Bionic was released on June 8, 2010. The album's producers included Tricky Stewart, Samuel Dixon, Polow da Don, Le Tigre, Switch, Ester Dean, songwriters Sam Endicott, Sia Furler, Claude Kelly, Linda Perry and collaborations with M.I.A., Santigold, Nicki Minaj, and Peaches. Bionic's material consisted of many mainstream and pop records along with electronic and dance music. Two of the album's three singles, "Not Myself Tonight" and "You Lost Me" peaked at No.1 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play Charts[106] but were unsuccessful elsewhere. "Woohoo", featuring rapper Nicki Minaj, was also released as the album's second single. The album was released to mixed reviews from music critics,[107][15] with Jon Pareles of The New York Times writing that the singer's new music direction "makes her sound as peer-pressured as a pop singer can be."[108] Allison Stewart of The Washington Post described the album as being "noisy, robotic and overstuffed" adding that the disc's "greatest disappointments" is its "virtual abandonment" of Aguilera's voice.[109] She concluded that Aguilera attempts "to do it all," which was to try to "revel in her newfound domesticity, to wrest her crown from Gaga and to reestablish her sex kitten bona fides."[109] Sales of Bionic were underwhelming in the US compared to her previous releases selling 110,000 copies in its first week landing at No.3.[110][111] It has since sold 295,000 copies in the US.[112] Shortly after the album's release, further promotion ended and a scheduled summer tour for the album was cancelled due to "inadequate rehearsal time".[113] "You Lost Me" was her first single to not chart the Hot 100 while Bionic was her first English studio album not to receive a Grammy nomination. Aguilera later responded in an interview saying, "I was really proud of that record. I think there was a lot of promotion issues, coming from a standpoint of how everything resulted. Nothing is ever a setback. If anything, it just motivates you for what’s next."[114]
Aguilera announced that she and Bratman had separated, saying in a statement, "Although Jordan and I are separated, our commitment to our son Max remains as strong as ever."[115][116] Aguilera filed for divorce from Bratman on October 14, 2010, seeking joint legal and physical custody of their son, and specifying September 11, 2010, as the date of separation.[117][118] They later reached a settlement agreement and custody deal, details of their agreement were private.[119] Their divorce was finalized on April 15, 2011.[120] The following month, Aguilera appeared as herself on the Entourage season seven finale as a client/friend of Ari Gold.[121] On November 15, 2010, Aguilera received a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.[122]
Aguilera's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, which she received in 2010In November 2010, Aguilera appeared in her first feature film, the musical Burlesque. She portrayed a small town girl, Ali Rose, who finds love and success in a Los Angeles neo-burlesque club.[123] Aguilera performed eight of the musical numbers on the film's soundtrack released on November 22, 2010, and co-wrote a number of the tracks working with producers and writers including Tricky Stewart, Sia Furler, Samuel Dixon, Linda Perry, Claude Kelly, Danja, and Ron Fair. The remaining two tracks were sung by Cher, who co-starred alongside Aguilera. The soundtrack debuted in the top 20 in the US and was certified Gold.[124][125] The film was written and directed by Steve Antin who wrote the part of Ali specifically with Aguilera in mind.[126] Aguilera's co-stars also included Cam Gigandet, Eric Dane, Kristen Bell and Stanley Tucci. Several critics praised Aguilera's performance. A review in TIME states, "Aguilera might not be to your taste, or mine, but in terms of sheer power, she's impressive. If Ali were real, she'd have already been discovered on American Idol."[127] While Variety wrote, "Aguilera, while undeniably entertaining when her character is onstage, cannot spin the slight backstory into anything resembling a full-blooded person."[128] Though Burlesque was released to mixed reviews from critics,[129][130] the film received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Picture – Musical or Comedy and earned Aguilera, writer/producer Sia Furler and Samuel Dixon, a nomination for Best Original Song for the track "Bound to You". The soundtrack also earned Aguilera a Grammy nomination for Best Compilation Soundtrack. Burlesque has grossed over $90 million worldwide.[131]
Following the release of Burlesque, Aguilera collaborated with rapper T.I. on the track, "Castle Walls" from his album No Mercy. Aguilera performed the U.S. national anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner", during the Super Bowl XLV on February 6, 2011, and created embarrassment when she omitted a line of the anthem and messed up the song's lyrics.[132] She later apologized, telling CNN that "I got so caught up in the moment of the song that I lost my place. I can only hope that everyone could feel my love for this country and that the true spirit of its anthem still came through."[133] The following week, Aguilera, alongside Jennifer Hudson, Martina McBride, Yolanda Adams, and Florence Welch opened the 53rd Grammy Awards paying tribute to Aretha Franklin.
Aguilera began dating musician and production assistant, Matt Rutler whom she met during the filming of Burlesque. Her personal life was the subject of scrutiny;[19] and reports over out of control behavior, excessive drinking,[134][135] and a reported confrontation with her co-star Julianne Hough.[136][137] On March 1, 2011, Aguilera was arrested for public intoxication in West Hollywood as her boyfriend was arrested for DWI.[138] She was later released on bail and no charges were filed.[139][140] Although the L.A. Sheriff's office stated Aguilera's mug shot would not be released to the public, E! News obtained the mug shot which circulated social networks and the media shortly after her release.[141] Rutler's DWI charge was dismissed due to insufficient evidence, after his BAC was determined as below the legal limit.[142]
Aguilera signed to be a judge on The Voice, which debuted on NBC in April 2011. Aguilera, alongside other musicians Adam Levine, Blake Shelton and Cee Lo Green serve as judges and coaches, with Carson Daly as the show's host. The show's first episode was well-received, and delivered the strongest ratings for a series premiere on a major network since Undercover Boss debuted after the Super Bowl in February 2010.[143][144] The show's first season was a ratings success for NBC following its debut.[145][146] Aguilera performed "Moves Like Jagger" on The Voice – the single with Maroon 5 on which she is featured, from their album Hands All Over. The song was an instant hit reaching No.2 in the UK, No.1 on the World Chart and earned Aguilera her fifth No.1 single on the Billboard Hot 100, a decade after her last No.1, "Lady Marmalade".[147] The single became the first 4 million-seller for both artists and marks the first time two former Best New Artist Grammy Award winners have collaborated on a Hot 100 hit.[49] "Moves Like Jagger" was nominated for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance at the Grammy Awards and has since sold over 7 million copies worldwide, establishing itself among the best-selling singles of all time.[148].
2012–present: Seventh studio album and current projects[link]
The second season of The Voice premiered following Super Bowl XLVI. Aguilera performed a cover of "At Last" by Etta James at James' funeral on January 28, 2012.[149][150] Aguilera recorded her first Spanish-language track in over a decade titled "Casa de Mi Padre" which was released as the title song for the soundtrack and film of the same name.[151] In regards to her upcoming album, Aguilera stated that she is recording a new studio album in an interview with Live with Regis and Kelly.[152] No official date has been announced but the album is expected to be released in 2012.[153]
Artistry[link]
Vocal ability[link]
Aguilera performing during her Back to Basics Tour in 2006Aguilera possesses a soprano[154][155] vocal range and has been referred to as the "voice of her generation" and a blue eyed soul singer.[156][157] Aguilera also topped COVE's list of the 100 Best Pop Vocalists with a score of 50/50[158][159] and came fifth in MTV's 22 Greatest Voices in Music.[160] Her rendition of "It's A Man's Man's Man's World" at the 49th Grammy Awards ranked third in the Grammy's Greatest Moments List behind Celine Dion's performance of "My Heart Will Go On" and Green Day's performance of "American Idiot". In an interview, Dion described Aguilera as "probably the best vocalist in the world."[161] Rolling Stone ranked Aguilera at 58 on their list of the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time, the youngest singer on the list.[21]
Describing Aguilera's voice, singing teachers Phyllis Fulford and Michael Mailler said, "The low register is light and tired, the belting register is ample and full, but very scratchy because she screams; and head voice as well as whistle register are light, pure and bright. Her vocal range extends from G below middle C to C♯ one octave above soprano high C (G3 – C♯7). She can belt to F one octave and a third above middle C (F5). She possesses a good-sized technical arsenal. Her trill is solid, she has a big mastery of melismas, and can sustain very long notes."[162] Los Angeles Times writer Margaret Wappler adds Aguilera can deliver "a well-executed legato."[163]
Since her debut in 1999, Aguilera has been compared to the likes of Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston.[164] David Browne of The New York Times writes, "Aguilera has been one of the foremost practitioners of the overpowering, Category 5 vocal style known as melisma. Ms. Carey, Ms. Houston and Ms. Aguilera, to name its three main champions, are most associated with the period from the late ’80s through the late ’90s."[165] A review in the Los Angeles Times compared Aguilera's vocal stylings to Barbra Streisand, Gladys Knight, and Aretha Franklin adding, "Aguilera's Streisand-esque tendencies are a good thing; they're helping her figure out how to become the "great singer" she's been dubbed since she released her first single, the wise-beyond-its-years "Genie in a Bottle", at 18."[166] Although praised for her vocals, Aguilera has been labeled for oversinging in her songs and concerts.[167] Longtime producer and writer, Linda Perry, commented on working on the track "Beautiful", saying, "I tried to keep it straight. I told her to get rid of the finger waves. Every time she'd start going into "hoo-ha", I'd stop the tape. I'm like, 'You're doing it again.'" Perry ended up using the first take saying, "She had a hard time accepting that as the final track. It's not a perfect vocal – it's very raw. She knows her voice really well, and she knows what's going on. She can hear things that nobody else would catch."[168]
Themes and musical style[link]
Aguilera performing during her Back to Basics Tour in 2006The constant theme in Aguilera's music and lyrics is love, although she has written on other subjects including spirituality, female empowerment, and grief. Aguilera has also written about her childhood in two of her records which dealt with domestic abuse. In an interview Aguilera admitted she feels responsible to reveal her most vulnerable feelings and to share the darker sides of her life adding "People that can relate might not feel as alone in the circumstance."[169] She has been noted to constantly changing her sound in her music and lyrical content. Originally marketed as a bubblegum pop singer during the late 90s pop scene, she quickly departed into a broad range of musical genres for her follow-up album Stripped. A review states, "Clearly afflicted with Premature Serious Artist Syndrome, Aguilera wants to demonstrate the range of her interests – vampy soul, quasi-metal, piano-bar intimacy, quiet-storm R&B, bounce-bounce hip-hop, and semi-exotic rock, all of it dutifully accomplished."[69]
The majority of the songs are characterized by Aguilera's loud vocals, though she has used breathy and soft vocals.[170] Her 2006 release, Back to Basics included producer DJ Premier. The New York Times exclaims, "Her decision to work with the low-key DJ Premier was also a decision to snub some of the big-name producers on whom pop stars often rely."[171] Aguilera has often cited that she prefers working with producers that are not in popular demand, saying "I don't necessarily go to the main people that are the No.1 chart-toppers in music."[172] The album included live instrumentation and samples of past jazz and soul records. Some tracks on the album included non-traditional forms of pop music such as swing jazz and big band, drawing comparisons to Madonna's I'm Breathless and the musical film Cabaret.[173] Her first feature film, Burlesque, influenced by Cabaret, featured mainstream producers Tricky Stewart and Danja on the soundtrack where several established songs were updated and worked into dance numbers, a style similar to 2001's Moulin Rouge! "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" was performed by Aguilera in the film, a musical number also performed by Nicole Kidman in Moulin Rouge!
Influences[link]
One of Aguilera's major influences and idol is blues singer Etta James, whose classic song "At Last" has been covered by Aguilera throughout her career. Aguilera says, "Etta is my all-time favorite singer. I've said it for the last seven years – since I had my first debut record out – in every interview. I mean, all of Etta's old songs, countless songs I could name, I grew up listening to."[174] Following James' death in 2012, Aguilera was asked to perform "At Last" at her funeral.[149] Prior to performing Aguilera stated, "There's a line in this song that says 'I found a dream that I could speak to.' And for me that dream, all my life, has been Etta James."[175] The majority of her album, Back to Basics, pays tribute to James and other pop standard singers who many originated from the 1950s. In her early years she listened to vintage jazz, blues, and soul music.[176] The album included an unreleased song, "Slow Down Baby", which sampled a Gladys Knight & the Pips song. A review in The Guardian declared, "Practically everything recorded before Aguilera was born blurs into one amorphous genre, which she categorises, somewhat inadequately, as "fun music".[177] Aguilera has also named Madonna and Janet Jackson as two of her biggest influences "for being re-inventive and being brave as strong females, to explore whatever, even if they do get bad press. It's just like they were fearless."[178] Her other musical influences include Aretha Franklin,[179] Whitney Houston,[180] and Nina Simone.[181]
Aguilera cites the musical The Sound of Music and its lead actress, Julie Andrews as an early inspiration for singing and performing.[182] She mentioned the "Golden age of Hollywood" as another inspiration in which she says, "I'm referencing Marlene Dietrich, Marilyn Monroe, Carole Lombard, Greta Garbo, Veronica Lake".[183] Ironically, her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is located near Julie Andrews and is next to Greta Garbo.[184] In her music video for "Ain't No Other Man" she plays her alter ego, "Baby Jane" in reference to the film Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?.[185] The film's stars included actresses Bette Davis and Joan Crawford. The third single off Back to Basics, "Candyman" was inspired by the 1941 song, "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" by The Andrews Sisters which was played during World War II. She was also inspired by pin-up girls and several paintings by Alberto Vargas. Aguilera has expressed interest in cultural icons Nico, Blondie and artists Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol.[186] She has often worked with photographer and close friend, David LaChapelle who once worked with Warhol. Chapelle has shot many of Aguilera's music videos, magazine shoots and advertisements. She is also a fan of graffiti artist Banksy. In 2006, she purchased three of Banksy's works during a private art exhibition; one of them included a pornographic picture of Queen Victoria in a lesbian pose with a prostitute.[187] She has mentioned in several interviews that she is a fan of actress Angelina Jolie,[188] and her Burlesque co-star, Cher.[114] Fashion has also been a part of Aguilera's music career and image which she has used as a form of expression during performances and music videos. In 2003, she became the muse and inspiration for Donatella Versace's 2003 fall line. Versace also designed pieces her tour the following year. Aguilera is also a fan of Roberto Cavalli, John Galliano, Marc Jacobs, and Alexander McQueen whose designs she has worn throughout her career.[189][190]
Other ventures[link]
In 2000, Aguilera was the face for make-up line Fetish where she worked in choosing colors and packaging for the line. She ended her contract the following year.[191] Throughout her career Aguilera has endorsed several brands, including Skechers, Mercedes-Benz, Verizon Wireless, and soft drink giants Coca-Cola in 2001, and Pepsi in 2006.[192] She became the muse and model for fashion house Versace appearing in a campaign for the 2003 fall line.[193] In 2004, Aguilera earned £200,000GBP (about $300,000USD)[194] for opening the summer sale at London's Harrods store which took in record breaking profits during the four week period.[195] In 2005, she was reportedly paid $3.6 million[196] to sing a three song set for Russian billionaire Andrey Melnichenko's wedding. Aguilera signed a contract with European cell phone operator Orange to promote the new Sony Ericsson Walkman phone during the 2006 World Cup. In 2010, Aguilera was paid $1 million by investor Charles Brandes to perform at a private party.[197]
In 2008, jewelry designer Stephen Webster and close friend of Aguilera released "Shattered", a collection of sterling silver pieces, through Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman. Aguilera, who inspired the collection, was featured as a Hitchcock heroine saying, "Working together on this campaign and collection has been an incredible experience. I am honored to be a part of it all."[198][199] They reprised their work together for Webster's 2009 spring line.[200] In 2011, Aguilera attended São Paulo Fashion Week to premiere her new line of clothing for Brazilian department store C&A which launched in April.[201]
Aguilera released two fragrances throughout Europe, the first one Xpose, was released in late 2004 and sold relatively well.[202][203] Through Procter and Gamble Aguilera released her signature fragrance, Simply Christina in 2007.[204] In Christmas 2007, the fragrance became the number one perfume in the UK,[205] and later in 2009 it became the 4th best selling perfume in the UK,[206] and Germany where it topped sales for the year.[207] The perfume won as the people's choice for favorite celebrity fragrance at the annual UK Fifi Awards 2008.[208] She released her third fragrance, Inspire, accompanied with a body care collection, on September 1, 2008.[209][210] The perfume hit shelves in the US, Canada, Latin America, Asia and Northern and Eastern Europe. It was Aguilera's first fragrance released outside of Europe.[211] Her worldwide ad campaign included a television ad shot by David LaChapelle and was released in the US through Macy's department stores. The release coincided with Macy's 150th anniversary which featured Aguilera in commemorative photos.[212] She released her fourth fragrance By Night in October,[213] which became the third best selling fragrance in the UK in 2009.[206] Both “By Day“ and “By Night“ were nominated for Best Perfume of the Year at the FIFI Awards 2011.[214] The range was further augmented by Royal Desire in 2010,[215] and Secret Potion the following year.[216]
Philanthropy[link]
Throughout her career, Aguilera has been involved with several charities. She signed a letter from PETA to the South Korean government asking that the country stop its alleged killing of dogs for food.[217] During her 2007 tour she unknowingly wore a fur stole during the beginning of her tour, which designer Roberto Cavalli provided without informing Aguilera. After receiving a video from PETA Vice President Dan Mathews on the treatment of foxes, she replaced the stole with faux fur for the remainder of her tour. Aguilera was reportedly upset adding, "I only ever wear fake fur".[218] In 2010 Aguilera auctioned off tickets for her upcoming tour for Christie's A Bid to Save the Earth. Proceeds benefit nonprofit environmental groups Conservation International, Oceana, Natural Resources Defense Council, and The Central Park Conservancy.[219] Aguilera also supports Defenders of Wildlife, Missing Kids, National Alliance of Breast Cancer Organizations,[220] Women's Cancer Research Fund,[221] and Cedars-Sinai Women's Cancer Research Institute.[222] She has also worked alongside nonprofit organization Do Something saying, "Every individual has the power to inspire young people across the country."[223]
In 2010, Aguilera was nominated for a VH1 Do Something Award for her work with the organization and her efforts in the response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake. She was featured in the campaign for photographer, Brie Childers with the goal of helping women of all ages, races and lifestyles feel beautiful and confident about themselves and the body and skin they were born with. Proceeds from benefit several women's charities nationwide.[224] Aguilera is still a major contributor in her hometown of Pittsburgh contributing regularly to the Women's Center & Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh. According to her official website, she toured the center and donated $200,000 to the shelter. She also has auctioned off front row seats and back stage passes for the Pittsburgh-based charity.[225] She has continued her donations and visits to the shelter, and plans to open an additional one.[226] She also supports the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Refuge UK.[220] Since then she has worked with Lifetime Television's 'End violence against women' campaign. Her work there included a public service announcement which aired on the network and during her 2007 tour.[227]
Aguilera is a supporter of the LGBT community and is considered a gay icon by many[who?]. She was honored at the GLAAD Awards for using gay and transgender images in her music video for "Beautiful". When accepting the award Aguilera said, "My video captures the reality that gay and transgender people are beautiful, even though prejudice and discrimination against them still exists."[228] In 2005, she appeared on a compilation album titled, Love Rocks, proceeds benefit the Human Rights Campaign, an organization dedicated to fighting for equal rights for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people. In 2008, she publicly spoke out against California's Proposition 8 which eliminates same-sex marriage in California saying, "Why you would put so much money behind something [aimed at] stopping people from loving each other and bonding together? I just don't understand it. It's hard for me to grasp. But I would've been out there with my rally sign as well."[229] In 2011 Aguilera was honored at The Abbey, a gay club in West Hollywood, for her contributions to the gay community as the first honoree on their Gay Walk of Fame joining Dame Elizabeth Taylor in being immortalized forever.[230]
Aguilera contributes in the fight against AIDS, by participating in AIDS Project Los Angeles' Artists Against AIDS "What's Going On?" cover project. In 2004, Aguilera became the new face for cosmetic company M·A·C and spokesperson for M·A·C AIDS Fund. Aguilera appeared in advertisements of the M·A·C's Viva Glam V lipstick and lipgloss, and was featured on Vanity Fair in recognition of her campaign work. In addition, Aguilera contributed to YouthAIDS by posing for a joint YouthAIDS and Aldo Shoes campaign for "Empowerment Tags" in Canada, the U.S. and the UK. She was featured with one of three ubiquitous slogans, "Speak No Evil?" and stated, "HIV is something that people don’t want to talk about, hear about, or face."[231][232] Singer Elton John featured Aguilera in his charity book titled "Four Inches" benefiting the Elton John AIDS Foundation.[233] Elton also hand-picked Aguilera, for his annual "Fashion Rocks" charity concert which accompanies music and fashion to benefit the fight against AIDS/HIV.[234]
Aguilera on a promotional poster for World Hunger ReliefIn the run-up to the 2004 United States presidential election, Aguilera was featured on billboards for the "Only You Can Silence Yourself" online voter registration drive run by the nonpartisan, non-profit campaign "Declare Yourself". In these political advertisements, shot by David LaChapelle, Aguilera was shown with her mouth sewn shut, to symbolize the effects of not voting. She appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show to discuss the importance of voting. In late 2007 Aguilera became the spokesperson for "Rock the Vote" where she urged young people to vote in the 2008 presidential election.[235] In partnership with "Rock the Vote", she appeared in a public service announcement which aired in summer 2008. The advert showed Aguilera with her son, Max Bratman, wrapped in an American flag, while singing "America the Beautiful".
In November 2005, all of her wedding gifts were submitted to various charities around the nation in support of Hurricane Katrina victims.[236] That year she also performed at "Unite of the Stars" concert in aid of Unite Against Hunger in Johannesburg, South Africa and at the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund at the Coca-Cola Dome.[237] In March 2007 Aguilera took part in a charity album (remaking Lennon's "Mother"), proceeds benefit Amnesty International's efforts to end genocide in Darfur. The album titled, Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur, was released June 12, 2007, and featured various artists.[238] In 2008, she headlined London's Africa Rising charity concert at Royal Albert Hall which raises awareness for finding substantial issues facing the continent.[239] Later that year she appeared on the Turkish version of Deal or No Deal "Var mısın? Yok musun?", where proceeds were donated to a charity program for orphans.[240]
In 2009, Aguilera became the global spokesperson for World Hunger Relief appearing in advertisements, online campaigns and a public service announcement.[241] Aguilera and her then-husband traveled to Guatemala with the World Food Programme to bring awareness to issues such as the high malnutrition rate in that country. She met with families of the villages and some of the beneficiaries of WFP's nutrition programs. Aguilera adds, "The people of WFP do such a great job helping hungry children and mothers. I'm thankful for the opportunity to be part of such a wonderful project."[242] Since becoming a global spokeswoman Aguilera has helped raise over $22 million which helped provide over 90 million meals.[243] She was honored at Variety's annual "Power of Women" luncheon in late 2009 alongside other women in entertainment for her contribution to philanthropic and charitable causes.[244] In response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake, Aguilera donated a signed Chrysler 300 which was auctioned for relief efforts.[245] She was one of the many artists who appeared on the Hope for Haiti telethon on January 22, 2010, donations directly benefited Oxfam America, Partners In Health, Red Cross and UNICEF. She later appeared on a second public service announcement alongside sports icon Muhammad Ali to raise funds for the World Food Programme's efforts to bring food to survivors of the earthquake.[246] Later that year Aguilera made her first visit to Haiti as an ambassador against hunger where she visited two schools in the town of Léogâne. During her time there she assisted in the ongoing efforts to help the badly damaged town where she served meals and highlighted reconstruction efforts in the country.[247] That year, Aguilera was appointed UN ambassador for the WFP.[19]
Discography[link]
Main article: Christina Aguilera discography- Christina Aguilera (1999)
- Mi Reflejo (2000)
- My Kind of Christmas (2000)
- Stripped (2002)
- Back to Basics (2006)
- Bionic (2010)
- Untitled 10th Album (2012)
Filmography[link]
List of television and films credits Year Title Role Notes 1993—1995 The Mickey Mouse Club Herself/Various Roles Season 6–7 1999 Beverly Hills, 90210 Herself "Let's Eat Cake" (Season 10, Episode 2) 2000 Al salir de clase Herself "El día que no existe" (Season 5, Episode 42)
"Augurios" (Season 8, Episode 72)2000—2006 Saturday Night Live Herself/Various Roles/Host/Musical Guest "Christopher Walken/Christina Aguilera" (Season 25, Episode 16)
"Salma Hayek/Christina Aguilera" (Season 28, Episode 15)
"Christina Aguilera/Maroon 5" (Season 29, Episode 13)
"Alec Baldwin/Christina Aguilera" (Season 32, Episode 5)2003 Player$ Herself "Hulk" (Season 2, Episode 10) 2003 Punk'd Herself "Ryan Pinkston – VH1 Big in 2002 Awards" (Season 1, Episode 1) 2004 Shark Tale Herself/Christina (voice) Uncredited 2008 Shine a Light Herself Documentary 2009 Project Runway Herself / Guest Judge "Sequins, Feathers and Fur, Oh My!" (Season 6, Episode 9) 2010 Entourage Herself "A Prayer for Dick Butkus" (Season 1, Episode 9) 2010 Entourage Herself "Lose Yourself" (Season 7, Episode 10) 2010 Get Him to the Greek Herself Cameo appearance 2010 Burlesque Alice Marilyn "Ali" Rose Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song 2011—present The Voice Herself (Coach and judge) Season 1—present Tours[link]
- Headlining
- Christina Aguilera in Concert (2000–01)
- Stripped Live... on Tour (2003)
- Back to Basics Tour (2006–07)
- Co-headlining
- Justified/Stripped Tour (2003) (with Justin Timberlake)
See also[link]
Book: Christina Aguilera Wikipedia books are collections of articles that can be downloaded or ordered in print. - List of Christina Aguilera tours
- List of best-selling music artists
- List of artists who reached number one in the United States
- List of artists who reached number one on the UK Singles Chart
- List of awards and nominations received by Christina Aguilera
- Honorific nicknames in popular music
References[link]
- ^ "Christina Aguilera | AllMusic". http://allmusic.com/artist/christina-aguilera-p357293. Retrieved 9 April 2012.
- ^ "Bionic by Christina Aguilera Songfacts". http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=19834. Retrieved June 29, 2011.
- ^ "Christina Aguilera". http://www.wfp.org/content/christina-aguilera-ambassador. Retrieved June 29, 2011.
- ^ "Christina Aguilera to Sing the National Anthem at Super Bowl". http://www.theblogismine.com/2011/01/25/christina-aguilera-to-sing-the-national-anthem-at-super-bowl/. Retrieved June 29, 2011.
- ^ "The Voice Judges: Christina Aguilera, Cee Lo Green, Blake Shelton and Adam Levine". http://www.starsofreality.com/Voice-Judges-Christina-Aguilera-Cee-Lo-Green-Blake-Shelton-Adam-Levine-16052675. Retrieved June 29, 2011.
- ^ Biography Christina Aguilera Biography RCA Records artist page. Retrieved on August 22, 2008.
- ^ Stripped for all the world to hear. SMH. Retrieved on May 25, 2007.
- ^ Pak, SuChin MTV Online Christina Aguilera: Not Your Puppet MTV.com February 2002 Retrieved on January 29, 2009.
- ^ a b Smith, Andy (August 15, 1998). "One talented teen". Providence Journal. Retrieved on May 25, 2007.
- ^ Oguinnaike, Lola July 30, 2006 Christina Aguilera, That Dirrty Girl, Cleans Up Real Nice New York Times Retrieved on July 18, 2008.
- ^ a b Moss, Corey MTV News Online (November 2, 2008) Christina Aguilera Follows Controversial 'Dirrty' With Inspirational 'Beautiful' MTV News Retrieved on July 5, 2008.
- ^ Scaggs, Austin August 10, 2006 Dirty Girl Cleans Up RollingStone online Retrieved on February 16, 2010.
- ^ "Christina Aguilera – Back To Basics – Music Charts". Acharts.us. http://acharts.us/album/14535. Retrieved September 18, 2010.
- ^ "Turn It Up: Album review: Christina Aguilera, 'Bionic'". Leisureblogs.chicagotribune.com. June 7, 2010. http://leisureblogs.chicagotribune.com/turn_it_up/2010/06/album-review-christina-aguilera-bionic.html. Retrieved September 18, 2010.
- ^ a b "Christina Aguilera – 'Bionic' (RCA) – Album Reviews". NME. UK. http://www.nme.com/reviews/christina-aguilera/11355. Retrieved September 18, 2010.
- ^ Montgomery, James June 16, 2010 MTV News What Should Her Next Move Be? After soft first-week sales for Bionic, experts weigh in Retrieved on June 16, 2006.
- ^ "Christina Aguilera's dud album rattles label". New York Post. July 18, 2010. http://www.nypost.com/p/pagesix/aguilera_dud_rattles_label_yiMvNh9FTTY9vaUVRMdq5I.
- ^ Glamour Online; Sandell, Laurie (November 2007). Christina: intimate talk about a past that still hurts Retrieved on December 14, 2007.
- ^ a b c "Christina Aguilera Goes Solo". Redbook magazine. http://www.redbookmag.com/fun-contests/celebrity/christina-aguilera-news-interview. Retrieved February 24, 2011.
- ^ "Guatemala: Pop star Christina Aguilera calls for funding to help UN feed thousands", UN News Centre press release, September 24, 2009. Retrieved, January 25, 2009
- ^ a b "100 Greatest Singers of All Time". Rolling Stone. http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/6027/32782/33774. Retrieved November 11, 2008.
- ^ Staff, Billboard (2010). "Artists of the Decade". Billboard. Nielsen Company. http://www.billboard.com/#/features/artist-of-the-decade-1004053060.story. Retrieved May 3, 2010.
- ^ Billboard.biz 2009 Single Sales Artist Retrieved on December 6, 2010.
- ^ Levine, Stuart (April 9, 2011). "Can 'The Voice' be heard?". Variety. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118035166.
- ^ Cole, Patrick (August 10, 2011). "Christina Aguilera Records Lullaby for YUM Brands Hunger Drive". Bloomberg. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-10/christina-aguilera-records-lullaby-for-yum-brands-hunger-relief-campaign.html.
- ^ Elaine Rivera (September 15, 2001). "What A Woman Wants". Time. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1000774,00.html. Retrieved December 3, 2007.
- ^ Dominguez, Pier (December 2002). Christina Aguilera: A Star is Made: The Unauthorized Biography. Amber Communications Group, Inc.. pp. 1–2. ISBN 978-0-9702224-5-9.
- ^ Dotmusic (June 20, 2000).Christina Aguilera relives her violent past. Yahoo! Music. Retrieved on May 25, 2007.
- ^ a b c "Christina Aguilera Biography". Yahoo!. http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1800409839/bio. Retrieved February 17, 2011.
- ^ Helligar, Jeremy; Majewski, Lori (February 3, 2003). "Christina's World". Us Weekly.
- ^ Grupp, John (May 6, 2009). "Anthem singer fires up Mellon crowd". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/penguins/s_623827.html. Retrieved February 5, 2010.
- ^ USMagazine.com Stars who were bullied Retrieved on December 9, 2010.
- ^ Goldeberg, Lesley AfterEllen.com November 17, 2010 "Beautiful," Bullied and "Burlesque" – our interview with Christina Aguilera Retrieved on December 9, 2010.
- ^ Goldstein, Rob (May 15, 2008) Dreaming Of Genie Yahoo! Music Christina Aguilera – interviews Retrieved on (March 2, 2008).
- ^ People online Christina Aguilera Biography Retrieved on December 8, 2010.
- ^ Christina Aguilera Biography. AllMusic. Retrieved on May 25, 2007.
- ^ Dinca, Alma Boghitoiu. "An Interview with Christina Aguilera". Brasov travel guide. http://www.brasovtravelguide.ro/en/brasov/events/golden-stag-festival/1997.php. Retrieved May 25, 2007.
- ^ "Pegasus Lounge to close for good". Tribune-Review. October 30, 2009. http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/breaking/s_650758.html. Retrieved January 17, 2009.
- ^ Mervis, Scott (December 27, 2009). "Pop Music: Radiohead tops a fractious music scene". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09361/1023477-388.stm. Retrieved January 17, 2009.
- ^ Willman, Chris Entertainment Weekly October 11, 2010 Club Kid Retrieved on December 20, 2010.
- ^ a b c d Julia Wang (2003). "Christina Aguilera timeline". People Magazine. http://www.people.com/people/christina_aguilera/biography/0,,20004434_10,00.html. Retrieved February 16, 2011.
- ^ The Coca-Cola Dome(August 29, 2005). Press Release: Christina Aguilera live in concert. The Coca-Cola Dome. Retrieved on November 12, 2007.
- ^ "Gold and Platinum: Top 100 Albums." Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved on October 9, 2007.
- ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas All Music Guide Christina Aguilera album review Retrieved on November 18, 2010.
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- ^ Born, Pete WWD.com (May 23), (2008) P&G Hopes Aguilera Will 'Inspire' Its Fragrance Fortunes Women's Wear Daily online Retrieved on (May 24), (2008).
- ^ Fragantica (May 23, 2008) Christina Aguilera will present her new perfume Inspire Fragantica news Retrieved (May 24, 2008).
- ^ Stephanie Epiro (July 24, 2008 accessdate=2008-08-27). "P&G Hopes Aguilera Will 'Inspire' Its Fragrance Fortunes". WWD Beauty.
- ^ Business Wire – Macy's July 31, 2008 Mark Seliger Captures Macy’s “Stars” for Commemorative 150th Birthday Images Macy's press release Retrieved on July 31, 2008.,
- ^ Fragrantica Christina Aguilera by Night (for women) Perfume description Retrieved on August 20, 2009.
- ^ ":: Fragrance Foundation : FIFI Nominees ::". Fragrance.org. http://www.fragrance.org/fifi_nominees.php. Retrieved July 7, 2011.
- ^ Fragrance Direct February 22, 2010 Christina Aguilera range featuring Royal Desire eau de toilette Retrieved February 23, 2010
- ^ "Secret Potion Christina Aguilera for women". Fragrantica. http://www.fragrantica.com/perfume/Christina-Aguilera/Secret-Potion-11722.html. Retrieved December 13, 2011.
- ^ Travis, Neal (September 13, 2001). "Terror Attack Blows D.A.'s Timing". New York Post, p. 67. Retrieved on April 21, 2007.
- ^ The PETA Files December 12, 2006 Christina Aguilera's Costume Change PETA.org Archives Retrieved on December 2, 2009.
- ^ Ju, Siel Mother Nature Network February 3, 2010 Christie's celeb-studded Earth Day auction MNN.com Retrieved on February 4, 2010
- ^ a b Christina Aguilera Charities. Retrieved on May 25, 2007. Archived 18 January 2010 at WebCite
- ^ Berliner, Alex (March 3, 2004) Nicole Kidman fashions fight against women’s cancers USA Today Health Retrieved on (March 6, 2008).
- ^ Peden, Lauren David (October 12, 2006) Celebrities Sign On To Help Fight Breast Cancer Fashion Wire Daily Retrieved on (March 12, 2008).
- ^ Press Release (April 27, 2000). Christina Aguilera, Sears and Levi's Launch 'Come On Over and Do... – re> HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill., April 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Christina Aguilera, Sears and Levi's Launch "Come On Over and Do Something". PRN Newswire. Retrieved on February 27, 2008.
- ^ Brie Childers Charity Brie Childers Homepage Brie Childers photography Retrieved on (March 15, 2008).
- ^ Post Gazette (July 15, 2003). Aguilera auction to aid battered women. Retrieved on May 25, 2007.
- ^ MTV News staff (July 27, 2006). Aguilera wants to open domestic-abuse shelter MTV. Retrieved on May 25, 2007.
- ^ Yahoo! Finance (April 3, 2007). Multi-Grammy Winner Aguilera Takes Campaign on 'Back to Basics' Concert Tour. Retrieved on May 25, 2007.[dead link]
- ^ Gelman, Jason (March 7, 2003) Christina Aguilera Video Recognized By Gay & Lesbian Alliance Yahoo! Music Retrieved on (March 20, 2008).
- ^ Harris, Chris MTV.com November 7, 2008 Christina Aguilera Speaks Out Against Proposition 8 MTV online Retrieved on November 7, 2008.
- ^ "Christina Aguilera honored at debut of The Abbey's Gay Walk of Fame". ChicagoPride.com. April 21, 2011. http://chicago.gopride.com/news/article.cfm/articleid/18110025/christina-aguilera-honored-at-debut-of-the-abbeys-gay-walk-of-fame-photos. Retrieved April 21, 2011.
- ^ Hear No Evil?. Retrieved on May 25, 2007.
- ^ Christina Multimedia. Retrieved on May 25, 2007.
- ^ The Book Standard (July 7, 2005). Christina Aguilera's Four Inches . Retrieved on December 10, 2007. Archived 16 January 2010 at WebCite
- ^ Cohen, Jonathan (July 6, 2006). Elton Curating Fashion Rocks, Busy With New CD. Billboard. Retrieved on May 25, 2007.
- ^ Channel 4 News(November 14, 2007). Aguilera back voting campaign with Rock the Vote. Retrieved on November 14, 2007.
- ^ Watson, Donna (October 21, 2005). Chrissie Presents. Daily Record. Retrieved on May 25, 2007.
- ^ MTV News staff (October 26, 2005). For The Record: Quick News On Christina Aguilera. MTV. Retrieved on May 25, 2007.
- ^ USA Today (March 11, 2007). Aguilera takes part in All-Star charity project.. Retrieved on May 25, 2007.
- ^ Virgin Media August 22, 2008 Christina's mother of a performance Virgin music Retrieved on August 22, 2008.
- ^ Altinsas, E. Baris (October 26, 2008). "A loving family for children in need of protection". Today's Zaman. http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=156957&bolum=101. Retrieved October 31, 2008.
- ^ Business Wire Christina Aguilera Lends Powerful Voice in Fight to End Hunger as Global Spokesperson Aguilera Raises Awareness of Hunger Issue by Appearing in PSA, Advertising, Posters July 15, 2009 Retrieved on July 15, 2009.
- ^ Relief Web September 23, 2009 Christina Aguilera sees hunger first hand in Guatemala Relief Web press release Retrieved on September 23, 2009.
- ^ World Food Programme official site and the World Food Programme Retrieved on May 13, 2010.
- ^ McNiece, Mia Variety online September 1, 2009 Variety to celebrate Power of Women Retrieved on September 10, 2009.
- ^ PRNewswire January 17, 2010 The Chrysler Brand Joins Forces With 'The 67th Annual Golden Globe Awards' to Contribute Relief Efforts to Haiti Retrieved on January 18, 2010.
- ^ WFO Retrieved on January 31, 2010
- ^ World Food Programme May 12, 2010 Haiti Is First Stop For New WFP Ambassador Christina Aguilera Retrieved on May 12, 2010.
External links[link]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Christina Aguilera 
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Christina Aguilera - ChristinaAguilera.com – Christina Aguilera official website
- Twitter – Official Twitter account
- Christina Aguilera on Myspace
- Christina Aguilera at the Internet Movie Database
- Christina Aguilera on Facebook
Awards and achievements Preceded by
Lauryn HillGrammy Award for Best New Artist
2000Succeeded by
Shelby LynnePreceded by
noneLatin Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album, Female
2001
for Mi ReflejoSucceeded by
Rosario Flores
for Muchas FloresPreceded by
B. B. King & Dr. John
for "Is You Is, or Is You Ain't (My Baby)"Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals
2002
for "Lady Marmalade"Succeeded by
Santana & Michelle Branch
for "The Game of Love"Preceded by
Norah Jones
for "Don't Know Why"Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance
2004
for "Beautiful"Succeeded by
Norah Jones
for "Sunrise"Preceded by
Kelly Clarkson
for "Since U Been Gone"Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance
2007
for "Ain't No Other Man"Succeeded by
Amy Winehouse
for "Rehab"Preceded by
Sean "Diddy" CombsMTV Europe Music Awards host
2003Succeeded by
XzibitChristina AguileraStudio albums Compilation albums Soundtrack albums Extended plays Video albums Concert tours Films Television Related articles Christina Aguilera singlesChristina Aguilera Mi Reflejo My Kind of Christmas Stripped - "Dirrty"
- "Beautiful"
- "Fighter"
- "Can't Hold Us Down"
- "The Voice Within"
Back to Basics - "Ain't No Other Man"
- "Hurt"
- "Candyman"
- "Slow Down Baby"
- "Oh Mother"
Keeps Gettin' Better: A Decade of Hits Bionic Featured singles Soundtrack singles Other songs 1950s - Bobby Darin (1959)
1960s - No award given (1960)
- Bob Newhart (1961)
- Peter Nero (1962)
- Robert Goulet (1963)
- The Swingle Singers (1964)
- The Beatles (1965)
- Tom Jones (1966)
- No award given (1967)
- Bobbie Gentry (1968)
- José Feliciano (1969)
1970s - Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (1970)
- The Carpenters (1971)
- Carly Simon (1972)
- America (1973)
- Bette Midler (1974)
- Marvin Hamlisch (1975)
- Natalie Cole (1976)
- Starland Vocal Band (1977)
- Debby Boone (1978)
- A Taste of Honey (1979)
1980s - Rickie Lee Jones (1980)
- Christopher Cross (1981)
- Sheena Easton (1982)
- Men at Work (1983)
- Culture Club (1984)
- Cyndi Lauper (1985)
- Sade (1986)
- Bruce Hornsby and the Range (1987)
- Jody Watley (1988)
- Tracy Chapman (1989)
1990s - Milli Vanilli (1990)
- Mariah Carey (1991)
- Marc Cohn (1992)
- Arrested Development (1993)
- Toni Braxton (1994)
- Sheryl Crow (1995)
- Hootie & the Blowfish (1996)
- LeAnn Rimes (1997)
- Paula Cole (1998)
- Lauryn Hill (1999)
2000s - Christina Aguilera (2000)
- Shelby Lynne (2001)
- Alicia Keys (2002)
- Norah Jones (2003)
- Evanescence (2004)
- Maroon 5 (2005)
- John Legend (2006)
- Carrie Underwood (2007)
- Amy Winehouse (2008)
- Adele (2009)
2010s - Zac Brown Band (2010)
- Esperanza Spalding (2011)
- Bon Iver (2012)
Seasons Hosts - Current
- Carson Daly
- Christina Milian
- Former
- Alison Haislip
Coaches - Current
- Christina Aguilera
- Cee Lo Green
- Adam Levine
- Blake Shelton
Winner Winner's song Finalists Notable contestants Related articles Hosts - Carson Daly
- Alison Haislip (correspondent)
Judges - Christina Aguilera
- Cee Lo Green
- Adam Levine
- Blake Shelton
Winner Finalists - Team Christina
- Raquel Castro
- Frenchie Davis
- Julia Eason
- Lily Elise
- Justin Grennan
- Beverly McClellan
- Cherie Oakley
- Tarralyn Ramsey
- Team Cee Lo
- Tje Austin
- Niki Dawson
- Curtis Grimes
- Vicci Martinez
- Nakia
- Kelsey Rey
- Tori and Taylor Thompson
- Emily Valentine
- Team Adam
- Devon Barley
- Javier Colon
- Casey Desmond
- Jeff Jenkins
- Rebecca Loebe
- Tim Mahoney
- Casey Weston
- Angela Wolff
- Team Blake
- Jared Blake
- Elenowen
- Dia Frampton
- Sara Oromchi
- Tyler Robinson
- Serabee
- Patrick Thomas
- Xenia
Hosts - Carson Daly
- Christina Milian (correspondent)
Judges - Christina Aguilera
- Cee Lo Green
- Adam Levine
- Blake Shelton
Winner Finalists - Team Christina
- Chris Mann
- Jesse Campbell
- Anthony Evans
- Ashley De La Rosa
- Jonathas
- Geoff McBride
- Lindsey Pavao
- Monique Benabou
- Moses Stone
- The Line
- Team Cee Lo
- Juliet Simms
- Angie Johnson
- Erin Martin
- Jamar Rogers
- Chessa
- James Massone
- Jamie Lono
- Justin Hopkins
- Sarah Golden
- Tony Vincent
- Team Adam
- Tony Lucca
- Angel Taylor
- Chris Cauley
- Karla Davis
- Katrina Parker
- Kim Yarbrough
- Mathai
- Nathan Parrett
- Nicolle Galyon
- Pip
- Team Blake
- Jermaine Paul
- RaeLynn
- ALyX
- Brian Fuente
- Charlotte Sometimes
- Erin Willett
- Gwen Sebastian
- Jordan Rager
- Jordis Unga
- Naia Kete
Persondata Name Aguilera, Christina Alternative names Aguilera, Christina Maria Short description American singer and songwriter Date of birth December 18, 1980 Place of birth New York City, New York, United States Date of death Place of death http://wn.com/Christina_Aguilera
Related pages:
http://it.wn.com/Christina Aguilera
http://cs.wn.com/Christina Aguilera
http://es.wn.com/Christina Aguilera
http://ru.wn.com/Агилера, Кристина
http://nl.wn.com/Christina Aguilera
http://id.wn.com/Christina Aguilera
http://pl.wn.com/Christina Aguilera
http://fr.wn.com/Christina Aguilera
http://de.wn.com/Christina Aguilera
http://pt.wn.com/Christina Aguilera
This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christina_Aguilera
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
Russell Brand 
Russell Brand at the premiere for Arthur in 2011Birth name Russell Edward Brand[1] Born (1975-06-04) 4 June 1975 (age 37)
Grays, Essex, England, UKMedium Stand-up, television, film, radio Nationality British Years active 1994–present Genres Observational comedy Influences Richard Pryor,[2] Bill Hicks,[2] Peter Cook, Lenny Bruce, Tony Hancock, Jack Kerouac, Stewart Lee[3] Spouse Katy Perry (m. 2010–2012) Website russellbrand.tv Russell Edward Brand (born 4 June 1975)[4] is an English comedian, actor, columnist, singer, author and radio/television presenter.
Brand achieved mainstream fame in the UK in 2004 for his role as host of Big Brother spin-off, Big Brother's Big Mouth. His first major film role was in the 2007 film St Trinian's. He became known to American audiences when he got a major role in Forgetting Sarah Marshall which led to a starring role in 2010's Get Him to the Greek. He has also been a voice actor for animated films such as 2010's Despicable Me and the 2011 film Hop. He starred in the 2011 remake of the 1981 Dudley Moore film Arthur.
Brand is noted for his eccentricity and his controversies in the British media, including his dismissal from MTV for dressing up as Osama bin Laden and controversies while presenting at various award ceremonies, as well as his former substance abuse. The 2008 prank telephone calls he made to Andrew Sachs while co-hosting The Russell Brand Show with Jonathan Ross led to his resignation from the BBC and major policy changes in that organisation. His prior drug use, alcoholism and promiscuity influenced his comedic material and public image. He married American pop singer Katy Perry in October 2010, and filed for divorce from her in December 2011; the divorce was finalised in 2012.
Contents
Early life[link]
Brand was born in Orsett Hospital, Grays, Essex, England, the only child of Barbara Elizabeth (née Nichols) and photographer Ronald Henry Brand.[5] Brand's parents separated when he was six months old, and he was raised by his mother; he has described his childhood as isolated and lonely.[6] When Brand was seven, he was sexually abused by a tutor.[7] When Brand was eight, his mother contracted uterine cancer; a year later she contracted breast cancer.[8] Brand stayed with relatives while his mother underwent treatment.[8] When Brand was 14, he suffered from bulimia nervosa. He left home at age 16 because of differences with his mother's live-in partner.[8] His mother had lymphoma during this time and he began using illegal drugs such as cannabis, amphetamines, LSD and ecstasy.[8][9] According to an interview on National Public Radio's Weekend Edition Saturday Brand had "a strange relationship with his father, whom he saw sporadically and who took him to visit prostitutes during a trip to the Far East".[10] After Brand's parents divorced, his father remarried twice.[11]
Brand attended Grays School Media Arts College, a comprehensive. He made his theatrical debut at the age of 15, playing the role of Fat Sam in a school production of Bugsy Malone, which prompted him to become an actor. He began working as an extra, and applied to study at the Italia Conti Academy. He was accepted, and Essex council funded his tuition for an introductory year, with potential funding for three additional years. Brand joined the Academy in 1991, but was expelled during his introductory year for his bad behaviour and use of drugs. Afterward, Brand had small acting roles in children's show Mud and police drama The Bill.
In 1995, Brand applied for the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and Drama Centre London and was accepted to Drama Centre. He was expelled in the final term of his last year for smashing a glass over his head and then stabbing himself in the chest and arms after his hearing a criticism of his performance. After leaving Drama Centre, Brand decided to focus on comedy, and began writing material with Karl Theobald.
Career[link]
Stand-up[link]
Brand's first significant stand-up appearance was at the Hackney Empire New Act of the Year final in 2000. Although he finished fourth, his performance attracted the attention of an agent, Nigel Klarfeld of Gagged and Bound Comedy Ltd.[12] That year, he also made his Edinburgh debut as one-third of the stand-up show Pablo Diablo's Cryptic Triptych, alongside ventriloquist Mark Felgate and Anglo-Iranian comic Shappi Khorsandi.
Brand performs stand-up at the London Roundhouse, 25 January 2008In 2004, he took his first one-man show, the confessional Better Now to the Edinburgh Festival, giving an honest account of his heroin addiction. He returned the following year with Eroticised Humour. He launched his first nationwide tour, Shame, in 2006. Brand drew on embarrassing incidents in his own life and the tabloid press's treatment of him since he became famous. The show was released on DVD as Russell Brand: Live.
Brand appeared in a sketch and performed stand-up at the 2006 Secret Policeman's Ball. In March 2007, he co-hosted an evening of the Teenage Cancer Trust gigs with Noel Fielding. In December 2007, Brand performed for HM Queen Elizabeth II and HRH Prince Philip as an act in the 2007 Royal Variety Performance.
His second nationwide tour, in 2007, was called Russell Brand: Only Joking and released on DVD as Russell Brand: Doin' Life.
Brand began performing in the US, and recorded a special for Comedy Central titled Russell Brand in New York, which aired in March 2009.[13] Brand began touring the UK, America and Australia from January to April 2009 on a tour called Russell Brand: Scandalous.[14] In October, a further four dates that were performed in November were added to raise money for Focus 12, the drug charity for which Brand is a patron.[15] Russell Brand: Scandalous was released on DVD on 9 November 2009.
Presenting[link]
Brand's first presenting role came in 2000 as a video journalist on MTV. He presented Dancefloor Chart, touring nightclubs in Britain and Ibiza, and hosted the tea-time request show Select. However, Brand was fired after coming to work dressed as Osama bin Laden the day after the 11 September 2001 attacks and bringing his drug dealer to the MTV studios.[16]
After leaving MTV, Brand starred in RE:Brand, a British documentary and comedy television programme that aimed to take a challenging look at cultural taboos. It was conceived, written, and hosted by Brand, with the help of his comic partner on many projects, Matt Morgan. The series was shown on the now-defunct digital satellite channel UK Play in 2002.
In 2004, he hosted Big Brother's Eforum on E4, a sister show to Big Brother 5. The show gave celebrity guests and the public the chance to have their say on the goings-on inside the Big Brother house. For Big Brother 6, the show's name changed to Big Brother's Big Mouth. Following Celebrity Big Brother 5, Brand said he would not return to host the Big Brother 8 series of Big Brother's Big Mouth. In a statement, Brand thanked all the producers for "taking the risk of employing an ex-junkie twerp" to front the show. Of his time presenting the show, he said, "The three years I've spent on Big Brother's Big Mouth have been an unprecedented joy".[17]
Brand hosted a one-off special called Big Brother According to Russell Brand, in which Brand took a surreal, sideways look at Big Brother through the ages. On 8 January 2008, Brand was the fifth celebrity to "hijack" the Big Brother house,[18] in the E4 show Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack. Brand next returned to MTV in the spring of 2006 as presenter of the chat show 1 Leicester Square, which initially aired at 8 pm on Sundays before being shifted to a post-watershed time of 10 pm on Mondays, allowing for a more adult-oriented theme. Guests have included Tom Cruise, Uma Thurman, The Mighty Boosh, and Boy George. A second series began in September 2006 on MTV UK. After Big Brother 7 finished, Brand presented a debate show called Russell Brand's Got Issues, on digital channel E4. The viewing figures for the first episode were seen as disappointing, being beaten by nearly all of E4's main multi-channel rivals despite a big publicity and promotional campaign for the show. The poor ratings prompted the network to repackage the show as The Russell Brand Show and move it to Channel 4.[19] The first episode was broadcast on 24 November on Channel 4,[20] and it ran for five weeks.
Brand presented the 2006 NME Awards. At the ceremony Bob Geldof, who was accepting an award from Brand, said at the podium, "Russell Brand – what a cunt", to which Brand replied, "Really it's no surprise [Geldof]'s such an expert on famine. He has after all been dining out on 'I Don't Like Mondays' for 30 years".[21] Brand hosted the 2007 BRIT Awards and presented Oasis with an "Outstanding Contribution to Music" award at the event.[22] He also hosted one hour of Comic Relief. On 7 July 2007, he presented at the UK leg of Live Earth at Wembley Stadium, London.
Brand speaking with Courtney Love in Los Angeles, 2008On 12 December 2007, BBC Four aired Russell Brand On the Road, a documentary presented by Brand and Matt Morgan about the writer Jack Kerouac and his novel On the Road. Brand returned to Channel 4 to host Russell Brand's Ponderland, in which he discussed topics like childhood and science through stand-up comedy. The show first aired on 22 October 2007, and continued for the next five nights. A second series began on 30 October 2008, drawing more than a million viewers, and was broadcast every Thursday night for four weeks, plus a Christmas special that aired in December.
Brand was later announced as the host of the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards, which drew scepticism from the American media, as he was relatively unknown to the American public. Brand's stint as host of the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards was not without controversy.[23] At one point, he said the night "marked the launch of a very new Britney Spears era", referring to it as "the resurrection of [Spears]". He also said, "If there was a female Christ, it's Britney".[24] Brand implored the audience to elect Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and later called then–U.S. President George W. Bush "a retarded cowboy fella", who, in England, "wouldn't be trusted with scissors".[24][25] He made several references to the purity rings worn by the Jonas Brothers, but apologised for the comments later in the show.[26] These comments led to Brand receiving death threats by some offended viewers.[27] Brand claimed that MTV asked him to host the 2009 awards after the ratings for the 2008 show were 20% up from the previous year.[28] Also in 2008 Brand hosted a one off stand up comedy show called Comedy Live Presents: Russell Brand and Friends shown on Channel 4 on 25 January 2008. Brand hosted the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards on 13 September 2009, at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.[29][30] The ratings for the 2009 show were the best since the 2004 VMAs.[31] On February 12, 2011, Brand guest hosted an episode of the hit American sketch comedy Saturday Night Live.
Acting[link]
In 2002, Brand appeared on the TV shows Cruise of the Gods and White Teeth. In 2005, he played Tommy in the BBC sitcom Blessed, which was written and directed by Young Ones creator Ben Elton. Brand auditioned for the part of Super Hans in the Channel 4 sitcom Peep Show; the role eventually went to Matt King.[32]
In 2007, Brand appeared in Cold Blood for ITV, playing an ex-con called Ally. Brand played a recovering crack addict named Terry in the pilot for the ITV comedy The Abbey, written by Morwenna Banks.[33]
He voiced an Earth Guardian in Robbie the Reindeer in Close Encounters of the Herd Kind.
Brand had a small role in the 2006 movie Penelope, though his first major film role was as Flash Harry in the 2007 film St Trinian's. He did not reprise the role for the sequel, St. Trinian's II: The Legend of Fritton's Gold.
He achieved American fame when he starred in the 2008 film Forgetting Sarah Marshall, in which he played Aldous Snow, the boyfriend of the title character (played by Kristen Bell). Brand received rave reviews for his performance as Snow, and he revealed the character was changed from an author to a rockstar because of his audition.[34]
Brand starred alongside Adam Sandler in the Disney film Bedtime Stories, which was released on Christmas Day 2008.[35]
He reprised the role of Aldous Snow for a buddy comedy titled Get Him to the Greek, co-starring Jonah Hill.[36] He reunited with Forgetting Sarah Marshall director Nicholas Stoller and producer Judd Apatow for the film.[36]
Brand had a role in Julie Taymor's version of William Shakespeare's The Tempest, as Trinculo.[37][38][39]
In 2010, Brand voiced Dr. Nefario in the Universal movie Despicable Me,[40] and is set to reprise the role in the sequel in 2013. Brand also guest starred in The Simpsons episode "Angry Dad: The Movie" as himself. Brand also starred in the 2011 live action/CGI animated film Hop, in which he voiced the film's main protagonist E.B. Hop opened at number one at the Friday box office in the US, earning $11.4 million.[41] The same month, April 2011, he played the title character in a remake of Arthur,[42] written by Peter Baynham.
Brand is set to star as Lonny in a movie adaption of 80s musical Rock Of Ages, which is to be released in cinemas in June 2012. His other upcoming projects include a remake of Drop Dead Fred.[43] Brand will also appear in an Oliver Stone film.[4] Sandler has cast Brand in another film and will produce yet another, co-written by Brand and Matt Morgan, about a con-man posing as a priest; it is tentatively titled Bad Father.[44][45] and he is also set to star as Fred Mumford in a movie adaption of the hit 70s programme Rentaghost.
Brand has also set up his own production company with his friend Nik Linnen called 'Branded Films' and will be run from the Warner Bros studios in Burbank, California. It has been reported that the company is set up to primarily develop films for Brand himself to star in.[46]
Radio[link]
Brand's radio career began in early 2002, when he hosted a Sunday afternoon show with Matt Morgan on London's Indie Rock station Xfm. Brand was fired from the job after reading pornographic material live on-air.[47]
Brand co-hosted The Russell Brand Show beginning in April 2006 on BBC Radio 6 Music. In November 2006, the show transferred to BBC Radio 2 and aired on Saturdays from 9 – 11pm. The show regularly drew about 400,000 listeners.[48] In an episode of the show broadcast on 18 October 2008, Brand and fellow Radio 2 DJ Jonathan Ross made a series of phone calls to actor Andrew Sachs that crudely discussed Sachs' granddaughter. Sunday tabloid The Mail on Sunday broke the story and regarded the phone calls as obscene. Both presenters were later suspended by the BBC due to the incident,[49] and Brand resigned from his show.[50][51] The BBC was later fined £150,000 by Britain's broadcast regulator for airing the calls.[52]
Brand returned to radio when he and Noel Gallagher hosted a football talk show on 19 April 2009 for talkSPORT which led to a 250% boost in web traffic.[53][54]
Brand returned to talkSPORT in 9 October 2010, with a Saturday night show that will last 20 weeks. The show will feature clips and back-stage recordings from his Booky Wook 2 promotional tour. Brand will be joined by a host of guests, including the likes of Noel Gallagher and Jonathan Ross.[55]
Writings[link]
From May 2006 till May 2009, Brand wrote a column for The Guardian that focused on West Ham United and the England national football team. A collection of the columns from May 2006 through June 2007 was released on 15 November 2007 in a book titled Irons in the Fire.[56] A second collection of the columns from June 2007 through May 2008 was released on 16 October 2008, titled Articles of Faith. The book also includes Brand interviewing Noel Gallagher, James Corden and David Baddiel about football.[57]
Brand's autobiography, My Booky Wook, published by Hodder & Stoughton, was released on 15 November 2007 and received favourable reviews. The Observer commented that "Russell Brand's gleeful tale of drugs and debauchery in My Booky Wook puts most other celebrity memoirs to shame".[58]
Brand signed a £1.8 million two-book deal with HarperCollins in June 2008. The first book was Articles of Faith, with the second being Booky Wook 2: This Time It's Personal released on 30 September 2010.[59][60]
Following the 2011 London riots, Brand wrote a guest column in The Guardian, in which he criticised the Government's response to the rioters as failing to address the root causes.[61]
Music[link]
Brand recorded a cover of The Beatles song "When I'm Sixty-Four" with composer David Arnold for the 40th anniversary of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. He contributed two songs to the soundtrack of the 2008 film Forgetting Sarah Marshall in which he appeared as Aldous Snow, lead singer of the fictional band Infant Sorrow.[62] He reprised his role as Aldous Snow in Get Him to the Greek and recorded sixteen songs for the soundtrack.
Brand appeared on the 2010 version of 3 Lions alongside Robbie Williams.[63] He also appeared in the music video to Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds's single AKA... What a Life! playing a drug pusher.
Personal life[link]
Russell Brand in April 2011
Katy Perry, Brand's ex-wife, in October 2011.Brand lives in Los Angeles.[64] He had been a vegetarian since the age of 14,[65] and became a vegan on October 24, 2011.[66] PETA named him 2011's Sexiest Vegetarian.[67] He dresses in a flamboyant bohemian fashion, describing himself as looking like an "S&M Willy Wonka".[68] He has bipolar disorder,[69] has suffered from bulimia,[65] and also went through a period of self-harming.[70] Brand has shown interest in the Hare Krishna Movement and chants the Hare Krishna mantra for drug rehabilitation.[71] During an interview with Ellen DeGeneres on her show in October 2010, Brand talked about his love of Transcendental Meditation.[72][73]
Relationships[link]
After a string of high-profile relationships, Brand developed a reputation in the media as a ladies' man. His dating life won him The Sun's Shagger Of The Year award in 2006,[74] 2007,[75] and 2008. The award has been renamed "The Russell Brand Shagger of the Year Award" in honour of Brand having won three years in a row.[76]
Brand first met American singer/songwriter Katy Perry in summer 2009 when Perry filmed a cameo for Brand's film Get Him to the Greek (although the cameo did not make it into the final cut of the film).[77] Brand and Perry began dating after meeting again several months later in September 2009[78] at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, where Brand, as host, remarked "Katy Perry didn't win an award and she's staying at the same hotel as me, so she's gonna need a shoulder to cry on. So in a way, I'm the real winner tonight." Perry says she threw a bottle of water at Brand to get his attention and then they went clubbing together the same night.[79] The couple became engaged in December 2009 when Brand proposed to Perry while on a holiday in India.[80][81][82] The couple married on 23 October 2010 in a traditional Hindu ceremony, near the Ranthambhore tiger sanctuary in Rajasthan, India, the same location where Brand proposed.[83][84] After 14 months of marriage, Brand filed for divorce from Perry on 30 December 2011 in Los Angeles, citing irreconcilable differences.[85][86] After Brand and Perry reached an agreement on financial issues, a judge granted the divorce request in February 2012; however the divorce will not become effective until July 2012 due to California law requiring a six-month wait.[87]
Activism[link]
Brand and several other celebrities wrote to The Independent (as supporters of the Hoping Foundation) to condemn Israel's assault on Gaza, and the "cruel and massive loss of life of the citizens of Gaza".[88] In February 2009, Brand and several other entertainers wrote to The Times defending Bahá'í leaders then on trial in Iran.[89] In April 2009, he attended the 2009 G-20 London summit protests and spoke to the press.[90][91]
Substance abuse and legal issues[link]
Brand is a former heroin and sex addict and a recovering alcoholic. He has had numerous run-ins with the police, having been arrested 12 times.[92][93] Brand was ejected from the Gilded Balloon in Edinburgh,[94] and he infamously introduced his drug dealer to Kylie Minogue during his time at MTV.[95] He has abstained from drug use since 2002 and is now a patron of the addiction charity Focus 12.[96] His abandonment of drugs and alcohol was instigated by his agent, John Noel, after Brand was caught taking heroin in a bathroom during his Christmas party. Brand regularly attends AA and NA meetings[97] and cites his practice of Transcendental Meditation as a significant factor in his recovery from drug addiction.[98]
On 16 September 2010, Brand was arrested on suspected battery charges after he allegedly attacked a paparazzo who blocked his and then-fiancé Katy Perry's way to catch a flight at the Los Angeles International Airport.[99][100] On 17 September 2010, he was released from custody after posting $20,000 bail. Footage of the incident was later sent to TMZ.[101] Perry later defended Brand's actions, and offered an insight into the reasons for his outburst, posting on Twitter that, "If you cross the line & try and put a lens up my dress, my fiancé will do his job & protect me."[102]
Brand was deported from Japan on 22 May 2011 when he arrived with Perry to perform her California Dreams tour. The deportation was because of his criminal record.[92]
On March 15, 2012, an arrest warrant was issued for Brand in New Orleans after allegations that he had grabbed a photographer's mobile phone and threw it through a window. The paparazzo was taking pictures of him with an iPhone, when Brand wrestled it from him and tossed it into a law firm's window. The warrant was for "simple criminal damage to property". He turned himself in to the police, and also offered to reimburse the replacement of the window. Brand was in New Orleans, filming the movie Lamb of God.[103]
Filmography[link]
Title Year Role Notes St Trinian's 2007 Flash Harry Penelope 2008 Sam Forgetting Sarah Marshall 2008 Aldous Snow Bedtime Stories 2008 Mickey Get Him to the Greek 2010 Aldous Snow Despicable Me 2010 Dr. Nefario Voice Tempest, TheThe Tempest 2010 Trinculo Hop 2011 E.B./"Hoff Knows Talent" Production Assistant Voice/Live-action Arthur 2011 Arthur Bach Rock of Ages 2012 Lonny Barnett Katy Perry: Part of Me 2012 Himself Cameo Lamb of God 2013 William Despicable Me 2 2013 Dr. Nefario Voice Television[link]
Show Year Role Episode Notes The Bill 1994 Billy Case Land of The Blind Mud 1994 Shane Series 1 Episodes 1-6 White Teeth 2002 Merlin The Peculiar Second Marriage of Archie Jones Cruise of the Gods 2002 Glynn (Woolly Hat Fan) A Bear's Christmas Tail 2004 Mr Wolf Blessed 2005 Tommy Who Wrote The Book Of Love A Bear's Tail 2005 Tony the Ringmaster Blame It On The Bearboy The Abbey 2007 Terry Cold Blood 2007 Ally Parkins Interference Big Time Rush 2011 Himself Big Time Beach Party Strangely Uplifting 2012 TBD Main role Awards[link]
Awards Award Award category Year Result Time Out Best Stand-Up 2006 Won[104] Loaded Laftas Best Stand-Up 2006 Won[105] British Comedy Awards Best Newcomer 2006 Won[106] 33rd Annual Television and Radio Awards Best Television Performer in a Non-Acting Role 2007 Won[107] British Comedy Awards Best Live Stand-Up 2008 Won[108] British Comedy Awards Outstanding Contribution to Comedy 2011 Won[109] Stand-up DVDs[link]
- Live (20 November 2006)
- Doing Life – Live (26 November 2007)
- Scandalous – Live At The O2 (9 November 2009)
- Live in New York City (21 November 2011)
References[link]
- ^ Nick Barratt. "Family Detective: Russell Brand". Daily Telegraph. 24 March 2007. Retrieved 20 September 2007.
- ^ a b "Laughing Matter: Comedy's New Legends". Vanity Fair. April 2009. http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2009/04/comedians-portfolio200904?slide=3. Retrieved 10 March 2009.
- ^ "Comedy, controversy and more comedy". Varsity. March 2010. http://www.varsity.co.uk/features/2183. Retrieved 17 August 2010.
- ^ a b Sawyer, Miranda (9 November 2008). "Brand on the run". The Observer: p. 17. http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/nov/09/russell-brand-sachsgate. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
- ^ Nick Barratt. "Family Detective: Russell Brand". Daily Telegraph. 24 March 2007. Retrieved 20 September 2007. This article gives his place of birth as "Thurrock". Thurrock is the unitary authority within which Grays is located.
- ^ Docklands24. "Author Interview: Russell Brand". Docklands24. http://www.docklands24.co.uk/content/docklands/whatson/story.aspx?brand=Docklands&category=whatsonbooks&tBrand=docklands&tCategory=zwhatson&itemid=WeED26%20Nov%202007%2017%3A19%3A51%3A887. Retrieved 31 May 2010.
- ^ Sean O'Neill Crime Editor. "Russell Brand: I'm a spiritual gent with a crazed lust for glamour". Entertainment.timesonline.co.uk. http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/stage/comedy/article4950820.ece. Retrieved 2012-01-17.
- ^ a b c d Sean O'Neill Crime Editor. "Relative values: Russell Brand and his mother, Barbara". Women.timesonline.co.uk. http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/the_way_we_live/article3074117.ece. Retrieved 2012-01-17.
- ^ "Russell Brand: A modern rake's progress". The Daily Mail (London). 23 June 2006. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-392247/Russell-Brand-A-modern-rakes-progress.html. Retrieved 31 May 2010.
- ^ Simon, Scott (14 March 2009). "A Comedian's Memoir Of Sex, Drugs And Stand-Up". Weekend Edition Saturday. National Public Radio. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=101881014. Retrieved 14 July 2009.
- ^ "Russell Brand – evolution of the 'Sex Insect'". The Daily Mail (London). 28 January 2007. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-431905/Russell-Brand--evolution-Sex-Insect.html. Retrieved 31 May 2010.
- ^ "Bound & Gagged Comedy Ltd". Agents-uk.com. http://www.agents-uk.com/agents/short_info/682. Retrieved 31 May 2010.
- ^ "Brand in first US comedy special". C21media.net. 19 February 2009. http://www.c21media.net/news/detail.asp?area=4&article=47727. Retrieved 31 May 2010.
- ^ "Russell Brand 2009 Tour Dates". Allgigs.co.uk. http://www.allgigs.co.uk/search/tourdates/52509/Russell_Brand-1.html. Retrieved 31 May 2010.
- ^ "Last Chance to see the Scandalous Tour". Russellbrand.tv. 9 October 2009. http://www.russellbrand.tv/2009/10/last-chance-to-see-the-scandalous-tour/. Retrieved 31 May 2010.
- ^ Brand, Russell (13 November 2007). "And then I became a junkie ...| By genre| Guardian Unlimited Books". The Guardian (UK). http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2007/nov/13/biography.drugsandalcohol. Retrieved 18 November 2007.
- ^ Brand quits Big Brother spin-off at BBC News
- ^ "Russell Brand speaks to the house". Digital Spy. UK. 8 January 2008. http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/bigbrothercelebrityhijack/a83754/russell-brand-speaks-to-the-house.html. Retrieved 31 May 2010.
- ^ "Primetime slots for comedians Hill and Brand". Digital Spy. UK. 9 November 2006. http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/programming/a39197/primetime-slots-for-comedians-hill-and-brand.html. Retrieved 31 May 2010.
- ^ "Brand and Ross to go head-to-head". BBC News. 9 November 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6133116.stm.
- ^ Barbara Ellen (18 June 2006). "Interview with Russell Brand | Media | The Observer". Guardian (London). http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2006/jun/18/broadcasting.arts. Retrieved 31 May 2010.
- ^ Russell Brand to host Brit Awards at BBC News
- ^ "Russell Brand to host MTV Awards". NME. UK. 24 July 2008. http://www.nme.com/news/russell-brand/38433. Retrieved 31 May 2010.
- ^ a b BBC – Brand makes controversial comments at MTV awards. BBC.co.uk. 8 September 2008.
- ^ Schmidt, Veronica. "Russell Brand calls George Bush a 'retard' at MTV awards." Times (London). 8 September 2008.
- ^ Reynolds, Simon. Brand apologises for Jonas Brother's VMA Gag. digitalspy.co.uk. 8 September 2008.
- ^ Russell Brand Gets Death Threats for Jokes on MTV . javno.com 22 October 2008
- ^ "Russell Brand to host 2009 MTV Video Music Awards?". Snarkerati.com. 10 September 2008. http://snarkerati.com/celebrity-gossip/russell-brand-to-host-2009-mtv-video-music-awards/. Retrieved 31 May 2010.
- ^ Ditzian, Eric (14 July 2009). "Russell Brand Returns To Host 2009 MTV Video Music Awards". Mtv. http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1616196/20090714/story.jhtml. Retrieved 31 May 2010.
- ^ Saskia Smith (16 September 2009). "Russell Brand Pashes Perry". Mtv.au. http://www.mtv.com.au/news/1c57abbd-russell-brand-pashes-perry/. Retrieved 31 May 2010.
- ^ "MTV's 2009 VMAs Pull Nine Million Viewers, Best Ratings Since '04". Rolling Stone. http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2009/09/15/mtvs-2009-vmas-pull-nine-million-viewers-best-ratings-since-04/. Retrieved 22 August 2010.
- ^ "Brand 'rejected for Peep Show role'". BBC Newsbeat. 16 April 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/hi/entertainment/newsid_7351000/7351096.stm. Retrieved 16 April 2008.
- ^ Stewart, Tony (11 August 2009). "3am Entertainment Gossip & Celebrity News". Daily Mirror. UK. http://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/tm_headline=russell-stars-in-sitcom&method=full&objectid=18095225&siteid=94762-name_page.html. Retrieved 31 May 2010.
- ^ "Forgetting Sarah Marshall – Russell Brand". Uncut.co.uk. http://www.uncut.co.uk/film/russell_brand/reviews/11447. Retrieved 31 May 2010.
- ^ "Russell Brand Tells Adam Sandler Bedtime Stories". http://www.reelzchannel.com/movie-news/1335/russell-brand-tells-adam-sandler-bedtime-stories. Retrieved 31 May 2010.
- ^ a b Siegel, Tatiana (2008-04-22). "Apatow, Stoller speak 'Greek'". Variety. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117984458.html?categoryid=13&cs=1. Retrieved 2012-01-17.
- ^ "Shakespeare Gets A Sex Change". Empire. http://www.empireonline.com/news/feed.asp?NID=23388. Retrieved 31 May 2010.
- ^ Claudia Puig (10 December 2010), "Shakespeare gets lost in 'Tempest'". USA Today.
- ^ McCarter, Jeremy (6 December 2010), "THE ONE...If You Need to Brush Up on Your Shakespeare". Newsweek. 156 (23):52–53
- ^ "Despicable Me (2010)". IMDb. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1323594/. Retrieved 18 December 2010.
- ^ "Box office: 'Hop' dominates Friday with $11.4 mil" 2 April 2011, IMDb
- ^ "Russell Brand's Arthur has a writer". Total Film. 26 February 2009. http://www.totalfilm.com/news/russell-brand-s-arthur-has-a-writer. Retrieved 31 May 2010.
- ^ "Brand to star in Drop Dead remake". BBC News. 29 April 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8024301.stm. Retrieved 31 May 2010.
- ^ "Bedtime Stories – Russell Brand interview". Indielondon.co.uk. http://www.indielondon.co.uk/Film-Review/bedtime-stories-russell-brand-interview. Retrieved 31 May 2010.
- ^ "Adam's own Brand of comedy". The Sun (London). 31 July 2008. http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/bizarre/article1492896.ece. Retrieved 31 May 2010.
- ^ "Russell Brand sets up production company". BBC (London). 10 August 2011. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-14473596. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
- ^ "Russell Brand's Faux Pas XFM Sacking". http://www.virginmedia.com/tvradio/galleries/comedy/russell-brand-live.php?ssid=5. Retrieved 28 July 2010.
- ^ "BBC Trust – Editorial Standards Findings: Russell Brand show, Radio 2, Chris Moyles show, Radio 1, Friday Night with Jonathan Ross" (PDF). http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/assets/files/pdf/appeals/esc_bulletins/2008/brand_ross_moyles.pdf. Retrieved 31 May 2010.
- ^ "Brand and Ross suspended by BBC". BBC website. 29 October 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7696714.stm. Retrieved 29 October 2008.
- ^ "29/10/08". BBC News. 29 October 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7698417.stm. Retrieved 31 May 2010.
- ^ "Timeline: Russell Brand prank calls". BBC. 30 October 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7694989.stm. Retrieved 31 October 2008.
- ^ BBC Fined for Lewd On-Air Pranks Yahoo News, 3 April 2009
- ^ Rosser, Michael (21 April 2009). "Brand and Gallagher boosts TalkSport traffic". Broadcastnow.co.uk. http://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/news/2009/04/brand_and_gallagher_boosts_talksport_traffic.html. Retrieved 31 May 2010.
- ^ "Russell Brand returning to radio". BBC News. 15 April 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8000785.stm. Retrieved 31 May 2010.
- ^ "Russell Brand to host TalkSport show". Digital Spy. 1 October 2010. http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/broadcasting/news/a279719/russell-brand-to-host-talksport-show.html. Retrieved 1 October 2010.
- ^ Irons in the Fire (Hardcover) at Amazon.com
- ^ Brand, Russell. Articles of Faith. amazon.co.uk.
- ^ A shot in the arm for Brand awareness, The Guardian review
- ^ "Brand: 'Book will be about philosophy'". Digital Spy. UK. 14 June 2008. http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/showbiz/a100146/brand-book-will-be-about-philosophy.html. Retrieved 31 May 2010.
- ^ "Brand signs £1.8 million book deal". Digital Spy. UK. 13 June 2008. http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/showbiz/a99844/brand-signs-gbp18-million-book-deal.html. Retrieved 31 May 2010.
- ^ The Guardian — Russell Brand: Big Brother isn't watching you, 11 August 2011
- ^ "Forgetting Sarah Marshall soundtrack". Hmv.com. http://hmv.com/hmvweb/displayProductDetails.do?ctx=280;-1;-1;-1&sku=797475. Retrieved 31 May 2010.
- ^ "Russell Brand: '3 Lions is emotional'". Digital Spy. UK. 14 May 2010. http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/music/news/a219820/russell-brand-3-lions-is-emotional.html. Retrieved 22 August 2010.
- ^ Georgina Littlejohn. "Russell Brand buys a £2.2million Los Angeles love-nest for him and Katy Perry for Christmas as he puts his London bachelor pad on the market". Dailymail.co.uk. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1238713/Russell-Brand-buys-2-2million-Los-Angeles-love-nest-Katy-Perry-Christmas-puts-London-bachelor-pad-market.html. Retrieved 2012-01-17.
- ^ a b Ellen, Barbara (18 June 2006). "Interview with Russell Brand". The Observer (UK). http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2006/jun/18/broadcasting.arts. Retrieved 14 April 2008.
- ^ I'm now vegan, goodbye eggs, hello Ellen.
- ^ "Russell Brand, Kristen Wiig Named PETA's Sexiest Vegetarians" 27 June 2011, USWeekly
- ^ Friday Night With Jonathan Ross – 12 May 2006
- ^ "Won over by an idiot who's interesting". Thecnj.com. 20 December 2007. http://www.thecnj.com/review/2007/122007/books122007_02.html?headline=Won_over_by_an_idiot_who%E2%80%99s_interesting. Retrieved 1 November 2010.
- ^ "How Russell Brand is flirting with his old enemy, self-harm". Evening Standard. UK. http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23580076-details/How+Russell+Brand+is+flirting+with+his+old+enemy,+self-harm/article.do. Retrieved 31 May 2010.
- ^ "Vaishnava blog feeds "Blog Archive" Russell Brand chants Hare Krishna mantra". Prabhupada.org. 22 February 1999. http://www.prabhupada.org/rama/?p=3648. Retrieved 22 August 2010.
- ^ "Russell Brand – Monday, October 18, 2010". Ellen.warnerbros.com. http://ellen.warnerbros.com/2010/10/russell_brand_-_monday_october_18_2010.php. Retrieved 1 November 2010.
- ^ "Video Clip of Brand on Ellen". Ellen.warnerbros.com. http://ellen.warnerbros.com/videos/?autoplay=true&mediaKey=1271ab8a-9878-4249-b6e0-304585b6aae9. Retrieved 1 November 2010.
- ^ "Russell Brand-ed a shagger". The Sun (London). 23 November 2006. http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/bizarre/article72363.ece. Retrieved 31 May 2010.
- ^ "Brand romps into his film role". The Sun (London). 6 February 2008. http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/bizarre/article766889.ece. Retrieved 31 May 2010.
- ^ "It's the Bizarre Awards 2008". The Sun (London). 30 December 2008. http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/bizarre/article2078096.ece. Retrieved 31 May 2010.
- ^ "Katy Perry Explains Why She Was Cut From 'Get Him To The Greek'". MTV. 5 June 2010. http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1640830/katy-perry-explains-why-was-cut-from-get-him-greek.jhtml. Retrieved 18 February 2012.
- ^ Ziegbe, Mawuse (4 September 2010). "Katy Perry, Russell Brand's Love Story Began At The VMAs – Music, Celebrity, Artist News". MTV. http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1647232/20100904/perry_katy.jhtml. Retrieved 1 November 2010.
- ^ "'You've met your match!' Katy Perry reveals how she tamed Russell Brand – by making him wait for sex". Daily Mail (London). 6 July 2010. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1291921/Katy-Perry-tamed-Russell-Brand-making-wait-sex.html.
- ^ Clench, James (3 October 2009). "Brand new lovers". The Sun (London). http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/bizarre/2666479/Lovebirds-Russell-Brand-and-Katy-Perry-pictured-for-first-time-on-date.html. Retrieved 1 November 2010.
- ^ "Russell Brand proposes to his American girlfriend Katy Perry". Hello Magazine. 6 January 2010. http://www.hellomagazine.com/celebrities/201001062689/russell-brand/katy-perry/engaged-wed/1/. Retrieved 6 January 2010.
- ^ "Katy Perry And Russell Brand: A Timeline Of Their Love". MTV. 6 January 2010. http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1629147/20100106/id_1962774.jhtml. Retrieved 1 September 2010.
- ^ "Katy Perry, Russell Brand Wed in Elaborate Indian Ceremony". US Magazine. 23 October 2010. http://www.usmagazine.com/celebritynews/news/katy-perry-russell-brand-tie-the-knot-20102310. Retrieved 1 November 2010.
- ^ Prithwish Ganguly (26 October 2010). "Katy affirms Brand loyalty". The Times of India. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hollywood/news-interviews/Katy-affirms-Brand-loyalty/articleshow/6808817.cms. Retrieved 1 November 2010.
- ^ Russell Brand and Katy Perry are getting a divorce, Sarah Anne Hughes, Washington Post, 30 December 2011 (retrieved 30 December 2011)
- ^ "Russell Brand files for divorce from Katy Perry". Bbc.co.uk. 2011-12-30. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-16369331. Retrieved 2012-01-17.
- ^ "Katy Perry, Russell Brand Finalize Divorce". Huffington Post. 2012-02-08. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/08/katy-perry-russell-brand-finalize-divorce_n_1264204.html. Retrieved 2012-02-18.
- ^ "We demand an end to the carnage in Gaza". Independent (London). 9 January 2009. http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/letters/letters-carnage-in-gaza-1242494.html. Retrieved 23 May 2010
- ^ "Stand up for Iran's Baha'is – Voices from the arts call for the imprisoned Baha'i leaders in Iran to receive a fair trial". The Times (London). 26 February 2009. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/letters/article5804284.ece. Retrieved 23 May 2010
- ^ O'Carroll, Isabelle (1 April 2009). "Brandish:Out and About". Brandish.tv. http://www.brandish.tv/2009/04/01/russell-brand-g20-summit-jefferson-hack.html. Retrieved 31 May 2010.
- ^ Watson, Leon (1 April 2009). "Brand joins the G20 protest". The Sun (London). http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article2354773.ece?OTC-RSS&ATTR=News. Retrieved 31 May 2010.
- ^ a b Fitzmaurice, Sarah (22 May 2011). "Russell Banned! Katy Perry left 'so sad' and alone after husband Brand deported from Japan due to criminal record". Daily Mail (London). http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1389683/Katy-Perry-left-sad-husband-Brand-deported-Japan-criminal-record.html?ito=feeds-newsxml. Retrieved 22 May 2011.
- ^ Ellen, Barbara. "Interview with Russell Brand: This charming man", The Observer, 18 June 2006.
- ^ Pleasance, Edinburgh, review by The Guardian.
- ^ Russell Brand on Heroin, except from My Booky-Wook at Time Out Sydney].
- ^ "Focus 12". Focus 12. 9 February 2010. http://www.focus12.co.uk/. Retrieved 31 May 2010.
- ^ "Russell Brand: Two stops short of Barking". Mailonsunday.co.uk. 15 August 2007. http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/moslive/article-471243/Russell-Brand-Two-stops-short-Barking.html. Retrieved 31 May 2010.
- ^ [1] "Transcendental Meditation has been incredibly valuable to me both in my recovery as a drug addict..", New York Times, Look Who's Meditating Now, Irina Aleksander, 18 March 2011, Retrieved 10 April 2011
- ^ Yahoo[dead link]
- ^ ""Russell Brand arrested after scuffle with paparazzi" - Press Trust of India". Movies.ndtv.com. 18 September 2010. http://movies.ndtv.com/movie_story.aspx?Section=Movies&ID=ENTEN20100153641&subcatg=MOVIESINDIA&keyword=hollywood&nid=53018. Retrieved 2012-01-17.
- ^ "Brand released from custody after altercation – Yahoo! News". News.yahoo.com. 19 September 2010. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100918/ap_on_en_mo/us_people_russell_brand_8. Retrieved 1 November 2010.
- ^ Jack, Andy (18 Septermber 2010). "Russell Brand Arrested In Paparazzi Scuffle". Sky News. http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Showbiz-News/British-Comedian-Russell-Brand-Arrested-In-Los-Angeles-With-After-Tussle-With-Paparazzi-Over-Perry/Article/201009315733824?lpos=Showbiz_News_First_Home_Article_Teaser_Region_1&lid=ARTICLE_15733824_British_Comedian_Russell_Brand_Arrested_In_Los_Angeles_With_After_Tussle_With_Paparazzi_Over_Perry. Retrieved 18 September 2010.
- ^ "Russell Brand arrested for damage done in iPhone snatch-and-hurl". Chicago Tribune. March 15, 2012. http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/sns-la-lanews-russell-brand-arrested-for-da-20120315,0,816098.story. Retrieved March 15, 2012.
- ^ 20th Time Out Live Awards Winners – Comedy by Time Out
- ^ "Loaded Laftas". Loaded.co.uk. 27 May 2010. http://www.loaded.co.uk/laftas. Retrieved 31 May 2010.
- ^ "Little Britain's big win". Evening Standard. UK. http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/showbiz/article-21205155-details/Little+Britain%27s+big+win/article.do. Retrieved 31 May 2010.
- ^ "Broadcasting Press Guild". Broadcasting Press Guild. http://www.broadcastingpressguild.org/. Retrieved 31 May 2010.
- ^ "Brand wins British Comedy Award". BBC News. 7 December 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7769652.stm. Retrieved 31 May 2010.
- ^ ""British Comedy Awards: Russell Brand pulls out last minute to visit friend in hospital"". Ok.co.uk. 2011-01-23. http://www.ok.co.uk/posts/view/31348/British-Comedy-Awards-Russell-Brand-pulls-out-last-minute-t. Retrieved 2012-01-17.
Further reading[link]
- Brand, Russell (2007). Irons in the Fire. London: Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 978-0-340-96136-0.
- Brand, Russell (2007). My Booky Wook. London: Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 978-0-340-93615-3.
- Brand, Russell (2008). Articles Of Faith. London: HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-00-729881-5.
- Brand, Russell (2010). Booky Wook 2: This time it's personal. London: HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-00-729882-2.
- Carey, Tanith (2007). Russell Brand. London: Michael O'Mara Books. ISBN 978-1-84317-240-6.
- Stone, Dave (2007). Russell Brand: Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know. London: John Blake Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84454-396-0.
External links[link]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Russell Brand 
Quotations related to Russell Brand at Wikiquote- Russell Brand Official website
- Russell Brand at the Internet Movie Database
- Sex, Anarchy and Russell Brand by Joy Press, Salon, 9 April 2009
- Russell Brand on sex, Sachs and self-improvement by Robert Crampton, The Times, 4 April 2009
- Russell Brand Talks, Love, Sex, Ambition and Revolution by Caroline Frost, Herald Sun, 27 March 2009
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More VideosWiki Summary1 Leicester Square is a British chatshow hosted by Russell Brand which ran from 2 April to 31 December 2006 on MTV UK. The show featured celebrity guests, musical entertainment and various asides featuring the presenter. The show was widely viewed as a vehicle for the comeback of Brand after his sacking from MTV in 2001.
The show begins with an announcer introducing Brand. Controversially, he was once introduced as being "bigger than Jesus" in reference to a misquoted claim by John Lennon claiming that The Beatles were bigger than Jesus. After entering Brand sits in a flamboyantly upholstered chair with a zebra fabric for the seat covering. He then introduces the musical act for the show and they will play a track. After this, an announcer will introduce the first guest (usually the biggest star) with a comically fabricated fact or anecdote about them. The guest will then be interviewed whilst they sit on a sofa next to Brand. After this interview, there is usually a commercial break.
After the break, Brand usually interviews the musical act that is on the show this week in another area of the studio. This is usually punctuated with a sketch and Daniel and Len's Video Review (see below). This interview is typically followed with another interview by Brand next to a mock bar with another celebrity. After this interview there is another commercial break.
- Episode 2: (#1.2)
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