Eugene ( /juːˈdʒiːn/) is a major city in the state of Oregon. It is the second largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon and the county seat of Lane County. It is located at the south end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about 50 miles (80 km) east of the Oregon Coast.

As of the 2010 U.S. Census, Eugene has a population of 156,185, and Lane County (co-located with the Eugene-Springfield Metropolitan Statistical Area) (MSA) has a population of 351,715. While Eugene has long been the second largest city in Oregon, it was briefly surpassed by Salem between 2005 and 2007. The Eugene-Springfield, Oregon MSA is the 144th largest metropolitan statistical area of the U.S, and the third largest in the state, behind the Portland Metropolitan Area and the Salem Metropolitan Area.

Eugene is home to the University of Oregon. The city is also noted for its natural beauty, recreational opportunities (especially bicycling, running/jogging, rafting, kayaking), focus on the arts, activist political leanings, and residents with "alternative" lifestyles. Eugene's slogan is "A Great City for the Arts and Outdoors." It is also referred to as the "Emerald City", and as "Track Town, USA." The Nike corporation had its beginnings in Eugene.

Barack Hussein Obama II (ⁱ/bəˈrɑːk huːˈseɪn oʊˈbɑːmə/; born August 4, 1961) is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. In January 2005, Obama was sworn in as a U.S. Senator in the state of Illinois. He would hold this office until November 2008, when he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.

Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, Obama is a graduate of Columbia University and Harvard Law School, where he was the president of the Harvard Law Review. He was a community organizer in Chicago before earning his law degree. He worked as a civil rights attorney in Chicago and taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School from 1992 to 2004. He served three terms representing the 13th District in the Illinois Senate from 1997 to 2004.

Following an unsuccessful bid against the Democratic incumbent for a seat in the United States House of Representatives in 2000, Obama ran for the United States Senate in 2004. Several events brought him to national attention during the campaign, including his victory in the March 2004 Illinois Democratic primary for the Senate election and his keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in July 2004. He won election to the U.S. Senate in Illinois in November 2004. His presidential campaign began in February 2007, and after a close campaign in the 2008 Democratic Party presidential primaries against Hillary Rodham Clinton, he won his party's nomination. In the 2008 presidential election, he defeated Republican nominee John McCain, and was inaugurated as president on January 20, 2009. Nine months later, Obama was named the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize laureate. In April 2011, he announced that he would be running for re-election in 2012.

Papa Roach is an American rock band from Vacaville, California. Their first major-label release was the triple-platinum album Infest (2000). The group's success continued with their gold album Lovehatetragedy (2002), their platinum album Getting Away with Murder (2004), The Paramour Sessions (2006), and Metamorphosis (2009). The band's seventh album, Time for Annihilation, was released on August 31, 2010. Papa Roach has sold about 10 million album copies worldwide, and are known for their hits "Last Resort", "Between Angels And Insects", "She Loves Me Not", "...To Be Loved", "Scars", "Forever", and "Hollywood Whore".

The formation of Papa Roach began in January 1993, when lead singer Jacoby Shaddix and drummer Dave Buckner met on the Vacaville High School football field during an intense match, where the two ended up talking about music. They were later joined by trombonist Ben Luther and bass guitarist Will James. They decided to enter the school's talent show, where they performed a cover version of Jimi Hendrix's song "Fire", but they ultimately did not win the contest. In March 1993, trombonist Ben Luther was replaced by lead guitarist Jerry Horton from nearby Vanden High School. Horton was introduced to the band through his girlfriend, who was a fan. However, Jerry was at first apprehensive about joining the band because Jacoby, Buckner, and Will all went to different high schools. At this point, Papa Roach were practicing every day and touring on every gig they could get. Their first tour van was called Moby Dick, where Jacoby was inspired to come up with his first stage name "Coby Dick". The band's name comes from Shaddix's step-grandfather, Howard William Roatch, who was nicknamed Papa Roach. Roatch committed suicide in 2006 because he was diagnosed with terminal cancer. The band pay homage to him with The Paramour Sessions and during live performances of the song "Roses On My Grave".