Kerosene is a combustible hydrocarbon liquid. The name is derived from Greek keros (κηρός wax). The word "Kerosene" was registered as a trademark by Abraham Gesner in 1854, and for several years, only the North American Gas Light Company and the Downer Company (to which Gesner had granted the right) were allowed to call their lamp oil "Kerosene" in the United States of America. It eventually became a genericized trademark. It is sometimes spelled kerosine in scientific and industrial usage. The term "kerosene" is usual in much of Canada, the United States, Australia (where it can be referred to colloquially as "kero") and New Zealand.

Kerosene is usually called paraffin in the UK, Southeast Asia and South Africa. A more viscous paraffin oil is used as a laxative. A waxy solid extracted from petroleum is also called paraffin. Kerosene is widely used to power jet engines of aircraft (jet fuel) and some rocket engines, but is also commonly used as a cooking and lighting fuel and for fire toys such as poi. In parts of Asia, where the price of kerosene is subsidized, it fuels outboard motors on small fishing boats.

Miranda Leigh Shelton (née Lambert) (born November 10, 1983) is an American country music artist who gained fame as a finalist on the 2003 season of Nashville Star, where she finished in third place and later signed to Epic Records. Lambert made her debut with the release of "Me and Charlie Talking", the first single from her 2005 debut album Kerosene. This album, which was certified Platinum in the United States, also produced the singles "Bring Me Down", "Kerosene", and "New Strings". All four singles were Top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts.

After Epic's Nashville division closed, Lambert was transferred to Columbia Records Nashville for her second album, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, which was released in early 2007. Although the title track failed to make top 40, the next three singles ("Famous in a Small Town", "Gunpowder & Lead", and "More Like Her") were all Top 20 hits, with "Gunpowder & Lead" becoming her first Top 10 country hit in July 2008. Lambert's third album, Revolution, was released in September 2009. Five singles have been released from the album, including Lambert's two Number One hits "The House That Built Me," which spent four weeks at the top of the chart, and "Heart Like Mine". Lambert has also been honored by the Grammy Awards, the Academy of Country Music Awards, and the Country Music Association Awards.