Coordinates	°′″N°′″N
Name	Johnny Bright
Import	yes
Birth date	June 11, 1930
Birth place	Fort Wayne, Indiana
Death date	December 14, 1983
Death place	Edmonton, Alberta
Position1	Halfback
Position2	Linebacker
Number	24
Height ft	6
Height in	1
Weight lbs	217
College	Drake
High school	Central
Nfldraftedyear	1952
Nfldraftedround	1
Nfldraftedpick	5
Nfldraftedteam	Philadelphia Eagles
Career highlights	* Grey Cup champion (1954, 1955, 1956)
Awards	Eddie James Memorial Trophy Eddie James Memorial Trophy CFL MOP Eddie James Memorial Trophy
Honors	1983 - Edmonton Eskimos Wall of Honour
Records	Eskimos Records Most Rushing Yards – Career (9,966) Most Rushing Yards – Season (1,722) - 1958 Most 100-Yard Games – Career (36) Most 100-Yd Games – Season (9) - 1957
Retired #s	43 Drake University
Playing years	--
Playing teams	Calgary StampedersEdmonton Eskimos
Cfhof	brightjohnny
Cfhofyear	1970
Collegehof	50010
Statlabel1	Rushing
Statvalue1	1,969 (''Avg: 5.5 yards; TDs: 67'')
Statlabel2	Longest Rushing
Statvalue2	90
Statlabel3	Kickoff Returns
Statvalue3	29 (''Avg: 14.6 yards; TDs: 0'')
Statlabel4	Punt Returns
Statvalue4	7 (''Avg: 9.6 yards; TDs: 0'')
Statlabel5	Interceptions
Statvalue5	7 }}

Johnny D. Bright (June 11, 1930 – December 14, 1983) was a professional Canadian football player in the Canadian Football League. He played college football at Drake University. He is a member of the Canadian Football Hall of Fame, the National Football Foundation's College Football Hall of Fame, the Missouri Valley Conference Hall of Fame, the Edmonton Eskimos Wall of Honour, the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame, and the ''Des Moines Register's'' Iowa Sports Hall of Fame.

In 1951, Bright was named a First Team College Football All-American, and was awarded the Nils V. "Swede" Nelson Sportsmanship Award. In 1969, Bright was named Drake University's greatest football player of all time. Bright is the only Drake football player to have his jersey number (#43) retired by the school, and in June, 2006, received honorable mention from ''ESPN.com'' senior writer Ivan Maisel as one of the best college football players to ever wear #43. In February 2006, the football field at Drake Stadium, in Des Moines, Iowa, was named in his honor. In November 2006, Bright was voted one of the CFL's Top 50 players (#19) of the league's modern era by Canadian sports network TSN.

In addition to his outstanding professional and college football careers, Bright is perhaps best known for his role as the victim of an intentional, most likely racially motivated, on-field assault by an opposing college football player from Oklahoma A&M; (now Oklahoma State University) on October 20, 1951, that was captured in a widely disseminated and Pulitzer Prize winning photo sequence, and eventually came to be known as the "Johnny Bright Incident."

Early life

Born in Fort Wayne, Indiana on June 11, 1930, Bright was the second oldest of four brothers and a sister. Bright lived with his single mother, brothers, and sister, in a working class, predominantly African-American neighborhood in Fort Wayne.

Bright was a three-sport (football, basketball, track and field) star at Fort Wayne's Central High School. Bright, who also was an accomplished softball pitcher and boxer, led Central High's football team to a City title in 1945, and helped the basketball team to two state tournament Final Four appearances.

Beginning of college football career

Following his graduation from Central High in 1947, Bright initially accepted a football scholarship at Michigan State University, but, apparently unhappy with the direction of the Spartans football program, transferred to Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, where he accepted a track and field scholarship that allowed him to try out for the football and basketball squads. Bright eventually lettered in football, track, and basketball, during his collegiate career at Drake. In Bright's junior year, the halfback/quarterback rushed for 1,232 yards and passed for 1,168 yards, setting an NCAA record for total offense (2,400 yards) in 1950, and again lead the Bulldogs to a 6–2–1 record.

During the first seven minutes of the game, Bright had been knocked unconscious three times by blows from Oklahoma A&M; defensive tackle, Wilbanks Smith. While the final, elbow blow from Smith broke Bright's jaw, Bright was able to complete a 61-yard touchdown pass to halfback Jim Pilkington a few plays later before the injury finally forced Bright to leave the game. Bright finished the game with 75 yards (14 yards rushing and 61 yards passing), the first time he had finished a game with less than 100 yards in his three year collegiate career at Drake. Oklahoma A&M; eventually won the game 27-14.

Recalling the incident without apparent bitterness in a 1980 ''Des Moines Register'' interview three years before his death, Bright commented: }}

The "Johnny Bright Incident", as it became widely known, eventually provoked changes in NCAA football rules regarding illegal blocking, and mandated the use of more protective helmets with face guards.

Post-injury & end of college football career

Bright's jaw injury limited his effectiveness for the remainder of his senior season at Drake, but he finished his college career with 5,983 yards in total offense, averaging better than 236 yards per game in total offense, and scored 384 points in 25 games. As a senior, Bright earned 70 percent of the yards Drake gained and scored 70 percent of the Bulldogs' points, despite missing the better part of the final three games of the season.

Following his final football season at Drake (1951), Bright was named a First Team College Football All-American and finished fifth in the balloting for the 1951 Heisman Trophy. Bright was also awarded the Nils V. "Swede" Nelson Sportsmanship Award, and played in both the post-season East-West Shrine Game and the Hula Bowl.

In 1969, Bright was named Drake University's greatest football player of all time. He is also the only Drake football player to have his jersey number (#43) retired by the school. In June, 2006, Bright received honorable mention from ''ESPN.com'' senior writer Ivan Maisel as one of the best college football players to ever wear #43.

Professional football career

Bright was the first pick of the Philadelphia Eagles in the first round of the 1952 National Football League draft. Bright spurned the NFL, electing to play for the Calgary Stampeders of the Western Interprovincial Football Union, the precursor to the West Division of the Canadian Football League. Bright later commented: }}

Bright joined the Calgary Stampeders as a fullback/linebacker in 1952, leading the Stampeders and the WIFU in rushing with 815 yards his rookie season. Bright played fullback/linebacker with the Stampeders for the 1952, 1953, and part of the 1954 seasons. In 1954, the Calgary Stampeders traded him to the Edmonton Eskimos in mid-season. He would enjoy the most success of his professional football career as a member of the Eskimos.

Though Bright played strictly defense as a linebacker in his first year with the Eskimos, he played both offense (as a fullback) and defense for two seasons (1955–1956), and played offense permanently after that (1957–1964). He, along with teammates Rollie Miles, Normie Kwong, and Jackie Parker, helped lead the Eskimos to successive Grey Cup titles in 1954, 1955, and 1956 (where Bright rushed for a Grey Cup record 171 yards in a 50–27 win over the Montreal Alouettes). In 1957, He rushed for eight consecutive 100-yard games, finishing the season with 1,679 yards. In 1958, he rushed for 1,722 yards.}}

Bright retired in 1964 as the CFL's all-time leading rusher (Mike Pringle and George Reed have since surpassed him). Bright rushed for 10,909 yards in 13 seasons, had five consecutive 1,000 yard seasons, and led the CFL in rushing four times. While Bright is currently 15th on the All-Pro Rushing list, his career average of 5.5 yards per carry is the highest among 10,000+ yard rushers (Pro Football Hall of Famer Jim Brown is second at 5.2 yards per carry). putting his degree to use as a teacher, coach, and school administrator, both during and after his professional football career, eventually becoming the principal of D.S. Mackenzie Junior High School and Hillcrest Junior High School in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. He became a Canadian citizen in 1962. He was survived by his wife and four children.

Legacy

In February 2006, the football field at Drake Stadium, in Des Moines, Iowa, was named in Bright's honor.

In September 2010, Johnny Bright School, a kindergarten through grade 9 school, was named in Bright's honour, and opened in the Rutherford neighbourhood of Edmonton. The school was officially opened on September 15 by representatives of the school district and Alberta Education Minister Dave Hancock, and included tributes from Bright's family, several dignitaries, and former colleagues of Bright from his both his athletic and educational careers.

Videos

CFL Hall of Fame Member - Johnny Bright

Notes

External links

Alberta Sports Hall of Fame Profile - Johnny Bright

CFL Official Website - CFL Legends: Johnny Bright by Ted Soutar

College Football Hall of Fame Profile - Johnny Bright

''Des Moines Register'' Iowa Sports Hall of Fame Profile - Johnny Bright

Drake Heritage Collection - The Johnny Bright Story

Johnny Bright School official webpage

Category:1930 births Category:1983 deaths Category:African American players of Canadian football Category:American emigrants to Canada Category:American players of Canadian football Category:Calgary Stampeders players Category:Canadian educators Category:Canadian Football Hall of Fame inductees Category:Canadian Football League Most Outstanding Player Award winners Category:Canadian football linebackers Category:Canadian football running backs Category:College Football Hall of Fame inductees Category:Deaths from myocardial infarction Category:Drake Bulldogs football players Category:Drake Bulldogs men's basketball players Category:Drake University alumni Category:Edmonton Eskimos players Category:Grey Cup champions Category:People from Fort Wayne, Indiana Category:Violence in sports

Coordinates	°′″N°′″N
name	Johnny Nash
background	solo_singer
birth name	John Lester Nash, Jr.
birth date	August 19, 1940
origin	Houston, Texas, U.S.
genre	Pop, Reggae
occupation	Singer-songwriter, composer, actor
years active	1956–present
label	Epic Records, JAD Records
notable instruments	}}

John Lester "Johnny" Nash, Jr. (born August 19, 1940) is an American pop singer-songwriter, best known in the US for his 1972 hit, "I Can See Clearly Now". He was also the first non-Jamaican to record reggae music in Kingston, Jamaica.

Life and career

Born John Lester Nash, Jr. in Houston, Texas, He began as a pop singer in the 1950s. He also enjoyed success as an actor early in his career appearing in the screen version of playwright Louis S. Peterson's ''Take a Giant Step''. Nash won a Silver Sail Award for his performance from the Locarno International Film Festival.

In 1965, Johnny Nash and Danny Sims formed the JAD label in New York. One of the more interesting signings was four brothers from Newport, Rhode Island, ages 9, 11, 15 and 16, called The Cowsills. This was before The Cowsills signed with Mercury/Philips with Shelby Singleton and before they signed with MGM and had their first million selling hit single, "The Rain, The Park & Other Things". Nash had his writers writing songs for The Cowsills and they went into the studio in New York with studio musicians and recorded a number of songs like "Either You Do Or You Don't" and "You Can't Go Halfway". Eventually The Cowsills would write and record their own song, "All I Really Want To Be Is Me" which became the group's debut single release on JAD.

Besides "I Can See Clearly Now," Nash recorded several hits in Jamaica, where he travelled in early 1968, as his girlfriend had family links with local TV and radio host and novel writer Neville Willoughby. Nash planned to try breaking the local rocksteady sound in the United States. Willoughby introduced him to a local struggling vocal group, The Wailers. Members Bob Marley, Bunny Wailer and Peter Tosh introduced him to the local scene. Nash signed all three to an exclusive publishing and recording contract with his JAD label and financed some of their recordings, some with Byron Lee's Dragonaires and some with other local musicians such as Jackie Jackson and Lynn Taitt. None of the Marley and Tosh songs he produced were successful. Only two singles were released at the time: "Bend Down Low" (JAD 1968) and "Reggae on Broadway" (Columbia, 1972), which was recorded in London in 1972 on the same sessions that produced "I Can See Clearly Now." It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc by the R.I.A.A. in November 1972. The ''I Can See Clearly Now'' album includes four original Marley compositions published by JAD: "Guava Jelly", "Comma Comma", "You Poured Sugar On Me" and the follow-up hit "Stir It Up". "There Are More Questions Than Answers" was a third hit single taken from the album.

Nash was also active as a composer in the Swedish romance ''Vill så gärna tro'' (1971) in which he portrayed ''Robert''. The film soundtrack, partly instrumental reggae with strings, was co-composed by Bob Marley and arranged by Fred Jordan.

JAD Records ceased to exist in 1971, but it was revived in 1997 by American Marley specialist Roger Steffens and French musician and producer Bruno Blum for the "Complete Bob Marley & the Wailers 1967-1972" ten-album series for which several of the Nash-produced Marley and Tosh tracks were mixed or remixed by Blum for release. Nash's biggest hits were the early reggae (rocksteady) tunes "Hold Me Tight" (a #5 hit in the U.S. and the UK) and "Stir It Up", the latter written by Bob Marley prior to Marley's international success. In the UK, his biggest hit was with the song "Tears On My Pillow" which reached number one in the UK Singles Chart in July 1975 for one week.

After a hit version of Sam Cooke's "Wonderful World" and "Let’s Go Dancing" in 1979, for many years he seemed to have dropped out of sight, with the exception of a brief resurgence in the mid-1980s with the album ''Here Again'' (1986), which was preceded by the minor UK hit, "Rock Me Baby"; however, in May 2006 he was singing again at SugarHill Recording Studios and at Tierra Studios in his native Houston. Working with SugarHill chief engineer Andy Bradley and Tierra Studios' grammy-winning Randy Miller, he began the work of transferring analog tapes of his songs from the 1970s and 1980s to Pro Tools digital format.

Nash sang the opening theme to the 1960s Trans-Lux cartoon ''The Mighty Hercules''.

Selected discography

Chart singles

Year	Single	Chart Positions
		! width="40"	! width="40"	! width="40"
		23	-	-
		78	-	-
	29	-	-
	align="left"	43	-	-
		88	4	-
		-	35	-
		5	21	5
	58	46	6
	align="left"	39	-	6
		12	-	13
	1	38	5
	-	-	5
		77	-	-
		91	40	-
	-	38	-
	align="left"	-	-	1
		-	-	25
		-	74	-
	align="left"	-	-	47
		-	-	54

Albums

1958: ''Johnny Nash'' (Paramount)

1959: ''I Got Rhythm'' (Paramount)

1959: ''Quiet Hour'' (Paramount)

1960: ''Let's Get Lost'' (Paramount)

1961: ''Starring Johnny Nash'' (Paramount)

1964: ''Composer's Choice'' (Argo)

1968: ''Hold Me Tight'' (JAD)

1969: ''Prince of Peace'' (JAD)

1969: ''Let's Go Dancing'' (Epic)

1972: ''I Can See Clearly Now'' (Epic) # 39 UK

1973: ''My Merry-Go-Round'' (Epic US)

1974: ''Celebrate Life'' (Epic)

1975: ''Tears on My Pillow'' (CBS)

1977: ''What a Wonderful World'' (Epic)

1979: ''Let's Go Dancing'' (Epic)

1980: ''The Johnny Nash Album'' (CBS)

1986: ''Here Again'' (London)

Compilations

1977: ''Johnny Nash Collection'' # 18 UK

1981: ''Stir It Up''

1993: ''The Reggae Collection''

1996: ''The Best of Johnny Nash''

References

External links

Classicbands.com biography

"I Can See Clearly Now" song trivia

1973 TV appearance - "I Can See Clearly Now"

Category:1940 births Category:Living people Category:American pop singers Category:African American singers Category:Musicians from Houston, Texas Category:Musicians from Texas Category:Groove Records artists Category:Epic Records artists

de:Johnny Nash fa:جانی نش fr:Johnny Nash ko:조니 내시 it:Johnny Nash ht:Johnny Nash nl:Johnny Nash pt:Johnny Nash simple:Johnny Nash sv:Johnny Nash

Coordinates	°′″N°′″N
birth date	June 09, 1963
birth place	Owensboro, Kentucky, U.S.
birth name	John Christopher Depp II
spouse	Lori Anne Allison (1983–1986)
partner	Sherilyn Fenn (1985–1988)Winona Ryder (1989–1993)Kate Moss (1994–1998)Vanessa Paradis (1998–present)
children	Lily-Rose Melody Depp (born 1999)John Christopher "Jack" Depp III (born 2002)
years active	1984–present
occupation	Actor, screenwriter, director, producer, musician }}

John Christopher "Johnny" Depp II (born June 9, 1963) is an American actor and musician. He has won the Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild award for Best Actor. Depp rose to prominence on the 1980s television series ''21 Jump Street'', becoming a teen idol. Turning to film, he played the title character of ''Edward Scissorhands'' (1990), and later found box office success in films such as ''Sleepy Hollow'' (1999), ''Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'' (2005), ''Rango'' (2011), and the ''Pirates of the Caribbean'' film series (2003–present). He has collaborated with director and friend Tim Burton in seven films, their most recent collaboration being ''Alice in Wonderland'' (2010).

Depp has gained acclaim for his portrayals of people such as Edward D. Wood, Jr., in ''Ed Wood'', Joseph D. Pistone in ''Donnie Brasco'', Hunter S. Thompson in ''Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas'', George Jung in ''Blow'', and the bank robber John Dillinger in Michael Mann's ''Public Enemies''. Films featuring Depp have grossed over $3.1 billion at the United States box office and over $7.6 billion worldwide. He has been nominated for top awards many times, winning the Best Actor Awards from the Golden Globes for ''Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street'' and from the Screen Actors Guild for ''Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl''. He also has garnered a sex symbol status in American cinema, being twice named as the Sexiest man alive by People magazine in 2003 and 2009.

Early life

Childhood

Depp was born in Owensboro, Kentucky, the son of John Christopher Depp, Sr., a civil engineer, and his wife, the former Betty Sue Wells, a waitress. He has one brother, Daniel, who is a novelist, and two sisters, Christie (now his personal manager) and Debbie. The Depp family in the United States began with a French Huguenot immigrant, Pierre Deppe or Dieppe, who settled in Virginia around 1700, part of a refugee colony situated above the falls on the James River. The actor has also surmised that he is part Native American, saying in 2011, "I guess I have some Native American [in me] somewhere down the line. My great-grandmother was quite a bit of Native American, she grew up Cherokee or maybe Creek Indian. Makes sense in terms of coming from Kentucky, which is rife with Cherokee and Creek." More recently a hereditary connection between Depp and Queen Elizabeth II was discovered possibly making him her twentieth cousin.

The family moved frequently during Depp's childhood, and he and his siblings lived in more than 20 different locations, settling in Miramar, Florida, in 1970. In 1978, Depp's parents divorced. His mother married, as her second husband, Robert Palmer (died 2000), whom Depp called "an inspiration to me". He engaged in self-harm as a child, due to the stress of dealing with family problems. He has seven or eight self-inflicted scars. In a 1993 interview, he explained his self-injury by saying, "My body is a journal in a way. It's like what sailors used to do, where every tattoo meant something, a specific time in your life when you make a mark on yourself, whether you do it yourself with a knife or with a professional tattoo artist".

1980s

With the gift of a guitar from his mother when he was twelve, Depp began playing in various garage bands. His first band was in honor of his girlfriend, Meredith. A year after his parents' divorce, Depp dropped out of high school to become a rock musician. He attempted to go back to school two weeks later, but the principal told him to follow his dream of being a musician. He played with The Kids, a band that enjoyed modest local success. The Kids set out together for Los Angeles in pursuit of a record deal, changing their name to Six Gun Method, but the group split up before signing a record deal. Depp subsequently collaborated with the band Rock City Angels and co-wrote their song "Mary", which appeared on Rock City Angels' debut for Geffen Records titled ''Young Man's Blues''.

On December 24, 1983, Depp married Lori Anne Allison, a makeup artist and sister of his band's bass player and singer. During Depp's marriage, his wife worked as a makeup artist, while he worked a variety of odd jobs, including a telemarketer for pens. His wife introduced him to actor Nicolas Cage, who advised Depp to pursue an acting career. Depp and his wife divorced in 1985. Depp later dated and was engaged to actress Sherilyn Fenn (whom he met on the set of the 1985 short film ''Dummies''). Both Fenn and Depp auditioned for the 1986 film ''Thrashin''' and they were both cast, with Depp being chosen by the film's director to star as the lead, which would have been Depp's second major role. Depp was later turned down by the film's producer, who rejected the director's decision.

Career

Television

Depp starred in a lead role on the Fox television series, ''21 Jump Street'', which premiered in 1987. Depp accepted this role to work with actor Frederic Forrest, who inspired him. Depp's long time friend Sal Jenco joined the cast as a semi-co-star as the janitor named Blowfish. The series' success turned Depp into a popular teen idol during the late 1980s. He felt "forced into the role of product." Depp decided to appear only in films that he felt were right for him.

Film roles

Depp's first major role was in the 1984 classic horror film ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'', playing the boyfriend of the heroine, Nancy Thompson (played by Heather Langenkamp) and one of Freddy Krueger's victims. Depp was the first choice and was cast to star in the 1986 American skater drama film ''Thrashin''', chosen and cast by the director but ultimately rejected by the film's producer. In 1986, he appeared in a secondary role as a Vietnamese-speaking private in Oliver Stone's ''Platoon''. In 1990, he undertook the quirky title role of the Tim Burton film, ''Edward Scissorhands''. The film's success began his long association with Burton.

Depp, a fan and long-time friend of writer Hunter S. Thompson, played a version of Thompson (named Raoul Duke) in 1998's ''Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas'', based on the writer's pseudobiographical novel of the same name. Depp accompanied Thompson as his road manager on one of the author's last book tours. In 2006, Depp contributed a foreword to ''Gonzo: Photographs by Hunter S. Thompson'', a posthumous biography published by ammobooks.com. In 2008, he narrated the documentary film ''Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson''. Depp paid for most of Thompson's memorial event, complete with fireworks and the shooting of Thompson's ashes by a cannon, in Aspen, Colorado, where Thompson lived. He returned to Thompson's work with a film adaptation of the novel ''The Rum Diary'', released in 2011.

Critics have described Depp's roles as characters who are "iconic loners." Depp has noted this period of his career was full of "studio defined failures" and films that were "box office poison," but he thought the studios never understood the films and did not do a good job of marketing. Depp has chosen roles which he found interesting, rather than those he thought would succeed at the box office. The 2003 Walt Disney Pictures film ''Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl'' was a major success, in which Depp's performance as the suave pirate Captain Jack Sparrow was highly praised. Studio bosses were more ambivalent at first, but the character became popular with the movie-going public. According to a survey taken by Fandango, Depp was a major draw for audiences. The film's director, Gore Verbinski, has said that Depp's character closely resembles the actor's personality, but Depp said he modeled the character after Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards. Depp was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for the role.

In 2004, he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor, for playing Scottish author J. M. Barrie in the film ''Finding Neverland''. Depp next starred as Willy Wonka in the 2005 film ''Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'', a major success at the box office and earning him a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy.

Depp returned to the role of Jack Sparrow for the sequel ''Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest'', which opened on July 7, 2006 and grossed $135.5 million in the first three days of its U.S. release, breaking a box office record of the highest weekend tally. The next sequel to ''Pirates of the Caribbean'', ''At World's End'', was released May 24, 2007. Depp has said that Sparrow is "definitely a big part of me", and he wants to play the role in further sequels. Depp voiced Sparrow in the video game, ''Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of Jack Sparrow''. Johnny Depp's swashbuckling sword talents as developed for the character of Jack Sparrow, were highlighted in the documentary film ''Reclaiming the Blade''. Within the film, Swordmaster Bob Anderson shared his experiences working with Depp on the choreography for ''The Curse of the Black Pearl''. Anderson described in the film Depp's ability as an actor to pick up the sword to be "about as good as you can get."

Depp and Gore Verbinski were executive producers of the album ''Rogues Gallery, Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs and Chanteys.'' Depp played the title role of Sweeney Todd in Tim Burton's film adaptation of the musical, for which he won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. Depp thanked the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and praised Tim Burton for his "unwavering trust and support."

Depp played the former Heath Ledger character in the 2009 film, ''The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus'' along with Jude Law and Colin Farrell. All three actors gave their salaries from the film to Ledger's daughter, Matilda. He portrayed the Mad Hatter in Burton's ''Alice in Wonderland'', and the titular character in ''Rango''.

Future roles

Depp will appear in a film version of writer Hunter S. Thompson's book, ''The Rum Diary'', portraying the main character, Paul Kemp. In 2007, Depp accepted Warner Bros.' proposal to make a film of the gothic soap opera ''Dark Shadows'', a series that aired on ABC from 1966 to 1971. He had been a fan as a child. Depp and Graham King will produce the movie with David Kennedy, who ran Dan Curtis Productions inc. until Curtis died in 2006. Depp will also produce ''Hugo'', based on the novel ''The Invention of Hugo Cabret'', film a documentary about Keith Richards, and have a cameo appearance in ''Jack & Jill''. Depp will make a cameo appearance in a film adaptation of ''21 Jump Street'', the show he starred in during the late 1980s. Depp will star in and produce an adaptation of the comic book ''Rex Mundi''. Depp will collaborate with ''Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides'' director Rob Marshall again to create a remake of ''The Thin Man''. Depp also showed interest in starring in the next ''Sin City'' films, with Robert Rodriguez wanting him to star as Wallace. Depp was going to star as Tonto in an upcoming ''Lone Ranger'' film, but the project has currently been shelved due to budgetary concerns as well as a lack-lustre response to a recently-released Western-genre film (''Cowboys & Aliens''). Depp plans to star as Carl Kolchak in the project ''Night Stalker'', and has bought rights to the comic book ''The Vault''.

Collaboration with Tim Burton

Depp has collaborated with director and close friend Tim Burton in seven films, beginning with ''Edward Scissorhands'' (1990), opposite Winona Ryder and Vincent Price. His next role with Burton was in the 1994 film, ''Ed Wood''. Depp later said that "within 10 minutes of hearing about the project, I was committed." At the time, the actor was depressed about films and filmmaking. This part gave him a "chance to stretch out and have some fun"; he said working with Landau "rejuvenated my love for acting".

Depp did not work with Burton again until 2005 in ''Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'', in which he played Willy Wonka. Depp modeled the character's hair on Anna Wintour. The film was a box office success and received positive critical reception. Gene Wilder, who played Willy Wonka in the 1971 film, initially criticized this version. ''Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'' was released in July, followed by ''Corpse Bride'', for which Depp voiced the character Victor Van Dort, in September.

''Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street'' (2007) followed, bringing Depp his second major award win, the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy as well as his third nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor. Burton first gave him an original cast recording of the 1979 stage musical in 2000. Although not a fan of the musical genre, Depp grew to like the tale's treatment. He cited Peter Lorre in ''Mad Love'' (1935) as his main influence for the role, and practiced the songs his character would perform while filming ''Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End''. Although he had performed in musical groups, Depp was initially unsure that he would be able to sustain Stephen Sondheim's lyrics. Depp recorded demos and worked with Bruce Witkin to shape his vocals without a qualified voice coach. In the ''DVD Reviews'' section, ''Entertainment Weekly'''s Chris Nashawaty gave the film an A minus, stating, "Depp's soaring voice makes you wonder what other tricks he's been hiding... Watching Depp's barber wield his razors... it's hard not to be reminded of ''Edward Scissorhands'' frantically shaping hedges into animal topiaries 18 years ago... and all of the twisted beauty we would've missed out on had [Burton and Depp] never met." In his introduction to ''Burton on Burton'', a book of interviews with the director, Depp called Burton "...a brother, a friend,...and [a] brave soul". The next Depp-Burton collaboration was ''Alice in Wonderland'' (2010). Depp played the Mad Hatter alongside Helena Bonham Carter, Anne Hathaway and Alan Rickman.

Production company

In 2004, Depp formed his production company Infinitum Nihil to develop projects where he will serve as actor and/or producer. Depp is the founder and CEO, while his sister, Christi Dembrowski, serves as president. The company's first production came in 2011 with ''The Rum Diary'', adapted from the novel of the same name by Hunter S. Thompson. The film is written and directed by Bruce Robinson. Also in 2011, ''Hugo'', directed by Martin Scorsese, was released. In 2012, they will release ''Dark Shadows'', directed by Tim Burton.

Other interests

Music

As a guitar player, Depp has played slide guitar on the Oasis song "Fade In-Out" (from ''Be Here Now,'' 1997), as well as on "Fade Away (Warchild Version)" (b-side of the "Don't Go Away" single). He also played acoustic guitar in the movie ''Chocolat'' and on the soundtrack to ''Once Upon a Time in Mexico.'' He is a friend of The Pogues' Shane MacGowan, and performed on MacGowan's first solo album. He was also a member of P, a group featuring Butthole Surfers singer Gibby Haynes, Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea and Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones. He has appeared in Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers' music video "Into the Great Wide Open". He made a cameo as the Mad Hatter in the music video for Avril Lavigne's "Alice" in 2010.

Winemaker and restaurateur

Depp and Paradis grow grapes and have wine making facilities in their vineyard in Plan-de-la-Tour north of Saint-Tropez. He is known for a fondness of French wines: among Depp's favorites are the Bordeaux wines Château Calon-Ségur, Château Cheval Blanc and Château Pétrus, and the Burgundy wine Domaine de la Romanée-Conti. Interviewed in ''Madame Figaro'', he stated, "With those wines, you reach nirvana". Along with Sean Penn, John Malkovich and Mick Hucknall, Depp co-owned the Parisian restaurant-bar Man Ray, located near the Champs-Élysées.

Personal life

Family and relationships

Depp was engaged to actress Winona Ryder for three years beginning in July 1990. They met at the ''Great Balls of Fire!'' premiere in June 1989; two months later they began dating. The relationship was highly publicized and received much scrutiny by the media and tabloid press.

Since 1998, following a four year relationship with British supermodel Kate Moss, Depp has had a relationship with Vanessa Paradis, a French actress and singer whom he met while filming ''The Ninth Gate''.

The couple have two children. Daughter Lily-Rose Melody Depp was born May 27, 1999, and son John "Jack" Christopher Depp III was born April 9, 2002. To thank Great Ormond Street Hospital, Depp visited the hospital in November 2007 dressed in his Captain Jack Sparrow outfit and spent 4 hours reading stories to the children. In 2008 he donated £1 million (about $2 million) to the hospital.

Although Depp has not remarried, he has stated that having children has given him "real foundation, a real strong place to stand in life, in work, in everything." "You can't plan the kind of deep love that results in children. Fatherhood was not a conscious decision. It was part of the wonderful ride I was on. It was destiny; kismet. All the math finally worked." The family divides its time between their home in Meudon, located in the suburbs of Paris, Los Angeles, an island he bought in The Bahamas, and their villa in Le Plan-de-la-Tour, a small town 20 km from Saint-Tropez, in the south of France. Depp also acquired a vineyard estate in the Plan-de-la-Tour area in 2007.

Legal issues

In 1994, Depp was arrested and questioned by police for allegedly causing serious damage to a New York City hotel suite.

He was arrested again in 1999 for brawling with paparazzi outside a restaurant while dining in London with Paradis.

Tattoos

Depp has around 13 tattoos, many of them signifying important persons or events in his life. They include a Native American in profile and a ribbon reading "Wino Forever" (originally "Winona Forever", altered after his breakup with Winona Ryder) on his right biceps, "Lily-Rose" (his daughter's name) over his heart, "Betty Sue" (his mother's name) on his left biceps, and a sparrow flying over water with the word "Jack" (his son's name; the sparrow is flying towards him rather than away from him as it is in ''Pirates of the Caribbean'') on his right forearm.

Unannounced appearance on set

On October 8, 2010, Depp made an unannounced appearance at a London Primary School near where he was filming scenes for ''Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides''. He turned up dressed as his character Jack Sparrow after receiving a letter from a pupil asking for his help with a class mutiny.

Controversy

Comments on U.S.

In 2003, Depp's comments about the United States appeared in Germany's ''Stern'' magazine: "America is dumb, is something like a dumb puppy that has big teeth — that can bite and hurt you, aggressive." Although he later asserted that the magazine misquoted him and the quotation was taken out of context, Stern stood by its story, as did CNN.com in its coverage of the interview. CNN added his remark that he would like his children "to see America as a toy, a broken toy. Investigate it a little, check it out, get this feeling and then get out." The July 17, 2006 edition of ''Newsweek'' reprinted the "dumb puppy" quotation, verbatim, in the context of a Letter to the Magazine. Depp has also disagreed with subsequent media reports that he says paint him as a "European wannabe", saying that he likes the anonymity of living in France and his simpler life there.

Awards and nominations

Some of the awards that Depp has won include honors from the London Film Critics Circle (1996), Russian Guild of Film Critics (1998), Screen Actors Guild Awards (2004) and a Golden Globe for Best Actor. At the 2008 MTV Movie Awards, he won the award for "Best Villain" for his portrayal of Sweeney Todd and "Best Comedic Performance" for Jack Sparrow. Depp has been nominated for three Academy Awards, in 2004 for ''Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl'', in 2005 for ''Finding Neverland'', and in 2008 for ''Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street''. Depp won his first Golden Globe for his portrayal of Sweeney Todd in 2008.

Filmography

+
! Year	! Title	! Role	Notes	! Budget	! Gross
1984	''''			$1.8 million	$25,504,513
1985	''Private Resort''	Jack Marshall		N/A	$331,816
1986		Specialist Gator Lerner		$6 million	$138,530,565
1990	''Cry-Baby''	Wade "Cry-Baby" Walker		$12 million	$8,266,343
1990	''Edward Scissorhands''	Edward Scissorhands	Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy	$20 million	$86,024,005
1991	''Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare''	Teen on TV	Cameo (as Oprah Noodlemantra)	$11 million	$34,872,033
1993	''What's Eating Gilbert Grape''	Gilbert Grape		$11 million	$10,032,765
1993	''Benny & Joon''	Sam	Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy	N/A	$23,261,580
1993	''Arizona Dream''	Axel Blackmar		N/A	$112,547
1994		Edward D. Wood, Jr.	London Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor also for ''Don Juan DeMarco''Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy	$18 million	$5,887,457
1995		Gene Watson		N/A	$8,175,346
1995	''Dead Man''	William Blake		$9 million	$1,037,847
1995	''Don Juan DeMarco''	Don Juan/John R. DeMarco		$25 million	$68,792,531
1996		Himself		N/A	N/A
1997		Donnie Brasco/Joseph D. Pistone		$35 million	$124,909,762
1997	''''	Raphael	Nominated—Best Actor Award (Cannes Film Festival)	N/A	N/A
1998		Raoul Duke	playing Hunter S. Thompson	$18.5 million	$10,680,275
1998	''L.A. Without a Map''	Himself/William Blake	Cameo	N/A	N/A
1999		Ichabod Crane	Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or ComedyNominated—Saturn Award for Best Actor	$70 million	$206,071,502
1999	''''	Spencer Armacost		$75 million	$19,598,588
1999	''''	Dean Corso		$38 million	$58,401,898
2000		Roux	Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture	$25 million	$152,699,946
2000		Lt. Victor, Bon Bon		N/A	$8,527,517
2001		Frederick Abberline	Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Actor	$35 million	$74,558,115
2000	''''	Cesar	(Limited release)		$1,790,840
2001		George Jung		$53 million	$83,282,296
2003	''Once Upon a Time in Mexico''	Sheldon Sands	Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture	$29 million	$98,185,582
2003	''Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl''		Empire Award for Best ActorIrish Film Award for Best International ActorScreen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading RoleNominated—Academy Award for Best ActorNominated—BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading RoleNominated—Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best ActorNominated—Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best ActorNominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or ComedyNominated—Online Film Critics Society Award for Best ActorNominated—Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best ActorNominated—Satellite Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or ComedyNominated—Saturn Award for Best ActorNominated—Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor	$140 million	$654,264,015
2004		L'inconnu	Cameo	N/A	$6,204,504
2004	''Finding Neverland''	J. M. Barrie		$25 million	$118,676,606
2004	''Secret Window''	Mort Rainey		$40 million	$92,913,171
2004	''''	John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester		$20 million	$10,852,064
2005		Willy Wonka	Sony Ericsson Empire Awards	$150 million	$474,968,763
2005	''[[Corpse Bride''			$40 million	$117,195,061
2006	''Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest''	Captain Jack Sparrow	Sony Ericsson Empire Awards	$225 million	$1,066,179,725
2007	''[[Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End''	Captain Jack Sparrow	Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Male Movie StarMTV Movie Award for Best Comedic PerformanceRembrandt Award for Best International ActorNominated—National Movie Award for Best Performance by a MaleNominated—Teen Choice Award for Best Action Adventure Actor	$300 million	$963,420,425
2007		Sweeney Todd/Benjamin Barker		$50 million	$152,523,164
2009		John Dillinger	Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama	$100 million	$214,104,620
2009	''''	Tony (1st transformation)	Shared role with Colin Farrell and Jude Law after the death of Heath Ledger	$30 million	$61,808,775
2010		Mad Hatter	Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or ComedyNominated—MTV Movie Award for Global SuperstarNominated—National Movie Award for Best PerformanceNominated—Teen Choice Award for Best Fantasy Actor	$200 million	$1,024,299,904
2010	''''	Frank Tupelo/Alexander Pearce		$100 million	$278,346,189
2011		Rango	Voice acting	$135 million	$242,605,737
2011	''[[Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides''	Captain Jack Sparrow		$250 million	$1,032,828,392
2011	''''	Paul Kemp	post-production	$65 million
2011			Cameopost-production
2012			Cameopost-production
2012		Barnabas Collins	filming

+ Producer
! Year	! Title	Notes
2011		post-production
2011		post-production
2012		filming

+ Director
! Year	! Title	Notes
1992		short film
1997	''The Brave''
2012	''Keith Richards Documentary''	filming

+ Writer
! Year	! Title
1997	''The Brave''

+ Documentary
! Year	! Title	! Role	Notes
1999		Jack Kerouac
2002	''Lost in La Mancha''	Himself	Uncredited role
2006	''Deep Sea 3D''	Narrator
2007		Himself
2008	''Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson''	Narrator
2010	''When You're Strange''	Narrator

+ Music
! Year	! Title	Songs
2000		"Minor Swing","They're Red Hot","Caravan"
2003	''Once Upon a Time in Mexico''	"Sands' Theme"
2007		"No Place Like London","My Friends","Pirelli's Miracle Elixir","Pretty Women","Epiphany","A Little Priest","Johanna (Act II)","By The Sea","The Judge's Return","Final Scene (Part 1)","Final Scene (Part 2)"

+ Television
Year	! Production	! Role	Notes
1985		Lionel Viland	Episode: "Beasts of Prey"
1986		Donnie Fleischer	TV film
1987–1991	''21 Jump Street''	Officer Thomas "Tom" Hanson, Jr.	TV series (57 episodes)
1987		Rob Cameron	Episode: "Unfinished Business"
1999	''The Vicar of Dibley''	Himself	Episode: "Celebrity Party"
2000	''The Fast Show''	Himself	Episode: "The Last Ever Fast Show"
2004	''King of the Hill''	Yogi Victor (voice)
2009	''SpongeBob SquarePants''	Jack Kahuna Laguna (voice)	Episode: "SpongeBob vs. The Big One"

References

Bibliography

External links

Category:1963 births Category:20th-century actors Category:21st-century actors Category:Actors from Florida Category:Actors from Kentucky Category:American expatriates in France Category:American film actors Category:American film directors Category:American film producers Category:American people of French descent Category:American television actors Category:American voice actors Category:Best Musical or Comedy Actor Golden Globe (film) winners Category:Living people Category:People from Owensboro, Kentucky Category:People of Huguenot descent

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Coordinates	°′″N°′″N
Name	Warren Zevon
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Warren William Zevon
Alias	Sandy ZevonStephen Lyme
Birth date	January 24, 1947
Birth place	Chicago, Illinois, United States
Death date	September 07, 2003
Death place	Los Angeles, California, United States
Instrument	Vocals, guitar, piano, harmonica
Genre	Rock, country, folk, Americana
Occupation	Singer-songwriter, musician
Years active	1965–2003
Label	White Whale, Imperial, Asylum, Virgin, Giant, Reprise, Warner Bros., Artemis, Koch Entertainment
Associated acts	CBS Orchestra, Billy Bob Thornton, Jackson Browne, David Lindley, Waddy Wachtel, Bruce Springsteen, Dwight Yoakam, Hindu Love Gods, Linda Ronstadt, The Everly Brothers, Don Everly, Phil Everly, Richie Hayward, Jack Casady, Chick Corea, Jerry Garcia, David Gilmour, Neil Young, Don Henley, Timothy B. Schmit, Bob Dylan, Joe Walsh, Emmylou Harris, Tom Petty, The Eagles, R.E.M., Manfred Mann, The Turtles, lyme and cybelle, Rock Bottom Remainders
Website
Past members	}}

Warren William Zevon (January 24, 1947 – September 7, 2003) was an American rock singer-songwriter and musician noted for including his sometimes sardonic opinions of life in his musical lyrics, composing songs that were sometimes humorous and often had political or historical themes.

Zevon's work has often been praised by well-known musicians, including Jackson Browne, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, and Neil Young. His best-known compositions include "Werewolves of London", "Lawyers, Guns and Money", "Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner" and "Johnny Strikes Up The Band," all of which are featured on his third album, ''Excitable Boy'' (1978). Other well-known songs written by Zevon have been recorded by other artists, including "Poor Poor Pitiful Me" (a top 40 hit by Linda Ronstadt), "Accidentally Like a Martyr," "Mohammed's Radio", "Carmelita", and "Hasten Down the Wind".

Along with his own compositions, Zevon recorded or performed occasional covers, including Bob Dylan's "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" and Leonard Cohen's "First We Take Manhattan". He was a frequent guest on ''Late Night with David Letterman'' and ''The Late Show with David Letterman''. Letterman later performed guest vocals on "Hit Somebody! (The Hockey Song)" with Paul Shaffer and members of the CBS Orchestra.

Early life

Zevon was born in Chicago, Illinois to William Zevon and Beverly Cope Simmons. His father was born in Russia, and their original surname was "Zivotovsky". They soon moved to Fresno, California. By the age of 13, Zevon was an occasional visitor to the home of Igor Stravinsky where he, alongside Robert Craft, briefly studied modern classical music. Zevon's parents divorced when he was 16 years old and he soon quit high school and moved from Los Angeles to New York to become a folk singer.

Zevon turned to a musical career early, including a stretch with high school friend Violet Santangelo as a musical duo called lyme & cybelle (exercising artistic license, the band name eschewed capitalization). He spent time as a session musician and jingle composer. He wrote several songs for his White Whale label-mates the Turtles ("Like the Seasons" and "Outside Chance"), though his participation in their recording is unknown. Another early composition ("She Quit Me") was included in the soundtrack for the film ''Midnight Cowboy'' (1969). To suit its place in the film, the song was re-recorded as the female-centric "He Quit Me." Zevon's first attempt at a solo album, ''Wanted Dead or Alive'' (1969), was produced by 1960s cult figure Kim Fowley but did not sell well. Flashes of Zevon's later writing preoccupations of romantic loss and noir-ish violence are present in songs like "Tule's Blues" and "A Bullet for Ramona". Zevon's second effort, ''Leaf in the Wind'', was called by his son, Jordan, "A bullshit money grab by the label". During the early 1970s, Zevon toured regularly with the Everly Brothers as keyboard player and band leader/musical coordinator.

Later during the same decade he toured and recorded with Don Everly and Phil Everly, separately, as they tried to launch solo careers after their break-up. His dissatisfaction with his career (and a lack of funds) led him to move to Spain in the summer of 1975, where he lived and played in a small tavern in Sitges near Barcelona owned by David Lindell, a former mercenary. Together they composed Zevon's classic "Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner".

Return to L.A. and major-label debut

By September 1975, Zevon had returned to Los Angeles, where he roomed with then-unknown Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham. There, he collaborated with Jackson Browne, who in 1976 produced and promote Zevon's self-titled major-label debut. Contributors to this album included Nicks, Buckingham, Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, members of the Eagles, Linda Ronstadt, and Bonnie Raitt. Ronstadt elected to record many of his songs, including "Hasten Down the Wind," "Carmelita", "Poor Poor Pitiful Me", and "Mohammed's Radio." Zevon's first tour in 1977 included guest appearances in the middle of Jackson Browne concerts, one of which is documented on a widely circulated bootleg recording of a Dutch radio program under the title ''The Offender meets the Pretender.''

Though a much darker and more ironic songwriter than Browne and other leading figures of the era's L.A.-based singer-songwriter movement, Zevon shared with his 1970s L.A. peers a grounding in earlier folk and country influences and a commitment to a writerly style of songcraft with roots in the work of artists like Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell. Though only a modest commercial success, the Browne-produced ''Warren Zevon'' (1976) would later be termed a masterpiece in the first edition of the ''Rolling Stone Record Guide'' and is cited in the book's most recently revised (November 2004) edition as Zevon's most realized work. Representative tracks include the junkie's lament "Carmelita," the Copland-esque outlaw ballad "Frank and Jesse James," "The French Inhaler," a scathing insider's look at life and lust in the L.A. music business( which was, in fact about his first wife and mother to his son Jordan) and "Desperados Under the Eaves", a chronicle of Zevon's increasing alcoholism.

Success

In 1978, Zevon released ''Excitable Boy'' (produced by Jackson Browne and guitarist Waddy Wachtel) to critical acclaim and popular success. The title tune (about a juvenile sociopath's murderous prom night) name-checked "Little Susie", the heroine of former employers the Everly Brothers' tune "Wake Up Little Susie", while songs such as "Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner" and "Lawyers, Guns and Money" used deadpan humor to wed geopolitical subtexts to hard-boiled narratives. Tracks from this album received heavy FM airplay and the single release "Werewolves of London", which featured Mick Fleetwood and John McVie, was a relatively lighthearted version of Zevon's signature macabre outlook and a Top 30 success.

Critic Dave Marsh, in ''The Rolling Stone Record Guide'' (1979), called Zevon "one of the toughest rockers ever to come out of Southern California". ''Rolling Stone'' called the album one of the most significant releases of the 1970s and placed him alongside Neil Young, Jackson Browne, and Bruce Springsteen as one of the four most important new artists to emerge in the decade.

Zevon followed ''Excitable Boy'' with 1980's ''Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School''. This album was dedicated to Ken Millar, better known under his nom-de-plume as detective novelist Ross Macdonald. Millar was a literary hero of Zevon's who met the singer for the first time while participating in an intervention organized by ''Rolling Stone'' journalist Paul Nelson that helped Zevon temporarily curtail his addictions. Featuring a modest novelty hit with the single "A Certain Girl" (Zevon's cover of an old R&B; novelty record by Ernie K-Doe scored #57 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 singles chart), the album sold briskly but was uneven, and represented a decline rather than commercial and critical consistency. It contained a collaboration with Bruce Springsteen called "Jeannie Needs a Shooter", and the ballad "Empty-Handed Heart" featuring a descant sung by Linda Ronstadt, which dealt with Zevon's divorce from wife Crystal. (Crystal is the only woman he married legally although she is often listed erroneously as his "second wife". Marilyn "Tule" Livingston, the mother of his son Jordan, and Zevon were in a long-term relationship but never married.) Later during 1980, he released the live album ''Stand in the Fire'' (dedicated to Martin Scorsese), recorded over five nights at The Roxy Theatre in Los Angeles.

Personal crisis and first comeback

Zevon's 1982 release ''The Envoy'' returned to the high standard of ''Excitable Boy'' but was not a commercial success. It was an eclectic but characteristic set that included such compositions as "Ain't That Pretty at All," "Charlie's Medicine" and "Jesus Mentioned," the first of Zevon's two musical reactions to the death of Elvis Presley (the other is the song "Porcelain Monkey" on ''Life'll Kill Ya'' in 2000). The title track was dedicated to Philip Habib, U.S. special envoy to the Middle East during the early 1980s. In the liner notes for the 1996 ''I'll Sleep When I'm Dead'' anthology, Zevon stated that after the song came out, Habib sent him "a very nice letter of appreciation on State Department stationery". The lyrics from another track, "The Hula Hula Boys," were excerpted in Hunter S. Thompson's 1983 book, ''The Curse of Lono.''

In 1983, the recently divorced Zevon became engaged to Philadelphia DJ Anita Gevinson and moved to the East Coast. After the disappointing reception for ''The Envoy'', Zevon's distributor Asylum Records ended their business relationship, which Zevon discovered only when he read about it in the Random Notes gossip column of ''Rolling Stone''. The trauma allegedly caused him to relapse into serious alcoholism and he voluntarily checked himself into an unnamed rehab clinic somewhere in Minnesota in 1984. His relationship with Gevinson ended shortly thereafter. Zevon retreated from the music business for several years, during which he finally overcame severe alcohol and drug addictions.

During this interim period, Zevon collaborated with Bill Berry, Peter Buck and Mike Mills (of R.E.M.), along with backup vocalist Bryan Cook to form a minor project called Hindu Love Gods. The group released the non-charting single "Narrator" on the IRS label in 1984, then went into abeyance for several years.

Berry, Buck and Mills served as the core of Zevon's next studio band when he re-emerged in 1987 by signing with Virgin Records and recording the album ''Sentimental Hygiene.'' The release, hailed as his best since ''Excitable Boy'', featured a thicker rock sound and taut, often humorous songs like "Detox Mansion," "Bad Karma" (which featured R.E.M. lead singer Michael Stipe on backup vocals), and "Reconsider Me." Included were contributions from Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Flea, Brian Setzer, George Clinton, as well as Berry, Buck, and Mills. Also on hand were longtime collaborators Jorge Calderón and Waddy Wachtel.

During the ''Sentimental Hygiene'' sessions, Zevon also participated in an all-night jam session with Berry, Buck and Mills, as they worked their way through rock and blues numbers by the likes of Bo Diddley, Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson and Prince. Though the sessions were not initially intended for release, they eventually saw the light of day as a Hindu Love Gods album.

The immediate follow-up to ''Sentimental Hygiene'' was 1989's ''Transverse City'', a futuristic concept album inspired by Zevon's interest in the work of cyberpunk science fiction author William Gibson. It featured guests including Little Feat drummer Richie Hayward, Jefferson Airplane bassist Jack Casady, keyboard player Chick Corea and guitarists Jerry Garcia, Jorma Kaukonen, Pink Floyd's David Gilmour and Neil Young. Key tracks include the title song, "Splendid Isolation," "Run Straight Down" (which had a promotional video that featured Zevon singing in a factory while Gilmour played his guitar solos) and "They Moved the Moon," the latter among Zevon's eerier ballads.

Later years and second comeback

''Transverse City'' was a commercial disappointment, and Virgin Records ended its relationship with Zevon soon after the album's release. Zevon, however, contracted almost immediately with Giant Records, and the first issue under Zevon's contract with his new distributor was the self-titled ''Hindu Love Gods'' album recorded during the ''Sentimental Hygiene'' sessions. The album included a cover of Prince's "Raspberry Beret", which became a #23 Modern Rock hit in the U.S.

In 1991, Zevon, once again a solo artist, released ''Mr. Bad Example''. This album featured the modest pop hit "Searching for a Heart" and the rocker "Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead", later utilized for the title of the neo-noir film of the same name directed by Gary Fleder; after some skirmishing over the unauthorized use of Zevon's song title, the Zevon track was licensed to play over the film's end credits. Zevon also sang lead vocals on the song "Casey Jones" from the Grateful Dead tribute album, ''Deadicated'' (although the cut is credited to Jackson Browne slide guitarist David Lindley).

Zevon toured the United States (with the Odds), Europe, and Australia and New Zealand during this period.

Owing to his reduced circumstances, his performances were often true solo efforts (with minimal accompaniment on piano and guitar); 1993's live ''Learning to Flinch'' documents such a tour. The disc received some airplay on college radio and was considered Zevon's version of ''Unplugged''. Zevon often played in Colorado to allow for an opportunity to visit with his long-time friend Hunter S. Thompson.

A lifelong fan of "hard-boiled" fiction, Zevon was friendly with several well known writers who also collaborated on his songwriting during this period, including Thompson, Carl Hiaasen and Mitch Albom. Zevon also served as musical coordinator and occasional guitarist for an ad-hoc rock music group called the Rock Bottom Remainders, a collection of writers performing rock and roll standards at book fairs and other events. This group included Stephen King, Dave Barry, Matt Groening and Amy Tan, among other popular writers, and it has continued to perform one benefit concert per year since Zevon's death.

An affiliated project for which Zevon both played and wrote liner notes is the offbeat 1998 album ''Stranger Than Fiction'', a two CD set attributed to the Wrockers containing rock covers and originals by many of the Remainders authors plus such notables as Norman Mailer and Maya Angelou. Zevon oversaw music for the short-lived revival of the NBC series ''Route 66'' (1993), contributing that series' main title theme, "If You Won't Leave Me I'll Find Somebody Who Will".

Occasionally, between 1982 and 2001, Zevon filled in for Paul Shaffer as bandleader on ''Late Night with David Letterman'' and later ''Late Show with David Letterman''. One example was in 1998 when Shaffer traveled to Canada to film his cameo in ''Blues Brothers 2000''.

In 1995, Zevon released the self-produced ''Mutineer''. The title track was frequently covered by Bob Dylan on his U.S. Fall Tour in 2002. Zevon's cover of cult artist Judee Sill's "Jesus Was a Crossmaker" predated the wider rediscovery of her work a decade later. The album, however, suffered the worst sales of Zevon's career, in part because his label, superagent Irving Azoff's short-lived Giant Records, was in the process of going out of business. Rhino Records released a Zevon "best-of" compilation in 1996, ''I'll Sleep When I'm Dead (An Anthology)''. Zevon also appeared on the ''Larry Sanders Show'' on HBO, playing himself as a guest on the show.

After another five-year layoff, Zevon signed with industry veteran Danny Goldberg's Artemis Records and again rebounded with the mortality-themed 2000 release ''Life'll Kill Ya'', containing the hymn-like "Don't Let Us Get Sick" and an austere version of Steve Winwood's 1980s hit "Back in the High Life Again". With record sales reasonably brisk and music critics giving Zevon his best notices since ''Excitable Boy'', ''Life'll Kill Ya'' is seen as his second comeback. He followed with 2002's ''My Ride's Here'' (with morbid prescience of things to come), which included "Hit Somebody! (The Hockey Song)" (which was co-written by ''Tuesdays with Morrie'' author Mitch Albom, and featured Paul Shaffer, the "Late Night" band and a spoken guest vocal from TV host David Letterman) and the ballad "Genius", later taken as the title for a 2002 Zevon anthology, and a song whose string section illustrates the lasting influence of Stravinsky on Zevon's work.

At about this time, he and his neighbor actor Billy Bob Thornton formed a close friendship catalyzed by their common experiences with obsessive-compulsive disorder and the fact they lived in the same apartment building.

Cancer, death and ''The Wind''

In interviews, Zevon described a lifelong phobia of doctors and said he seldom received medical assessment. Shortly before playing at the Edmonton Folk Music Festival in 2002, he started feeling dizzy and developed a chronic cough. After a period of suffering with pain and shortness of breath, Zevon was encouraged by his dentist to see a physician; he was diagnosed with inoperable peritoneal mesothelioma (a form of cancer associated with exposure to asbestos). Refusing treatments he believed might incapacitate him, Zevon instead began recording his final album, ''The Wind'' which includes guest appearances by close friends including Bruce Springsteen, Don Henley, Jackson Browne, Timothy B. Schmit, Joe Walsh, David Lindley, Billy Bob Thornton, Emmylou Harris, Tom Petty, Dwight Yoakam, and others. It has been said that the decision to include "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" was his, much to the dismay of the others in the project. At the request of the music television channel VH1, documentarian Nick Read was given access to the sessions; his cameras documented a man who retained his mordant sense of humor, even as his health was deteriorating over time.

On October 30, 2002, Zevon was featured on the ''Late Show with David Letterman'' as the only guest for the entire hour. The band played "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead" as his introduction. Zevon performed several songs and spoke at length about his illness. Zevon was a frequent guest and occasional substitute bandleader on Letterman's television shows since ''Late Night'' was first broadcast in 1982. He noted, "I might have made a tactical error in not going to a physician for 20 years." It was during this broadcast that, when asked by Letterman if he knew something more about life and death now, he first offered his oft-quoted insight on dying: "Enjoy every sandwich." He also took time to thank Letterman for his years of support, calling him "the best friend my music's ever had". For his final song of the evening, and his final public performance, Zevon performed "Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner" at Letterman's request. In the green room after the show, Zevon presented Letterman with the guitar that he always used on the show, with a single request: "Here, I want you to have this, take good care of it." The day after Zevon's death, Letterman paid tribute to Zevon by replaying his performance of Mutineer from his last appearance. The ''Late Show'' band played Zevon's songs throughout the night.

Zevon stated previously that his illness was expected to be terminal within months after the diagnosis in the fall of 2002; however, he lived to see the birth of twin grandsons in June 2003 and the release of ''The Wind'' on August 26, 2003. Owing in part to the first VH1 broadcasts of Nick Read's documentary ''Warren Zevon: Keep Me In Your Heart'', the album reached number 16 on the US charts, Zevon's highest placement since ''Excitable Boy''. When his diagnosis became public, Zevon told the media that he just hoped to live long enough to see the next James Bond movie, a goal he accomplished. Coincidentally, the film was titled ''Die Another Day''.

Warren Zevon died on September 7, 2003, aged 56, at his home in Los Angeles, California. ''The Wind'' was certified gold by the RIAA in December 2003 and Zevon received five posthumous Grammy nominations, including Song of the Year for the ballad "Keep Me In Your Heart". ''The Wind'' won two Grammys, with the album itself receiving the award for Best Contemporary Folk Album, while "Disorder in the House", Zevon's duet with Bruce Springsteen, was awarded Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocal. These posthumous awards were the first Grammys of Zevon's thirty-plus year career. He was cremated and his ashes were scattered into the Pacific Ocean near Los Angeles.

Posthumous releases and biographical works

A tribute album titled ''Enjoy Every Sandwich: Songs of Warren Zevon'' was released October 19, 2004. Zevon's son, Jordan Zevon, acting as executive producer on the album and performing "Studebaker", a previously unfinished Warren Zevon composition. A second tribute album, titled ''Hurry Home Early: the Songs of Warren Zevon'' (the line "hurry home early" from the song "Boom Boom Mancini", on ''Sentimental Hygiene'') was released by Wampus Multimedia on July 8, 2005.

On February 14, 2006, VH1 Classic premiered a music video from a new compilation, ''Reconsider Me: The Love Songs''. The video, titled "She's Too Good For Me", aired every hour on the hour throughout the day.

First and last issues of the Zevon albums ''Stand in the Fire'' and ''The Envoy'' were released on March 27, 2007 by Rhino Records alongside a Rhino re-issue of ''Excitable Boy'', with the three Cd's having four unreleased bonus tracks each. Noteworthy rarities include the outtakes "Word of Mouth" and "The Risk" from the ''Envoy'' sessions, and "Frozen Notes (Strings Version)", a melancholy outtake from ''Excitable Boy'' performed on acoustic piano with a string quartet. Also included on the expanded ''Excitable Boy'' CD is the brief but hilarious "I Need A Truck", Zevon's first-ever a cappella studio release.

On May 1, 2007, Ammal Records, the new label started up as a partnership with New West Records by Zevon's former boss at Artemis Danny Goldberg, released ''Preludes - Rare and Unreleased Recordings'', a two-disc anthology of Zevon demos and alternate versions culled from 126 pre-1976 recordings that were kept in a suitcase. The album contains five previously unreleased songs: "Empty Hearted Town", "Going All the Way", "Steady Rain", "Stop Rainin` Lord" and "The Rosarita Beach Cafe", along with Zevon's original demo for "Studebaker". Selections from an interview between Zevon and Austin-based radio personality Jody Denberg are blended with about 40 minutes of music on the collection's second disc.

''I'll Sleep When I'm Dead: The Dirty Life and Times of Warren Zevon'', a biography/oral history compiled by ex-wife Crystal Zevon, was published in 2007 by Ecco Books. The book is made up of interwoven interviews from many of Zevon's friends and associates, and is notable for its unvarnished portrayal of Zevon (at his request).

References in popular culture

The 1997 film ''The Lost World: Jurassic Park'' has characters named Nick Van Owen and Roland Tembo, as a tribute to Zevon's ''Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner''. Music by Warren Zevon is featured in several episodes of the Showtime television series ''Californication.'' The character Hank Moody also makes several references to him. In the final episode ("La Petite Mort") of season two, "Keep Me In Your Heart" is playing as Hank is finishing off the biography of his recently deceased friend, Lew Ashby. In this scene, Lew's ghost appears as the song is playing and Hank is smoking a joint and drinking a glass of whiskey. Moody tells him "Every time I finish a book - whiskey, weed and Warren Zevon.". In the 2009 movie ''Funny People'', George Simmons, a dying comedian, reacts when he hears a recording of ''Keep Me In Your Heart''.

In "The Brotherhood of Night" (Episode 7, Season 1) of ''Thundarr the Barbarian'', the leader of a pack of werewolves is named Zevon.

American director Kevin Smith is currently (as of 2010) writing a hockey film titled ''Hit Somebody!'' based on Zevon's song of the same name.

American author Stephen King references the quote "Play that dead band's song" in his novel "Under The Dome"

In an episode of ''Boston Legal'' featuring guest star Michael J. Fox, ''Keep Me In Your Heart'' played towards the end of the episode.

In the episode "Nagging Blonde" of the show ''The Life and Times of Tim'', "Werewolves of London" can be played during a scene involving a pool game with a hustler. This is also a reference to the movie ''The Color of Money'' in which the same song is played during a pool game.

In Carl Hiassen's 2002 novel ''Basket Case'', Warren Zevon is given co-writing credits of the song used by the novel's fictional band.

Kid Rock's 2007 single "All Summer Long", features the distinctive piano riff of Warren Zevon's "Werewolves of London". The video also shows the record on the turntable.

Dragon Boy Suede also used the "Werewolves of London" sample in his song "Nut Valet", which, echoing so many of Zevon's appearances, was performed on a late night talk show, Jimmy Kimmel Live!

In John Ringo's SF novel "When the Devil Dances", Mike 'Papa' O'Neil calls Warren Zevon the 'Balladeer of the Mercenaries' when he plays 'Excitable Boy' to his visitors from the Sub-Urb and some 'Snake Eaters' from SpecOps.

Discography

Studio albums

Year	Album	Billboard Top 200
	style="text-align:left;"
	style="text-align:left;"
	style="text-align:left;"

Live albums

Year	Album	Billboard Top 200

Compilations

Year	Album	Billboard Top 200

Singles

Year	Name	Billboard Hot 100	! style="text-align:left;"

References

External links

Warren Zevon official site

Warren Zevon semi-official site

Warren Zevon official MySpace site

Warren Zevon Wiki

Warren Zevon live audio recordings at Archive.org

Jordan Zevon's Official Site

Warren Zevon at ''Rolling Stone''

Warren Zevon's personal archive at Human ArchivesQ

Warren Zevon Find a Grave

Dirty Life And Times

Keep Me In Your Heart

Category:1947 births Category:2003 deaths Category:American keyboardists Category:American male singers Category:American rock musicians Category:American rock singers Category:American singer-songwriters Category:American musicians of Russian descent Category:Songwriters from Illinois Category:Virgin Records artists Category:Cancer deaths in California Category:Deaths from mesothelioma Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Musicians from Chicago, Illinois Category:Live Music Archive artists

cs:Warren Zevon de:Warren Zevon es:Warren Zevon fr:Warren Zevon it:Warren Zevon nl:Warren Zevon ja:ウォーレン・ジヴォン no:Warren Zevon pl:Warren Zevon ru:Зивон, Уоррен simple:Warren Zevon fi:Warren Zevon sv:Warren Zevon

Coordinates	°′″N°′″N
Name	John Prine
Landscape	yes
Background	solo_singer
Birth date	October 10, 1946
Origin	Maywood, Illinois, United States
Instrument	VocalsGuitar
Genre	CountryFolkProgressive bluegrass
Occupation	Singer-songwriterGuitarist
Years active	1971–present
Label	Atlantic, Asylum, Oh Boy, Rhino
Associated acts	Steve Goodman
Website	www.johnprine.net }}

John Prine (born October 10, 1946, in Maywood, Illinois) is an American country/folk singer-songwriter. He has been active as a recording artist and live performer since the early 1970s.

Biography

Prine is the son of William Prine and Verna Hamm. Prine started playing guitar at age 14, taught by his brother, David. Prine attended Proviso East High School, and was a member on the school's gymnastic team. He was a postman for five years and served in the Army during the Vietnam War era, serving in Germany, before beginning his musical career in Chicago.

In the late 1960s, while Prine was delivering mail in Maywood, Illinois, he began to sing at open mike evenings at the Fifth Peg on Armitage Avenue. Prine was initially a spectator, reluctant to perform, but eventually did so in response to a "You think you can do better?" comment made to him by another performer. Chicago ''Sun-Times'' movie critic Roger Ebert heard him there and wrote the first review Prine ever received, calling him a great songwriter. He became a central figure in the Chicago Folk Revival, which also included such singer-songwriters as Steve Goodman, Bonnie Koloc, Jim Post and Fred Holstein. Joined by such established musicians as Jethro Burns and Bob Gibson, Prine performed frequently at such clubs as the Earl of Old Town, the Quiet Knight, Somebody Else's Troubles, The 5th Peg, and the Bulls.

John Prine is currently living in Nashville with his third wife, Fiona Whelan. They have three children, stepson Jody Whelan, Tommy and Jack. Prine has a second residence in Pinellas County, Florida.

Recordings

In 1971 Prine's self-titled debut album was released. He and friend Steve Goodman had each been active in the Chicago folk scene before being "discovered" by Kris Kristofferson (Kristofferson remarked that Prine wrote songs so good that "we'll have to break his thumbs"). The album included his signature songs "Illegal Smile," "Sam Stone," and the folk and country standards "Angel from Montgomery" and "Paradise." The album also included "Hello In There", a song about aging that was later covered by numerous artists and "Far From Me," a lonely waltz about lost love for a waitress that Prine later said was his favorite of all his songs. The album received many positive reviews, and some hailed Prine as "the next Dylan." Bob Dylan himself appeared unannounced at one of Prine's first New York City club appearances, anonymously backing him on harmonica.

Prine's second album, ''Diamonds In The Rough'', was a surprise for many after the critical success of his first LP; it was an uncommercial, stripped-down affair that reflected Prine's fondness for bluegrass music and features songs reminiscent of Hank Williams's work as Luke The Drifter. Highlights include the allegorical "The Great Compromise," which features a recitation and addresses the Vietnam War, and the touching ballad "Souvenirs," which Prine later recorded with Goodman.

Later albums include ''Sweet Revenge'' (1973), containing such fan favorites as "Dear Abby," "Grandpa Was A Carpenter," and "Christmas In Prison", and ''Common Sense'' (1975), with "Come Back to Us Barbara Lewis Hare Krishna Beauregard". The latter album was Prine's first to be charted in the US Top 100 by ''Billboard'', reflecting growing commercial success. It was produced by Steve Cropper. Many veteran Prine fans view the release of 1978's ''Bruised Orange'' as a creative highpoint. The Steve Goodman-produced album gave listeners songs such as "The Hobo Song," "Sabu Visits the Twin Cities Alone," and the title track showing that he could capture the human condition as easily as writing politically inspired anthems.

In 1974, singer David Allan Coe achieved considerable success on the country charts with "You Never Even Called Me By My Name", co-written by Prine and Goodman. The song good-naturedly spoofed stereotypical country music lyrics. Prine refused to take a songwriter's credit and the tune went to Goodman, although Goodman bought Prine a jukebox as a gift from his publishing royalties.

The 1979 album ''Pink Cadillac'' features two songs produced by legendary Sun Records founder Sam Phillips, who by this time rarely did any studio work. The first song, "Saigon," is about a Vietnam vet traumatized by the war ("The static in my attic's gettin' ready to blow"). During the recording, one of the guitar amps blew up (which is evident on the album track). The other song Phillips produced is "How Lucky," about Prine's hometown. "Chinatown," the first song on the record, contains what is Prine's most controversial lyrics, including a reference to "a slant-eyed chicky" and the line "I got a sugar rush that'd make a nigger blush." The song initially appears completely at odds with the liberal-minded songwriter's previous work and baffled many fans and critics. It should be noted, however, that other songwriters of the era, such as Randy Newman and John Lennon, also wrote songs using strong, potentially offensive language, and Prine may have been assuming a character in a song whose lyrics did not reflect his own beliefs.

Prine continued writing and recording albums throughout the 1980s and formed his own record label, Oh Boy Records. His songs continued to be covered by other artists; the country supergroup The Highwaymen recorded "The Twentieth Century Is Almost Over," which had been written by Prine and Goodman. Steve Goodman died of leukemia in 1984 and Prine continues to perform many of Goodman's songs in concert to this day, such as "My Old Man."

In 1991, Prine released the Grammy Award-winning ''The Missing Years'', his first collaboration with producer and Heartbreakers bassist Howie Epstein. The title song records Prine's humorous take on what Jesus did in the unrecorded years between his childhood and ministry. In 1995, ''Lost Dogs and Mixed Blessings'' was released, another collaboration with Epstein. Prine followed in 1999 with ''In Spite of Ourselves'', which was unusual for him in that it contained only one original song—the rest were covers of classic country songs—and all were duets with well-known female country vocalists, including Lucinda Williams, Emmylou Harris, Dolores Keane, and Iris DeMent (whom Prine appeared with on the Letterman Show & referred to as his "favorite girl singers".)

In 2001 John co-starred in the Billy Bob Thornton movie Daddy & Them (Alvin Montgomery), and "In Spite of Ourselves" can be heard as the end credits roll .

Cancer

In early 1998, Prine was diagnosed with squamous cell cancer on the right side of his neck. He had surgery to remove the diseased tissue and was left with a substantial loss of tissue. This was followed by six weeks of radiation therapy. Some of Prine's listeners believe that the surgery has added "gravel" to his voice.

Awards and influence

In 2003, he was given a Lifetime Achievement Award for songwriting by the UK's BBC Radio 2 and that same year was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. The following year saw his song "Sam Stone" covered by Laura Cantrell for the Future Soundtrack for America compilation.

Prine has taken his place as one of the most influential songwriters of his generation. In 2009, Bob Dylan told the Huffington Post that Prine was one of his favourite writers, stating "Prine's stuff is pure Proustian existentialism. Midwestern mindtrips to the nth degree. And he writes beautiful songs. I remember when Kris Kristofferson first brought him on the scene. All that stuff about "Sam Stone," the soldier junkie daddy, and "Donald and Lydia," where people make love from ten miles away. Nobody but Prine could write like that." In Johnny Cash's autobiography ''Cash'', he admitted "I don't listen to music much at the farm, unless I'm going into songwriting mode and looking for inspiration. Then I'll put on something by the writers I've admired and used for years (Rodney Crowell, John Prine, Guy Clark, and the late Steve Goodman are my Big Four)..." When asked by ''Word Magazine'' in 2008 if he heard Pink Floyd's influence in newer British bands like Radiohead, Roger Waters replied "I don't really listen to Radiohead. I listened to the albums and they just didn't move me in the way, say, John Prine does. His is just extra-ordinarily eloquent music—and he lives on that plane with Neil Young and Lennon." Prine received the Artist of the Year award at the Americana Music Awards on September 9, 2005. The award was accepted in his name by awards host and long-time friend Billy Bob Thornton.

Recent years

In 2005, Prine released his first all-new offering since ''Lost Dogs and Mixed Blessings'', the album ''Fair & Square'', which tended toward a more laid-back, acoustic approach than, for example, ''Lost Dogs and Mixed Blessings''. The album contains songs such as "Safety Joe," about a man who has never taken any risks in his life, and also "Some Humans Ain't Human," Prine's protest piece on the album, which talks about the ugly side of human nature and includes a quick shot at President George W. Bush. ''Fair & Square'' won the 2006 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album. The album contains original songs plus two covers: A.P. Carter's "Bear Creek Blues" and Blaze Foley's "Clay Pigeons."

2010 kicked off with a flurry of Prine activity, as he stopped by ''The Marty Stuart Show'' on RFD-TV in January to perform three of his most popular recordings: "Speed of the Sound of Loneliness," "Souvenirs," & "Paradise." Later in May Prine appeared on Late Night With David Letterman, performing "All The Best" with Jim James of the band My Morning Jacket.

On July 3, 2010, Prine appeared at Ravinia Festival in Highland Park, Illinois, broadcast on American Public Media's A Prairie Home Companion, playing several of his songs.

Discography

Albums

Year	Album	Chart Positions			Label
		! style="width:50px;"	! style="width:50px;"	! style="width:50px;"
1971					rowspan="5"
1972
1973
1975
1976	''Prime Prine: The Best of John Prine''
1978	''Bruised Orange''				rowspan="3"
1979
1980	''Storm Windows''
1984	''Aimless Love''				rowspan="4"
1986	''German Afternoons''
1988	''John Prine Live''
1991
	''Great Days: The John Prine Anthology''
''A John Prine Christmas''				rowspan="8"
1995	''Lost Dogs and Mixed Blessings''
1997
1999	''In Spite of Ourselves''
2000
2005	''Fair & Square''
2007	''Standard Songs For Average People''(with Mac Wiseman)
2010	''In Person & On Stage''

References

External links

''A Literary Evening with John Prine and Ted Kooser.'' March 9, 2005. The Poetry and Literature Center at the Library of Congress.

Interview with John Prine - KyndMusic, September 2005

1971 Radio Interview with John Prine on WGLD Oak Park - fr JOHNPRINE.NET

Category:1946 births Category:Living people Category:American country singers Category:American male singers Category:American country musicians Category:American folk singers Category:American singer-songwriters Category:Old Town School of Folk musicians Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Cancer survivors Category:Folk musicians from Chicago, Illinois Category:People from Maywood, Illinois

de:John Prine es:John Prine fr:John Prine sv:John Prine