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[
"Rosa Parks",
"Montgomery buses: law and prevailing customs",
"What part did she play in changing the law?",
"Parks said, \"My resisting being mistreated on the bus did not begin with that particular arrest. I did a lot of walking in Montgomery.\"",
"When did the bus incident occur?",
"One day in 1943,",
"Did she give up her seat?",
"I don't know.",
"What occured on the bus?",
"James F. Blake told her to follow city rules and enter the bus again from the back door."
]
| C_558bf98a34e44b5295c0d295391e444f_1 | Did she oblijge? | 5 | Did Rosa PArks oblijge? | Rosa Parks | In 1900, Montgomery had passed a city ordinance to segregate bus passengers by race. Conductors were empowered to assign seats to achieve that goal. According to the law, no passenger would be required to move or give up their seat and stand if the bus was crowded and no other seats were available. Over time and by custom, however, Montgomery bus drivers adopted the practice of requiring black riders to move when there were no white-only seats left. The first four rows of seats on each Montgomery bus were reserved for whites. Buses had "colored" sections for black people generally in the rear of the bus, although blacks composed more than 75% of the ridership. The sections were not fixed but were determined by placement of a movable sign. Black people could sit in the middle rows until the white section filled; if more whites needed seats, blacks were to move to seats in the rear, stand, or, if there was no room, leave the bus. Black people could not sit across the aisle in the same row as white people. The driver could move the "colored" section sign, or remove it altogether. If white people were already sitting in the front, black people had to board at the front to pay the fare, then disembark and reenter through the rear door. For years, the black community had complained that the situation was unfair. Parks said, "My resisting being mistreated on the bus did not begin with that particular arrest. I did a lot of walking in Montgomery." One day in 1943, Parks boarded a bus and paid the fare. She then moved to her seat but driver James F. Blake told her to follow city rules and enter the bus again from the back door. When Parks exited the vehicle, Blake drove off without her. Parks waited for the next bus, determined never to ride with Blake again. CANNOTANSWER | When Parks exited the vehicle, Blake drove off without her. Parks waited for the next bus, determined never to ride with Blake again. | Rosa Louise McCauley Parks (February 4, 1913 – October 24, 2005) was an American activist in the civil rights movement best known for her pivotal role in the Montgomery bus boycott. The United States Congress has honored her as "the first lady of civil rights" and "the mother of the freedom movement".
On December 1, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, Parks rejected bus driver James F. Blake's order to vacate a row of four seats in the "colored" section in favor of a white passenger, once the "white" section was filled. Parks was not the first person to resist bus segregation, but the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) believed that she was the best candidate for seeing through a court challenge after her arrest for civil disobedience in violating Alabama segregation laws, and she helped inspire the black community to boycott the Montgomery buses for over a year. The case became bogged down in the state courts, but the federal Montgomery bus lawsuit Browder v. Gayle resulted in a November 1956 decision that bus segregation is unconstitutional under the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Parks' act of defiance and the Montgomery bus boycott became important symbols of the movement. She became an international icon of resistance to racial segregation, and organized and collaborated with civil rights leaders, including Edgar Nixon and Martin Luther King Jr. At the time, Parks was employed as a seamstress at a local department store and was secretary of the Montgomery chapter of the NAACP. She had recently attended the Highlander Folk School, a Tennessee center for training activists for workers' rights and racial equality. Although widely honored in later years, she also suffered for her act; she was fired from her job, and received death threats for years afterwards. Shortly after the boycott, she moved to Detroit, where she briefly found similar work. From 1965 to 1988, she served as secretary and receptionist to John Conyers, an African-American US Representative. She was also active in the Black Power movement and the support of political prisoners in the US.
After retirement, Parks wrote her autobiography and continued to insist that there was more work to be done in the struggle for justice. Parks received national recognition, including the NAACP's 1979 Spingarn Medal, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Congressional Gold Medal, and a posthumous statue in the United States Capitol's National Statuary Hall. Upon her death in 2005, she was the first woman to lie in honor in the Capitol Rotunda. California and Missouri commemorate Rosa Parks Day on her birthday, February 4, while Ohio, Oregon, and Texas commemorate the anniversary of her arrest, December 1.
Early life
Rosa Parks was born Rosa Louise McCauley in Tuskegee, Alabama, on February 4, 1913, to Leona (née Edwards), a teacher, and James McCauley, a carpenter. In addition to African ancestry, one of Parks' great-grandfathers was Scots-Irish and one of her great-grandmothers a part-Native American slave. She was small as a child and suffered poor health with chronic tonsillitis. When her parents separated, she moved with her mother to Pine Level, just outside the state capital, Montgomery. She grew up on a farm with her maternal grandparents, mother, and younger brother Sylvester. They all were members of the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME), a century-old independent black denomination founded by free blacks in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the early nineteenth century.
McCauley attended rural schools until the age of eleven. Before that, her mother taught her "a good deal about sewing". She started piecing quilts from around the age of six, as her mother and grandmother were making quilts, She put her first quilt together by herself around the age of ten, which was unusual, as quilting was mainly a family activity performed when there was no field work or chores to be done. She learned more sewing in school from the age of eleven; she sewed her own "first dress [she] could wear". As a student at the Industrial School for Girls in Montgomery, she took academic and vocational courses. Parks went on to a laboratory school set up by the Alabama State Teachers College for Negroes for secondary education, but dropped out in order to care for her grandmother and later her mother, after they became ill.
Around the turn of the 20th century, the former Confederate states had adopted new constitutions and electoral laws that effectively disenfranchised black voters and, in Alabama, many poor white voters as well. Under the white-established Jim Crow laws, passed after Democrats regained control of southern legislatures, racial segregation was imposed in public facilities and retail stores in the South, including public transportation. Bus and train companies enforced seating policies with separate sections for blacks and whites. School bus transportation was unavailable in any form for black schoolchildren in the South, and black education was always underfunded.
Parks recalled going to elementary school in Pine Level, where school buses took white students to their new school and black students had to walk to theirs:
I'd see the bus pass every day ... But to me, that was a way of life; we had no choice but to accept what was the custom. The bus was among the first ways I realized there was a black world and a white world.
Although Parks' autobiography recounts early memories of the kindness of white strangers, she could not ignore the racism of her society. When the Ku Klux Klan marched down the street in front of their house, Parks recalls her grandfather guarding the front door with a shotgun. The Montgomery Industrial School, founded and staffed by white northerners for black children, was burned twice by arsonists. Its faculty was ostracized by the white community.
Repeatedly bullied by white children in her neighborhood, Parks often fought back physically. She later said: "As far back as I remember, I could never think in terms of accepting physical abuse without some form of retaliation if possible."
Early activism
In 1932, Rosa married Raymond Parks, a barber from Montgomery. He was a member of the NAACP, which at the time was collecting money to support the defense of the Scottsboro Boys, a group of black men falsely accused of raping two white women. Rosa took numerous jobs, ranging from domestic worker to hospital aide. At her husband's urging, she finished her high school studies in 1933, at a time when fewer than 7% of African Americans had a high-school diploma.
In December 1943, Parks became active in the civil rights movement, joined the Montgomery chapter of the NAACP, and was elected secretary at a time when this was considered a woman's job. She later said, "I was the only woman there, and they needed a secretary, and I was too timid to say no." She continued as secretary until 1957. She worked for the local NAACP leader Edgar Nixon, even though he maintained that "Women don't need to be nowhere but in the kitchen." When Parks asked, "Well, what about me?", he replied: "I need a secretary and you are a good one."
In 1944, in her capacity as secretary, she investigated the gang-rape of Recy Taylor, a black woman from Abbeville, Alabama. Parks and other civil rights activists organized "The Committee for Equal Justice for Mrs. Recy Taylor", launching what the Chicago Defender called "the strongest campaign for equal justice to be seen in a decade". Parks continued her work as an anti-rape activist five years later when she helped organize protests in support of Gertrude Perkins, a black woman who was raped by two white Montgomery police officers.
Although never a member of the Communist Party, she attended meetings with her husband. The notorious Scottsboro case had been brought to prominence by the Communist Party.
In the 1940s, Parks and her husband were members of the League of Women Voters. Sometime soon after 1944, she held a brief job at Maxwell Air Force Base, which, despite its location in Montgomery, Alabama, did not permit racial segregation because it was federal property. She rode on its integrated trolley. Speaking to her biographer, Parks noted, "You might just say Maxwell opened my eyes up." Parks worked as a housekeeper and seamstress for Clifford and Virginia Durr, a white couple. Politically liberal, the Durrs became her friends. They encouraged—and eventually helped sponsor—Parks in the summer of 1955 to attend the Highlander Folk School, an education center for activism in workers' rights and racial equality in Monteagle, Tennessee. There Parks was mentored by the veteran organizer Septima Clark. In 1945, despite the Jim Crow laws and discrimination by registrars, she succeeded in registering to vote on her third try.
In August 1955, black teenager Emmett Till was brutally murdered after reportedly flirting with a young white woman while visiting relatives in Mississippi. On November 27, 1955, four days before she would make her stand on the bus, Rosa Parks attended a mass meeting at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery that addressed this case, as well as the recent murders of the activists George W. Lee and Lamar Smith. The featured speaker was T. R. M. Howard, a black civil rights leader from Mississippi who headed the Regional Council of Negro Leadership. Howard brought news of the recent acquittal of the two men who had murdered Till. Parks was deeply saddened and angry at the news, particularly because Till's case had garnered much more attention than any of the cases she and the Montgomery NAACP had worked on—and yet, the two men still walked free.
Parks arrest and bus boycott
Montgomery buses: law and prevailing customs
In 1900, Montgomery had passed a city ordinance to segregate bus passengers by race. Conductors were empowered to assign seats to achieve that goal. According to the law, no passenger would be required to move or give up their seat and stand if the bus was crowded and no other seats were available. Over time and by custom, however, Montgomery bus drivers adopted the practice of requiring black riders to move when there were no white-only seats left.
The first four rows of seats on each Montgomery bus were reserved for whites. Buses had "colored" sections for black people generally in the rear of the bus, although blacks composed more than 75% of the ridership. The sections were not fixed but were determined by placement of a movable sign. Black people could sit in the middle rows until the white section filled; if more whites needed seats, blacks were to move to seats in the rear, stand, or, if there was no room, leave the bus. Black people could not sit across the aisle in the same row as white people. The driver could move the "colored" section sign, or remove it altogether. If white people were already sitting in the front, black people had to board at the front to pay the fare, then disembark and reenter through the rear door.
For years, the black community had complained that the situation was unfair. Parks said, "My resisting being mistreated on the bus did not begin with that particular arrest. I did a lot of walking in Montgomery."
One day in 1943, Parks boarded a bus and paid the fare. She then moved to a seat, but driver James F. Blake told her to follow city rules and enter the bus again from the back door. When Parks exited the vehicle, Blake drove off without her. Parks waited for the next bus, determined never to ride with Blake again.
Refusal to move
After working all day, Parks boarded the Cleveland Avenue bus, a General Motors Old Look bus belonging to the Montgomery City Lines, around 6 p.m., Thursday, December 1, 1955, in downtown Montgomery. She paid her fare and sat in an empty seat in the first row of back seats reserved for blacks in the "colored" section. Near the middle of the bus, her row was directly behind the ten seats reserved for white passengers. Initially, she did not notice that the bus driver was the same man, James F. Blake, who had left her in the rain in 1943. As the bus traveled along its regular route, all of the white-only seats in the bus filled up. The bus reached the third stop in front of the Empire Theater, and several white passengers boarded. Blake noted that two or three white passengers were standing, as the front of the bus had filled to capacity. He moved the "colored" section sign behind Parks and demanded that four black people give up their seats in the middle section so that the white passengers could sit. Years later, in recalling the events of the day, Parks said, "When that white driver stepped back toward us, when he waved his hand and ordered us up and out of our seats, I felt a determination cover my body like a quilt on a winter night."
By Parks' account, Blake said, "Y'all better make it light on yourselves and let me have those seats." Three of them complied. Parks said, "The driver wanted us to stand up, the four of us. We didn't move at the beginning, but he says, 'Let me have these seats.' And the other three people moved, but I didn't." The black man sitting next to her gave up his seat.
Parks moved, but toward the window seat; she did not get up to move to the redesignated colored section. Parks later said about being asked to move to the rear of the bus, "I thought of Emmett Till – a 14-year-old African American who was lynched in Mississippi in 1955, after being accused of offending a white woman in her family's grocery store, whose killers were tried and acquitted – and I just couldn't go back." Blake said, "Why don't you stand up?" Parks responded, "I don't think I should have to stand up." Blake called the police to arrest Parks. When recalling the incident for Eyes on the Prize, a 1987 public television series on the Civil Rights Movement, Parks said, "When he saw me still sitting, he asked if I was going to stand up, and I said, 'No, I'm not.' And he said, 'Well, if you don't stand up, I'm going to have to call the police and have you arrested.' I said, 'You may do that.'"
During a 1956 radio interview with Sydney Rogers in West Oakland several months after her arrest, Parks said she had decided, "I would have to know for once and for all what rights I had as a human being and a citizen."
In her autobiography, My Story, she said:
When Parks refused to give up her seat, a police officer arrested her. As the officer took her away, she recalled that she asked, "Why do you push us around?" She remembered him saying, "I don't know, but the law's the law, and you're under arrest." She later said, "I only knew that, as I was being arrested, that it was the very last time that I would ever ride in humiliation of this kind. ... "
Parks was charged with a violation of Chapter 6, Section 11 segregation law of the Montgomery City code, although technically she had not taken a white-only seat; she had been in a colored section. Edgar Nixon, president of the Montgomery chapter of the NAACP and leader of the Pullman Porters Union, and her friend Clifford Durr bailed Parks out of jail that evening.
Parks did not originate the idea of protesting segregation with a bus sit-in. Those preceding her included Bayard Rustin in 1942, Irene Morgan in 1946, Lillie Mae Bradford in 1951, Sarah Louise Keys in 1952, and the members of the ultimately successful Browder v. Gayle 1956 lawsuit (Claudette Colvin, Aurelia Browder, Susie McDonald, and Mary Louise Smith) who were arrested in Montgomery for not giving up their bus seats months before Parks.
Montgomery bus boycott
Nixon conferred with Jo Ann Robinson, an Alabama State College professor and member of the Women's Political Council (WPC), about the Parks case. Robinson believed it important to seize the opportunity and stayed up all night mimeographing over 35,000 handbills announcing a bus boycott. The Women's Political Council was the first group to officially endorse the boycott.
On Sunday, December 4, 1955, plans for the Montgomery bus boycott were announced at black churches in the area, and a front-page article in the Montgomery Advertiser helped spread the word. At a church rally that night, those attending agreed unanimously to continue the boycott until they were treated with the level of courtesy they expected, until black drivers were hired, and until seating in the middle of the bus was handled on a first-come basis.
The next day, Parks was tried on charges of disorderly conduct and violating a local ordinance. The trial lasted 30 minutes. After being found guilty and fined $10, plus $4 in court costs (combined total ), Parks appealed her conviction and formally challenged the legality of racial segregation. In a 1992 interview with National Public Radio's Lynn Neary, Parks recalled:
On the day of Parks' trial—December 5, 1955—the WPC distributed the 35,000 leaflets. The handbill read,
We are ... asking every Negro to stay off the buses Monday in protest of the arrest and trial ... You can afford to stay out of school for one day. If you work, take a cab, or walk. But please, children and grown-ups, don't ride the bus at all on Monday. Please stay off the buses Monday.
It rained that day, but the black community persevered in their boycott. Some rode in carpools, while others traveled in black-operated cabs that charged the same fare as the bus, 10 cents (). Most of the remainder of the 40,000 black commuters walked, some as far as .
That evening after the success of the one-day boycott, a group of 16 to 18 people gathered at the Mt. Zion AME Zion Church to discuss boycott strategies. At that time, Parks was introduced but not asked to speak, despite a standing ovation and calls from the crowd for her to speak; when she asked if she should say something, the reply was, "Why, you've said enough." This movement also sparked riots leading up to the 1956 Sugar Bowl.
The group agreed that a new organization was needed to lead the boycott effort if it were to continue. Rev. Ralph Abernathy suggested the name "Montgomery Improvement Association" (MIA). The name was adopted, and the MIA was formed. Its members elected as their president Martin Luther King Jr., a relative newcomer to Montgomery, who was a young and mostly unknown minister of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church.
That Monday night, 50 leaders of the African-American community gathered to discuss actions to respond to Parks' arrest. Edgar Nixon, the president of the NAACP, said, "My God, look what segregation has put in my hands!" Parks was considered the ideal plaintiff for a test case against city and state segregation laws, as she was seen as a responsible, mature woman with a good reputation. She was securely married and employed, was regarded as possessing a quiet and dignified demeanor, and was politically savvy. King said that Parks was regarded as "one of the finest citizens of Montgomery—not one of the finest Negro citizens, but one of the finest citizens of Montgomery".
Parks' court case was being slowed down in appeals through the Alabama courts on their way to a Federal appeal and the process could have taken years. Holding together a boycott for that length of time would have been a great strain. In the end, black residents of Montgomery continued the boycott for 381 days. Dozens of public buses stood idle for months, severely damaging the bus transit company's finances, until the city repealed its law requiring segregation on public buses following the US Supreme Court ruling in Browder v. Gayle that it was unconstitutional. Parks was not included as a plaintiff in the Browder decision because the attorney Fred Gray concluded the courts would perceive they were attempting to circumvent her prosecution on her charges working their way through the Alabama state court system.
Parks played an important part in raising international awareness of the plight of African Americans and the civil rights struggle. King wrote in his 1958 book Stride Toward Freedom that Parks' arrest was the catalyst rather than the cause of the protest: "The cause lay deep in the record of similar injustices." He wrote, "Actually, no one can understand the action of Mrs. Parks unless he realizes that eventually the cup of endurance runs over, and the human personality cries out, 'I can take it no longer.'"
Detroit years
1960s
After her arrest, Parks became an icon of the Civil Rights Movement but suffered hardships as a result. Due to economic sanctions used against activists, she lost her job at the department store. Her husband lost his job as a barber at Maxwell Air Force Base after his boss forbade him to talk about his wife or the legal case. Parks traveled and spoke about the issues.
In 1957, Raymond and Rosa Parks left Montgomery for Hampton, Virginia; mostly because she was unable to find work. She also disagreed with King and other leaders of Montgomery's struggling civil rights movement about how to proceed, and was constantly receiving death threats. In Hampton, she found a job as a hostess in an inn at Hampton Institute, a historically black college.
Later that year, at the urging of her brother and sister-in-law in Detroit, Sylvester and Daisy McCauley, Rosa and Raymond Parks and her mother moved north to join them. The City of Detroit attempted to cultivate a progressive reputation, but Parks encountered numerous signs of discrimination against African-Americans. Schools were effectively segregated, and services in black neighborhoods substandard. In 1964, Parks told an interviewer that, "I don't feel a great deal of difference here ... Housing segregation is just as bad, and it seems more noticeable in the larger cities." She regularly participated in the movement for open and fair housing.
Parks rendered crucial assistance in the first campaign for Congress by John Conyers. She persuaded Martin Luther King (who was generally reluctant to endorse local candidates) to appear with Conyers, thereby boosting the novice candidate's profile. When Conyers was elected, he hired her as a secretary and receptionist for his congressional office in Detroit. She held this position until she retired in 1988. In a telephone interview with CNN on October 24, 2005, Conyers recalled, "You treated her with deference because she was so quiet, so serene—just a very special person ... There was only one Rosa Parks." Doing much of the daily constituent work for Conyers, Parks often focused on socio-economic issues including welfare, education, job discrimination, and affordable housing. She visited schools, hospitals, senior citizen facilities, and other community meetings and kept Conyers grounded in community concerns and activism.
Parks participated in activism nationally during the mid-1960s, traveling to support the Selma-to-Montgomery Marches, the Freedom Now Party, and the Lowndes County Freedom Organization. She also befriended Malcolm X, who she regarded as a personal hero.
Like many Detroit blacks, Parks remained particularly concerned about housing issues. She herself lived in a neighborhood, Virginia Park, which had been compromised by highway construction and urban renewal. By 1962, these policies had destroyed 10,000 structures in Detroit, displacing 43,096 people, 70 percent of them African-American. Parks lived just a mile from the center of the riot that took place in Detroit in 1967, and she considered housing discrimination a major factor that provoked the disorder.
In the aftermath Parks collaborated with members of the League of Revolutionary Black Workers and the Republic of New Afrika in raising awareness of police abuse during the conflict. She served on a "people's tribunal" on August 30, 1967, investigating the killing of three young men by police during the 1967 Detroit uprising, in what came to be known as the Algiers Motel incident. She also helped form the Virginia Park district council to help rebuild the area. The council facilitated the building of the only black-owned shopping center in the country. Parks took part in the black power movement, attending the Philadelphia Black Power conference, and the Black Political Convention in Gary, Indiana. She also supported and visited the Black Panther school in Oakland.
1970s
In the 1970s, Parks organized for the freedom of political prisoners in the United States, particularly cases involving issues of self-defense. She helped found the Detroit chapter of the Joann Little Defense Committee, and also worked in support of the Wilmington 10, the RNA 11, and Gary Tyler. Following national outcry around her case, Little succeeded in her defense that she used deadly force to resist sexual assault and was acquitted. Gary Tyler was finally released in April 2016 after 41 years in prison.
The 1970s were a decade of loss for Parks in her personal life. Her family was plagued with illness; she and her husband had suffered stomach ulcers for years and both required hospitalization. In spite of her fame and constant speaking engagements, Parks was not a wealthy woman. She donated most of the money from speaking to civil rights causes, and lived on her staff salary and her husband's pension. Medical bills and time missed from work caused financial strain that required her to accept assistance from church groups and admirers.
Her husband died of throat cancer on August 19, 1977, and her brother, her only sibling, died of cancer that November. Her personal ordeals caused her to become removed from the civil rights movement. She learned from a newspaper of the death of Fannie Lou Hamer, once a close friend. Parks suffered two broken bones in a fall on an icy sidewalk, an injury which caused considerable and recurring pain. She decided to move with her mother into an apartment for senior citizens. There she nursed her mother Leona through the final stages of cancer and geriatric dementia until she died in 1979 at the age of 92.
1980s
In 1980, Parks—widowed and without immediate family—rededicated herself to civil rights and educational organizations. She co-founded the Rosa L. Parks Scholarship Foundation for college-bound high school seniors, to which she donated most of her speaker fees. In February 1987, she co-founded, with Elaine Eason Steele, the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development, an institute that runs the "Pathways to Freedom" bus tours which introduce young people to important civil rights and Underground Railroad sites throughout the country. Parks also served on the Board of Advocates of Planned Parenthood. Though her health declined as she entered her seventies, Parks continued to make many appearances and devoted considerable energy to these causes. Unrelated to her activism, Parks loaned quilts of her own making to an exhibit at Michigan State University of quilts by African-American residents of Michigan.
1990s
In 1992, Parks published Rosa Parks: My Story, an autobiography aimed at younger readers, which recounts her life leading to her decision to keep her seat on the bus. A few years later, she published Quiet Strength (1995), her memoir, which focuses on her faith.
At age 81, Parks was robbed and assaulted in her home in central Detroit on August 30, 1994. The assailant, Joseph Skipper, broke down the door but claimed he had chased away an intruder. He requested a reward and when Parks paid him, he demanded more. Parks refused and he attacked her. Hurt and badly shaken, Parks called a friend, who called the police. A neighborhood manhunt led to Skipper's capture and reported beating. Parks was treated at Detroit Receiving Hospital for facial injuries and swelling on the right side of her face. Parks said about the attack on her by the African-American man, "Many gains have been made ... But as you can see, at this time we still have a long way to go." Skipper was sentenced to 8 to 15 years and was transferred to prison in another state for his own safety.
Suffering anxiety upon returning to her small central Detroit house following the ordeal, Parks moved into Riverfront Towers, a secure high-rise apartment building. Learning of Parks' move, Little Caesars owner Mike Ilitch offered to pay for her housing expenses for as long as necessary.
In 1994, the Ku Klux Klan applied to sponsor a portion of United States Interstate 55 in St. Louis County and Jefferson County, Missouri, near St. Louis, for cleanup (which allowed them to have signs stating that this section of highway was maintained by the organization). Since the state could not refuse the KKK's sponsorship, the Missouri legislature voted to name the highway section the "Rosa Parks Highway". When asked how she felt about this honor, she is reported to have commented, "It is always nice to be thought of."
In 1999, Parks filmed a cameo appearance for the television series Touched by an Angel. It was her last appearance on film; Parks began to suffer from health problems due to old age.
2000s
In 2002, Parks received an eviction notice from her $1,800 per month () apartment for non-payment of rent. Parks was incapable of managing her own financial affairs by this time due to age-related physical and mental decline. Her rent was paid from a collection taken by Hartford Memorial Baptist Church in Detroit. When her rent became delinquent and her impending eviction was highly publicized in 2004, executives of the ownership company announced they had forgiven the back rent and would allow Parks, by then 91 and in extremely poor health, to live rent-free in the building for the remainder of her life. Elaine Steele, manager of the nonprofit Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute, defended Parks' care and stated that the eviction notices were sent in error. Several of Parks' family members alleged that her financial affairs had been mismanaged.
In 2016, Parks' former residence in Detroit was threatened with demolition. A Berlin-based American artist, Ryan Mendoza, arranged to have the house disassembled, moved to his garden in Germany, and partly restored. It served as a museum honoring Rosa Parks. In 2018, the house was moved back to the United States. Brown University was planning to exhibit the house, but the display was cancelled. The house was exhibited during part of 2018 in an arts centre in Providence, Rhode Island.
Death and funeral
Parks died of natural causes on October 24, 2005, at the age of 92, in her apartment on the east side of Detroit. She and her husband never had children and she outlived her only sibling. She was survived by her sister-in-law (Raymond's sister), 13 nieces and nephews and their families, and several cousins, most of them residents of Michigan or Alabama.
City officials in Montgomery and Detroit announced on October 27, 2005, that the front seats of their city buses would be reserved with black ribbons in honor of Parks until her funeral. Parks' coffin was flown to Montgomery and taken in a horse-drawn hearse to the St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal (AME) church, where she lay in repose at the altar on October 29, 2005, dressed in the uniform of a church deaconess. A memorial service was held there the following morning. One of the speakers, United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, said that if it had not been for Parks, she would probably have never become the Secretary of State. In the evening the casket was transported to Washington, D.C. and transported by a bus similar to the one in which she made her protest, to lie in honor in the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol.
Since the founding of the practice in 1852, Parks was the 31st person, the first American who had not been a U.S. government official, and the second private person (after the French planner Pierre L'Enfant) to be honored in this way. She was the first woman and the second black person to lie in honor in the Capitol. An estimated 50,000 people viewed the casket there, and the event was broadcast on television on October 31, 2005. A memorial service was held that afternoon at Metropolitan AME Church in Washington, D.C.
With her body and casket returned to Detroit, for two days, Parks lay in repose at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History. Her funeral service was seven hours long and was held on November 2, 2005, at the Greater Grace Temple Church in Detroit. After the service, an honor guard from the Michigan National Guard laid the U.S. flag over the casket and carried it to a horse-drawn hearse, which was intended to carry it, in daylight, to the cemetery. As the hearse passed the thousands of people who were viewing the procession, many clapped, cheered loudly and released white balloons. Parks was interred between her husband and mother at Detroit's Woodlawn Cemetery in the chapel's mausoleum. The chapel was renamed the Rosa L. Parks Freedom Chapel in her honor.
Legacy and honors
1963: Paul Stephenson initiated a bus boycott in Bristol, England, to protest a similar color bar operated by a bus company there, inspired by the example of the Montgomery bus boycott initiated by Rosa Parks' refusal to move from "whites only" bus seat in Montgomery, Alabama.
1976: Detroit renamed 12th Street "Rosa Parks Boulevard".
1979: The NAACP awarded Parks the Spingarn Medal, its highest honor,
1980: She received the Martin Luther King Jr. Award.
1982: California State University, Fresno, awarded Parks the African-American Achievement Award. The honor, given to deserving students in succeeding years, became the Rosa Parks Awards.
1983: She was inducted into Michigan Women's Hall of Fame for her achievements in civil rights.
1984: She received a Candace Award from the National Coalition of 100 Black Women.
1990:
Parks was invited to be part of the group welcoming Nelson Mandela upon his release from prison in South Africa.
Parks was in attendance as part of Interstate 475 outside of Toledo, Ohio, was named after her.
1992: She received the Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience Award along with Dr. Benjamin Spock and others at the Kennedy Library and Museum in Boston, Massachusetts.
1993: She was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame,
1994: She received an honorary doctorate from Florida State University in Tallahassee, FL.
1994: She received an honorary doctorate from Soka University in Tokyo, Japan.
1995: She received the Academy of Achievement's Golden Plate Award in Williamsburg, Virginia.
1996: She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest honor given by the US executive branch.
1998: She was the first-ever recipient of the International Freedom Conductor Award from the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, honoring people whose actions support those struggling with modern-day issues related to freedom.
1999:
She received the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest award given by the US legislative branch, the medal bears the legend "Mother of the Modern Day Civil Rights Movement"
She received the Windsor–Detroit International Freedom Festival Freedom Award.
Time named Parks one of the 20 most influential and iconic figures of the 20th century.
President Bill Clinton honored her in his State of the Union address, saying, "She's sitting down with the first lady tonight, and she may get up or not as she chooses."
2000:
Her home state awarded her the Alabama Academy of Honor,
She received the first Governor's Medal of Honor for Extraordinary Courage.
She was awarded two dozen honorary doctorates from universities worldwide
She was made an honorary member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.
the Rosa Parks Library and Museum on the campus of Troy University in Montgomery was dedicated to her.
2002:
Scholar Molefi Kete Asante listed Parks on his list of 100 Greatest African Americans.
A portion of the Interstate 10 freeway in Los Angeles was named in her honor.
She received the Walter P. Reuther Humanitarian Award from Wayne State University.
2003: Bus No. 2857, on which Parks was riding, was restored and placed on display in The Henry Ford museum
2004: In the Los Angeles County MetroRail system, the Imperial Highway/Wilmington station, where the A Line connects with the C Line, has been officially named the "Rosa Parks Station".
2005:
Senate Concurrent Resolution 61, 109th Congress, 1st Session, was agreed to October 29, 2005. This set the stage for her to become the 1st woman to lie in honor, in the Capitol Rotunda.
On October 30, 2005, President George W. Bush issued a proclamation ordering that all flags on U.S. public areas both within the country and abroad be flown at half-staff on the day of Parks' funeral.
Metro Transit in King County, Washington placed posters and stickers dedicating the first forward-facing seat of all its buses in Parks' memory shortly after her death,
The American Public Transportation Association declared December 1, 2005, the 50th anniversary of her arrest, to be a "National Transit Tribute to Rosa Parks Day".
On that anniversary, President George W. Bush signed , directing that a statue of Parks be placed in the United States Capitol's National Statuary Hall. In signing the resolution directing the Joint Commission on the Library to do so, the President stated:
Portion of Interstate 96 in Detroit was renamed by the state legislature as the Rosa Parks Memorial Highway in December 2005.
2006:
At Super Bowl XL, played at Detroit's Ford Field, long-time Detroit residents Coretta Scott King and Parks were remembered and honored by a moment of silence. The Super Bowl was dedicated to their memory. Parks' nieces and nephews and Martin Luther King III joined the coin toss ceremonies, standing alongside former University of Michigan star Tom Brady who flipped the coin.
On February 14, Nassau County, New York Executive, Thomas Suozzi announced that the Hempstead Transit Center would be renamed the Rosa Parks Hempstead Transit Center in her honor.
On October 27, Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell signed a bill into law designating the portion of Pennsylvania Route 291 through Chester as the Rosa Parks Memorial Highway.
2007: Nashville, Tennessee renamed MetroCenter Boulevard (8th Avenue North) (US 41A and SR 12) as Rosa L. Parks Boulevard.
On March 14, 2008, the State of California Government Center at 464 W. 4th St., on the northwest corner of Court and 4th streets, in San Bernardino was renamed the Rosa Parks Memorial Building.
2009: On July 14, the Rosa Parks Transit Center opened in Detroit at the corner of Michigan and Cass Avenues.
2010: in Grand Rapids, Michigan, a plaza in the heart of the city was named Rosa Parks Circle.
2012:
A street in West Valley City, Utah (the state's second largest city), leading to the Utah Cultural Celebration Center was renamed Rosa Parks Drive.
2013:
On February 1, President Barack Obama proclaimed February 4, 2013, as the "100th Anniversary of the Birth of Rosa Parks". He called "upon all Americans to observe this day with appropriate service, community, and education programs to honor Rosa Parks's enduring legacy".
On February 4, to celebrate Rosa Parks' 100th birthday, the Henry Ford Museum declared the day a "National Day of Courage" with 12 hours of virtual and on-site activities featuring nationally recognized speakers, musical and dramatic interpretative performances, a panel presentation of "Rosa's Story" and a reading of the tale "Quiet Strength". The actual bus on which Rosa Parks sat was made available for the public to board and sit in the seat that Rosa Parks refused to give up.
On February 4, 2,000 birthday wishes gathered from people throughout the United States were transformed into 200 graphics messages at a celebration held on her 100th Birthday at the Davis Theater for the Performing Arts in Montgomery, Alabama. This was the 100th Birthday Wishes Project managed by the Rosa Parks Museum at Troy University and the Mobile Studio and was also a declared event by the Senate.
During both events the USPS unveiled a postage stamp in her honor.
On February 27, Parks became the first African-American woman to have her likeness depicted in National Statuary Hall. The monument, created by sculptor Eugene Daub, is a part of the Capitol Art Collection among nine other females featured in the National Statuary Hall Collection.
2014: The asteroid 284996 Rosaparks, discovered in 2010 by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, was named in her memory. The official was published by the Minor Planet Center on September 9, 2014 ().
2015:
The papers of Rosa Parks were cataloged into the Library of Congress, after years of a legal battle.
On December 13, the new Rosa Parks Railway Station opened in Paris.
2016:
The house lived in by Rosa Parks's brother, Sylvester McCauley, his wife Daisy, and their 13 children, and where Rosa Parks often visited and stayed after leaving Montgomery, was bought by her niece Rhea McCauley for $500 and donated to the artist Ryan Mendoza. It was subsequently dismantled and shipped to Berlin where it was re-erected in Mendoza's garden. In 2018 it was returned to the United States and rebuilt at the Waterfire Arts Center, Providence, Rhode Island, where it was put on public display, accompanied by a range of interpretive materials and public and scholarly events.
The National Museum of African American History and Culture was opened; it contains among other things the dress which Rosa Parks was sewing the day she refused to give up her seat to a white man.
2018:
Continuing the Conversation, a public sculpture of Parks, was unveiled on the main campus of the Georgia Institute of Technology.
2019:
A statue of Rosa Parks was unveiled in Montgomery, Alabama.
2021:
On January 20, a bust of Rosa Parks by Artis Lane was added to the Oval Office when Joe Biden began his presidency. The sculpture is currently displayed next to Augustus Saint-Gaudens' bust of Abraham Lincoln.
In popular culture
In 1979, the Supersisters trading card set was produced and distributed; one of the cards featured Parks's name and picture. She is card #27 in the set.
In March 1999, Parks filed a lawsuit (Rosa Parks v. LaFace Records) against American hip-hop duo OutKast and their record company, claiming that the duo's song "Rosa Parks", the most successful radio single of their 1998 album Aquemini, had used her name without permission. The lawsuit was settled on April 15, 2005 (six months and nine days before Parks' death); OutKast, their producer and record labels paid Parks an undisclosed cash settlement. They also agreed to work with the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute to create educational programs about the life of Rosa Parks. The record label and OutKast admitted no wrongdoing. Responsibility for the payment of legal fees was not disclosed.
The documentary Mighty Times: The Legacy of Rosa Parks (2001) received a 2002 nomination for Academy Award for Documentary Short Subject. She collaborated on a TV movie of her life, The Rosa Parks Story (2002), starring Angela Bassett.
The film Barbershop (2002) featured a barber, played by Cedric the Entertainer, arguing with others that other African Americans before Parks had been active in bus integration, but she was renowned as an NAACP secretary. The activists Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton launched a boycott against the film, contending it was "disrespectful", but NAACP president Kweisi Mfume stated he thought the controversy was "overblown". Parks was offended and boycotted the NAACP 2003 Image Awards ceremony, which Cedric hosted.
In 2013, Parks was portrayed by Llewella Gideon in the first series of the Sky Arts comedy series Psychobitches.
The 2018 episode "Rosa", of the science-fiction television series Doctor Who, centers on Rosa Parks, as portrayed by Vinette Robinson.
The UK children's historical show Horrible Histories honored Parks by creating a song to close an episode, "Rosa Parks: I Sat on a Bus".
In 2019, Mattel released a Barbie doll in Parks's likeness as part of their "Inspiring Women" series.
In 2020, rapper Nicki Minaj incorporated Rosa Parks into her song "Yikes" where she rapped, "All you bitches Rosa Park, uh-oh, get your ass up" in reference to the Montgomery bus boycott.
See also
Elizabeth Jennings Graham, 1854 sued and won case that led to desegregation of streetcars in New York City
Charlotte L. Brown, desegregated streetcars in San Francisco in the 1860s
John Mitchell Jr., in 1904, he organized a black boycott of Richmond, Virginia's segregated trolley system
Irene Morgan, in 1944, sued and won Supreme Court ruling that segregation of interstate buses was unconstitutional
Claudette Colvin
Cleveland Court Apartments 620–638
List of civil rights leaders
Rosa Parks Act
Timeline of the civil rights movement
Notes
References
Further reading
Barnes, Catherine A. Journey from Jim Crow: The Desegregation of Southern Transit, Columbia University Press, 1983.
Brinkley, Douglas. Rosa Parks: A Life, Penguin Books, October 25, 2005.
Editorial (May 17, 1974). "Two decades later" . The New York Times. p. 38. ("Within a year of Brown, Rosa Parks, a tired seamstress in Montgomery, Alabama, was, like Homer Plessy sixty years earlier, arrested for her refusal to move to the back of the bus.")
Parks, Rosa, with James Haskins, Rosa Parks: My Story. New York: Scholastic Inc., 1992.
Theoharis, Jeanne The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks, Beacon Press, 2015,
External links
Rosa Parks Library and Museum at Troy University
The Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development
Parks article in the Encyclopedia of Alabama
Rosa Parks bus on display at the Henry Ford Museum
Teaching and Learning Rosa Parks' Rebellious Life
Norwood, Arlisha. "Rosa Parks". National Women's History Museum. 2017.
Multimedia and interviews
"Civil Rights Icon Rosa Parks Dies"—National Public Radio
"Civil Rights Pioneer Rosa Parks 1913–2005"—Democracy Now! (democracynow.org)
"Eyes on the Prize; Interview with Rosa Parks,” 1985-11-14, American Archive of Public Broadcasting
Others
Complete audio/video and newspaper archive of the Montgomery bus boycott
Rosa Parks: cadre of working-class movement that ended Jim Crow
Photo of Rosa Parks Childhood Home
1913 births
2005 deaths
20th-century African-American activists
African-American Christians
African-American history of Alabama
African-American Methodists
Activists for African-American civil rights
Activists from Montgomery, Alabama
Alabama State University alumni
American people who self-identify as being of Native American descent
American people of Scotch-Irish descent
American women activists
Burials at Woodlawn Cemetery (Detroit, Michigan)
Civil rights protests in the United States
Community organizing
Congressional Gold Medal recipients
Deaths from dementia
Montgomery bus boycott
Neurological disease deaths in Michigan
Nonviolence advocates
Activists from Detroit
People from Tuskegee, Alabama
Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients
Protests in Alabama
Spingarn Medal winners | true | [
"Mariya Khan is a Pakistani actress, model, host and voice actress. She is known for her drama roles in Baba Jani, Hari Hari Churiyaan and Hiddat.\n\nBiography and career\nMariya was born on October 10, 1988 in Quetta, Pakistan. She completed her studies from St. Joseph's College with (B.A). She joined the industry in 2000. She did hosting on many channels such as Kay2 TV channel, Suno Pakistan FM 89.4. She also did voice acting, she did many urdu dubs on Turkish dramas and also at ARY Digital. She started her acting in 2009 on PTV Channel.She also appeared in British film Kandahar Break as Ayesha. She did a lot lead roles on PTV dramas such as Moum and Daag e Nadamaat. She was also known for her role in drama Waada with Faysal Qureshi and also in drama Mere Jevan Sathi. She was praised for doing both negative and positive characters. She also did modeling for many designers, companies and magazines. She appeared in drama Hari Hari Churiyaan as Nausheen in 2017.In 2018 she appeared in drama Baba Jani, Meri Guriya and Ishq Mein Kaafir.\n\nFilmography\n\nTelevision\n\nFilm\n\nAwards and nominations\n PTV National Award Winner Actress\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n \n \n\n1988 births\nLiving people\nPakistani television actresses\n21st-century Pakistani actresses",
"Reshma Shinde is an Indian Marathi actress. She known for her lead role in Rang Majha Vegla as Deepa.\n\nCareer \nIn 2009, She was participated in Maharashtracha Superstar 1 as a contestant. After that she got offer from the television show Bandh Resmache on Star Pravah. In 2014, she got role in Lagori - Maitri Returns as Purva. In 2015, she did negative role in Nanda Saukhya Bhare. In 2016, she did a role in Chahul a horror television show as Shambhavi. She also did supporting roles in Marathi films. Currently, she appeared in Rang Majha Vegla as Deepa.\n\nFilmography\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n Reshma Shinde on IMDb\n\nActresses in Marathi television\nActresses in Marathi cinema\nLiving people\n1987 births"
]
|
[
"Rosa Parks",
"Montgomery buses: law and prevailing customs",
"What part did she play in changing the law?",
"Parks said, \"My resisting being mistreated on the bus did not begin with that particular arrest. I did a lot of walking in Montgomery.\"",
"When did the bus incident occur?",
"One day in 1943,",
"Did she give up her seat?",
"I don't know.",
"What occured on the bus?",
"James F. Blake told her to follow city rules and enter the bus again from the back door.",
"Did she oblijge?",
"When Parks exited the vehicle, Blake drove off without her. Parks waited for the next bus, determined never to ride with Blake again."
]
| C_558bf98a34e44b5295c0d295391e444f_1 | Did she ever riide with blake again? | 6 | Did Rosa Parks ever ride the bus with Blake again? | Rosa Parks | In 1900, Montgomery had passed a city ordinance to segregate bus passengers by race. Conductors were empowered to assign seats to achieve that goal. According to the law, no passenger would be required to move or give up their seat and stand if the bus was crowded and no other seats were available. Over time and by custom, however, Montgomery bus drivers adopted the practice of requiring black riders to move when there were no white-only seats left. The first four rows of seats on each Montgomery bus were reserved for whites. Buses had "colored" sections for black people generally in the rear of the bus, although blacks composed more than 75% of the ridership. The sections were not fixed but were determined by placement of a movable sign. Black people could sit in the middle rows until the white section filled; if more whites needed seats, blacks were to move to seats in the rear, stand, or, if there was no room, leave the bus. Black people could not sit across the aisle in the same row as white people. The driver could move the "colored" section sign, or remove it altogether. If white people were already sitting in the front, black people had to board at the front to pay the fare, then disembark and reenter through the rear door. For years, the black community had complained that the situation was unfair. Parks said, "My resisting being mistreated on the bus did not begin with that particular arrest. I did a lot of walking in Montgomery." One day in 1943, Parks boarded a bus and paid the fare. She then moved to her seat but driver James F. Blake told her to follow city rules and enter the bus again from the back door. When Parks exited the vehicle, Blake drove off without her. Parks waited for the next bus, determined never to ride with Blake again. CANNOTANSWER | determined never to ride with Blake again. | Rosa Louise McCauley Parks (February 4, 1913 – October 24, 2005) was an American activist in the civil rights movement best known for her pivotal role in the Montgomery bus boycott. The United States Congress has honored her as "the first lady of civil rights" and "the mother of the freedom movement".
On December 1, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, Parks rejected bus driver James F. Blake's order to vacate a row of four seats in the "colored" section in favor of a white passenger, once the "white" section was filled. Parks was not the first person to resist bus segregation, but the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) believed that she was the best candidate for seeing through a court challenge after her arrest for civil disobedience in violating Alabama segregation laws, and she helped inspire the black community to boycott the Montgomery buses for over a year. The case became bogged down in the state courts, but the federal Montgomery bus lawsuit Browder v. Gayle resulted in a November 1956 decision that bus segregation is unconstitutional under the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Parks' act of defiance and the Montgomery bus boycott became important symbols of the movement. She became an international icon of resistance to racial segregation, and organized and collaborated with civil rights leaders, including Edgar Nixon and Martin Luther King Jr. At the time, Parks was employed as a seamstress at a local department store and was secretary of the Montgomery chapter of the NAACP. She had recently attended the Highlander Folk School, a Tennessee center for training activists for workers' rights and racial equality. Although widely honored in later years, she also suffered for her act; she was fired from her job, and received death threats for years afterwards. Shortly after the boycott, she moved to Detroit, where she briefly found similar work. From 1965 to 1988, she served as secretary and receptionist to John Conyers, an African-American US Representative. She was also active in the Black Power movement and the support of political prisoners in the US.
After retirement, Parks wrote her autobiography and continued to insist that there was more work to be done in the struggle for justice. Parks received national recognition, including the NAACP's 1979 Spingarn Medal, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Congressional Gold Medal, and a posthumous statue in the United States Capitol's National Statuary Hall. Upon her death in 2005, she was the first woman to lie in honor in the Capitol Rotunda. California and Missouri commemorate Rosa Parks Day on her birthday, February 4, while Ohio, Oregon, and Texas commemorate the anniversary of her arrest, December 1.
Early life
Rosa Parks was born Rosa Louise McCauley in Tuskegee, Alabama, on February 4, 1913, to Leona (née Edwards), a teacher, and James McCauley, a carpenter. In addition to African ancestry, one of Parks' great-grandfathers was Scots-Irish and one of her great-grandmothers a part-Native American slave. She was small as a child and suffered poor health with chronic tonsillitis. When her parents separated, she moved with her mother to Pine Level, just outside the state capital, Montgomery. She grew up on a farm with her maternal grandparents, mother, and younger brother Sylvester. They all were members of the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME), a century-old independent black denomination founded by free blacks in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the early nineteenth century.
McCauley attended rural schools until the age of eleven. Before that, her mother taught her "a good deal about sewing". She started piecing quilts from around the age of six, as her mother and grandmother were making quilts, She put her first quilt together by herself around the age of ten, which was unusual, as quilting was mainly a family activity performed when there was no field work or chores to be done. She learned more sewing in school from the age of eleven; she sewed her own "first dress [she] could wear". As a student at the Industrial School for Girls in Montgomery, she took academic and vocational courses. Parks went on to a laboratory school set up by the Alabama State Teachers College for Negroes for secondary education, but dropped out in order to care for her grandmother and later her mother, after they became ill.
Around the turn of the 20th century, the former Confederate states had adopted new constitutions and electoral laws that effectively disenfranchised black voters and, in Alabama, many poor white voters as well. Under the white-established Jim Crow laws, passed after Democrats regained control of southern legislatures, racial segregation was imposed in public facilities and retail stores in the South, including public transportation. Bus and train companies enforced seating policies with separate sections for blacks and whites. School bus transportation was unavailable in any form for black schoolchildren in the South, and black education was always underfunded.
Parks recalled going to elementary school in Pine Level, where school buses took white students to their new school and black students had to walk to theirs:
I'd see the bus pass every day ... But to me, that was a way of life; we had no choice but to accept what was the custom. The bus was among the first ways I realized there was a black world and a white world.
Although Parks' autobiography recounts early memories of the kindness of white strangers, she could not ignore the racism of her society. When the Ku Klux Klan marched down the street in front of their house, Parks recalls her grandfather guarding the front door with a shotgun. The Montgomery Industrial School, founded and staffed by white northerners for black children, was burned twice by arsonists. Its faculty was ostracized by the white community.
Repeatedly bullied by white children in her neighborhood, Parks often fought back physically. She later said: "As far back as I remember, I could never think in terms of accepting physical abuse without some form of retaliation if possible."
Early activism
In 1932, Rosa married Raymond Parks, a barber from Montgomery. He was a member of the NAACP, which at the time was collecting money to support the defense of the Scottsboro Boys, a group of black men falsely accused of raping two white women. Rosa took numerous jobs, ranging from domestic worker to hospital aide. At her husband's urging, she finished her high school studies in 1933, at a time when fewer than 7% of African Americans had a high-school diploma.
In December 1943, Parks became active in the civil rights movement, joined the Montgomery chapter of the NAACP, and was elected secretary at a time when this was considered a woman's job. She later said, "I was the only woman there, and they needed a secretary, and I was too timid to say no." She continued as secretary until 1957. She worked for the local NAACP leader Edgar Nixon, even though he maintained that "Women don't need to be nowhere but in the kitchen." When Parks asked, "Well, what about me?", he replied: "I need a secretary and you are a good one."
In 1944, in her capacity as secretary, she investigated the gang-rape of Recy Taylor, a black woman from Abbeville, Alabama. Parks and other civil rights activists organized "The Committee for Equal Justice for Mrs. Recy Taylor", launching what the Chicago Defender called "the strongest campaign for equal justice to be seen in a decade". Parks continued her work as an anti-rape activist five years later when she helped organize protests in support of Gertrude Perkins, a black woman who was raped by two white Montgomery police officers.
Although never a member of the Communist Party, she attended meetings with her husband. The notorious Scottsboro case had been brought to prominence by the Communist Party.
In the 1940s, Parks and her husband were members of the League of Women Voters. Sometime soon after 1944, she held a brief job at Maxwell Air Force Base, which, despite its location in Montgomery, Alabama, did not permit racial segregation because it was federal property. She rode on its integrated trolley. Speaking to her biographer, Parks noted, "You might just say Maxwell opened my eyes up." Parks worked as a housekeeper and seamstress for Clifford and Virginia Durr, a white couple. Politically liberal, the Durrs became her friends. They encouraged—and eventually helped sponsor—Parks in the summer of 1955 to attend the Highlander Folk School, an education center for activism in workers' rights and racial equality in Monteagle, Tennessee. There Parks was mentored by the veteran organizer Septima Clark. In 1945, despite the Jim Crow laws and discrimination by registrars, she succeeded in registering to vote on her third try.
In August 1955, black teenager Emmett Till was brutally murdered after reportedly flirting with a young white woman while visiting relatives in Mississippi. On November 27, 1955, four days before she would make her stand on the bus, Rosa Parks attended a mass meeting at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery that addressed this case, as well as the recent murders of the activists George W. Lee and Lamar Smith. The featured speaker was T. R. M. Howard, a black civil rights leader from Mississippi who headed the Regional Council of Negro Leadership. Howard brought news of the recent acquittal of the two men who had murdered Till. Parks was deeply saddened and angry at the news, particularly because Till's case had garnered much more attention than any of the cases she and the Montgomery NAACP had worked on—and yet, the two men still walked free.
Parks arrest and bus boycott
Montgomery buses: law and prevailing customs
In 1900, Montgomery had passed a city ordinance to segregate bus passengers by race. Conductors were empowered to assign seats to achieve that goal. According to the law, no passenger would be required to move or give up their seat and stand if the bus was crowded and no other seats were available. Over time and by custom, however, Montgomery bus drivers adopted the practice of requiring black riders to move when there were no white-only seats left.
The first four rows of seats on each Montgomery bus were reserved for whites. Buses had "colored" sections for black people generally in the rear of the bus, although blacks composed more than 75% of the ridership. The sections were not fixed but were determined by placement of a movable sign. Black people could sit in the middle rows until the white section filled; if more whites needed seats, blacks were to move to seats in the rear, stand, or, if there was no room, leave the bus. Black people could not sit across the aisle in the same row as white people. The driver could move the "colored" section sign, or remove it altogether. If white people were already sitting in the front, black people had to board at the front to pay the fare, then disembark and reenter through the rear door.
For years, the black community had complained that the situation was unfair. Parks said, "My resisting being mistreated on the bus did not begin with that particular arrest. I did a lot of walking in Montgomery."
One day in 1943, Parks boarded a bus and paid the fare. She then moved to a seat, but driver James F. Blake told her to follow city rules and enter the bus again from the back door. When Parks exited the vehicle, Blake drove off without her. Parks waited for the next bus, determined never to ride with Blake again.
Refusal to move
After working all day, Parks boarded the Cleveland Avenue bus, a General Motors Old Look bus belonging to the Montgomery City Lines, around 6 p.m., Thursday, December 1, 1955, in downtown Montgomery. She paid her fare and sat in an empty seat in the first row of back seats reserved for blacks in the "colored" section. Near the middle of the bus, her row was directly behind the ten seats reserved for white passengers. Initially, she did not notice that the bus driver was the same man, James F. Blake, who had left her in the rain in 1943. As the bus traveled along its regular route, all of the white-only seats in the bus filled up. The bus reached the third stop in front of the Empire Theater, and several white passengers boarded. Blake noted that two or three white passengers were standing, as the front of the bus had filled to capacity. He moved the "colored" section sign behind Parks and demanded that four black people give up their seats in the middle section so that the white passengers could sit. Years later, in recalling the events of the day, Parks said, "When that white driver stepped back toward us, when he waved his hand and ordered us up and out of our seats, I felt a determination cover my body like a quilt on a winter night."
By Parks' account, Blake said, "Y'all better make it light on yourselves and let me have those seats." Three of them complied. Parks said, "The driver wanted us to stand up, the four of us. We didn't move at the beginning, but he says, 'Let me have these seats.' And the other three people moved, but I didn't." The black man sitting next to her gave up his seat.
Parks moved, but toward the window seat; she did not get up to move to the redesignated colored section. Parks later said about being asked to move to the rear of the bus, "I thought of Emmett Till – a 14-year-old African American who was lynched in Mississippi in 1955, after being accused of offending a white woman in her family's grocery store, whose killers were tried and acquitted – and I just couldn't go back." Blake said, "Why don't you stand up?" Parks responded, "I don't think I should have to stand up." Blake called the police to arrest Parks. When recalling the incident for Eyes on the Prize, a 1987 public television series on the Civil Rights Movement, Parks said, "When he saw me still sitting, he asked if I was going to stand up, and I said, 'No, I'm not.' And he said, 'Well, if you don't stand up, I'm going to have to call the police and have you arrested.' I said, 'You may do that.'"
During a 1956 radio interview with Sydney Rogers in West Oakland several months after her arrest, Parks said she had decided, "I would have to know for once and for all what rights I had as a human being and a citizen."
In her autobiography, My Story, she said:
When Parks refused to give up her seat, a police officer arrested her. As the officer took her away, she recalled that she asked, "Why do you push us around?" She remembered him saying, "I don't know, but the law's the law, and you're under arrest." She later said, "I only knew that, as I was being arrested, that it was the very last time that I would ever ride in humiliation of this kind. ... "
Parks was charged with a violation of Chapter 6, Section 11 segregation law of the Montgomery City code, although technically she had not taken a white-only seat; she had been in a colored section. Edgar Nixon, president of the Montgomery chapter of the NAACP and leader of the Pullman Porters Union, and her friend Clifford Durr bailed Parks out of jail that evening.
Parks did not originate the idea of protesting segregation with a bus sit-in. Those preceding her included Bayard Rustin in 1942, Irene Morgan in 1946, Lillie Mae Bradford in 1951, Sarah Louise Keys in 1952, and the members of the ultimately successful Browder v. Gayle 1956 lawsuit (Claudette Colvin, Aurelia Browder, Susie McDonald, and Mary Louise Smith) who were arrested in Montgomery for not giving up their bus seats months before Parks.
Montgomery bus boycott
Nixon conferred with Jo Ann Robinson, an Alabama State College professor and member of the Women's Political Council (WPC), about the Parks case. Robinson believed it important to seize the opportunity and stayed up all night mimeographing over 35,000 handbills announcing a bus boycott. The Women's Political Council was the first group to officially endorse the boycott.
On Sunday, December 4, 1955, plans for the Montgomery bus boycott were announced at black churches in the area, and a front-page article in the Montgomery Advertiser helped spread the word. At a church rally that night, those attending agreed unanimously to continue the boycott until they were treated with the level of courtesy they expected, until black drivers were hired, and until seating in the middle of the bus was handled on a first-come basis.
The next day, Parks was tried on charges of disorderly conduct and violating a local ordinance. The trial lasted 30 minutes. After being found guilty and fined $10, plus $4 in court costs (combined total ), Parks appealed her conviction and formally challenged the legality of racial segregation. In a 1992 interview with National Public Radio's Lynn Neary, Parks recalled:
On the day of Parks' trial—December 5, 1955—the WPC distributed the 35,000 leaflets. The handbill read,
We are ... asking every Negro to stay off the buses Monday in protest of the arrest and trial ... You can afford to stay out of school for one day. If you work, take a cab, or walk. But please, children and grown-ups, don't ride the bus at all on Monday. Please stay off the buses Monday.
It rained that day, but the black community persevered in their boycott. Some rode in carpools, while others traveled in black-operated cabs that charged the same fare as the bus, 10 cents (). Most of the remainder of the 40,000 black commuters walked, some as far as .
That evening after the success of the one-day boycott, a group of 16 to 18 people gathered at the Mt. Zion AME Zion Church to discuss boycott strategies. At that time, Parks was introduced but not asked to speak, despite a standing ovation and calls from the crowd for her to speak; when she asked if she should say something, the reply was, "Why, you've said enough." This movement also sparked riots leading up to the 1956 Sugar Bowl.
The group agreed that a new organization was needed to lead the boycott effort if it were to continue. Rev. Ralph Abernathy suggested the name "Montgomery Improvement Association" (MIA). The name was adopted, and the MIA was formed. Its members elected as their president Martin Luther King Jr., a relative newcomer to Montgomery, who was a young and mostly unknown minister of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church.
That Monday night, 50 leaders of the African-American community gathered to discuss actions to respond to Parks' arrest. Edgar Nixon, the president of the NAACP, said, "My God, look what segregation has put in my hands!" Parks was considered the ideal plaintiff for a test case against city and state segregation laws, as she was seen as a responsible, mature woman with a good reputation. She was securely married and employed, was regarded as possessing a quiet and dignified demeanor, and was politically savvy. King said that Parks was regarded as "one of the finest citizens of Montgomery—not one of the finest Negro citizens, but one of the finest citizens of Montgomery".
Parks' court case was being slowed down in appeals through the Alabama courts on their way to a Federal appeal and the process could have taken years. Holding together a boycott for that length of time would have been a great strain. In the end, black residents of Montgomery continued the boycott for 381 days. Dozens of public buses stood idle for months, severely damaging the bus transit company's finances, until the city repealed its law requiring segregation on public buses following the US Supreme Court ruling in Browder v. Gayle that it was unconstitutional. Parks was not included as a plaintiff in the Browder decision because the attorney Fred Gray concluded the courts would perceive they were attempting to circumvent her prosecution on her charges working their way through the Alabama state court system.
Parks played an important part in raising international awareness of the plight of African Americans and the civil rights struggle. King wrote in his 1958 book Stride Toward Freedom that Parks' arrest was the catalyst rather than the cause of the protest: "The cause lay deep in the record of similar injustices." He wrote, "Actually, no one can understand the action of Mrs. Parks unless he realizes that eventually the cup of endurance runs over, and the human personality cries out, 'I can take it no longer.'"
Detroit years
1960s
After her arrest, Parks became an icon of the Civil Rights Movement but suffered hardships as a result. Due to economic sanctions used against activists, she lost her job at the department store. Her husband lost his job as a barber at Maxwell Air Force Base after his boss forbade him to talk about his wife or the legal case. Parks traveled and spoke about the issues.
In 1957, Raymond and Rosa Parks left Montgomery for Hampton, Virginia; mostly because she was unable to find work. She also disagreed with King and other leaders of Montgomery's struggling civil rights movement about how to proceed, and was constantly receiving death threats. In Hampton, she found a job as a hostess in an inn at Hampton Institute, a historically black college.
Later that year, at the urging of her brother and sister-in-law in Detroit, Sylvester and Daisy McCauley, Rosa and Raymond Parks and her mother moved north to join them. The City of Detroit attempted to cultivate a progressive reputation, but Parks encountered numerous signs of discrimination against African-Americans. Schools were effectively segregated, and services in black neighborhoods substandard. In 1964, Parks told an interviewer that, "I don't feel a great deal of difference here ... Housing segregation is just as bad, and it seems more noticeable in the larger cities." She regularly participated in the movement for open and fair housing.
Parks rendered crucial assistance in the first campaign for Congress by John Conyers. She persuaded Martin Luther King (who was generally reluctant to endorse local candidates) to appear with Conyers, thereby boosting the novice candidate's profile. When Conyers was elected, he hired her as a secretary and receptionist for his congressional office in Detroit. She held this position until she retired in 1988. In a telephone interview with CNN on October 24, 2005, Conyers recalled, "You treated her with deference because she was so quiet, so serene—just a very special person ... There was only one Rosa Parks." Doing much of the daily constituent work for Conyers, Parks often focused on socio-economic issues including welfare, education, job discrimination, and affordable housing. She visited schools, hospitals, senior citizen facilities, and other community meetings and kept Conyers grounded in community concerns and activism.
Parks participated in activism nationally during the mid-1960s, traveling to support the Selma-to-Montgomery Marches, the Freedom Now Party, and the Lowndes County Freedom Organization. She also befriended Malcolm X, who she regarded as a personal hero.
Like many Detroit blacks, Parks remained particularly concerned about housing issues. She herself lived in a neighborhood, Virginia Park, which had been compromised by highway construction and urban renewal. By 1962, these policies had destroyed 10,000 structures in Detroit, displacing 43,096 people, 70 percent of them African-American. Parks lived just a mile from the center of the riot that took place in Detroit in 1967, and she considered housing discrimination a major factor that provoked the disorder.
In the aftermath Parks collaborated with members of the League of Revolutionary Black Workers and the Republic of New Afrika in raising awareness of police abuse during the conflict. She served on a "people's tribunal" on August 30, 1967, investigating the killing of three young men by police during the 1967 Detroit uprising, in what came to be known as the Algiers Motel incident. She also helped form the Virginia Park district council to help rebuild the area. The council facilitated the building of the only black-owned shopping center in the country. Parks took part in the black power movement, attending the Philadelphia Black Power conference, and the Black Political Convention in Gary, Indiana. She also supported and visited the Black Panther school in Oakland.
1970s
In the 1970s, Parks organized for the freedom of political prisoners in the United States, particularly cases involving issues of self-defense. She helped found the Detroit chapter of the Joann Little Defense Committee, and also worked in support of the Wilmington 10, the RNA 11, and Gary Tyler. Following national outcry around her case, Little succeeded in her defense that she used deadly force to resist sexual assault and was acquitted. Gary Tyler was finally released in April 2016 after 41 years in prison.
The 1970s were a decade of loss for Parks in her personal life. Her family was plagued with illness; she and her husband had suffered stomach ulcers for years and both required hospitalization. In spite of her fame and constant speaking engagements, Parks was not a wealthy woman. She donated most of the money from speaking to civil rights causes, and lived on her staff salary and her husband's pension. Medical bills and time missed from work caused financial strain that required her to accept assistance from church groups and admirers.
Her husband died of throat cancer on August 19, 1977, and her brother, her only sibling, died of cancer that November. Her personal ordeals caused her to become removed from the civil rights movement. She learned from a newspaper of the death of Fannie Lou Hamer, once a close friend. Parks suffered two broken bones in a fall on an icy sidewalk, an injury which caused considerable and recurring pain. She decided to move with her mother into an apartment for senior citizens. There she nursed her mother Leona through the final stages of cancer and geriatric dementia until she died in 1979 at the age of 92.
1980s
In 1980, Parks—widowed and without immediate family—rededicated herself to civil rights and educational organizations. She co-founded the Rosa L. Parks Scholarship Foundation for college-bound high school seniors, to which she donated most of her speaker fees. In February 1987, she co-founded, with Elaine Eason Steele, the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development, an institute that runs the "Pathways to Freedom" bus tours which introduce young people to important civil rights and Underground Railroad sites throughout the country. Parks also served on the Board of Advocates of Planned Parenthood. Though her health declined as she entered her seventies, Parks continued to make many appearances and devoted considerable energy to these causes. Unrelated to her activism, Parks loaned quilts of her own making to an exhibit at Michigan State University of quilts by African-American residents of Michigan.
1990s
In 1992, Parks published Rosa Parks: My Story, an autobiography aimed at younger readers, which recounts her life leading to her decision to keep her seat on the bus. A few years later, she published Quiet Strength (1995), her memoir, which focuses on her faith.
At age 81, Parks was robbed and assaulted in her home in central Detroit on August 30, 1994. The assailant, Joseph Skipper, broke down the door but claimed he had chased away an intruder. He requested a reward and when Parks paid him, he demanded more. Parks refused and he attacked her. Hurt and badly shaken, Parks called a friend, who called the police. A neighborhood manhunt led to Skipper's capture and reported beating. Parks was treated at Detroit Receiving Hospital for facial injuries and swelling on the right side of her face. Parks said about the attack on her by the African-American man, "Many gains have been made ... But as you can see, at this time we still have a long way to go." Skipper was sentenced to 8 to 15 years and was transferred to prison in another state for his own safety.
Suffering anxiety upon returning to her small central Detroit house following the ordeal, Parks moved into Riverfront Towers, a secure high-rise apartment building. Learning of Parks' move, Little Caesars owner Mike Ilitch offered to pay for her housing expenses for as long as necessary.
In 1994, the Ku Klux Klan applied to sponsor a portion of United States Interstate 55 in St. Louis County and Jefferson County, Missouri, near St. Louis, for cleanup (which allowed them to have signs stating that this section of highway was maintained by the organization). Since the state could not refuse the KKK's sponsorship, the Missouri legislature voted to name the highway section the "Rosa Parks Highway". When asked how she felt about this honor, she is reported to have commented, "It is always nice to be thought of."
In 1999, Parks filmed a cameo appearance for the television series Touched by an Angel. It was her last appearance on film; Parks began to suffer from health problems due to old age.
2000s
In 2002, Parks received an eviction notice from her $1,800 per month () apartment for non-payment of rent. Parks was incapable of managing her own financial affairs by this time due to age-related physical and mental decline. Her rent was paid from a collection taken by Hartford Memorial Baptist Church in Detroit. When her rent became delinquent and her impending eviction was highly publicized in 2004, executives of the ownership company announced they had forgiven the back rent and would allow Parks, by then 91 and in extremely poor health, to live rent-free in the building for the remainder of her life. Elaine Steele, manager of the nonprofit Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute, defended Parks' care and stated that the eviction notices were sent in error. Several of Parks' family members alleged that her financial affairs had been mismanaged.
In 2016, Parks' former residence in Detroit was threatened with demolition. A Berlin-based American artist, Ryan Mendoza, arranged to have the house disassembled, moved to his garden in Germany, and partly restored. It served as a museum honoring Rosa Parks. In 2018, the house was moved back to the United States. Brown University was planning to exhibit the house, but the display was cancelled. The house was exhibited during part of 2018 in an arts centre in Providence, Rhode Island.
Death and funeral
Parks died of natural causes on October 24, 2005, at the age of 92, in her apartment on the east side of Detroit. She and her husband never had children and she outlived her only sibling. She was survived by her sister-in-law (Raymond's sister), 13 nieces and nephews and their families, and several cousins, most of them residents of Michigan or Alabama.
City officials in Montgomery and Detroit announced on October 27, 2005, that the front seats of their city buses would be reserved with black ribbons in honor of Parks until her funeral. Parks' coffin was flown to Montgomery and taken in a horse-drawn hearse to the St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal (AME) church, where she lay in repose at the altar on October 29, 2005, dressed in the uniform of a church deaconess. A memorial service was held there the following morning. One of the speakers, United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, said that if it had not been for Parks, she would probably have never become the Secretary of State. In the evening the casket was transported to Washington, D.C. and transported by a bus similar to the one in which she made her protest, to lie in honor in the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol.
Since the founding of the practice in 1852, Parks was the 31st person, the first American who had not been a U.S. government official, and the second private person (after the French planner Pierre L'Enfant) to be honored in this way. She was the first woman and the second black person to lie in honor in the Capitol. An estimated 50,000 people viewed the casket there, and the event was broadcast on television on October 31, 2005. A memorial service was held that afternoon at Metropolitan AME Church in Washington, D.C.
With her body and casket returned to Detroit, for two days, Parks lay in repose at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History. Her funeral service was seven hours long and was held on November 2, 2005, at the Greater Grace Temple Church in Detroit. After the service, an honor guard from the Michigan National Guard laid the U.S. flag over the casket and carried it to a horse-drawn hearse, which was intended to carry it, in daylight, to the cemetery. As the hearse passed the thousands of people who were viewing the procession, many clapped, cheered loudly and released white balloons. Parks was interred between her husband and mother at Detroit's Woodlawn Cemetery in the chapel's mausoleum. The chapel was renamed the Rosa L. Parks Freedom Chapel in her honor.
Legacy and honors
1963: Paul Stephenson initiated a bus boycott in Bristol, England, to protest a similar color bar operated by a bus company there, inspired by the example of the Montgomery bus boycott initiated by Rosa Parks' refusal to move from "whites only" bus seat in Montgomery, Alabama.
1976: Detroit renamed 12th Street "Rosa Parks Boulevard".
1979: The NAACP awarded Parks the Spingarn Medal, its highest honor,
1980: She received the Martin Luther King Jr. Award.
1982: California State University, Fresno, awarded Parks the African-American Achievement Award. The honor, given to deserving students in succeeding years, became the Rosa Parks Awards.
1983: She was inducted into Michigan Women's Hall of Fame for her achievements in civil rights.
1984: She received a Candace Award from the National Coalition of 100 Black Women.
1990:
Parks was invited to be part of the group welcoming Nelson Mandela upon his release from prison in South Africa.
Parks was in attendance as part of Interstate 475 outside of Toledo, Ohio, was named after her.
1992: She received the Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience Award along with Dr. Benjamin Spock and others at the Kennedy Library and Museum in Boston, Massachusetts.
1993: She was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame,
1994: She received an honorary doctorate from Florida State University in Tallahassee, FL.
1994: She received an honorary doctorate from Soka University in Tokyo, Japan.
1995: She received the Academy of Achievement's Golden Plate Award in Williamsburg, Virginia.
1996: She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest honor given by the US executive branch.
1998: She was the first-ever recipient of the International Freedom Conductor Award from the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, honoring people whose actions support those struggling with modern-day issues related to freedom.
1999:
She received the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest award given by the US legislative branch, the medal bears the legend "Mother of the Modern Day Civil Rights Movement"
She received the Windsor–Detroit International Freedom Festival Freedom Award.
Time named Parks one of the 20 most influential and iconic figures of the 20th century.
President Bill Clinton honored her in his State of the Union address, saying, "She's sitting down with the first lady tonight, and she may get up or not as she chooses."
2000:
Her home state awarded her the Alabama Academy of Honor,
She received the first Governor's Medal of Honor for Extraordinary Courage.
She was awarded two dozen honorary doctorates from universities worldwide
She was made an honorary member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.
the Rosa Parks Library and Museum on the campus of Troy University in Montgomery was dedicated to her.
2002:
Scholar Molefi Kete Asante listed Parks on his list of 100 Greatest African Americans.
A portion of the Interstate 10 freeway in Los Angeles was named in her honor.
She received the Walter P. Reuther Humanitarian Award from Wayne State University.
2003: Bus No. 2857, on which Parks was riding, was restored and placed on display in The Henry Ford museum
2004: In the Los Angeles County MetroRail system, the Imperial Highway/Wilmington station, where the A Line connects with the C Line, has been officially named the "Rosa Parks Station".
2005:
Senate Concurrent Resolution 61, 109th Congress, 1st Session, was agreed to October 29, 2005. This set the stage for her to become the 1st woman to lie in honor, in the Capitol Rotunda.
On October 30, 2005, President George W. Bush issued a proclamation ordering that all flags on U.S. public areas both within the country and abroad be flown at half-staff on the day of Parks' funeral.
Metro Transit in King County, Washington placed posters and stickers dedicating the first forward-facing seat of all its buses in Parks' memory shortly after her death,
The American Public Transportation Association declared December 1, 2005, the 50th anniversary of her arrest, to be a "National Transit Tribute to Rosa Parks Day".
On that anniversary, President George W. Bush signed , directing that a statue of Parks be placed in the United States Capitol's National Statuary Hall. In signing the resolution directing the Joint Commission on the Library to do so, the President stated:
Portion of Interstate 96 in Detroit was renamed by the state legislature as the Rosa Parks Memorial Highway in December 2005.
2006:
At Super Bowl XL, played at Detroit's Ford Field, long-time Detroit residents Coretta Scott King and Parks were remembered and honored by a moment of silence. The Super Bowl was dedicated to their memory. Parks' nieces and nephews and Martin Luther King III joined the coin toss ceremonies, standing alongside former University of Michigan star Tom Brady who flipped the coin.
On February 14, Nassau County, New York Executive, Thomas Suozzi announced that the Hempstead Transit Center would be renamed the Rosa Parks Hempstead Transit Center in her honor.
On October 27, Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell signed a bill into law designating the portion of Pennsylvania Route 291 through Chester as the Rosa Parks Memorial Highway.
2007: Nashville, Tennessee renamed MetroCenter Boulevard (8th Avenue North) (US 41A and SR 12) as Rosa L. Parks Boulevard.
On March 14, 2008, the State of California Government Center at 464 W. 4th St., on the northwest corner of Court and 4th streets, in San Bernardino was renamed the Rosa Parks Memorial Building.
2009: On July 14, the Rosa Parks Transit Center opened in Detroit at the corner of Michigan and Cass Avenues.
2010: in Grand Rapids, Michigan, a plaza in the heart of the city was named Rosa Parks Circle.
2012:
A street in West Valley City, Utah (the state's second largest city), leading to the Utah Cultural Celebration Center was renamed Rosa Parks Drive.
2013:
On February 1, President Barack Obama proclaimed February 4, 2013, as the "100th Anniversary of the Birth of Rosa Parks". He called "upon all Americans to observe this day with appropriate service, community, and education programs to honor Rosa Parks's enduring legacy".
On February 4, to celebrate Rosa Parks' 100th birthday, the Henry Ford Museum declared the day a "National Day of Courage" with 12 hours of virtual and on-site activities featuring nationally recognized speakers, musical and dramatic interpretative performances, a panel presentation of "Rosa's Story" and a reading of the tale "Quiet Strength". The actual bus on which Rosa Parks sat was made available for the public to board and sit in the seat that Rosa Parks refused to give up.
On February 4, 2,000 birthday wishes gathered from people throughout the United States were transformed into 200 graphics messages at a celebration held on her 100th Birthday at the Davis Theater for the Performing Arts in Montgomery, Alabama. This was the 100th Birthday Wishes Project managed by the Rosa Parks Museum at Troy University and the Mobile Studio and was also a declared event by the Senate.
During both events the USPS unveiled a postage stamp in her honor.
On February 27, Parks became the first African-American woman to have her likeness depicted in National Statuary Hall. The monument, created by sculptor Eugene Daub, is a part of the Capitol Art Collection among nine other females featured in the National Statuary Hall Collection.
2014: The asteroid 284996 Rosaparks, discovered in 2010 by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, was named in her memory. The official was published by the Minor Planet Center on September 9, 2014 ().
2015:
The papers of Rosa Parks were cataloged into the Library of Congress, after years of a legal battle.
On December 13, the new Rosa Parks Railway Station opened in Paris.
2016:
The house lived in by Rosa Parks's brother, Sylvester McCauley, his wife Daisy, and their 13 children, and where Rosa Parks often visited and stayed after leaving Montgomery, was bought by her niece Rhea McCauley for $500 and donated to the artist Ryan Mendoza. It was subsequently dismantled and shipped to Berlin where it was re-erected in Mendoza's garden. In 2018 it was returned to the United States and rebuilt at the Waterfire Arts Center, Providence, Rhode Island, where it was put on public display, accompanied by a range of interpretive materials and public and scholarly events.
The National Museum of African American History and Culture was opened; it contains among other things the dress which Rosa Parks was sewing the day she refused to give up her seat to a white man.
2018:
Continuing the Conversation, a public sculpture of Parks, was unveiled on the main campus of the Georgia Institute of Technology.
2019:
A statue of Rosa Parks was unveiled in Montgomery, Alabama.
2021:
On January 20, a bust of Rosa Parks by Artis Lane was added to the Oval Office when Joe Biden began his presidency. The sculpture is currently displayed next to Augustus Saint-Gaudens' bust of Abraham Lincoln.
In popular culture
In 1979, the Supersisters trading card set was produced and distributed; one of the cards featured Parks's name and picture. She is card #27 in the set.
In March 1999, Parks filed a lawsuit (Rosa Parks v. LaFace Records) against American hip-hop duo OutKast and their record company, claiming that the duo's song "Rosa Parks", the most successful radio single of their 1998 album Aquemini, had used her name without permission. The lawsuit was settled on April 15, 2005 (six months and nine days before Parks' death); OutKast, their producer and record labels paid Parks an undisclosed cash settlement. They also agreed to work with the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute to create educational programs about the life of Rosa Parks. The record label and OutKast admitted no wrongdoing. Responsibility for the payment of legal fees was not disclosed.
The documentary Mighty Times: The Legacy of Rosa Parks (2001) received a 2002 nomination for Academy Award for Documentary Short Subject. She collaborated on a TV movie of her life, The Rosa Parks Story (2002), starring Angela Bassett.
The film Barbershop (2002) featured a barber, played by Cedric the Entertainer, arguing with others that other African Americans before Parks had been active in bus integration, but she was renowned as an NAACP secretary. The activists Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton launched a boycott against the film, contending it was "disrespectful", but NAACP president Kweisi Mfume stated he thought the controversy was "overblown". Parks was offended and boycotted the NAACP 2003 Image Awards ceremony, which Cedric hosted.
In 2013, Parks was portrayed by Llewella Gideon in the first series of the Sky Arts comedy series Psychobitches.
The 2018 episode "Rosa", of the science-fiction television series Doctor Who, centers on Rosa Parks, as portrayed by Vinette Robinson.
The UK children's historical show Horrible Histories honored Parks by creating a song to close an episode, "Rosa Parks: I Sat on a Bus".
In 2019, Mattel released a Barbie doll in Parks's likeness as part of their "Inspiring Women" series.
In 2020, rapper Nicki Minaj incorporated Rosa Parks into her song "Yikes" where she rapped, "All you bitches Rosa Park, uh-oh, get your ass up" in reference to the Montgomery bus boycott.
See also
Elizabeth Jennings Graham, 1854 sued and won case that led to desegregation of streetcars in New York City
Charlotte L. Brown, desegregated streetcars in San Francisco in the 1860s
John Mitchell Jr., in 1904, he organized a black boycott of Richmond, Virginia's segregated trolley system
Irene Morgan, in 1944, sued and won Supreme Court ruling that segregation of interstate buses was unconstitutional
Claudette Colvin
Cleveland Court Apartments 620–638
List of civil rights leaders
Rosa Parks Act
Timeline of the civil rights movement
Notes
References
Further reading
Barnes, Catherine A. Journey from Jim Crow: The Desegregation of Southern Transit, Columbia University Press, 1983.
Brinkley, Douglas. Rosa Parks: A Life, Penguin Books, October 25, 2005.
Editorial (May 17, 1974). "Two decades later" . The New York Times. p. 38. ("Within a year of Brown, Rosa Parks, a tired seamstress in Montgomery, Alabama, was, like Homer Plessy sixty years earlier, arrested for her refusal to move to the back of the bus.")
Parks, Rosa, with James Haskins, Rosa Parks: My Story. New York: Scholastic Inc., 1992.
Theoharis, Jeanne The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks, Beacon Press, 2015,
External links
Rosa Parks Library and Museum at Troy University
The Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development
Parks article in the Encyclopedia of Alabama
Rosa Parks bus on display at the Henry Ford Museum
Teaching and Learning Rosa Parks' Rebellious Life
Norwood, Arlisha. "Rosa Parks". National Women's History Museum. 2017.
Multimedia and interviews
"Civil Rights Icon Rosa Parks Dies"—National Public Radio
"Civil Rights Pioneer Rosa Parks 1913–2005"—Democracy Now! (democracynow.org)
"Eyes on the Prize; Interview with Rosa Parks,” 1985-11-14, American Archive of Public Broadcasting
Others
Complete audio/video and newspaper archive of the Montgomery bus boycott
Rosa Parks: cadre of working-class movement that ended Jim Crow
Photo of Rosa Parks Childhood Home
1913 births
2005 deaths
20th-century African-American activists
African-American Christians
African-American history of Alabama
African-American Methodists
Activists for African-American civil rights
Activists from Montgomery, Alabama
Alabama State University alumni
American people who self-identify as being of Native American descent
American people of Scotch-Irish descent
American women activists
Burials at Woodlawn Cemetery (Detroit, Michigan)
Civil rights protests in the United States
Community organizing
Congressional Gold Medal recipients
Deaths from dementia
Montgomery bus boycott
Neurological disease deaths in Michigan
Nonviolence advocates
Activists from Detroit
People from Tuskegee, Alabama
Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients
Protests in Alabama
Spingarn Medal winners | true | [
"Nikki Warrington is a fictional character from the British soap opera Family Affairs, played by Rebecca Blake. She first appeared on-screen during the episode broadcast 31 January 2000. She last appeared on 1 December 2003. The character arrived as part of the Warrington/Scott family and has been labeled a \"serial adulterer\" due to her many affairs. Arriving with husband Andrew Warrington (Simon Cook), she has an affair with his son Luke Warrington (Royce Cronin). She is unfaithful to Luke with her ex-husband Adrian Scott (Ariyon Bakare) and later Jim Webb (Jo Dow). Nikki later finds love once again and marries Roy Farmer (Miles Petit). Her affair with Luke earned her the title of the \"wicked stepmother\" from Soaplife magazine.\n\nDevelopment\n\nCharacterisation\n\nA writer from five.tv described Nikki as one to always cause controversy. She is equally loved and hated by her neighbours for her behaviour. She is also the peacemaker and always there to mediate her children's many arguments. The wardrobe department kitted Nikki out with a plain dress code. Blake told Susan Riley of Soaplife that \"Nikki's clothes are slowly getting trendier but she's very dowdy. When I used to see how frumpy I looked on-screen, I'd hotfoot it down to wardrobe and try to lose a few of her outfits.\" When Blake first joined the show she was styling a shorter hair cut. But while filming her hair would drop over her face and Blake believed it made Nikki look like a muppet.\n\nAffair with Luke\nNikki arrives in Charnham with her children Becky Scott (Chandra Reugg) and Darren Scott (Joe Fox). She is accompanied by her husband Andrew Warrington (Simon Cook) and his grown up children Sara Warrington (Beth Cordingly) and Luke Warrington (Royce Cronin). Though an attraction develops with the latter and they begin an affair. Blake defended her character's actions by noting that Nikki only ever acted on her feelings for Luke following alcohol consumption. Nikki's ex-husband Adrian Scott (Ariyon Bakare) is introduced into the show and he learns of their affair. Blake told Diana Hollingsworth from Soaplife that \"Nikki can't bear for the children to find out that she slept with Luke. She doesn't want to decimate the family set-up she's worked so hard to create. And Andrew is very much part of that package.\" Adrian uses his knowledge of the affair into forcing her to let him take Becky and Darren away. But Blake explained that Nikki believes that Adrian will not be able to support them and will return them home. She then blames their departure on Andrew's family problems. But the deceit and her children's absence proves too much for the character. Blake stated \"She's blown to pieces, utterly destroyed [...] Nikki is distraught. She keeps breaking down and is finding it very hard to hold everything together.\"\n\nBecky is miserable living with Adrian and runs away to visit Luke at university. Nikki goes to collect her but ends up sleeping with Luke despite the trouble their affair already created. This was because the duo have a \"strong sexual chemistry\". Blake also believed that Nikki had fallen in love with Luke. But she remains determined to stay with Andrew. Blake reasoned that \"It would blow the family apart completely. He's a very straight guy – I don't think he could envisage a bigger betrayal. It couldn't be worse.\"\n\nAndrew begins to suspect an affair when he returns from an American lecture tour. He is suspicious of Adrian taking the children and demands answers. Nikki lies to Andrew claiming she has been unfaithful with a colleague. Andrew is angry with Nikki but also willing to save their marriage. Cook told Alison James of Soaplife that \"he still loves Nikki and wants to make a go of things. But he doesn't make it easy for her. there's no way he intends to just forgive and forget.\" Luke confesses to Sara that he is Nikki's lover. However Sara realises that Nikki will continue sleeping with Luke and makes sure Andrew catches them having sex. Cook believed that it was the ultimate betrayal from his wife and son. The shock leaves him numb and devastated. Andrew blames Nikki and believes that she corrupted her own son for an affair. Cook added that Nikki \"completely abandoned her responsibilities\". Cook thought that Nikki's reasons for wanting to remain with Andrew were selfish. He added \"Nikki's desperate to save it, probably because she'll lose everything – a sizeable income and her kids.\" Cook said there was no hope of Nikki and Andrew repairing their relationship. Producers decided to write Andrew out of the show. They realised that Andrew could not live on the same street as Nikki.\n\nAffair with Adrian\nNikki faces trouble at home when her son Darren (Ike Hamilton) refuses to accept her relationship with Luke. He decides to behave rudely and hope it pushes Nikki closer to Adrian. His plan succeeds when Nikki comforts Adrian after he decides to search for a man who sexually assaulted him. The emotional moment results in them sleeping together. Blake told James that \"Nikki's fond of Adrian, but she's moved on and regards him as a kind of brother. She ended up making love with him because it felt kind of normal.\" Blake said that Nikki views it as a one off because it did not rekindle her old feelings for Adrian.\n\nBut Adrian presumes that they can become a family again. Blake said that her character worries and wants to stop Adrian from believing they have a future. Though Blake noted that Luke did not play a part in her decision to rebuff Adrian. She believed that Nikki and Luke did not work as a couple. It is a fantasy for Nikki, they have no future and she does not see him as a father figure. Blake believed that Luke would have been ideal for Nikki when she was younger, but she chose to be a mum instead. Blake came to the conclusion that her character needed to live her lost adolescence to finally grow up. She added that she is \"trying to relive her lost youth. I'd like to see her hand the kids over to Adrian for a while and get those wild oats out of her system once and for all!\" Luke soon discovers Nikki and Adrian's affair.\n\nReception\nHollingsworth branded Nikki \"Charnham's wicked stepmum\" for sleeping with Luke. While she later added \"Nikki Warrington gave the term 'wicked stepmother' a whole new meaning when she fell into the arm's of her husband Andrew's son.\" Their colleague Alison Riley said that Nikki's life was a \"right mess\". A reporter from the Birmingham Mail said that Nikki had a confusing \"tangled love life\" which was made worse by sleeping with Adrian.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Character profile at five.tv\n\nFamily Affairs characters\nTelevision characters introduced in 2000\nFemale characters in television",
"Dominique Blake (born 15 February 1987) is a Jamaican track and field athlete. Blake won a gold medal at the 2010 Central American and Caribbean Games and was accidentally awarded a bronze medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics. She was banned for years after testing positive for methylhexanamine and returned to athletic competition in 2017.\n\nEarly life and education\nBlake was born on 15 February 1987 in Bronx, New York. She began her career as an indoor track and field athlete in 2002 before she started to compete in outdoor track and field events the following year. Blake spent four years as an athlete for Penn State University starting in 2004 and graduated from Penn State with a communications degree.\n\nCareer\n\nNCAA\nAs a NCAA athlete, Blake was 12th in the 4x400 meter relay with Penn State at the 2006 NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships. The following year, Blake and her 4x400 meter relay team was 4th at the 2007 NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships. During the 2007 indoor championships, Blake and her three teammates finished in 13th in the distance medley event. At the 2008 NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships, Blake and her teammates were 5th in the 4x400 meter relay. At individual events for the 2008 NCAA Indoor Championships, Blake did not advance past the 400 meters heats and finished 17th overall.\n\nOther events\nAt the 2006 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, Blake was disqualified after she failed a drug test for ephedrine. Following the event, Blake was banned from competitions for nine months. During the 2008 United States Olympic Trials, Blake was 23rd overall in the 400 meters after she did not advance farther than the preliminaries.\n\nFor Jamaica, Blake participated at the 2010 Central American and Caribbean Games where she won a gold medal in the 4 x 400 meters relay. At the 2010 Commonwealth Games, Blake was 12th in the 4 x 400 meters relay with the Jamaican team that did not reach the final. For the 400 meters at that year's Commonwealth Games, Blake got to the semi-finals and finished overall in 18th place. She also was at the 2012 IAAF World Indoor Championships but did not win a medal. \n\nIn July 2012, Blake became part of the 4 x 400 meters Olympic team for Jamaica. Although Blake was a part of Jamaica's team that qualified for the 2012 Summer Olympics, Blake never actually ran at the London Olympics. Despite not running in the women's 4 × 400 m event, Blake was accidentally awarded an Olympic bronze medal by the Jamaica Olympic Association. She did not return the medal, however. In 2013, Blake was suspended for six years after she tested positive for methylhexanamine. That year, Blake asked the Court of Arbitration for Sport to grant her a shorten ban. After her ban was lowered to years in 2014, Blake came back into competition in January 2017. Later that year, in compliance with International Association of Athletics Federations rules that mandate the return of all medals and prizes after positive testing for forbidden substances, Blake gave back her Olympic bronze medal to the Jamaica Olympic Association.\n\nAt the 2018 IAAF World Indoor Championships, Blake was on the Jamaican team that won their 4 × 400 metres relay heat and qualified for the final. At the 4 x 400 meters final, Blake was not one of the runners for Jamaica when the team was disqualified after the race. During the 2018 National Relay Championships, Blake was sixth in the 400 meters and did not finish the final of the 800 meters. The following year, Blake was fourth in the 400 meters at the 2019 National Relay Championships.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n1987 births\nJamaican female sprinters\nCentral American and Caribbean Games gold medalists for Jamaica\nCompetitors at the 2010 Central American and Caribbean Games\nLiving people\nAthletes (track and field) at the 2010 Commonwealth Games\nCentral American and Caribbean Games medalists in athletics\nCommonwealth Games competitors for Jamaica"
]
|
[
"Rosa Parks",
"Montgomery buses: law and prevailing customs",
"What part did she play in changing the law?",
"Parks said, \"My resisting being mistreated on the bus did not begin with that particular arrest. I did a lot of walking in Montgomery.\"",
"When did the bus incident occur?",
"One day in 1943,",
"Did she give up her seat?",
"I don't know.",
"What occured on the bus?",
"James F. Blake told her to follow city rules and enter the bus again from the back door.",
"Did she oblijge?",
"When Parks exited the vehicle, Blake drove off without her. Parks waited for the next bus, determined never to ride with Blake again.",
"Did she ever riide with blake again?",
"determined never to ride with Blake again."
]
| C_558bf98a34e44b5295c0d295391e444f_1 | Wht happened after that edeclaration? | 7 | What happened after the declaration? | Rosa Parks | In 1900, Montgomery had passed a city ordinance to segregate bus passengers by race. Conductors were empowered to assign seats to achieve that goal. According to the law, no passenger would be required to move or give up their seat and stand if the bus was crowded and no other seats were available. Over time and by custom, however, Montgomery bus drivers adopted the practice of requiring black riders to move when there were no white-only seats left. The first four rows of seats on each Montgomery bus were reserved for whites. Buses had "colored" sections for black people generally in the rear of the bus, although blacks composed more than 75% of the ridership. The sections were not fixed but were determined by placement of a movable sign. Black people could sit in the middle rows until the white section filled; if more whites needed seats, blacks were to move to seats in the rear, stand, or, if there was no room, leave the bus. Black people could not sit across the aisle in the same row as white people. The driver could move the "colored" section sign, or remove it altogether. If white people were already sitting in the front, black people had to board at the front to pay the fare, then disembark and reenter through the rear door. For years, the black community had complained that the situation was unfair. Parks said, "My resisting being mistreated on the bus did not begin with that particular arrest. I did a lot of walking in Montgomery." One day in 1943, Parks boarded a bus and paid the fare. She then moved to her seat but driver James F. Blake told her to follow city rules and enter the bus again from the back door. When Parks exited the vehicle, Blake drove off without her. Parks waited for the next bus, determined never to ride with Blake again. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Rosa Louise McCauley Parks (February 4, 1913 – October 24, 2005) was an American activist in the civil rights movement best known for her pivotal role in the Montgomery bus boycott. The United States Congress has honored her as "the first lady of civil rights" and "the mother of the freedom movement".
On December 1, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, Parks rejected bus driver James F. Blake's order to vacate a row of four seats in the "colored" section in favor of a white passenger, once the "white" section was filled. Parks was not the first person to resist bus segregation, but the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) believed that she was the best candidate for seeing through a court challenge after her arrest for civil disobedience in violating Alabama segregation laws, and she helped inspire the black community to boycott the Montgomery buses for over a year. The case became bogged down in the state courts, but the federal Montgomery bus lawsuit Browder v. Gayle resulted in a November 1956 decision that bus segregation is unconstitutional under the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Parks' act of defiance and the Montgomery bus boycott became important symbols of the movement. She became an international icon of resistance to racial segregation, and organized and collaborated with civil rights leaders, including Edgar Nixon and Martin Luther King Jr. At the time, Parks was employed as a seamstress at a local department store and was secretary of the Montgomery chapter of the NAACP. She had recently attended the Highlander Folk School, a Tennessee center for training activists for workers' rights and racial equality. Although widely honored in later years, she also suffered for her act; she was fired from her job, and received death threats for years afterwards. Shortly after the boycott, she moved to Detroit, where she briefly found similar work. From 1965 to 1988, she served as secretary and receptionist to John Conyers, an African-American US Representative. She was also active in the Black Power movement and the support of political prisoners in the US.
After retirement, Parks wrote her autobiography and continued to insist that there was more work to be done in the struggle for justice. Parks received national recognition, including the NAACP's 1979 Spingarn Medal, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Congressional Gold Medal, and a posthumous statue in the United States Capitol's National Statuary Hall. Upon her death in 2005, she was the first woman to lie in honor in the Capitol Rotunda. California and Missouri commemorate Rosa Parks Day on her birthday, February 4, while Ohio, Oregon, and Texas commemorate the anniversary of her arrest, December 1.
Early life
Rosa Parks was born Rosa Louise McCauley in Tuskegee, Alabama, on February 4, 1913, to Leona (née Edwards), a teacher, and James McCauley, a carpenter. In addition to African ancestry, one of Parks' great-grandfathers was Scots-Irish and one of her great-grandmothers a part-Native American slave. She was small as a child and suffered poor health with chronic tonsillitis. When her parents separated, she moved with her mother to Pine Level, just outside the state capital, Montgomery. She grew up on a farm with her maternal grandparents, mother, and younger brother Sylvester. They all were members of the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME), a century-old independent black denomination founded by free blacks in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the early nineteenth century.
McCauley attended rural schools until the age of eleven. Before that, her mother taught her "a good deal about sewing". She started piecing quilts from around the age of six, as her mother and grandmother were making quilts, She put her first quilt together by herself around the age of ten, which was unusual, as quilting was mainly a family activity performed when there was no field work or chores to be done. She learned more sewing in school from the age of eleven; she sewed her own "first dress [she] could wear". As a student at the Industrial School for Girls in Montgomery, she took academic and vocational courses. Parks went on to a laboratory school set up by the Alabama State Teachers College for Negroes for secondary education, but dropped out in order to care for her grandmother and later her mother, after they became ill.
Around the turn of the 20th century, the former Confederate states had adopted new constitutions and electoral laws that effectively disenfranchised black voters and, in Alabama, many poor white voters as well. Under the white-established Jim Crow laws, passed after Democrats regained control of southern legislatures, racial segregation was imposed in public facilities and retail stores in the South, including public transportation. Bus and train companies enforced seating policies with separate sections for blacks and whites. School bus transportation was unavailable in any form for black schoolchildren in the South, and black education was always underfunded.
Parks recalled going to elementary school in Pine Level, where school buses took white students to their new school and black students had to walk to theirs:
I'd see the bus pass every day ... But to me, that was a way of life; we had no choice but to accept what was the custom. The bus was among the first ways I realized there was a black world and a white world.
Although Parks' autobiography recounts early memories of the kindness of white strangers, she could not ignore the racism of her society. When the Ku Klux Klan marched down the street in front of their house, Parks recalls her grandfather guarding the front door with a shotgun. The Montgomery Industrial School, founded and staffed by white northerners for black children, was burned twice by arsonists. Its faculty was ostracized by the white community.
Repeatedly bullied by white children in her neighborhood, Parks often fought back physically. She later said: "As far back as I remember, I could never think in terms of accepting physical abuse without some form of retaliation if possible."
Early activism
In 1932, Rosa married Raymond Parks, a barber from Montgomery. He was a member of the NAACP, which at the time was collecting money to support the defense of the Scottsboro Boys, a group of black men falsely accused of raping two white women. Rosa took numerous jobs, ranging from domestic worker to hospital aide. At her husband's urging, she finished her high school studies in 1933, at a time when fewer than 7% of African Americans had a high-school diploma.
In December 1943, Parks became active in the civil rights movement, joined the Montgomery chapter of the NAACP, and was elected secretary at a time when this was considered a woman's job. She later said, "I was the only woman there, and they needed a secretary, and I was too timid to say no." She continued as secretary until 1957. She worked for the local NAACP leader Edgar Nixon, even though he maintained that "Women don't need to be nowhere but in the kitchen." When Parks asked, "Well, what about me?", he replied: "I need a secretary and you are a good one."
In 1944, in her capacity as secretary, she investigated the gang-rape of Recy Taylor, a black woman from Abbeville, Alabama. Parks and other civil rights activists organized "The Committee for Equal Justice for Mrs. Recy Taylor", launching what the Chicago Defender called "the strongest campaign for equal justice to be seen in a decade". Parks continued her work as an anti-rape activist five years later when she helped organize protests in support of Gertrude Perkins, a black woman who was raped by two white Montgomery police officers.
Although never a member of the Communist Party, she attended meetings with her husband. The notorious Scottsboro case had been brought to prominence by the Communist Party.
In the 1940s, Parks and her husband were members of the League of Women Voters. Sometime soon after 1944, she held a brief job at Maxwell Air Force Base, which, despite its location in Montgomery, Alabama, did not permit racial segregation because it was federal property. She rode on its integrated trolley. Speaking to her biographer, Parks noted, "You might just say Maxwell opened my eyes up." Parks worked as a housekeeper and seamstress for Clifford and Virginia Durr, a white couple. Politically liberal, the Durrs became her friends. They encouraged—and eventually helped sponsor—Parks in the summer of 1955 to attend the Highlander Folk School, an education center for activism in workers' rights and racial equality in Monteagle, Tennessee. There Parks was mentored by the veteran organizer Septima Clark. In 1945, despite the Jim Crow laws and discrimination by registrars, she succeeded in registering to vote on her third try.
In August 1955, black teenager Emmett Till was brutally murdered after reportedly flirting with a young white woman while visiting relatives in Mississippi. On November 27, 1955, four days before she would make her stand on the bus, Rosa Parks attended a mass meeting at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery that addressed this case, as well as the recent murders of the activists George W. Lee and Lamar Smith. The featured speaker was T. R. M. Howard, a black civil rights leader from Mississippi who headed the Regional Council of Negro Leadership. Howard brought news of the recent acquittal of the two men who had murdered Till. Parks was deeply saddened and angry at the news, particularly because Till's case had garnered much more attention than any of the cases she and the Montgomery NAACP had worked on—and yet, the two men still walked free.
Parks arrest and bus boycott
Montgomery buses: law and prevailing customs
In 1900, Montgomery had passed a city ordinance to segregate bus passengers by race. Conductors were empowered to assign seats to achieve that goal. According to the law, no passenger would be required to move or give up their seat and stand if the bus was crowded and no other seats were available. Over time and by custom, however, Montgomery bus drivers adopted the practice of requiring black riders to move when there were no white-only seats left.
The first four rows of seats on each Montgomery bus were reserved for whites. Buses had "colored" sections for black people generally in the rear of the bus, although blacks composed more than 75% of the ridership. The sections were not fixed but were determined by placement of a movable sign. Black people could sit in the middle rows until the white section filled; if more whites needed seats, blacks were to move to seats in the rear, stand, or, if there was no room, leave the bus. Black people could not sit across the aisle in the same row as white people. The driver could move the "colored" section sign, or remove it altogether. If white people were already sitting in the front, black people had to board at the front to pay the fare, then disembark and reenter through the rear door.
For years, the black community had complained that the situation was unfair. Parks said, "My resisting being mistreated on the bus did not begin with that particular arrest. I did a lot of walking in Montgomery."
One day in 1943, Parks boarded a bus and paid the fare. She then moved to a seat, but driver James F. Blake told her to follow city rules and enter the bus again from the back door. When Parks exited the vehicle, Blake drove off without her. Parks waited for the next bus, determined never to ride with Blake again.
Refusal to move
After working all day, Parks boarded the Cleveland Avenue bus, a General Motors Old Look bus belonging to the Montgomery City Lines, around 6 p.m., Thursday, December 1, 1955, in downtown Montgomery. She paid her fare and sat in an empty seat in the first row of back seats reserved for blacks in the "colored" section. Near the middle of the bus, her row was directly behind the ten seats reserved for white passengers. Initially, she did not notice that the bus driver was the same man, James F. Blake, who had left her in the rain in 1943. As the bus traveled along its regular route, all of the white-only seats in the bus filled up. The bus reached the third stop in front of the Empire Theater, and several white passengers boarded. Blake noted that two or three white passengers were standing, as the front of the bus had filled to capacity. He moved the "colored" section sign behind Parks and demanded that four black people give up their seats in the middle section so that the white passengers could sit. Years later, in recalling the events of the day, Parks said, "When that white driver stepped back toward us, when he waved his hand and ordered us up and out of our seats, I felt a determination cover my body like a quilt on a winter night."
By Parks' account, Blake said, "Y'all better make it light on yourselves and let me have those seats." Three of them complied. Parks said, "The driver wanted us to stand up, the four of us. We didn't move at the beginning, but he says, 'Let me have these seats.' And the other three people moved, but I didn't." The black man sitting next to her gave up his seat.
Parks moved, but toward the window seat; she did not get up to move to the redesignated colored section. Parks later said about being asked to move to the rear of the bus, "I thought of Emmett Till – a 14-year-old African American who was lynched in Mississippi in 1955, after being accused of offending a white woman in her family's grocery store, whose killers were tried and acquitted – and I just couldn't go back." Blake said, "Why don't you stand up?" Parks responded, "I don't think I should have to stand up." Blake called the police to arrest Parks. When recalling the incident for Eyes on the Prize, a 1987 public television series on the Civil Rights Movement, Parks said, "When he saw me still sitting, he asked if I was going to stand up, and I said, 'No, I'm not.' And he said, 'Well, if you don't stand up, I'm going to have to call the police and have you arrested.' I said, 'You may do that.'"
During a 1956 radio interview with Sydney Rogers in West Oakland several months after her arrest, Parks said she had decided, "I would have to know for once and for all what rights I had as a human being and a citizen."
In her autobiography, My Story, she said:
When Parks refused to give up her seat, a police officer arrested her. As the officer took her away, she recalled that she asked, "Why do you push us around?" She remembered him saying, "I don't know, but the law's the law, and you're under arrest." She later said, "I only knew that, as I was being arrested, that it was the very last time that I would ever ride in humiliation of this kind. ... "
Parks was charged with a violation of Chapter 6, Section 11 segregation law of the Montgomery City code, although technically she had not taken a white-only seat; she had been in a colored section. Edgar Nixon, president of the Montgomery chapter of the NAACP and leader of the Pullman Porters Union, and her friend Clifford Durr bailed Parks out of jail that evening.
Parks did not originate the idea of protesting segregation with a bus sit-in. Those preceding her included Bayard Rustin in 1942, Irene Morgan in 1946, Lillie Mae Bradford in 1951, Sarah Louise Keys in 1952, and the members of the ultimately successful Browder v. Gayle 1956 lawsuit (Claudette Colvin, Aurelia Browder, Susie McDonald, and Mary Louise Smith) who were arrested in Montgomery for not giving up their bus seats months before Parks.
Montgomery bus boycott
Nixon conferred with Jo Ann Robinson, an Alabama State College professor and member of the Women's Political Council (WPC), about the Parks case. Robinson believed it important to seize the opportunity and stayed up all night mimeographing over 35,000 handbills announcing a bus boycott. The Women's Political Council was the first group to officially endorse the boycott.
On Sunday, December 4, 1955, plans for the Montgomery bus boycott were announced at black churches in the area, and a front-page article in the Montgomery Advertiser helped spread the word. At a church rally that night, those attending agreed unanimously to continue the boycott until they were treated with the level of courtesy they expected, until black drivers were hired, and until seating in the middle of the bus was handled on a first-come basis.
The next day, Parks was tried on charges of disorderly conduct and violating a local ordinance. The trial lasted 30 minutes. After being found guilty and fined $10, plus $4 in court costs (combined total ), Parks appealed her conviction and formally challenged the legality of racial segregation. In a 1992 interview with National Public Radio's Lynn Neary, Parks recalled:
On the day of Parks' trial—December 5, 1955—the WPC distributed the 35,000 leaflets. The handbill read,
We are ... asking every Negro to stay off the buses Monday in protest of the arrest and trial ... You can afford to stay out of school for one day. If you work, take a cab, or walk. But please, children and grown-ups, don't ride the bus at all on Monday. Please stay off the buses Monday.
It rained that day, but the black community persevered in their boycott. Some rode in carpools, while others traveled in black-operated cabs that charged the same fare as the bus, 10 cents (). Most of the remainder of the 40,000 black commuters walked, some as far as .
That evening after the success of the one-day boycott, a group of 16 to 18 people gathered at the Mt. Zion AME Zion Church to discuss boycott strategies. At that time, Parks was introduced but not asked to speak, despite a standing ovation and calls from the crowd for her to speak; when she asked if she should say something, the reply was, "Why, you've said enough." This movement also sparked riots leading up to the 1956 Sugar Bowl.
The group agreed that a new organization was needed to lead the boycott effort if it were to continue. Rev. Ralph Abernathy suggested the name "Montgomery Improvement Association" (MIA). The name was adopted, and the MIA was formed. Its members elected as their president Martin Luther King Jr., a relative newcomer to Montgomery, who was a young and mostly unknown minister of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church.
That Monday night, 50 leaders of the African-American community gathered to discuss actions to respond to Parks' arrest. Edgar Nixon, the president of the NAACP, said, "My God, look what segregation has put in my hands!" Parks was considered the ideal plaintiff for a test case against city and state segregation laws, as she was seen as a responsible, mature woman with a good reputation. She was securely married and employed, was regarded as possessing a quiet and dignified demeanor, and was politically savvy. King said that Parks was regarded as "one of the finest citizens of Montgomery—not one of the finest Negro citizens, but one of the finest citizens of Montgomery".
Parks' court case was being slowed down in appeals through the Alabama courts on their way to a Federal appeal and the process could have taken years. Holding together a boycott for that length of time would have been a great strain. In the end, black residents of Montgomery continued the boycott for 381 days. Dozens of public buses stood idle for months, severely damaging the bus transit company's finances, until the city repealed its law requiring segregation on public buses following the US Supreme Court ruling in Browder v. Gayle that it was unconstitutional. Parks was not included as a plaintiff in the Browder decision because the attorney Fred Gray concluded the courts would perceive they were attempting to circumvent her prosecution on her charges working their way through the Alabama state court system.
Parks played an important part in raising international awareness of the plight of African Americans and the civil rights struggle. King wrote in his 1958 book Stride Toward Freedom that Parks' arrest was the catalyst rather than the cause of the protest: "The cause lay deep in the record of similar injustices." He wrote, "Actually, no one can understand the action of Mrs. Parks unless he realizes that eventually the cup of endurance runs over, and the human personality cries out, 'I can take it no longer.'"
Detroit years
1960s
After her arrest, Parks became an icon of the Civil Rights Movement but suffered hardships as a result. Due to economic sanctions used against activists, she lost her job at the department store. Her husband lost his job as a barber at Maxwell Air Force Base after his boss forbade him to talk about his wife or the legal case. Parks traveled and spoke about the issues.
In 1957, Raymond and Rosa Parks left Montgomery for Hampton, Virginia; mostly because she was unable to find work. She also disagreed with King and other leaders of Montgomery's struggling civil rights movement about how to proceed, and was constantly receiving death threats. In Hampton, she found a job as a hostess in an inn at Hampton Institute, a historically black college.
Later that year, at the urging of her brother and sister-in-law in Detroit, Sylvester and Daisy McCauley, Rosa and Raymond Parks and her mother moved north to join them. The City of Detroit attempted to cultivate a progressive reputation, but Parks encountered numerous signs of discrimination against African-Americans. Schools were effectively segregated, and services in black neighborhoods substandard. In 1964, Parks told an interviewer that, "I don't feel a great deal of difference here ... Housing segregation is just as bad, and it seems more noticeable in the larger cities." She regularly participated in the movement for open and fair housing.
Parks rendered crucial assistance in the first campaign for Congress by John Conyers. She persuaded Martin Luther King (who was generally reluctant to endorse local candidates) to appear with Conyers, thereby boosting the novice candidate's profile. When Conyers was elected, he hired her as a secretary and receptionist for his congressional office in Detroit. She held this position until she retired in 1988. In a telephone interview with CNN on October 24, 2005, Conyers recalled, "You treated her with deference because she was so quiet, so serene—just a very special person ... There was only one Rosa Parks." Doing much of the daily constituent work for Conyers, Parks often focused on socio-economic issues including welfare, education, job discrimination, and affordable housing. She visited schools, hospitals, senior citizen facilities, and other community meetings and kept Conyers grounded in community concerns and activism.
Parks participated in activism nationally during the mid-1960s, traveling to support the Selma-to-Montgomery Marches, the Freedom Now Party, and the Lowndes County Freedom Organization. She also befriended Malcolm X, who she regarded as a personal hero.
Like many Detroit blacks, Parks remained particularly concerned about housing issues. She herself lived in a neighborhood, Virginia Park, which had been compromised by highway construction and urban renewal. By 1962, these policies had destroyed 10,000 structures in Detroit, displacing 43,096 people, 70 percent of them African-American. Parks lived just a mile from the center of the riot that took place in Detroit in 1967, and she considered housing discrimination a major factor that provoked the disorder.
In the aftermath Parks collaborated with members of the League of Revolutionary Black Workers and the Republic of New Afrika in raising awareness of police abuse during the conflict. She served on a "people's tribunal" on August 30, 1967, investigating the killing of three young men by police during the 1967 Detroit uprising, in what came to be known as the Algiers Motel incident. She also helped form the Virginia Park district council to help rebuild the area. The council facilitated the building of the only black-owned shopping center in the country. Parks took part in the black power movement, attending the Philadelphia Black Power conference, and the Black Political Convention in Gary, Indiana. She also supported and visited the Black Panther school in Oakland.
1970s
In the 1970s, Parks organized for the freedom of political prisoners in the United States, particularly cases involving issues of self-defense. She helped found the Detroit chapter of the Joann Little Defense Committee, and also worked in support of the Wilmington 10, the RNA 11, and Gary Tyler. Following national outcry around her case, Little succeeded in her defense that she used deadly force to resist sexual assault and was acquitted. Gary Tyler was finally released in April 2016 after 41 years in prison.
The 1970s were a decade of loss for Parks in her personal life. Her family was plagued with illness; she and her husband had suffered stomach ulcers for years and both required hospitalization. In spite of her fame and constant speaking engagements, Parks was not a wealthy woman. She donated most of the money from speaking to civil rights causes, and lived on her staff salary and her husband's pension. Medical bills and time missed from work caused financial strain that required her to accept assistance from church groups and admirers.
Her husband died of throat cancer on August 19, 1977, and her brother, her only sibling, died of cancer that November. Her personal ordeals caused her to become removed from the civil rights movement. She learned from a newspaper of the death of Fannie Lou Hamer, once a close friend. Parks suffered two broken bones in a fall on an icy sidewalk, an injury which caused considerable and recurring pain. She decided to move with her mother into an apartment for senior citizens. There she nursed her mother Leona through the final stages of cancer and geriatric dementia until she died in 1979 at the age of 92.
1980s
In 1980, Parks—widowed and without immediate family—rededicated herself to civil rights and educational organizations. She co-founded the Rosa L. Parks Scholarship Foundation for college-bound high school seniors, to which she donated most of her speaker fees. In February 1987, she co-founded, with Elaine Eason Steele, the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development, an institute that runs the "Pathways to Freedom" bus tours which introduce young people to important civil rights and Underground Railroad sites throughout the country. Parks also served on the Board of Advocates of Planned Parenthood. Though her health declined as she entered her seventies, Parks continued to make many appearances and devoted considerable energy to these causes. Unrelated to her activism, Parks loaned quilts of her own making to an exhibit at Michigan State University of quilts by African-American residents of Michigan.
1990s
In 1992, Parks published Rosa Parks: My Story, an autobiography aimed at younger readers, which recounts her life leading to her decision to keep her seat on the bus. A few years later, she published Quiet Strength (1995), her memoir, which focuses on her faith.
At age 81, Parks was robbed and assaulted in her home in central Detroit on August 30, 1994. The assailant, Joseph Skipper, broke down the door but claimed he had chased away an intruder. He requested a reward and when Parks paid him, he demanded more. Parks refused and he attacked her. Hurt and badly shaken, Parks called a friend, who called the police. A neighborhood manhunt led to Skipper's capture and reported beating. Parks was treated at Detroit Receiving Hospital for facial injuries and swelling on the right side of her face. Parks said about the attack on her by the African-American man, "Many gains have been made ... But as you can see, at this time we still have a long way to go." Skipper was sentenced to 8 to 15 years and was transferred to prison in another state for his own safety.
Suffering anxiety upon returning to her small central Detroit house following the ordeal, Parks moved into Riverfront Towers, a secure high-rise apartment building. Learning of Parks' move, Little Caesars owner Mike Ilitch offered to pay for her housing expenses for as long as necessary.
In 1994, the Ku Klux Klan applied to sponsor a portion of United States Interstate 55 in St. Louis County and Jefferson County, Missouri, near St. Louis, for cleanup (which allowed them to have signs stating that this section of highway was maintained by the organization). Since the state could not refuse the KKK's sponsorship, the Missouri legislature voted to name the highway section the "Rosa Parks Highway". When asked how she felt about this honor, she is reported to have commented, "It is always nice to be thought of."
In 1999, Parks filmed a cameo appearance for the television series Touched by an Angel. It was her last appearance on film; Parks began to suffer from health problems due to old age.
2000s
In 2002, Parks received an eviction notice from her $1,800 per month () apartment for non-payment of rent. Parks was incapable of managing her own financial affairs by this time due to age-related physical and mental decline. Her rent was paid from a collection taken by Hartford Memorial Baptist Church in Detroit. When her rent became delinquent and her impending eviction was highly publicized in 2004, executives of the ownership company announced they had forgiven the back rent and would allow Parks, by then 91 and in extremely poor health, to live rent-free in the building for the remainder of her life. Elaine Steele, manager of the nonprofit Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute, defended Parks' care and stated that the eviction notices were sent in error. Several of Parks' family members alleged that her financial affairs had been mismanaged.
In 2016, Parks' former residence in Detroit was threatened with demolition. A Berlin-based American artist, Ryan Mendoza, arranged to have the house disassembled, moved to his garden in Germany, and partly restored. It served as a museum honoring Rosa Parks. In 2018, the house was moved back to the United States. Brown University was planning to exhibit the house, but the display was cancelled. The house was exhibited during part of 2018 in an arts centre in Providence, Rhode Island.
Death and funeral
Parks died of natural causes on October 24, 2005, at the age of 92, in her apartment on the east side of Detroit. She and her husband never had children and she outlived her only sibling. She was survived by her sister-in-law (Raymond's sister), 13 nieces and nephews and their families, and several cousins, most of them residents of Michigan or Alabama.
City officials in Montgomery and Detroit announced on October 27, 2005, that the front seats of their city buses would be reserved with black ribbons in honor of Parks until her funeral. Parks' coffin was flown to Montgomery and taken in a horse-drawn hearse to the St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal (AME) church, where she lay in repose at the altar on October 29, 2005, dressed in the uniform of a church deaconess. A memorial service was held there the following morning. One of the speakers, United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, said that if it had not been for Parks, she would probably have never become the Secretary of State. In the evening the casket was transported to Washington, D.C. and transported by a bus similar to the one in which she made her protest, to lie in honor in the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol.
Since the founding of the practice in 1852, Parks was the 31st person, the first American who had not been a U.S. government official, and the second private person (after the French planner Pierre L'Enfant) to be honored in this way. She was the first woman and the second black person to lie in honor in the Capitol. An estimated 50,000 people viewed the casket there, and the event was broadcast on television on October 31, 2005. A memorial service was held that afternoon at Metropolitan AME Church in Washington, D.C.
With her body and casket returned to Detroit, for two days, Parks lay in repose at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History. Her funeral service was seven hours long and was held on November 2, 2005, at the Greater Grace Temple Church in Detroit. After the service, an honor guard from the Michigan National Guard laid the U.S. flag over the casket and carried it to a horse-drawn hearse, which was intended to carry it, in daylight, to the cemetery. As the hearse passed the thousands of people who were viewing the procession, many clapped, cheered loudly and released white balloons. Parks was interred between her husband and mother at Detroit's Woodlawn Cemetery in the chapel's mausoleum. The chapel was renamed the Rosa L. Parks Freedom Chapel in her honor.
Legacy and honors
1963: Paul Stephenson initiated a bus boycott in Bristol, England, to protest a similar color bar operated by a bus company there, inspired by the example of the Montgomery bus boycott initiated by Rosa Parks' refusal to move from "whites only" bus seat in Montgomery, Alabama.
1976: Detroit renamed 12th Street "Rosa Parks Boulevard".
1979: The NAACP awarded Parks the Spingarn Medal, its highest honor,
1980: She received the Martin Luther King Jr. Award.
1982: California State University, Fresno, awarded Parks the African-American Achievement Award. The honor, given to deserving students in succeeding years, became the Rosa Parks Awards.
1983: She was inducted into Michigan Women's Hall of Fame for her achievements in civil rights.
1984: She received a Candace Award from the National Coalition of 100 Black Women.
1990:
Parks was invited to be part of the group welcoming Nelson Mandela upon his release from prison in South Africa.
Parks was in attendance as part of Interstate 475 outside of Toledo, Ohio, was named after her.
1992: She received the Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience Award along with Dr. Benjamin Spock and others at the Kennedy Library and Museum in Boston, Massachusetts.
1993: She was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame,
1994: She received an honorary doctorate from Florida State University in Tallahassee, FL.
1994: She received an honorary doctorate from Soka University in Tokyo, Japan.
1995: She received the Academy of Achievement's Golden Plate Award in Williamsburg, Virginia.
1996: She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest honor given by the US executive branch.
1998: She was the first-ever recipient of the International Freedom Conductor Award from the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, honoring people whose actions support those struggling with modern-day issues related to freedom.
1999:
She received the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest award given by the US legislative branch, the medal bears the legend "Mother of the Modern Day Civil Rights Movement"
She received the Windsor–Detroit International Freedom Festival Freedom Award.
Time named Parks one of the 20 most influential and iconic figures of the 20th century.
President Bill Clinton honored her in his State of the Union address, saying, "She's sitting down with the first lady tonight, and she may get up or not as she chooses."
2000:
Her home state awarded her the Alabama Academy of Honor,
She received the first Governor's Medal of Honor for Extraordinary Courage.
She was awarded two dozen honorary doctorates from universities worldwide
She was made an honorary member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.
the Rosa Parks Library and Museum on the campus of Troy University in Montgomery was dedicated to her.
2002:
Scholar Molefi Kete Asante listed Parks on his list of 100 Greatest African Americans.
A portion of the Interstate 10 freeway in Los Angeles was named in her honor.
She received the Walter P. Reuther Humanitarian Award from Wayne State University.
2003: Bus No. 2857, on which Parks was riding, was restored and placed on display in The Henry Ford museum
2004: In the Los Angeles County MetroRail system, the Imperial Highway/Wilmington station, where the A Line connects with the C Line, has been officially named the "Rosa Parks Station".
2005:
Senate Concurrent Resolution 61, 109th Congress, 1st Session, was agreed to October 29, 2005. This set the stage for her to become the 1st woman to lie in honor, in the Capitol Rotunda.
On October 30, 2005, President George W. Bush issued a proclamation ordering that all flags on U.S. public areas both within the country and abroad be flown at half-staff on the day of Parks' funeral.
Metro Transit in King County, Washington placed posters and stickers dedicating the first forward-facing seat of all its buses in Parks' memory shortly after her death,
The American Public Transportation Association declared December 1, 2005, the 50th anniversary of her arrest, to be a "National Transit Tribute to Rosa Parks Day".
On that anniversary, President George W. Bush signed , directing that a statue of Parks be placed in the United States Capitol's National Statuary Hall. In signing the resolution directing the Joint Commission on the Library to do so, the President stated:
Portion of Interstate 96 in Detroit was renamed by the state legislature as the Rosa Parks Memorial Highway in December 2005.
2006:
At Super Bowl XL, played at Detroit's Ford Field, long-time Detroit residents Coretta Scott King and Parks were remembered and honored by a moment of silence. The Super Bowl was dedicated to their memory. Parks' nieces and nephews and Martin Luther King III joined the coin toss ceremonies, standing alongside former University of Michigan star Tom Brady who flipped the coin.
On February 14, Nassau County, New York Executive, Thomas Suozzi announced that the Hempstead Transit Center would be renamed the Rosa Parks Hempstead Transit Center in her honor.
On October 27, Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell signed a bill into law designating the portion of Pennsylvania Route 291 through Chester as the Rosa Parks Memorial Highway.
2007: Nashville, Tennessee renamed MetroCenter Boulevard (8th Avenue North) (US 41A and SR 12) as Rosa L. Parks Boulevard.
On March 14, 2008, the State of California Government Center at 464 W. 4th St., on the northwest corner of Court and 4th streets, in San Bernardino was renamed the Rosa Parks Memorial Building.
2009: On July 14, the Rosa Parks Transit Center opened in Detroit at the corner of Michigan and Cass Avenues.
2010: in Grand Rapids, Michigan, a plaza in the heart of the city was named Rosa Parks Circle.
2012:
A street in West Valley City, Utah (the state's second largest city), leading to the Utah Cultural Celebration Center was renamed Rosa Parks Drive.
2013:
On February 1, President Barack Obama proclaimed February 4, 2013, as the "100th Anniversary of the Birth of Rosa Parks". He called "upon all Americans to observe this day with appropriate service, community, and education programs to honor Rosa Parks's enduring legacy".
On February 4, to celebrate Rosa Parks' 100th birthday, the Henry Ford Museum declared the day a "National Day of Courage" with 12 hours of virtual and on-site activities featuring nationally recognized speakers, musical and dramatic interpretative performances, a panel presentation of "Rosa's Story" and a reading of the tale "Quiet Strength". The actual bus on which Rosa Parks sat was made available for the public to board and sit in the seat that Rosa Parks refused to give up.
On February 4, 2,000 birthday wishes gathered from people throughout the United States were transformed into 200 graphics messages at a celebration held on her 100th Birthday at the Davis Theater for the Performing Arts in Montgomery, Alabama. This was the 100th Birthday Wishes Project managed by the Rosa Parks Museum at Troy University and the Mobile Studio and was also a declared event by the Senate.
During both events the USPS unveiled a postage stamp in her honor.
On February 27, Parks became the first African-American woman to have her likeness depicted in National Statuary Hall. The monument, created by sculptor Eugene Daub, is a part of the Capitol Art Collection among nine other females featured in the National Statuary Hall Collection.
2014: The asteroid 284996 Rosaparks, discovered in 2010 by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, was named in her memory. The official was published by the Minor Planet Center on September 9, 2014 ().
2015:
The papers of Rosa Parks were cataloged into the Library of Congress, after years of a legal battle.
On December 13, the new Rosa Parks Railway Station opened in Paris.
2016:
The house lived in by Rosa Parks's brother, Sylvester McCauley, his wife Daisy, and their 13 children, and where Rosa Parks often visited and stayed after leaving Montgomery, was bought by her niece Rhea McCauley for $500 and donated to the artist Ryan Mendoza. It was subsequently dismantled and shipped to Berlin where it was re-erected in Mendoza's garden. In 2018 it was returned to the United States and rebuilt at the Waterfire Arts Center, Providence, Rhode Island, where it was put on public display, accompanied by a range of interpretive materials and public and scholarly events.
The National Museum of African American History and Culture was opened; it contains among other things the dress which Rosa Parks was sewing the day she refused to give up her seat to a white man.
2018:
Continuing the Conversation, a public sculpture of Parks, was unveiled on the main campus of the Georgia Institute of Technology.
2019:
A statue of Rosa Parks was unveiled in Montgomery, Alabama.
2021:
On January 20, a bust of Rosa Parks by Artis Lane was added to the Oval Office when Joe Biden began his presidency. The sculpture is currently displayed next to Augustus Saint-Gaudens' bust of Abraham Lincoln.
In popular culture
In 1979, the Supersisters trading card set was produced and distributed; one of the cards featured Parks's name and picture. She is card #27 in the set.
In March 1999, Parks filed a lawsuit (Rosa Parks v. LaFace Records) against American hip-hop duo OutKast and their record company, claiming that the duo's song "Rosa Parks", the most successful radio single of their 1998 album Aquemini, had used her name without permission. The lawsuit was settled on April 15, 2005 (six months and nine days before Parks' death); OutKast, their producer and record labels paid Parks an undisclosed cash settlement. They also agreed to work with the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute to create educational programs about the life of Rosa Parks. The record label and OutKast admitted no wrongdoing. Responsibility for the payment of legal fees was not disclosed.
The documentary Mighty Times: The Legacy of Rosa Parks (2001) received a 2002 nomination for Academy Award for Documentary Short Subject. She collaborated on a TV movie of her life, The Rosa Parks Story (2002), starring Angela Bassett.
The film Barbershop (2002) featured a barber, played by Cedric the Entertainer, arguing with others that other African Americans before Parks had been active in bus integration, but she was renowned as an NAACP secretary. The activists Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton launched a boycott against the film, contending it was "disrespectful", but NAACP president Kweisi Mfume stated he thought the controversy was "overblown". Parks was offended and boycotted the NAACP 2003 Image Awards ceremony, which Cedric hosted.
In 2013, Parks was portrayed by Llewella Gideon in the first series of the Sky Arts comedy series Psychobitches.
The 2018 episode "Rosa", of the science-fiction television series Doctor Who, centers on Rosa Parks, as portrayed by Vinette Robinson.
The UK children's historical show Horrible Histories honored Parks by creating a song to close an episode, "Rosa Parks: I Sat on a Bus".
In 2019, Mattel released a Barbie doll in Parks's likeness as part of their "Inspiring Women" series.
In 2020, rapper Nicki Minaj incorporated Rosa Parks into her song "Yikes" where she rapped, "All you bitches Rosa Park, uh-oh, get your ass up" in reference to the Montgomery bus boycott.
See also
Elizabeth Jennings Graham, 1854 sued and won case that led to desegregation of streetcars in New York City
Charlotte L. Brown, desegregated streetcars in San Francisco in the 1860s
John Mitchell Jr., in 1904, he organized a black boycott of Richmond, Virginia's segregated trolley system
Irene Morgan, in 1944, sued and won Supreme Court ruling that segregation of interstate buses was unconstitutional
Claudette Colvin
Cleveland Court Apartments 620–638
List of civil rights leaders
Rosa Parks Act
Timeline of the civil rights movement
Notes
References
Further reading
Barnes, Catherine A. Journey from Jim Crow: The Desegregation of Southern Transit, Columbia University Press, 1983.
Brinkley, Douglas. Rosa Parks: A Life, Penguin Books, October 25, 2005.
Editorial (May 17, 1974). "Two decades later" . The New York Times. p. 38. ("Within a year of Brown, Rosa Parks, a tired seamstress in Montgomery, Alabama, was, like Homer Plessy sixty years earlier, arrested for her refusal to move to the back of the bus.")
Parks, Rosa, with James Haskins, Rosa Parks: My Story. New York: Scholastic Inc., 1992.
Theoharis, Jeanne The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks, Beacon Press, 2015,
External links
Rosa Parks Library and Museum at Troy University
The Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development
Parks article in the Encyclopedia of Alabama
Rosa Parks bus on display at the Henry Ford Museum
Teaching and Learning Rosa Parks' Rebellious Life
Norwood, Arlisha. "Rosa Parks". National Women's History Museum. 2017.
Multimedia and interviews
"Civil Rights Icon Rosa Parks Dies"—National Public Radio
"Civil Rights Pioneer Rosa Parks 1913–2005"—Democracy Now! (democracynow.org)
"Eyes on the Prize; Interview with Rosa Parks,” 1985-11-14, American Archive of Public Broadcasting
Others
Complete audio/video and newspaper archive of the Montgomery bus boycott
Rosa Parks: cadre of working-class movement that ended Jim Crow
Photo of Rosa Parks Childhood Home
1913 births
2005 deaths
20th-century African-American activists
African-American Christians
African-American history of Alabama
African-American Methodists
Activists for African-American civil rights
Activists from Montgomery, Alabama
Alabama State University alumni
American people who self-identify as being of Native American descent
American people of Scotch-Irish descent
American women activists
Burials at Woodlawn Cemetery (Detroit, Michigan)
Civil rights protests in the United States
Community organizing
Congressional Gold Medal recipients
Deaths from dementia
Montgomery bus boycott
Neurological disease deaths in Michigan
Nonviolence advocates
Activists from Detroit
People from Tuskegee, Alabama
Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients
Protests in Alabama
Spingarn Medal winners | false | [
"The Wometco Home Theater (WHT) was an early pay television service in the New York City area, that was owned by Miami-based Wometco Enterprises, which owned several major network affiliates in mid-sized media markets and its flagship WTVJ in Miami (then a CBS affiliate on channel 4, now an NBC owned-and-operated station on channel 6). The signals were broadcast beginning in August 1977 on WWHT-TV (channel 68) and later on WSNL-TV (channel 67) out of Smithtown, New York.\n\nOverview\n\nInitially subscribers paid $15 for a set-top descrambling box that allowed subscribers to view channel 68's scrambled television signals (a later addressable, 2-channel version of this descrambler was developed under vice president of engineering, Alex MacDonald). The service was similar to Home Box Office (HBO), but a Wometco executive told The New York Times that WHT was more likely to select films with a particular interest to the New York City area. Wometco also targeted areas that were not yet served by cable television (although parts of Manhattan had cable television service as early as 1971, the vast majority of the five boroughs of New York City would not begin receiving cable television service until 1988).\n\nProgramming consisted of 12 features a month, including movies and entertainment specials. In addition, select home games of the NHL's New York Islanders were broadcast live from the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Each program was repeated five times during the month. During the daytime, WWHT was a small commercial television station. The station was originally going to be a general entertainment station with shows that independents WNEW-TV (channel 5), WOR-TV (channel 9) and WPIX (channel 11) passed on. However, the costs were too high to acquire such programs so the station broadcast only a couple hours of low budget syndicated shows, The Uncle Floyd Show, public affairs programs, religious programs, stock market reports, and minority-interest and foreign language programs. In 1980, WHT began programming a movie from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. as well, later adding the adult-themed late night service, \"Nightcap\" with its black cat logo.\n\nIn the fall of 1980, Wometco Enterprises brought in a new management team. The team consisted of Harold Brownstein as the new president, and Robert Borders as vice president of marketing, both of whom had previously worked together at a major BTB direct marketing company. Having operated at $1 million plus loss for over four years, this team turned the operation profitable within 18 months. This was accomplished by consolidating numerous satellite offices/functions into the company's headquarters in Fairfield, New Jersey; producing a bi-monthly program guide (instead of monthly), significantly reducing printing and postage costs; and implementing direct response marketing concepts into the company's multimillion-dollar local television ads, so that the company could determine which markets and promotions generated sales, instead of just awareness.\n\nWHT also employed an MATV division in an effort to expand their viewership by partnering with the real estate community to provide the service to buildings and apartment complexes, using a facility's pre-existing master antenna system. \n \nIn the spring of 1983, WHT also began operating 20 hours a day (increasing its subscription rate to $21/month), with only two hours a day of religious and public affairs shows seen on WWHT. Uncle Floyd moved off Channel 68 and onto NJN. However, the station marketed WHT as 24 hours a day, and the two hours of religious and public affairs shows were positioned as part of WHT's lineup. This block of programming was also unscrambled. Also, another two hours of children's shows were marketed as part of WHT, but also unscrambled. It was at this time that Wometco Home Theater and Wometco Enterprises were sold to the private investment firm of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.\n\nBy 1984, Wometco Home Theater had ceased its own programming and began carrying programs from California-based pay television service SelecTV. Finally, after losing more and more subscribers over the next two years, WHT ceased operations in March 1986. WSNL and WWHT then switched to an all-music format named \"U68\", similar to MTV, which lasted for about 8 months before both stations were purchased by an affiliate company of the Home Shopping Network. The stations are now owned-and-operated station of the Spanish-language network UniMás.\n\nList of Wometco Home Theater affiliates \nThis list is incomplete, please help by adding stations which carried WHT.\n\nReferences\n\nSee also \nON TV, an over-the-air subscription service that served Chicago, Cincinnati, Dallas/Fort Worth, Detroit, Fort Lauderdale, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Salem/Portland.\nPRISM, an over-the-air and cable television subscription service that served Southeastern Pennsylvania, Southern New Jersey, Delaware and the Delmarva Peninsula.\nSelecTV, an over-the-air subscription service that served Los Angeles, Milwaukee and Philadelphia and later the Wometco Home Theater territories after WHT ceased its own programming.\nSpectrum, an over-the-air subscription service that served Chicago and was a direct competitor to ON TV.\nSuper TV, an over-the-air subscription service that served Washington, D.C., the Capital and Central regions of Maryland and Northern Virginia.\n\nDefunct television networks in the United States\nTelevision channels and stations established in 1977\nPrivate equity portfolio companies\nAmerican subscription television services\nKohlberg Kravis Roberts companies\nTelevision channels and stations disestablished in 1986\nWometco Enterprises",
"In computational mathematics, the Hadamard ordered fast Walsh–Hadamard transform (FWHTh) is an efficient algorithm to compute the Walsh–Hadamard transform (WHT). A naive implementation of the WHT of order would have a computational complexity of O(). The FWHTh requires only additions or subtractions.\n\nThe FWHTh is a divide-and-conquer algorithm that recursively breaks down a WHT of size into two smaller WHTs of size . This implementation follows the recursive definition of the Hadamard matrix :\n\nThe normalization factors for each stage may be grouped together or even omitted.\n\nThe sequency-ordered, also known as Walsh-ordered, fast Walsh–Hadamard transform, FWHTw, is obtained by computing the FWHTh as above, and then rearranging the outputs.\n\nA simple fast nonrecursive implementation of the Walsh–Hadamard transform follows from decomposition of the Hadamard transform matrix as , where A is m-th root of .\n\nPython example code \ndef fwht(a) -> None:\n \"\"\"In-place Fast Walsh–Hadamard Transform of array a.\"\"\"\n h = 1\n while h < len(a):\n for i in range(0, len(a), h * 2):\n for j in range(i, i + h):\n x = a[j]\n y = a[j + h]\n a[j] = x + y\n a[j + h] = x - y\n h *= 2\n\nSee also \n Fast Fourier transform\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Charles Constantine Gumas, A century old, the fast Hadamard transform proves useful in digital communications\n\nDigital signal processing\nArticles with example Python (programming language) code"
]
|
[
"Rosa Parks",
"Montgomery buses: law and prevailing customs",
"What part did she play in changing the law?",
"Parks said, \"My resisting being mistreated on the bus did not begin with that particular arrest. I did a lot of walking in Montgomery.\"",
"When did the bus incident occur?",
"One day in 1943,",
"Did she give up her seat?",
"I don't know.",
"What occured on the bus?",
"James F. Blake told her to follow city rules and enter the bus again from the back door.",
"Did she oblijge?",
"When Parks exited the vehicle, Blake drove off without her. Parks waited for the next bus, determined never to ride with Blake again.",
"Did she ever riide with blake again?",
"determined never to ride with Blake again.",
"Wht happened after that edeclaration?",
"I don't know."
]
| C_558bf98a34e44b5295c0d295391e444f_1 | Are there any other interesting aspects about this article? | 8 | Are there any other interesting aspects about this article besides what occurred on the bus in 1943? | Rosa Parks | In 1900, Montgomery had passed a city ordinance to segregate bus passengers by race. Conductors were empowered to assign seats to achieve that goal. According to the law, no passenger would be required to move or give up their seat and stand if the bus was crowded and no other seats were available. Over time and by custom, however, Montgomery bus drivers adopted the practice of requiring black riders to move when there were no white-only seats left. The first four rows of seats on each Montgomery bus were reserved for whites. Buses had "colored" sections for black people generally in the rear of the bus, although blacks composed more than 75% of the ridership. The sections were not fixed but were determined by placement of a movable sign. Black people could sit in the middle rows until the white section filled; if more whites needed seats, blacks were to move to seats in the rear, stand, or, if there was no room, leave the bus. Black people could not sit across the aisle in the same row as white people. The driver could move the "colored" section sign, or remove it altogether. If white people were already sitting in the front, black people had to board at the front to pay the fare, then disembark and reenter through the rear door. For years, the black community had complained that the situation was unfair. Parks said, "My resisting being mistreated on the bus did not begin with that particular arrest. I did a lot of walking in Montgomery." One day in 1943, Parks boarded a bus and paid the fare. She then moved to her seat but driver James F. Blake told her to follow city rules and enter the bus again from the back door. When Parks exited the vehicle, Blake drove off without her. Parks waited for the next bus, determined never to ride with Blake again. CANNOTANSWER | The first four rows of seats on each Montgomery bus were reserved for whites. | Rosa Louise McCauley Parks (February 4, 1913 – October 24, 2005) was an American activist in the civil rights movement best known for her pivotal role in the Montgomery bus boycott. The United States Congress has honored her as "the first lady of civil rights" and "the mother of the freedom movement".
On December 1, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, Parks rejected bus driver James F. Blake's order to vacate a row of four seats in the "colored" section in favor of a white passenger, once the "white" section was filled. Parks was not the first person to resist bus segregation, but the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) believed that she was the best candidate for seeing through a court challenge after her arrest for civil disobedience in violating Alabama segregation laws, and she helped inspire the black community to boycott the Montgomery buses for over a year. The case became bogged down in the state courts, but the federal Montgomery bus lawsuit Browder v. Gayle resulted in a November 1956 decision that bus segregation is unconstitutional under the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Parks' act of defiance and the Montgomery bus boycott became important symbols of the movement. She became an international icon of resistance to racial segregation, and organized and collaborated with civil rights leaders, including Edgar Nixon and Martin Luther King Jr. At the time, Parks was employed as a seamstress at a local department store and was secretary of the Montgomery chapter of the NAACP. She had recently attended the Highlander Folk School, a Tennessee center for training activists for workers' rights and racial equality. Although widely honored in later years, she also suffered for her act; she was fired from her job, and received death threats for years afterwards. Shortly after the boycott, she moved to Detroit, where she briefly found similar work. From 1965 to 1988, she served as secretary and receptionist to John Conyers, an African-American US Representative. She was also active in the Black Power movement and the support of political prisoners in the US.
After retirement, Parks wrote her autobiography and continued to insist that there was more work to be done in the struggle for justice. Parks received national recognition, including the NAACP's 1979 Spingarn Medal, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Congressional Gold Medal, and a posthumous statue in the United States Capitol's National Statuary Hall. Upon her death in 2005, she was the first woman to lie in honor in the Capitol Rotunda. California and Missouri commemorate Rosa Parks Day on her birthday, February 4, while Ohio, Oregon, and Texas commemorate the anniversary of her arrest, December 1.
Early life
Rosa Parks was born Rosa Louise McCauley in Tuskegee, Alabama, on February 4, 1913, to Leona (née Edwards), a teacher, and James McCauley, a carpenter. In addition to African ancestry, one of Parks' great-grandfathers was Scots-Irish and one of her great-grandmothers a part-Native American slave. She was small as a child and suffered poor health with chronic tonsillitis. When her parents separated, she moved with her mother to Pine Level, just outside the state capital, Montgomery. She grew up on a farm with her maternal grandparents, mother, and younger brother Sylvester. They all were members of the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME), a century-old independent black denomination founded by free blacks in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the early nineteenth century.
McCauley attended rural schools until the age of eleven. Before that, her mother taught her "a good deal about sewing". She started piecing quilts from around the age of six, as her mother and grandmother were making quilts, She put her first quilt together by herself around the age of ten, which was unusual, as quilting was mainly a family activity performed when there was no field work or chores to be done. She learned more sewing in school from the age of eleven; she sewed her own "first dress [she] could wear". As a student at the Industrial School for Girls in Montgomery, she took academic and vocational courses. Parks went on to a laboratory school set up by the Alabama State Teachers College for Negroes for secondary education, but dropped out in order to care for her grandmother and later her mother, after they became ill.
Around the turn of the 20th century, the former Confederate states had adopted new constitutions and electoral laws that effectively disenfranchised black voters and, in Alabama, many poor white voters as well. Under the white-established Jim Crow laws, passed after Democrats regained control of southern legislatures, racial segregation was imposed in public facilities and retail stores in the South, including public transportation. Bus and train companies enforced seating policies with separate sections for blacks and whites. School bus transportation was unavailable in any form for black schoolchildren in the South, and black education was always underfunded.
Parks recalled going to elementary school in Pine Level, where school buses took white students to their new school and black students had to walk to theirs:
I'd see the bus pass every day ... But to me, that was a way of life; we had no choice but to accept what was the custom. The bus was among the first ways I realized there was a black world and a white world.
Although Parks' autobiography recounts early memories of the kindness of white strangers, she could not ignore the racism of her society. When the Ku Klux Klan marched down the street in front of their house, Parks recalls her grandfather guarding the front door with a shotgun. The Montgomery Industrial School, founded and staffed by white northerners for black children, was burned twice by arsonists. Its faculty was ostracized by the white community.
Repeatedly bullied by white children in her neighborhood, Parks often fought back physically. She later said: "As far back as I remember, I could never think in terms of accepting physical abuse without some form of retaliation if possible."
Early activism
In 1932, Rosa married Raymond Parks, a barber from Montgomery. He was a member of the NAACP, which at the time was collecting money to support the defense of the Scottsboro Boys, a group of black men falsely accused of raping two white women. Rosa took numerous jobs, ranging from domestic worker to hospital aide. At her husband's urging, she finished her high school studies in 1933, at a time when fewer than 7% of African Americans had a high-school diploma.
In December 1943, Parks became active in the civil rights movement, joined the Montgomery chapter of the NAACP, and was elected secretary at a time when this was considered a woman's job. She later said, "I was the only woman there, and they needed a secretary, and I was too timid to say no." She continued as secretary until 1957. She worked for the local NAACP leader Edgar Nixon, even though he maintained that "Women don't need to be nowhere but in the kitchen." When Parks asked, "Well, what about me?", he replied: "I need a secretary and you are a good one."
In 1944, in her capacity as secretary, she investigated the gang-rape of Recy Taylor, a black woman from Abbeville, Alabama. Parks and other civil rights activists organized "The Committee for Equal Justice for Mrs. Recy Taylor", launching what the Chicago Defender called "the strongest campaign for equal justice to be seen in a decade". Parks continued her work as an anti-rape activist five years later when she helped organize protests in support of Gertrude Perkins, a black woman who was raped by two white Montgomery police officers.
Although never a member of the Communist Party, she attended meetings with her husband. The notorious Scottsboro case had been brought to prominence by the Communist Party.
In the 1940s, Parks and her husband were members of the League of Women Voters. Sometime soon after 1944, she held a brief job at Maxwell Air Force Base, which, despite its location in Montgomery, Alabama, did not permit racial segregation because it was federal property. She rode on its integrated trolley. Speaking to her biographer, Parks noted, "You might just say Maxwell opened my eyes up." Parks worked as a housekeeper and seamstress for Clifford and Virginia Durr, a white couple. Politically liberal, the Durrs became her friends. They encouraged—and eventually helped sponsor—Parks in the summer of 1955 to attend the Highlander Folk School, an education center for activism in workers' rights and racial equality in Monteagle, Tennessee. There Parks was mentored by the veteran organizer Septima Clark. In 1945, despite the Jim Crow laws and discrimination by registrars, she succeeded in registering to vote on her third try.
In August 1955, black teenager Emmett Till was brutally murdered after reportedly flirting with a young white woman while visiting relatives in Mississippi. On November 27, 1955, four days before she would make her stand on the bus, Rosa Parks attended a mass meeting at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery that addressed this case, as well as the recent murders of the activists George W. Lee and Lamar Smith. The featured speaker was T. R. M. Howard, a black civil rights leader from Mississippi who headed the Regional Council of Negro Leadership. Howard brought news of the recent acquittal of the two men who had murdered Till. Parks was deeply saddened and angry at the news, particularly because Till's case had garnered much more attention than any of the cases she and the Montgomery NAACP had worked on—and yet, the two men still walked free.
Parks arrest and bus boycott
Montgomery buses: law and prevailing customs
In 1900, Montgomery had passed a city ordinance to segregate bus passengers by race. Conductors were empowered to assign seats to achieve that goal. According to the law, no passenger would be required to move or give up their seat and stand if the bus was crowded and no other seats were available. Over time and by custom, however, Montgomery bus drivers adopted the practice of requiring black riders to move when there were no white-only seats left.
The first four rows of seats on each Montgomery bus were reserved for whites. Buses had "colored" sections for black people generally in the rear of the bus, although blacks composed more than 75% of the ridership. The sections were not fixed but were determined by placement of a movable sign. Black people could sit in the middle rows until the white section filled; if more whites needed seats, blacks were to move to seats in the rear, stand, or, if there was no room, leave the bus. Black people could not sit across the aisle in the same row as white people. The driver could move the "colored" section sign, or remove it altogether. If white people were already sitting in the front, black people had to board at the front to pay the fare, then disembark and reenter through the rear door.
For years, the black community had complained that the situation was unfair. Parks said, "My resisting being mistreated on the bus did not begin with that particular arrest. I did a lot of walking in Montgomery."
One day in 1943, Parks boarded a bus and paid the fare. She then moved to a seat, but driver James F. Blake told her to follow city rules and enter the bus again from the back door. When Parks exited the vehicle, Blake drove off without her. Parks waited for the next bus, determined never to ride with Blake again.
Refusal to move
After working all day, Parks boarded the Cleveland Avenue bus, a General Motors Old Look bus belonging to the Montgomery City Lines, around 6 p.m., Thursday, December 1, 1955, in downtown Montgomery. She paid her fare and sat in an empty seat in the first row of back seats reserved for blacks in the "colored" section. Near the middle of the bus, her row was directly behind the ten seats reserved for white passengers. Initially, she did not notice that the bus driver was the same man, James F. Blake, who had left her in the rain in 1943. As the bus traveled along its regular route, all of the white-only seats in the bus filled up. The bus reached the third stop in front of the Empire Theater, and several white passengers boarded. Blake noted that two or three white passengers were standing, as the front of the bus had filled to capacity. He moved the "colored" section sign behind Parks and demanded that four black people give up their seats in the middle section so that the white passengers could sit. Years later, in recalling the events of the day, Parks said, "When that white driver stepped back toward us, when he waved his hand and ordered us up and out of our seats, I felt a determination cover my body like a quilt on a winter night."
By Parks' account, Blake said, "Y'all better make it light on yourselves and let me have those seats." Three of them complied. Parks said, "The driver wanted us to stand up, the four of us. We didn't move at the beginning, but he says, 'Let me have these seats.' And the other three people moved, but I didn't." The black man sitting next to her gave up his seat.
Parks moved, but toward the window seat; she did not get up to move to the redesignated colored section. Parks later said about being asked to move to the rear of the bus, "I thought of Emmett Till – a 14-year-old African American who was lynched in Mississippi in 1955, after being accused of offending a white woman in her family's grocery store, whose killers were tried and acquitted – and I just couldn't go back." Blake said, "Why don't you stand up?" Parks responded, "I don't think I should have to stand up." Blake called the police to arrest Parks. When recalling the incident for Eyes on the Prize, a 1987 public television series on the Civil Rights Movement, Parks said, "When he saw me still sitting, he asked if I was going to stand up, and I said, 'No, I'm not.' And he said, 'Well, if you don't stand up, I'm going to have to call the police and have you arrested.' I said, 'You may do that.'"
During a 1956 radio interview with Sydney Rogers in West Oakland several months after her arrest, Parks said she had decided, "I would have to know for once and for all what rights I had as a human being and a citizen."
In her autobiography, My Story, she said:
When Parks refused to give up her seat, a police officer arrested her. As the officer took her away, she recalled that she asked, "Why do you push us around?" She remembered him saying, "I don't know, but the law's the law, and you're under arrest." She later said, "I only knew that, as I was being arrested, that it was the very last time that I would ever ride in humiliation of this kind. ... "
Parks was charged with a violation of Chapter 6, Section 11 segregation law of the Montgomery City code, although technically she had not taken a white-only seat; she had been in a colored section. Edgar Nixon, president of the Montgomery chapter of the NAACP and leader of the Pullman Porters Union, and her friend Clifford Durr bailed Parks out of jail that evening.
Parks did not originate the idea of protesting segregation with a bus sit-in. Those preceding her included Bayard Rustin in 1942, Irene Morgan in 1946, Lillie Mae Bradford in 1951, Sarah Louise Keys in 1952, and the members of the ultimately successful Browder v. Gayle 1956 lawsuit (Claudette Colvin, Aurelia Browder, Susie McDonald, and Mary Louise Smith) who were arrested in Montgomery for not giving up their bus seats months before Parks.
Montgomery bus boycott
Nixon conferred with Jo Ann Robinson, an Alabama State College professor and member of the Women's Political Council (WPC), about the Parks case. Robinson believed it important to seize the opportunity and stayed up all night mimeographing over 35,000 handbills announcing a bus boycott. The Women's Political Council was the first group to officially endorse the boycott.
On Sunday, December 4, 1955, plans for the Montgomery bus boycott were announced at black churches in the area, and a front-page article in the Montgomery Advertiser helped spread the word. At a church rally that night, those attending agreed unanimously to continue the boycott until they were treated with the level of courtesy they expected, until black drivers were hired, and until seating in the middle of the bus was handled on a first-come basis.
The next day, Parks was tried on charges of disorderly conduct and violating a local ordinance. The trial lasted 30 minutes. After being found guilty and fined $10, plus $4 in court costs (combined total ), Parks appealed her conviction and formally challenged the legality of racial segregation. In a 1992 interview with National Public Radio's Lynn Neary, Parks recalled:
On the day of Parks' trial—December 5, 1955—the WPC distributed the 35,000 leaflets. The handbill read,
We are ... asking every Negro to stay off the buses Monday in protest of the arrest and trial ... You can afford to stay out of school for one day. If you work, take a cab, or walk. But please, children and grown-ups, don't ride the bus at all on Monday. Please stay off the buses Monday.
It rained that day, but the black community persevered in their boycott. Some rode in carpools, while others traveled in black-operated cabs that charged the same fare as the bus, 10 cents (). Most of the remainder of the 40,000 black commuters walked, some as far as .
That evening after the success of the one-day boycott, a group of 16 to 18 people gathered at the Mt. Zion AME Zion Church to discuss boycott strategies. At that time, Parks was introduced but not asked to speak, despite a standing ovation and calls from the crowd for her to speak; when she asked if she should say something, the reply was, "Why, you've said enough." This movement also sparked riots leading up to the 1956 Sugar Bowl.
The group agreed that a new organization was needed to lead the boycott effort if it were to continue. Rev. Ralph Abernathy suggested the name "Montgomery Improvement Association" (MIA). The name was adopted, and the MIA was formed. Its members elected as their president Martin Luther King Jr., a relative newcomer to Montgomery, who was a young and mostly unknown minister of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church.
That Monday night, 50 leaders of the African-American community gathered to discuss actions to respond to Parks' arrest. Edgar Nixon, the president of the NAACP, said, "My God, look what segregation has put in my hands!" Parks was considered the ideal plaintiff for a test case against city and state segregation laws, as she was seen as a responsible, mature woman with a good reputation. She was securely married and employed, was regarded as possessing a quiet and dignified demeanor, and was politically savvy. King said that Parks was regarded as "one of the finest citizens of Montgomery—not one of the finest Negro citizens, but one of the finest citizens of Montgomery".
Parks' court case was being slowed down in appeals through the Alabama courts on their way to a Federal appeal and the process could have taken years. Holding together a boycott for that length of time would have been a great strain. In the end, black residents of Montgomery continued the boycott for 381 days. Dozens of public buses stood idle for months, severely damaging the bus transit company's finances, until the city repealed its law requiring segregation on public buses following the US Supreme Court ruling in Browder v. Gayle that it was unconstitutional. Parks was not included as a plaintiff in the Browder decision because the attorney Fred Gray concluded the courts would perceive they were attempting to circumvent her prosecution on her charges working their way through the Alabama state court system.
Parks played an important part in raising international awareness of the plight of African Americans and the civil rights struggle. King wrote in his 1958 book Stride Toward Freedom that Parks' arrest was the catalyst rather than the cause of the protest: "The cause lay deep in the record of similar injustices." He wrote, "Actually, no one can understand the action of Mrs. Parks unless he realizes that eventually the cup of endurance runs over, and the human personality cries out, 'I can take it no longer.'"
Detroit years
1960s
After her arrest, Parks became an icon of the Civil Rights Movement but suffered hardships as a result. Due to economic sanctions used against activists, she lost her job at the department store. Her husband lost his job as a barber at Maxwell Air Force Base after his boss forbade him to talk about his wife or the legal case. Parks traveled and spoke about the issues.
In 1957, Raymond and Rosa Parks left Montgomery for Hampton, Virginia; mostly because she was unable to find work. She also disagreed with King and other leaders of Montgomery's struggling civil rights movement about how to proceed, and was constantly receiving death threats. In Hampton, she found a job as a hostess in an inn at Hampton Institute, a historically black college.
Later that year, at the urging of her brother and sister-in-law in Detroit, Sylvester and Daisy McCauley, Rosa and Raymond Parks and her mother moved north to join them. The City of Detroit attempted to cultivate a progressive reputation, but Parks encountered numerous signs of discrimination against African-Americans. Schools were effectively segregated, and services in black neighborhoods substandard. In 1964, Parks told an interviewer that, "I don't feel a great deal of difference here ... Housing segregation is just as bad, and it seems more noticeable in the larger cities." She regularly participated in the movement for open and fair housing.
Parks rendered crucial assistance in the first campaign for Congress by John Conyers. She persuaded Martin Luther King (who was generally reluctant to endorse local candidates) to appear with Conyers, thereby boosting the novice candidate's profile. When Conyers was elected, he hired her as a secretary and receptionist for his congressional office in Detroit. She held this position until she retired in 1988. In a telephone interview with CNN on October 24, 2005, Conyers recalled, "You treated her with deference because she was so quiet, so serene—just a very special person ... There was only one Rosa Parks." Doing much of the daily constituent work for Conyers, Parks often focused on socio-economic issues including welfare, education, job discrimination, and affordable housing. She visited schools, hospitals, senior citizen facilities, and other community meetings and kept Conyers grounded in community concerns and activism.
Parks participated in activism nationally during the mid-1960s, traveling to support the Selma-to-Montgomery Marches, the Freedom Now Party, and the Lowndes County Freedom Organization. She also befriended Malcolm X, who she regarded as a personal hero.
Like many Detroit blacks, Parks remained particularly concerned about housing issues. She herself lived in a neighborhood, Virginia Park, which had been compromised by highway construction and urban renewal. By 1962, these policies had destroyed 10,000 structures in Detroit, displacing 43,096 people, 70 percent of them African-American. Parks lived just a mile from the center of the riot that took place in Detroit in 1967, and she considered housing discrimination a major factor that provoked the disorder.
In the aftermath Parks collaborated with members of the League of Revolutionary Black Workers and the Republic of New Afrika in raising awareness of police abuse during the conflict. She served on a "people's tribunal" on August 30, 1967, investigating the killing of three young men by police during the 1967 Detroit uprising, in what came to be known as the Algiers Motel incident. She also helped form the Virginia Park district council to help rebuild the area. The council facilitated the building of the only black-owned shopping center in the country. Parks took part in the black power movement, attending the Philadelphia Black Power conference, and the Black Political Convention in Gary, Indiana. She also supported and visited the Black Panther school in Oakland.
1970s
In the 1970s, Parks organized for the freedom of political prisoners in the United States, particularly cases involving issues of self-defense. She helped found the Detroit chapter of the Joann Little Defense Committee, and also worked in support of the Wilmington 10, the RNA 11, and Gary Tyler. Following national outcry around her case, Little succeeded in her defense that she used deadly force to resist sexual assault and was acquitted. Gary Tyler was finally released in April 2016 after 41 years in prison.
The 1970s were a decade of loss for Parks in her personal life. Her family was plagued with illness; she and her husband had suffered stomach ulcers for years and both required hospitalization. In spite of her fame and constant speaking engagements, Parks was not a wealthy woman. She donated most of the money from speaking to civil rights causes, and lived on her staff salary and her husband's pension. Medical bills and time missed from work caused financial strain that required her to accept assistance from church groups and admirers.
Her husband died of throat cancer on August 19, 1977, and her brother, her only sibling, died of cancer that November. Her personal ordeals caused her to become removed from the civil rights movement. She learned from a newspaper of the death of Fannie Lou Hamer, once a close friend. Parks suffered two broken bones in a fall on an icy sidewalk, an injury which caused considerable and recurring pain. She decided to move with her mother into an apartment for senior citizens. There she nursed her mother Leona through the final stages of cancer and geriatric dementia until she died in 1979 at the age of 92.
1980s
In 1980, Parks—widowed and without immediate family—rededicated herself to civil rights and educational organizations. She co-founded the Rosa L. Parks Scholarship Foundation for college-bound high school seniors, to which she donated most of her speaker fees. In February 1987, she co-founded, with Elaine Eason Steele, the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development, an institute that runs the "Pathways to Freedom" bus tours which introduce young people to important civil rights and Underground Railroad sites throughout the country. Parks also served on the Board of Advocates of Planned Parenthood. Though her health declined as she entered her seventies, Parks continued to make many appearances and devoted considerable energy to these causes. Unrelated to her activism, Parks loaned quilts of her own making to an exhibit at Michigan State University of quilts by African-American residents of Michigan.
1990s
In 1992, Parks published Rosa Parks: My Story, an autobiography aimed at younger readers, which recounts her life leading to her decision to keep her seat on the bus. A few years later, she published Quiet Strength (1995), her memoir, which focuses on her faith.
At age 81, Parks was robbed and assaulted in her home in central Detroit on August 30, 1994. The assailant, Joseph Skipper, broke down the door but claimed he had chased away an intruder. He requested a reward and when Parks paid him, he demanded more. Parks refused and he attacked her. Hurt and badly shaken, Parks called a friend, who called the police. A neighborhood manhunt led to Skipper's capture and reported beating. Parks was treated at Detroit Receiving Hospital for facial injuries and swelling on the right side of her face. Parks said about the attack on her by the African-American man, "Many gains have been made ... But as you can see, at this time we still have a long way to go." Skipper was sentenced to 8 to 15 years and was transferred to prison in another state for his own safety.
Suffering anxiety upon returning to her small central Detroit house following the ordeal, Parks moved into Riverfront Towers, a secure high-rise apartment building. Learning of Parks' move, Little Caesars owner Mike Ilitch offered to pay for her housing expenses for as long as necessary.
In 1994, the Ku Klux Klan applied to sponsor a portion of United States Interstate 55 in St. Louis County and Jefferson County, Missouri, near St. Louis, for cleanup (which allowed them to have signs stating that this section of highway was maintained by the organization). Since the state could not refuse the KKK's sponsorship, the Missouri legislature voted to name the highway section the "Rosa Parks Highway". When asked how she felt about this honor, she is reported to have commented, "It is always nice to be thought of."
In 1999, Parks filmed a cameo appearance for the television series Touched by an Angel. It was her last appearance on film; Parks began to suffer from health problems due to old age.
2000s
In 2002, Parks received an eviction notice from her $1,800 per month () apartment for non-payment of rent. Parks was incapable of managing her own financial affairs by this time due to age-related physical and mental decline. Her rent was paid from a collection taken by Hartford Memorial Baptist Church in Detroit. When her rent became delinquent and her impending eviction was highly publicized in 2004, executives of the ownership company announced they had forgiven the back rent and would allow Parks, by then 91 and in extremely poor health, to live rent-free in the building for the remainder of her life. Elaine Steele, manager of the nonprofit Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute, defended Parks' care and stated that the eviction notices were sent in error. Several of Parks' family members alleged that her financial affairs had been mismanaged.
In 2016, Parks' former residence in Detroit was threatened with demolition. A Berlin-based American artist, Ryan Mendoza, arranged to have the house disassembled, moved to his garden in Germany, and partly restored. It served as a museum honoring Rosa Parks. In 2018, the house was moved back to the United States. Brown University was planning to exhibit the house, but the display was cancelled. The house was exhibited during part of 2018 in an arts centre in Providence, Rhode Island.
Death and funeral
Parks died of natural causes on October 24, 2005, at the age of 92, in her apartment on the east side of Detroit. She and her husband never had children and she outlived her only sibling. She was survived by her sister-in-law (Raymond's sister), 13 nieces and nephews and their families, and several cousins, most of them residents of Michigan or Alabama.
City officials in Montgomery and Detroit announced on October 27, 2005, that the front seats of their city buses would be reserved with black ribbons in honor of Parks until her funeral. Parks' coffin was flown to Montgomery and taken in a horse-drawn hearse to the St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal (AME) church, where she lay in repose at the altar on October 29, 2005, dressed in the uniform of a church deaconess. A memorial service was held there the following morning. One of the speakers, United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, said that if it had not been for Parks, she would probably have never become the Secretary of State. In the evening the casket was transported to Washington, D.C. and transported by a bus similar to the one in which she made her protest, to lie in honor in the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol.
Since the founding of the practice in 1852, Parks was the 31st person, the first American who had not been a U.S. government official, and the second private person (after the French planner Pierre L'Enfant) to be honored in this way. She was the first woman and the second black person to lie in honor in the Capitol. An estimated 50,000 people viewed the casket there, and the event was broadcast on television on October 31, 2005. A memorial service was held that afternoon at Metropolitan AME Church in Washington, D.C.
With her body and casket returned to Detroit, for two days, Parks lay in repose at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History. Her funeral service was seven hours long and was held on November 2, 2005, at the Greater Grace Temple Church in Detroit. After the service, an honor guard from the Michigan National Guard laid the U.S. flag over the casket and carried it to a horse-drawn hearse, which was intended to carry it, in daylight, to the cemetery. As the hearse passed the thousands of people who were viewing the procession, many clapped, cheered loudly and released white balloons. Parks was interred between her husband and mother at Detroit's Woodlawn Cemetery in the chapel's mausoleum. The chapel was renamed the Rosa L. Parks Freedom Chapel in her honor.
Legacy and honors
1963: Paul Stephenson initiated a bus boycott in Bristol, England, to protest a similar color bar operated by a bus company there, inspired by the example of the Montgomery bus boycott initiated by Rosa Parks' refusal to move from "whites only" bus seat in Montgomery, Alabama.
1976: Detroit renamed 12th Street "Rosa Parks Boulevard".
1979: The NAACP awarded Parks the Spingarn Medal, its highest honor,
1980: She received the Martin Luther King Jr. Award.
1982: California State University, Fresno, awarded Parks the African-American Achievement Award. The honor, given to deserving students in succeeding years, became the Rosa Parks Awards.
1983: She was inducted into Michigan Women's Hall of Fame for her achievements in civil rights.
1984: She received a Candace Award from the National Coalition of 100 Black Women.
1990:
Parks was invited to be part of the group welcoming Nelson Mandela upon his release from prison in South Africa.
Parks was in attendance as part of Interstate 475 outside of Toledo, Ohio, was named after her.
1992: She received the Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience Award along with Dr. Benjamin Spock and others at the Kennedy Library and Museum in Boston, Massachusetts.
1993: She was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame,
1994: She received an honorary doctorate from Florida State University in Tallahassee, FL.
1994: She received an honorary doctorate from Soka University in Tokyo, Japan.
1995: She received the Academy of Achievement's Golden Plate Award in Williamsburg, Virginia.
1996: She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest honor given by the US executive branch.
1998: She was the first-ever recipient of the International Freedom Conductor Award from the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, honoring people whose actions support those struggling with modern-day issues related to freedom.
1999:
She received the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest award given by the US legislative branch, the medal bears the legend "Mother of the Modern Day Civil Rights Movement"
She received the Windsor–Detroit International Freedom Festival Freedom Award.
Time named Parks one of the 20 most influential and iconic figures of the 20th century.
President Bill Clinton honored her in his State of the Union address, saying, "She's sitting down with the first lady tonight, and she may get up or not as she chooses."
2000:
Her home state awarded her the Alabama Academy of Honor,
She received the first Governor's Medal of Honor for Extraordinary Courage.
She was awarded two dozen honorary doctorates from universities worldwide
She was made an honorary member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.
the Rosa Parks Library and Museum on the campus of Troy University in Montgomery was dedicated to her.
2002:
Scholar Molefi Kete Asante listed Parks on his list of 100 Greatest African Americans.
A portion of the Interstate 10 freeway in Los Angeles was named in her honor.
She received the Walter P. Reuther Humanitarian Award from Wayne State University.
2003: Bus No. 2857, on which Parks was riding, was restored and placed on display in The Henry Ford museum
2004: In the Los Angeles County MetroRail system, the Imperial Highway/Wilmington station, where the A Line connects with the C Line, has been officially named the "Rosa Parks Station".
2005:
Senate Concurrent Resolution 61, 109th Congress, 1st Session, was agreed to October 29, 2005. This set the stage for her to become the 1st woman to lie in honor, in the Capitol Rotunda.
On October 30, 2005, President George W. Bush issued a proclamation ordering that all flags on U.S. public areas both within the country and abroad be flown at half-staff on the day of Parks' funeral.
Metro Transit in King County, Washington placed posters and stickers dedicating the first forward-facing seat of all its buses in Parks' memory shortly after her death,
The American Public Transportation Association declared December 1, 2005, the 50th anniversary of her arrest, to be a "National Transit Tribute to Rosa Parks Day".
On that anniversary, President George W. Bush signed , directing that a statue of Parks be placed in the United States Capitol's National Statuary Hall. In signing the resolution directing the Joint Commission on the Library to do so, the President stated:
Portion of Interstate 96 in Detroit was renamed by the state legislature as the Rosa Parks Memorial Highway in December 2005.
2006:
At Super Bowl XL, played at Detroit's Ford Field, long-time Detroit residents Coretta Scott King and Parks were remembered and honored by a moment of silence. The Super Bowl was dedicated to their memory. Parks' nieces and nephews and Martin Luther King III joined the coin toss ceremonies, standing alongside former University of Michigan star Tom Brady who flipped the coin.
On February 14, Nassau County, New York Executive, Thomas Suozzi announced that the Hempstead Transit Center would be renamed the Rosa Parks Hempstead Transit Center in her honor.
On October 27, Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell signed a bill into law designating the portion of Pennsylvania Route 291 through Chester as the Rosa Parks Memorial Highway.
2007: Nashville, Tennessee renamed MetroCenter Boulevard (8th Avenue North) (US 41A and SR 12) as Rosa L. Parks Boulevard.
On March 14, 2008, the State of California Government Center at 464 W. 4th St., on the northwest corner of Court and 4th streets, in San Bernardino was renamed the Rosa Parks Memorial Building.
2009: On July 14, the Rosa Parks Transit Center opened in Detroit at the corner of Michigan and Cass Avenues.
2010: in Grand Rapids, Michigan, a plaza in the heart of the city was named Rosa Parks Circle.
2012:
A street in West Valley City, Utah (the state's second largest city), leading to the Utah Cultural Celebration Center was renamed Rosa Parks Drive.
2013:
On February 1, President Barack Obama proclaimed February 4, 2013, as the "100th Anniversary of the Birth of Rosa Parks". He called "upon all Americans to observe this day with appropriate service, community, and education programs to honor Rosa Parks's enduring legacy".
On February 4, to celebrate Rosa Parks' 100th birthday, the Henry Ford Museum declared the day a "National Day of Courage" with 12 hours of virtual and on-site activities featuring nationally recognized speakers, musical and dramatic interpretative performances, a panel presentation of "Rosa's Story" and a reading of the tale "Quiet Strength". The actual bus on which Rosa Parks sat was made available for the public to board and sit in the seat that Rosa Parks refused to give up.
On February 4, 2,000 birthday wishes gathered from people throughout the United States were transformed into 200 graphics messages at a celebration held on her 100th Birthday at the Davis Theater for the Performing Arts in Montgomery, Alabama. This was the 100th Birthday Wishes Project managed by the Rosa Parks Museum at Troy University and the Mobile Studio and was also a declared event by the Senate.
During both events the USPS unveiled a postage stamp in her honor.
On February 27, Parks became the first African-American woman to have her likeness depicted in National Statuary Hall. The monument, created by sculptor Eugene Daub, is a part of the Capitol Art Collection among nine other females featured in the National Statuary Hall Collection.
2014: The asteroid 284996 Rosaparks, discovered in 2010 by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, was named in her memory. The official was published by the Minor Planet Center on September 9, 2014 ().
2015:
The papers of Rosa Parks were cataloged into the Library of Congress, after years of a legal battle.
On December 13, the new Rosa Parks Railway Station opened in Paris.
2016:
The house lived in by Rosa Parks's brother, Sylvester McCauley, his wife Daisy, and their 13 children, and where Rosa Parks often visited and stayed after leaving Montgomery, was bought by her niece Rhea McCauley for $500 and donated to the artist Ryan Mendoza. It was subsequently dismantled and shipped to Berlin where it was re-erected in Mendoza's garden. In 2018 it was returned to the United States and rebuilt at the Waterfire Arts Center, Providence, Rhode Island, where it was put on public display, accompanied by a range of interpretive materials and public and scholarly events.
The National Museum of African American History and Culture was opened; it contains among other things the dress which Rosa Parks was sewing the day she refused to give up her seat to a white man.
2018:
Continuing the Conversation, a public sculpture of Parks, was unveiled on the main campus of the Georgia Institute of Technology.
2019:
A statue of Rosa Parks was unveiled in Montgomery, Alabama.
2021:
On January 20, a bust of Rosa Parks by Artis Lane was added to the Oval Office when Joe Biden began his presidency. The sculpture is currently displayed next to Augustus Saint-Gaudens' bust of Abraham Lincoln.
In popular culture
In 1979, the Supersisters trading card set was produced and distributed; one of the cards featured Parks's name and picture. She is card #27 in the set.
In March 1999, Parks filed a lawsuit (Rosa Parks v. LaFace Records) against American hip-hop duo OutKast and their record company, claiming that the duo's song "Rosa Parks", the most successful radio single of their 1998 album Aquemini, had used her name without permission. The lawsuit was settled on April 15, 2005 (six months and nine days before Parks' death); OutKast, their producer and record labels paid Parks an undisclosed cash settlement. They also agreed to work with the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute to create educational programs about the life of Rosa Parks. The record label and OutKast admitted no wrongdoing. Responsibility for the payment of legal fees was not disclosed.
The documentary Mighty Times: The Legacy of Rosa Parks (2001) received a 2002 nomination for Academy Award for Documentary Short Subject. She collaborated on a TV movie of her life, The Rosa Parks Story (2002), starring Angela Bassett.
The film Barbershop (2002) featured a barber, played by Cedric the Entertainer, arguing with others that other African Americans before Parks had been active in bus integration, but she was renowned as an NAACP secretary. The activists Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton launched a boycott against the film, contending it was "disrespectful", but NAACP president Kweisi Mfume stated he thought the controversy was "overblown". Parks was offended and boycotted the NAACP 2003 Image Awards ceremony, which Cedric hosted.
In 2013, Parks was portrayed by Llewella Gideon in the first series of the Sky Arts comedy series Psychobitches.
The 2018 episode "Rosa", of the science-fiction television series Doctor Who, centers on Rosa Parks, as portrayed by Vinette Robinson.
The UK children's historical show Horrible Histories honored Parks by creating a song to close an episode, "Rosa Parks: I Sat on a Bus".
In 2019, Mattel released a Barbie doll in Parks's likeness as part of their "Inspiring Women" series.
In 2020, rapper Nicki Minaj incorporated Rosa Parks into her song "Yikes" where she rapped, "All you bitches Rosa Park, uh-oh, get your ass up" in reference to the Montgomery bus boycott.
See also
Elizabeth Jennings Graham, 1854 sued and won case that led to desegregation of streetcars in New York City
Charlotte L. Brown, desegregated streetcars in San Francisco in the 1860s
John Mitchell Jr., in 1904, he organized a black boycott of Richmond, Virginia's segregated trolley system
Irene Morgan, in 1944, sued and won Supreme Court ruling that segregation of interstate buses was unconstitutional
Claudette Colvin
Cleveland Court Apartments 620–638
List of civil rights leaders
Rosa Parks Act
Timeline of the civil rights movement
Notes
References
Further reading
Barnes, Catherine A. Journey from Jim Crow: The Desegregation of Southern Transit, Columbia University Press, 1983.
Brinkley, Douglas. Rosa Parks: A Life, Penguin Books, October 25, 2005.
Editorial (May 17, 1974). "Two decades later" . The New York Times. p. 38. ("Within a year of Brown, Rosa Parks, a tired seamstress in Montgomery, Alabama, was, like Homer Plessy sixty years earlier, arrested for her refusal to move to the back of the bus.")
Parks, Rosa, with James Haskins, Rosa Parks: My Story. New York: Scholastic Inc., 1992.
Theoharis, Jeanne The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks, Beacon Press, 2015,
External links
Rosa Parks Library and Museum at Troy University
The Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development
Parks article in the Encyclopedia of Alabama
Rosa Parks bus on display at the Henry Ford Museum
Teaching and Learning Rosa Parks' Rebellious Life
Norwood, Arlisha. "Rosa Parks". National Women's History Museum. 2017.
Multimedia and interviews
"Civil Rights Icon Rosa Parks Dies"—National Public Radio
"Civil Rights Pioneer Rosa Parks 1913–2005"—Democracy Now! (democracynow.org)
"Eyes on the Prize; Interview with Rosa Parks,” 1985-11-14, American Archive of Public Broadcasting
Others
Complete audio/video and newspaper archive of the Montgomery bus boycott
Rosa Parks: cadre of working-class movement that ended Jim Crow
Photo of Rosa Parks Childhood Home
1913 births
2005 deaths
20th-century African-American activists
African-American Christians
African-American history of Alabama
African-American Methodists
Activists for African-American civil rights
Activists from Montgomery, Alabama
Alabama State University alumni
American people who self-identify as being of Native American descent
American people of Scotch-Irish descent
American women activists
Burials at Woodlawn Cemetery (Detroit, Michigan)
Civil rights protests in the United States
Community organizing
Congressional Gold Medal recipients
Deaths from dementia
Montgomery bus boycott
Neurological disease deaths in Michigan
Nonviolence advocates
Activists from Detroit
People from Tuskegee, Alabama
Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients
Protests in Alabama
Spingarn Medal winners | true | [
"Přírodní park Třebíčsko (before Oblast klidu Třebíčsko) is a natural park near Třebíč in the Czech Republic. There are many interesting plants. The park was founded in 1983.\n\nKobylinec and Ptáčovský kopeček\n\nKobylinec is a natural monument situated ca 0,5 km from the village of Trnava.\nThe area of this monument is 0,44 ha. Pulsatilla grandis can be found here and in the Ptáčovský kopeček park near Ptáčov near Třebíč. Both monuments are very popular for tourists.\n\nPonds\n\nIn the natural park there are some interesting ponds such as Velký Bor, Malý Bor, Buršík near Přeckov and a brook Březinka. Dams on the brook are examples of European beaver activity.\n\nSyenitové skály near Pocoucov\n\nSyenitové skály (rocks of syenit) near Pocoucov is one of famed locations. There are interesting granite boulders. The area of the reservation is 0,77 ha.\n\nExternal links\nParts of this article or all article was translated from Czech. The original article is :cs:Přírodní park Třebíčsko.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nNature near the village Trnava which is there\n\nTřebíč\nParks in the Czech Republic\nTourist attractions in the Vysočina Region",
"Damn Interesting is an independent website founded by Alan Bellows in 2005. The website presents true stories from science, history, and psychology, primarily as long-form articles, often illustrated with original artwork. Works are written by various authors, and published at irregular intervals. The website openly rejects advertising, relying on reader and listener donations to cover operating costs.\n\nAs of October 2012, each article is also published as a podcast under the same name. In November 2019, a second podcast was launched under the title Damn Interesting Week, featuring unscripted commentary on an assortment of news articles featured on the website's \"Curated Links\" section that week. In mid-2020, a third podcast called Damn Interesting Curio Cabinet began highlighting the website's periodic short-form articles in the same radioplay format as the original podcast.\n\nIn July 2009, Damn Interesting published the print book Alien Hand Syndrome through Workman Publishing. It contains some favorites from the site and some exclusive content.\n\nAwards and recognition \nIn August 2007, PC Magazine named Damn Interesting one of the \"Top 100 Undiscovered Web Sites\".\nThe article \"The Zero-Armed Bandit\" by Alan Bellows won a 2015 Sidney Award from David Brooks in The New York Times.\nThe article \"Ghoulish Acts and Dastardly Deeds\" by Alan Bellows was cited as \"nonfiction journalism from 2017 that will stand the test of time\" by Conor Friedersdorf in The Atlantic.\nThe article \"Dupes and Duplicity\" by Jennifer Lee Noonan won a 2020 Sidney Award from David Brooks in the New York Times.\n\nAccusing The Dollop of plagiarism \n\nOn July 9, 2015, Bellows posted an open letter accusing The Dollop, a comedy podcast about history, of plagiarism due to their repeated use of verbatim text from Damn Interesting articles without permission or attribution. Dave Anthony, the writer of The Dollop, responded on reddit, admitting to using Damn Interesting content, but claiming that the use was protected by fair use, and that \"historical facts are not copyrightable.\" In an article about the controversy on Plagiarism Today, Jonathan Bailey concluded, \"Any way one looks at it, The Dollop failed its ethical obligations to all of the people, not just those writing for Damn Interesting, who put in the time, energy and expertise into writing the original content upon which their show is based.\"\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n Official website\n\n2005 podcast debuts"
]
|
[
"Isidore of Seville",
"Veneration"
]
| C_abb11947d0be4f0abd17685d04bd7377_0 | Was Isidore Venerated? | 1 | Was Isidore of Seville Venerated? | Isidore of Seville | Isidore was one of the last of the ancient Christian philosophers; he was the last of the great Latin Church Fathers and was contemporary with Maximus the Confessor. Some consider him to be the most learned man of his age, and he exercised a far-reaching and immeasurable influence on the educational life of the Middle Ages. His contemporary and friend, Braulio of Zaragoza, regarded him as a man raised up by God to save the Iberian peoples from the tidal wave of barbarism that threatened to inundate the ancient civilization of Hispania. The Eighth Council of Toledo (653) recorded its admiration of his character in these glowing terms: "The extraordinary doctor, the latest ornament of the Catholic Church, the most learned man of the latter ages, always to be named with reverence, Isidore". This tribute was endorsed by the Fifteenth Council of Toledo, held in 688. Isidore was interred in Seville. His tomb represented an important place of veneration for the Mozarabs during the centuries after the Arab conquest of Visigothic Hispania. In the middle of the 11th century, with the division of Al Andalus into taifas and the strengthening of the Christian holdings in the Iberian peninsula, Ferdinand I of Leon found himself in a position to extract tribute from the fractured Arab states. In addition to money, Abbad II al-Mu'tadid, the Abbasid ruler of Seville (1042-1069), agreed to turn over St. Isidore's remains to Ferdinand I. A Catholic poet described al-Mutatid placing a brocaded cover over Isidore's sarcophagus, and remarked, "Now you are leaving here, revered Isidore. You know well how much your fame was mine!" Fernando had Isidore's remains reinterred in the then-recently constructed Basilica of San Isidoro in Leon. Isidore was canonised a saint by the Roman Catholic Church in 1598 by Pope Clement VIII and declared a Doctor of the Church in 1722 by Pope Innocent XIII. Many of his bones are buried in the cathedral of Murcia, Spain. CANNOTANSWER | His tomb represented an important place of veneration for the Mozarabs during the centuries after the Arab conquest of Visigothic Hispania. | Isidore of Seville (; ; c. 560 – 4 April 636) was a Spanish scholar and cleric. For over three decades, he was Archbishop of Seville. He is widely regarded, in the words of 19th-century historian Montalembert, as "the last scholar of the ancient world".
At a time of disintegration of classical culture, aristocratic violence and widespread illiteracy, Isidore was involved in the conversion of the Arian Visigothic kings to Catholicism, both assisting his brother Leander of Seville and continuing after his brother's death. He was influential in the inner circle of Sisebut, Visigothic king of Hispania. Like Leander, he played a prominent role in the Councils of Toledo and Seville.
His fame after his death was based on his Etymologiae, an etymological encyclopedia that assembled extracts of many books from classical antiquity that would have otherwise been lost. He also invented the period (full stop), comma, and colon.
Life
Childhood and education
Isidore was born in Cartagena, Spain, a former Carthaginian colony, to Severianus and Theodora. Both Severianus and Theodora belonged to notable Hispano-Roman families of high social rank. His parents were members of an influential family who were instrumental in the political-religious manoeuvring that converted the Visigothic kings from Arianism to Catholicism. The Catholic Church celebrates him and all his siblings as known saints:
An elder brother, Leander of Seville, immediately preceded Isidore as Archbishop of Seville and, while in office, opposed King Liuvigild.
A younger brother, Fulgentius of Cartagena, served as the Bishop of Astigi at the start of the new reign of the Catholic King Reccared.
His sister, Florentina of Cartagena, was a nun who allegedly ruled over forty convents and one thousand consecrated religious. This claim seems unlikely, however, given the few functioning monastic institutions in Spania during her lifetime.
Isidore received his elementary education in the Cathedral school of Seville. In this institution, the first of its kind in Spania, a body of learned men including Archbishop Leander of Seville taught the trivium and quadrivium, the classic liberal arts. Isidore applied himself to study diligently enough that he quickly mastered classical Latin, and acquired some Greek and Hebrew.
Two centuries of Gothic control of Iberia incrementally suppressed the ancient institutions, classical learning, and manners of the Roman Empire. The associated culture entered a period of long-term decline. The ruling Visigoths nevertheless showed some respect for the outward trappings of Roman culture. Arianism meanwhile took deep root among the Visigoths as the form of Christianity that they received.
Scholars may debate whether Isidore ever personally embraced monastic life or affiliated with any religious order, but he undoubtedly esteemed the monks highly.
Bishop of Seville
After the death of Leander of Seville on 13 March 600 or 601, Isidore succeeded to the See of Seville. On his elevation to the episcopate, he immediately constituted himself as the protector of monks.
Recognizing that the spiritual and material welfare of the people of his see depended on the assimilation of remnant Roman and ruling barbarian cultures, Isidore attempted to weld the peoples and subcultures of the Visigothic kingdom into a united nation. He used all available religious resources toward this end and succeeded. Isidore practically eradicated the heresy of Arianism and completely stifled the new heresy of Acephali at its outset. Archbishop Isidore strengthened religious discipline throughout his see.
Archbishop Isidore also used resources of education to counteract increasingly influential Gothic barbarism throughout his episcopal jurisdiction. His quickening spirit animated the educational movement centered on Seville. Isidore introduced his countrymen to Aristotle long before the Arabs studied Greek philosophy extensively.
In 619, Isidore of Seville pronounced anathema against any ecclesiastic who in any way should molest the monasteries.
Second Synod of Seville (November 619)
Isidore presided over the Second Council of Seville, begun on 13 November 619 in the reign of King Sisebut, a provincial council attended by eight other bishops, all from the ecclesiastical province of Baetica in southern Spain. The Acts of the Council fully set forth the nature of Christ, countering the conceptions of Gregory, a Syrian representing the heretical Acephali.
Third Synod of Seville (624)
Based on a few surviving canons found in the Pseudo-Isidorian Decretals, Isidore is known to have presided over an additional provincial council around 624.
The council dealt with a conflict over the See of Écija and wrongfully stripped bishop Martianus of his see, a situation that was rectified by the Fourth Council of Toledo. It also addressed a concern over Jews who had been forced to convert to Christianity,.
The records of the council, unlike the First and Second Councils of Seville, were not preserved in the Hispana, a collection of canons and decretals likely edited by Isidore himself.
Fourth National Council of Toledo
All bishops of Hispania attended the Fourth National Council of Toledo, begun on 5 December 633. The aged Archbishop Isidore presided over its deliberations and originated most enactments of the council.
Through Isidore's influence, this Council of Toledo promulgated a decree commanding all bishops to establish seminaries in their cathedral cities along the lines of the cathedral school at Seville, which had educated Isidore decades earlier. The decree prescribed the study of Greek, Hebrew, and the liberal arts and encouraged interest in law and medicine. The authority of the council made this education policy obligatory upon all bishops of the Kingdom of the Visigoths. The council granted remarkable position and deference to the king of the Visigoths. The independent Church bound itself in allegiance to the acknowledged king; it said nothing of allegiance to the Bishop of Rome.
Death
Isidore of Seville died on 4 April 636 after serving more than 32 years as archbishop of Seville.
Work
Isidore's Latin style in the Etymologiae and elsewhere, though simple and lucid, reveals increasing local Visigothic traditions.
Etymologiae
Isidore was the first Christian writer to try to compile a summa of universal knowledge, in his most important work, the Etymologiae (taking its title from the method he uncritically used in the transcription of his era's knowledge). It is also known by classicists as the Origines (the standard abbreviation being Orig.). This encyclopedia—the first such Christian epitome—formed a huge compilation of 448 chapters in 20 volumes.
In it, Isidore entered his own terse digest of Roman handbooks, miscellanies and compendia, he continued the trend towards abridgements and summaries that had characterised Roman learning in Late Antiquity. In the process, many fragments of classical learning are preserved that otherwise would have been hopelessly lost; "in fact, in the majority of his works, including the Origines, he contributes little more than the mortar which connects excerpts from other authors, as if he was aware of his deficiencies and had more confidence in the stilus maiorum than his own," his translator Katherine Nell MacFarlane remarks.
Some of these fragments were lost in the first place because Isidore's work was so highly regarded—Braulio called it quaecunque fere sciri debentur, "practically everything that it is necessary to know"—that it superseded the use of many individual works of the classics themselves, which were not recopied and have therefore been lost: "all secular knowledge that was of use to the Christian scholar had been winnowed out and contained in one handy volume; the scholar need search no further".
The fame of this work imparted a new impetus to encyclopedic writing, which bore abundant fruit in the subsequent centuries of the Middle Ages. It was the most popular compendium in medieval libraries. It was printed in at least ten editions between 1470 and 1530, showing Isidore's continued popularity in the Renaissance. Until the 12th century brought translations from Arabic sources, Isidore transmitted what western Europeans remembered of the works of Aristotle and other Greeks, although he understood only a limited amount of Greek. The Etymologiae was much copied, particularly into medieval bestiaries.
On the Catholic faith against the Jews
Isidore's De fide catholica contra Iudaeos furthers Augustine of Hippo's ideas on the Jewish presence in Christian society. Like Augustine, Isidore accepted the necessity of the Jewish presence because of their expected role in the anticipated Second Coming of Christ. In De fide catholica contra Iudaeos, Isidore exceeds the anti-rabbinic polemics of earlier theologians by criticizing Jewish practice as deliberately disingenuous.
He contributed two decisions to the Fourth Council of Toledo: Canon 60 calling for the forced removal of children from parents practising Crypto-Judaism and their education by Christians, and Canon 65 forbidding Jews and Christians of Jewish origin from holding public office.
Other works
Isidore's authored more than a dozen major works on various topics including mathematics, holy scripture, and monastic life, all in Latin:
Historia de regibus Gothorum, Vandalorum et Suevorum, a history of the Gothic, Vandal and Suebi kings. The longer edition, issued in 624, includes the Laus Spaniae and the Laus Gothorum.
Chronica Majora, a universal history
De differentiis verborum, a brief theological treatise on the doctrine of the Trinity, the nature of Christ, of Paradise, angels, and men
De natura rerum (On the Nature of Things), a book of astronomy and natural history dedicated to the Visigothic king Sisebut
Questions on the Old Testament
a mystical treatise on the allegorical meanings of numbers
a number of brief letters
Sententiae libri tres Codex Sang. 228; 9th century
De viris illustribus
De ecclesiasticis officiis
De summo bono
De ortu et obitu patrum
Veneration
Isidore was one of the last of the ancient Christian philosophers and was contemporary with Maximus the Confessor. He has been called the most learned man of his age by some scholars, and he exercised a far-reaching and immeasurable influence on the educational life of the Middle Ages. His contemporary and friend, Braulio of Zaragoza, regarded him as a man raised up by God to save the Iberian peoples from the tidal wave of barbarism that threatened to inundate the ancient civilization of Hispania.
The Eighth Council of Toledo (653) recorded its admiration of his character in these glowing terms: "The extraordinary doctor, the latest ornament of the Catholic Church, the most learned man of the latter ages, always to be named with reverence, Isidore". This tribute was endorsed by the Fifteenth Council of Toledo, held in 688, and later in 1598 by Pope Clement VIII. Isidore was declared a Doctor of the Church in 1722 by Pope Innocent XIII.
Isidore was interred in Seville. His tomb represented an important place of veneration for the Mozarabs during the centuries after the Arab conquest of Visigothic Hispania. In the middle of the 11th century, with the division of Al Andalus into taifas and the strengthening of the Christian holdings in the Iberian peninsula, Ferdinand I of León and Castile found himself in a position to extract tribute from the fractured Arab states. In addition to money, Abbad II al-Mu'tadid, the Abbadid ruler of Seville (1042–1069), agreed to turn over St. Isidore's remains to Ferdinand I. A Catholic poet described al-Mutatid placing a brocaded cover over Isidore's sarcophagus, and remarked, "Now you are leaving here, revered Isidore. You know well how much your fame was mine!" Ferdinand had Isidore's remains reinterred in the then-recently constructed Basilica of San Isidoro in León. Today, many of his bones are buried in the cathedral of Murcia, Spain.
Legacy
In Dante's Paradiso (X.130), Isidore is mentioned among theologians and Doctors of the Church alongside the Scot Richard of St. Victor and the Englishman Bede the Venerable.
The University of Dayton has named their implementation of the Sakai Project in honour of Saint Isidore.
His likeness, along with that of Leander of Sevile and Ferdinand III of Castile, is depicted on the crest badge of Sevilla FC.
The Order of St. Isidore of Seville is a chivalric order formed on 1 January 2000. An international organisation, the order aims to honour Saint Isidore as patron saint of the Internet, alongside promoting Christian chivalry online. (This honour is unofficial: the Holy See considered naming Isidore as patron saint of the Internet but has not done so.)
Honours
St. Isidore Island in Antarctica is named after the saint.
See also
Saint Isidore of Seville, patron saint archive
References
Sources
Primary sources
The Etymologiae (complete Latin text)
Barney, Stephen A., Lewis, W.J., Beach, J.A. and Berghof, Oliver (translators). The Etymologies of Isidore of Seville. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006. .
Ziolkowski, Vernon P., The De Fide Catholica contra Iudaeos of Saint Isidorus, Bishop, Book 1, Saint Louis University, PhD diss. (1982).
Castro Caridad, Eva and Peña Fernández, Francisco (translators). "Isidoro de Sevilla. Sobre la fe católica contra los judíos". Sevilla: Universidad de Sevilla, 2012. .
Throop, Priscilla, (translator). Isidore of Seville's Etymologies. Charlotte, VT: MedievalMS, 2005, 2 vols.
Throop, Priscilla, (translator). Isidore's Synonyms and Differences. (a translation of Synonyms or Lamentations of a Sinful Soul, Book of Differences I, and Book of Differences II) Charlotte, VT: MedievalMS, 2012 (EPub )
Online Galleries, History of Science Collections, University of Oklahoma Libraries High resolution images of works by Isidore of Seville in .jpg and .tiff format.
De natura rerum (Msc.Nat.1) (On the Nature of Things) digitized by the Staatsbibliothek Bamberg.
Lewis E 136 Carta pisana; Sententiae (Sentences) at OPenn
Lewis E 137 Sententiae (Sentences) at OPenn
MS 484/18 Quaestiones in josue, judicum, regum, machabeis at OPenn
Secondary sources
Henderson, John. The Medieval World of Isidore of Seville: Truth from Words. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007. .
Herren, Michael. "On the Earliest Irish Acquaintance with Isidore of Seville." Visigothic Spain: New Approaches. James, Edward (ed). Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1980. .
Englisch, Brigitte. "Die Artes liberales im frühen Mittelalter." Stuttgart, 1994.
Other material
The Order of Saint Isidore of Seville, st-isidore.org
Jones, Peter. "Patron saint of the internet", telegraph.co.uk, 27 August 2006 (Review of The Etymologies of Isidore of Seville, Cambridge University Press, 2006)
Shachtman, Noah. "Searchin' for the Surfer's Saint", wired.com, 25 January 2002
External links
560 births
636 deaths
Doctors of the Church
Church Fathers
6th-century Latin writers
7th-century Latin writers
Spanish encyclopedists
Etymologists
7th-century philosophers
7th-century Christian saints
7th-century archbishops
7th-century Christian theologians
7th-century people of the Visigothic Kingdom
Roman Catholic archbishops of Seville
Spanish philosophers
Medieval Spanish saints
Augustinian philosophers
Catholic philosophers
Spanish music theorists
Spanish Christian theologians
Trope theorists
Medieval Spanish theologians
7th-century astronomers
7th-century mathematicians
7th-century historians
7th-century jurists
Writers about religion and science | true | [
"Isidore De Loor (18 April 1881 – 6 October 1916), also known by his religious name Isidore of Saint Joseph, was a Belgian professed religious from the Passionists. He served in various capacities at the convents that he served like being a janitor or a cook for his fellow religious though his cancer never limited his work for others.\n\nHis beatification was held on 30 September 1984.\n\nLife\nIsidore De Loor was born on 18 April 1881 in East Flanders in Belgium as the oldest of three children to Aloïs De Loor and Kamilla Hutsebaut. His parents were devout and had been married since 1879. He received his Confirmation and his First Communion in 1894.\n\nHis education at the local school came to an end in 1893 and from then on he joined his father in working on their farm. He grew up to be a devout and hard-working individual and often thought of following a vocation to the religious life. He was present among the Redemptorist priests at a mission and there discussed the matter of his vocation with a priest who advised him to join the Passionists. On 15 April 1907 he set off for the Passionist convent at Ere. It was there that the French language was spoken and the Dutch-speaking De Loor found it quite difficult to navigate a path to the convent. He was reserved and kept to himself but soon put himself to work and he impressed his superiors with his strong will and strong determination. On 8 September 1907 he received the religious habit and also received the religious name of \"Isidore of Saint Joseph\". The novitiate followed this during which he became an example to his fellow novices who were impressed with his happiness and his charitable disposition. On 13 September 1908 he professed his solemn vows.\n\nDe Loor was transferred after his profession to the convent at Kortrijk on 11 August 1912 where he was put to work both as a gardener and as a cook. Despite suffering with a painful tumour that had a partial effect on his sight he was reluctant to complain about it; cancer was diagnosed and his right eye was removed in June 1911. The cancer had spread soon and he was given a short time left to live. He then served as porter of the convent not long thereafter in 1914. But as World War I took its toll on Belgium more and more visitors prevailed upon the convent for help and he was more than willing to offer his assistance. In late summer 1916 his health worsened and the cancer had spread to his intestines while that September it spread to his bowels. He asked the permission of his superior to die in peace and he died in the night from the violent pains of his cancer and pleurisy on 6 October 1916. He experienced his final pain in a chair with his face in his hands unable to bear the great pain. His remains were exhumed in 1952 and reinterred in his old convent where he had died.\n\nBeatification\nDe Loor's beatification process opened under Pope John XXIII on 9 November 1960 and he became titled as a Servant of God while Pope John Paul II named him as Venerable on 12 July 1982 after confirming his life of model heroic virtue. The same pope beatified De Loor later on 30 September 1984.\n\nThe current postulator for this cause is the Passionist priest Giovanni Zubiani.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Belgian Passionists\n The Passionists of Holy Cross Province\n Hagiography Circle\n Saints SQPN\n New Evangelizers\n Isidore De Loor in ODIS – Online Database for Intermediary Structures \n\n1881 births\n1916 deaths\n19th-century venerated Christians\n19th-century Belgian people\n20th-century venerated Christians\n20th-century Belgian people\nBeatifications by Pope John Paul II\nBeatified Roman Catholic religious brothers\nBelgian beatified people\nBurials in Flanders\nDeaths from cancer in Belgium\nPassionists\nPeople from East Flanders\nRoman Catholic religious brothers\nVenerated Catholics by Pope John Paul II",
"Saint Florentina (died ca. 612) is venerated as a saint by the Catholic Church. Born towards the middle of the sixth century in Cartagena, Hispania, she and her family were actively engaged in furthering the best interests of Christianity.\n\nFlorentina was the sister of three Iberian bishops in the time of the Visigothic dominion (Leander, Isidore of Seville, and Fulgentius). She was younger than her brother Leander, later Archbishop of Seville, but older than Isidore, who succeeded Leander as archbishop of the same see. All four have been canonized by the Church.\n\nLosing their parents at an early age, she was placed under the guardianship of her brother, Leander, who had since taken monastic vows, and it was through his influence that Florentina embraced the ascetic life. She associated with herself a number of virgins, who also desired to forsake the world, and formed them into a religious community. Later sources declare their residence to have been the convent of S. Maria de Valle near Ecija (Astigis), of which city her brother Fulgentius was bishop. She later became abbess of the community. \n\nSometime before the year 600, her brother Leander, who died either in the year 600 or 601, wrote for her guidance an extant work dealing with a nun's rule of life and with contempt for the world. In it the author lays down the rules according to which cloistered consecrated virgins should regulate their lives. He strongly advises them to avoid interaction with women living in the world, and with men, especially youths; recommends strict temperance in eating and drinking, gives advice concerning the reading of and meditation on Holy Scripture, enjoins equal love and friendship for all those living together in community, and exhorts his sister earnestly to remain true to her holy state.\n\nFlorentina regulated her life according to the advice of her brother, entered with fervour into the spirit of the religious life, and was honoured as a saint after her death. She died sometime early in the seventh century.\n\nVeneration\nFlorentina is venerated as the patroness of the diocese of Plasencia. Her feast falls on 20 June. The name is written Florentia in the Roman martyrology, but Florentina is without doubt the correct form.\n\nAn part of her bones were buried in the cathedral of Murcia (Spain), where they continue to be venerated. However, most of her remains are preserved in Berzocana (Spain), where she is venerated as well as her brother Fulgentius.\n\nReferences\n\nMedieval Spanish saints\n612 deaths\nBurials in Spain\n7th-century Christian saints\nPeople from Cartagena, Spain\nYear of birth unknown\nFemale saints of medieval Spain\n7th-century women\n6th-century women\n7th-century people of the Visigothic Kingdom\n6th-century people of the Visigothic Kingdom"
]
|
[
"Isidore of Seville",
"Veneration",
"Was Isidore Venerated?",
"His tomb represented an important place of veneration for the Mozarabs during the centuries after the Arab conquest of Visigothic Hispania."
]
| C_abb11947d0be4f0abd17685d04bd7377_0 | Who were the Mozarabs? | 2 | Who were the Mozarabs during the centuries after the Arab conquest of Visigothic Hispania? | Isidore of Seville | Isidore was one of the last of the ancient Christian philosophers; he was the last of the great Latin Church Fathers and was contemporary with Maximus the Confessor. Some consider him to be the most learned man of his age, and he exercised a far-reaching and immeasurable influence on the educational life of the Middle Ages. His contemporary and friend, Braulio of Zaragoza, regarded him as a man raised up by God to save the Iberian peoples from the tidal wave of barbarism that threatened to inundate the ancient civilization of Hispania. The Eighth Council of Toledo (653) recorded its admiration of his character in these glowing terms: "The extraordinary doctor, the latest ornament of the Catholic Church, the most learned man of the latter ages, always to be named with reverence, Isidore". This tribute was endorsed by the Fifteenth Council of Toledo, held in 688. Isidore was interred in Seville. His tomb represented an important place of veneration for the Mozarabs during the centuries after the Arab conquest of Visigothic Hispania. In the middle of the 11th century, with the division of Al Andalus into taifas and the strengthening of the Christian holdings in the Iberian peninsula, Ferdinand I of Leon found himself in a position to extract tribute from the fractured Arab states. In addition to money, Abbad II al-Mu'tadid, the Abbasid ruler of Seville (1042-1069), agreed to turn over St. Isidore's remains to Ferdinand I. A Catholic poet described al-Mutatid placing a brocaded cover over Isidore's sarcophagus, and remarked, "Now you are leaving here, revered Isidore. You know well how much your fame was mine!" Fernando had Isidore's remains reinterred in the then-recently constructed Basilica of San Isidoro in Leon. Isidore was canonised a saint by the Roman Catholic Church in 1598 by Pope Clement VIII and declared a Doctor of the Church in 1722 by Pope Innocent XIII. Many of his bones are buried in the cathedral of Murcia, Spain. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Isidore of Seville (; ; c. 560 – 4 April 636) was a Spanish scholar and cleric. For over three decades, he was Archbishop of Seville. He is widely regarded, in the words of 19th-century historian Montalembert, as "the last scholar of the ancient world".
At a time of disintegration of classical culture, aristocratic violence and widespread illiteracy, Isidore was involved in the conversion of the Arian Visigothic kings to Catholicism, both assisting his brother Leander of Seville and continuing after his brother's death. He was influential in the inner circle of Sisebut, Visigothic king of Hispania. Like Leander, he played a prominent role in the Councils of Toledo and Seville.
His fame after his death was based on his Etymologiae, an etymological encyclopedia that assembled extracts of many books from classical antiquity that would have otherwise been lost. He also invented the period (full stop), comma, and colon.
Life
Childhood and education
Isidore was born in Cartagena, Spain, a former Carthaginian colony, to Severianus and Theodora. Both Severianus and Theodora belonged to notable Hispano-Roman families of high social rank. His parents were members of an influential family who were instrumental in the political-religious manoeuvring that converted the Visigothic kings from Arianism to Catholicism. The Catholic Church celebrates him and all his siblings as known saints:
An elder brother, Leander of Seville, immediately preceded Isidore as Archbishop of Seville and, while in office, opposed King Liuvigild.
A younger brother, Fulgentius of Cartagena, served as the Bishop of Astigi at the start of the new reign of the Catholic King Reccared.
His sister, Florentina of Cartagena, was a nun who allegedly ruled over forty convents and one thousand consecrated religious. This claim seems unlikely, however, given the few functioning monastic institutions in Spania during her lifetime.
Isidore received his elementary education in the Cathedral school of Seville. In this institution, the first of its kind in Spania, a body of learned men including Archbishop Leander of Seville taught the trivium and quadrivium, the classic liberal arts. Isidore applied himself to study diligently enough that he quickly mastered classical Latin, and acquired some Greek and Hebrew.
Two centuries of Gothic control of Iberia incrementally suppressed the ancient institutions, classical learning, and manners of the Roman Empire. The associated culture entered a period of long-term decline. The ruling Visigoths nevertheless showed some respect for the outward trappings of Roman culture. Arianism meanwhile took deep root among the Visigoths as the form of Christianity that they received.
Scholars may debate whether Isidore ever personally embraced monastic life or affiliated with any religious order, but he undoubtedly esteemed the monks highly.
Bishop of Seville
After the death of Leander of Seville on 13 March 600 or 601, Isidore succeeded to the See of Seville. On his elevation to the episcopate, he immediately constituted himself as the protector of monks.
Recognizing that the spiritual and material welfare of the people of his see depended on the assimilation of remnant Roman and ruling barbarian cultures, Isidore attempted to weld the peoples and subcultures of the Visigothic kingdom into a united nation. He used all available religious resources toward this end and succeeded. Isidore practically eradicated the heresy of Arianism and completely stifled the new heresy of Acephali at its outset. Archbishop Isidore strengthened religious discipline throughout his see.
Archbishop Isidore also used resources of education to counteract increasingly influential Gothic barbarism throughout his episcopal jurisdiction. His quickening spirit animated the educational movement centered on Seville. Isidore introduced his countrymen to Aristotle long before the Arabs studied Greek philosophy extensively.
In 619, Isidore of Seville pronounced anathema against any ecclesiastic who in any way should molest the monasteries.
Second Synod of Seville (November 619)
Isidore presided over the Second Council of Seville, begun on 13 November 619 in the reign of King Sisebut, a provincial council attended by eight other bishops, all from the ecclesiastical province of Baetica in southern Spain. The Acts of the Council fully set forth the nature of Christ, countering the conceptions of Gregory, a Syrian representing the heretical Acephali.
Third Synod of Seville (624)
Based on a few surviving canons found in the Pseudo-Isidorian Decretals, Isidore is known to have presided over an additional provincial council around 624.
The council dealt with a conflict over the See of Écija and wrongfully stripped bishop Martianus of his see, a situation that was rectified by the Fourth Council of Toledo. It also addressed a concern over Jews who had been forced to convert to Christianity,.
The records of the council, unlike the First and Second Councils of Seville, were not preserved in the Hispana, a collection of canons and decretals likely edited by Isidore himself.
Fourth National Council of Toledo
All bishops of Hispania attended the Fourth National Council of Toledo, begun on 5 December 633. The aged Archbishop Isidore presided over its deliberations and originated most enactments of the council.
Through Isidore's influence, this Council of Toledo promulgated a decree commanding all bishops to establish seminaries in their cathedral cities along the lines of the cathedral school at Seville, which had educated Isidore decades earlier. The decree prescribed the study of Greek, Hebrew, and the liberal arts and encouraged interest in law and medicine. The authority of the council made this education policy obligatory upon all bishops of the Kingdom of the Visigoths. The council granted remarkable position and deference to the king of the Visigoths. The independent Church bound itself in allegiance to the acknowledged king; it said nothing of allegiance to the Bishop of Rome.
Death
Isidore of Seville died on 4 April 636 after serving more than 32 years as archbishop of Seville.
Work
Isidore's Latin style in the Etymologiae and elsewhere, though simple and lucid, reveals increasing local Visigothic traditions.
Etymologiae
Isidore was the first Christian writer to try to compile a summa of universal knowledge, in his most important work, the Etymologiae (taking its title from the method he uncritically used in the transcription of his era's knowledge). It is also known by classicists as the Origines (the standard abbreviation being Orig.). This encyclopedia—the first such Christian epitome—formed a huge compilation of 448 chapters in 20 volumes.
In it, Isidore entered his own terse digest of Roman handbooks, miscellanies and compendia, he continued the trend towards abridgements and summaries that had characterised Roman learning in Late Antiquity. In the process, many fragments of classical learning are preserved that otherwise would have been hopelessly lost; "in fact, in the majority of his works, including the Origines, he contributes little more than the mortar which connects excerpts from other authors, as if he was aware of his deficiencies and had more confidence in the stilus maiorum than his own," his translator Katherine Nell MacFarlane remarks.
Some of these fragments were lost in the first place because Isidore's work was so highly regarded—Braulio called it quaecunque fere sciri debentur, "practically everything that it is necessary to know"—that it superseded the use of many individual works of the classics themselves, which were not recopied and have therefore been lost: "all secular knowledge that was of use to the Christian scholar had been winnowed out and contained in one handy volume; the scholar need search no further".
The fame of this work imparted a new impetus to encyclopedic writing, which bore abundant fruit in the subsequent centuries of the Middle Ages. It was the most popular compendium in medieval libraries. It was printed in at least ten editions between 1470 and 1530, showing Isidore's continued popularity in the Renaissance. Until the 12th century brought translations from Arabic sources, Isidore transmitted what western Europeans remembered of the works of Aristotle and other Greeks, although he understood only a limited amount of Greek. The Etymologiae was much copied, particularly into medieval bestiaries.
On the Catholic faith against the Jews
Isidore's De fide catholica contra Iudaeos furthers Augustine of Hippo's ideas on the Jewish presence in Christian society. Like Augustine, Isidore accepted the necessity of the Jewish presence because of their expected role in the anticipated Second Coming of Christ. In De fide catholica contra Iudaeos, Isidore exceeds the anti-rabbinic polemics of earlier theologians by criticizing Jewish practice as deliberately disingenuous.
He contributed two decisions to the Fourth Council of Toledo: Canon 60 calling for the forced removal of children from parents practising Crypto-Judaism and their education by Christians, and Canon 65 forbidding Jews and Christians of Jewish origin from holding public office.
Other works
Isidore's authored more than a dozen major works on various topics including mathematics, holy scripture, and monastic life, all in Latin:
Historia de regibus Gothorum, Vandalorum et Suevorum, a history of the Gothic, Vandal and Suebi kings. The longer edition, issued in 624, includes the Laus Spaniae and the Laus Gothorum.
Chronica Majora, a universal history
De differentiis verborum, a brief theological treatise on the doctrine of the Trinity, the nature of Christ, of Paradise, angels, and men
De natura rerum (On the Nature of Things), a book of astronomy and natural history dedicated to the Visigothic king Sisebut
Questions on the Old Testament
a mystical treatise on the allegorical meanings of numbers
a number of brief letters
Sententiae libri tres Codex Sang. 228; 9th century
De viris illustribus
De ecclesiasticis officiis
De summo bono
De ortu et obitu patrum
Veneration
Isidore was one of the last of the ancient Christian philosophers and was contemporary with Maximus the Confessor. He has been called the most learned man of his age by some scholars, and he exercised a far-reaching and immeasurable influence on the educational life of the Middle Ages. His contemporary and friend, Braulio of Zaragoza, regarded him as a man raised up by God to save the Iberian peoples from the tidal wave of barbarism that threatened to inundate the ancient civilization of Hispania.
The Eighth Council of Toledo (653) recorded its admiration of his character in these glowing terms: "The extraordinary doctor, the latest ornament of the Catholic Church, the most learned man of the latter ages, always to be named with reverence, Isidore". This tribute was endorsed by the Fifteenth Council of Toledo, held in 688, and later in 1598 by Pope Clement VIII. Isidore was declared a Doctor of the Church in 1722 by Pope Innocent XIII.
Isidore was interred in Seville. His tomb represented an important place of veneration for the Mozarabs during the centuries after the Arab conquest of Visigothic Hispania. In the middle of the 11th century, with the division of Al Andalus into taifas and the strengthening of the Christian holdings in the Iberian peninsula, Ferdinand I of León and Castile found himself in a position to extract tribute from the fractured Arab states. In addition to money, Abbad II al-Mu'tadid, the Abbadid ruler of Seville (1042–1069), agreed to turn over St. Isidore's remains to Ferdinand I. A Catholic poet described al-Mutatid placing a brocaded cover over Isidore's sarcophagus, and remarked, "Now you are leaving here, revered Isidore. You know well how much your fame was mine!" Ferdinand had Isidore's remains reinterred in the then-recently constructed Basilica of San Isidoro in León. Today, many of his bones are buried in the cathedral of Murcia, Spain.
Legacy
In Dante's Paradiso (X.130), Isidore is mentioned among theologians and Doctors of the Church alongside the Scot Richard of St. Victor and the Englishman Bede the Venerable.
The University of Dayton has named their implementation of the Sakai Project in honour of Saint Isidore.
His likeness, along with that of Leander of Sevile and Ferdinand III of Castile, is depicted on the crest badge of Sevilla FC.
The Order of St. Isidore of Seville is a chivalric order formed on 1 January 2000. An international organisation, the order aims to honour Saint Isidore as patron saint of the Internet, alongside promoting Christian chivalry online. (This honour is unofficial: the Holy See considered naming Isidore as patron saint of the Internet but has not done so.)
Honours
St. Isidore Island in Antarctica is named after the saint.
See also
Saint Isidore of Seville, patron saint archive
References
Sources
Primary sources
The Etymologiae (complete Latin text)
Barney, Stephen A., Lewis, W.J., Beach, J.A. and Berghof, Oliver (translators). The Etymologies of Isidore of Seville. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006. .
Ziolkowski, Vernon P., The De Fide Catholica contra Iudaeos of Saint Isidorus, Bishop, Book 1, Saint Louis University, PhD diss. (1982).
Castro Caridad, Eva and Peña Fernández, Francisco (translators). "Isidoro de Sevilla. Sobre la fe católica contra los judíos". Sevilla: Universidad de Sevilla, 2012. .
Throop, Priscilla, (translator). Isidore of Seville's Etymologies. Charlotte, VT: MedievalMS, 2005, 2 vols.
Throop, Priscilla, (translator). Isidore's Synonyms and Differences. (a translation of Synonyms or Lamentations of a Sinful Soul, Book of Differences I, and Book of Differences II) Charlotte, VT: MedievalMS, 2012 (EPub )
Online Galleries, History of Science Collections, University of Oklahoma Libraries High resolution images of works by Isidore of Seville in .jpg and .tiff format.
De natura rerum (Msc.Nat.1) (On the Nature of Things) digitized by the Staatsbibliothek Bamberg.
Lewis E 136 Carta pisana; Sententiae (Sentences) at OPenn
Lewis E 137 Sententiae (Sentences) at OPenn
MS 484/18 Quaestiones in josue, judicum, regum, machabeis at OPenn
Secondary sources
Henderson, John. The Medieval World of Isidore of Seville: Truth from Words. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007. .
Herren, Michael. "On the Earliest Irish Acquaintance with Isidore of Seville." Visigothic Spain: New Approaches. James, Edward (ed). Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1980. .
Englisch, Brigitte. "Die Artes liberales im frühen Mittelalter." Stuttgart, 1994.
Other material
The Order of Saint Isidore of Seville, st-isidore.org
Jones, Peter. "Patron saint of the internet", telegraph.co.uk, 27 August 2006 (Review of The Etymologies of Isidore of Seville, Cambridge University Press, 2006)
Shachtman, Noah. "Searchin' for the Surfer's Saint", wired.com, 25 January 2002
External links
560 births
636 deaths
Doctors of the Church
Church Fathers
6th-century Latin writers
7th-century Latin writers
Spanish encyclopedists
Etymologists
7th-century philosophers
7th-century Christian saints
7th-century archbishops
7th-century Christian theologians
7th-century people of the Visigothic Kingdom
Roman Catholic archbishops of Seville
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Writers about religion and science | false | [
"The Mozarabs ( ; ; ; from ) is a modern historical term for the Iberian Christians, including Christianized Iberian Jews, who lived under Muslim rule in Al-Andalus following the conquest of the Christian Visigothic Kingdom by the Umayyad Caliphate. Initially, the vast majority of Mozarabs kept Christianity and their dialects descended from Latin. Eventually, some converted to Islam and were influenced, in varying degrees, by Arab customs and knowledge, and sometimes acquired greater social status in doing so. The local Romance vernaculars, with an important contribution of Arabic and spoken by Christians and Muslims alike, have also come to be known as the Mozarabic language. Mozarabs were mostly Roman Catholics of the Visigothic or Mozarabic Rite. Due to Sharia and Fiqh being confessional and only applying to Muslims, the Christians paid the jizya tax, the only relevant Islamic Law obligation, and kept Roman-derived, Visigothic-influenced, Civil Law.\n\nMost of the Mozarabs were descendants of Hispanic Christians and were primarily speakers of Mozarabic (late Latin of Iberia) under Islamic rule. They also included those members of the former Visigothic ruling elite who did not convert to Islam or emigrate northwards after the Muslim conquest. Spanish Christians initially portrayed Muslims primarily as military or political enemies, but with time, Islam came to be seen as a religion and not merely a threat. Spanish Christians sought to discourage apostasy from Christianity and to defend Christian beliefs, but they increasingly became connected to the dar al-Islam (land of Islam), through shared culture, language, and regular interaction.\n\nA few were Arab and Berber Christians coupled with Muslim converts to Christianity who, as Arabic speakers, felt at home among the original Mozarabs. A prominent example of a Muslim who became a Mozarab by embracing Christianity is the Andalusian rebel and anti-Umayyad military leader, Umar ibn Hafsun. The Mozarabs of Muslim origin were descendants of those Muslims who converted to Christianity following the conquest of Toledo, and perhaps also following the expeditions of king Alfonso I of Aragon. These Mozarabs of Muslim origin who converted en masse at the end of the 11th century, many of them Muladi (ethnic Iberians previously converted to Islam), are totally distinct from the Mudéjars and Moriscos who converted gradually to Christianity between the 12th and 17th centuries. Some Mozarabs were even Converso Sephardi Jews who likewise became part of the Mozarabic milieu.\n\nSeparate Mozarab enclaves were located in the large Muslim cities, especially Toledo, Córdoba, Zaragoza, and Seville.\n\nStatus\nChristians and Jews were designated dhimmi under Sharia (Islamic law). Dhimmi were allowed to live within Muslim society, but were legally required to pay the jizyah, a personal tax, and abide with a number of religious, social, and economic restrictions that came with their status. Despite their restrictions, the dhimmi were fully protected by the Muslim rulers and did not have to fight in case of war, because they paid the jizyah.\n\nAs the universal nature of Roman law was eroded and replaced by Islamic law in part of the Iberian Peninsula, Shariah law allowed most ethnic groups in the medieval Islamic world to be judged by their own judges, under their own law: Mozarabs had their own tribunals and authorities. Some of them even held high offices in the Islamic administration under some rulers. A prominent example being that of Rabi ibn Zayd, a palace official, who, sometime between 961 and 976, wrote the famous Calendar of Córdoba for Abd ar-Rahman III, undertook various diplomatic missions in Germania and Byzantium, and was rewarded with the bishopric of Elvira (present-day Granada). Furthermore, in 1064 Emir Al-Muqtadir of Zaragoza sent Paternus, the Mozarabic bishop of Tortosa, as an envoy to king Ferdinand I of León in Santiago de Compostela, while the Christian Abu Umar ibn Gundisalvus, a Saqaliba (a Slav), served the same taifa ruler as the Wazir (Vizier, or the equivalent to prime minister).\n\nConversion to Islam was encouraged by the Ummayad Caliphs and Emirs of Córdoba. Many Mozarabs converted to Islam to avoid the heavy jizyah tax which they were subjected to as Dhimmis. Conversion to Islam also opened up new horizons to the Mozarabs, alleviated their social position, ensured better living conditions, and broadened scope for more technically skilled and advanced work. Apostasy, however, for one who had been raised as a Muslim or had embraced Islam, was a crime punishable by death.\n\nUntil the mid-9th century, relations between Muslims and the majority Christian population of Al-Andalus, were relatively cordial. Christian resistance to the first wave of Muslim conquerors was unsuccessful. In Murcia, a single surviving capitulation document must stand for many such agreements to render tribute in exchange for the protection of traditional liberties; in it, Theodomirus (Todmir in Arabic), Visigothic count of Orihuela, agrees to recognize Abd al-Aziz as overlord and to pay tribute consisting of a yearly cash payment supplemented with specific agricultural products. In exchange, Theodomir received Abd al-Aziz' promise to respect both his property and his jurisdiction in the province of Murcia. There was no change in the composition of the people on the land, and in cases like this one, even their Visigothic lords remained.\n\nIn the Moorish controlled region of Al-Garb Al-Andalus, an area to the west of Al-Andalus, which included the modern region of Algarve and most of Portugal, Mozarabs constituted the majority of the population.\n\nThe Muslim geographer Ibn Hawqal, who visited the country in the middle of the 10th century, spoke of frequent revolts by Mozarab peasants employed on large estates, probably those of the ruling aristocracy. There is also substantial evidence that Mozarabs fought in the defence of the thaghr (front line fortress towns), participating in raids against Christian neighbours and struggles between Muslim factions. For instance, in 936, a significant number of Christians holed up in Calatayud with the rebel Mutarraf, only to be massacred in a desperate stand against the Caliphate forces.\n\nThere is very little evidence of any Christian resistance at Al-Andalus in the 9th century. Evidence points to a rapid attrition in the North. For instance, during the 1st centuries of Muslim rule, the Mozarab community of Lleida was apparently ruled by a qumis (count) and had its own judiciary, but there is no evidence of any such administration in the later period.\n\nAlthough Mozarab merchants traded in Andalusi markets, they were neither influential nor numerous before the middle of the 12th century. This was owed to commercial disinterest and disorganization in the early Middle Ages rather than any specific or religious impediments set up by the Muslim rulers. Unlike Andalusi Muslims and Jews, Mozarabs had little interest in commerce because of their general perception of trade as lowly and despicable. This was in stark contrast to the greater respect accorded to merchants in Jewish and Muslim societies, where trade was frequently combined with other callings, such as politics, scholarship, or medicine.\n\nIt is often mistakenly assumed that Mozarab merchants forged a vital commercial and cultural link between the north and south across the Iberian frontiers. Mozarab refugees may have had influence in northern Iberian trade at places like Toledo, but there is no reason to believe that they engaged in commerce with their abandoned homeland. Most traffic between Al-Andalus and Christian regions remained in the hands of Jewish and Muslim traders until the dramatic shifts initiated by European commercial expansion throughout the 11th and 12th centuries. With the development of Italian maritime power and southward expansion of the Christian Reconquista, Andalusi international trade came increasingly under the control of Christian traders from northern Iberia, southern France and Italy, and by the middle of the 13th century was an exclusively Christian concern.\n\nThere were frequent contacts between the Mozarabs in Al-Andalus and their co-religionists both in the Kingdom of Asturias and in the Marca Hispanica, the territory under Frankish influence to the northeast. The level of literary culture among the northern Christians was inferior to that of their Mozarab brethren in the historic cities to the south, due to the prosperity of Al-Andalus. For that reason, Christian refugees from Al-Andalus were always welcomed in the north, where their descendants came to form an influential element. Though impossible to quantify, the immigration of Mozarabs from the south was probably a significant factor in the growth of the Christian principalities and kingdoms of northern Iberia.\n\nFor most of the 9th and 10th centuries, Iberian Christian culture in the north was stimulated, probably dominated, by the learning of Mozarab immigrants, who helped to accentuate its Christian identity and apparently played a major role in development of Iberian Christian ideology. The Mozarab scholars and clergy eagerly sought manuscripts, relics and traditions from the towns and monasteries of central and southern Iberia that had been the heartland of Visigothic Catholicism. Many Mozarabs also took part in the many regional revolts that formed the great fitna or unrest in the late 9th century.\n\n \n\nThe ability of the Mozarabs to assimilate into Moorish culture while maintaining their Christian faith has often caused them to be depicted by Western scholars as having a strong allegiance to Roman Catholicism and its cause. However, the historian Jaume Vicens Vives offers another view of the Mozarabs. He states that one of the Emperor Charlemagne's major offensives was to annihilate the Moorish frontier by taking Zaragoza, which was an important Mozarab stronghold. However, the offensive failed because the Mozarabs of the city refused to cooperate with the Catholic emperor. Vives concludes that the Mozarabs were primarily a self-absorbed group. They understood that they could gain a great deal by remaining in close contact with the Moors.\n\nThere was a steady rate of decline among the Mozarab population of Al-Andalus towards the end of the Reconquista. This was mainly caused by conversions, emigration towards the northern part of the peninsula during the upheavals of the 9th and early 10th centuries and also by the ethno-religious conflicts of the same period.\n\nThe American historian, Richard Bulliet, in a work based on the quantitative use of the onomastic data as furnished by scholarly biographical dictionaries, concluded that it was only in the 10th century when the Andalusi emirate was firmly established and developed into the greatest power of the western Mediterranean under Caliph Abd ar-Rahman III, that the numerical ratio of Muslims and Christians in Al-Andalus was reversed in favour of the former. Prior to the middle of this century, he asserts, the population of Al-Andalus was still half Christian.\n\nThe expansion of the Caliphate had come primarily through conversion and absorption, and only very secondarily through immigration. The remaining Mozarab community shrank into an increasingly fossilized remnant.\n\nRelatively large numbers of Mozarab communities did, however, continue to exist up to the end of the taifa kingdoms; there were several parishes in Toledo when the Christians occupied the city in 1085, and abundant documentation in Arabic on the Mozarabs of this city is preserved. An apparently still significant Mozarab group, which is the subject of a number of passages in the Arabic chronicles dealing with El Cid's dominion over Valencia, was also to be found there during this same period. Similarly, the memoirs of the Emir of Granada clearly indicate the existence of a relatively large rural Christian population in some parts of the Málaga region towards the end of the 11th century. Until the reconquest of Seville by the Christians in 1248, a Mozarab community existed there, though in the course of the 12th century Almoravid persecution had forced many Mozarabs in Al-Andalus to flee northward.\n\nRestrictions\n\nChristians did not enjoy equal rights under Islamic rule, and their original guarantees, at first fairly broad, steadily diminished. They were still allowed to practice their own religion in private, but found their cultural autonomy increasingly reduced. Mozarabs inevitably lost more and more status, but they long maintained their dignity and the integrity of their culture, and they never lost personal and cultural contact with the Christian world.\n\nIn the generations that followed the conquest, Muslim rulers promulgated new statutes clearly disadvantageous to dhimmi. The construction of new churches and the sounding of church bells were eventually forbidden. But when Eulogius of Córdoba recorded the martyrology of the Martyrs of Córdoba during the decade after 850, it was apparent that at least four Christian basilicas remained in the city, including the church of Saint Acisclus that had sheltered the only holdouts in 711, and nine monasteries and convents in the city and its environs; nevertheless, their existence soon became precarious.\n\nIt is supposed that the Mozarabs were tolerated as Dhimmis and valued taxpayers, and no Mozarab was condemned to death until the formation of the party led by the Christian leaders Eulogius (beheaded in 859) and Alvaro of Córdoba, whose intense faith led them to seek martyrdom by insulting Muhammad, and criticizing Islam. The Arabization of the Christians was opposed by Eulogius himself, who called for a more purely Christian culture stripped of Moorish influences. To this end, he led a revolt of the Mozarabs at Córdoba in which Christians martyred themselves to protest against Muslim rule. \n\nHowever, Kenneth Baxter Wolf concludes that Eulogius was not the instigator of these persecutions but merely a hagiographer. This is consistent with other historical records of two Christians executed in 860, and shortly after a third one. The subsequent executions were in 888–912 and 913–920. Still more executions were recorded in Córdoba in 923 (Eugenia), a boy Pelagius in 925 (for refusal to convert to Islam and submit to Caliph's sexual advances), and Argentea in 931. According to Wolf, there is no reason to believe that they stopped even then.\n\nEulogius's writings documenting stories of the Córdoba martyrs of 851–59, encouraged by him to defy Muslim authorities with blasphemies and embrace martyrdom, contrast these Christians with the earlier official Christianity of the Visigoths, by Reccared, the previous bishop of Córdoba, who counseled tolerance and mutual forbearance with the Muslim authorities. However, since then Christians became increasingly alienated not only because they could not build new churches or ring church bells, but primarily because they were excluded from most positions of political, military, or social authority and suffered many other indignities as unequals under the Islamic law. By the mid-9th century, as the episode of the Córdoba martyrs reveals, there was a clear Christian opposition against the systematic pressure by a variety of legal and financial instruments of Islam, resisting their conversion and absorption into Muslim culture.\n\nThe initial official reaction to the Córdoba martyrs was to round up and imprison the leaders of the Christian community. Towards the end of the decade of the martyrs, Eulogius's martyrology begins to record the closing of Christian monasteries and convents, which to Muslim eyes had proved to be a hotbed of disruptive fanaticism rather than a legitimate response against a slow but systematic elimination of Christianity.\n\nAs previously with the Muslims, so as the Reconquista advanced, the Mozarabs integrated into the Christian kingdoms, where the kings privileged those who settled the frontier lands. They also migrated north to the Frankish kingdom in times of persecution.\n\nSignificantly large numbers of Mozarabs settled in the Ebro valley. King Alfonso VI of Castile induced Mozarab settlers by promising them lands and rewards. His importation of Mozarab settlers from Al-Andalus was very unusual because of its startling nature. According to the Anglo-Norman historian, Orderic Vitalis, some 10,000 Mozarabs were sent by Alfonso for settlement on the Ebro. Mozarabs were scarce in Tudela or Zaragossa, but were more common in a place such as Calahorra, conquered by the Kingdom of Navarre in 1045.\n\nLanguage\n\nDuring the early stages of Romance language development in Iberia, a set of closely related Romance dialects was spoken in Muslim areas of the Peninsula by the general population. These closely related historic dialects are today known as the Mozarabic language, though there never was a common standard.\n\nThis archaic Romance language is first documented in writing in the Peninsula in the form of choruses (kharjas) in Arabic and Hebrew lyrics called muwashshahs. As they were written in Arabic and Hebrew alphabets the vowels have had to be reconstructed.\n\nMozarab had a significant impact in the formation of Portuguese, Spanish and Catalan, transmitting to these many words of Andalusi Arabic origin. The northward migration of Mozarabs explains the presence of Arabic toponyms in places where the Muslim presence did not last long.\n\nThe cultural language of Mozarabs continued to be Latin, but as time passed, young Mozarabs studied and even excelled at Arabic. The implantation of Arabic as the vernacular by the Moorish conquerors led the Christian polemicist Petrus Alvarus of Córdoba to famously lament the decline of spoken Latin among the local Christians.\n\nThe use of Arabic cognomens by the Mozarab communities of Al-Andalus is emblematic of the adoption by the Christians of the outward manifestations of Arab-language Islamic culture. The Mozarabs employed Arabic-style names such as Zaheid ibn Zafar, Pesencano ibn Azafar, Ibn Gafif, Ibn Gharsiya (Garcia), Ibn Mardanish (Martinez), Ibn Faranda (Fernandez), in purely Christian contexts. This demonstrates that they had acculturated thoroughly and that their Arabic names were not mere aliases adopted to facilitate their movement within Muslim society. Conversely, some Christian names such as Lope and Fortun entered the local Arabic lexicon (Lubb and Fortun), and others were adopted in translated form (such as Sa'ad for Felix). In the witness lists, Mozarabs identified themselves with undeniably Arabic names such as al-Aziz, and Ibn Uthman. Several Mozarabs also used the name Al-Quti (The Goth), and some may have been actual descendants from the family of the Pre-Islamic Visigothic Christian king, Wittiza.\n\nCulture and religion\n\nThere are but few remains of Christian scholarly discourse in Muslim Iberia. What remains in Arabic are translations of the Gospels and the Psalms, anti-Islamic tracts and a translation of a church history. To this should be added literary remains in Latin which remained the language of the liturgy.\n\nThere is evidence of a limited cultural borrowing from the Mozarabs by the Muslim community in Al-Andalus. For instance, the Muslims' adoption of the Christian solar calendar and holidays was an exclusively Andalusi phenomenon. In Al-Andalus, the Islamic lunar calendar was supplemented by the local solar calendar, which were more useful for agricultural and navigational purposes. Like the local Mozarabs, the Muslims of Al-Andalus were notoriously heavy drinkers. Muslims also celebrated traditional Christian holidays sometimes with the sponsorship of their leaders, despite the fact that such fraternisation was generally opposed by the Ulema. The Muslims also hedged their metaphysical bets through the use of Roman Catholic sacraments. \n\nIn the earliest period of Muslim domination of Iberia, there is evidence of extensive interaction between the two communities attested to by shared cemeteries and churches, bilingual coinage, and the continuity of late Roman pottery types. Furthermore, in the peninsula the conquerors did not settle in the amsar, the self-contained and deliberately isolated city camps set up alongside existing settlements elsewhere in the Muslim world with the intention of protecting Muslim settlers from corrupting indigenous influences.\n\nThe Arab and mostly Berber immigrants who settled in the existing towns were drawn into broad contact with natives. Their immigration, though limited in numbers, introduced new agricultural and hydraulic technologies, new craft industries, and Levantine techniques of shipbuilding. They were accompanied by an Arabic-language culture that brought with it the higher learning and science of the classical and post-classical Levantine world. The Emir of Córdoba, Abd ar-Rahman I's policy of allowing the ethnic Arab politico-military elite to practise agriculture further encouraged economic and cultural contact and cohesion. Moreover, the interaction of foreign and native elements, fostered by intermarriage and contact in day-to-day commercial and social life rapidly stimulated acculturation between the two groups.\n\nThe heterodox features of Mozarabic culture inevitably became more prominent. However, Christian women often married Muslim men and their children were raised as Muslims. Even within Mozarab families, legal divorce eventually came to be practised along Islamic lines. Ordination of the clergy ultimately drifted far from canonical norms, breaking apostolic succession, and various Muslim sources claim that concubinage and fornication among the clergy was extremely widespread. \n\nSome Christian authorities (Álvaro and Eulogius of Córdoba) were scandalized at the treatment of Christians, and began encouraging the public declarations of the faith as a way to reinforce the faith of the Christian community and protest the Islamic laws that Christians saw as unjust. Eulogius composed tractates and martyrologies for Christians during this time.\n\nThe forty-eight Christians (mostly monks) known as the Martyrs of Córdoba were martyred between the years 850 and 859, being decapitated for publicly proclaiming their Christian beliefs. Dhimmis (non Muslims living under Muslim rule) were not allowed to speak of their faith to Muslims under penalty of death.\n\nWolf points out that it is important to distinguish between the motivations of the individual martyrs, and those of Eulogius and Alvarus in writing the Memoriale. Jessica A. Coope says that while it would be wrong to ascribe a single motive to all forty-eight, she suggests that it reflects a protest against the process of assimilation. They demonstrated a determination to assert Christian identity.<ref name=Coope>Coope, Jessica A., The Martyrs of Córdoba: Community and Family Conflict in an Age of Mass Conversion\", p. 14, University of Nebraska Press, 1995] </ref>\n\nThe Mozarab population was badly affected by the hardening of relations between the Christians and the Muslims during the Almoravid period. In 1099, the people of Granada, by order of the Almoravid Emir, Yusuf ibn Tashfin, acting on the advice of his Ulema, destroyed the main Mozarab church of the Christian community. \n\nThe Mozarabs remained apart from the influence of French Catholic religious orders, such as the Cistercians – highly influential in northern Christian Iberia, and conserved in their masses the Visigothic rite, also known as the Mozarabic rite. The Christian kingdoms of the north, though, changed to the Latin Rite and appointed northerners as bishops for the reconquered sees. Nowadays, the Mozarabic rite is allowed by a papal privilege at the Mozarab Chapel of the Cathedral of Toledo, where it is held daily. Poor Clare Nuns church in Madrid, La Inmaculada y San Pascual, also holds weekly Mozarabic masses. A Mozarab brotherhood is still active in Toledo. Since Toledo was the most deeply rooted centre where they remained firm, the Gothic rite was identified and came to be known as the \"Toledan rite\". \n\nIn 1080, Pope Gregory VII called the council of Burgos, where it was agreed to unify the Latin rite in all Christian lands. In 1085, Toledo was reconquered and there was a subsequent attempt to reintroduce the ecumenical standards of Rome. The reaction of the Toledan people was such that the king refused to implement it, and in 1101 enacted the \"Fuero (Code of laws) of the Mozarabs\", which awarded them privileges. He specified that it applied only to the Castilians, Mozarabs, and Franks of the city. \n\nDuring both his first marriage to Agnes of Aquitaine and his second marriage to Constance of Burgundy, both of whom were devout Roman Catholics, king Alfonso VI of Castile was under constant pressure to eradicate the Mozarab rite. A popular legend states that Alfonso VI submitted the Mozarab liturgy and its Roman counterpart to ordeal by fire, putting the fix in for the Catholic rite. Hence, the Mozarab liturgy was abolished in 1086. \n\nIn 1126, a great number of Mozarabs were expelled to North Africa by the Almoravids. Other Mozarabs fled to Northern Iberia. This constituted the end of the Mozarabic culture in Al-Andalus. For a while, both in North Africa and in Northern Iberia, the Mozarabs managed to maintain their own separate cultural identity. However, in North Africa, they were eventually Islamized.\n\nOver the course of the 12th and 13th centuries, there unrolled a steady process of the impoverishment of Mozarab cultivators, as more and more land came under control of magnates and ecclesiastical corporations. The latter, under the influence of the Benedictine bishop of Cluny Bernard, and the Archbishop of Toledo Rodrigo Jiménez de Rada, who was himself the principal buyer of Mozarab property in the early 13th century fomented a segregationalist policy under the cloak of religious nationalism. Jiménez de Rada's bias is symbolized in his coining of the semi-erudite etymology of the word Mozarab from Mixti Arabi, connoting the contamination of this group by overexposure to infidel customs, if not by migration. \n\nAt Toledo, king Alfonso VI of Castile did not recognize the Mozarabs as a separate legal community, and thus accentuated a steady decline which led to the complete absorption of the Mozarabs by the general community by the end of the 15th century. As a result, the Mozarabic culture had been practically lost. Cardinal Cisneros, aware of the Mozarabic liturgy historical value and liturgical richness, undertook the task of guaranteeing its continuation, and to this end gathered all the codices and texts to be found in the city. After they had been carefully studied by specialists, they were classified and in 1502 the Missal and Breviary were printed. They revitalised the faith and a Chapel was instituted at the Cathedral, with its own priests which still exists today. \n\nThe Mozarab Missal of Silos is the oldest Western manuscript on paper, written in the 11th century. The Mozarab community in Toledo continues to thrive to this day. It is made of 1,300 families whose genealogies can be traced back to the ancient Mozarabs.\n\n Debates on the preponderance of Mozarabs in Al-Andalus \n\nThere is a long-running debate about how much of the population of Al-Andalus was Mozarabs. Some maintain that the Mozarabs were part of a historical continuum of Latinised Christians that represented the majority of the population of Al-Andalus, while others argue that the Christian population was relatively small in the areas under Muslim rule. The former camp bases their position on the work of Francisco Javier Simonet, whose works Glosario de voces ibéricas y latinas usadas entre los mozárabes (1888) and Historia de los mozárabes de España supported the idea that the indigenous Christian community of Al-Andalus formed the majority of the population. Other historians argue that the work of Simonet and those who preceded him in studying this question did not use sources properly, and that there is no historical evidence that can be used to make a definitive pronouncement on the ethnic composition of Al-Andalus society.\n\nSee also\n\nMozarabic art and architecture\nMusta'arabi Jews\nMuwallad\n\nReferences\n\nFurther reading\nBurman, Thomas E. Religious polemic and the intellectual history of the Mozarabs, c. 1050–1200, Leiden, 1994.\nChalmeta, P. \"The Mozarabs\", in Encyclopedia of Islam, 2nd edition, Leiden.\nChristys, Ann. Christians in Al-Andalus, 711–1000, Richmond 2001.\n Gil, Juan (ed.). Corpus scriptorum Muzarabicorum, Madrid, 1973.\nGoussen, Heinrich. Die christliche-arabische Literatur der Mozaraber, 1909.\nde Epalza, Mikel. \"Mozarabs: an emblematic Christian minority in Islamic al-Andalus\", in Jayyusi (ed.) The legacy of Muslim Spain (1994), 148–170.\n Kassis, Hanna. \"Arabic-speaking Christians in al-Andalus in an age of turmoil (fifth/eleventh century until A.H. 478/A.D. 1085)\", in Al-Qantarah, vol. 15/1994, 401–450.\nMiller, H D; Kassis, Hanna. \"The Mozarabs\", in Menocal, Scheindlin & Sells (eds.) The literature of al-Andalus, Cambridge (2000), 418–434.\n Francisco Xavier Simonet, Historia de los mozárabes de España deducida de sus mejores y más auténticos testimonios de los escritores cristianos y árabes Madrid: Establecimiento Tipográfico de la Viuda e Hijos de M. Tello, 1897-1903, edición facsímil, Valladolid: Maxtor, 2005, LVIII + 976 Págs. En dos tomos. ; fue reimpresa en Ámsterdam: Oriental Press, 1967, y luego en cuatro volúmenes por Madrid, Turner, 1983, véase a continuación.\n Francisco Xavier Simonet,Historia de los mozárabes de España, 1: Los virreyes (años 711 a 756) Madrid, Ediciones Turner, 1983; Historia de los mozárabes de España, 2: De Abderramán I a Mohamed I (años 756 a 870) Madrid Ediciones Turner, 1983; Historia de los mozárabes de España, 3: Hasta la conquista de Toledo por Alfonso VI (años 870 a 1085) Madrid Ediciones Turner, 1983; Historia de los mozárabes de España, 4: Los últimos tiempos (años 1085 a 1492). Madrid Ediciones Turner, 1983.\nTorrejón, Leopoldo Peñarroja. Cristianos bajo el islam: los mozárabes hasta la reconquista de Valencia, Madrid, Credos, 1993.\nOmaar, Rageh. [https://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/documentaries/features/islamic-history-europe.shtml An Islamic History of Europe''. video documentary, BBC Four: August 2005.\n\n \nRomance peoples\nHistory of Al-Andalus\nChristianity in Al-Andalus\nHistory of Christianity in Spain\nHistory of Catholicism in Portugal",
"The word Musta'arabim (from ) may refer to:\n\nthe Musta'arabi Jews, the Jews of the Arab world who were culturally and linguistically Arabized.\nthe Mozarabs, Christian Spaniards in Arab Muslim ruled Spain who were culturally and linguistically Arabized."
]
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[
"Isidore of Seville",
"Veneration",
"Was Isidore Venerated?",
"His tomb represented an important place of veneration for the Mozarabs during the centuries after the Arab conquest of Visigothic Hispania.",
"Who were the Mozarabs?",
"I don't know."
]
| C_abb11947d0be4f0abd17685d04bd7377_0 | In what forms did his Veneration take place? | 3 | In what forms did Isidore of Seville's Veneration take place? | Isidore of Seville | Isidore was one of the last of the ancient Christian philosophers; he was the last of the great Latin Church Fathers and was contemporary with Maximus the Confessor. Some consider him to be the most learned man of his age, and he exercised a far-reaching and immeasurable influence on the educational life of the Middle Ages. His contemporary and friend, Braulio of Zaragoza, regarded him as a man raised up by God to save the Iberian peoples from the tidal wave of barbarism that threatened to inundate the ancient civilization of Hispania. The Eighth Council of Toledo (653) recorded its admiration of his character in these glowing terms: "The extraordinary doctor, the latest ornament of the Catholic Church, the most learned man of the latter ages, always to be named with reverence, Isidore". This tribute was endorsed by the Fifteenth Council of Toledo, held in 688. Isidore was interred in Seville. His tomb represented an important place of veneration for the Mozarabs during the centuries after the Arab conquest of Visigothic Hispania. In the middle of the 11th century, with the division of Al Andalus into taifas and the strengthening of the Christian holdings in the Iberian peninsula, Ferdinand I of Leon found himself in a position to extract tribute from the fractured Arab states. In addition to money, Abbad II al-Mu'tadid, the Abbasid ruler of Seville (1042-1069), agreed to turn over St. Isidore's remains to Ferdinand I. A Catholic poet described al-Mutatid placing a brocaded cover over Isidore's sarcophagus, and remarked, "Now you are leaving here, revered Isidore. You know well how much your fame was mine!" Fernando had Isidore's remains reinterred in the then-recently constructed Basilica of San Isidoro in Leon. Isidore was canonised a saint by the Roman Catholic Church in 1598 by Pope Clement VIII and declared a Doctor of the Church in 1722 by Pope Innocent XIII. Many of his bones are buried in the cathedral of Murcia, Spain. CANNOTANSWER | found himself in a position to extract tribute from the fractured Arab states. | Isidore of Seville (; ; c. 560 – 4 April 636) was a Spanish scholar and cleric. For over three decades, he was Archbishop of Seville. He is widely regarded, in the words of 19th-century historian Montalembert, as "the last scholar of the ancient world".
At a time of disintegration of classical culture, aristocratic violence and widespread illiteracy, Isidore was involved in the conversion of the Arian Visigothic kings to Catholicism, both assisting his brother Leander of Seville and continuing after his brother's death. He was influential in the inner circle of Sisebut, Visigothic king of Hispania. Like Leander, he played a prominent role in the Councils of Toledo and Seville.
His fame after his death was based on his Etymologiae, an etymological encyclopedia that assembled extracts of many books from classical antiquity that would have otherwise been lost. He also invented the period (full stop), comma, and colon.
Life
Childhood and education
Isidore was born in Cartagena, Spain, a former Carthaginian colony, to Severianus and Theodora. Both Severianus and Theodora belonged to notable Hispano-Roman families of high social rank. His parents were members of an influential family who were instrumental in the political-religious manoeuvring that converted the Visigothic kings from Arianism to Catholicism. The Catholic Church celebrates him and all his siblings as known saints:
An elder brother, Leander of Seville, immediately preceded Isidore as Archbishop of Seville and, while in office, opposed King Liuvigild.
A younger brother, Fulgentius of Cartagena, served as the Bishop of Astigi at the start of the new reign of the Catholic King Reccared.
His sister, Florentina of Cartagena, was a nun who allegedly ruled over forty convents and one thousand consecrated religious. This claim seems unlikely, however, given the few functioning monastic institutions in Spania during her lifetime.
Isidore received his elementary education in the Cathedral school of Seville. In this institution, the first of its kind in Spania, a body of learned men including Archbishop Leander of Seville taught the trivium and quadrivium, the classic liberal arts. Isidore applied himself to study diligently enough that he quickly mastered classical Latin, and acquired some Greek and Hebrew.
Two centuries of Gothic control of Iberia incrementally suppressed the ancient institutions, classical learning, and manners of the Roman Empire. The associated culture entered a period of long-term decline. The ruling Visigoths nevertheless showed some respect for the outward trappings of Roman culture. Arianism meanwhile took deep root among the Visigoths as the form of Christianity that they received.
Scholars may debate whether Isidore ever personally embraced monastic life or affiliated with any religious order, but he undoubtedly esteemed the monks highly.
Bishop of Seville
After the death of Leander of Seville on 13 March 600 or 601, Isidore succeeded to the See of Seville. On his elevation to the episcopate, he immediately constituted himself as the protector of monks.
Recognizing that the spiritual and material welfare of the people of his see depended on the assimilation of remnant Roman and ruling barbarian cultures, Isidore attempted to weld the peoples and subcultures of the Visigothic kingdom into a united nation. He used all available religious resources toward this end and succeeded. Isidore practically eradicated the heresy of Arianism and completely stifled the new heresy of Acephali at its outset. Archbishop Isidore strengthened religious discipline throughout his see.
Archbishop Isidore also used resources of education to counteract increasingly influential Gothic barbarism throughout his episcopal jurisdiction. His quickening spirit animated the educational movement centered on Seville. Isidore introduced his countrymen to Aristotle long before the Arabs studied Greek philosophy extensively.
In 619, Isidore of Seville pronounced anathema against any ecclesiastic who in any way should molest the monasteries.
Second Synod of Seville (November 619)
Isidore presided over the Second Council of Seville, begun on 13 November 619 in the reign of King Sisebut, a provincial council attended by eight other bishops, all from the ecclesiastical province of Baetica in southern Spain. The Acts of the Council fully set forth the nature of Christ, countering the conceptions of Gregory, a Syrian representing the heretical Acephali.
Third Synod of Seville (624)
Based on a few surviving canons found in the Pseudo-Isidorian Decretals, Isidore is known to have presided over an additional provincial council around 624.
The council dealt with a conflict over the See of Écija and wrongfully stripped bishop Martianus of his see, a situation that was rectified by the Fourth Council of Toledo. It also addressed a concern over Jews who had been forced to convert to Christianity,.
The records of the council, unlike the First and Second Councils of Seville, were not preserved in the Hispana, a collection of canons and decretals likely edited by Isidore himself.
Fourth National Council of Toledo
All bishops of Hispania attended the Fourth National Council of Toledo, begun on 5 December 633. The aged Archbishop Isidore presided over its deliberations and originated most enactments of the council.
Through Isidore's influence, this Council of Toledo promulgated a decree commanding all bishops to establish seminaries in their cathedral cities along the lines of the cathedral school at Seville, which had educated Isidore decades earlier. The decree prescribed the study of Greek, Hebrew, and the liberal arts and encouraged interest in law and medicine. The authority of the council made this education policy obligatory upon all bishops of the Kingdom of the Visigoths. The council granted remarkable position and deference to the king of the Visigoths. The independent Church bound itself in allegiance to the acknowledged king; it said nothing of allegiance to the Bishop of Rome.
Death
Isidore of Seville died on 4 April 636 after serving more than 32 years as archbishop of Seville.
Work
Isidore's Latin style in the Etymologiae and elsewhere, though simple and lucid, reveals increasing local Visigothic traditions.
Etymologiae
Isidore was the first Christian writer to try to compile a summa of universal knowledge, in his most important work, the Etymologiae (taking its title from the method he uncritically used in the transcription of his era's knowledge). It is also known by classicists as the Origines (the standard abbreviation being Orig.). This encyclopedia—the first such Christian epitome—formed a huge compilation of 448 chapters in 20 volumes.
In it, Isidore entered his own terse digest of Roman handbooks, miscellanies and compendia, he continued the trend towards abridgements and summaries that had characterised Roman learning in Late Antiquity. In the process, many fragments of classical learning are preserved that otherwise would have been hopelessly lost; "in fact, in the majority of his works, including the Origines, he contributes little more than the mortar which connects excerpts from other authors, as if he was aware of his deficiencies and had more confidence in the stilus maiorum than his own," his translator Katherine Nell MacFarlane remarks.
Some of these fragments were lost in the first place because Isidore's work was so highly regarded—Braulio called it quaecunque fere sciri debentur, "practically everything that it is necessary to know"—that it superseded the use of many individual works of the classics themselves, which were not recopied and have therefore been lost: "all secular knowledge that was of use to the Christian scholar had been winnowed out and contained in one handy volume; the scholar need search no further".
The fame of this work imparted a new impetus to encyclopedic writing, which bore abundant fruit in the subsequent centuries of the Middle Ages. It was the most popular compendium in medieval libraries. It was printed in at least ten editions between 1470 and 1530, showing Isidore's continued popularity in the Renaissance. Until the 12th century brought translations from Arabic sources, Isidore transmitted what western Europeans remembered of the works of Aristotle and other Greeks, although he understood only a limited amount of Greek. The Etymologiae was much copied, particularly into medieval bestiaries.
On the Catholic faith against the Jews
Isidore's De fide catholica contra Iudaeos furthers Augustine of Hippo's ideas on the Jewish presence in Christian society. Like Augustine, Isidore accepted the necessity of the Jewish presence because of their expected role in the anticipated Second Coming of Christ. In De fide catholica contra Iudaeos, Isidore exceeds the anti-rabbinic polemics of earlier theologians by criticizing Jewish practice as deliberately disingenuous.
He contributed two decisions to the Fourth Council of Toledo: Canon 60 calling for the forced removal of children from parents practising Crypto-Judaism and their education by Christians, and Canon 65 forbidding Jews and Christians of Jewish origin from holding public office.
Other works
Isidore's authored more than a dozen major works on various topics including mathematics, holy scripture, and monastic life, all in Latin:
Historia de regibus Gothorum, Vandalorum et Suevorum, a history of the Gothic, Vandal and Suebi kings. The longer edition, issued in 624, includes the Laus Spaniae and the Laus Gothorum.
Chronica Majora, a universal history
De differentiis verborum, a brief theological treatise on the doctrine of the Trinity, the nature of Christ, of Paradise, angels, and men
De natura rerum (On the Nature of Things), a book of astronomy and natural history dedicated to the Visigothic king Sisebut
Questions on the Old Testament
a mystical treatise on the allegorical meanings of numbers
a number of brief letters
Sententiae libri tres Codex Sang. 228; 9th century
De viris illustribus
De ecclesiasticis officiis
De summo bono
De ortu et obitu patrum
Veneration
Isidore was one of the last of the ancient Christian philosophers and was contemporary with Maximus the Confessor. He has been called the most learned man of his age by some scholars, and he exercised a far-reaching and immeasurable influence on the educational life of the Middle Ages. His contemporary and friend, Braulio of Zaragoza, regarded him as a man raised up by God to save the Iberian peoples from the tidal wave of barbarism that threatened to inundate the ancient civilization of Hispania.
The Eighth Council of Toledo (653) recorded its admiration of his character in these glowing terms: "The extraordinary doctor, the latest ornament of the Catholic Church, the most learned man of the latter ages, always to be named with reverence, Isidore". This tribute was endorsed by the Fifteenth Council of Toledo, held in 688, and later in 1598 by Pope Clement VIII. Isidore was declared a Doctor of the Church in 1722 by Pope Innocent XIII.
Isidore was interred in Seville. His tomb represented an important place of veneration for the Mozarabs during the centuries after the Arab conquest of Visigothic Hispania. In the middle of the 11th century, with the division of Al Andalus into taifas and the strengthening of the Christian holdings in the Iberian peninsula, Ferdinand I of León and Castile found himself in a position to extract tribute from the fractured Arab states. In addition to money, Abbad II al-Mu'tadid, the Abbadid ruler of Seville (1042–1069), agreed to turn over St. Isidore's remains to Ferdinand I. A Catholic poet described al-Mutatid placing a brocaded cover over Isidore's sarcophagus, and remarked, "Now you are leaving here, revered Isidore. You know well how much your fame was mine!" Ferdinand had Isidore's remains reinterred in the then-recently constructed Basilica of San Isidoro in León. Today, many of his bones are buried in the cathedral of Murcia, Spain.
Legacy
In Dante's Paradiso (X.130), Isidore is mentioned among theologians and Doctors of the Church alongside the Scot Richard of St. Victor and the Englishman Bede the Venerable.
The University of Dayton has named their implementation of the Sakai Project in honour of Saint Isidore.
His likeness, along with that of Leander of Sevile and Ferdinand III of Castile, is depicted on the crest badge of Sevilla FC.
The Order of St. Isidore of Seville is a chivalric order formed on 1 January 2000. An international organisation, the order aims to honour Saint Isidore as patron saint of the Internet, alongside promoting Christian chivalry online. (This honour is unofficial: the Holy See considered naming Isidore as patron saint of the Internet but has not done so.)
Honours
St. Isidore Island in Antarctica is named after the saint.
See also
Saint Isidore of Seville, patron saint archive
References
Sources
Primary sources
The Etymologiae (complete Latin text)
Barney, Stephen A., Lewis, W.J., Beach, J.A. and Berghof, Oliver (translators). The Etymologies of Isidore of Seville. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006. .
Ziolkowski, Vernon P., The De Fide Catholica contra Iudaeos of Saint Isidorus, Bishop, Book 1, Saint Louis University, PhD diss. (1982).
Castro Caridad, Eva and Peña Fernández, Francisco (translators). "Isidoro de Sevilla. Sobre la fe católica contra los judíos". Sevilla: Universidad de Sevilla, 2012. .
Throop, Priscilla, (translator). Isidore of Seville's Etymologies. Charlotte, VT: MedievalMS, 2005, 2 vols.
Throop, Priscilla, (translator). Isidore's Synonyms and Differences. (a translation of Synonyms or Lamentations of a Sinful Soul, Book of Differences I, and Book of Differences II) Charlotte, VT: MedievalMS, 2012 (EPub )
Online Galleries, History of Science Collections, University of Oklahoma Libraries High resolution images of works by Isidore of Seville in .jpg and .tiff format.
De natura rerum (Msc.Nat.1) (On the Nature of Things) digitized by the Staatsbibliothek Bamberg.
Lewis E 136 Carta pisana; Sententiae (Sentences) at OPenn
Lewis E 137 Sententiae (Sentences) at OPenn
MS 484/18 Quaestiones in josue, judicum, regum, machabeis at OPenn
Secondary sources
Henderson, John. The Medieval World of Isidore of Seville: Truth from Words. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007. .
Herren, Michael. "On the Earliest Irish Acquaintance with Isidore of Seville." Visigothic Spain: New Approaches. James, Edward (ed). Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1980. .
Englisch, Brigitte. "Die Artes liberales im frühen Mittelalter." Stuttgart, 1994.
Other material
The Order of Saint Isidore of Seville, st-isidore.org
Jones, Peter. "Patron saint of the internet", telegraph.co.uk, 27 August 2006 (Review of The Etymologies of Isidore of Seville, Cambridge University Press, 2006)
Shachtman, Noah. "Searchin' for the Surfer's Saint", wired.com, 25 January 2002
External links
560 births
636 deaths
Doctors of the Church
Church Fathers
6th-century Latin writers
7th-century Latin writers
Spanish encyclopedists
Etymologists
7th-century philosophers
7th-century Christian saints
7th-century archbishops
7th-century Christian theologians
7th-century people of the Visigothic Kingdom
Roman Catholic archbishops of Seville
Spanish philosophers
Medieval Spanish saints
Augustinian philosophers
Catholic philosophers
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"Veneration (; ), or veneration of saints, is the act of honoring a saint, a person who has been identified as having a high degree of sanctity or holiness. Angels are shown similar veneration in many religions. Etymologically, \"to venerate\" derives from the Latin verb, , meaning 'to regard with reverence and respect'. Veneration of saints is practiced, formally or informally, by adherents of some branches of all major religions, including Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism and Jainism.\n\nWithin Christianity, veneration is practiced by groups such as the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic, and Eastern Catholic Churches, all of which have varying types of canonization or glorification procedures. In the Catholic and Orthodox Churches, veneration is shown outwardly by respectfully bowing or making the sign of the cross before a saint's icon, relics, or statue, or by going on pilgrimage to sites associated with saints. In general, veneration is not practiced by Protestants.\n\nHinduism has a long tradition of veneration of saints, expressed toward various gurus and teachers of sanctity, both living and dead. Branches of Buddhism include formal liturgical worship of saints, with Mahayana Buddhism classifying degrees of sainthood.\n\nIn Islam, veneration of saints is practiced by many of the adherents of traditional Sunni Islam (Sunni Sufis, for example) and Shia Islam, and in many parts of places like Turkey, Egypt, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. Other sects, such as Wahhabists etc., abhor the practice.\n\nIn Judaism, there is no classical or formal recognition of saints, but there is a long history of reverence shown toward biblical heroes and martyrs. Jews in some regions, for example in Morocco, have a long and widespread tradition of saint veneration.\n\nBuddhism\nBoth main branches of Buddhism, Theravada and Mahayana, recognize those who have achieved a high degree of enlightenment as an Arhat. Mahayana Buddhism particularly gives emphasis to the power of saints to aid ordinary people on the path to enlightenment. Those who have reached enlightenment, and have delayed their own complete enlightenment in order to help others, are called Bodhisattvas. Mahayana Buddhism has formal liturgical practices for venerating saints, along with very specific levels of sainthood. Tibetan Buddhists venerate especially holy lamas, such as the Dalai Lama, as saints.\n\nChristianity\nVeneration towards those who were considered holy began in early Christianity, with the martyrs first being given special honor. Official church commemoration of saints in Rome beginning as early as the third century. Over time, the honor also began to be given to those Christians who lived lives of holiness and sanctity. Various denominations venerate and determine saints in different ways, with some having a formal canonization or glorification process. It is also the first step to becoming a saint.\n\nChurch theologians have long adopted the terms latria for the type of worship due to God alone, and dulia and proskynesis for the veneration given to angels, saints, relics and icons.\n\nHyperdulia \nCatholic and Eastern Orthodox theologies also include the term hyperdulia for the type of veneration specifically paid to Mary, mother of Jesus, in Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions.\n\nCatholicism \n\nIn Catholic, veneration is a type of honor distinct from the true worship (veritable adoration), which is due to God alone. According to Mark Miravelle, of the Franciscan University of Steubenville, the English word \"worship\" has been associated with both veneration and adoration:\nAs St. Thomas Aquinas once explained, adoration, which is known as latria in classical theology, is the worship and homage that is rightly offered to God alone. It is the manifestation of submission, and acknowledgement of dependence, appropriately shown towards the excellence of an uncreated divine person and to his absolute Lordship. It is the worship of the Creator that God alone deserves. Although we see in English a broader usage of the word “adoration” which may not refer to a form of worship exclusive to God—for example, when a husband says that he “adores his wife”—in general it can be maintained that adoration is the best English denotation for the worship of latria.\n\nVeneration, known as dulia in classical theology, is the honor and reverence appropriately due to the excellence of a created person. Excellence exhibited by created beings likewise deserves recognition and honor. We see a general example of veneration in events like the awarding of academic awards for excellence in school, or the awarding of Olympic medals for excellence in sports. There is nothing contrary to the proper adoration of God when we offer the appropriate honor and recognition that created persons deserve based on achievement in excellence.\n\nWe must make a further clarification regarding the use of the term “worship” in relation to the categories of adoration and veneration. Historically, schools of theology have used the term “worship” as a general term which included both adoration and veneration. They would distinguish between “worship of adoration” and “worship of veneration.” The word “worship” (in a similar way to how the liturgical term “cult” is traditionally used) was not synonymous with adoration, but could be used to introduce either adoration or veneration. Hence Catholic sources will sometimes use the term “worship” not to indicate adoration, but only the worship of veneration given to Mary and the saints.\n\nAccording to the Catechism of the Catholic Church:\n\nNow, the Roman Catholic tradition has a well established philosophy for the veneration of the Virgin Mary via the field of Mariology with Pontifical schools such as the Marianum specifically devoted to this task.\n\nFor the doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church, in addition to the dogma of her Divine Motherhood, the Mother of God (aka \"Theotokos\") was the subject of three other different dogmas:\n Immaculate Conception (absence of the original sin, by grace of God) \n Perpetual virginity (before, during, and after the birth of Jesus, till her Assumption) \n Assumption (in body and soul to Heaven).\nThe special graces accorded by God to Mary motivated her title of Mediatrix of all graces to the humanity, her intercessory ability to Jesus Christ God about the believers' intentions of prayer.\n\nIn the Catholic Church there are many different forms of veneration of saints; such as the pilgrimage to a grave; such as those of Saint Peter (Vatican), Saint Anthony of Padua (Italy), Santiago de Compostela (Spain), or Holy Sepulchre (Israel/Palestine). It is also usual to make a pilgrimage to places associated with the life of a saint; the Cave of Santo Hermano Pedro (Spain), the Cave of the Apocalypse (Greece) or the Aya Tekla Church (Turkey). Veneration of images and relics; Lord of Miracles (Peru), the Virgin of Guadalupe and Saint Jude Thaddaeu (Mexico), Holy Dexter (Hungary), Reliquary of the Three Kings (Germany), etc.\n\nOriental Orthodoxy \nIn the Syriac Orthodox Church liturgical service, the Hail Mary is pronounced as a prefatory prayer after the Our Father, and before the priest's entrance to the chancel. The name of the Blessed Virgin Mary has also been probably used for the sanctification of altars, above the name of all other saints.\n\nProtestant\n\nIn Protestant churches, veneration is sometimes considered to amount to the heresy of idolatry, and the related practice of canonization amounts to the heresy of apotheosis. Protestant theology usually denies that any real distinction between veneration and worship can be made, and claims that the practice of veneration distracts the Christian soul from its true object, the worship of God. In his Institutes of the Christian Religion, John Calvin writes that \"(t)he distinction of what is called dulia and latria was invented for the very purpose of permitting divine honours to be paid to angels and dead men with apparent impunity\". Veneration is, therefore, considered a type of blasphemy by Luther and some Protestants. However, some Protestant streams, particularly Anglicanism, allow the veneration of saints in a manner similar to Catholicism.\n\nHinduism\nHinduism has a longstanding and living tradition of reverence toward sants (saints) and mahatmas (ascended masters), with the line often blurring between humanity and divinity in the cases of godmen and godwomen. The Bhakti movements popularised devotion to saintly figures such as , , and gurus as models showing the way to liberation.\n\nIslam \n\nIslam has had a rich history of veneration of saints (often called wali, which literally means \"Friend [of God]\"), which has declined in some parts of the Islamic world in the twentieth century due to the influence of the various streams of Salafism. In Sunni Islam, the veneration of saints became a very common form of religious celebration early on, and saints came to be defined in the eighth-century as a group of \"special people chosen by God and endowed with exceptional gifts, such as the ability to work miracles.\" The classical Sunni scholars came to recognize and honor these individuals as venerable people who were both \"loved by God and developed a close relationship of love to Him.\" \"Belief in the miracles of saints (karāmāt al-awliyāʾ) ... [became a] requirement in Sunni Islam [during the classical period],\" with even medieval critics of the ubiquitous practice of grave visitation like Ibn Taymiyyah emphatically declaring: \"The miracles of saints are absolutely true and correct, and acknowledged by all Muslim scholars. The Quran has pointed to it in different places, and the sayings of the Prophet have mentioned it, and whoever denies the miraculous power of saints are innovators or following innovators.\" The vast majority of saints venerated in the classical Sunni world were the Sufis, who were all Sunni mystics who belonged to one of the four orthodox legal schools of Sunni law.\n\nVeneration of saints eventually became one of the most widespread Sunni practices for more than a millennium, before it was opposed in the twentieth century by the Salafi movement, whose various streams regard it as \"being both un-Islamic and backwards ... rather than the integral part of Islam which they were for over a millennium.\" In a manner similar to the Protestant Reformation, the specific traditional practices which Salafism has tried to curtail in both Sunni and Shia contexts include those of the veneration of saints, visiting their graves, seeking their intercession, and honoring their relics. As Christopher Taylor has remarked: \"[Throughout Islamic history] a vital dimension of Islamic piety was the veneration of Muslim saints…. [due, however to] certain strains of thought within the Islamic tradition itself, particularly pronounced in the nineteenth and the twentieth centuries ... [some modern day] Muslims have either resisted acknowledging the existence of Muslim saints altogether or have viewed their presence and veneration as unacceptable deviations.\"\n\nJudaism\n\nWhile orthodox and organized Judaism do not countenance the veneration of saints per se, veneration and pilgrimage to burial sites of holy Jewish leaders is an ancient part of the tradition.\n\nToday it is common for some Jews to visit the graves of many righteous Jewish leaders. The tradition is particularly strong among Moroccan Jews, and Jews of Sephardi descent, although also by some Ashkenazi Jews as well. This is particularly true in Israel, where many holy Jewish leaders are buried. The Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron, Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem and that of Maimonides in Tiberius are examples of burial sites that attract large pilgrimages in Israel. In America, the only such example is the grave site of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, at the Ohel, in the cemetery in Queens where he is buried alongside his father-in-law. During his lifetime, Schneerson himself would frequently visit the gravesite (Ohel) of his father-in-law, where he would read letters and written prayers, and then place them on the grave. Today visitors to the grave of Schneerson include Jews of Orthodox, Reform and Conservative background, as well as non-Jews. Visitors typically recite prayers of psalms and bring with them petitions of prayers written on pieces of paper which are then torn and left on the grave.\n\nJainism\nIn Jainism, it recognizes the tirthankaras, which are beings who have achieved transcendence and liberation (moksha) and are, therefore, teachers who taught the Jain path. Away from the evolution of the cosmos and the cosmic event, they do not intervene in any way in it, they serve only as examples to follow. The latter is manifested in the offering ceremonies (Puya), which constitute more of a renunciation on the part of the believer than a surrender, since the tirthankaras are totally indifferent to the affairs of men and the Jains assume that they are indifferent to them.\n\nSee also\n Genuflection\n Hagiography\n Iconography\n Intercession of saints\n Mary, mother of Jesus\n Muhammad in Islam\n Patron saint\n Rachel's Tomb\n Relic\n Shrine\n Tzadik\n Veneration of the dead\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nON THE INVOCATION, VENERATION, AND RELICS, OF SAlNTS, AND ON SACRED IMAGES. Roman Catholic teaching from the Council of Trent (1545–63)\n\"Dulia\" from the Catholic Encyclopedia (1911)\n\nCatholic spirituality\nChristian terminology\nEastern Orthodox spirituality\nReligious practices\nSainthood",
"Worship is an act of religious devotion usually directed towards a deity. For many, worship is not about an emotion, it is more about a recognition of a God. An act of worship may be performed individually, in an informal or formal group, or by a designated leader. Such acts may involve honoring.\n\nEtymology\nThe word is derived from the Old English weorþscipe, meaning to venerate \"worship, honour shown to an object, which has been etymologised as \"worthiness or worth-ship\"—to give, at its simplest, worth to something.\n\nWorship in various religions\n\nBuddhism\n\nWorship in Buddhism may take innumerable forms given the doctrine of skillful means. Worship is evident in Buddhism in such forms as: guru yoga, mandala, thanka, yantra yoga, the discipline of the fighting monks of Shaolin, panchamrita, mantra recitation, tea ceremony, ganacakra, amongst others. Buddhist Devotion is an important part of the practice of most Buddhists. According to a spokesman of the Sasana Council of Burma, devotion to Buddhist spiritual practices inspires devotion to the Triple Gem. Most Buddhists use ritual in pursuit of their spiritual aspirations. In Buddhism, puja (Sanskrit & Pali: pūjā) are expressions of \"honour, worship and devotional attention.\" Acts of puja include bowing, making offerings and chanting. These devotional acts are generally performed daily at home (either in the morning or evening or both) as well as during communal festivals and Uposatha days at a temple.\n\nMeditation (samādhi) is a central form of worship in Buddhism. This practice is focused on the third step of the Eightfold Path that ultimately leads to self awakening, also known as enlightenment. Meditation promotes self-awareness and exploration of the mind and spirit. Traditionally, Buddhist meditation had combined samatha (the act of stopping and calming oneself) and vipasyana (seeing clearly within) to create a complete mind and body experience. By stopping one's everyday activities and focusing on something simple, the mind can open and expand enough to reach a spiritual level. By practicing the step of vipasyana, one does not achieve the final stage of awareness, but rather approaches one step closer. Mindful meditation teaches one to stop reacting quickly to thoughts and external objects that present themselves, but rather to peacefully hold the thought without immediately responding to it. Although in traditional Buddhist faith, enlightenment is the desired end goal of meditation, it is more of a cycle in a literal sense that helps individuals better understand their minds. For example, meditation leads to understanding, leading to kindness, leading to peace, etc.\n\nChristianity\n\nIn Christianity, a church service is a formalized period of communal worship, often but not exclusively occurring on Sunday (or on Saturday in the case of those churches practicing seventh-day Sabbatarianism). The church service is the gathering together of Christians to be taught the \"Word of God\" (the Holy Bible) and encouraged in their faith. Technically, the \"church\" in \"church service\" refers to the gathering of the faithful rather than to the building in which the event takes place. In Christianity, worship is reverent honor and homage paid to God. The New Testament uses various words to express the concept of worship. The word proskuneo - \"to worship\" - means to bow down (to Gods or to kings).\n\nMass is the central act of divine worship in the Catholic Church. The Congregation for Divine Worship at the Vatican publishes a Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy.<ref>'DIRECTORY ON POPULAR PIETY AND THE LITURGY: PRINCIPLES AND GUIDELINES]</ref> Roman Catholic devotions are \"external practices of piety\" which are not part of the official liturgy of the Catholic Church but are part of the popular spiritual practices of Catholics. They do not become part of liturgical worship, even if conducted in a Catholic church, in a group, in the presence of a priest.\n\nAnglican devotions are private prayers and practices used by Anglican Christians to promote spiritual growth and communion with God. Among members of the Anglican Communion, private devotional habits vary widely, depending on personal preference and on affiliation with low-church or high-church parishes.\n\nAdoration versus veneration\n\nThe New Testament uses various words translatable as \"worship\". The word proskuneo - \"to worship\" - means to bow down to Gods or kings.\n \nRoman Catholicism, Anglicanism, Oriental Orthodoxy, and Eastern Orthodoxy make a technical distinction between two different concepts:\n\n adoration or latria (Latin adoratio, Greek latreia, [λατρεία), which is due to God alone\n veneration or dulia (Latin veneratio, Greek douleia [δουλεία]), which may be lawfully offered to the saints\n\nThe external acts of veneration resemble those of worship, but differ in their object and intent. Protestant Christians, who reject the veneration of saints, question whether Catholics always maintain such a distinction in actual devotional practice, especially at the level of folk religion.\n\nAccording to Mark Miravalle the English word \"worship\" is equivocal, in that it has been used (in Catholic writing, at any rate) to denote both adoration/latria and veneration/dulia, and in some cases even as a synonym for veneration as distinct from adoration:\n\nAs St. Thomas Aquinas explains, adoration, which is known as latria in classical theology, is the worship and homage that is rightly offered to God alone. It is the manifestation of submission, and acknowledgement of dependence, appropriately shown towards the excellence of an uncreated divine person and to his absolute Lordship. It is the worship of the Creator that God alone deserves. Although we see in English a broader usage of the word \"adoration\" which may not refer to a form of worship exclusive to God—for example, when a husband says that he \"adores his wife\"—in general it can be maintained that adoration is the best English denotation for the worship of latria.\n\nVeneration, known as dulia in classical theology, is the honor and reverence appropriately due to the excellence of a created person. Excellence exhibited by created beings likewise deserves recognition and honor. We see a general example of veneration in events like the awarding of academic awards for excellence in school, or the awarding of olympic medals for excellence in sports. There is nothing contrary to the proper adoration of God when we offer the appropriate honor and recognition that created persons deserve based on achievement in excellence.\n\nWe must make a further clarification regarding the use of the term \"worship\" in relation to the categories of adoration and veneration. Historically, schools of theology have used the term \"worship\" as a general term which included both adoration and veneration. They would distinguish between \"worship of adoration\" and \"worship of veneration.\" The word \"worship\" (in a similar way to how the liturgical term \"cult\" is traditionally used) was not synonymous with adoration, but could be used to introduce either adoration or veneration. Hence Catholic sources will sometimes use the term \"worship\" not to indicate adoration, but only the worship of veneration given to Mary and the saints.\n\nOrthodox Judaism and orthodox Sunni Islam hold that for all practical purposes veneration should be considered the same as prayer; Orthodox Judaism (arguably with the exception of some Chasidic practices), orthodox Sunni Islam, and most kinds of Protestantism forbid veneration of saints or of angels, classifying these actions as akin to idolatry.\n\nSimilarly, Jehovah's Witnesses assert that many actions classified as patriotic by Protestant groups, such as saluting a flag, count as equivalent to worship and are therefore considered idolatrous as well.\n\nQuaker Meeting for WorshipQuakers (the Religious Society of Friends) have both unprogrammed and programmed Meetings for Worship. Unprogrammed worship is based on silence and inward listening to the Spirit, from which any participant may share a message. In unprogrammed meetings for worship, someone speaks when that person feels that God/Spirit/the universe has given them a message for others. Programmed worship includes many elements similar to Protestant services, such as a sermon and hymns. Many programmed meetings also include a time during the service for silent, expectant waiting and messages from the participants.\n\nHinduism\n\nWorship in Hinduism involves invoking higher forces to assist in spiritual and material progress and is simultaneously both a science and an art. A sense of bhakti or devotional love is generally invoked. This term is probably a central one in Hinduism. A direct translation from the Sanskrit to English is problematic. Worship takes a multitude of forms depending on community groups, geography and language. There is a flavour of loving and being in love with whatever object or focus of devotion. Worship is not confined to any place of worship, it also incorporates personal reflection, art forms and group. People usually perform worship to achieve some specific end or to integrate the body, the mind and the spirit in order to help the performer evolve into a higher being.\n\nIslam\n\nIn Islam, worship refers to ritualistic devotion as well as actions done in accordance to Islamic law which is ordained by and pleasing to God. Worship is included in the Five Pillars of Islam, primarily that of salat, which is the practice of ritual prayer five times daily.\n\nAccording to Muhammad Asad, on his notes in The Message of the Qur'an translation on Q51:56,\nThus, the innermost purpose of the creation of all rational beings is their cognition of the existence of Allah and, hence, their conscious willingness to conform their own existence to whatever they may perceive of His will and plan: and it is this twofold concept of cognition and willingness that gives the deepest meaning to what the Quran describes as \"worship\". As the next verse shows, this spiritual call does not arise from any supposed \"need\" on the part of the Creator, who is self-sufficient and infinite in His power, but is designed as an instrument for the inner development of the worshipper, who, by the act of his conscious self-surrender to the all-pervading Creative Will, may hope to come closer to an understanding of that Will and, thus closer to Allah Himself.\n\nIn the Muslim world, the word worship (in the literal context of worshipping) is forbidden to be used if it refers to an object or action and not exclusively to Allah.\n\nJudaism\n\nWorship of God in Judaism is called Avodat Hashem. During the period when the Temple stood, the rites conducted there were considered the most important act of Jewish worship. However, the most common form of worship was and remains that of prayer. Other forms of worship include the conduct of prescribed rituals, such as the Passover Seder and waving the Four Species, with proper intent, as well as various types of Jewish meditation.\n\nWorship through mundane activities\nJewish sources also express the notion that one can perform any appropriate mundane activity as the worship of God. Examples would include returning a lost article and working to support oneself and one's family.\n\nThe Code of Jewish Law (Orach Chayim, Chapter 231) cites Proverbs (3:6), \"in all your ways, know him\" (Hebrew: בכל דרכיך דעהו (b'chol d'rachecha dei'eihu'')), as a biblical source for this idea.\n\nSikhism\nIn Sikhism, worship takes place after the Guru Granth Sahib, which is the work of the 10 Sikh Gurus all in one. Sikhs worship God and only one God, known as \"One Creator\", \"The Wonderful Teacher\" (Waheguru), or \"Destroyer of Darkness\".\n\nWicca\nWiccan worship commonly takes place during a full moon or a new moon. Such rituals are called an Esbat and may involve a magic circle which practitioners believe will contain energy and form a sacred space, or will provide them a form of magical protection.\n\nZoroastrianism\nPrayer is one of the duties and worships of Mazdayasna, which is performed in order to always pay attention to the religious commandments and to give thanks to Ahura Mazda (God).\n\nModern worship\nIn modern society and sociology, some writers have commented on the ways that people no longer simply worship recognised deities, but also (or instead) worship consumer brands, sports teams, and other people (celebrities). Sociology therefore extends this argument to suggest outside of a religion worship is a process whereby society worships itself, as a form of self-valorization and self-preservation.\n\nTypes\n Ancestor worship\n Animal worship\n Idol worship\n Imperial cult\n Nature worship\n Pole worship\n\nSee also\n\n Intercession\n Major world religions\n Sacrifice - an offering of propitiation or of worship\n\nReferences"
]
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[
"Isidore of Seville",
"Veneration",
"Was Isidore Venerated?",
"His tomb represented an important place of veneration for the Mozarabs during the centuries after the Arab conquest of Visigothic Hispania.",
"Who were the Mozarabs?",
"I don't know.",
"In what forms did his Veneration take place?",
"found himself in a position to extract tribute from the fractured Arab states."
]
| C_abb11947d0be4f0abd17685d04bd7377_0 | What was the length of this Veneration? | 4 | What was the length of Isidore of Seville's Veneration? | Isidore of Seville | Isidore was one of the last of the ancient Christian philosophers; he was the last of the great Latin Church Fathers and was contemporary with Maximus the Confessor. Some consider him to be the most learned man of his age, and he exercised a far-reaching and immeasurable influence on the educational life of the Middle Ages. His contemporary and friend, Braulio of Zaragoza, regarded him as a man raised up by God to save the Iberian peoples from the tidal wave of barbarism that threatened to inundate the ancient civilization of Hispania. The Eighth Council of Toledo (653) recorded its admiration of his character in these glowing terms: "The extraordinary doctor, the latest ornament of the Catholic Church, the most learned man of the latter ages, always to be named with reverence, Isidore". This tribute was endorsed by the Fifteenth Council of Toledo, held in 688. Isidore was interred in Seville. His tomb represented an important place of veneration for the Mozarabs during the centuries after the Arab conquest of Visigothic Hispania. In the middle of the 11th century, with the division of Al Andalus into taifas and the strengthening of the Christian holdings in the Iberian peninsula, Ferdinand I of Leon found himself in a position to extract tribute from the fractured Arab states. In addition to money, Abbad II al-Mu'tadid, the Abbasid ruler of Seville (1042-1069), agreed to turn over St. Isidore's remains to Ferdinand I. A Catholic poet described al-Mutatid placing a brocaded cover over Isidore's sarcophagus, and remarked, "Now you are leaving here, revered Isidore. You know well how much your fame was mine!" Fernando had Isidore's remains reinterred in the then-recently constructed Basilica of San Isidoro in Leon. Isidore was canonised a saint by the Roman Catholic Church in 1598 by Pope Clement VIII and declared a Doctor of the Church in 1722 by Pope Innocent XIII. Many of his bones are buried in the cathedral of Murcia, Spain. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Isidore of Seville (; ; c. 560 – 4 April 636) was a Spanish scholar and cleric. For over three decades, he was Archbishop of Seville. He is widely regarded, in the words of 19th-century historian Montalembert, as "the last scholar of the ancient world".
At a time of disintegration of classical culture, aristocratic violence and widespread illiteracy, Isidore was involved in the conversion of the Arian Visigothic kings to Catholicism, both assisting his brother Leander of Seville and continuing after his brother's death. He was influential in the inner circle of Sisebut, Visigothic king of Hispania. Like Leander, he played a prominent role in the Councils of Toledo and Seville.
His fame after his death was based on his Etymologiae, an etymological encyclopedia that assembled extracts of many books from classical antiquity that would have otherwise been lost. He also invented the period (full stop), comma, and colon.
Life
Childhood and education
Isidore was born in Cartagena, Spain, a former Carthaginian colony, to Severianus and Theodora. Both Severianus and Theodora belonged to notable Hispano-Roman families of high social rank. His parents were members of an influential family who were instrumental in the political-religious manoeuvring that converted the Visigothic kings from Arianism to Catholicism. The Catholic Church celebrates him and all his siblings as known saints:
An elder brother, Leander of Seville, immediately preceded Isidore as Archbishop of Seville and, while in office, opposed King Liuvigild.
A younger brother, Fulgentius of Cartagena, served as the Bishop of Astigi at the start of the new reign of the Catholic King Reccared.
His sister, Florentina of Cartagena, was a nun who allegedly ruled over forty convents and one thousand consecrated religious. This claim seems unlikely, however, given the few functioning monastic institutions in Spania during her lifetime.
Isidore received his elementary education in the Cathedral school of Seville. In this institution, the first of its kind in Spania, a body of learned men including Archbishop Leander of Seville taught the trivium and quadrivium, the classic liberal arts. Isidore applied himself to study diligently enough that he quickly mastered classical Latin, and acquired some Greek and Hebrew.
Two centuries of Gothic control of Iberia incrementally suppressed the ancient institutions, classical learning, and manners of the Roman Empire. The associated culture entered a period of long-term decline. The ruling Visigoths nevertheless showed some respect for the outward trappings of Roman culture. Arianism meanwhile took deep root among the Visigoths as the form of Christianity that they received.
Scholars may debate whether Isidore ever personally embraced monastic life or affiliated with any religious order, but he undoubtedly esteemed the monks highly.
Bishop of Seville
After the death of Leander of Seville on 13 March 600 or 601, Isidore succeeded to the See of Seville. On his elevation to the episcopate, he immediately constituted himself as the protector of monks.
Recognizing that the spiritual and material welfare of the people of his see depended on the assimilation of remnant Roman and ruling barbarian cultures, Isidore attempted to weld the peoples and subcultures of the Visigothic kingdom into a united nation. He used all available religious resources toward this end and succeeded. Isidore practically eradicated the heresy of Arianism and completely stifled the new heresy of Acephali at its outset. Archbishop Isidore strengthened religious discipline throughout his see.
Archbishop Isidore also used resources of education to counteract increasingly influential Gothic barbarism throughout his episcopal jurisdiction. His quickening spirit animated the educational movement centered on Seville. Isidore introduced his countrymen to Aristotle long before the Arabs studied Greek philosophy extensively.
In 619, Isidore of Seville pronounced anathema against any ecclesiastic who in any way should molest the monasteries.
Second Synod of Seville (November 619)
Isidore presided over the Second Council of Seville, begun on 13 November 619 in the reign of King Sisebut, a provincial council attended by eight other bishops, all from the ecclesiastical province of Baetica in southern Spain. The Acts of the Council fully set forth the nature of Christ, countering the conceptions of Gregory, a Syrian representing the heretical Acephali.
Third Synod of Seville (624)
Based on a few surviving canons found in the Pseudo-Isidorian Decretals, Isidore is known to have presided over an additional provincial council around 624.
The council dealt with a conflict over the See of Écija and wrongfully stripped bishop Martianus of his see, a situation that was rectified by the Fourth Council of Toledo. It also addressed a concern over Jews who had been forced to convert to Christianity,.
The records of the council, unlike the First and Second Councils of Seville, were not preserved in the Hispana, a collection of canons and decretals likely edited by Isidore himself.
Fourth National Council of Toledo
All bishops of Hispania attended the Fourth National Council of Toledo, begun on 5 December 633. The aged Archbishop Isidore presided over its deliberations and originated most enactments of the council.
Through Isidore's influence, this Council of Toledo promulgated a decree commanding all bishops to establish seminaries in their cathedral cities along the lines of the cathedral school at Seville, which had educated Isidore decades earlier. The decree prescribed the study of Greek, Hebrew, and the liberal arts and encouraged interest in law and medicine. The authority of the council made this education policy obligatory upon all bishops of the Kingdom of the Visigoths. The council granted remarkable position and deference to the king of the Visigoths. The independent Church bound itself in allegiance to the acknowledged king; it said nothing of allegiance to the Bishop of Rome.
Death
Isidore of Seville died on 4 April 636 after serving more than 32 years as archbishop of Seville.
Work
Isidore's Latin style in the Etymologiae and elsewhere, though simple and lucid, reveals increasing local Visigothic traditions.
Etymologiae
Isidore was the first Christian writer to try to compile a summa of universal knowledge, in his most important work, the Etymologiae (taking its title from the method he uncritically used in the transcription of his era's knowledge). It is also known by classicists as the Origines (the standard abbreviation being Orig.). This encyclopedia—the first such Christian epitome—formed a huge compilation of 448 chapters in 20 volumes.
In it, Isidore entered his own terse digest of Roman handbooks, miscellanies and compendia, he continued the trend towards abridgements and summaries that had characterised Roman learning in Late Antiquity. In the process, many fragments of classical learning are preserved that otherwise would have been hopelessly lost; "in fact, in the majority of his works, including the Origines, he contributes little more than the mortar which connects excerpts from other authors, as if he was aware of his deficiencies and had more confidence in the stilus maiorum than his own," his translator Katherine Nell MacFarlane remarks.
Some of these fragments were lost in the first place because Isidore's work was so highly regarded—Braulio called it quaecunque fere sciri debentur, "practically everything that it is necessary to know"—that it superseded the use of many individual works of the classics themselves, which were not recopied and have therefore been lost: "all secular knowledge that was of use to the Christian scholar had been winnowed out and contained in one handy volume; the scholar need search no further".
The fame of this work imparted a new impetus to encyclopedic writing, which bore abundant fruit in the subsequent centuries of the Middle Ages. It was the most popular compendium in medieval libraries. It was printed in at least ten editions between 1470 and 1530, showing Isidore's continued popularity in the Renaissance. Until the 12th century brought translations from Arabic sources, Isidore transmitted what western Europeans remembered of the works of Aristotle and other Greeks, although he understood only a limited amount of Greek. The Etymologiae was much copied, particularly into medieval bestiaries.
On the Catholic faith against the Jews
Isidore's De fide catholica contra Iudaeos furthers Augustine of Hippo's ideas on the Jewish presence in Christian society. Like Augustine, Isidore accepted the necessity of the Jewish presence because of their expected role in the anticipated Second Coming of Christ. In De fide catholica contra Iudaeos, Isidore exceeds the anti-rabbinic polemics of earlier theologians by criticizing Jewish practice as deliberately disingenuous.
He contributed two decisions to the Fourth Council of Toledo: Canon 60 calling for the forced removal of children from parents practising Crypto-Judaism and their education by Christians, and Canon 65 forbidding Jews and Christians of Jewish origin from holding public office.
Other works
Isidore's authored more than a dozen major works on various topics including mathematics, holy scripture, and monastic life, all in Latin:
Historia de regibus Gothorum, Vandalorum et Suevorum, a history of the Gothic, Vandal and Suebi kings. The longer edition, issued in 624, includes the Laus Spaniae and the Laus Gothorum.
Chronica Majora, a universal history
De differentiis verborum, a brief theological treatise on the doctrine of the Trinity, the nature of Christ, of Paradise, angels, and men
De natura rerum (On the Nature of Things), a book of astronomy and natural history dedicated to the Visigothic king Sisebut
Questions on the Old Testament
a mystical treatise on the allegorical meanings of numbers
a number of brief letters
Sententiae libri tres Codex Sang. 228; 9th century
De viris illustribus
De ecclesiasticis officiis
De summo bono
De ortu et obitu patrum
Veneration
Isidore was one of the last of the ancient Christian philosophers and was contemporary with Maximus the Confessor. He has been called the most learned man of his age by some scholars, and he exercised a far-reaching and immeasurable influence on the educational life of the Middle Ages. His contemporary and friend, Braulio of Zaragoza, regarded him as a man raised up by God to save the Iberian peoples from the tidal wave of barbarism that threatened to inundate the ancient civilization of Hispania.
The Eighth Council of Toledo (653) recorded its admiration of his character in these glowing terms: "The extraordinary doctor, the latest ornament of the Catholic Church, the most learned man of the latter ages, always to be named with reverence, Isidore". This tribute was endorsed by the Fifteenth Council of Toledo, held in 688, and later in 1598 by Pope Clement VIII. Isidore was declared a Doctor of the Church in 1722 by Pope Innocent XIII.
Isidore was interred in Seville. His tomb represented an important place of veneration for the Mozarabs during the centuries after the Arab conquest of Visigothic Hispania. In the middle of the 11th century, with the division of Al Andalus into taifas and the strengthening of the Christian holdings in the Iberian peninsula, Ferdinand I of León and Castile found himself in a position to extract tribute from the fractured Arab states. In addition to money, Abbad II al-Mu'tadid, the Abbadid ruler of Seville (1042–1069), agreed to turn over St. Isidore's remains to Ferdinand I. A Catholic poet described al-Mutatid placing a brocaded cover over Isidore's sarcophagus, and remarked, "Now you are leaving here, revered Isidore. You know well how much your fame was mine!" Ferdinand had Isidore's remains reinterred in the then-recently constructed Basilica of San Isidoro in León. Today, many of his bones are buried in the cathedral of Murcia, Spain.
Legacy
In Dante's Paradiso (X.130), Isidore is mentioned among theologians and Doctors of the Church alongside the Scot Richard of St. Victor and the Englishman Bede the Venerable.
The University of Dayton has named their implementation of the Sakai Project in honour of Saint Isidore.
His likeness, along with that of Leander of Sevile and Ferdinand III of Castile, is depicted on the crest badge of Sevilla FC.
The Order of St. Isidore of Seville is a chivalric order formed on 1 January 2000. An international organisation, the order aims to honour Saint Isidore as patron saint of the Internet, alongside promoting Christian chivalry online. (This honour is unofficial: the Holy See considered naming Isidore as patron saint of the Internet but has not done so.)
Honours
St. Isidore Island in Antarctica is named after the saint.
See also
Saint Isidore of Seville, patron saint archive
References
Sources
Primary sources
The Etymologiae (complete Latin text)
Barney, Stephen A., Lewis, W.J., Beach, J.A. and Berghof, Oliver (translators). The Etymologies of Isidore of Seville. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006. .
Ziolkowski, Vernon P., The De Fide Catholica contra Iudaeos of Saint Isidorus, Bishop, Book 1, Saint Louis University, PhD diss. (1982).
Castro Caridad, Eva and Peña Fernández, Francisco (translators). "Isidoro de Sevilla. Sobre la fe católica contra los judíos". Sevilla: Universidad de Sevilla, 2012. .
Throop, Priscilla, (translator). Isidore of Seville's Etymologies. Charlotte, VT: MedievalMS, 2005, 2 vols.
Throop, Priscilla, (translator). Isidore's Synonyms and Differences. (a translation of Synonyms or Lamentations of a Sinful Soul, Book of Differences I, and Book of Differences II) Charlotte, VT: MedievalMS, 2012 (EPub )
Online Galleries, History of Science Collections, University of Oklahoma Libraries High resolution images of works by Isidore of Seville in .jpg and .tiff format.
De natura rerum (Msc.Nat.1) (On the Nature of Things) digitized by the Staatsbibliothek Bamberg.
Lewis E 136 Carta pisana; Sententiae (Sentences) at OPenn
Lewis E 137 Sententiae (Sentences) at OPenn
MS 484/18 Quaestiones in josue, judicum, regum, machabeis at OPenn
Secondary sources
Henderson, John. The Medieval World of Isidore of Seville: Truth from Words. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007. .
Herren, Michael. "On the Earliest Irish Acquaintance with Isidore of Seville." Visigothic Spain: New Approaches. James, Edward (ed). Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1980. .
Englisch, Brigitte. "Die Artes liberales im frühen Mittelalter." Stuttgart, 1994.
Other material
The Order of Saint Isidore of Seville, st-isidore.org
Jones, Peter. "Patron saint of the internet", telegraph.co.uk, 27 August 2006 (Review of The Etymologies of Isidore of Seville, Cambridge University Press, 2006)
Shachtman, Noah. "Searchin' for the Surfer's Saint", wired.com, 25 January 2002
External links
560 births
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Writers about religion and science | false | [
"Euchaneia (, also ) was a Byzantine city in the Armeniac Theme, in what is now the West Black Sea Region of Turkey. It was the site of the shrine of Saint Theodore Stratelates.\n\nIts precise location is unknown. It was either identical with, or nearby Euchaita, the site of the veneration of Theodore Tiro. It is also possible that it was identical with Euchaita before the 10th century, and became established as a separate site in or after the 10th century. The \"duplication\" of Euchaita into Euchaita and Euchaneia is closely related to the \"doubling\" of Saint Theodore Tiron into the two Theodores (Άγιοι Θεόδωροι), Theodore Tiron and Theodore Stratelates, at about this time. \n\nWith the ascent of the veneration of Theodore Stratelates, Euchaneia increased in importance, and emperor John I Tzimiskes in 972 renamed it to Theodoropolis.\nScholarly opinion remains divided. Delehaye (1909) argued that the two cities were identical, while Oikonomides (1986) argued that Euchaneia was at the site of modern Çorum, about one day's march (35 km) from Euchaita,\n\nReferences\n\nPopulated places in ancient Pontus\nPopulated places of the Byzantine Empire\nRoman towns and cities in Turkey\nHistory of Çorum Province",
"The Three Great Shrines of Benzaiten (日本三大弁天) are a group of Japanese shrines dedicated to the worship of the goddess Benzaiten. During the Meiji Era separation of Shinto and Buddhism the veneration of the Buddhist water-goddess Benzaiten was replaced by the veneration of the Munakata sanjojin (宗像三女神), three Shinto goddesses of the sea. The official veneration of Benzaiten was moved to separate Buddhist temples. They are traditionally enumerated as follows:\n\n Daigan-ji Temple / Itsukushima Shrine, Hiroshima Prefecture\n Enoshima Shrine, Kanagawa Prefecture\n Hōgon-ji Temple / Tsukubusuma Shrine, Shiga Prefecture\n\nReferences\n「弁才天」 『世界大百科事典 第２版』 Heibonsha, 2006.\n\nJapanese culture-related lists\nShinto shrines in Hiroshima Prefecture\nShinto shrines in Shiga Prefecture\nShinto shrines in Kanagawa Prefecture"
]
|
[
"T. E. Lawrence",
"Antiquities and archaeology"
]
| C_f8febb2118a84b91bb8cffa9bbb47998_1 | How did he get interested in antiquities and archaeology? | 1 | How did T.E. Lawrence get interested in antiquities and archaeology? | T. E. Lawrence | At the age of 15, Lawrence and his schoolfriend Cyril Beeson cycled around Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, and Oxfordshire, visited almost every village's parish church, studied their monuments and antiquities, and made rubbings of their monumental brasses. Lawrence and Beeson monitored building sites in Oxford and presented their finds to the Ashmolean Museum. The Ashmolean's Annual Report for 1906 said that the two teenage boys "by incessant watchfulness secured everything of antiquarian value which has been found." In the summers of 1906 and 1907, Lawrence and Beeson toured France by bicycle, collecting photographs, drawings, and measurements of medieval castles. In August 1907 Lawrence wrote home: "The Chaignons & the Lamballe people, complimented me on my wonderful French: I have been asked twice since I arrived what part of France I came from". From 1907 to 1910, Lawrence read History at Jesus College, Oxford. In the summer of 1909, he set out alone on a three-month walking tour of crusader castles in Ottoman Syria, during which he travelled 1,000 mi (1,600 km) on foot. Lawrence graduated with First Class Honours after submitting a thesis titled The Influence of the Crusades on European Military Architecture--to the End of the 12th Century, based on his field research with Beeson in France, notably in Chalus, and his solo research in the Middle East. Lawrence was fascinated by the Middle Ages with his brother Arnold writing in 1937 that for him "medieval researches" were a "dream way of escape from bourgeois England". In 1910 Lawrence was offered the opportunity to become a practising archaeologist in the Middle East, at Carchemish, in the expedition that D. G. Hogarth was setting up on behalf of the British Museum. Hogarth arranged a "Senior Demyship", a form of scholarship, for Lawrence at Magdalen College, Oxford, to fund Lawrence's work at PS100 a year. In December 1910, he sailed for Beirut and on his arrival went to Jbail (Byblos), where he studied Arabic. He then went to work on the excavations at Carchemish, near Jerablus in northern Syria, where he worked under Hogarth, R. Campbell Thompson of the British Museum, and Leonard Woolley, until 1914. He later stated that everything which he had accomplished he owed to Hogarth. While excavating at Carchemish, Lawrence met Gertrude Bell. In 1912 Lawrence worked briefly with Flinders Petrie at Kafr Ammar in Egypt. CANNOTANSWER | Lawrence and his schoolfriend Cyril Beeson cycled around Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, and Oxfordshire, visited almost every village's parish church, studied their monuments and antiquities, | Colonel Thomas Edward Lawrence (16 August 1888 – 19 May 1935) was a British archaeologist, army officer, diplomat, and writer, who became renowned for his role in the Arab Revolt (1916–1918) and the Sinai and Palestine Campaign (1915–1918) against the Ottoman Empire during the First World War. The breadth and variety of his activities and associations, and his ability to describe them vividly in writing, earned him international fame as Lawrence of Arabia, a title used for the 1962 film based on his wartime activities.
He was born out of wedlock in August 1888 to Sarah Junner (1861–1959), a governess, and Sir Thomas Chapman, 7th Baronet (1846–1919), an Anglo-Irish nobleman. Chapman left his wife and family in Ireland to cohabit with Junner. Chapman and Junner called themselves Mr and Mrs Lawrence, using the surname of Sarah's likely father; her mother had been employed as a servant for a Lawrence family when she became pregnant with Sarah. In 1896, the Lawrences moved to Oxford, where Thomas attended the High School and then studied history at Jesus College, Oxford from 1907 to 1910. Between 1910 and 1914 he worked as an archaeologist for the British Museum, chiefly at Carchemish in Ottoman Syria.
Soon after the outbreak of war in 1914 he volunteered for the British Army and was stationed at the Arab Bureau (established in 1916) intelligence unit in Egypt. In 1916, he travelled to Mesopotamia and to Arabia on intelligence missions and quickly became involved with the Arab Revolt as a liaison to the Arab forces, along with other British officers, supporting the Arab Kingdom of Hejaz's independence war against its former overlord, the Ottoman Empire. He worked closely with Emir Faisal, a leader of the revolt, and he participated, sometimes as leader, in military actions against the Ottoman armed forces, culminating in the capture of Damascus in October 1918.
After the First World War, Lawrence joined the British Foreign Office, working with the British government and with Faisal. In 1922, he retreated from public life and spent the years until 1935 serving as an enlisted man, mostly in the Royal Air Force (RAF), with a brief period in the Army. During this time, he published his best-known work Seven Pillars of Wisdom (1926), an autobiographical account of his participation in the Arab Revolt. He also translated books into English, and wrote The Mint, which detailed his time in the Royal Air Force working as an ordinary aircraftman. He corresponded extensively and was friendly with well-known artists, writers, and politicians. For the RAF, he participated in the development of rescue motorboats.
Lawrence's public image resulted in part from the sensationalised reporting of the Arab revolt by American journalist Lowell Thomas, as well as from Seven Pillars of Wisdom. In 1935, Lawrence was fatally injured in a motorcycle accident in Dorset.
Early life
Thomas Edward Lawrence was born on 16 August 1888 in Tremadog, Carnarvonshire, Wales, in a house named Gorphwysfa, now known as Snowdon Lodge. His Anglo-Irish father Thomas Chapman had left his wife Edith after he had a first son with Sarah Junner who had been governess to his daughters. Sarah had herself been an illegitimate child, having been born in Sunderland as the daughter of Elizabeth Junner, a servant employed by a family named Lawrence; she was dismissed four months before Sarah was born, and identified Sarah's father as "John Junner, Shipwright journeyman".
Lawrence's parents did not marry but lived together under the pseudonym Lawrence. In 1914, his father inherited the Chapman baronetcy based at Killua Castle, the ancestral family home in County Westmeath, Ireland. The couple had five sons, Thomas (called "Ned" by his immediate family) being the second eldest. From Wales, the family moved to Kirkcudbright, Galloway, in southwestern Scotland, then to Dinard in Brittany, then to Jersey.
The family lived at Langley Lodge (now demolished) from 1894 to 1896, set in private woods between the eastern borders of the New Forest and Southampton Water in Hampshire. The residence was isolated, and young Lawrence had many opportunities for outdoor activities and waterfront visits. Victorian-Edwardian Britain was a very conservative society, where the majority of people were Christians who considered premarital and extramarital sex to be shameful, and children born out of wedlock were born in disgrace. Lawrence was always something of an outsider, a bastard who could never hope to achieve the same level of social acceptance and success that others could expect who were born legitimate, and no girl from a respectable family would ever marry a bastard.
In the summer of 1896, the family moved to 2, Polstead Road in Oxford, where they lived until 1921. Lawrence attended the City of Oxford High School for Boys from 1896 until 1907, where one of the four houses was later named "Lawrence" in his honour; the school closed in 1966. Lawrence and one of his brothers became commissioned officers in the Church Lads' Brigade at St Aldate's Church.
Lawrence claimed that he ran away from home around 1905 and served for a few weeks as a boy soldier with the Royal Garrison Artillery at St Mawes Castle in Cornwall, from which he was bought out. However, no evidence of this appears in army records.
Travels, antiquities, and archaeology
At age 15, Lawrence and his schoolfriend Cyril Beeson cycled around Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, and Oxfordshire, visiting almost every village's parish church, studying their monuments and antiquities, and making rubbings of their monumental brasses. Lawrence and Beeson monitored building sites in Oxford and presented the Ashmolean Museum with anything that they found. The Ashmolean's Annual Report for 1906 said that the two teenage boys "by incessant watchfulness secured everything of antiquarian value which has been found." In the summers of 1906 and 1907, Lawrence toured France by bicycle, sometimes with Beeson, collecting photographs, drawings, and measurements of medieval castles. In August 1907, Lawrence wrote home: "The Chaignons & the Lamballe people complimented me on my wonderful French: I have been asked twice since I arrived what part of France I came from".
From 1907 to 1910, Lawrence read history at Jesus College, Oxford. In July and August 1908 he cycled 2,200 miles (3,500 km) solo through France to the Mediterranean and back researching French castles. In the summer of 1909, he set out alone on a three-month walking tour of crusader castles in Ottoman Syria, during which he travelled on foot. While at Jesus he was a keen member of the University Officers' Training Corps (OTC). He graduated with First Class Honours after submitting a thesis titled The Influence of the Crusades on European Military Architecture—to the End of the 12th Century, partly based on his field research with Beeson in France, and his solo research in France and the Middle East. Lawrence was fascinated by the Middle Ages; his brother Arnold wrote in 1937 that "medieval researches" were a "dream way of escape from bourgeois England".
In 1910, Lawrence was offered the opportunity to become a practising archaeologist at Carchemish, in the expedition that D. G. Hogarth was setting up on behalf of the British Museum. Hogarth arranged a "Senior Demyship" (a form of scholarship) for Lawrence at Magdalen College, Oxford, to fund his work at £100 a year. He sailed for Beirut in December 1910 and went to Byblos, where he studied Arabic. He then went to work on the excavations at Carchemish, near Jerablus in northern Syria, where he worked under Hogarth, R. Campbell Thompson of the British Museum, and Leonard Woolley until 1914. He later stated that everything which he had accomplished he owed to Hogarth. Lawrence met Gertrude Bell while excavating at Carchemish. He worked briefly with Flinders Petrie in 1912 at Kafr Ammar in Egypt.
At Carchemish, Lawrence was frequently involved in a high-tension relationship with a German-led team working nearby on the Baghdad Railway at Jerablus. While there was never open combat, there was regular conflict over access to land and treatment of the local workforce; Lawrence gained experience in Middle Eastern leadership practices and conflict resolution.
Military intelligence
In January 1914, Woolley and Lawrence were co-opted by the British military as an archaeological smokescreen for a British military survey of the Negev Desert. They were funded by the Palestine Exploration Fund to search for an area referred to in the Bible as the Wilderness of Zin, and they made an archaeological survey of the Negev Desert along the way. The Negev was strategically important, as an Ottoman army attacking Egypt would have to cross it. Woolley and Lawrence subsequently published a report of the expedition's archaeological findings, but a more important result was updated mapping of the area, with special attention to features of military relevance such as water sources. Lawrence also visited Aqaba and Shobek, not far from Petra.
Following the outbreak of hostilities in August 1914, Lawrence did not immediately enlist in the British Army. He held back until October on the advice of S. F. Newcombe, when he was commissioned on the General List. Before the end of the year, he was summoned by renowned archaeologist and historian Lt. Cmdr. David Hogarth, his mentor at Carchemish, to the new Arab Bureau intelligence unit in Cairo, and he arrived in Cairo on 15 December 1914. The Bureau's chief was General Gilbert Clayton who reported to Egyptian High Commissioner Henry McMahon.
The situation was complex during 1915. There was a growing Arab-nationalist movement within the Arabic-speaking Ottoman territories, including many Arabs serving in the Ottoman armed forces. They were in contact with Sharif Hussein, Emir of Mecca, who was negotiating with the British and offering to lead an Arab uprising against the Ottomans. In exchange, he wanted a British guarantee of an independent Arab state including the Hejaz, Syria, and Mesopotamia. Such an uprising would have been very helpful to Britain in its war against the Ottomans, greatly lessening the threat against the Suez Canal. However, there was resistance from French diplomats who insisted that Syria's future was as a French colony, not an independent Arab state. There were also strong objections from the Government of India, which was nominally part of the British government but acted independently. Its vision was of Mesopotamia under British control serving as a granary for India; furthermore, it wanted to hold on to its Arabian outpost in Aden.
At the Arab Bureau, Lawrence supervised the preparation of maps, produced a daily bulletin for the British generals operating in the theatre, and interviewed prisoners. He was an advocate of a British landing at Alexandretta which never came to pass. He was also a consistent advocate of an independent Arab Syria.
The situation came to a crisis in October 1915, as Sharif Hussein demanded an immediate commitment from Britain, with the threat that he would otherwise throw his weight behind the Ottomans. This would create a credible Pan-Islamic message that could have been very dangerous for Britain, which was in severe difficulties in the Gallipoli Campaign. The British replied with a letter from High Commissioner McMahon that was generally agreeable while reserving commitments concerning the Mediterranean coastline and Holy Land.
In the spring of 1916, Lawrence was dispatched to Mesopotamia to assist in relieving the Siege of Kut by some combination of starting an Arab uprising and bribing Ottoman officials. This mission produced no useful result. Meanwhile, the Sykes–Picot Agreement was being negotiated in London without the knowledge of British officials in Cairo, which awarded a large proportion of Syria to France. Further, it implied that the Arabs would have to conquer Syria's four great cities if they were to have any sort of state there: Damascus, Homs, Hama, and Aleppo. It is unclear at what point Lawrence became aware of the treaty's contents.
Arab Revolt
The Arab Revolt began in June 1916, but it bogged down after a few successes, with a real risk that the Ottoman forces would advance along the coast of the Red Sea and recapture Mecca. On 16 October 1916, Lawrence was sent to the Hejaz on an intelligence-gathering mission led by Ronald Storrs. He interviewed Sharif Hussein's sons Ali, Abdullah, and Faisal, and he concluded that Faisal was the best candidate to lead the Revolt.
In November, S. F. Newcombe was assigned to lead a permanent British liaison to Faisal's staff. Newcombe had not yet arrived in the area and the matter was of some urgency, so Lawrence was sent in his place. In late December 1916, Faisal and Lawrence worked out a plan for repositioning the Arab forces to prevent the Ottoman forces around Medina from threatening Arab positions and putting the railway from Syria under threat. Newcombe arrived and Lawrence was preparing to leave Arabia, but Faisal intervened urgently, asking that Lawrence's assignment become permanent.
Lawrence's most important contributions to the Arab Revolt were in the area of strategy and liaison with British armed forces, but he also participated personally in several military engagements:
3 January 1917: Attack on an Ottoman outpost in the Hejaz
26 March 1917: Attack on the railway at Aba el Naam
11 June 1917: Attack on a bridge at Ras Baalbek
2 July 1917: Defeat of the Ottoman forces at Aba el Lissan, an outpost of Aqaba
18 September 1917: Attack on the railway near Mudawara
27 September 1917: Attack on the railway, destroyed an engine
7 November 1917: Following a failed attack on the Yarmuk bridges, blew up a train on the railway between Dera'a and Amman, suffering several wounds in the explosion and ensuing combat
23 January 1918: The battle of Tafileh, a region southeast of the Dead Sea, with Arab regulars under the command of Jafar Pasha al-Askari; the battle was a defensive engagement that turned into an offensive rout and was described in the official history of the war as a "brilliant feat of arms". Lawrence was awarded the Distinguished Service Order for his leadership at Tafileh and was promoted to lieutenant colonel.
March 1918: Attack on the railway near Aqaba
19 April 1918: Attack using British armoured cars on Tell Shahm
16 September 1918: Destruction of railway bridge between Amman and Dera'a
26 September 1918: Attack on retreating Ottomans and Germans near the village of Tafas. The Ottoman forces massacred the villagers and then Arab forces in return massacred their prisoners with Lawrence's encouragement.
Lawrence made a 300-mile personal journey northward in June 1917, on the way to Aqaba, visiting Ras Baalbek, the outskirts of Damascus, and Azraq, Jordan. He met Arab nationalists, counselling them to avoid revolt until the arrival of Faisal's forces, and he attacked a bridge to create the impression of guerrilla activity. His findings were regarded by the British as extremely valuable and there was serious consideration of awarding him a Victoria Cross; in the end, he was invested as a Companion of the Order of the Bath and promoted to Major.
Lawrence travelled regularly between British headquarters and Faisal, co-ordinating military action. But by early 1918, Faisal's chief British liaison was Colonel Pierce Charles Joyce, and Lawrence's time was chiefly devoted to raiding and intelligence-gathering.
Strategy
The chief elements of the Arab strategy which Faisal and Lawrence developed were to avoid capturing Medina, and to extend northwards through Maan and Dera'a to Damascus and beyond. Faisal wanted to lead regular attacks against the Ottomans, but Lawrence persuaded him to drop that tactic. Lawrence wrote about the Bedouin as a fighting force:
The value of the tribes is defensive only and their real sphere is guerilla warfare. They are intelligent, and very lively, almost reckless, but too individualistic to endure commands, or fight in line, or to help each other. It would, I think, be possible to make an organized force out of them.… The Hejaz war is one of dervishes against regular forces—and we are on the side of the dervishes. Our text-books do not apply to its conditions at all.
Medina was an attractive target for the revolt as Islam's second holiest site, and because its Ottoman garrison was weakened by disease and isolation. It became clear that it was advantageous to leave it there rather than try to capture it, while continually attacking the Hejaz railway south from Damascus without permanently destroying it. This prevented the Ottomans from making effective use of their troops at Medina, and forced them to dedicate many resources to defending and repairing the railway line.
It is not known when Lawrence learned the details of the Sykes-Picot Agreement, nor if or when he briefed Faisal on what he knew, However, there is good reason to think that both these things happened, and earlier rather than later. In particular, the Arab strategy of northward extension makes perfect sense given the Sykes-Picot language that spoke of an independent Arab entity in Syria, which would only be granted if the Arabs liberated the territory themselves. The French, and some of their British Liaison officers, were specifically uncomfortable about the northward movement, as it would weaken French colonial claims.
Capture of Aqaba
In 1917, Lawrence proposed a joint action with the Arab irregulars and forces including Auda Abu Tayi, who had previously been in the employ of the Ottomans, against the strategically located but lightly defended town of Aqaba on the Red Sea. Aqaba could have been attacked from the sea, but the narrow defiles leading through the mountains were strongly defended and would have been very difficult to assault. The expedition was led by Sharif Nasir of Medina.
Lawrence carefully avoided informing his British superiors about the details of the planned inland attack, due to concern that it would be blocked as contrary to French interests. The expedition departed from Wejh on 9 May, and Aqaba fell to the Arab forces on 6 July, after a surprise overland attack which took the Turkish defences from behind. After Aqaba, General Sir Edmund Allenby, the new commander-in-chief of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force, agreed to Lawrence's strategy for the revolt. Lawrence now held a powerful position as an adviser to Faisal and a person who had Allenby's confidence, as Allenby acknowledged after the war:
Dera'a
Lawrence describes an episode on 20 November 1917 while reconnoitring Dera'a in disguise, when he was captured by the Ottoman military, heavily beaten, and sexually abused by the local bey and his guardsmen, though he does not specify the nature of the sexual contact. Some scholars have stated that he exaggerated the severity of the injuries that he suffered, or alleged that the episode never actually happened. There is no independent testimony, but the multiple consistent reports and the absence of evidence for outright invention in Lawrence's works make the account believable to some of his biographers. Malcolm Brown, John E. Mack, and Jeremy Wilson have argued that this episode had strong psychological effects on Lawrence, which may explain some of his unconventional behaviour in later life. Lawrence ended his account of the episode in Seven Pillars of Wisdom with the statement: "In Dera'a that night the citadel of my integrity had been irrevocably lost."
Fall of Damascus
Lawrence was involved in the build-up to the capture of Damascus in the final weeks of the war, but he was not present at the city's formal surrender, much to his disappointment. He arrived several hours after the city had fallen, entering Damascus around 9 am on 1 October 1918; the first to arrive was the 10th Australian Light Horse Brigade led by Major A. C. N. "Harry" Olden, who formally accepted the surrender of the city from acting Governor Emir Said. Lawrence was instrumental in establishing a provisional Arab government under Faisal in newly liberated Damascus, which he had envisioned as the capital of an Arab state. Faisal's rule as king, however, came to an abrupt end in 1920, after the battle of Maysaloun when the French Forces of General Gouraud entered Damascus under the command of General Mariano Goybet, destroying Lawrence's dream of an independent Arabia.
During the closing years of the war, Lawrence sought to convince his superiors in the British government that Arab independence was in their interests, but he met with mixed success. The secret Sykes-Picot Agreement between France and Britain contradicted the promises of independence that he had made to the Arabs and frustrated his work.
Post-war years
Lawrence returned to the United Kingdom a full colonel. Immediately after the war, he worked for the Foreign Office, attending the Paris Peace Conference between January and May as a member of Faisal's delegation. On 17 May 1919, a Handley Page Type O/400 taking Lawrence to Egypt crashed at the airport of Roma-Centocelle. The pilot and co-pilot were killed; Lawrence survived with a broken shoulder blade and two broken ribs. During his brief hospitalisation, he was visited by King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy.
In 1918, Lowell Thomas went to Jerusalem where he met Lawrence, "whose enigmatic figure in Arab uniform fired his imagination", in the words of author Rex Hall. Thomas and his cameraman Harry Chase shot a great deal of film and many photographs involving Lawrence. Thomas produced a stage presentation entitled With Allenby in Palestine which included a lecture, dancing, and music and engaged in "Orientalism", depicting the Middle East as exotic, mysterious, sensuous, and violent.
The show premiered in New York in March 1919. He was invited to take his show to England, and he agreed to do so provided that he was personally invited by the King and provided the use of either Drury Lane or Covent Garden. He opened at Covent Garden on 14 August 1919 and continued for hundreds of lectures, "attended by the highest in the land".
Initially, Lawrence played only a supporting role in the show, as the main focus was on Allenby's campaigns; but then Thomas realised that it was the photos of Lawrence dressed as a Bedouin which had captured the public's imagination, so he had Lawrence photographed again in London in Arab dress. With the new photos, Thomas re-launched his show under the new title With Allenby in Palestine and Lawrence in Arabia in early 1920, which proved to be extremely popular. The new title elevated Lawrence from a supporting role to a co-star of the Near Eastern campaign and reflected a changed emphasis. Thomas' shows made the previously obscure Lawrence into a household name.
Lawrence worked with Thomas on the creation of the presentation, answering many questions and posing for many photographs. After its success, however, he expressed regret about having been featured in it.
Lawrence served as an advisor to Winston Churchill at the Colonial Office for just over a year starting in February 1920. He hated bureaucratic work, writing on 21 May 1921 to Robert Graves: "I wish I hadn't gone out there: the Arabs are like a page I have turned over; and sequels are rotten things. I'm locked up here: office every day and much of it". He travelled to the Middle East on multiple occasions during this period, at one time holding the title of "chief political officer for Trans-Jordania".
He campaigned actively for his and Churchill's vision of the Middle East, publishing pieces in multiple newspapers, including The Times, The Observer, The Daily Mail, and The Daily Express.
Lawrence had a sinister reputation in France during his lifetime and even today as an implacable "enemy of France", the man who was constantly stirring up the Syrians to rebel against French rule throughout the 1920s. However, French historian Maurice Larès wrote that the real reason for France's problems in Syria was that the Syrians did not want to be ruled by France, and the French needed a scapegoat to blame for their difficulties in ruling the country. Larès wrote that Lawrence is usually pictured in France as a Francophobe, but he was really a Francophile.
Having seen and admired the effective use of air power during the war, Lawrence enlisted in the Royal Air Force as an aircraftman, under the name John Hume Ross in August 1922. At the RAF recruiting centre in Covent Garden, London, he was interviewed by recruiting officer Flying Officer W. E. Johns, later known as the author of the Biggles series of novels. Johns rejected Lawrence's application, as he suspected that "Ross" was a false name. Lawrence admitted that this was so and that he had provided false documents. He left, but returned some time later with an RAF messenger who carried a written order that Johns must accept Lawrence.
However, Lawrence was forced out of the RAF in February 1923 after his identity was exposed. He changed his name to T. E. Shaw (apparently as a consequence of his friendship with G. B. and Charlotte Shaw) and joined the Royal Tank Corps later that year. He was unhappy there and repeatedly petitioned to rejoin the RAF, which finally readmitted him in August 1925. A fresh burst of publicity after the publication of Revolt in the Desert resulted in his assignment to bases at Karachi and Miramshah in British India (now Pakistan) in late 1926, where he remained until the end of 1928. At that time, he was forced to return to Britain after rumours began to circulate that he was involved in espionage activities.
He purchased several small plots of land in Chingford, built a hut and swimming pool there, and visited frequently. The hut was removed in 1930 when Chingford Urban District Council acquired the land; it was given to the City of London Corporation which re-erected it in the grounds of The Warren, Loughton. Lawrence's tenure of the Chingford land has now been commemorated by a plaque fixed on the sighting obelisk on Pole Hill.
Lawrence continued serving in the RAF based at RAF Mount Batten near Plymouth, RAF Calshot near Southampton, and RAF Bridlington, East Riding of Yorkshire. He specialised in high-speed boats and professed happiness, and he left the service with considerable regret at the end of his enlistment in March 1935.
In late August or early September 1931 he stayed with Lady Houston aboard her luxury yacht, the Liberty, off Calshot, shortly before the Schneider Trophy competition. In later letters Lady Houston would ask Lawrence's advice on obtaining a new chauffeur for her Rolls Royce car ('Forgive my asking, but you know everything') and suggest that he join the Liberty, for she had discharged her captain, who had turned out to be a 'wrong 'un.'
In the inter-war period, the RAF's Marine Craft Section began to commission air-sea rescue launches capable of higher speeds and greater capacity. The arrival of high-speed craft into the MCS was driven in part by Lawrence. He had previously witnessed a seaplane crew drowning when the seaplane tender sent to their rescue was too slow in arriving. He worked with Hubert Scott-Paine, the founder of the British Power Boat Company (BPBC), to introduce the long ST 200 Seaplane Tender Mk1 into service. These boats had a range of 140 miles when cruising at 24 knots and could achieve a top speed of 29 knots.
Lawrence was a keen motorcyclist and owned eight Brough Superior motorcycles at different times. His last SS100 (Registration GW 2275) is privately owned but has been on loan to the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu and the Imperial War Museum in London. He was also an avid reader of Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur and carried a copy on his campaigns. He read an account of Eugene Vinaver's discovery of the Winchester Manuscript of the Morte in The Times in 1934, and he motorcycled from Manchester to Winchester to meet Vinaver.
Death
On 13 May 1935, Lawrence was fatally injured in an accident on his Brough Superior SS100 motorcycle in Dorset close to his cottage Clouds Hill, near Wareham, just two months after leaving military service. A dip in the road obstructed his view of two boys on their bicycles; he swerved to avoid them, lost control, and was thrown over the handlebars. He died six days later on 19 May 1935, aged 46. The location of the crash is marked by a small memorial at the roadside.
One of the doctors attending him was neurosurgeon Hugh Cairns, who consequently began a long study of the loss of life by motorcycle dispatch riders through head injuries. His research led to the use of crash helmets by both military and civilian motorcyclists.
The Moreton estate borders Bovington Camp, and Lawrence bought it from his cousins the Frampton family. He had been a frequent visitor to their home Okers Wood House, and had corresponded with Louisa Frampton for years. Lawrence's mother arranged with the Framptons to have his body buried in their family plot in the separate burial ground of St Nicholas' Church, Moreton. The coffin was transported on the Frampton estate's bier. Mourners included Winston Churchill, E. M. Forster, Lady Astor, and Lawrence's youngest brother Arnold.
Writings
Lawrence was a prolific writer throughout his life, a large portion of which was epistolary; he often sent several letters a day, and several collections of his letters have been published. He corresponded with many notable figures, including George Bernard Shaw, Edward Elgar, Winston Churchill, Robert Graves, Noël Coward, E. M. Forster, Siegfried Sassoon, John Buchan, Augustus John, and Henry Williamson. He met Joseph Conrad and commented perceptively on his works. The many letters that he sent to Shaw's wife Charlotte are revealing as to his character.
Lawrence was a competent speaker of French and Arabic, and reader of Latin and Ancient Greek.
Lawrence published three major texts in his lifetime. The most significant was his account of the Arab Revolt in Seven Pillars of Wisdom. Homer's Odyssey and The Forest Giant were translations, the latter an otherwise forgotten work of French fiction. He received a flat fee for the second translation, and negotiated a generous fee plus royalties for the first.
Seven Pillars of Wisdom
Lawrence's major work is Seven Pillars of Wisdom, an account of his war experiences. In 1919, he was elected to a seven-year research fellowship at All Souls College, Oxford, providing him with support while he worked on the book. Certain parts of the book also serve as essays on military strategy, Arabian culture and geography, and other topics. He rewrote Seven Pillars of Wisdom three times, once "blind" after he lost the manuscript.
There are many alleged "embellishments" in Seven Pillars, though some allegations have been disproved with time, most definitively in Jeremy Wilson's authorised biography. However, Lawrence's own notebooks refute his claim to have crossed the Sinai Peninsula from Aqaba to the Suez Canal in just 49 hours without any sleep. In reality, this famous camel ride lasted for more than 70 hours and was interrupted by two long breaks for sleeping, which Lawrence omitted when he wrote his book.
In the preface, Lawrence acknowledged George Bernard Shaw's help in editing the book. The first edition was published in 1926 as a high-priced private subscription edition, printed in London by Herbert John Hodgson and Roy Manning Pike, with illustrations by Eric Kennington, Augustus John, Paul Nash, Blair Hughes-Stanton, and Hughes-Stanton's wife Gertrude Hermes. Lawrence was afraid that the public would think that he would make a substantial income from the book, and he stated that it was written as a result of his war service. He vowed not to take any money from it, and indeed he did not, as the sale price was one third of the production costs, leaving him in substantial debt.
As a specialist in the Middle East, Fred Halliday praised Lawrence's Seven Pillars of Wisdom as a "fine work of prose" but described its relevance to the study of Arab history and society as "almost worthless."
Revolt in the Desert
Revolt in the Desert was an abridged version of Seven Pillars that he began in 1926 and that was published in March 1927 in both limited and trade editions. He undertook a needed but reluctant publicity exercise, which resulted in a best-seller. Again he vowed not to take any fees from the publication, partly to appease the subscribers to Seven Pillars who had paid dearly for their editions. By the fourth reprint in 1927, the debt from Seven Pillars was paid off. As Lawrence left for military service in India at the end of 1926, he set up the "Seven Pillars Trust" with his friend D. G. Hogarth as a trustee, in which he made over the copyright and any surplus income of Revolt in the Desert. He later told Hogarth that he had "made the Trust final, to save myself the temptation of reviewing it, if Revolt turned out a best seller."
The resultant trust paid off the debt, and Lawrence then invoked a clause in his publishing contract to halt publication of the abridgement in the United Kingdom. However, he allowed both American editions and translations, which resulted in a substantial flow of income. The trust paid income either into an educational fund for children of RAF officers who lost their lives or were invalided as a result of service, or more substantially into the RAF Benevolent Fund.
Posthumous
Lawrence left The Mint unpublished, a memoir of his experiences as an enlisted man in the Royal Air Force (RAF). For this, he worked from a notebook that he kept while enlisted, writing of the daily lives of enlisted men and his desire to be a part of something larger than himself. The book is stylistically very different from Seven Pillars of Wisdom, using sparse prose as opposed to the complicated syntax found in Seven Pillars. It was published posthumously, edited by his brother Professor A. W. Lawrence.
After Lawrence's death, A. W. Lawrence inherited Lawrence's estate and his copyrights as the sole beneficiary. To pay the inheritance tax, he sold the US copyright of Seven Pillars of Wisdom (subscribers' text) outright to Doubleday Doran in 1935. Doubleday still controls publication rights of this version of the text of Seven Pillars of Wisdom in the US, and will continue to until the copyright expires at the end of 2022 (publication plus 95 years). In 1936, A. W. Lawrence split the remaining assets of the estate, giving Clouds Hill and many copies of less substantial or historical letters to the National Trust, and then set up two trusts to control interests in his brother's residual copyrights. He assigned the copyright in Seven Pillars of Wisdom to the Seven Pillars of Wisdom Trust, and it was given its first general publication as a result. He assigned the copyright in The Mint and all Lawrence's letters to the Letters and Symposium Trust, which he edited and published in the book T. E. Lawrence by his Friends in 1937.
A substantial amount of income went directly to the RAF Benevolent Fund and to archaeological, environmental, and academic projects. The two trusts were amalgamated in 1986, and the unified trust acquired all the remaining rights to Lawrence's works that it had not owned on the death of A. W. Lawrence in 1991, plus rights to all of A. W. Lawrence's works. The UK copyrights on Lawrence's works published in his lifetime and within 20 years of his death expired on 1 January 2006. Works published more than 20 years after his death were protected for 50 years from publication or to 1 January 2040, whichever is earlier.
Writings
Seven Pillars of Wisdom, an account of Lawrence's part in the Arab Revolt. ()
Revolt in the Desert, an abridged version of Seven Pillars of Wisdom. ()
The Mint, an account of Lawrence's service in the Royal Air Force. ()
Crusader Castles, Lawrence's Oxford thesis. London: Michael Haag 1986 (). The first edition was published in London in 1936 by the Golden Cockerel Press, in 2 volumes, limited to 1000 editions.
The Odyssey of Homer, Lawrence's translation from the Greek, first published in 1932. ()
The Forest Giant, by Adrien Le Corbeau, novel, Lawrence's translation from the French, 1924.
The Letters of T. E. Lawrence, selected and edited by Malcolm Brown. London, J. M Dent. 1988 ()
The Letters of T. E. Lawrence, edited by David Garnett. ()
T. E. Lawrence. Letters, Jeremy Wilson. (See prospectus)
Minorities: Good Poems by Small Poets and Small Poems by Good Poets, edited by Jeremy Wilson, 1971. Lawrence's commonplace book includes an introduction by Wilson that explains how the poems comprising the book reflected Lawrence's life and thoughts.
Guerrilla Warfare, article in the 1929 Encyclopædia Britannica
The Wilderness of Zin, by C. Leonard Woolley and T. E. Lawrence. London, Harrison and Sons, 1914.
Sexuality
Lawrence's biographers have discussed his sexuality at considerable length and this discussion has spilled into the popular press. There is no reliable evidence for consensual sexual intimacy between Lawrence and any person. His friends have expressed the opinion that he was asexual, and Lawrence himself specifically denied any personal experience of sex in multiple private letters. There were suggestions that Lawrence had been intimate with Dahoum, who worked with him at a pre-war archaeological dig in Carchemish, and fellow serviceman R. A. M. Guy, but his biographers and contemporaries found them unconvincing.
The dedication to his book Seven Pillars is a poem titled "To S.A." which opens:
Lawrence was never specific about the identity of "S.A." Many theories argue in favour of individual men or women, and the Arab nation as a whole. The most popular theory is that S.A. represents (at least in part) his companion Selim Ahmed, "Dahoum", who apparently died of typhus before 1918.
Lawrence lived in a period of strong official opposition to homosexuality, but his writing on the subject was tolerant. He wrote to Charlotte Shaw, "I've seen lots of man-and-man loves: very lovely and fortunate some of them were." He refers to "the openness and honesty of perfect love" on one occasion in Seven Pillars, when discussing relationships between young male fighters in the war. He wrote in Chapter 1 of Seven Pillars:
There is considerable evidence that Lawrence was a masochist. He wrote in his description of the Dera'a beating that "a delicious warmth, probably sexual, was swelling through me," and he also included a detailed description of the guards' whip in a style typical of masochists' writing. In later life, Lawrence arranged to pay a military colleague to administer beatings to him, and to be subjected to severe formal tests of fitness and stamina. John Bruce first wrote on this topic, including some other statements that were not credible, but Lawrence's biographers regard the beatings as established fact. French novelist André Malraux admired Lawrence but wrote that he had a "taste for self-humiliation, now by discipline and now by veneration; a horror of respectability; a disgust for possessions". Biographer Lawrence James wrote that the evidence suggested a "strong homosexual masochism", noting that he never sought punishment from women.
Psychologist John E. Mack sees a possible connection between Lawrence's masochism and the childhood beatings that he had received from his mother for routine misbehaviours. His brother Arnold thought that the beatings had been given for the purpose of breaking his brother's will. Angus Calder suggested in 1997 that Lawrence's apparent masochism and self-loathing might have stemmed from a sense of guilt over losing his brothers Frank and Will on the Western Front, along with many other school friends, while he survived.
Aldington controversy
In 1955 Richard Aldington published Lawrence of Arabia: A Biographical Enquiry, a sustained attack on Lawrence's character, writing, accomplishments, and truthfulness. Specifically, Aldington alleges that Lawrence lied and exaggerated continuously, promoted a misguided policy in the Middle East, that his strategy of containing but not capturing Medina was incorrect, and that Seven Pillars of Wisdom was a bad book with few redeeming features. He also revealed Lawrence's illegitimacy and strongly suggested that he was homosexual. For example: "Seven Pillars of Wisdom is rather a work of quasi-fiction than history.", and "It was seldom that he reported any fact or episode involving himself without embellishing them and indeed in some cases entirely inventing them."
It is significant that Aldington was a colonialist, arguing that the French colonial administration of Syria (strongly resisted by Lawrence) had benefited that country and that Arabia's peoples were "far enough advanced for some government though not for complete self-government." He was also a Francophile, railing against Lawrence's "Francophobia, a hatred and an envy so irrational, so irresponsible and so unscrupulous that it is fair to say his attitude towards Syria was determined more by hatred of France than by devotion to the 'Arabs' - a convenient propaganda word which grouped many disharmonious and even mutually hostile tribes and peoples."
Prior to the publication of Aldington's book, its contents became known in London's literary community. A group Aldington and some subsequent authors referred to as "The Lawrence Bureau", led by B. H. Liddell Hart tried energetically, starting in 1954, to have the book suppressed. That effort having failed, Liddell Hart prepared and distributed hundreds of copies of Aldington's 'Lawrence': His Charges--and Treatment of the Evidence, a 7-page single-spaced document. This worked: Aldington's book received many extremely negative and even abusive reviews, with strong evidence that some reviewers had read Liddell's rebuttal but not Aldington's book.
Aldington wrote that Lawrence embellished many stories and invented others, and in particular that his claims involving numbers were usually inflated - for example claims of having read 50,000 books in the Oxford Union library, of having blown up 79 bridges, of having had a price of £50,000 on his head, and of having suffered 60 or more injuries. Many of Aldington's specific claims against Lawrence have been accepted by subsequent biographers. In Richard Aldington and Lawrence of Arabia: A Cautionary Tale, Fred D. Crawford writes "Much that shocked in 1955 is now standard knowledge--that TEL was illegitimate, that this profoundly troubled him, that he frequently resented his mother's dominance, that such reminiscences as T.E. Lawrence by His Friends are not reliable, that TEL's leg-pulling and other adolescent traits could be offensive, that TEL took liberties with the truth in his official reports and Seven Pillars, that the significance of his exploits during the Arab Revolt was more political than military, that he contributed to his own myth, that when he vetted the books by Graves and Liddell he let remain much that he knew was untrue, and that his feelings about publicity were ambiguous."
This has not prevented most post-Aldington biographers (including Fred D. Crawford, who studied the Aldington claims intensely) from expressing strong admiration for Lawrence's military, political, and writing achievements.
Awards and commemorations
Lawrence was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath on 7 August 1917, appointed a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order on 10 May 1918, awarded the Knight of the Legion of Honour (France) on 30 May 1916 and awarded the Croix de guerre (France) on 16 April 1918.
King George V offered Lawrence a knighthood on 30 October 1918 at a private audience in Buckingham Palace for his services in the Arab Revolt, but he declined. He was unwilling to accept the honour in light of how his country had betrayed the Arabs.
A bronze bust of Lawrence by Eric Kennington was placed in the crypt of St Paul's Cathedral, London, on 29 January 1936, alongside the tombs of Britain's greatest military leaders. A recumbent stone effigy by Kennington was installed in St Martin's Church, Wareham, Dorset, in 1939.
An English Heritage blue plaque marks Lawrence's childhood home at 2 Polstead Road, Oxford, and another appears on his London home at 14 Barton Street, Westminster. Lawrence appears on the album cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles. In 2002, Lawrence was named 53rd in the BBC's list of the 100 Greatest Britons following a UK-wide vote.
In 2018, Lawrence was featured on a £5 coin (issued in silver and gold) in a six-coin set commemorating the Centenary of the First World War produced by the Royal Mint.
In popular culture
Film
Alexander Korda bought the film rights to The Seven Pillars in the 1930s. The production was in development, with various actors cast as the lead, such as Leslie Howard.
Peter O'Toole was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Lawrence in the 1962 film Lawrence of Arabia.
Lawrence was portrayed by Robert Pattinson in the 2014 biographical drama about Gertrude Bell, Queen of the Desert.
Peter O'Toole's portrayal of Lawrence inspired behavioural affectations in the synthetic model called David, portrayed by Michael Fassbender in the 2012 film Prometheus, and in the 2017 sequel Alien: Covenant, part of the Alien franchise.
Literature
T.E. Lawrence (T.E.ロレンス) is a seven-volume manga series by Tomoko Kosaka, which retells Lawrence's life story from childhood onward.
The Oath of the Five Lords tells a fictional story including several references to T.E. Lawrence and his memoirs in which he describes how the United Kingdom did not honour its promises to the Arab nation. The comic is the twenty-first book in the Blake and Mortimer comic series. The story was written by Yves Sente and drawn by André Juillard and was released in 2012.
The T.E. Lawrence Poems was published by Canadian poet Gwendolyn MacEwen in 1982. The poems rely heavily, and quote directly from, primary material including Seven Pillars and the collected letters.
Television
He was portrayed by Judson Scott in the 1982 TV series Voyagers!
Ralph Fiennes portrayed Lawrence in the 1992 British made-for-TV movie A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia.
Joseph A. Bennett and Douglas Henshall portrayed him in the 1992 TV series The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles.
He was also portrayed in a Syrian series, directed by Thaer Mousa, called Lawrence Al Arab. The series consisted of 37 episodes, each between 45 minutes and one hour in length.
Theatre
Lawrence was the subject of Terence Rattigan's controversial play Ross, which explored Lawrence's alleged homosexuality. Ross ran in London in 1960–61, starring Alec Guinness, who was an admirer of Lawrence, and Gerald Harper as his blackmailer, Dickinson. The play had originally been written as a screenplay, but the planned film was never made. In January 1986 at the Theatre Royal, Plymouth, on the opening night of the revival of Ross, Marc Sinden, who was playing Dickinson (the man who recognised and blackmailed Lawrence, played by Simon Ward), was introduced to the man on whom the character of Dickinson was based. Sinden asked him why he had blackmailed Ross, and he replied, "Oh, for the money. I was financially embarrassed at the time and needed to get up to London to see a girlfriend. It was never meant to be a big thing, but a good friend of mine was very close to Terence Rattigan and years later, the silly devil told him the story."
Alan Bennett's Forty Years On (1968) includes a satire on Lawrence; known as "Tee Hee Lawrence" because of his high-pitched, girlish giggle. "Clad in the magnificent white silk robes of an Arab prince ... he hoped to pass unnoticed through London. Alas he was mistaken."
The character of Private Napoleon Meek in George Bernard Shaw's 1931 play Too True to Be Good was inspired by Lawrence. Meek is depicted as thoroughly conversant with the language and lifestyle of the native tribes. He repeatedly enlists with the army, quitting whenever offered a promotion. Lawrence attended a performance of the play's original Worcestershire run, and reportedly signed autographs for patrons attending the show.
Lawrence's first year back at Oxford after the War to write was portrayed by Tom Rooney in a play, The Oxford Roof Climbers Rebellion, written by Canadian playwright Stephen Massicotte (premiered Toronto 2006). The play explores Lawrence's reactions to war, and his friendship with Robert Graves. Urban Stages presented the American premiere in New York City in October 2007; Lawrence was portrayed by actor Dylan Chalfy.
Lawrence's final years are portrayed in a one-man show by Raymond Sargent, The Warrior and the Poet.
His 1922 retreat from public life forms the subject of Howard Brenton's play Lawrence After Arabia, commissioned for a 2016 premiere at the Hampstead Theatre to mark the centenary of the outbreak of the Arab Revolt.
A highly fictionalised version of Lawrence featured in the 2016 Swedish-language comedic play Lawrence i Mumiedalen.
Video games
A fictionalized Lawrence is an NPC who assists the party in Shadow Hearts: Covenant (2004).
A fictionalized Lawrence is an NPC who appears in cutscenes and guides the player through missions in Battlefield 1 (2016).
Lawrence and his work are referenced multiple times throughout the video game Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (2011).
See also
Hashemites, ruling family of Mecca (10th–20th century) and of Jordan since 1921
Kingdom of Iraq (1932–1958)
Lawrence of Arabia: The Authorised Biography of T. E. Lawrence by Jeremy Wilson (1989)
The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones, US TV series (1992–1993) with episodes depicting moments from Lawrence's life
Related individuals
Richard Meinertzhagen (1878–1967), British intelligence officer and ornithologist, on occasion a colleague of Lawrence's
Rafael de Nogales Méndez (1879–1937), Venezuelan officer who served in the Ottoman Army and was compared to Lawrence
Suleiman Mousa (1919–2008), Jordanian historian who wrote about Lawrence
Oskar von Niedermayer (1885–1948), German officer, professor and spy, sometimes referred to as the German Lawrence
Max von Oppenheim (1860–1946), German-Jewish lawyer, diplomat and archaeologist. Lawrence called his travelogue "the best book on the [Middle East] area I know".
Wilhelm Wassmuss (1880–1931), German diplomat and spy, known as "Wassmuss of Persia" and compared to Lawrence
References
Citations
Sources
External links
Digital collections
T. E. Lawrence's Original Letters on Palestine Shapell Manuscript Foundation
Works by T. E. Lawrence at Wikilivres
Physical collections
T. E. Lawrence's Collection at The University of Texas at Austin's Harry Ransom Center
"Creating History: Lowell Thomas and Lawrence of Arabia" online history exhibit at Clio Visualizing History.
Europeana Collections 1914–1918 makes 425,000 World War I items from European libraries available online, including manuscripts, photographs and diaries by or relating to Lawrence
T. E. Lawrence's Personal Manuscripts and Letters
News and analysis
The Guardian 19 May 1935 – The death of Lawrence of Arabia
The Legend of Lawrence of Arabia: The Recalcitrant Hero
T. E. Lawrence: The Enigmatic Lawrence of Arabia article by O'Brien Browne
Lawrence of Arabia: True and false (an Arab view) by Lucy Ladikoff
Documentaries
Footage of Lawrence of Arabia with publisher FN Doubleday and at a picnic
Lawrence of Arabia: The Battle for the Arab World, directed by James Hawes. PBS Home Video, 21 October 2003. (ASIN B0000BWVND)
Societies
T. E. Lawrence Studies, built by Lawrence's authorised biographer Jeremy Wilson (no longer maintained)
The T. E. Lawrence Society
1888 births
1935 deaths
20th-century archaeologists
20th-century British writers
20th-century translators
Alumni of Jesus College, Oxford
Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford
Arab Bureau officers
Arab Revolt
British archaeologists
British Army General List officers
British Army personnel of World War I
British guerrillas
British people of Irish descent
Castellologists
Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur
Companions of the Distinguished Service Order
Companions of the Order of the Bath
Fellows of All Souls College, Oxford
French–English translators
Greek–English translators
Guerrilla warfare theorists
Motorcycle road incident deaths
People educated at the City of Oxford High School for Boys
People from Caernarfonshire
People of Anglo-Irish descent
Road incident deaths in England
Royal Air Force airmen
Royal Garrison Artillery soldiers
Royal Tank Regiment soldiers
Welsh people of Irish descent
Translators of Homer | false | [
"The Records of the Past Exploration Society was set up in 1900 by Reverend Henry Mason Baum in Washington, D.C. Membership was made up of academics with degrees, church leaders and professionals, especially those with an interest in archaeology. Baum was particularly interested in biblical archaeology but was also experienced in American antiquities.\n\nThe Society published a journal, entitled Records of the Past; the first edition was published in 1902. It continued to be published until 1914. Some of the main topics covered included anthropology, archaeology and history. The journal established a reputation for carrying high quality articles from a team of notable authors and, according to scholarly historian Hal Rothman, \"acknowledged experts\".\n\nReferences\nCitations\n\nBibliography\n\nHistorical societies of the United States",
"The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA, ; , before 1990, the Israel Department of Antiquities) is an independent Israeli governmental authority responsible for enforcing the 1978 Law of Antiquities. The IAA regulates excavation and conservation, and promotes research. The director-general is Mr. Israel Hason and its offices are housed in the Rockefeller Museum.\n\nThe Israel Antiquities Authority plans to move into a new building for the National Campus for the Archaeology of Israel in Jerusalem, next to the Israel Museum.\n\nHistory\nThe Israel Department of Antiquities and Museums (IDAM) of the Ministry of Education was founded on July 26, 1948, after the establishment of the State of Israel. It took over the functions of the Department of Antiquities of the British Mandate in Israel and Palestine. Originally, its activities were based on the British Mandate Department of Antiquities ordinances.\n\nIDAM was the statutory authority responsible for Israel's antiquities and for the administration of small museums. Its functions include curation of the state collection of antiquities, storing of the state collection, maintaining a list of registered antiquities sites, inspecting antiquities sites and registering newly discovered sites, conducting salvage and rescue operations of endangered antiquities sites, maintaining an archaeological library (the state library), maintaining an archive.\n\nThe Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) was created from the IDAM by the Knesset (Israeli parliament) in a 1990 statute. Amir Drori became its first director. The IAA fulfilled the statutory obligations of the IDAM and in its early days was greatly expanded from the core number of workers in IDAM to a much larger complement, and to include the functions of the . The period of expansion lasted for a number of years, but was followed by a period in which diminished fiscal resources and a reduction in funding led to large cutbacks in the size of its work force and its activities.\n\nPublications\nIt published the results of excavations in three journals:\nBooklet of the Department of Antiquities (Hebrew), now defunct\nIAA Reports monograph series, started in the late 1990s (English)\nAtiqot (Hebrew and English), still published\nHadashot Arkheologiyot – Excavations and Surveys in Israel (HA-ESI; Hebrew and English), still published, online.\nQadmoniot: A Journal for the Antiquities of Eretz-Israel and Bible (Hebrew), published by Israel Exploration Society together with the IAA.\n Archaeological Survey of Israel. A GIS database of tiled maps covering of the State of Israel. Descriptive texts and media of surveyed sites. A continuous project, published online only (previously in print).\n\nThe National Campus for the Archaeology of Israel\n\nThe Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein National Campus for the Archaeology of Israel is the future building of the IAA, aiming to concentrate all centralized administrative offices into one structure. The campus is planned on 20,000 square meters between the Israel Museum and the Bible Lands Museum in Jerusalem by Architect Moshe Safdie.\n\nOrganizational structure\nThe IAA's organization consists of:\nManagement \nDeputy Director for Archaeology \nIAA Regional Offices (Northern Region, Central Region, Jerusalem Region, Southern Region and maritime archaeology Unit)\nExcavations and Surveys Department \nArtifacts Treatment Department \nConservation Department \nNational Treasures Department \nInformation Technology Department \nPublications Department \nAntiquities Robbery Prevention Unit \nArchives Department \nlibrary \nIAA Internet Sites Unit \nFinance Administration \nPlanning, Coordination and Control Administration \nAdministrative and Security Services Branch \nStaff Officer for Archaeology – Civil Administration of Judea and Samaria\n\nDirectors\n\nShmuel Yeivin, 1948–1961\nAvraham Biran, 1961–1974\nAvraham Eitan, 1974–1988\nAmir Drori, 1988–2000\nYehoshua (Shuka) Dorfman, 2000–July 31, 2014\nYisrael Hasson, 2014–2020\nEli Askozido, 2021-\n\nOther staff\nLevi Rahmani, archeologist and Chief Curator during the 1980s\n\nRestoration work \nThe IAA's six-member restoration team restores potsherds, textiles, metal objects and other objects related to the material culture of the country discovered in archaeological excavations. Unlike their peers around the world, the team in Israel is barred by Israeli law from working with human remains.\n\nSee also\nCouncil for Conservation of Heritage Sites in Israel, preserves sites from 1700 onwards not covered by the Antiquities Law\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n\n \n Eisenbrauns - Official distributor for IAA publications in North America\n The Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein National Campus for the Archaeology of Israel on the Israel Antiquities Authority website.\n\n \nNational archaeological organizations\nArchaeology of Israel\nAntiquities Authority\nOrganizations based in Jerusalem\nGovernment agencies established in 1948\n1948 establishments in Israel"
]
|
[
"T. E. Lawrence",
"Antiquities and archaeology",
"How did he get interested in antiquities and archaeology?",
"Lawrence and his schoolfriend Cyril Beeson cycled around Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, and Oxfordshire, visited almost every village's parish church, studied their monuments and antiquities,"
]
| C_f8febb2118a84b91bb8cffa9bbb47998_1 | Did Lawrence attend school? | 2 | Did T.E. Lawrence attend school? | T. E. Lawrence | At the age of 15, Lawrence and his schoolfriend Cyril Beeson cycled around Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, and Oxfordshire, visited almost every village's parish church, studied their monuments and antiquities, and made rubbings of their monumental brasses. Lawrence and Beeson monitored building sites in Oxford and presented their finds to the Ashmolean Museum. The Ashmolean's Annual Report for 1906 said that the two teenage boys "by incessant watchfulness secured everything of antiquarian value which has been found." In the summers of 1906 and 1907, Lawrence and Beeson toured France by bicycle, collecting photographs, drawings, and measurements of medieval castles. In August 1907 Lawrence wrote home: "The Chaignons & the Lamballe people, complimented me on my wonderful French: I have been asked twice since I arrived what part of France I came from". From 1907 to 1910, Lawrence read History at Jesus College, Oxford. In the summer of 1909, he set out alone on a three-month walking tour of crusader castles in Ottoman Syria, during which he travelled 1,000 mi (1,600 km) on foot. Lawrence graduated with First Class Honours after submitting a thesis titled The Influence of the Crusades on European Military Architecture--to the End of the 12th Century, based on his field research with Beeson in France, notably in Chalus, and his solo research in the Middle East. Lawrence was fascinated by the Middle Ages with his brother Arnold writing in 1937 that for him "medieval researches" were a "dream way of escape from bourgeois England". In 1910 Lawrence was offered the opportunity to become a practising archaeologist in the Middle East, at Carchemish, in the expedition that D. G. Hogarth was setting up on behalf of the British Museum. Hogarth arranged a "Senior Demyship", a form of scholarship, for Lawrence at Magdalen College, Oxford, to fund Lawrence's work at PS100 a year. In December 1910, he sailed for Beirut and on his arrival went to Jbail (Byblos), where he studied Arabic. He then went to work on the excavations at Carchemish, near Jerablus in northern Syria, where he worked under Hogarth, R. Campbell Thompson of the British Museum, and Leonard Woolley, until 1914. He later stated that everything which he had accomplished he owed to Hogarth. While excavating at Carchemish, Lawrence met Gertrude Bell. In 1912 Lawrence worked briefly with Flinders Petrie at Kafr Ammar in Egypt. CANNOTANSWER | From 1907 to 1910, Lawrence read History at Jesus College, Oxford. | Colonel Thomas Edward Lawrence (16 August 1888 – 19 May 1935) was a British archaeologist, army officer, diplomat, and writer, who became renowned for his role in the Arab Revolt (1916–1918) and the Sinai and Palestine Campaign (1915–1918) against the Ottoman Empire during the First World War. The breadth and variety of his activities and associations, and his ability to describe them vividly in writing, earned him international fame as Lawrence of Arabia, a title used for the 1962 film based on his wartime activities.
He was born out of wedlock in August 1888 to Sarah Junner (1861–1959), a governess, and Sir Thomas Chapman, 7th Baronet (1846–1919), an Anglo-Irish nobleman. Chapman left his wife and family in Ireland to cohabit with Junner. Chapman and Junner called themselves Mr and Mrs Lawrence, using the surname of Sarah's likely father; her mother had been employed as a servant for a Lawrence family when she became pregnant with Sarah. In 1896, the Lawrences moved to Oxford, where Thomas attended the High School and then studied history at Jesus College, Oxford from 1907 to 1910. Between 1910 and 1914 he worked as an archaeologist for the British Museum, chiefly at Carchemish in Ottoman Syria.
Soon after the outbreak of war in 1914 he volunteered for the British Army and was stationed at the Arab Bureau (established in 1916) intelligence unit in Egypt. In 1916, he travelled to Mesopotamia and to Arabia on intelligence missions and quickly became involved with the Arab Revolt as a liaison to the Arab forces, along with other British officers, supporting the Arab Kingdom of Hejaz's independence war against its former overlord, the Ottoman Empire. He worked closely with Emir Faisal, a leader of the revolt, and he participated, sometimes as leader, in military actions against the Ottoman armed forces, culminating in the capture of Damascus in October 1918.
After the First World War, Lawrence joined the British Foreign Office, working with the British government and with Faisal. In 1922, he retreated from public life and spent the years until 1935 serving as an enlisted man, mostly in the Royal Air Force (RAF), with a brief period in the Army. During this time, he published his best-known work Seven Pillars of Wisdom (1926), an autobiographical account of his participation in the Arab Revolt. He also translated books into English, and wrote The Mint, which detailed his time in the Royal Air Force working as an ordinary aircraftman. He corresponded extensively and was friendly with well-known artists, writers, and politicians. For the RAF, he participated in the development of rescue motorboats.
Lawrence's public image resulted in part from the sensationalised reporting of the Arab revolt by American journalist Lowell Thomas, as well as from Seven Pillars of Wisdom. In 1935, Lawrence was fatally injured in a motorcycle accident in Dorset.
Early life
Thomas Edward Lawrence was born on 16 August 1888 in Tremadog, Carnarvonshire, Wales, in a house named Gorphwysfa, now known as Snowdon Lodge. His Anglo-Irish father Thomas Chapman had left his wife Edith after he had a first son with Sarah Junner who had been governess to his daughters. Sarah had herself been an illegitimate child, having been born in Sunderland as the daughter of Elizabeth Junner, a servant employed by a family named Lawrence; she was dismissed four months before Sarah was born, and identified Sarah's father as "John Junner, Shipwright journeyman".
Lawrence's parents did not marry but lived together under the pseudonym Lawrence. In 1914, his father inherited the Chapman baronetcy based at Killua Castle, the ancestral family home in County Westmeath, Ireland. The couple had five sons, Thomas (called "Ned" by his immediate family) being the second eldest. From Wales, the family moved to Kirkcudbright, Galloway, in southwestern Scotland, then to Dinard in Brittany, then to Jersey.
The family lived at Langley Lodge (now demolished) from 1894 to 1896, set in private woods between the eastern borders of the New Forest and Southampton Water in Hampshire. The residence was isolated, and young Lawrence had many opportunities for outdoor activities and waterfront visits. Victorian-Edwardian Britain was a very conservative society, where the majority of people were Christians who considered premarital and extramarital sex to be shameful, and children born out of wedlock were born in disgrace. Lawrence was always something of an outsider, a bastard who could never hope to achieve the same level of social acceptance and success that others could expect who were born legitimate, and no girl from a respectable family would ever marry a bastard.
In the summer of 1896, the family moved to 2, Polstead Road in Oxford, where they lived until 1921. Lawrence attended the City of Oxford High School for Boys from 1896 until 1907, where one of the four houses was later named "Lawrence" in his honour; the school closed in 1966. Lawrence and one of his brothers became commissioned officers in the Church Lads' Brigade at St Aldate's Church.
Lawrence claimed that he ran away from home around 1905 and served for a few weeks as a boy soldier with the Royal Garrison Artillery at St Mawes Castle in Cornwall, from which he was bought out. However, no evidence of this appears in army records.
Travels, antiquities, and archaeology
At age 15, Lawrence and his schoolfriend Cyril Beeson cycled around Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, and Oxfordshire, visiting almost every village's parish church, studying their monuments and antiquities, and making rubbings of their monumental brasses. Lawrence and Beeson monitored building sites in Oxford and presented the Ashmolean Museum with anything that they found. The Ashmolean's Annual Report for 1906 said that the two teenage boys "by incessant watchfulness secured everything of antiquarian value which has been found." In the summers of 1906 and 1907, Lawrence toured France by bicycle, sometimes with Beeson, collecting photographs, drawings, and measurements of medieval castles. In August 1907, Lawrence wrote home: "The Chaignons & the Lamballe people complimented me on my wonderful French: I have been asked twice since I arrived what part of France I came from".
From 1907 to 1910, Lawrence read history at Jesus College, Oxford. In July and August 1908 he cycled 2,200 miles (3,500 km) solo through France to the Mediterranean and back researching French castles. In the summer of 1909, he set out alone on a three-month walking tour of crusader castles in Ottoman Syria, during which he travelled on foot. While at Jesus he was a keen member of the University Officers' Training Corps (OTC). He graduated with First Class Honours after submitting a thesis titled The Influence of the Crusades on European Military Architecture—to the End of the 12th Century, partly based on his field research with Beeson in France, and his solo research in France and the Middle East. Lawrence was fascinated by the Middle Ages; his brother Arnold wrote in 1937 that "medieval researches" were a "dream way of escape from bourgeois England".
In 1910, Lawrence was offered the opportunity to become a practising archaeologist at Carchemish, in the expedition that D. G. Hogarth was setting up on behalf of the British Museum. Hogarth arranged a "Senior Demyship" (a form of scholarship) for Lawrence at Magdalen College, Oxford, to fund his work at £100 a year. He sailed for Beirut in December 1910 and went to Byblos, where he studied Arabic. He then went to work on the excavations at Carchemish, near Jerablus in northern Syria, where he worked under Hogarth, R. Campbell Thompson of the British Museum, and Leonard Woolley until 1914. He later stated that everything which he had accomplished he owed to Hogarth. Lawrence met Gertrude Bell while excavating at Carchemish. He worked briefly with Flinders Petrie in 1912 at Kafr Ammar in Egypt.
At Carchemish, Lawrence was frequently involved in a high-tension relationship with a German-led team working nearby on the Baghdad Railway at Jerablus. While there was never open combat, there was regular conflict over access to land and treatment of the local workforce; Lawrence gained experience in Middle Eastern leadership practices and conflict resolution.
Military intelligence
In January 1914, Woolley and Lawrence were co-opted by the British military as an archaeological smokescreen for a British military survey of the Negev Desert. They were funded by the Palestine Exploration Fund to search for an area referred to in the Bible as the Wilderness of Zin, and they made an archaeological survey of the Negev Desert along the way. The Negev was strategically important, as an Ottoman army attacking Egypt would have to cross it. Woolley and Lawrence subsequently published a report of the expedition's archaeological findings, but a more important result was updated mapping of the area, with special attention to features of military relevance such as water sources. Lawrence also visited Aqaba and Shobek, not far from Petra.
Following the outbreak of hostilities in August 1914, Lawrence did not immediately enlist in the British Army. He held back until October on the advice of S. F. Newcombe, when he was commissioned on the General List. Before the end of the year, he was summoned by renowned archaeologist and historian Lt. Cmdr. David Hogarth, his mentor at Carchemish, to the new Arab Bureau intelligence unit in Cairo, and he arrived in Cairo on 15 December 1914. The Bureau's chief was General Gilbert Clayton who reported to Egyptian High Commissioner Henry McMahon.
The situation was complex during 1915. There was a growing Arab-nationalist movement within the Arabic-speaking Ottoman territories, including many Arabs serving in the Ottoman armed forces. They were in contact with Sharif Hussein, Emir of Mecca, who was negotiating with the British and offering to lead an Arab uprising against the Ottomans. In exchange, he wanted a British guarantee of an independent Arab state including the Hejaz, Syria, and Mesopotamia. Such an uprising would have been very helpful to Britain in its war against the Ottomans, greatly lessening the threat against the Suez Canal. However, there was resistance from French diplomats who insisted that Syria's future was as a French colony, not an independent Arab state. There were also strong objections from the Government of India, which was nominally part of the British government but acted independently. Its vision was of Mesopotamia under British control serving as a granary for India; furthermore, it wanted to hold on to its Arabian outpost in Aden.
At the Arab Bureau, Lawrence supervised the preparation of maps, produced a daily bulletin for the British generals operating in the theatre, and interviewed prisoners. He was an advocate of a British landing at Alexandretta which never came to pass. He was also a consistent advocate of an independent Arab Syria.
The situation came to a crisis in October 1915, as Sharif Hussein demanded an immediate commitment from Britain, with the threat that he would otherwise throw his weight behind the Ottomans. This would create a credible Pan-Islamic message that could have been very dangerous for Britain, which was in severe difficulties in the Gallipoli Campaign. The British replied with a letter from High Commissioner McMahon that was generally agreeable while reserving commitments concerning the Mediterranean coastline and Holy Land.
In the spring of 1916, Lawrence was dispatched to Mesopotamia to assist in relieving the Siege of Kut by some combination of starting an Arab uprising and bribing Ottoman officials. This mission produced no useful result. Meanwhile, the Sykes–Picot Agreement was being negotiated in London without the knowledge of British officials in Cairo, which awarded a large proportion of Syria to France. Further, it implied that the Arabs would have to conquer Syria's four great cities if they were to have any sort of state there: Damascus, Homs, Hama, and Aleppo. It is unclear at what point Lawrence became aware of the treaty's contents.
Arab Revolt
The Arab Revolt began in June 1916, but it bogged down after a few successes, with a real risk that the Ottoman forces would advance along the coast of the Red Sea and recapture Mecca. On 16 October 1916, Lawrence was sent to the Hejaz on an intelligence-gathering mission led by Ronald Storrs. He interviewed Sharif Hussein's sons Ali, Abdullah, and Faisal, and he concluded that Faisal was the best candidate to lead the Revolt.
In November, S. F. Newcombe was assigned to lead a permanent British liaison to Faisal's staff. Newcombe had not yet arrived in the area and the matter was of some urgency, so Lawrence was sent in his place. In late December 1916, Faisal and Lawrence worked out a plan for repositioning the Arab forces to prevent the Ottoman forces around Medina from threatening Arab positions and putting the railway from Syria under threat. Newcombe arrived and Lawrence was preparing to leave Arabia, but Faisal intervened urgently, asking that Lawrence's assignment become permanent.
Lawrence's most important contributions to the Arab Revolt were in the area of strategy and liaison with British armed forces, but he also participated personally in several military engagements:
3 January 1917: Attack on an Ottoman outpost in the Hejaz
26 March 1917: Attack on the railway at Aba el Naam
11 June 1917: Attack on a bridge at Ras Baalbek
2 July 1917: Defeat of the Ottoman forces at Aba el Lissan, an outpost of Aqaba
18 September 1917: Attack on the railway near Mudawara
27 September 1917: Attack on the railway, destroyed an engine
7 November 1917: Following a failed attack on the Yarmuk bridges, blew up a train on the railway between Dera'a and Amman, suffering several wounds in the explosion and ensuing combat
23 January 1918: The battle of Tafileh, a region southeast of the Dead Sea, with Arab regulars under the command of Jafar Pasha al-Askari; the battle was a defensive engagement that turned into an offensive rout and was described in the official history of the war as a "brilliant feat of arms". Lawrence was awarded the Distinguished Service Order for his leadership at Tafileh and was promoted to lieutenant colonel.
March 1918: Attack on the railway near Aqaba
19 April 1918: Attack using British armoured cars on Tell Shahm
16 September 1918: Destruction of railway bridge between Amman and Dera'a
26 September 1918: Attack on retreating Ottomans and Germans near the village of Tafas. The Ottoman forces massacred the villagers and then Arab forces in return massacred their prisoners with Lawrence's encouragement.
Lawrence made a 300-mile personal journey northward in June 1917, on the way to Aqaba, visiting Ras Baalbek, the outskirts of Damascus, and Azraq, Jordan. He met Arab nationalists, counselling them to avoid revolt until the arrival of Faisal's forces, and he attacked a bridge to create the impression of guerrilla activity. His findings were regarded by the British as extremely valuable and there was serious consideration of awarding him a Victoria Cross; in the end, he was invested as a Companion of the Order of the Bath and promoted to Major.
Lawrence travelled regularly between British headquarters and Faisal, co-ordinating military action. But by early 1918, Faisal's chief British liaison was Colonel Pierce Charles Joyce, and Lawrence's time was chiefly devoted to raiding and intelligence-gathering.
Strategy
The chief elements of the Arab strategy which Faisal and Lawrence developed were to avoid capturing Medina, and to extend northwards through Maan and Dera'a to Damascus and beyond. Faisal wanted to lead regular attacks against the Ottomans, but Lawrence persuaded him to drop that tactic. Lawrence wrote about the Bedouin as a fighting force:
The value of the tribes is defensive only and their real sphere is guerilla warfare. They are intelligent, and very lively, almost reckless, but too individualistic to endure commands, or fight in line, or to help each other. It would, I think, be possible to make an organized force out of them.… The Hejaz war is one of dervishes against regular forces—and we are on the side of the dervishes. Our text-books do not apply to its conditions at all.
Medina was an attractive target for the revolt as Islam's second holiest site, and because its Ottoman garrison was weakened by disease and isolation. It became clear that it was advantageous to leave it there rather than try to capture it, while continually attacking the Hejaz railway south from Damascus without permanently destroying it. This prevented the Ottomans from making effective use of their troops at Medina, and forced them to dedicate many resources to defending and repairing the railway line.
It is not known when Lawrence learned the details of the Sykes-Picot Agreement, nor if or when he briefed Faisal on what he knew, However, there is good reason to think that both these things happened, and earlier rather than later. In particular, the Arab strategy of northward extension makes perfect sense given the Sykes-Picot language that spoke of an independent Arab entity in Syria, which would only be granted if the Arabs liberated the territory themselves. The French, and some of their British Liaison officers, were specifically uncomfortable about the northward movement, as it would weaken French colonial claims.
Capture of Aqaba
In 1917, Lawrence proposed a joint action with the Arab irregulars and forces including Auda Abu Tayi, who had previously been in the employ of the Ottomans, against the strategically located but lightly defended town of Aqaba on the Red Sea. Aqaba could have been attacked from the sea, but the narrow defiles leading through the mountains were strongly defended and would have been very difficult to assault. The expedition was led by Sharif Nasir of Medina.
Lawrence carefully avoided informing his British superiors about the details of the planned inland attack, due to concern that it would be blocked as contrary to French interests. The expedition departed from Wejh on 9 May, and Aqaba fell to the Arab forces on 6 July, after a surprise overland attack which took the Turkish defences from behind. After Aqaba, General Sir Edmund Allenby, the new commander-in-chief of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force, agreed to Lawrence's strategy for the revolt. Lawrence now held a powerful position as an adviser to Faisal and a person who had Allenby's confidence, as Allenby acknowledged after the war:
Dera'a
Lawrence describes an episode on 20 November 1917 while reconnoitring Dera'a in disguise, when he was captured by the Ottoman military, heavily beaten, and sexually abused by the local bey and his guardsmen, though he does not specify the nature of the sexual contact. Some scholars have stated that he exaggerated the severity of the injuries that he suffered, or alleged that the episode never actually happened. There is no independent testimony, but the multiple consistent reports and the absence of evidence for outright invention in Lawrence's works make the account believable to some of his biographers. Malcolm Brown, John E. Mack, and Jeremy Wilson have argued that this episode had strong psychological effects on Lawrence, which may explain some of his unconventional behaviour in later life. Lawrence ended his account of the episode in Seven Pillars of Wisdom with the statement: "In Dera'a that night the citadel of my integrity had been irrevocably lost."
Fall of Damascus
Lawrence was involved in the build-up to the capture of Damascus in the final weeks of the war, but he was not present at the city's formal surrender, much to his disappointment. He arrived several hours after the city had fallen, entering Damascus around 9 am on 1 October 1918; the first to arrive was the 10th Australian Light Horse Brigade led by Major A. C. N. "Harry" Olden, who formally accepted the surrender of the city from acting Governor Emir Said. Lawrence was instrumental in establishing a provisional Arab government under Faisal in newly liberated Damascus, which he had envisioned as the capital of an Arab state. Faisal's rule as king, however, came to an abrupt end in 1920, after the battle of Maysaloun when the French Forces of General Gouraud entered Damascus under the command of General Mariano Goybet, destroying Lawrence's dream of an independent Arabia.
During the closing years of the war, Lawrence sought to convince his superiors in the British government that Arab independence was in their interests, but he met with mixed success. The secret Sykes-Picot Agreement between France and Britain contradicted the promises of independence that he had made to the Arabs and frustrated his work.
Post-war years
Lawrence returned to the United Kingdom a full colonel. Immediately after the war, he worked for the Foreign Office, attending the Paris Peace Conference between January and May as a member of Faisal's delegation. On 17 May 1919, a Handley Page Type O/400 taking Lawrence to Egypt crashed at the airport of Roma-Centocelle. The pilot and co-pilot were killed; Lawrence survived with a broken shoulder blade and two broken ribs. During his brief hospitalisation, he was visited by King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy.
In 1918, Lowell Thomas went to Jerusalem where he met Lawrence, "whose enigmatic figure in Arab uniform fired his imagination", in the words of author Rex Hall. Thomas and his cameraman Harry Chase shot a great deal of film and many photographs involving Lawrence. Thomas produced a stage presentation entitled With Allenby in Palestine which included a lecture, dancing, and music and engaged in "Orientalism", depicting the Middle East as exotic, mysterious, sensuous, and violent.
The show premiered in New York in March 1919. He was invited to take his show to England, and he agreed to do so provided that he was personally invited by the King and provided the use of either Drury Lane or Covent Garden. He opened at Covent Garden on 14 August 1919 and continued for hundreds of lectures, "attended by the highest in the land".
Initially, Lawrence played only a supporting role in the show, as the main focus was on Allenby's campaigns; but then Thomas realised that it was the photos of Lawrence dressed as a Bedouin which had captured the public's imagination, so he had Lawrence photographed again in London in Arab dress. With the new photos, Thomas re-launched his show under the new title With Allenby in Palestine and Lawrence in Arabia in early 1920, which proved to be extremely popular. The new title elevated Lawrence from a supporting role to a co-star of the Near Eastern campaign and reflected a changed emphasis. Thomas' shows made the previously obscure Lawrence into a household name.
Lawrence worked with Thomas on the creation of the presentation, answering many questions and posing for many photographs. After its success, however, he expressed regret about having been featured in it.
Lawrence served as an advisor to Winston Churchill at the Colonial Office for just over a year starting in February 1920. He hated bureaucratic work, writing on 21 May 1921 to Robert Graves: "I wish I hadn't gone out there: the Arabs are like a page I have turned over; and sequels are rotten things. I'm locked up here: office every day and much of it". He travelled to the Middle East on multiple occasions during this period, at one time holding the title of "chief political officer for Trans-Jordania".
He campaigned actively for his and Churchill's vision of the Middle East, publishing pieces in multiple newspapers, including The Times, The Observer, The Daily Mail, and The Daily Express.
Lawrence had a sinister reputation in France during his lifetime and even today as an implacable "enemy of France", the man who was constantly stirring up the Syrians to rebel against French rule throughout the 1920s. However, French historian Maurice Larès wrote that the real reason for France's problems in Syria was that the Syrians did not want to be ruled by France, and the French needed a scapegoat to blame for their difficulties in ruling the country. Larès wrote that Lawrence is usually pictured in France as a Francophobe, but he was really a Francophile.
Having seen and admired the effective use of air power during the war, Lawrence enlisted in the Royal Air Force as an aircraftman, under the name John Hume Ross in August 1922. At the RAF recruiting centre in Covent Garden, London, he was interviewed by recruiting officer Flying Officer W. E. Johns, later known as the author of the Biggles series of novels. Johns rejected Lawrence's application, as he suspected that "Ross" was a false name. Lawrence admitted that this was so and that he had provided false documents. He left, but returned some time later with an RAF messenger who carried a written order that Johns must accept Lawrence.
However, Lawrence was forced out of the RAF in February 1923 after his identity was exposed. He changed his name to T. E. Shaw (apparently as a consequence of his friendship with G. B. and Charlotte Shaw) and joined the Royal Tank Corps later that year. He was unhappy there and repeatedly petitioned to rejoin the RAF, which finally readmitted him in August 1925. A fresh burst of publicity after the publication of Revolt in the Desert resulted in his assignment to bases at Karachi and Miramshah in British India (now Pakistan) in late 1926, where he remained until the end of 1928. At that time, he was forced to return to Britain after rumours began to circulate that he was involved in espionage activities.
He purchased several small plots of land in Chingford, built a hut and swimming pool there, and visited frequently. The hut was removed in 1930 when Chingford Urban District Council acquired the land; it was given to the City of London Corporation which re-erected it in the grounds of The Warren, Loughton. Lawrence's tenure of the Chingford land has now been commemorated by a plaque fixed on the sighting obelisk on Pole Hill.
Lawrence continued serving in the RAF based at RAF Mount Batten near Plymouth, RAF Calshot near Southampton, and RAF Bridlington, East Riding of Yorkshire. He specialised in high-speed boats and professed happiness, and he left the service with considerable regret at the end of his enlistment in March 1935.
In late August or early September 1931 he stayed with Lady Houston aboard her luxury yacht, the Liberty, off Calshot, shortly before the Schneider Trophy competition. In later letters Lady Houston would ask Lawrence's advice on obtaining a new chauffeur for her Rolls Royce car ('Forgive my asking, but you know everything') and suggest that he join the Liberty, for she had discharged her captain, who had turned out to be a 'wrong 'un.'
In the inter-war period, the RAF's Marine Craft Section began to commission air-sea rescue launches capable of higher speeds and greater capacity. The arrival of high-speed craft into the MCS was driven in part by Lawrence. He had previously witnessed a seaplane crew drowning when the seaplane tender sent to their rescue was too slow in arriving. He worked with Hubert Scott-Paine, the founder of the British Power Boat Company (BPBC), to introduce the long ST 200 Seaplane Tender Mk1 into service. These boats had a range of 140 miles when cruising at 24 knots and could achieve a top speed of 29 knots.
Lawrence was a keen motorcyclist and owned eight Brough Superior motorcycles at different times. His last SS100 (Registration GW 2275) is privately owned but has been on loan to the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu and the Imperial War Museum in London. He was also an avid reader of Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur and carried a copy on his campaigns. He read an account of Eugene Vinaver's discovery of the Winchester Manuscript of the Morte in The Times in 1934, and he motorcycled from Manchester to Winchester to meet Vinaver.
Death
On 13 May 1935, Lawrence was fatally injured in an accident on his Brough Superior SS100 motorcycle in Dorset close to his cottage Clouds Hill, near Wareham, just two months after leaving military service. A dip in the road obstructed his view of two boys on their bicycles; he swerved to avoid them, lost control, and was thrown over the handlebars. He died six days later on 19 May 1935, aged 46. The location of the crash is marked by a small memorial at the roadside.
One of the doctors attending him was neurosurgeon Hugh Cairns, who consequently began a long study of the loss of life by motorcycle dispatch riders through head injuries. His research led to the use of crash helmets by both military and civilian motorcyclists.
The Moreton estate borders Bovington Camp, and Lawrence bought it from his cousins the Frampton family. He had been a frequent visitor to their home Okers Wood House, and had corresponded with Louisa Frampton for years. Lawrence's mother arranged with the Framptons to have his body buried in their family plot in the separate burial ground of St Nicholas' Church, Moreton. The coffin was transported on the Frampton estate's bier. Mourners included Winston Churchill, E. M. Forster, Lady Astor, and Lawrence's youngest brother Arnold.
Writings
Lawrence was a prolific writer throughout his life, a large portion of which was epistolary; he often sent several letters a day, and several collections of his letters have been published. He corresponded with many notable figures, including George Bernard Shaw, Edward Elgar, Winston Churchill, Robert Graves, Noël Coward, E. M. Forster, Siegfried Sassoon, John Buchan, Augustus John, and Henry Williamson. He met Joseph Conrad and commented perceptively on his works. The many letters that he sent to Shaw's wife Charlotte are revealing as to his character.
Lawrence was a competent speaker of French and Arabic, and reader of Latin and Ancient Greek.
Lawrence published three major texts in his lifetime. The most significant was his account of the Arab Revolt in Seven Pillars of Wisdom. Homer's Odyssey and The Forest Giant were translations, the latter an otherwise forgotten work of French fiction. He received a flat fee for the second translation, and negotiated a generous fee plus royalties for the first.
Seven Pillars of Wisdom
Lawrence's major work is Seven Pillars of Wisdom, an account of his war experiences. In 1919, he was elected to a seven-year research fellowship at All Souls College, Oxford, providing him with support while he worked on the book. Certain parts of the book also serve as essays on military strategy, Arabian culture and geography, and other topics. He rewrote Seven Pillars of Wisdom three times, once "blind" after he lost the manuscript.
There are many alleged "embellishments" in Seven Pillars, though some allegations have been disproved with time, most definitively in Jeremy Wilson's authorised biography. However, Lawrence's own notebooks refute his claim to have crossed the Sinai Peninsula from Aqaba to the Suez Canal in just 49 hours without any sleep. In reality, this famous camel ride lasted for more than 70 hours and was interrupted by two long breaks for sleeping, which Lawrence omitted when he wrote his book.
In the preface, Lawrence acknowledged George Bernard Shaw's help in editing the book. The first edition was published in 1926 as a high-priced private subscription edition, printed in London by Herbert John Hodgson and Roy Manning Pike, with illustrations by Eric Kennington, Augustus John, Paul Nash, Blair Hughes-Stanton, and Hughes-Stanton's wife Gertrude Hermes. Lawrence was afraid that the public would think that he would make a substantial income from the book, and he stated that it was written as a result of his war service. He vowed not to take any money from it, and indeed he did not, as the sale price was one third of the production costs, leaving him in substantial debt.
As a specialist in the Middle East, Fred Halliday praised Lawrence's Seven Pillars of Wisdom as a "fine work of prose" but described its relevance to the study of Arab history and society as "almost worthless."
Revolt in the Desert
Revolt in the Desert was an abridged version of Seven Pillars that he began in 1926 and that was published in March 1927 in both limited and trade editions. He undertook a needed but reluctant publicity exercise, which resulted in a best-seller. Again he vowed not to take any fees from the publication, partly to appease the subscribers to Seven Pillars who had paid dearly for their editions. By the fourth reprint in 1927, the debt from Seven Pillars was paid off. As Lawrence left for military service in India at the end of 1926, he set up the "Seven Pillars Trust" with his friend D. G. Hogarth as a trustee, in which he made over the copyright and any surplus income of Revolt in the Desert. He later told Hogarth that he had "made the Trust final, to save myself the temptation of reviewing it, if Revolt turned out a best seller."
The resultant trust paid off the debt, and Lawrence then invoked a clause in his publishing contract to halt publication of the abridgement in the United Kingdom. However, he allowed both American editions and translations, which resulted in a substantial flow of income. The trust paid income either into an educational fund for children of RAF officers who lost their lives or were invalided as a result of service, or more substantially into the RAF Benevolent Fund.
Posthumous
Lawrence left The Mint unpublished, a memoir of his experiences as an enlisted man in the Royal Air Force (RAF). For this, he worked from a notebook that he kept while enlisted, writing of the daily lives of enlisted men and his desire to be a part of something larger than himself. The book is stylistically very different from Seven Pillars of Wisdom, using sparse prose as opposed to the complicated syntax found in Seven Pillars. It was published posthumously, edited by his brother Professor A. W. Lawrence.
After Lawrence's death, A. W. Lawrence inherited Lawrence's estate and his copyrights as the sole beneficiary. To pay the inheritance tax, he sold the US copyright of Seven Pillars of Wisdom (subscribers' text) outright to Doubleday Doran in 1935. Doubleday still controls publication rights of this version of the text of Seven Pillars of Wisdom in the US, and will continue to until the copyright expires at the end of 2022 (publication plus 95 years). In 1936, A. W. Lawrence split the remaining assets of the estate, giving Clouds Hill and many copies of less substantial or historical letters to the National Trust, and then set up two trusts to control interests in his brother's residual copyrights. He assigned the copyright in Seven Pillars of Wisdom to the Seven Pillars of Wisdom Trust, and it was given its first general publication as a result. He assigned the copyright in The Mint and all Lawrence's letters to the Letters and Symposium Trust, which he edited and published in the book T. E. Lawrence by his Friends in 1937.
A substantial amount of income went directly to the RAF Benevolent Fund and to archaeological, environmental, and academic projects. The two trusts were amalgamated in 1986, and the unified trust acquired all the remaining rights to Lawrence's works that it had not owned on the death of A. W. Lawrence in 1991, plus rights to all of A. W. Lawrence's works. The UK copyrights on Lawrence's works published in his lifetime and within 20 years of his death expired on 1 January 2006. Works published more than 20 years after his death were protected for 50 years from publication or to 1 January 2040, whichever is earlier.
Writings
Seven Pillars of Wisdom, an account of Lawrence's part in the Arab Revolt. ()
Revolt in the Desert, an abridged version of Seven Pillars of Wisdom. ()
The Mint, an account of Lawrence's service in the Royal Air Force. ()
Crusader Castles, Lawrence's Oxford thesis. London: Michael Haag 1986 (). The first edition was published in London in 1936 by the Golden Cockerel Press, in 2 volumes, limited to 1000 editions.
The Odyssey of Homer, Lawrence's translation from the Greek, first published in 1932. ()
The Forest Giant, by Adrien Le Corbeau, novel, Lawrence's translation from the French, 1924.
The Letters of T. E. Lawrence, selected and edited by Malcolm Brown. London, J. M Dent. 1988 ()
The Letters of T. E. Lawrence, edited by David Garnett. ()
T. E. Lawrence. Letters, Jeremy Wilson. (See prospectus)
Minorities: Good Poems by Small Poets and Small Poems by Good Poets, edited by Jeremy Wilson, 1971. Lawrence's commonplace book includes an introduction by Wilson that explains how the poems comprising the book reflected Lawrence's life and thoughts.
Guerrilla Warfare, article in the 1929 Encyclopædia Britannica
The Wilderness of Zin, by C. Leonard Woolley and T. E. Lawrence. London, Harrison and Sons, 1914.
Sexuality
Lawrence's biographers have discussed his sexuality at considerable length and this discussion has spilled into the popular press. There is no reliable evidence for consensual sexual intimacy between Lawrence and any person. His friends have expressed the opinion that he was asexual, and Lawrence himself specifically denied any personal experience of sex in multiple private letters. There were suggestions that Lawrence had been intimate with Dahoum, who worked with him at a pre-war archaeological dig in Carchemish, and fellow serviceman R. A. M. Guy, but his biographers and contemporaries found them unconvincing.
The dedication to his book Seven Pillars is a poem titled "To S.A." which opens:
Lawrence was never specific about the identity of "S.A." Many theories argue in favour of individual men or women, and the Arab nation as a whole. The most popular theory is that S.A. represents (at least in part) his companion Selim Ahmed, "Dahoum", who apparently died of typhus before 1918.
Lawrence lived in a period of strong official opposition to homosexuality, but his writing on the subject was tolerant. He wrote to Charlotte Shaw, "I've seen lots of man-and-man loves: very lovely and fortunate some of them were." He refers to "the openness and honesty of perfect love" on one occasion in Seven Pillars, when discussing relationships between young male fighters in the war. He wrote in Chapter 1 of Seven Pillars:
There is considerable evidence that Lawrence was a masochist. He wrote in his description of the Dera'a beating that "a delicious warmth, probably sexual, was swelling through me," and he also included a detailed description of the guards' whip in a style typical of masochists' writing. In later life, Lawrence arranged to pay a military colleague to administer beatings to him, and to be subjected to severe formal tests of fitness and stamina. John Bruce first wrote on this topic, including some other statements that were not credible, but Lawrence's biographers regard the beatings as established fact. French novelist André Malraux admired Lawrence but wrote that he had a "taste for self-humiliation, now by discipline and now by veneration; a horror of respectability; a disgust for possessions". Biographer Lawrence James wrote that the evidence suggested a "strong homosexual masochism", noting that he never sought punishment from women.
Psychologist John E. Mack sees a possible connection between Lawrence's masochism and the childhood beatings that he had received from his mother for routine misbehaviours. His brother Arnold thought that the beatings had been given for the purpose of breaking his brother's will. Angus Calder suggested in 1997 that Lawrence's apparent masochism and self-loathing might have stemmed from a sense of guilt over losing his brothers Frank and Will on the Western Front, along with many other school friends, while he survived.
Aldington controversy
In 1955 Richard Aldington published Lawrence of Arabia: A Biographical Enquiry, a sustained attack on Lawrence's character, writing, accomplishments, and truthfulness. Specifically, Aldington alleges that Lawrence lied and exaggerated continuously, promoted a misguided policy in the Middle East, that his strategy of containing but not capturing Medina was incorrect, and that Seven Pillars of Wisdom was a bad book with few redeeming features. He also revealed Lawrence's illegitimacy and strongly suggested that he was homosexual. For example: "Seven Pillars of Wisdom is rather a work of quasi-fiction than history.", and "It was seldom that he reported any fact or episode involving himself without embellishing them and indeed in some cases entirely inventing them."
It is significant that Aldington was a colonialist, arguing that the French colonial administration of Syria (strongly resisted by Lawrence) had benefited that country and that Arabia's peoples were "far enough advanced for some government though not for complete self-government." He was also a Francophile, railing against Lawrence's "Francophobia, a hatred and an envy so irrational, so irresponsible and so unscrupulous that it is fair to say his attitude towards Syria was determined more by hatred of France than by devotion to the 'Arabs' - a convenient propaganda word which grouped many disharmonious and even mutually hostile tribes and peoples."
Prior to the publication of Aldington's book, its contents became known in London's literary community. A group Aldington and some subsequent authors referred to as "The Lawrence Bureau", led by B. H. Liddell Hart tried energetically, starting in 1954, to have the book suppressed. That effort having failed, Liddell Hart prepared and distributed hundreds of copies of Aldington's 'Lawrence': His Charges--and Treatment of the Evidence, a 7-page single-spaced document. This worked: Aldington's book received many extremely negative and even abusive reviews, with strong evidence that some reviewers had read Liddell's rebuttal but not Aldington's book.
Aldington wrote that Lawrence embellished many stories and invented others, and in particular that his claims involving numbers were usually inflated - for example claims of having read 50,000 books in the Oxford Union library, of having blown up 79 bridges, of having had a price of £50,000 on his head, and of having suffered 60 or more injuries. Many of Aldington's specific claims against Lawrence have been accepted by subsequent biographers. In Richard Aldington and Lawrence of Arabia: A Cautionary Tale, Fred D. Crawford writes "Much that shocked in 1955 is now standard knowledge--that TEL was illegitimate, that this profoundly troubled him, that he frequently resented his mother's dominance, that such reminiscences as T.E. Lawrence by His Friends are not reliable, that TEL's leg-pulling and other adolescent traits could be offensive, that TEL took liberties with the truth in his official reports and Seven Pillars, that the significance of his exploits during the Arab Revolt was more political than military, that he contributed to his own myth, that when he vetted the books by Graves and Liddell he let remain much that he knew was untrue, and that his feelings about publicity were ambiguous."
This has not prevented most post-Aldington biographers (including Fred D. Crawford, who studied the Aldington claims intensely) from expressing strong admiration for Lawrence's military, political, and writing achievements.
Awards and commemorations
Lawrence was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath on 7 August 1917, appointed a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order on 10 May 1918, awarded the Knight of the Legion of Honour (France) on 30 May 1916 and awarded the Croix de guerre (France) on 16 April 1918.
King George V offered Lawrence a knighthood on 30 October 1918 at a private audience in Buckingham Palace for his services in the Arab Revolt, but he declined. He was unwilling to accept the honour in light of how his country had betrayed the Arabs.
A bronze bust of Lawrence by Eric Kennington was placed in the crypt of St Paul's Cathedral, London, on 29 January 1936, alongside the tombs of Britain's greatest military leaders. A recumbent stone effigy by Kennington was installed in St Martin's Church, Wareham, Dorset, in 1939.
An English Heritage blue plaque marks Lawrence's childhood home at 2 Polstead Road, Oxford, and another appears on his London home at 14 Barton Street, Westminster. Lawrence appears on the album cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles. In 2002, Lawrence was named 53rd in the BBC's list of the 100 Greatest Britons following a UK-wide vote.
In 2018, Lawrence was featured on a £5 coin (issued in silver and gold) in a six-coin set commemorating the Centenary of the First World War produced by the Royal Mint.
In popular culture
Film
Alexander Korda bought the film rights to The Seven Pillars in the 1930s. The production was in development, with various actors cast as the lead, such as Leslie Howard.
Peter O'Toole was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Lawrence in the 1962 film Lawrence of Arabia.
Lawrence was portrayed by Robert Pattinson in the 2014 biographical drama about Gertrude Bell, Queen of the Desert.
Peter O'Toole's portrayal of Lawrence inspired behavioural affectations in the synthetic model called David, portrayed by Michael Fassbender in the 2012 film Prometheus, and in the 2017 sequel Alien: Covenant, part of the Alien franchise.
Literature
T.E. Lawrence (T.E.ロレンス) is a seven-volume manga series by Tomoko Kosaka, which retells Lawrence's life story from childhood onward.
The Oath of the Five Lords tells a fictional story including several references to T.E. Lawrence and his memoirs in which he describes how the United Kingdom did not honour its promises to the Arab nation. The comic is the twenty-first book in the Blake and Mortimer comic series. The story was written by Yves Sente and drawn by André Juillard and was released in 2012.
The T.E. Lawrence Poems was published by Canadian poet Gwendolyn MacEwen in 1982. The poems rely heavily, and quote directly from, primary material including Seven Pillars and the collected letters.
Television
He was portrayed by Judson Scott in the 1982 TV series Voyagers!
Ralph Fiennes portrayed Lawrence in the 1992 British made-for-TV movie A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia.
Joseph A. Bennett and Douglas Henshall portrayed him in the 1992 TV series The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles.
He was also portrayed in a Syrian series, directed by Thaer Mousa, called Lawrence Al Arab. The series consisted of 37 episodes, each between 45 minutes and one hour in length.
Theatre
Lawrence was the subject of Terence Rattigan's controversial play Ross, which explored Lawrence's alleged homosexuality. Ross ran in London in 1960–61, starring Alec Guinness, who was an admirer of Lawrence, and Gerald Harper as his blackmailer, Dickinson. The play had originally been written as a screenplay, but the planned film was never made. In January 1986 at the Theatre Royal, Plymouth, on the opening night of the revival of Ross, Marc Sinden, who was playing Dickinson (the man who recognised and blackmailed Lawrence, played by Simon Ward), was introduced to the man on whom the character of Dickinson was based. Sinden asked him why he had blackmailed Ross, and he replied, "Oh, for the money. I was financially embarrassed at the time and needed to get up to London to see a girlfriend. It was never meant to be a big thing, but a good friend of mine was very close to Terence Rattigan and years later, the silly devil told him the story."
Alan Bennett's Forty Years On (1968) includes a satire on Lawrence; known as "Tee Hee Lawrence" because of his high-pitched, girlish giggle. "Clad in the magnificent white silk robes of an Arab prince ... he hoped to pass unnoticed through London. Alas he was mistaken."
The character of Private Napoleon Meek in George Bernard Shaw's 1931 play Too True to Be Good was inspired by Lawrence. Meek is depicted as thoroughly conversant with the language and lifestyle of the native tribes. He repeatedly enlists with the army, quitting whenever offered a promotion. Lawrence attended a performance of the play's original Worcestershire run, and reportedly signed autographs for patrons attending the show.
Lawrence's first year back at Oxford after the War to write was portrayed by Tom Rooney in a play, The Oxford Roof Climbers Rebellion, written by Canadian playwright Stephen Massicotte (premiered Toronto 2006). The play explores Lawrence's reactions to war, and his friendship with Robert Graves. Urban Stages presented the American premiere in New York City in October 2007; Lawrence was portrayed by actor Dylan Chalfy.
Lawrence's final years are portrayed in a one-man show by Raymond Sargent, The Warrior and the Poet.
His 1922 retreat from public life forms the subject of Howard Brenton's play Lawrence After Arabia, commissioned for a 2016 premiere at the Hampstead Theatre to mark the centenary of the outbreak of the Arab Revolt.
A highly fictionalised version of Lawrence featured in the 2016 Swedish-language comedic play Lawrence i Mumiedalen.
Video games
A fictionalized Lawrence is an NPC who assists the party in Shadow Hearts: Covenant (2004).
A fictionalized Lawrence is an NPC who appears in cutscenes and guides the player through missions in Battlefield 1 (2016).
Lawrence and his work are referenced multiple times throughout the video game Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (2011).
See also
Hashemites, ruling family of Mecca (10th–20th century) and of Jordan since 1921
Kingdom of Iraq (1932–1958)
Lawrence of Arabia: The Authorised Biography of T. E. Lawrence by Jeremy Wilson (1989)
The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones, US TV series (1992–1993) with episodes depicting moments from Lawrence's life
Related individuals
Richard Meinertzhagen (1878–1967), British intelligence officer and ornithologist, on occasion a colleague of Lawrence's
Rafael de Nogales Méndez (1879–1937), Venezuelan officer who served in the Ottoman Army and was compared to Lawrence
Suleiman Mousa (1919–2008), Jordanian historian who wrote about Lawrence
Oskar von Niedermayer (1885–1948), German officer, professor and spy, sometimes referred to as the German Lawrence
Max von Oppenheim (1860–1946), German-Jewish lawyer, diplomat and archaeologist. Lawrence called his travelogue "the best book on the [Middle East] area I know".
Wilhelm Wassmuss (1880–1931), German diplomat and spy, known as "Wassmuss of Persia" and compared to Lawrence
References
Citations
Sources
External links
Digital collections
T. E. Lawrence's Original Letters on Palestine Shapell Manuscript Foundation
Works by T. E. Lawrence at Wikilivres
Physical collections
T. E. Lawrence's Collection at The University of Texas at Austin's Harry Ransom Center
"Creating History: Lowell Thomas and Lawrence of Arabia" online history exhibit at Clio Visualizing History.
Europeana Collections 1914–1918 makes 425,000 World War I items from European libraries available online, including manuscripts, photographs and diaries by or relating to Lawrence
T. E. Lawrence's Personal Manuscripts and Letters
News and analysis
The Guardian 19 May 1935 – The death of Lawrence of Arabia
The Legend of Lawrence of Arabia: The Recalcitrant Hero
T. E. Lawrence: The Enigmatic Lawrence of Arabia article by O'Brien Browne
Lawrence of Arabia: True and false (an Arab view) by Lucy Ladikoff
Documentaries
Footage of Lawrence of Arabia with publisher FN Doubleday and at a picnic
Lawrence of Arabia: The Battle for the Arab World, directed by James Hawes. PBS Home Video, 21 October 2003. (ASIN B0000BWVND)
Societies
T. E. Lawrence Studies, built by Lawrence's authorised biographer Jeremy Wilson (no longer maintained)
The T. E. Lawrence Society
1888 births
1935 deaths
20th-century archaeologists
20th-century British writers
20th-century translators
Alumni of Jesus College, Oxford
Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford
Arab Bureau officers
Arab Revolt
British archaeologists
British Army General List officers
British Army personnel of World War I
British guerrillas
British people of Irish descent
Castellologists
Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur
Companions of the Distinguished Service Order
Companions of the Order of the Bath
Fellows of All Souls College, Oxford
French–English translators
Greek–English translators
Guerrilla warfare theorists
Motorcycle road incident deaths
People educated at the City of Oxford High School for Boys
People from Caernarfonshire
People of Anglo-Irish descent
Road incident deaths in England
Royal Air Force airmen
Royal Garrison Artillery soldiers
Royal Tank Regiment soldiers
Welsh people of Irish descent
Translators of Homer | true | [
"The Lawrence Township School District is a community public school district that serves students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade from Lawrence Township, in Cumberland County, New Jersey, United States.\n\nAs of the 2018–19 school year, the district, comprised of one school, had an enrollment of 507 students and 42.4 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 12.0:1.\n\nThe district is classified by the New Jersey Department of Education as being in District Factor Group \"CD\", the sixth-highest of eight groupings. District Factor Groups organize districts statewide to allow comparison by common socioeconomic characteristics of the local districts. From lowest socioeconomic status to highest, the categories are A, B, CD, DE, FG, GH, I and J.\n\nFor ninth through twelfth grades, public school students in Lawrence Township are assigned to one of two school districts based on the location of their residence. Students attend high school either in Bridgeton or Millville, based on sending/receiving relationships with the respective school districts, the Bridgeton Public Schools and the Millville Public Schools. Students sent to Bridgeton attend Bridgeton High School. Students sent to Millville join students from Commercial Township, Maurice River Township and Woodbine and attend Memorial High School for ninth grade and half of the tenth grade and Millville Senior High School for half of the tenth grade through the twelfth grade.\n\nSchool\nThe Myron L. Powell School had an enrollment of 500 students in grades PreK-8 the 2018–19 school year.\n\nAdministration\nCore members of the district's administration are:New Jersey School Directory for Cumberland County, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed May 14, 2017.</ref>\nDr. Shellymarie Magan, Superintendent\nLisa DiNovi, Business Administrator / Board Secretary\n\nBoard of education\nThe district's board of education, comprised of nine members, sets policy and oversees the fiscal and educational operation of the district through its administration. As a Type II school district, the board's trustees are elected directly by voters to serve three-year terms of office on a staggered basis, with three seats up for election each year held (since 2012) as part of the November general election. The board appoints a superintendent to oversee the day-to-day operation of the district.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nMyron L. Powell Elementary School\n\nSchool Data for the Myron L. Powell Elementary School, National Center for Education Statistics\n\nLawrence Township, Cumberland County, New Jersey\nNew Jersey District Factor Group CD\nSchool districts in Cumberland County, New Jersey",
"Lawrence Fuller (January 28, 1923 – April 6, 2005) was an American football running back in the National Football League for the Washington Redskins and the Chicago Cardinals. He did not attend college.\n\nExternal links\nNFL.com player page\n\n1923 births\n2005 deaths\nPeople from Franklin County, New York\nPlayers of American football from New York (state)\nAmerican football running backs\nWashington Redskins players\nChicago Cardinals players"
]
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[
"T. E. Lawrence",
"Antiquities and archaeology",
"How did he get interested in antiquities and archaeology?",
"Lawrence and his schoolfriend Cyril Beeson cycled around Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, and Oxfordshire, visited almost every village's parish church, studied their monuments and antiquities,",
"Did Lawrence attend school?",
"From 1907 to 1910, Lawrence read History at Jesus College, Oxford."
]
| C_f8febb2118a84b91bb8cffa9bbb47998_1 | What did they do at the sites? | 3 | What did T.E. Lawrence do at the sites? | T. E. Lawrence | At the age of 15, Lawrence and his schoolfriend Cyril Beeson cycled around Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, and Oxfordshire, visited almost every village's parish church, studied their monuments and antiquities, and made rubbings of their monumental brasses. Lawrence and Beeson monitored building sites in Oxford and presented their finds to the Ashmolean Museum. The Ashmolean's Annual Report for 1906 said that the two teenage boys "by incessant watchfulness secured everything of antiquarian value which has been found." In the summers of 1906 and 1907, Lawrence and Beeson toured France by bicycle, collecting photographs, drawings, and measurements of medieval castles. In August 1907 Lawrence wrote home: "The Chaignons & the Lamballe people, complimented me on my wonderful French: I have been asked twice since I arrived what part of France I came from". From 1907 to 1910, Lawrence read History at Jesus College, Oxford. In the summer of 1909, he set out alone on a three-month walking tour of crusader castles in Ottoman Syria, during which he travelled 1,000 mi (1,600 km) on foot. Lawrence graduated with First Class Honours after submitting a thesis titled The Influence of the Crusades on European Military Architecture--to the End of the 12th Century, based on his field research with Beeson in France, notably in Chalus, and his solo research in the Middle East. Lawrence was fascinated by the Middle Ages with his brother Arnold writing in 1937 that for him "medieval researches" were a "dream way of escape from bourgeois England". In 1910 Lawrence was offered the opportunity to become a practising archaeologist in the Middle East, at Carchemish, in the expedition that D. G. Hogarth was setting up on behalf of the British Museum. Hogarth arranged a "Senior Demyship", a form of scholarship, for Lawrence at Magdalen College, Oxford, to fund Lawrence's work at PS100 a year. In December 1910, he sailed for Beirut and on his arrival went to Jbail (Byblos), where he studied Arabic. He then went to work on the excavations at Carchemish, near Jerablus in northern Syria, where he worked under Hogarth, R. Campbell Thompson of the British Museum, and Leonard Woolley, until 1914. He later stated that everything which he had accomplished he owed to Hogarth. While excavating at Carchemish, Lawrence met Gertrude Bell. In 1912 Lawrence worked briefly with Flinders Petrie at Kafr Ammar in Egypt. CANNOTANSWER | studied their monuments and antiquities, and made rubbings of their monumental brasses. | Colonel Thomas Edward Lawrence (16 August 1888 – 19 May 1935) was a British archaeologist, army officer, diplomat, and writer, who became renowned for his role in the Arab Revolt (1916–1918) and the Sinai and Palestine Campaign (1915–1918) against the Ottoman Empire during the First World War. The breadth and variety of his activities and associations, and his ability to describe them vividly in writing, earned him international fame as Lawrence of Arabia, a title used for the 1962 film based on his wartime activities.
He was born out of wedlock in August 1888 to Sarah Junner (1861–1959), a governess, and Sir Thomas Chapman, 7th Baronet (1846–1919), an Anglo-Irish nobleman. Chapman left his wife and family in Ireland to cohabit with Junner. Chapman and Junner called themselves Mr and Mrs Lawrence, using the surname of Sarah's likely father; her mother had been employed as a servant for a Lawrence family when she became pregnant with Sarah. In 1896, the Lawrences moved to Oxford, where Thomas attended the High School and then studied history at Jesus College, Oxford from 1907 to 1910. Between 1910 and 1914 he worked as an archaeologist for the British Museum, chiefly at Carchemish in Ottoman Syria.
Soon after the outbreak of war in 1914 he volunteered for the British Army and was stationed at the Arab Bureau (established in 1916) intelligence unit in Egypt. In 1916, he travelled to Mesopotamia and to Arabia on intelligence missions and quickly became involved with the Arab Revolt as a liaison to the Arab forces, along with other British officers, supporting the Arab Kingdom of Hejaz's independence war against its former overlord, the Ottoman Empire. He worked closely with Emir Faisal, a leader of the revolt, and he participated, sometimes as leader, in military actions against the Ottoman armed forces, culminating in the capture of Damascus in October 1918.
After the First World War, Lawrence joined the British Foreign Office, working with the British government and with Faisal. In 1922, he retreated from public life and spent the years until 1935 serving as an enlisted man, mostly in the Royal Air Force (RAF), with a brief period in the Army. During this time, he published his best-known work Seven Pillars of Wisdom (1926), an autobiographical account of his participation in the Arab Revolt. He also translated books into English, and wrote The Mint, which detailed his time in the Royal Air Force working as an ordinary aircraftman. He corresponded extensively and was friendly with well-known artists, writers, and politicians. For the RAF, he participated in the development of rescue motorboats.
Lawrence's public image resulted in part from the sensationalised reporting of the Arab revolt by American journalist Lowell Thomas, as well as from Seven Pillars of Wisdom. In 1935, Lawrence was fatally injured in a motorcycle accident in Dorset.
Early life
Thomas Edward Lawrence was born on 16 August 1888 in Tremadog, Carnarvonshire, Wales, in a house named Gorphwysfa, now known as Snowdon Lodge. His Anglo-Irish father Thomas Chapman had left his wife Edith after he had a first son with Sarah Junner who had been governess to his daughters. Sarah had herself been an illegitimate child, having been born in Sunderland as the daughter of Elizabeth Junner, a servant employed by a family named Lawrence; she was dismissed four months before Sarah was born, and identified Sarah's father as "John Junner, Shipwright journeyman".
Lawrence's parents did not marry but lived together under the pseudonym Lawrence. In 1914, his father inherited the Chapman baronetcy based at Killua Castle, the ancestral family home in County Westmeath, Ireland. The couple had five sons, Thomas (called "Ned" by his immediate family) being the second eldest. From Wales, the family moved to Kirkcudbright, Galloway, in southwestern Scotland, then to Dinard in Brittany, then to Jersey.
The family lived at Langley Lodge (now demolished) from 1894 to 1896, set in private woods between the eastern borders of the New Forest and Southampton Water in Hampshire. The residence was isolated, and young Lawrence had many opportunities for outdoor activities and waterfront visits. Victorian-Edwardian Britain was a very conservative society, where the majority of people were Christians who considered premarital and extramarital sex to be shameful, and children born out of wedlock were born in disgrace. Lawrence was always something of an outsider, a bastard who could never hope to achieve the same level of social acceptance and success that others could expect who were born legitimate, and no girl from a respectable family would ever marry a bastard.
In the summer of 1896, the family moved to 2, Polstead Road in Oxford, where they lived until 1921. Lawrence attended the City of Oxford High School for Boys from 1896 until 1907, where one of the four houses was later named "Lawrence" in his honour; the school closed in 1966. Lawrence and one of his brothers became commissioned officers in the Church Lads' Brigade at St Aldate's Church.
Lawrence claimed that he ran away from home around 1905 and served for a few weeks as a boy soldier with the Royal Garrison Artillery at St Mawes Castle in Cornwall, from which he was bought out. However, no evidence of this appears in army records.
Travels, antiquities, and archaeology
At age 15, Lawrence and his schoolfriend Cyril Beeson cycled around Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, and Oxfordshire, visiting almost every village's parish church, studying their monuments and antiquities, and making rubbings of their monumental brasses. Lawrence and Beeson monitored building sites in Oxford and presented the Ashmolean Museum with anything that they found. The Ashmolean's Annual Report for 1906 said that the two teenage boys "by incessant watchfulness secured everything of antiquarian value which has been found." In the summers of 1906 and 1907, Lawrence toured France by bicycle, sometimes with Beeson, collecting photographs, drawings, and measurements of medieval castles. In August 1907, Lawrence wrote home: "The Chaignons & the Lamballe people complimented me on my wonderful French: I have been asked twice since I arrived what part of France I came from".
From 1907 to 1910, Lawrence read history at Jesus College, Oxford. In July and August 1908 he cycled 2,200 miles (3,500 km) solo through France to the Mediterranean and back researching French castles. In the summer of 1909, he set out alone on a three-month walking tour of crusader castles in Ottoman Syria, during which he travelled on foot. While at Jesus he was a keen member of the University Officers' Training Corps (OTC). He graduated with First Class Honours after submitting a thesis titled The Influence of the Crusades on European Military Architecture—to the End of the 12th Century, partly based on his field research with Beeson in France, and his solo research in France and the Middle East. Lawrence was fascinated by the Middle Ages; his brother Arnold wrote in 1937 that "medieval researches" were a "dream way of escape from bourgeois England".
In 1910, Lawrence was offered the opportunity to become a practising archaeologist at Carchemish, in the expedition that D. G. Hogarth was setting up on behalf of the British Museum. Hogarth arranged a "Senior Demyship" (a form of scholarship) for Lawrence at Magdalen College, Oxford, to fund his work at £100 a year. He sailed for Beirut in December 1910 and went to Byblos, where he studied Arabic. He then went to work on the excavations at Carchemish, near Jerablus in northern Syria, where he worked under Hogarth, R. Campbell Thompson of the British Museum, and Leonard Woolley until 1914. He later stated that everything which he had accomplished he owed to Hogarth. Lawrence met Gertrude Bell while excavating at Carchemish. He worked briefly with Flinders Petrie in 1912 at Kafr Ammar in Egypt.
At Carchemish, Lawrence was frequently involved in a high-tension relationship with a German-led team working nearby on the Baghdad Railway at Jerablus. While there was never open combat, there was regular conflict over access to land and treatment of the local workforce; Lawrence gained experience in Middle Eastern leadership practices and conflict resolution.
Military intelligence
In January 1914, Woolley and Lawrence were co-opted by the British military as an archaeological smokescreen for a British military survey of the Negev Desert. They were funded by the Palestine Exploration Fund to search for an area referred to in the Bible as the Wilderness of Zin, and they made an archaeological survey of the Negev Desert along the way. The Negev was strategically important, as an Ottoman army attacking Egypt would have to cross it. Woolley and Lawrence subsequently published a report of the expedition's archaeological findings, but a more important result was updated mapping of the area, with special attention to features of military relevance such as water sources. Lawrence also visited Aqaba and Shobek, not far from Petra.
Following the outbreak of hostilities in August 1914, Lawrence did not immediately enlist in the British Army. He held back until October on the advice of S. F. Newcombe, when he was commissioned on the General List. Before the end of the year, he was summoned by renowned archaeologist and historian Lt. Cmdr. David Hogarth, his mentor at Carchemish, to the new Arab Bureau intelligence unit in Cairo, and he arrived in Cairo on 15 December 1914. The Bureau's chief was General Gilbert Clayton who reported to Egyptian High Commissioner Henry McMahon.
The situation was complex during 1915. There was a growing Arab-nationalist movement within the Arabic-speaking Ottoman territories, including many Arabs serving in the Ottoman armed forces. They were in contact with Sharif Hussein, Emir of Mecca, who was negotiating with the British and offering to lead an Arab uprising against the Ottomans. In exchange, he wanted a British guarantee of an independent Arab state including the Hejaz, Syria, and Mesopotamia. Such an uprising would have been very helpful to Britain in its war against the Ottomans, greatly lessening the threat against the Suez Canal. However, there was resistance from French diplomats who insisted that Syria's future was as a French colony, not an independent Arab state. There were also strong objections from the Government of India, which was nominally part of the British government but acted independently. Its vision was of Mesopotamia under British control serving as a granary for India; furthermore, it wanted to hold on to its Arabian outpost in Aden.
At the Arab Bureau, Lawrence supervised the preparation of maps, produced a daily bulletin for the British generals operating in the theatre, and interviewed prisoners. He was an advocate of a British landing at Alexandretta which never came to pass. He was also a consistent advocate of an independent Arab Syria.
The situation came to a crisis in October 1915, as Sharif Hussein demanded an immediate commitment from Britain, with the threat that he would otherwise throw his weight behind the Ottomans. This would create a credible Pan-Islamic message that could have been very dangerous for Britain, which was in severe difficulties in the Gallipoli Campaign. The British replied with a letter from High Commissioner McMahon that was generally agreeable while reserving commitments concerning the Mediterranean coastline and Holy Land.
In the spring of 1916, Lawrence was dispatched to Mesopotamia to assist in relieving the Siege of Kut by some combination of starting an Arab uprising and bribing Ottoman officials. This mission produced no useful result. Meanwhile, the Sykes–Picot Agreement was being negotiated in London without the knowledge of British officials in Cairo, which awarded a large proportion of Syria to France. Further, it implied that the Arabs would have to conquer Syria's four great cities if they were to have any sort of state there: Damascus, Homs, Hama, and Aleppo. It is unclear at what point Lawrence became aware of the treaty's contents.
Arab Revolt
The Arab Revolt began in June 1916, but it bogged down after a few successes, with a real risk that the Ottoman forces would advance along the coast of the Red Sea and recapture Mecca. On 16 October 1916, Lawrence was sent to the Hejaz on an intelligence-gathering mission led by Ronald Storrs. He interviewed Sharif Hussein's sons Ali, Abdullah, and Faisal, and he concluded that Faisal was the best candidate to lead the Revolt.
In November, S. F. Newcombe was assigned to lead a permanent British liaison to Faisal's staff. Newcombe had not yet arrived in the area and the matter was of some urgency, so Lawrence was sent in his place. In late December 1916, Faisal and Lawrence worked out a plan for repositioning the Arab forces to prevent the Ottoman forces around Medina from threatening Arab positions and putting the railway from Syria under threat. Newcombe arrived and Lawrence was preparing to leave Arabia, but Faisal intervened urgently, asking that Lawrence's assignment become permanent.
Lawrence's most important contributions to the Arab Revolt were in the area of strategy and liaison with British armed forces, but he also participated personally in several military engagements:
3 January 1917: Attack on an Ottoman outpost in the Hejaz
26 March 1917: Attack on the railway at Aba el Naam
11 June 1917: Attack on a bridge at Ras Baalbek
2 July 1917: Defeat of the Ottoman forces at Aba el Lissan, an outpost of Aqaba
18 September 1917: Attack on the railway near Mudawara
27 September 1917: Attack on the railway, destroyed an engine
7 November 1917: Following a failed attack on the Yarmuk bridges, blew up a train on the railway between Dera'a and Amman, suffering several wounds in the explosion and ensuing combat
23 January 1918: The battle of Tafileh, a region southeast of the Dead Sea, with Arab regulars under the command of Jafar Pasha al-Askari; the battle was a defensive engagement that turned into an offensive rout and was described in the official history of the war as a "brilliant feat of arms". Lawrence was awarded the Distinguished Service Order for his leadership at Tafileh and was promoted to lieutenant colonel.
March 1918: Attack on the railway near Aqaba
19 April 1918: Attack using British armoured cars on Tell Shahm
16 September 1918: Destruction of railway bridge between Amman and Dera'a
26 September 1918: Attack on retreating Ottomans and Germans near the village of Tafas. The Ottoman forces massacred the villagers and then Arab forces in return massacred their prisoners with Lawrence's encouragement.
Lawrence made a 300-mile personal journey northward in June 1917, on the way to Aqaba, visiting Ras Baalbek, the outskirts of Damascus, and Azraq, Jordan. He met Arab nationalists, counselling them to avoid revolt until the arrival of Faisal's forces, and he attacked a bridge to create the impression of guerrilla activity. His findings were regarded by the British as extremely valuable and there was serious consideration of awarding him a Victoria Cross; in the end, he was invested as a Companion of the Order of the Bath and promoted to Major.
Lawrence travelled regularly between British headquarters and Faisal, co-ordinating military action. But by early 1918, Faisal's chief British liaison was Colonel Pierce Charles Joyce, and Lawrence's time was chiefly devoted to raiding and intelligence-gathering.
Strategy
The chief elements of the Arab strategy which Faisal and Lawrence developed were to avoid capturing Medina, and to extend northwards through Maan and Dera'a to Damascus and beyond. Faisal wanted to lead regular attacks against the Ottomans, but Lawrence persuaded him to drop that tactic. Lawrence wrote about the Bedouin as a fighting force:
The value of the tribes is defensive only and their real sphere is guerilla warfare. They are intelligent, and very lively, almost reckless, but too individualistic to endure commands, or fight in line, or to help each other. It would, I think, be possible to make an organized force out of them.… The Hejaz war is one of dervishes against regular forces—and we are on the side of the dervishes. Our text-books do not apply to its conditions at all.
Medina was an attractive target for the revolt as Islam's second holiest site, and because its Ottoman garrison was weakened by disease and isolation. It became clear that it was advantageous to leave it there rather than try to capture it, while continually attacking the Hejaz railway south from Damascus without permanently destroying it. This prevented the Ottomans from making effective use of their troops at Medina, and forced them to dedicate many resources to defending and repairing the railway line.
It is not known when Lawrence learned the details of the Sykes-Picot Agreement, nor if or when he briefed Faisal on what he knew, However, there is good reason to think that both these things happened, and earlier rather than later. In particular, the Arab strategy of northward extension makes perfect sense given the Sykes-Picot language that spoke of an independent Arab entity in Syria, which would only be granted if the Arabs liberated the territory themselves. The French, and some of their British Liaison officers, were specifically uncomfortable about the northward movement, as it would weaken French colonial claims.
Capture of Aqaba
In 1917, Lawrence proposed a joint action with the Arab irregulars and forces including Auda Abu Tayi, who had previously been in the employ of the Ottomans, against the strategically located but lightly defended town of Aqaba on the Red Sea. Aqaba could have been attacked from the sea, but the narrow defiles leading through the mountains were strongly defended and would have been very difficult to assault. The expedition was led by Sharif Nasir of Medina.
Lawrence carefully avoided informing his British superiors about the details of the planned inland attack, due to concern that it would be blocked as contrary to French interests. The expedition departed from Wejh on 9 May, and Aqaba fell to the Arab forces on 6 July, after a surprise overland attack which took the Turkish defences from behind. After Aqaba, General Sir Edmund Allenby, the new commander-in-chief of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force, agreed to Lawrence's strategy for the revolt. Lawrence now held a powerful position as an adviser to Faisal and a person who had Allenby's confidence, as Allenby acknowledged after the war:
Dera'a
Lawrence describes an episode on 20 November 1917 while reconnoitring Dera'a in disguise, when he was captured by the Ottoman military, heavily beaten, and sexually abused by the local bey and his guardsmen, though he does not specify the nature of the sexual contact. Some scholars have stated that he exaggerated the severity of the injuries that he suffered, or alleged that the episode never actually happened. There is no independent testimony, but the multiple consistent reports and the absence of evidence for outright invention in Lawrence's works make the account believable to some of his biographers. Malcolm Brown, John E. Mack, and Jeremy Wilson have argued that this episode had strong psychological effects on Lawrence, which may explain some of his unconventional behaviour in later life. Lawrence ended his account of the episode in Seven Pillars of Wisdom with the statement: "In Dera'a that night the citadel of my integrity had been irrevocably lost."
Fall of Damascus
Lawrence was involved in the build-up to the capture of Damascus in the final weeks of the war, but he was not present at the city's formal surrender, much to his disappointment. He arrived several hours after the city had fallen, entering Damascus around 9 am on 1 October 1918; the first to arrive was the 10th Australian Light Horse Brigade led by Major A. C. N. "Harry" Olden, who formally accepted the surrender of the city from acting Governor Emir Said. Lawrence was instrumental in establishing a provisional Arab government under Faisal in newly liberated Damascus, which he had envisioned as the capital of an Arab state. Faisal's rule as king, however, came to an abrupt end in 1920, after the battle of Maysaloun when the French Forces of General Gouraud entered Damascus under the command of General Mariano Goybet, destroying Lawrence's dream of an independent Arabia.
During the closing years of the war, Lawrence sought to convince his superiors in the British government that Arab independence was in their interests, but he met with mixed success. The secret Sykes-Picot Agreement between France and Britain contradicted the promises of independence that he had made to the Arabs and frustrated his work.
Post-war years
Lawrence returned to the United Kingdom a full colonel. Immediately after the war, he worked for the Foreign Office, attending the Paris Peace Conference between January and May as a member of Faisal's delegation. On 17 May 1919, a Handley Page Type O/400 taking Lawrence to Egypt crashed at the airport of Roma-Centocelle. The pilot and co-pilot were killed; Lawrence survived with a broken shoulder blade and two broken ribs. During his brief hospitalisation, he was visited by King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy.
In 1918, Lowell Thomas went to Jerusalem where he met Lawrence, "whose enigmatic figure in Arab uniform fired his imagination", in the words of author Rex Hall. Thomas and his cameraman Harry Chase shot a great deal of film and many photographs involving Lawrence. Thomas produced a stage presentation entitled With Allenby in Palestine which included a lecture, dancing, and music and engaged in "Orientalism", depicting the Middle East as exotic, mysterious, sensuous, and violent.
The show premiered in New York in March 1919. He was invited to take his show to England, and he agreed to do so provided that he was personally invited by the King and provided the use of either Drury Lane or Covent Garden. He opened at Covent Garden on 14 August 1919 and continued for hundreds of lectures, "attended by the highest in the land".
Initially, Lawrence played only a supporting role in the show, as the main focus was on Allenby's campaigns; but then Thomas realised that it was the photos of Lawrence dressed as a Bedouin which had captured the public's imagination, so he had Lawrence photographed again in London in Arab dress. With the new photos, Thomas re-launched his show under the new title With Allenby in Palestine and Lawrence in Arabia in early 1920, which proved to be extremely popular. The new title elevated Lawrence from a supporting role to a co-star of the Near Eastern campaign and reflected a changed emphasis. Thomas' shows made the previously obscure Lawrence into a household name.
Lawrence worked with Thomas on the creation of the presentation, answering many questions and posing for many photographs. After its success, however, he expressed regret about having been featured in it.
Lawrence served as an advisor to Winston Churchill at the Colonial Office for just over a year starting in February 1920. He hated bureaucratic work, writing on 21 May 1921 to Robert Graves: "I wish I hadn't gone out there: the Arabs are like a page I have turned over; and sequels are rotten things. I'm locked up here: office every day and much of it". He travelled to the Middle East on multiple occasions during this period, at one time holding the title of "chief political officer for Trans-Jordania".
He campaigned actively for his and Churchill's vision of the Middle East, publishing pieces in multiple newspapers, including The Times, The Observer, The Daily Mail, and The Daily Express.
Lawrence had a sinister reputation in France during his lifetime and even today as an implacable "enemy of France", the man who was constantly stirring up the Syrians to rebel against French rule throughout the 1920s. However, French historian Maurice Larès wrote that the real reason for France's problems in Syria was that the Syrians did not want to be ruled by France, and the French needed a scapegoat to blame for their difficulties in ruling the country. Larès wrote that Lawrence is usually pictured in France as a Francophobe, but he was really a Francophile.
Having seen and admired the effective use of air power during the war, Lawrence enlisted in the Royal Air Force as an aircraftman, under the name John Hume Ross in August 1922. At the RAF recruiting centre in Covent Garden, London, he was interviewed by recruiting officer Flying Officer W. E. Johns, later known as the author of the Biggles series of novels. Johns rejected Lawrence's application, as he suspected that "Ross" was a false name. Lawrence admitted that this was so and that he had provided false documents. He left, but returned some time later with an RAF messenger who carried a written order that Johns must accept Lawrence.
However, Lawrence was forced out of the RAF in February 1923 after his identity was exposed. He changed his name to T. E. Shaw (apparently as a consequence of his friendship with G. B. and Charlotte Shaw) and joined the Royal Tank Corps later that year. He was unhappy there and repeatedly petitioned to rejoin the RAF, which finally readmitted him in August 1925. A fresh burst of publicity after the publication of Revolt in the Desert resulted in his assignment to bases at Karachi and Miramshah in British India (now Pakistan) in late 1926, where he remained until the end of 1928. At that time, he was forced to return to Britain after rumours began to circulate that he was involved in espionage activities.
He purchased several small plots of land in Chingford, built a hut and swimming pool there, and visited frequently. The hut was removed in 1930 when Chingford Urban District Council acquired the land; it was given to the City of London Corporation which re-erected it in the grounds of The Warren, Loughton. Lawrence's tenure of the Chingford land has now been commemorated by a plaque fixed on the sighting obelisk on Pole Hill.
Lawrence continued serving in the RAF based at RAF Mount Batten near Plymouth, RAF Calshot near Southampton, and RAF Bridlington, East Riding of Yorkshire. He specialised in high-speed boats and professed happiness, and he left the service with considerable regret at the end of his enlistment in March 1935.
In late August or early September 1931 he stayed with Lady Houston aboard her luxury yacht, the Liberty, off Calshot, shortly before the Schneider Trophy competition. In later letters Lady Houston would ask Lawrence's advice on obtaining a new chauffeur for her Rolls Royce car ('Forgive my asking, but you know everything') and suggest that he join the Liberty, for she had discharged her captain, who had turned out to be a 'wrong 'un.'
In the inter-war period, the RAF's Marine Craft Section began to commission air-sea rescue launches capable of higher speeds and greater capacity. The arrival of high-speed craft into the MCS was driven in part by Lawrence. He had previously witnessed a seaplane crew drowning when the seaplane tender sent to their rescue was too slow in arriving. He worked with Hubert Scott-Paine, the founder of the British Power Boat Company (BPBC), to introduce the long ST 200 Seaplane Tender Mk1 into service. These boats had a range of 140 miles when cruising at 24 knots and could achieve a top speed of 29 knots.
Lawrence was a keen motorcyclist and owned eight Brough Superior motorcycles at different times. His last SS100 (Registration GW 2275) is privately owned but has been on loan to the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu and the Imperial War Museum in London. He was also an avid reader of Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur and carried a copy on his campaigns. He read an account of Eugene Vinaver's discovery of the Winchester Manuscript of the Morte in The Times in 1934, and he motorcycled from Manchester to Winchester to meet Vinaver.
Death
On 13 May 1935, Lawrence was fatally injured in an accident on his Brough Superior SS100 motorcycle in Dorset close to his cottage Clouds Hill, near Wareham, just two months after leaving military service. A dip in the road obstructed his view of two boys on their bicycles; he swerved to avoid them, lost control, and was thrown over the handlebars. He died six days later on 19 May 1935, aged 46. The location of the crash is marked by a small memorial at the roadside.
One of the doctors attending him was neurosurgeon Hugh Cairns, who consequently began a long study of the loss of life by motorcycle dispatch riders through head injuries. His research led to the use of crash helmets by both military and civilian motorcyclists.
The Moreton estate borders Bovington Camp, and Lawrence bought it from his cousins the Frampton family. He had been a frequent visitor to their home Okers Wood House, and had corresponded with Louisa Frampton for years. Lawrence's mother arranged with the Framptons to have his body buried in their family plot in the separate burial ground of St Nicholas' Church, Moreton. The coffin was transported on the Frampton estate's bier. Mourners included Winston Churchill, E. M. Forster, Lady Astor, and Lawrence's youngest brother Arnold.
Writings
Lawrence was a prolific writer throughout his life, a large portion of which was epistolary; he often sent several letters a day, and several collections of his letters have been published. He corresponded with many notable figures, including George Bernard Shaw, Edward Elgar, Winston Churchill, Robert Graves, Noël Coward, E. M. Forster, Siegfried Sassoon, John Buchan, Augustus John, and Henry Williamson. He met Joseph Conrad and commented perceptively on his works. The many letters that he sent to Shaw's wife Charlotte are revealing as to his character.
Lawrence was a competent speaker of French and Arabic, and reader of Latin and Ancient Greek.
Lawrence published three major texts in his lifetime. The most significant was his account of the Arab Revolt in Seven Pillars of Wisdom. Homer's Odyssey and The Forest Giant were translations, the latter an otherwise forgotten work of French fiction. He received a flat fee for the second translation, and negotiated a generous fee plus royalties for the first.
Seven Pillars of Wisdom
Lawrence's major work is Seven Pillars of Wisdom, an account of his war experiences. In 1919, he was elected to a seven-year research fellowship at All Souls College, Oxford, providing him with support while he worked on the book. Certain parts of the book also serve as essays on military strategy, Arabian culture and geography, and other topics. He rewrote Seven Pillars of Wisdom three times, once "blind" after he lost the manuscript.
There are many alleged "embellishments" in Seven Pillars, though some allegations have been disproved with time, most definitively in Jeremy Wilson's authorised biography. However, Lawrence's own notebooks refute his claim to have crossed the Sinai Peninsula from Aqaba to the Suez Canal in just 49 hours without any sleep. In reality, this famous camel ride lasted for more than 70 hours and was interrupted by two long breaks for sleeping, which Lawrence omitted when he wrote his book.
In the preface, Lawrence acknowledged George Bernard Shaw's help in editing the book. The first edition was published in 1926 as a high-priced private subscription edition, printed in London by Herbert John Hodgson and Roy Manning Pike, with illustrations by Eric Kennington, Augustus John, Paul Nash, Blair Hughes-Stanton, and Hughes-Stanton's wife Gertrude Hermes. Lawrence was afraid that the public would think that he would make a substantial income from the book, and he stated that it was written as a result of his war service. He vowed not to take any money from it, and indeed he did not, as the sale price was one third of the production costs, leaving him in substantial debt.
As a specialist in the Middle East, Fred Halliday praised Lawrence's Seven Pillars of Wisdom as a "fine work of prose" but described its relevance to the study of Arab history and society as "almost worthless."
Revolt in the Desert
Revolt in the Desert was an abridged version of Seven Pillars that he began in 1926 and that was published in March 1927 in both limited and trade editions. He undertook a needed but reluctant publicity exercise, which resulted in a best-seller. Again he vowed not to take any fees from the publication, partly to appease the subscribers to Seven Pillars who had paid dearly for their editions. By the fourth reprint in 1927, the debt from Seven Pillars was paid off. As Lawrence left for military service in India at the end of 1926, he set up the "Seven Pillars Trust" with his friend D. G. Hogarth as a trustee, in which he made over the copyright and any surplus income of Revolt in the Desert. He later told Hogarth that he had "made the Trust final, to save myself the temptation of reviewing it, if Revolt turned out a best seller."
The resultant trust paid off the debt, and Lawrence then invoked a clause in his publishing contract to halt publication of the abridgement in the United Kingdom. However, he allowed both American editions and translations, which resulted in a substantial flow of income. The trust paid income either into an educational fund for children of RAF officers who lost their lives or were invalided as a result of service, or more substantially into the RAF Benevolent Fund.
Posthumous
Lawrence left The Mint unpublished, a memoir of his experiences as an enlisted man in the Royal Air Force (RAF). For this, he worked from a notebook that he kept while enlisted, writing of the daily lives of enlisted men and his desire to be a part of something larger than himself. The book is stylistically very different from Seven Pillars of Wisdom, using sparse prose as opposed to the complicated syntax found in Seven Pillars. It was published posthumously, edited by his brother Professor A. W. Lawrence.
After Lawrence's death, A. W. Lawrence inherited Lawrence's estate and his copyrights as the sole beneficiary. To pay the inheritance tax, he sold the US copyright of Seven Pillars of Wisdom (subscribers' text) outright to Doubleday Doran in 1935. Doubleday still controls publication rights of this version of the text of Seven Pillars of Wisdom in the US, and will continue to until the copyright expires at the end of 2022 (publication plus 95 years). In 1936, A. W. Lawrence split the remaining assets of the estate, giving Clouds Hill and many copies of less substantial or historical letters to the National Trust, and then set up two trusts to control interests in his brother's residual copyrights. He assigned the copyright in Seven Pillars of Wisdom to the Seven Pillars of Wisdom Trust, and it was given its first general publication as a result. He assigned the copyright in The Mint and all Lawrence's letters to the Letters and Symposium Trust, which he edited and published in the book T. E. Lawrence by his Friends in 1937.
A substantial amount of income went directly to the RAF Benevolent Fund and to archaeological, environmental, and academic projects. The two trusts were amalgamated in 1986, and the unified trust acquired all the remaining rights to Lawrence's works that it had not owned on the death of A. W. Lawrence in 1991, plus rights to all of A. W. Lawrence's works. The UK copyrights on Lawrence's works published in his lifetime and within 20 years of his death expired on 1 January 2006. Works published more than 20 years after his death were protected for 50 years from publication or to 1 January 2040, whichever is earlier.
Writings
Seven Pillars of Wisdom, an account of Lawrence's part in the Arab Revolt. ()
Revolt in the Desert, an abridged version of Seven Pillars of Wisdom. ()
The Mint, an account of Lawrence's service in the Royal Air Force. ()
Crusader Castles, Lawrence's Oxford thesis. London: Michael Haag 1986 (). The first edition was published in London in 1936 by the Golden Cockerel Press, in 2 volumes, limited to 1000 editions.
The Odyssey of Homer, Lawrence's translation from the Greek, first published in 1932. ()
The Forest Giant, by Adrien Le Corbeau, novel, Lawrence's translation from the French, 1924.
The Letters of T. E. Lawrence, selected and edited by Malcolm Brown. London, J. M Dent. 1988 ()
The Letters of T. E. Lawrence, edited by David Garnett. ()
T. E. Lawrence. Letters, Jeremy Wilson. (See prospectus)
Minorities: Good Poems by Small Poets and Small Poems by Good Poets, edited by Jeremy Wilson, 1971. Lawrence's commonplace book includes an introduction by Wilson that explains how the poems comprising the book reflected Lawrence's life and thoughts.
Guerrilla Warfare, article in the 1929 Encyclopædia Britannica
The Wilderness of Zin, by C. Leonard Woolley and T. E. Lawrence. London, Harrison and Sons, 1914.
Sexuality
Lawrence's biographers have discussed his sexuality at considerable length and this discussion has spilled into the popular press. There is no reliable evidence for consensual sexual intimacy between Lawrence and any person. His friends have expressed the opinion that he was asexual, and Lawrence himself specifically denied any personal experience of sex in multiple private letters. There were suggestions that Lawrence had been intimate with Dahoum, who worked with him at a pre-war archaeological dig in Carchemish, and fellow serviceman R. A. M. Guy, but his biographers and contemporaries found them unconvincing.
The dedication to his book Seven Pillars is a poem titled "To S.A." which opens:
Lawrence was never specific about the identity of "S.A." Many theories argue in favour of individual men or women, and the Arab nation as a whole. The most popular theory is that S.A. represents (at least in part) his companion Selim Ahmed, "Dahoum", who apparently died of typhus before 1918.
Lawrence lived in a period of strong official opposition to homosexuality, but his writing on the subject was tolerant. He wrote to Charlotte Shaw, "I've seen lots of man-and-man loves: very lovely and fortunate some of them were." He refers to "the openness and honesty of perfect love" on one occasion in Seven Pillars, when discussing relationships between young male fighters in the war. He wrote in Chapter 1 of Seven Pillars:
There is considerable evidence that Lawrence was a masochist. He wrote in his description of the Dera'a beating that "a delicious warmth, probably sexual, was swelling through me," and he also included a detailed description of the guards' whip in a style typical of masochists' writing. In later life, Lawrence arranged to pay a military colleague to administer beatings to him, and to be subjected to severe formal tests of fitness and stamina. John Bruce first wrote on this topic, including some other statements that were not credible, but Lawrence's biographers regard the beatings as established fact. French novelist André Malraux admired Lawrence but wrote that he had a "taste for self-humiliation, now by discipline and now by veneration; a horror of respectability; a disgust for possessions". Biographer Lawrence James wrote that the evidence suggested a "strong homosexual masochism", noting that he never sought punishment from women.
Psychologist John E. Mack sees a possible connection between Lawrence's masochism and the childhood beatings that he had received from his mother for routine misbehaviours. His brother Arnold thought that the beatings had been given for the purpose of breaking his brother's will. Angus Calder suggested in 1997 that Lawrence's apparent masochism and self-loathing might have stemmed from a sense of guilt over losing his brothers Frank and Will on the Western Front, along with many other school friends, while he survived.
Aldington controversy
In 1955 Richard Aldington published Lawrence of Arabia: A Biographical Enquiry, a sustained attack on Lawrence's character, writing, accomplishments, and truthfulness. Specifically, Aldington alleges that Lawrence lied and exaggerated continuously, promoted a misguided policy in the Middle East, that his strategy of containing but not capturing Medina was incorrect, and that Seven Pillars of Wisdom was a bad book with few redeeming features. He also revealed Lawrence's illegitimacy and strongly suggested that he was homosexual. For example: "Seven Pillars of Wisdom is rather a work of quasi-fiction than history.", and "It was seldom that he reported any fact or episode involving himself without embellishing them and indeed in some cases entirely inventing them."
It is significant that Aldington was a colonialist, arguing that the French colonial administration of Syria (strongly resisted by Lawrence) had benefited that country and that Arabia's peoples were "far enough advanced for some government though not for complete self-government." He was also a Francophile, railing against Lawrence's "Francophobia, a hatred and an envy so irrational, so irresponsible and so unscrupulous that it is fair to say his attitude towards Syria was determined more by hatred of France than by devotion to the 'Arabs' - a convenient propaganda word which grouped many disharmonious and even mutually hostile tribes and peoples."
Prior to the publication of Aldington's book, its contents became known in London's literary community. A group Aldington and some subsequent authors referred to as "The Lawrence Bureau", led by B. H. Liddell Hart tried energetically, starting in 1954, to have the book suppressed. That effort having failed, Liddell Hart prepared and distributed hundreds of copies of Aldington's 'Lawrence': His Charges--and Treatment of the Evidence, a 7-page single-spaced document. This worked: Aldington's book received many extremely negative and even abusive reviews, with strong evidence that some reviewers had read Liddell's rebuttal but not Aldington's book.
Aldington wrote that Lawrence embellished many stories and invented others, and in particular that his claims involving numbers were usually inflated - for example claims of having read 50,000 books in the Oxford Union library, of having blown up 79 bridges, of having had a price of £50,000 on his head, and of having suffered 60 or more injuries. Many of Aldington's specific claims against Lawrence have been accepted by subsequent biographers. In Richard Aldington and Lawrence of Arabia: A Cautionary Tale, Fred D. Crawford writes "Much that shocked in 1955 is now standard knowledge--that TEL was illegitimate, that this profoundly troubled him, that he frequently resented his mother's dominance, that such reminiscences as T.E. Lawrence by His Friends are not reliable, that TEL's leg-pulling and other adolescent traits could be offensive, that TEL took liberties with the truth in his official reports and Seven Pillars, that the significance of his exploits during the Arab Revolt was more political than military, that he contributed to his own myth, that when he vetted the books by Graves and Liddell he let remain much that he knew was untrue, and that his feelings about publicity were ambiguous."
This has not prevented most post-Aldington biographers (including Fred D. Crawford, who studied the Aldington claims intensely) from expressing strong admiration for Lawrence's military, political, and writing achievements.
Awards and commemorations
Lawrence was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath on 7 August 1917, appointed a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order on 10 May 1918, awarded the Knight of the Legion of Honour (France) on 30 May 1916 and awarded the Croix de guerre (France) on 16 April 1918.
King George V offered Lawrence a knighthood on 30 October 1918 at a private audience in Buckingham Palace for his services in the Arab Revolt, but he declined. He was unwilling to accept the honour in light of how his country had betrayed the Arabs.
A bronze bust of Lawrence by Eric Kennington was placed in the crypt of St Paul's Cathedral, London, on 29 January 1936, alongside the tombs of Britain's greatest military leaders. A recumbent stone effigy by Kennington was installed in St Martin's Church, Wareham, Dorset, in 1939.
An English Heritage blue plaque marks Lawrence's childhood home at 2 Polstead Road, Oxford, and another appears on his London home at 14 Barton Street, Westminster. Lawrence appears on the album cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles. In 2002, Lawrence was named 53rd in the BBC's list of the 100 Greatest Britons following a UK-wide vote.
In 2018, Lawrence was featured on a £5 coin (issued in silver and gold) in a six-coin set commemorating the Centenary of the First World War produced by the Royal Mint.
In popular culture
Film
Alexander Korda bought the film rights to The Seven Pillars in the 1930s. The production was in development, with various actors cast as the lead, such as Leslie Howard.
Peter O'Toole was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Lawrence in the 1962 film Lawrence of Arabia.
Lawrence was portrayed by Robert Pattinson in the 2014 biographical drama about Gertrude Bell, Queen of the Desert.
Peter O'Toole's portrayal of Lawrence inspired behavioural affectations in the synthetic model called David, portrayed by Michael Fassbender in the 2012 film Prometheus, and in the 2017 sequel Alien: Covenant, part of the Alien franchise.
Literature
T.E. Lawrence (T.E.ロレンス) is a seven-volume manga series by Tomoko Kosaka, which retells Lawrence's life story from childhood onward.
The Oath of the Five Lords tells a fictional story including several references to T.E. Lawrence and his memoirs in which he describes how the United Kingdom did not honour its promises to the Arab nation. The comic is the twenty-first book in the Blake and Mortimer comic series. The story was written by Yves Sente and drawn by André Juillard and was released in 2012.
The T.E. Lawrence Poems was published by Canadian poet Gwendolyn MacEwen in 1982. The poems rely heavily, and quote directly from, primary material including Seven Pillars and the collected letters.
Television
He was portrayed by Judson Scott in the 1982 TV series Voyagers!
Ralph Fiennes portrayed Lawrence in the 1992 British made-for-TV movie A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia.
Joseph A. Bennett and Douglas Henshall portrayed him in the 1992 TV series The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles.
He was also portrayed in a Syrian series, directed by Thaer Mousa, called Lawrence Al Arab. The series consisted of 37 episodes, each between 45 minutes and one hour in length.
Theatre
Lawrence was the subject of Terence Rattigan's controversial play Ross, which explored Lawrence's alleged homosexuality. Ross ran in London in 1960–61, starring Alec Guinness, who was an admirer of Lawrence, and Gerald Harper as his blackmailer, Dickinson. The play had originally been written as a screenplay, but the planned film was never made. In January 1986 at the Theatre Royal, Plymouth, on the opening night of the revival of Ross, Marc Sinden, who was playing Dickinson (the man who recognised and blackmailed Lawrence, played by Simon Ward), was introduced to the man on whom the character of Dickinson was based. Sinden asked him why he had blackmailed Ross, and he replied, "Oh, for the money. I was financially embarrassed at the time and needed to get up to London to see a girlfriend. It was never meant to be a big thing, but a good friend of mine was very close to Terence Rattigan and years later, the silly devil told him the story."
Alan Bennett's Forty Years On (1968) includes a satire on Lawrence; known as "Tee Hee Lawrence" because of his high-pitched, girlish giggle. "Clad in the magnificent white silk robes of an Arab prince ... he hoped to pass unnoticed through London. Alas he was mistaken."
The character of Private Napoleon Meek in George Bernard Shaw's 1931 play Too True to Be Good was inspired by Lawrence. Meek is depicted as thoroughly conversant with the language and lifestyle of the native tribes. He repeatedly enlists with the army, quitting whenever offered a promotion. Lawrence attended a performance of the play's original Worcestershire run, and reportedly signed autographs for patrons attending the show.
Lawrence's first year back at Oxford after the War to write was portrayed by Tom Rooney in a play, The Oxford Roof Climbers Rebellion, written by Canadian playwright Stephen Massicotte (premiered Toronto 2006). The play explores Lawrence's reactions to war, and his friendship with Robert Graves. Urban Stages presented the American premiere in New York City in October 2007; Lawrence was portrayed by actor Dylan Chalfy.
Lawrence's final years are portrayed in a one-man show by Raymond Sargent, The Warrior and the Poet.
His 1922 retreat from public life forms the subject of Howard Brenton's play Lawrence After Arabia, commissioned for a 2016 premiere at the Hampstead Theatre to mark the centenary of the outbreak of the Arab Revolt.
A highly fictionalised version of Lawrence featured in the 2016 Swedish-language comedic play Lawrence i Mumiedalen.
Video games
A fictionalized Lawrence is an NPC who assists the party in Shadow Hearts: Covenant (2004).
A fictionalized Lawrence is an NPC who appears in cutscenes and guides the player through missions in Battlefield 1 (2016).
Lawrence and his work are referenced multiple times throughout the video game Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (2011).
See also
Hashemites, ruling family of Mecca (10th–20th century) and of Jordan since 1921
Kingdom of Iraq (1932–1958)
Lawrence of Arabia: The Authorised Biography of T. E. Lawrence by Jeremy Wilson (1989)
The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones, US TV series (1992–1993) with episodes depicting moments from Lawrence's life
Related individuals
Richard Meinertzhagen (1878–1967), British intelligence officer and ornithologist, on occasion a colleague of Lawrence's
Rafael de Nogales Méndez (1879–1937), Venezuelan officer who served in the Ottoman Army and was compared to Lawrence
Suleiman Mousa (1919–2008), Jordanian historian who wrote about Lawrence
Oskar von Niedermayer (1885–1948), German officer, professor and spy, sometimes referred to as the German Lawrence
Max von Oppenheim (1860–1946), German-Jewish lawyer, diplomat and archaeologist. Lawrence called his travelogue "the best book on the [Middle East] area I know".
Wilhelm Wassmuss (1880–1931), German diplomat and spy, known as "Wassmuss of Persia" and compared to Lawrence
References
Citations
Sources
External links
Digital collections
T. E. Lawrence's Original Letters on Palestine Shapell Manuscript Foundation
Works by T. E. Lawrence at Wikilivres
Physical collections
T. E. Lawrence's Collection at The University of Texas at Austin's Harry Ransom Center
"Creating History: Lowell Thomas and Lawrence of Arabia" online history exhibit at Clio Visualizing History.
Europeana Collections 1914–1918 makes 425,000 World War I items from European libraries available online, including manuscripts, photographs and diaries by or relating to Lawrence
T. E. Lawrence's Personal Manuscripts and Letters
News and analysis
The Guardian 19 May 1935 – The death of Lawrence of Arabia
The Legend of Lawrence of Arabia: The Recalcitrant Hero
T. E. Lawrence: The Enigmatic Lawrence of Arabia article by O'Brien Browne
Lawrence of Arabia: True and false (an Arab view) by Lucy Ladikoff
Documentaries
Footage of Lawrence of Arabia with publisher FN Doubleday and at a picnic
Lawrence of Arabia: The Battle for the Arab World, directed by James Hawes. PBS Home Video, 21 October 2003. (ASIN B0000BWVND)
Societies
T. E. Lawrence Studies, built by Lawrence's authorised biographer Jeremy Wilson (no longer maintained)
The T. E. Lawrence Society
1888 births
1935 deaths
20th-century archaeologists
20th-century British writers
20th-century translators
Alumni of Jesus College, Oxford
Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford
Arab Bureau officers
Arab Revolt
British archaeologists
British Army General List officers
British Army personnel of World War I
British guerrillas
British people of Irish descent
Castellologists
Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur
Companions of the Distinguished Service Order
Companions of the Order of the Bath
Fellows of All Souls College, Oxford
French–English translators
Greek–English translators
Guerrilla warfare theorists
Motorcycle road incident deaths
People educated at the City of Oxford High School for Boys
People from Caernarfonshire
People of Anglo-Irish descent
Road incident deaths in England
Royal Air Force airmen
Royal Garrison Artillery soldiers
Royal Tank Regiment soldiers
Welsh people of Irish descent
Translators of Homer | false | [
"Mirabad (, also Romanized as Mīrābād) is a village in Margavar Rural District, Silvaneh District, Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran.\n\nPopulation\nAt the 2006 census, its population was 635, in 98 families.\n\nAncient Sites\nAlthough Mirabad's archeological sites do not have international attention, they do exist. At the multiple sites, (in 2016 there were 3) archeologists have found sufficient evidence that could rewrite the history books. They believe that at one point the capital of a vast, undocumented empire was once seated in the area. These findings, while interesting, have been ignored and denied by historians even though the evidence doesn't lie. Archeologists want to demolish the city in order to dig so they can find the massive city that is buried underneath.\n\nReferences \n\nPopulated places in Urmia County",
"This is a list of National Historic Sites () in Hamilton, Ontario. There are 15 National Historic Sites designated in Hamilton, of which one () is administered by Parks Canada (identified below by the beaver icon ). Burlington Heights was designated in 1929 and was the first site designated within what are now the boundaries of Hamilton.\n\nNumerous National Historic Events also occurred in Hamilton, and are identified at places associated with them, using the same style of federal plaque which marks National Historic Sites. Several National Historic Persons are commemorated throughout the city in the same way. The markers do not indicate which designation—a Site, Event, or Person—a subject has been given.\n\nNational Historic Sites located elsewhere in Ontario are listed at National Historic Sites in Ontario.\n\nThis list uses names designated by the national Historic Sites and Monuments Board, which may differ from other names for these sites.\n\nNational Historic Sites\n\nSee also\nHistory of Hamilton, Ontario\n\nReferences\n\n \nHamilton\nNational Historic Sites of Canada"
]
|
[
"T. E. Lawrence",
"Antiquities and archaeology",
"How did he get interested in antiquities and archaeology?",
"Lawrence and his schoolfriend Cyril Beeson cycled around Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, and Oxfordshire, visited almost every village's parish church, studied their monuments and antiquities,",
"Did Lawrence attend school?",
"From 1907 to 1910, Lawrence read History at Jesus College, Oxford.",
"What did they do at the sites?",
"studied their monuments and antiquities, and made rubbings of their monumental brasses."
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| C_f8febb2118a84b91bb8cffa9bbb47998_1 | Did they travel anywhere else? | 4 | Did T.E. Lawrence anywhere else other than Berkshire? | T. E. Lawrence | At the age of 15, Lawrence and his schoolfriend Cyril Beeson cycled around Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, and Oxfordshire, visited almost every village's parish church, studied their monuments and antiquities, and made rubbings of their monumental brasses. Lawrence and Beeson monitored building sites in Oxford and presented their finds to the Ashmolean Museum. The Ashmolean's Annual Report for 1906 said that the two teenage boys "by incessant watchfulness secured everything of antiquarian value which has been found." In the summers of 1906 and 1907, Lawrence and Beeson toured France by bicycle, collecting photographs, drawings, and measurements of medieval castles. In August 1907 Lawrence wrote home: "The Chaignons & the Lamballe people, complimented me on my wonderful French: I have been asked twice since I arrived what part of France I came from". From 1907 to 1910, Lawrence read History at Jesus College, Oxford. In the summer of 1909, he set out alone on a three-month walking tour of crusader castles in Ottoman Syria, during which he travelled 1,000 mi (1,600 km) on foot. Lawrence graduated with First Class Honours after submitting a thesis titled The Influence of the Crusades on European Military Architecture--to the End of the 12th Century, based on his field research with Beeson in France, notably in Chalus, and his solo research in the Middle East. Lawrence was fascinated by the Middle Ages with his brother Arnold writing in 1937 that for him "medieval researches" were a "dream way of escape from bourgeois England". In 1910 Lawrence was offered the opportunity to become a practising archaeologist in the Middle East, at Carchemish, in the expedition that D. G. Hogarth was setting up on behalf of the British Museum. Hogarth arranged a "Senior Demyship", a form of scholarship, for Lawrence at Magdalen College, Oxford, to fund Lawrence's work at PS100 a year. In December 1910, he sailed for Beirut and on his arrival went to Jbail (Byblos), where he studied Arabic. He then went to work on the excavations at Carchemish, near Jerablus in northern Syria, where he worked under Hogarth, R. Campbell Thompson of the British Museum, and Leonard Woolley, until 1914. He later stated that everything which he had accomplished he owed to Hogarth. While excavating at Carchemish, Lawrence met Gertrude Bell. In 1912 Lawrence worked briefly with Flinders Petrie at Kafr Ammar in Egypt. CANNOTANSWER | " In the summers of 1906 and 1907, Lawrence and Beeson toured France by bicycle, | Colonel Thomas Edward Lawrence (16 August 1888 – 19 May 1935) was a British archaeologist, army officer, diplomat, and writer, who became renowned for his role in the Arab Revolt (1916–1918) and the Sinai and Palestine Campaign (1915–1918) against the Ottoman Empire during the First World War. The breadth and variety of his activities and associations, and his ability to describe them vividly in writing, earned him international fame as Lawrence of Arabia, a title used for the 1962 film based on his wartime activities.
He was born out of wedlock in August 1888 to Sarah Junner (1861–1959), a governess, and Sir Thomas Chapman, 7th Baronet (1846–1919), an Anglo-Irish nobleman. Chapman left his wife and family in Ireland to cohabit with Junner. Chapman and Junner called themselves Mr and Mrs Lawrence, using the surname of Sarah's likely father; her mother had been employed as a servant for a Lawrence family when she became pregnant with Sarah. In 1896, the Lawrences moved to Oxford, where Thomas attended the High School and then studied history at Jesus College, Oxford from 1907 to 1910. Between 1910 and 1914 he worked as an archaeologist for the British Museum, chiefly at Carchemish in Ottoman Syria.
Soon after the outbreak of war in 1914 he volunteered for the British Army and was stationed at the Arab Bureau (established in 1916) intelligence unit in Egypt. In 1916, he travelled to Mesopotamia and to Arabia on intelligence missions and quickly became involved with the Arab Revolt as a liaison to the Arab forces, along with other British officers, supporting the Arab Kingdom of Hejaz's independence war against its former overlord, the Ottoman Empire. He worked closely with Emir Faisal, a leader of the revolt, and he participated, sometimes as leader, in military actions against the Ottoman armed forces, culminating in the capture of Damascus in October 1918.
After the First World War, Lawrence joined the British Foreign Office, working with the British government and with Faisal. In 1922, he retreated from public life and spent the years until 1935 serving as an enlisted man, mostly in the Royal Air Force (RAF), with a brief period in the Army. During this time, he published his best-known work Seven Pillars of Wisdom (1926), an autobiographical account of his participation in the Arab Revolt. He also translated books into English, and wrote The Mint, which detailed his time in the Royal Air Force working as an ordinary aircraftman. He corresponded extensively and was friendly with well-known artists, writers, and politicians. For the RAF, he participated in the development of rescue motorboats.
Lawrence's public image resulted in part from the sensationalised reporting of the Arab revolt by American journalist Lowell Thomas, as well as from Seven Pillars of Wisdom. In 1935, Lawrence was fatally injured in a motorcycle accident in Dorset.
Early life
Thomas Edward Lawrence was born on 16 August 1888 in Tremadog, Carnarvonshire, Wales, in a house named Gorphwysfa, now known as Snowdon Lodge. His Anglo-Irish father Thomas Chapman had left his wife Edith after he had a first son with Sarah Junner who had been governess to his daughters. Sarah had herself been an illegitimate child, having been born in Sunderland as the daughter of Elizabeth Junner, a servant employed by a family named Lawrence; she was dismissed four months before Sarah was born, and identified Sarah's father as "John Junner, Shipwright journeyman".
Lawrence's parents did not marry but lived together under the pseudonym Lawrence. In 1914, his father inherited the Chapman baronetcy based at Killua Castle, the ancestral family home in County Westmeath, Ireland. The couple had five sons, Thomas (called "Ned" by his immediate family) being the second eldest. From Wales, the family moved to Kirkcudbright, Galloway, in southwestern Scotland, then to Dinard in Brittany, then to Jersey.
The family lived at Langley Lodge (now demolished) from 1894 to 1896, set in private woods between the eastern borders of the New Forest and Southampton Water in Hampshire. The residence was isolated, and young Lawrence had many opportunities for outdoor activities and waterfront visits. Victorian-Edwardian Britain was a very conservative society, where the majority of people were Christians who considered premarital and extramarital sex to be shameful, and children born out of wedlock were born in disgrace. Lawrence was always something of an outsider, a bastard who could never hope to achieve the same level of social acceptance and success that others could expect who were born legitimate, and no girl from a respectable family would ever marry a bastard.
In the summer of 1896, the family moved to 2, Polstead Road in Oxford, where they lived until 1921. Lawrence attended the City of Oxford High School for Boys from 1896 until 1907, where one of the four houses was later named "Lawrence" in his honour; the school closed in 1966. Lawrence and one of his brothers became commissioned officers in the Church Lads' Brigade at St Aldate's Church.
Lawrence claimed that he ran away from home around 1905 and served for a few weeks as a boy soldier with the Royal Garrison Artillery at St Mawes Castle in Cornwall, from which he was bought out. However, no evidence of this appears in army records.
Travels, antiquities, and archaeology
At age 15, Lawrence and his schoolfriend Cyril Beeson cycled around Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, and Oxfordshire, visiting almost every village's parish church, studying their monuments and antiquities, and making rubbings of their monumental brasses. Lawrence and Beeson monitored building sites in Oxford and presented the Ashmolean Museum with anything that they found. The Ashmolean's Annual Report for 1906 said that the two teenage boys "by incessant watchfulness secured everything of antiquarian value which has been found." In the summers of 1906 and 1907, Lawrence toured France by bicycle, sometimes with Beeson, collecting photographs, drawings, and measurements of medieval castles. In August 1907, Lawrence wrote home: "The Chaignons & the Lamballe people complimented me on my wonderful French: I have been asked twice since I arrived what part of France I came from".
From 1907 to 1910, Lawrence read history at Jesus College, Oxford. In July and August 1908 he cycled 2,200 miles (3,500 km) solo through France to the Mediterranean and back researching French castles. In the summer of 1909, he set out alone on a three-month walking tour of crusader castles in Ottoman Syria, during which he travelled on foot. While at Jesus he was a keen member of the University Officers' Training Corps (OTC). He graduated with First Class Honours after submitting a thesis titled The Influence of the Crusades on European Military Architecture—to the End of the 12th Century, partly based on his field research with Beeson in France, and his solo research in France and the Middle East. Lawrence was fascinated by the Middle Ages; his brother Arnold wrote in 1937 that "medieval researches" were a "dream way of escape from bourgeois England".
In 1910, Lawrence was offered the opportunity to become a practising archaeologist at Carchemish, in the expedition that D. G. Hogarth was setting up on behalf of the British Museum. Hogarth arranged a "Senior Demyship" (a form of scholarship) for Lawrence at Magdalen College, Oxford, to fund his work at £100 a year. He sailed for Beirut in December 1910 and went to Byblos, where he studied Arabic. He then went to work on the excavations at Carchemish, near Jerablus in northern Syria, where he worked under Hogarth, R. Campbell Thompson of the British Museum, and Leonard Woolley until 1914. He later stated that everything which he had accomplished he owed to Hogarth. Lawrence met Gertrude Bell while excavating at Carchemish. He worked briefly with Flinders Petrie in 1912 at Kafr Ammar in Egypt.
At Carchemish, Lawrence was frequently involved in a high-tension relationship with a German-led team working nearby on the Baghdad Railway at Jerablus. While there was never open combat, there was regular conflict over access to land and treatment of the local workforce; Lawrence gained experience in Middle Eastern leadership practices and conflict resolution.
Military intelligence
In January 1914, Woolley and Lawrence were co-opted by the British military as an archaeological smokescreen for a British military survey of the Negev Desert. They were funded by the Palestine Exploration Fund to search for an area referred to in the Bible as the Wilderness of Zin, and they made an archaeological survey of the Negev Desert along the way. The Negev was strategically important, as an Ottoman army attacking Egypt would have to cross it. Woolley and Lawrence subsequently published a report of the expedition's archaeological findings, but a more important result was updated mapping of the area, with special attention to features of military relevance such as water sources. Lawrence also visited Aqaba and Shobek, not far from Petra.
Following the outbreak of hostilities in August 1914, Lawrence did not immediately enlist in the British Army. He held back until October on the advice of S. F. Newcombe, when he was commissioned on the General List. Before the end of the year, he was summoned by renowned archaeologist and historian Lt. Cmdr. David Hogarth, his mentor at Carchemish, to the new Arab Bureau intelligence unit in Cairo, and he arrived in Cairo on 15 December 1914. The Bureau's chief was General Gilbert Clayton who reported to Egyptian High Commissioner Henry McMahon.
The situation was complex during 1915. There was a growing Arab-nationalist movement within the Arabic-speaking Ottoman territories, including many Arabs serving in the Ottoman armed forces. They were in contact with Sharif Hussein, Emir of Mecca, who was negotiating with the British and offering to lead an Arab uprising against the Ottomans. In exchange, he wanted a British guarantee of an independent Arab state including the Hejaz, Syria, and Mesopotamia. Such an uprising would have been very helpful to Britain in its war against the Ottomans, greatly lessening the threat against the Suez Canal. However, there was resistance from French diplomats who insisted that Syria's future was as a French colony, not an independent Arab state. There were also strong objections from the Government of India, which was nominally part of the British government but acted independently. Its vision was of Mesopotamia under British control serving as a granary for India; furthermore, it wanted to hold on to its Arabian outpost in Aden.
At the Arab Bureau, Lawrence supervised the preparation of maps, produced a daily bulletin for the British generals operating in the theatre, and interviewed prisoners. He was an advocate of a British landing at Alexandretta which never came to pass. He was also a consistent advocate of an independent Arab Syria.
The situation came to a crisis in October 1915, as Sharif Hussein demanded an immediate commitment from Britain, with the threat that he would otherwise throw his weight behind the Ottomans. This would create a credible Pan-Islamic message that could have been very dangerous for Britain, which was in severe difficulties in the Gallipoli Campaign. The British replied with a letter from High Commissioner McMahon that was generally agreeable while reserving commitments concerning the Mediterranean coastline and Holy Land.
In the spring of 1916, Lawrence was dispatched to Mesopotamia to assist in relieving the Siege of Kut by some combination of starting an Arab uprising and bribing Ottoman officials. This mission produced no useful result. Meanwhile, the Sykes–Picot Agreement was being negotiated in London without the knowledge of British officials in Cairo, which awarded a large proportion of Syria to France. Further, it implied that the Arabs would have to conquer Syria's four great cities if they were to have any sort of state there: Damascus, Homs, Hama, and Aleppo. It is unclear at what point Lawrence became aware of the treaty's contents.
Arab Revolt
The Arab Revolt began in June 1916, but it bogged down after a few successes, with a real risk that the Ottoman forces would advance along the coast of the Red Sea and recapture Mecca. On 16 October 1916, Lawrence was sent to the Hejaz on an intelligence-gathering mission led by Ronald Storrs. He interviewed Sharif Hussein's sons Ali, Abdullah, and Faisal, and he concluded that Faisal was the best candidate to lead the Revolt.
In November, S. F. Newcombe was assigned to lead a permanent British liaison to Faisal's staff. Newcombe had not yet arrived in the area and the matter was of some urgency, so Lawrence was sent in his place. In late December 1916, Faisal and Lawrence worked out a plan for repositioning the Arab forces to prevent the Ottoman forces around Medina from threatening Arab positions and putting the railway from Syria under threat. Newcombe arrived and Lawrence was preparing to leave Arabia, but Faisal intervened urgently, asking that Lawrence's assignment become permanent.
Lawrence's most important contributions to the Arab Revolt were in the area of strategy and liaison with British armed forces, but he also participated personally in several military engagements:
3 January 1917: Attack on an Ottoman outpost in the Hejaz
26 March 1917: Attack on the railway at Aba el Naam
11 June 1917: Attack on a bridge at Ras Baalbek
2 July 1917: Defeat of the Ottoman forces at Aba el Lissan, an outpost of Aqaba
18 September 1917: Attack on the railway near Mudawara
27 September 1917: Attack on the railway, destroyed an engine
7 November 1917: Following a failed attack on the Yarmuk bridges, blew up a train on the railway between Dera'a and Amman, suffering several wounds in the explosion and ensuing combat
23 January 1918: The battle of Tafileh, a region southeast of the Dead Sea, with Arab regulars under the command of Jafar Pasha al-Askari; the battle was a defensive engagement that turned into an offensive rout and was described in the official history of the war as a "brilliant feat of arms". Lawrence was awarded the Distinguished Service Order for his leadership at Tafileh and was promoted to lieutenant colonel.
March 1918: Attack on the railway near Aqaba
19 April 1918: Attack using British armoured cars on Tell Shahm
16 September 1918: Destruction of railway bridge between Amman and Dera'a
26 September 1918: Attack on retreating Ottomans and Germans near the village of Tafas. The Ottoman forces massacred the villagers and then Arab forces in return massacred their prisoners with Lawrence's encouragement.
Lawrence made a 300-mile personal journey northward in June 1917, on the way to Aqaba, visiting Ras Baalbek, the outskirts of Damascus, and Azraq, Jordan. He met Arab nationalists, counselling them to avoid revolt until the arrival of Faisal's forces, and he attacked a bridge to create the impression of guerrilla activity. His findings were regarded by the British as extremely valuable and there was serious consideration of awarding him a Victoria Cross; in the end, he was invested as a Companion of the Order of the Bath and promoted to Major.
Lawrence travelled regularly between British headquarters and Faisal, co-ordinating military action. But by early 1918, Faisal's chief British liaison was Colonel Pierce Charles Joyce, and Lawrence's time was chiefly devoted to raiding and intelligence-gathering.
Strategy
The chief elements of the Arab strategy which Faisal and Lawrence developed were to avoid capturing Medina, and to extend northwards through Maan and Dera'a to Damascus and beyond. Faisal wanted to lead regular attacks against the Ottomans, but Lawrence persuaded him to drop that tactic. Lawrence wrote about the Bedouin as a fighting force:
The value of the tribes is defensive only and their real sphere is guerilla warfare. They are intelligent, and very lively, almost reckless, but too individualistic to endure commands, or fight in line, or to help each other. It would, I think, be possible to make an organized force out of them.… The Hejaz war is one of dervishes against regular forces—and we are on the side of the dervishes. Our text-books do not apply to its conditions at all.
Medina was an attractive target for the revolt as Islam's second holiest site, and because its Ottoman garrison was weakened by disease and isolation. It became clear that it was advantageous to leave it there rather than try to capture it, while continually attacking the Hejaz railway south from Damascus without permanently destroying it. This prevented the Ottomans from making effective use of their troops at Medina, and forced them to dedicate many resources to defending and repairing the railway line.
It is not known when Lawrence learned the details of the Sykes-Picot Agreement, nor if or when he briefed Faisal on what he knew, However, there is good reason to think that both these things happened, and earlier rather than later. In particular, the Arab strategy of northward extension makes perfect sense given the Sykes-Picot language that spoke of an independent Arab entity in Syria, which would only be granted if the Arabs liberated the territory themselves. The French, and some of their British Liaison officers, were specifically uncomfortable about the northward movement, as it would weaken French colonial claims.
Capture of Aqaba
In 1917, Lawrence proposed a joint action with the Arab irregulars and forces including Auda Abu Tayi, who had previously been in the employ of the Ottomans, against the strategically located but lightly defended town of Aqaba on the Red Sea. Aqaba could have been attacked from the sea, but the narrow defiles leading through the mountains were strongly defended and would have been very difficult to assault. The expedition was led by Sharif Nasir of Medina.
Lawrence carefully avoided informing his British superiors about the details of the planned inland attack, due to concern that it would be blocked as contrary to French interests. The expedition departed from Wejh on 9 May, and Aqaba fell to the Arab forces on 6 July, after a surprise overland attack which took the Turkish defences from behind. After Aqaba, General Sir Edmund Allenby, the new commander-in-chief of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force, agreed to Lawrence's strategy for the revolt. Lawrence now held a powerful position as an adviser to Faisal and a person who had Allenby's confidence, as Allenby acknowledged after the war:
Dera'a
Lawrence describes an episode on 20 November 1917 while reconnoitring Dera'a in disguise, when he was captured by the Ottoman military, heavily beaten, and sexually abused by the local bey and his guardsmen, though he does not specify the nature of the sexual contact. Some scholars have stated that he exaggerated the severity of the injuries that he suffered, or alleged that the episode never actually happened. There is no independent testimony, but the multiple consistent reports and the absence of evidence for outright invention in Lawrence's works make the account believable to some of his biographers. Malcolm Brown, John E. Mack, and Jeremy Wilson have argued that this episode had strong psychological effects on Lawrence, which may explain some of his unconventional behaviour in later life. Lawrence ended his account of the episode in Seven Pillars of Wisdom with the statement: "In Dera'a that night the citadel of my integrity had been irrevocably lost."
Fall of Damascus
Lawrence was involved in the build-up to the capture of Damascus in the final weeks of the war, but he was not present at the city's formal surrender, much to his disappointment. He arrived several hours after the city had fallen, entering Damascus around 9 am on 1 October 1918; the first to arrive was the 10th Australian Light Horse Brigade led by Major A. C. N. "Harry" Olden, who formally accepted the surrender of the city from acting Governor Emir Said. Lawrence was instrumental in establishing a provisional Arab government under Faisal in newly liberated Damascus, which he had envisioned as the capital of an Arab state. Faisal's rule as king, however, came to an abrupt end in 1920, after the battle of Maysaloun when the French Forces of General Gouraud entered Damascus under the command of General Mariano Goybet, destroying Lawrence's dream of an independent Arabia.
During the closing years of the war, Lawrence sought to convince his superiors in the British government that Arab independence was in their interests, but he met with mixed success. The secret Sykes-Picot Agreement between France and Britain contradicted the promises of independence that he had made to the Arabs and frustrated his work.
Post-war years
Lawrence returned to the United Kingdom a full colonel. Immediately after the war, he worked for the Foreign Office, attending the Paris Peace Conference between January and May as a member of Faisal's delegation. On 17 May 1919, a Handley Page Type O/400 taking Lawrence to Egypt crashed at the airport of Roma-Centocelle. The pilot and co-pilot were killed; Lawrence survived with a broken shoulder blade and two broken ribs. During his brief hospitalisation, he was visited by King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy.
In 1918, Lowell Thomas went to Jerusalem where he met Lawrence, "whose enigmatic figure in Arab uniform fired his imagination", in the words of author Rex Hall. Thomas and his cameraman Harry Chase shot a great deal of film and many photographs involving Lawrence. Thomas produced a stage presentation entitled With Allenby in Palestine which included a lecture, dancing, and music and engaged in "Orientalism", depicting the Middle East as exotic, mysterious, sensuous, and violent.
The show premiered in New York in March 1919. He was invited to take his show to England, and he agreed to do so provided that he was personally invited by the King and provided the use of either Drury Lane or Covent Garden. He opened at Covent Garden on 14 August 1919 and continued for hundreds of lectures, "attended by the highest in the land".
Initially, Lawrence played only a supporting role in the show, as the main focus was on Allenby's campaigns; but then Thomas realised that it was the photos of Lawrence dressed as a Bedouin which had captured the public's imagination, so he had Lawrence photographed again in London in Arab dress. With the new photos, Thomas re-launched his show under the new title With Allenby in Palestine and Lawrence in Arabia in early 1920, which proved to be extremely popular. The new title elevated Lawrence from a supporting role to a co-star of the Near Eastern campaign and reflected a changed emphasis. Thomas' shows made the previously obscure Lawrence into a household name.
Lawrence worked with Thomas on the creation of the presentation, answering many questions and posing for many photographs. After its success, however, he expressed regret about having been featured in it.
Lawrence served as an advisor to Winston Churchill at the Colonial Office for just over a year starting in February 1920. He hated bureaucratic work, writing on 21 May 1921 to Robert Graves: "I wish I hadn't gone out there: the Arabs are like a page I have turned over; and sequels are rotten things. I'm locked up here: office every day and much of it". He travelled to the Middle East on multiple occasions during this period, at one time holding the title of "chief political officer for Trans-Jordania".
He campaigned actively for his and Churchill's vision of the Middle East, publishing pieces in multiple newspapers, including The Times, The Observer, The Daily Mail, and The Daily Express.
Lawrence had a sinister reputation in France during his lifetime and even today as an implacable "enemy of France", the man who was constantly stirring up the Syrians to rebel against French rule throughout the 1920s. However, French historian Maurice Larès wrote that the real reason for France's problems in Syria was that the Syrians did not want to be ruled by France, and the French needed a scapegoat to blame for their difficulties in ruling the country. Larès wrote that Lawrence is usually pictured in France as a Francophobe, but he was really a Francophile.
Having seen and admired the effective use of air power during the war, Lawrence enlisted in the Royal Air Force as an aircraftman, under the name John Hume Ross in August 1922. At the RAF recruiting centre in Covent Garden, London, he was interviewed by recruiting officer Flying Officer W. E. Johns, later known as the author of the Biggles series of novels. Johns rejected Lawrence's application, as he suspected that "Ross" was a false name. Lawrence admitted that this was so and that he had provided false documents. He left, but returned some time later with an RAF messenger who carried a written order that Johns must accept Lawrence.
However, Lawrence was forced out of the RAF in February 1923 after his identity was exposed. He changed his name to T. E. Shaw (apparently as a consequence of his friendship with G. B. and Charlotte Shaw) and joined the Royal Tank Corps later that year. He was unhappy there and repeatedly petitioned to rejoin the RAF, which finally readmitted him in August 1925. A fresh burst of publicity after the publication of Revolt in the Desert resulted in his assignment to bases at Karachi and Miramshah in British India (now Pakistan) in late 1926, where he remained until the end of 1928. At that time, he was forced to return to Britain after rumours began to circulate that he was involved in espionage activities.
He purchased several small plots of land in Chingford, built a hut and swimming pool there, and visited frequently. The hut was removed in 1930 when Chingford Urban District Council acquired the land; it was given to the City of London Corporation which re-erected it in the grounds of The Warren, Loughton. Lawrence's tenure of the Chingford land has now been commemorated by a plaque fixed on the sighting obelisk on Pole Hill.
Lawrence continued serving in the RAF based at RAF Mount Batten near Plymouth, RAF Calshot near Southampton, and RAF Bridlington, East Riding of Yorkshire. He specialised in high-speed boats and professed happiness, and he left the service with considerable regret at the end of his enlistment in March 1935.
In late August or early September 1931 he stayed with Lady Houston aboard her luxury yacht, the Liberty, off Calshot, shortly before the Schneider Trophy competition. In later letters Lady Houston would ask Lawrence's advice on obtaining a new chauffeur for her Rolls Royce car ('Forgive my asking, but you know everything') and suggest that he join the Liberty, for she had discharged her captain, who had turned out to be a 'wrong 'un.'
In the inter-war period, the RAF's Marine Craft Section began to commission air-sea rescue launches capable of higher speeds and greater capacity. The arrival of high-speed craft into the MCS was driven in part by Lawrence. He had previously witnessed a seaplane crew drowning when the seaplane tender sent to their rescue was too slow in arriving. He worked with Hubert Scott-Paine, the founder of the British Power Boat Company (BPBC), to introduce the long ST 200 Seaplane Tender Mk1 into service. These boats had a range of 140 miles when cruising at 24 knots and could achieve a top speed of 29 knots.
Lawrence was a keen motorcyclist and owned eight Brough Superior motorcycles at different times. His last SS100 (Registration GW 2275) is privately owned but has been on loan to the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu and the Imperial War Museum in London. He was also an avid reader of Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur and carried a copy on his campaigns. He read an account of Eugene Vinaver's discovery of the Winchester Manuscript of the Morte in The Times in 1934, and he motorcycled from Manchester to Winchester to meet Vinaver.
Death
On 13 May 1935, Lawrence was fatally injured in an accident on his Brough Superior SS100 motorcycle in Dorset close to his cottage Clouds Hill, near Wareham, just two months after leaving military service. A dip in the road obstructed his view of two boys on their bicycles; he swerved to avoid them, lost control, and was thrown over the handlebars. He died six days later on 19 May 1935, aged 46. The location of the crash is marked by a small memorial at the roadside.
One of the doctors attending him was neurosurgeon Hugh Cairns, who consequently began a long study of the loss of life by motorcycle dispatch riders through head injuries. His research led to the use of crash helmets by both military and civilian motorcyclists.
The Moreton estate borders Bovington Camp, and Lawrence bought it from his cousins the Frampton family. He had been a frequent visitor to their home Okers Wood House, and had corresponded with Louisa Frampton for years. Lawrence's mother arranged with the Framptons to have his body buried in their family plot in the separate burial ground of St Nicholas' Church, Moreton. The coffin was transported on the Frampton estate's bier. Mourners included Winston Churchill, E. M. Forster, Lady Astor, and Lawrence's youngest brother Arnold.
Writings
Lawrence was a prolific writer throughout his life, a large portion of which was epistolary; he often sent several letters a day, and several collections of his letters have been published. He corresponded with many notable figures, including George Bernard Shaw, Edward Elgar, Winston Churchill, Robert Graves, Noël Coward, E. M. Forster, Siegfried Sassoon, John Buchan, Augustus John, and Henry Williamson. He met Joseph Conrad and commented perceptively on his works. The many letters that he sent to Shaw's wife Charlotte are revealing as to his character.
Lawrence was a competent speaker of French and Arabic, and reader of Latin and Ancient Greek.
Lawrence published three major texts in his lifetime. The most significant was his account of the Arab Revolt in Seven Pillars of Wisdom. Homer's Odyssey and The Forest Giant were translations, the latter an otherwise forgotten work of French fiction. He received a flat fee for the second translation, and negotiated a generous fee plus royalties for the first.
Seven Pillars of Wisdom
Lawrence's major work is Seven Pillars of Wisdom, an account of his war experiences. In 1919, he was elected to a seven-year research fellowship at All Souls College, Oxford, providing him with support while he worked on the book. Certain parts of the book also serve as essays on military strategy, Arabian culture and geography, and other topics. He rewrote Seven Pillars of Wisdom three times, once "blind" after he lost the manuscript.
There are many alleged "embellishments" in Seven Pillars, though some allegations have been disproved with time, most definitively in Jeremy Wilson's authorised biography. However, Lawrence's own notebooks refute his claim to have crossed the Sinai Peninsula from Aqaba to the Suez Canal in just 49 hours without any sleep. In reality, this famous camel ride lasted for more than 70 hours and was interrupted by two long breaks for sleeping, which Lawrence omitted when he wrote his book.
In the preface, Lawrence acknowledged George Bernard Shaw's help in editing the book. The first edition was published in 1926 as a high-priced private subscription edition, printed in London by Herbert John Hodgson and Roy Manning Pike, with illustrations by Eric Kennington, Augustus John, Paul Nash, Blair Hughes-Stanton, and Hughes-Stanton's wife Gertrude Hermes. Lawrence was afraid that the public would think that he would make a substantial income from the book, and he stated that it was written as a result of his war service. He vowed not to take any money from it, and indeed he did not, as the sale price was one third of the production costs, leaving him in substantial debt.
As a specialist in the Middle East, Fred Halliday praised Lawrence's Seven Pillars of Wisdom as a "fine work of prose" but described its relevance to the study of Arab history and society as "almost worthless."
Revolt in the Desert
Revolt in the Desert was an abridged version of Seven Pillars that he began in 1926 and that was published in March 1927 in both limited and trade editions. He undertook a needed but reluctant publicity exercise, which resulted in a best-seller. Again he vowed not to take any fees from the publication, partly to appease the subscribers to Seven Pillars who had paid dearly for their editions. By the fourth reprint in 1927, the debt from Seven Pillars was paid off. As Lawrence left for military service in India at the end of 1926, he set up the "Seven Pillars Trust" with his friend D. G. Hogarth as a trustee, in which he made over the copyright and any surplus income of Revolt in the Desert. He later told Hogarth that he had "made the Trust final, to save myself the temptation of reviewing it, if Revolt turned out a best seller."
The resultant trust paid off the debt, and Lawrence then invoked a clause in his publishing contract to halt publication of the abridgement in the United Kingdom. However, he allowed both American editions and translations, which resulted in a substantial flow of income. The trust paid income either into an educational fund for children of RAF officers who lost their lives or were invalided as a result of service, or more substantially into the RAF Benevolent Fund.
Posthumous
Lawrence left The Mint unpublished, a memoir of his experiences as an enlisted man in the Royal Air Force (RAF). For this, he worked from a notebook that he kept while enlisted, writing of the daily lives of enlisted men and his desire to be a part of something larger than himself. The book is stylistically very different from Seven Pillars of Wisdom, using sparse prose as opposed to the complicated syntax found in Seven Pillars. It was published posthumously, edited by his brother Professor A. W. Lawrence.
After Lawrence's death, A. W. Lawrence inherited Lawrence's estate and his copyrights as the sole beneficiary. To pay the inheritance tax, he sold the US copyright of Seven Pillars of Wisdom (subscribers' text) outright to Doubleday Doran in 1935. Doubleday still controls publication rights of this version of the text of Seven Pillars of Wisdom in the US, and will continue to until the copyright expires at the end of 2022 (publication plus 95 years). In 1936, A. W. Lawrence split the remaining assets of the estate, giving Clouds Hill and many copies of less substantial or historical letters to the National Trust, and then set up two trusts to control interests in his brother's residual copyrights. He assigned the copyright in Seven Pillars of Wisdom to the Seven Pillars of Wisdom Trust, and it was given its first general publication as a result. He assigned the copyright in The Mint and all Lawrence's letters to the Letters and Symposium Trust, which he edited and published in the book T. E. Lawrence by his Friends in 1937.
A substantial amount of income went directly to the RAF Benevolent Fund and to archaeological, environmental, and academic projects. The two trusts were amalgamated in 1986, and the unified trust acquired all the remaining rights to Lawrence's works that it had not owned on the death of A. W. Lawrence in 1991, plus rights to all of A. W. Lawrence's works. The UK copyrights on Lawrence's works published in his lifetime and within 20 years of his death expired on 1 January 2006. Works published more than 20 years after his death were protected for 50 years from publication or to 1 January 2040, whichever is earlier.
Writings
Seven Pillars of Wisdom, an account of Lawrence's part in the Arab Revolt. ()
Revolt in the Desert, an abridged version of Seven Pillars of Wisdom. ()
The Mint, an account of Lawrence's service in the Royal Air Force. ()
Crusader Castles, Lawrence's Oxford thesis. London: Michael Haag 1986 (). The first edition was published in London in 1936 by the Golden Cockerel Press, in 2 volumes, limited to 1000 editions.
The Odyssey of Homer, Lawrence's translation from the Greek, first published in 1932. ()
The Forest Giant, by Adrien Le Corbeau, novel, Lawrence's translation from the French, 1924.
The Letters of T. E. Lawrence, selected and edited by Malcolm Brown. London, J. M Dent. 1988 ()
The Letters of T. E. Lawrence, edited by David Garnett. ()
T. E. Lawrence. Letters, Jeremy Wilson. (See prospectus)
Minorities: Good Poems by Small Poets and Small Poems by Good Poets, edited by Jeremy Wilson, 1971. Lawrence's commonplace book includes an introduction by Wilson that explains how the poems comprising the book reflected Lawrence's life and thoughts.
Guerrilla Warfare, article in the 1929 Encyclopædia Britannica
The Wilderness of Zin, by C. Leonard Woolley and T. E. Lawrence. London, Harrison and Sons, 1914.
Sexuality
Lawrence's biographers have discussed his sexuality at considerable length and this discussion has spilled into the popular press. There is no reliable evidence for consensual sexual intimacy between Lawrence and any person. His friends have expressed the opinion that he was asexual, and Lawrence himself specifically denied any personal experience of sex in multiple private letters. There were suggestions that Lawrence had been intimate with Dahoum, who worked with him at a pre-war archaeological dig in Carchemish, and fellow serviceman R. A. M. Guy, but his biographers and contemporaries found them unconvincing.
The dedication to his book Seven Pillars is a poem titled "To S.A." which opens:
Lawrence was never specific about the identity of "S.A." Many theories argue in favour of individual men or women, and the Arab nation as a whole. The most popular theory is that S.A. represents (at least in part) his companion Selim Ahmed, "Dahoum", who apparently died of typhus before 1918.
Lawrence lived in a period of strong official opposition to homosexuality, but his writing on the subject was tolerant. He wrote to Charlotte Shaw, "I've seen lots of man-and-man loves: very lovely and fortunate some of them were." He refers to "the openness and honesty of perfect love" on one occasion in Seven Pillars, when discussing relationships between young male fighters in the war. He wrote in Chapter 1 of Seven Pillars:
There is considerable evidence that Lawrence was a masochist. He wrote in his description of the Dera'a beating that "a delicious warmth, probably sexual, was swelling through me," and he also included a detailed description of the guards' whip in a style typical of masochists' writing. In later life, Lawrence arranged to pay a military colleague to administer beatings to him, and to be subjected to severe formal tests of fitness and stamina. John Bruce first wrote on this topic, including some other statements that were not credible, but Lawrence's biographers regard the beatings as established fact. French novelist André Malraux admired Lawrence but wrote that he had a "taste for self-humiliation, now by discipline and now by veneration; a horror of respectability; a disgust for possessions". Biographer Lawrence James wrote that the evidence suggested a "strong homosexual masochism", noting that he never sought punishment from women.
Psychologist John E. Mack sees a possible connection between Lawrence's masochism and the childhood beatings that he had received from his mother for routine misbehaviours. His brother Arnold thought that the beatings had been given for the purpose of breaking his brother's will. Angus Calder suggested in 1997 that Lawrence's apparent masochism and self-loathing might have stemmed from a sense of guilt over losing his brothers Frank and Will on the Western Front, along with many other school friends, while he survived.
Aldington controversy
In 1955 Richard Aldington published Lawrence of Arabia: A Biographical Enquiry, a sustained attack on Lawrence's character, writing, accomplishments, and truthfulness. Specifically, Aldington alleges that Lawrence lied and exaggerated continuously, promoted a misguided policy in the Middle East, that his strategy of containing but not capturing Medina was incorrect, and that Seven Pillars of Wisdom was a bad book with few redeeming features. He also revealed Lawrence's illegitimacy and strongly suggested that he was homosexual. For example: "Seven Pillars of Wisdom is rather a work of quasi-fiction than history.", and "It was seldom that he reported any fact or episode involving himself without embellishing them and indeed in some cases entirely inventing them."
It is significant that Aldington was a colonialist, arguing that the French colonial administration of Syria (strongly resisted by Lawrence) had benefited that country and that Arabia's peoples were "far enough advanced for some government though not for complete self-government." He was also a Francophile, railing against Lawrence's "Francophobia, a hatred and an envy so irrational, so irresponsible and so unscrupulous that it is fair to say his attitude towards Syria was determined more by hatred of France than by devotion to the 'Arabs' - a convenient propaganda word which grouped many disharmonious and even mutually hostile tribes and peoples."
Prior to the publication of Aldington's book, its contents became known in London's literary community. A group Aldington and some subsequent authors referred to as "The Lawrence Bureau", led by B. H. Liddell Hart tried energetically, starting in 1954, to have the book suppressed. That effort having failed, Liddell Hart prepared and distributed hundreds of copies of Aldington's 'Lawrence': His Charges--and Treatment of the Evidence, a 7-page single-spaced document. This worked: Aldington's book received many extremely negative and even abusive reviews, with strong evidence that some reviewers had read Liddell's rebuttal but not Aldington's book.
Aldington wrote that Lawrence embellished many stories and invented others, and in particular that his claims involving numbers were usually inflated - for example claims of having read 50,000 books in the Oxford Union library, of having blown up 79 bridges, of having had a price of £50,000 on his head, and of having suffered 60 or more injuries. Many of Aldington's specific claims against Lawrence have been accepted by subsequent biographers. In Richard Aldington and Lawrence of Arabia: A Cautionary Tale, Fred D. Crawford writes "Much that shocked in 1955 is now standard knowledge--that TEL was illegitimate, that this profoundly troubled him, that he frequently resented his mother's dominance, that such reminiscences as T.E. Lawrence by His Friends are not reliable, that TEL's leg-pulling and other adolescent traits could be offensive, that TEL took liberties with the truth in his official reports and Seven Pillars, that the significance of his exploits during the Arab Revolt was more political than military, that he contributed to his own myth, that when he vetted the books by Graves and Liddell he let remain much that he knew was untrue, and that his feelings about publicity were ambiguous."
This has not prevented most post-Aldington biographers (including Fred D. Crawford, who studied the Aldington claims intensely) from expressing strong admiration for Lawrence's military, political, and writing achievements.
Awards and commemorations
Lawrence was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath on 7 August 1917, appointed a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order on 10 May 1918, awarded the Knight of the Legion of Honour (France) on 30 May 1916 and awarded the Croix de guerre (France) on 16 April 1918.
King George V offered Lawrence a knighthood on 30 October 1918 at a private audience in Buckingham Palace for his services in the Arab Revolt, but he declined. He was unwilling to accept the honour in light of how his country had betrayed the Arabs.
A bronze bust of Lawrence by Eric Kennington was placed in the crypt of St Paul's Cathedral, London, on 29 January 1936, alongside the tombs of Britain's greatest military leaders. A recumbent stone effigy by Kennington was installed in St Martin's Church, Wareham, Dorset, in 1939.
An English Heritage blue plaque marks Lawrence's childhood home at 2 Polstead Road, Oxford, and another appears on his London home at 14 Barton Street, Westminster. Lawrence appears on the album cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles. In 2002, Lawrence was named 53rd in the BBC's list of the 100 Greatest Britons following a UK-wide vote.
In 2018, Lawrence was featured on a £5 coin (issued in silver and gold) in a six-coin set commemorating the Centenary of the First World War produced by the Royal Mint.
In popular culture
Film
Alexander Korda bought the film rights to The Seven Pillars in the 1930s. The production was in development, with various actors cast as the lead, such as Leslie Howard.
Peter O'Toole was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Lawrence in the 1962 film Lawrence of Arabia.
Lawrence was portrayed by Robert Pattinson in the 2014 biographical drama about Gertrude Bell, Queen of the Desert.
Peter O'Toole's portrayal of Lawrence inspired behavioural affectations in the synthetic model called David, portrayed by Michael Fassbender in the 2012 film Prometheus, and in the 2017 sequel Alien: Covenant, part of the Alien franchise.
Literature
T.E. Lawrence (T.E.ロレンス) is a seven-volume manga series by Tomoko Kosaka, which retells Lawrence's life story from childhood onward.
The Oath of the Five Lords tells a fictional story including several references to T.E. Lawrence and his memoirs in which he describes how the United Kingdom did not honour its promises to the Arab nation. The comic is the twenty-first book in the Blake and Mortimer comic series. The story was written by Yves Sente and drawn by André Juillard and was released in 2012.
The T.E. Lawrence Poems was published by Canadian poet Gwendolyn MacEwen in 1982. The poems rely heavily, and quote directly from, primary material including Seven Pillars and the collected letters.
Television
He was portrayed by Judson Scott in the 1982 TV series Voyagers!
Ralph Fiennes portrayed Lawrence in the 1992 British made-for-TV movie A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia.
Joseph A. Bennett and Douglas Henshall portrayed him in the 1992 TV series The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles.
He was also portrayed in a Syrian series, directed by Thaer Mousa, called Lawrence Al Arab. The series consisted of 37 episodes, each between 45 minutes and one hour in length.
Theatre
Lawrence was the subject of Terence Rattigan's controversial play Ross, which explored Lawrence's alleged homosexuality. Ross ran in London in 1960–61, starring Alec Guinness, who was an admirer of Lawrence, and Gerald Harper as his blackmailer, Dickinson. The play had originally been written as a screenplay, but the planned film was never made. In January 1986 at the Theatre Royal, Plymouth, on the opening night of the revival of Ross, Marc Sinden, who was playing Dickinson (the man who recognised and blackmailed Lawrence, played by Simon Ward), was introduced to the man on whom the character of Dickinson was based. Sinden asked him why he had blackmailed Ross, and he replied, "Oh, for the money. I was financially embarrassed at the time and needed to get up to London to see a girlfriend. It was never meant to be a big thing, but a good friend of mine was very close to Terence Rattigan and years later, the silly devil told him the story."
Alan Bennett's Forty Years On (1968) includes a satire on Lawrence; known as "Tee Hee Lawrence" because of his high-pitched, girlish giggle. "Clad in the magnificent white silk robes of an Arab prince ... he hoped to pass unnoticed through London. Alas he was mistaken."
The character of Private Napoleon Meek in George Bernard Shaw's 1931 play Too True to Be Good was inspired by Lawrence. Meek is depicted as thoroughly conversant with the language and lifestyle of the native tribes. He repeatedly enlists with the army, quitting whenever offered a promotion. Lawrence attended a performance of the play's original Worcestershire run, and reportedly signed autographs for patrons attending the show.
Lawrence's first year back at Oxford after the War to write was portrayed by Tom Rooney in a play, The Oxford Roof Climbers Rebellion, written by Canadian playwright Stephen Massicotte (premiered Toronto 2006). The play explores Lawrence's reactions to war, and his friendship with Robert Graves. Urban Stages presented the American premiere in New York City in October 2007; Lawrence was portrayed by actor Dylan Chalfy.
Lawrence's final years are portrayed in a one-man show by Raymond Sargent, The Warrior and the Poet.
His 1922 retreat from public life forms the subject of Howard Brenton's play Lawrence After Arabia, commissioned for a 2016 premiere at the Hampstead Theatre to mark the centenary of the outbreak of the Arab Revolt.
A highly fictionalised version of Lawrence featured in the 2016 Swedish-language comedic play Lawrence i Mumiedalen.
Video games
A fictionalized Lawrence is an NPC who assists the party in Shadow Hearts: Covenant (2004).
A fictionalized Lawrence is an NPC who appears in cutscenes and guides the player through missions in Battlefield 1 (2016).
Lawrence and his work are referenced multiple times throughout the video game Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (2011).
See also
Hashemites, ruling family of Mecca (10th–20th century) and of Jordan since 1921
Kingdom of Iraq (1932–1958)
Lawrence of Arabia: The Authorised Biography of T. E. Lawrence by Jeremy Wilson (1989)
The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones, US TV series (1992–1993) with episodes depicting moments from Lawrence's life
Related individuals
Richard Meinertzhagen (1878–1967), British intelligence officer and ornithologist, on occasion a colleague of Lawrence's
Rafael de Nogales Méndez (1879–1937), Venezuelan officer who served in the Ottoman Army and was compared to Lawrence
Suleiman Mousa (1919–2008), Jordanian historian who wrote about Lawrence
Oskar von Niedermayer (1885–1948), German officer, professor and spy, sometimes referred to as the German Lawrence
Max von Oppenheim (1860–1946), German-Jewish lawyer, diplomat and archaeologist. Lawrence called his travelogue "the best book on the [Middle East] area I know".
Wilhelm Wassmuss (1880–1931), German diplomat and spy, known as "Wassmuss of Persia" and compared to Lawrence
References
Citations
Sources
External links
Digital collections
T. E. Lawrence's Original Letters on Palestine Shapell Manuscript Foundation
Works by T. E. Lawrence at Wikilivres
Physical collections
T. E. Lawrence's Collection at The University of Texas at Austin's Harry Ransom Center
"Creating History: Lowell Thomas and Lawrence of Arabia" online history exhibit at Clio Visualizing History.
Europeana Collections 1914–1918 makes 425,000 World War I items from European libraries available online, including manuscripts, photographs and diaries by or relating to Lawrence
T. E. Lawrence's Personal Manuscripts and Letters
News and analysis
The Guardian 19 May 1935 – The death of Lawrence of Arabia
The Legend of Lawrence of Arabia: The Recalcitrant Hero
T. E. Lawrence: The Enigmatic Lawrence of Arabia article by O'Brien Browne
Lawrence of Arabia: True and false (an Arab view) by Lucy Ladikoff
Documentaries
Footage of Lawrence of Arabia with publisher FN Doubleday and at a picnic
Lawrence of Arabia: The Battle for the Arab World, directed by James Hawes. PBS Home Video, 21 October 2003. (ASIN B0000BWVND)
Societies
T. E. Lawrence Studies, built by Lawrence's authorised biographer Jeremy Wilson (no longer maintained)
The T. E. Lawrence Society
1888 births
1935 deaths
20th-century archaeologists
20th-century British writers
20th-century translators
Alumni of Jesus College, Oxford
Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford
Arab Bureau officers
Arab Revolt
British archaeologists
British Army General List officers
British Army personnel of World War I
British guerrillas
British people of Irish descent
Castellologists
Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur
Companions of the Distinguished Service Order
Companions of the Order of the Bath
Fellows of All Souls College, Oxford
French–English translators
Greek–English translators
Guerrilla warfare theorists
Motorcycle road incident deaths
People educated at the City of Oxford High School for Boys
People from Caernarfonshire
People of Anglo-Irish descent
Road incident deaths in England
Royal Air Force airmen
Royal Garrison Artillery soldiers
Royal Tank Regiment soldiers
Welsh people of Irish descent
Translators of Homer | false | [
"\"Be Someone Else\" is a song by Slimmy, released in 2010 as the lead single from his second studio album Be Someone Else. The single wasn't particularly successful, charting anywhere.\nA music video was also made for \"Be Someone Else\", produced by Riot Films. It premiered on 27 June 2010 on YouTube.\n\nBackground\n\"Be Someone Else\" was unveiled as the album's lead single. The song was written by Fernandes and produced by Quico Serrano and Mark J Turner. It was released to MySpace on 1 January 2010.\n\nMusic video\nA music video was also made for \"Be Someone Else\", produced by Riot Films. It premiered on 27 June 2010 on YouTube. The music video features two different scenes which alternate with each other many times during the video. The first scene features Slimmy performing the song with an electric guitar and the second scene features Slimmy performing with the band in the background.\n\nChart performance\nThe single wasn't particularly successful, charting anywhere.\n\nLive performances\n A Very Slimmy Tour\n Be Someone Else Tour\n\nTrack listing\n\nDigital single\n\"Be Someone Else\" (album version) - 3:22\n\nPersonnel\nTaken from the album's booklet.\n\nPaulo Fernandes – main vocals, guitar\nPaulo Garim – bass\nTó-Zé – drums\n\nRelease history\n\nCharts\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nOfficial music video at YouTube.\n\n2010 singles\nEnglish-language Portuguese songs\n2009 songs",
"Tropicario is a Finnish public aquarium, that was previously located in Hämeenlinna, Finland; due to the lack of visitors the park relocated to Helsinki, Finland in February 2007. The public aquarium is specialized in snakes and lizards.\nOn their website they claim to have more Constrictor species than anywhere else in Scandinavia.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nZoos in Finland\nBuildings and structures in Helsinki"
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"T. E. Lawrence",
"Antiquities and archaeology",
"How did he get interested in antiquities and archaeology?",
"Lawrence and his schoolfriend Cyril Beeson cycled around Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, and Oxfordshire, visited almost every village's parish church, studied their monuments and antiquities,",
"Did Lawrence attend school?",
"From 1907 to 1910, Lawrence read History at Jesus College, Oxford.",
"What did they do at the sites?",
"studied their monuments and antiquities, and made rubbings of their monumental brasses.",
"Did they travel anywhere else?",
"\" In the summers of 1906 and 1907, Lawrence and Beeson toured France by bicycle,"
]
| C_f8febb2118a84b91bb8cffa9bbb47998_1 | What is an interesting fact about his travels? | 5 | What is an interesting fact about T.E. Lawrence's travels? | T. E. Lawrence | At the age of 15, Lawrence and his schoolfriend Cyril Beeson cycled around Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, and Oxfordshire, visited almost every village's parish church, studied their monuments and antiquities, and made rubbings of their monumental brasses. Lawrence and Beeson monitored building sites in Oxford and presented their finds to the Ashmolean Museum. The Ashmolean's Annual Report for 1906 said that the two teenage boys "by incessant watchfulness secured everything of antiquarian value which has been found." In the summers of 1906 and 1907, Lawrence and Beeson toured France by bicycle, collecting photographs, drawings, and measurements of medieval castles. In August 1907 Lawrence wrote home: "The Chaignons & the Lamballe people, complimented me on my wonderful French: I have been asked twice since I arrived what part of France I came from". From 1907 to 1910, Lawrence read History at Jesus College, Oxford. In the summer of 1909, he set out alone on a three-month walking tour of crusader castles in Ottoman Syria, during which he travelled 1,000 mi (1,600 km) on foot. Lawrence graduated with First Class Honours after submitting a thesis titled The Influence of the Crusades on European Military Architecture--to the End of the 12th Century, based on his field research with Beeson in France, notably in Chalus, and his solo research in the Middle East. Lawrence was fascinated by the Middle Ages with his brother Arnold writing in 1937 that for him "medieval researches" were a "dream way of escape from bourgeois England". In 1910 Lawrence was offered the opportunity to become a practising archaeologist in the Middle East, at Carchemish, in the expedition that D. G. Hogarth was setting up on behalf of the British Museum. Hogarth arranged a "Senior Demyship", a form of scholarship, for Lawrence at Magdalen College, Oxford, to fund Lawrence's work at PS100 a year. In December 1910, he sailed for Beirut and on his arrival went to Jbail (Byblos), where he studied Arabic. He then went to work on the excavations at Carchemish, near Jerablus in northern Syria, where he worked under Hogarth, R. Campbell Thompson of the British Museum, and Leonard Woolley, until 1914. He later stated that everything which he had accomplished he owed to Hogarth. While excavating at Carchemish, Lawrence met Gertrude Bell. In 1912 Lawrence worked briefly with Flinders Petrie at Kafr Ammar in Egypt. CANNOTANSWER | In the summer of 1909, he set out alone on a three-month walking tour of crusader castles in Ottoman Syria, during which he travelled 1,000 mi (1,600 km) on foot. | Colonel Thomas Edward Lawrence (16 August 1888 – 19 May 1935) was a British archaeologist, army officer, diplomat, and writer, who became renowned for his role in the Arab Revolt (1916–1918) and the Sinai and Palestine Campaign (1915–1918) against the Ottoman Empire during the First World War. The breadth and variety of his activities and associations, and his ability to describe them vividly in writing, earned him international fame as Lawrence of Arabia, a title used for the 1962 film based on his wartime activities.
He was born out of wedlock in August 1888 to Sarah Junner (1861–1959), a governess, and Sir Thomas Chapman, 7th Baronet (1846–1919), an Anglo-Irish nobleman. Chapman left his wife and family in Ireland to cohabit with Junner. Chapman and Junner called themselves Mr and Mrs Lawrence, using the surname of Sarah's likely father; her mother had been employed as a servant for a Lawrence family when she became pregnant with Sarah. In 1896, the Lawrences moved to Oxford, where Thomas attended the High School and then studied history at Jesus College, Oxford from 1907 to 1910. Between 1910 and 1914 he worked as an archaeologist for the British Museum, chiefly at Carchemish in Ottoman Syria.
Soon after the outbreak of war in 1914 he volunteered for the British Army and was stationed at the Arab Bureau (established in 1916) intelligence unit in Egypt. In 1916, he travelled to Mesopotamia and to Arabia on intelligence missions and quickly became involved with the Arab Revolt as a liaison to the Arab forces, along with other British officers, supporting the Arab Kingdom of Hejaz's independence war against its former overlord, the Ottoman Empire. He worked closely with Emir Faisal, a leader of the revolt, and he participated, sometimes as leader, in military actions against the Ottoman armed forces, culminating in the capture of Damascus in October 1918.
After the First World War, Lawrence joined the British Foreign Office, working with the British government and with Faisal. In 1922, he retreated from public life and spent the years until 1935 serving as an enlisted man, mostly in the Royal Air Force (RAF), with a brief period in the Army. During this time, he published his best-known work Seven Pillars of Wisdom (1926), an autobiographical account of his participation in the Arab Revolt. He also translated books into English, and wrote The Mint, which detailed his time in the Royal Air Force working as an ordinary aircraftman. He corresponded extensively and was friendly with well-known artists, writers, and politicians. For the RAF, he participated in the development of rescue motorboats.
Lawrence's public image resulted in part from the sensationalised reporting of the Arab revolt by American journalist Lowell Thomas, as well as from Seven Pillars of Wisdom. In 1935, Lawrence was fatally injured in a motorcycle accident in Dorset.
Early life
Thomas Edward Lawrence was born on 16 August 1888 in Tremadog, Carnarvonshire, Wales, in a house named Gorphwysfa, now known as Snowdon Lodge. His Anglo-Irish father Thomas Chapman had left his wife Edith after he had a first son with Sarah Junner who had been governess to his daughters. Sarah had herself been an illegitimate child, having been born in Sunderland as the daughter of Elizabeth Junner, a servant employed by a family named Lawrence; she was dismissed four months before Sarah was born, and identified Sarah's father as "John Junner, Shipwright journeyman".
Lawrence's parents did not marry but lived together under the pseudonym Lawrence. In 1914, his father inherited the Chapman baronetcy based at Killua Castle, the ancestral family home in County Westmeath, Ireland. The couple had five sons, Thomas (called "Ned" by his immediate family) being the second eldest. From Wales, the family moved to Kirkcudbright, Galloway, in southwestern Scotland, then to Dinard in Brittany, then to Jersey.
The family lived at Langley Lodge (now demolished) from 1894 to 1896, set in private woods between the eastern borders of the New Forest and Southampton Water in Hampshire. The residence was isolated, and young Lawrence had many opportunities for outdoor activities and waterfront visits. Victorian-Edwardian Britain was a very conservative society, where the majority of people were Christians who considered premarital and extramarital sex to be shameful, and children born out of wedlock were born in disgrace. Lawrence was always something of an outsider, a bastard who could never hope to achieve the same level of social acceptance and success that others could expect who were born legitimate, and no girl from a respectable family would ever marry a bastard.
In the summer of 1896, the family moved to 2, Polstead Road in Oxford, where they lived until 1921. Lawrence attended the City of Oxford High School for Boys from 1896 until 1907, where one of the four houses was later named "Lawrence" in his honour; the school closed in 1966. Lawrence and one of his brothers became commissioned officers in the Church Lads' Brigade at St Aldate's Church.
Lawrence claimed that he ran away from home around 1905 and served for a few weeks as a boy soldier with the Royal Garrison Artillery at St Mawes Castle in Cornwall, from which he was bought out. However, no evidence of this appears in army records.
Travels, antiquities, and archaeology
At age 15, Lawrence and his schoolfriend Cyril Beeson cycled around Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, and Oxfordshire, visiting almost every village's parish church, studying their monuments and antiquities, and making rubbings of their monumental brasses. Lawrence and Beeson monitored building sites in Oxford and presented the Ashmolean Museum with anything that they found. The Ashmolean's Annual Report for 1906 said that the two teenage boys "by incessant watchfulness secured everything of antiquarian value which has been found." In the summers of 1906 and 1907, Lawrence toured France by bicycle, sometimes with Beeson, collecting photographs, drawings, and measurements of medieval castles. In August 1907, Lawrence wrote home: "The Chaignons & the Lamballe people complimented me on my wonderful French: I have been asked twice since I arrived what part of France I came from".
From 1907 to 1910, Lawrence read history at Jesus College, Oxford. In July and August 1908 he cycled 2,200 miles (3,500 km) solo through France to the Mediterranean and back researching French castles. In the summer of 1909, he set out alone on a three-month walking tour of crusader castles in Ottoman Syria, during which he travelled on foot. While at Jesus he was a keen member of the University Officers' Training Corps (OTC). He graduated with First Class Honours after submitting a thesis titled The Influence of the Crusades on European Military Architecture—to the End of the 12th Century, partly based on his field research with Beeson in France, and his solo research in France and the Middle East. Lawrence was fascinated by the Middle Ages; his brother Arnold wrote in 1937 that "medieval researches" were a "dream way of escape from bourgeois England".
In 1910, Lawrence was offered the opportunity to become a practising archaeologist at Carchemish, in the expedition that D. G. Hogarth was setting up on behalf of the British Museum. Hogarth arranged a "Senior Demyship" (a form of scholarship) for Lawrence at Magdalen College, Oxford, to fund his work at £100 a year. He sailed for Beirut in December 1910 and went to Byblos, where he studied Arabic. He then went to work on the excavations at Carchemish, near Jerablus in northern Syria, where he worked under Hogarth, R. Campbell Thompson of the British Museum, and Leonard Woolley until 1914. He later stated that everything which he had accomplished he owed to Hogarth. Lawrence met Gertrude Bell while excavating at Carchemish. He worked briefly with Flinders Petrie in 1912 at Kafr Ammar in Egypt.
At Carchemish, Lawrence was frequently involved in a high-tension relationship with a German-led team working nearby on the Baghdad Railway at Jerablus. While there was never open combat, there was regular conflict over access to land and treatment of the local workforce; Lawrence gained experience in Middle Eastern leadership practices and conflict resolution.
Military intelligence
In January 1914, Woolley and Lawrence were co-opted by the British military as an archaeological smokescreen for a British military survey of the Negev Desert. They were funded by the Palestine Exploration Fund to search for an area referred to in the Bible as the Wilderness of Zin, and they made an archaeological survey of the Negev Desert along the way. The Negev was strategically important, as an Ottoman army attacking Egypt would have to cross it. Woolley and Lawrence subsequently published a report of the expedition's archaeological findings, but a more important result was updated mapping of the area, with special attention to features of military relevance such as water sources. Lawrence also visited Aqaba and Shobek, not far from Petra.
Following the outbreak of hostilities in August 1914, Lawrence did not immediately enlist in the British Army. He held back until October on the advice of S. F. Newcombe, when he was commissioned on the General List. Before the end of the year, he was summoned by renowned archaeologist and historian Lt. Cmdr. David Hogarth, his mentor at Carchemish, to the new Arab Bureau intelligence unit in Cairo, and he arrived in Cairo on 15 December 1914. The Bureau's chief was General Gilbert Clayton who reported to Egyptian High Commissioner Henry McMahon.
The situation was complex during 1915. There was a growing Arab-nationalist movement within the Arabic-speaking Ottoman territories, including many Arabs serving in the Ottoman armed forces. They were in contact with Sharif Hussein, Emir of Mecca, who was negotiating with the British and offering to lead an Arab uprising against the Ottomans. In exchange, he wanted a British guarantee of an independent Arab state including the Hejaz, Syria, and Mesopotamia. Such an uprising would have been very helpful to Britain in its war against the Ottomans, greatly lessening the threat against the Suez Canal. However, there was resistance from French diplomats who insisted that Syria's future was as a French colony, not an independent Arab state. There were also strong objections from the Government of India, which was nominally part of the British government but acted independently. Its vision was of Mesopotamia under British control serving as a granary for India; furthermore, it wanted to hold on to its Arabian outpost in Aden.
At the Arab Bureau, Lawrence supervised the preparation of maps, produced a daily bulletin for the British generals operating in the theatre, and interviewed prisoners. He was an advocate of a British landing at Alexandretta which never came to pass. He was also a consistent advocate of an independent Arab Syria.
The situation came to a crisis in October 1915, as Sharif Hussein demanded an immediate commitment from Britain, with the threat that he would otherwise throw his weight behind the Ottomans. This would create a credible Pan-Islamic message that could have been very dangerous for Britain, which was in severe difficulties in the Gallipoli Campaign. The British replied with a letter from High Commissioner McMahon that was generally agreeable while reserving commitments concerning the Mediterranean coastline and Holy Land.
In the spring of 1916, Lawrence was dispatched to Mesopotamia to assist in relieving the Siege of Kut by some combination of starting an Arab uprising and bribing Ottoman officials. This mission produced no useful result. Meanwhile, the Sykes–Picot Agreement was being negotiated in London without the knowledge of British officials in Cairo, which awarded a large proportion of Syria to France. Further, it implied that the Arabs would have to conquer Syria's four great cities if they were to have any sort of state there: Damascus, Homs, Hama, and Aleppo. It is unclear at what point Lawrence became aware of the treaty's contents.
Arab Revolt
The Arab Revolt began in June 1916, but it bogged down after a few successes, with a real risk that the Ottoman forces would advance along the coast of the Red Sea and recapture Mecca. On 16 October 1916, Lawrence was sent to the Hejaz on an intelligence-gathering mission led by Ronald Storrs. He interviewed Sharif Hussein's sons Ali, Abdullah, and Faisal, and he concluded that Faisal was the best candidate to lead the Revolt.
In November, S. F. Newcombe was assigned to lead a permanent British liaison to Faisal's staff. Newcombe had not yet arrived in the area and the matter was of some urgency, so Lawrence was sent in his place. In late December 1916, Faisal and Lawrence worked out a plan for repositioning the Arab forces to prevent the Ottoman forces around Medina from threatening Arab positions and putting the railway from Syria under threat. Newcombe arrived and Lawrence was preparing to leave Arabia, but Faisal intervened urgently, asking that Lawrence's assignment become permanent.
Lawrence's most important contributions to the Arab Revolt were in the area of strategy and liaison with British armed forces, but he also participated personally in several military engagements:
3 January 1917: Attack on an Ottoman outpost in the Hejaz
26 March 1917: Attack on the railway at Aba el Naam
11 June 1917: Attack on a bridge at Ras Baalbek
2 July 1917: Defeat of the Ottoman forces at Aba el Lissan, an outpost of Aqaba
18 September 1917: Attack on the railway near Mudawara
27 September 1917: Attack on the railway, destroyed an engine
7 November 1917: Following a failed attack on the Yarmuk bridges, blew up a train on the railway between Dera'a and Amman, suffering several wounds in the explosion and ensuing combat
23 January 1918: The battle of Tafileh, a region southeast of the Dead Sea, with Arab regulars under the command of Jafar Pasha al-Askari; the battle was a defensive engagement that turned into an offensive rout and was described in the official history of the war as a "brilliant feat of arms". Lawrence was awarded the Distinguished Service Order for his leadership at Tafileh and was promoted to lieutenant colonel.
March 1918: Attack on the railway near Aqaba
19 April 1918: Attack using British armoured cars on Tell Shahm
16 September 1918: Destruction of railway bridge between Amman and Dera'a
26 September 1918: Attack on retreating Ottomans and Germans near the village of Tafas. The Ottoman forces massacred the villagers and then Arab forces in return massacred their prisoners with Lawrence's encouragement.
Lawrence made a 300-mile personal journey northward in June 1917, on the way to Aqaba, visiting Ras Baalbek, the outskirts of Damascus, and Azraq, Jordan. He met Arab nationalists, counselling them to avoid revolt until the arrival of Faisal's forces, and he attacked a bridge to create the impression of guerrilla activity. His findings were regarded by the British as extremely valuable and there was serious consideration of awarding him a Victoria Cross; in the end, he was invested as a Companion of the Order of the Bath and promoted to Major.
Lawrence travelled regularly between British headquarters and Faisal, co-ordinating military action. But by early 1918, Faisal's chief British liaison was Colonel Pierce Charles Joyce, and Lawrence's time was chiefly devoted to raiding and intelligence-gathering.
Strategy
The chief elements of the Arab strategy which Faisal and Lawrence developed were to avoid capturing Medina, and to extend northwards through Maan and Dera'a to Damascus and beyond. Faisal wanted to lead regular attacks against the Ottomans, but Lawrence persuaded him to drop that tactic. Lawrence wrote about the Bedouin as a fighting force:
The value of the tribes is defensive only and their real sphere is guerilla warfare. They are intelligent, and very lively, almost reckless, but too individualistic to endure commands, or fight in line, or to help each other. It would, I think, be possible to make an organized force out of them.… The Hejaz war is one of dervishes against regular forces—and we are on the side of the dervishes. Our text-books do not apply to its conditions at all.
Medina was an attractive target for the revolt as Islam's second holiest site, and because its Ottoman garrison was weakened by disease and isolation. It became clear that it was advantageous to leave it there rather than try to capture it, while continually attacking the Hejaz railway south from Damascus without permanently destroying it. This prevented the Ottomans from making effective use of their troops at Medina, and forced them to dedicate many resources to defending and repairing the railway line.
It is not known when Lawrence learned the details of the Sykes-Picot Agreement, nor if or when he briefed Faisal on what he knew, However, there is good reason to think that both these things happened, and earlier rather than later. In particular, the Arab strategy of northward extension makes perfect sense given the Sykes-Picot language that spoke of an independent Arab entity in Syria, which would only be granted if the Arabs liberated the territory themselves. The French, and some of their British Liaison officers, were specifically uncomfortable about the northward movement, as it would weaken French colonial claims.
Capture of Aqaba
In 1917, Lawrence proposed a joint action with the Arab irregulars and forces including Auda Abu Tayi, who had previously been in the employ of the Ottomans, against the strategically located but lightly defended town of Aqaba on the Red Sea. Aqaba could have been attacked from the sea, but the narrow defiles leading through the mountains were strongly defended and would have been very difficult to assault. The expedition was led by Sharif Nasir of Medina.
Lawrence carefully avoided informing his British superiors about the details of the planned inland attack, due to concern that it would be blocked as contrary to French interests. The expedition departed from Wejh on 9 May, and Aqaba fell to the Arab forces on 6 July, after a surprise overland attack which took the Turkish defences from behind. After Aqaba, General Sir Edmund Allenby, the new commander-in-chief of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force, agreed to Lawrence's strategy for the revolt. Lawrence now held a powerful position as an adviser to Faisal and a person who had Allenby's confidence, as Allenby acknowledged after the war:
Dera'a
Lawrence describes an episode on 20 November 1917 while reconnoitring Dera'a in disguise, when he was captured by the Ottoman military, heavily beaten, and sexually abused by the local bey and his guardsmen, though he does not specify the nature of the sexual contact. Some scholars have stated that he exaggerated the severity of the injuries that he suffered, or alleged that the episode never actually happened. There is no independent testimony, but the multiple consistent reports and the absence of evidence for outright invention in Lawrence's works make the account believable to some of his biographers. Malcolm Brown, John E. Mack, and Jeremy Wilson have argued that this episode had strong psychological effects on Lawrence, which may explain some of his unconventional behaviour in later life. Lawrence ended his account of the episode in Seven Pillars of Wisdom with the statement: "In Dera'a that night the citadel of my integrity had been irrevocably lost."
Fall of Damascus
Lawrence was involved in the build-up to the capture of Damascus in the final weeks of the war, but he was not present at the city's formal surrender, much to his disappointment. He arrived several hours after the city had fallen, entering Damascus around 9 am on 1 October 1918; the first to arrive was the 10th Australian Light Horse Brigade led by Major A. C. N. "Harry" Olden, who formally accepted the surrender of the city from acting Governor Emir Said. Lawrence was instrumental in establishing a provisional Arab government under Faisal in newly liberated Damascus, which he had envisioned as the capital of an Arab state. Faisal's rule as king, however, came to an abrupt end in 1920, after the battle of Maysaloun when the French Forces of General Gouraud entered Damascus under the command of General Mariano Goybet, destroying Lawrence's dream of an independent Arabia.
During the closing years of the war, Lawrence sought to convince his superiors in the British government that Arab independence was in their interests, but he met with mixed success. The secret Sykes-Picot Agreement between France and Britain contradicted the promises of independence that he had made to the Arabs and frustrated his work.
Post-war years
Lawrence returned to the United Kingdom a full colonel. Immediately after the war, he worked for the Foreign Office, attending the Paris Peace Conference between January and May as a member of Faisal's delegation. On 17 May 1919, a Handley Page Type O/400 taking Lawrence to Egypt crashed at the airport of Roma-Centocelle. The pilot and co-pilot were killed; Lawrence survived with a broken shoulder blade and two broken ribs. During his brief hospitalisation, he was visited by King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy.
In 1918, Lowell Thomas went to Jerusalem where he met Lawrence, "whose enigmatic figure in Arab uniform fired his imagination", in the words of author Rex Hall. Thomas and his cameraman Harry Chase shot a great deal of film and many photographs involving Lawrence. Thomas produced a stage presentation entitled With Allenby in Palestine which included a lecture, dancing, and music and engaged in "Orientalism", depicting the Middle East as exotic, mysterious, sensuous, and violent.
The show premiered in New York in March 1919. He was invited to take his show to England, and he agreed to do so provided that he was personally invited by the King and provided the use of either Drury Lane or Covent Garden. He opened at Covent Garden on 14 August 1919 and continued for hundreds of lectures, "attended by the highest in the land".
Initially, Lawrence played only a supporting role in the show, as the main focus was on Allenby's campaigns; but then Thomas realised that it was the photos of Lawrence dressed as a Bedouin which had captured the public's imagination, so he had Lawrence photographed again in London in Arab dress. With the new photos, Thomas re-launched his show under the new title With Allenby in Palestine and Lawrence in Arabia in early 1920, which proved to be extremely popular. The new title elevated Lawrence from a supporting role to a co-star of the Near Eastern campaign and reflected a changed emphasis. Thomas' shows made the previously obscure Lawrence into a household name.
Lawrence worked with Thomas on the creation of the presentation, answering many questions and posing for many photographs. After its success, however, he expressed regret about having been featured in it.
Lawrence served as an advisor to Winston Churchill at the Colonial Office for just over a year starting in February 1920. He hated bureaucratic work, writing on 21 May 1921 to Robert Graves: "I wish I hadn't gone out there: the Arabs are like a page I have turned over; and sequels are rotten things. I'm locked up here: office every day and much of it". He travelled to the Middle East on multiple occasions during this period, at one time holding the title of "chief political officer for Trans-Jordania".
He campaigned actively for his and Churchill's vision of the Middle East, publishing pieces in multiple newspapers, including The Times, The Observer, The Daily Mail, and The Daily Express.
Lawrence had a sinister reputation in France during his lifetime and even today as an implacable "enemy of France", the man who was constantly stirring up the Syrians to rebel against French rule throughout the 1920s. However, French historian Maurice Larès wrote that the real reason for France's problems in Syria was that the Syrians did not want to be ruled by France, and the French needed a scapegoat to blame for their difficulties in ruling the country. Larès wrote that Lawrence is usually pictured in France as a Francophobe, but he was really a Francophile.
Having seen and admired the effective use of air power during the war, Lawrence enlisted in the Royal Air Force as an aircraftman, under the name John Hume Ross in August 1922. At the RAF recruiting centre in Covent Garden, London, he was interviewed by recruiting officer Flying Officer W. E. Johns, later known as the author of the Biggles series of novels. Johns rejected Lawrence's application, as he suspected that "Ross" was a false name. Lawrence admitted that this was so and that he had provided false documents. He left, but returned some time later with an RAF messenger who carried a written order that Johns must accept Lawrence.
However, Lawrence was forced out of the RAF in February 1923 after his identity was exposed. He changed his name to T. E. Shaw (apparently as a consequence of his friendship with G. B. and Charlotte Shaw) and joined the Royal Tank Corps later that year. He was unhappy there and repeatedly petitioned to rejoin the RAF, which finally readmitted him in August 1925. A fresh burst of publicity after the publication of Revolt in the Desert resulted in his assignment to bases at Karachi and Miramshah in British India (now Pakistan) in late 1926, where he remained until the end of 1928. At that time, he was forced to return to Britain after rumours began to circulate that he was involved in espionage activities.
He purchased several small plots of land in Chingford, built a hut and swimming pool there, and visited frequently. The hut was removed in 1930 when Chingford Urban District Council acquired the land; it was given to the City of London Corporation which re-erected it in the grounds of The Warren, Loughton. Lawrence's tenure of the Chingford land has now been commemorated by a plaque fixed on the sighting obelisk on Pole Hill.
Lawrence continued serving in the RAF based at RAF Mount Batten near Plymouth, RAF Calshot near Southampton, and RAF Bridlington, East Riding of Yorkshire. He specialised in high-speed boats and professed happiness, and he left the service with considerable regret at the end of his enlistment in March 1935.
In late August or early September 1931 he stayed with Lady Houston aboard her luxury yacht, the Liberty, off Calshot, shortly before the Schneider Trophy competition. In later letters Lady Houston would ask Lawrence's advice on obtaining a new chauffeur for her Rolls Royce car ('Forgive my asking, but you know everything') and suggest that he join the Liberty, for she had discharged her captain, who had turned out to be a 'wrong 'un.'
In the inter-war period, the RAF's Marine Craft Section began to commission air-sea rescue launches capable of higher speeds and greater capacity. The arrival of high-speed craft into the MCS was driven in part by Lawrence. He had previously witnessed a seaplane crew drowning when the seaplane tender sent to their rescue was too slow in arriving. He worked with Hubert Scott-Paine, the founder of the British Power Boat Company (BPBC), to introduce the long ST 200 Seaplane Tender Mk1 into service. These boats had a range of 140 miles when cruising at 24 knots and could achieve a top speed of 29 knots.
Lawrence was a keen motorcyclist and owned eight Brough Superior motorcycles at different times. His last SS100 (Registration GW 2275) is privately owned but has been on loan to the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu and the Imperial War Museum in London. He was also an avid reader of Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur and carried a copy on his campaigns. He read an account of Eugene Vinaver's discovery of the Winchester Manuscript of the Morte in The Times in 1934, and he motorcycled from Manchester to Winchester to meet Vinaver.
Death
On 13 May 1935, Lawrence was fatally injured in an accident on his Brough Superior SS100 motorcycle in Dorset close to his cottage Clouds Hill, near Wareham, just two months after leaving military service. A dip in the road obstructed his view of two boys on their bicycles; he swerved to avoid them, lost control, and was thrown over the handlebars. He died six days later on 19 May 1935, aged 46. The location of the crash is marked by a small memorial at the roadside.
One of the doctors attending him was neurosurgeon Hugh Cairns, who consequently began a long study of the loss of life by motorcycle dispatch riders through head injuries. His research led to the use of crash helmets by both military and civilian motorcyclists.
The Moreton estate borders Bovington Camp, and Lawrence bought it from his cousins the Frampton family. He had been a frequent visitor to their home Okers Wood House, and had corresponded with Louisa Frampton for years. Lawrence's mother arranged with the Framptons to have his body buried in their family plot in the separate burial ground of St Nicholas' Church, Moreton. The coffin was transported on the Frampton estate's bier. Mourners included Winston Churchill, E. M. Forster, Lady Astor, and Lawrence's youngest brother Arnold.
Writings
Lawrence was a prolific writer throughout his life, a large portion of which was epistolary; he often sent several letters a day, and several collections of his letters have been published. He corresponded with many notable figures, including George Bernard Shaw, Edward Elgar, Winston Churchill, Robert Graves, Noël Coward, E. M. Forster, Siegfried Sassoon, John Buchan, Augustus John, and Henry Williamson. He met Joseph Conrad and commented perceptively on his works. The many letters that he sent to Shaw's wife Charlotte are revealing as to his character.
Lawrence was a competent speaker of French and Arabic, and reader of Latin and Ancient Greek.
Lawrence published three major texts in his lifetime. The most significant was his account of the Arab Revolt in Seven Pillars of Wisdom. Homer's Odyssey and The Forest Giant were translations, the latter an otherwise forgotten work of French fiction. He received a flat fee for the second translation, and negotiated a generous fee plus royalties for the first.
Seven Pillars of Wisdom
Lawrence's major work is Seven Pillars of Wisdom, an account of his war experiences. In 1919, he was elected to a seven-year research fellowship at All Souls College, Oxford, providing him with support while he worked on the book. Certain parts of the book also serve as essays on military strategy, Arabian culture and geography, and other topics. He rewrote Seven Pillars of Wisdom three times, once "blind" after he lost the manuscript.
There are many alleged "embellishments" in Seven Pillars, though some allegations have been disproved with time, most definitively in Jeremy Wilson's authorised biography. However, Lawrence's own notebooks refute his claim to have crossed the Sinai Peninsula from Aqaba to the Suez Canal in just 49 hours without any sleep. In reality, this famous camel ride lasted for more than 70 hours and was interrupted by two long breaks for sleeping, which Lawrence omitted when he wrote his book.
In the preface, Lawrence acknowledged George Bernard Shaw's help in editing the book. The first edition was published in 1926 as a high-priced private subscription edition, printed in London by Herbert John Hodgson and Roy Manning Pike, with illustrations by Eric Kennington, Augustus John, Paul Nash, Blair Hughes-Stanton, and Hughes-Stanton's wife Gertrude Hermes. Lawrence was afraid that the public would think that he would make a substantial income from the book, and he stated that it was written as a result of his war service. He vowed not to take any money from it, and indeed he did not, as the sale price was one third of the production costs, leaving him in substantial debt.
As a specialist in the Middle East, Fred Halliday praised Lawrence's Seven Pillars of Wisdom as a "fine work of prose" but described its relevance to the study of Arab history and society as "almost worthless."
Revolt in the Desert
Revolt in the Desert was an abridged version of Seven Pillars that he began in 1926 and that was published in March 1927 in both limited and trade editions. He undertook a needed but reluctant publicity exercise, which resulted in a best-seller. Again he vowed not to take any fees from the publication, partly to appease the subscribers to Seven Pillars who had paid dearly for their editions. By the fourth reprint in 1927, the debt from Seven Pillars was paid off. As Lawrence left for military service in India at the end of 1926, he set up the "Seven Pillars Trust" with his friend D. G. Hogarth as a trustee, in which he made over the copyright and any surplus income of Revolt in the Desert. He later told Hogarth that he had "made the Trust final, to save myself the temptation of reviewing it, if Revolt turned out a best seller."
The resultant trust paid off the debt, and Lawrence then invoked a clause in his publishing contract to halt publication of the abridgement in the United Kingdom. However, he allowed both American editions and translations, which resulted in a substantial flow of income. The trust paid income either into an educational fund for children of RAF officers who lost their lives or were invalided as a result of service, or more substantially into the RAF Benevolent Fund.
Posthumous
Lawrence left The Mint unpublished, a memoir of his experiences as an enlisted man in the Royal Air Force (RAF). For this, he worked from a notebook that he kept while enlisted, writing of the daily lives of enlisted men and his desire to be a part of something larger than himself. The book is stylistically very different from Seven Pillars of Wisdom, using sparse prose as opposed to the complicated syntax found in Seven Pillars. It was published posthumously, edited by his brother Professor A. W. Lawrence.
After Lawrence's death, A. W. Lawrence inherited Lawrence's estate and his copyrights as the sole beneficiary. To pay the inheritance tax, he sold the US copyright of Seven Pillars of Wisdom (subscribers' text) outright to Doubleday Doran in 1935. Doubleday still controls publication rights of this version of the text of Seven Pillars of Wisdom in the US, and will continue to until the copyright expires at the end of 2022 (publication plus 95 years). In 1936, A. W. Lawrence split the remaining assets of the estate, giving Clouds Hill and many copies of less substantial or historical letters to the National Trust, and then set up two trusts to control interests in his brother's residual copyrights. He assigned the copyright in Seven Pillars of Wisdom to the Seven Pillars of Wisdom Trust, and it was given its first general publication as a result. He assigned the copyright in The Mint and all Lawrence's letters to the Letters and Symposium Trust, which he edited and published in the book T. E. Lawrence by his Friends in 1937.
A substantial amount of income went directly to the RAF Benevolent Fund and to archaeological, environmental, and academic projects. The two trusts were amalgamated in 1986, and the unified trust acquired all the remaining rights to Lawrence's works that it had not owned on the death of A. W. Lawrence in 1991, plus rights to all of A. W. Lawrence's works. The UK copyrights on Lawrence's works published in his lifetime and within 20 years of his death expired on 1 January 2006. Works published more than 20 years after his death were protected for 50 years from publication or to 1 January 2040, whichever is earlier.
Writings
Seven Pillars of Wisdom, an account of Lawrence's part in the Arab Revolt. ()
Revolt in the Desert, an abridged version of Seven Pillars of Wisdom. ()
The Mint, an account of Lawrence's service in the Royal Air Force. ()
Crusader Castles, Lawrence's Oxford thesis. London: Michael Haag 1986 (). The first edition was published in London in 1936 by the Golden Cockerel Press, in 2 volumes, limited to 1000 editions.
The Odyssey of Homer, Lawrence's translation from the Greek, first published in 1932. ()
The Forest Giant, by Adrien Le Corbeau, novel, Lawrence's translation from the French, 1924.
The Letters of T. E. Lawrence, selected and edited by Malcolm Brown. London, J. M Dent. 1988 ()
The Letters of T. E. Lawrence, edited by David Garnett. ()
T. E. Lawrence. Letters, Jeremy Wilson. (See prospectus)
Minorities: Good Poems by Small Poets and Small Poems by Good Poets, edited by Jeremy Wilson, 1971. Lawrence's commonplace book includes an introduction by Wilson that explains how the poems comprising the book reflected Lawrence's life and thoughts.
Guerrilla Warfare, article in the 1929 Encyclopædia Britannica
The Wilderness of Zin, by C. Leonard Woolley and T. E. Lawrence. London, Harrison and Sons, 1914.
Sexuality
Lawrence's biographers have discussed his sexuality at considerable length and this discussion has spilled into the popular press. There is no reliable evidence for consensual sexual intimacy between Lawrence and any person. His friends have expressed the opinion that he was asexual, and Lawrence himself specifically denied any personal experience of sex in multiple private letters. There were suggestions that Lawrence had been intimate with Dahoum, who worked with him at a pre-war archaeological dig in Carchemish, and fellow serviceman R. A. M. Guy, but his biographers and contemporaries found them unconvincing.
The dedication to his book Seven Pillars is a poem titled "To S.A." which opens:
Lawrence was never specific about the identity of "S.A." Many theories argue in favour of individual men or women, and the Arab nation as a whole. The most popular theory is that S.A. represents (at least in part) his companion Selim Ahmed, "Dahoum", who apparently died of typhus before 1918.
Lawrence lived in a period of strong official opposition to homosexuality, but his writing on the subject was tolerant. He wrote to Charlotte Shaw, "I've seen lots of man-and-man loves: very lovely and fortunate some of them were." He refers to "the openness and honesty of perfect love" on one occasion in Seven Pillars, when discussing relationships between young male fighters in the war. He wrote in Chapter 1 of Seven Pillars:
There is considerable evidence that Lawrence was a masochist. He wrote in his description of the Dera'a beating that "a delicious warmth, probably sexual, was swelling through me," and he also included a detailed description of the guards' whip in a style typical of masochists' writing. In later life, Lawrence arranged to pay a military colleague to administer beatings to him, and to be subjected to severe formal tests of fitness and stamina. John Bruce first wrote on this topic, including some other statements that were not credible, but Lawrence's biographers regard the beatings as established fact. French novelist André Malraux admired Lawrence but wrote that he had a "taste for self-humiliation, now by discipline and now by veneration; a horror of respectability; a disgust for possessions". Biographer Lawrence James wrote that the evidence suggested a "strong homosexual masochism", noting that he never sought punishment from women.
Psychologist John E. Mack sees a possible connection between Lawrence's masochism and the childhood beatings that he had received from his mother for routine misbehaviours. His brother Arnold thought that the beatings had been given for the purpose of breaking his brother's will. Angus Calder suggested in 1997 that Lawrence's apparent masochism and self-loathing might have stemmed from a sense of guilt over losing his brothers Frank and Will on the Western Front, along with many other school friends, while he survived.
Aldington controversy
In 1955 Richard Aldington published Lawrence of Arabia: A Biographical Enquiry, a sustained attack on Lawrence's character, writing, accomplishments, and truthfulness. Specifically, Aldington alleges that Lawrence lied and exaggerated continuously, promoted a misguided policy in the Middle East, that his strategy of containing but not capturing Medina was incorrect, and that Seven Pillars of Wisdom was a bad book with few redeeming features. He also revealed Lawrence's illegitimacy and strongly suggested that he was homosexual. For example: "Seven Pillars of Wisdom is rather a work of quasi-fiction than history.", and "It was seldom that he reported any fact or episode involving himself without embellishing them and indeed in some cases entirely inventing them."
It is significant that Aldington was a colonialist, arguing that the French colonial administration of Syria (strongly resisted by Lawrence) had benefited that country and that Arabia's peoples were "far enough advanced for some government though not for complete self-government." He was also a Francophile, railing against Lawrence's "Francophobia, a hatred and an envy so irrational, so irresponsible and so unscrupulous that it is fair to say his attitude towards Syria was determined more by hatred of France than by devotion to the 'Arabs' - a convenient propaganda word which grouped many disharmonious and even mutually hostile tribes and peoples."
Prior to the publication of Aldington's book, its contents became known in London's literary community. A group Aldington and some subsequent authors referred to as "The Lawrence Bureau", led by B. H. Liddell Hart tried energetically, starting in 1954, to have the book suppressed. That effort having failed, Liddell Hart prepared and distributed hundreds of copies of Aldington's 'Lawrence': His Charges--and Treatment of the Evidence, a 7-page single-spaced document. This worked: Aldington's book received many extremely negative and even abusive reviews, with strong evidence that some reviewers had read Liddell's rebuttal but not Aldington's book.
Aldington wrote that Lawrence embellished many stories and invented others, and in particular that his claims involving numbers were usually inflated - for example claims of having read 50,000 books in the Oxford Union library, of having blown up 79 bridges, of having had a price of £50,000 on his head, and of having suffered 60 or more injuries. Many of Aldington's specific claims against Lawrence have been accepted by subsequent biographers. In Richard Aldington and Lawrence of Arabia: A Cautionary Tale, Fred D. Crawford writes "Much that shocked in 1955 is now standard knowledge--that TEL was illegitimate, that this profoundly troubled him, that he frequently resented his mother's dominance, that such reminiscences as T.E. Lawrence by His Friends are not reliable, that TEL's leg-pulling and other adolescent traits could be offensive, that TEL took liberties with the truth in his official reports and Seven Pillars, that the significance of his exploits during the Arab Revolt was more political than military, that he contributed to his own myth, that when he vetted the books by Graves and Liddell he let remain much that he knew was untrue, and that his feelings about publicity were ambiguous."
This has not prevented most post-Aldington biographers (including Fred D. Crawford, who studied the Aldington claims intensely) from expressing strong admiration for Lawrence's military, political, and writing achievements.
Awards and commemorations
Lawrence was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath on 7 August 1917, appointed a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order on 10 May 1918, awarded the Knight of the Legion of Honour (France) on 30 May 1916 and awarded the Croix de guerre (France) on 16 April 1918.
King George V offered Lawrence a knighthood on 30 October 1918 at a private audience in Buckingham Palace for his services in the Arab Revolt, but he declined. He was unwilling to accept the honour in light of how his country had betrayed the Arabs.
A bronze bust of Lawrence by Eric Kennington was placed in the crypt of St Paul's Cathedral, London, on 29 January 1936, alongside the tombs of Britain's greatest military leaders. A recumbent stone effigy by Kennington was installed in St Martin's Church, Wareham, Dorset, in 1939.
An English Heritage blue plaque marks Lawrence's childhood home at 2 Polstead Road, Oxford, and another appears on his London home at 14 Barton Street, Westminster. Lawrence appears on the album cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles. In 2002, Lawrence was named 53rd in the BBC's list of the 100 Greatest Britons following a UK-wide vote.
In 2018, Lawrence was featured on a £5 coin (issued in silver and gold) in a six-coin set commemorating the Centenary of the First World War produced by the Royal Mint.
In popular culture
Film
Alexander Korda bought the film rights to The Seven Pillars in the 1930s. The production was in development, with various actors cast as the lead, such as Leslie Howard.
Peter O'Toole was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Lawrence in the 1962 film Lawrence of Arabia.
Lawrence was portrayed by Robert Pattinson in the 2014 biographical drama about Gertrude Bell, Queen of the Desert.
Peter O'Toole's portrayal of Lawrence inspired behavioural affectations in the synthetic model called David, portrayed by Michael Fassbender in the 2012 film Prometheus, and in the 2017 sequel Alien: Covenant, part of the Alien franchise.
Literature
T.E. Lawrence (T.E.ロレンス) is a seven-volume manga series by Tomoko Kosaka, which retells Lawrence's life story from childhood onward.
The Oath of the Five Lords tells a fictional story including several references to T.E. Lawrence and his memoirs in which he describes how the United Kingdom did not honour its promises to the Arab nation. The comic is the twenty-first book in the Blake and Mortimer comic series. The story was written by Yves Sente and drawn by André Juillard and was released in 2012.
The T.E. Lawrence Poems was published by Canadian poet Gwendolyn MacEwen in 1982. The poems rely heavily, and quote directly from, primary material including Seven Pillars and the collected letters.
Television
He was portrayed by Judson Scott in the 1982 TV series Voyagers!
Ralph Fiennes portrayed Lawrence in the 1992 British made-for-TV movie A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia.
Joseph A. Bennett and Douglas Henshall portrayed him in the 1992 TV series The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles.
He was also portrayed in a Syrian series, directed by Thaer Mousa, called Lawrence Al Arab. The series consisted of 37 episodes, each between 45 minutes and one hour in length.
Theatre
Lawrence was the subject of Terence Rattigan's controversial play Ross, which explored Lawrence's alleged homosexuality. Ross ran in London in 1960–61, starring Alec Guinness, who was an admirer of Lawrence, and Gerald Harper as his blackmailer, Dickinson. The play had originally been written as a screenplay, but the planned film was never made. In January 1986 at the Theatre Royal, Plymouth, on the opening night of the revival of Ross, Marc Sinden, who was playing Dickinson (the man who recognised and blackmailed Lawrence, played by Simon Ward), was introduced to the man on whom the character of Dickinson was based. Sinden asked him why he had blackmailed Ross, and he replied, "Oh, for the money. I was financially embarrassed at the time and needed to get up to London to see a girlfriend. It was never meant to be a big thing, but a good friend of mine was very close to Terence Rattigan and years later, the silly devil told him the story."
Alan Bennett's Forty Years On (1968) includes a satire on Lawrence; known as "Tee Hee Lawrence" because of his high-pitched, girlish giggle. "Clad in the magnificent white silk robes of an Arab prince ... he hoped to pass unnoticed through London. Alas he was mistaken."
The character of Private Napoleon Meek in George Bernard Shaw's 1931 play Too True to Be Good was inspired by Lawrence. Meek is depicted as thoroughly conversant with the language and lifestyle of the native tribes. He repeatedly enlists with the army, quitting whenever offered a promotion. Lawrence attended a performance of the play's original Worcestershire run, and reportedly signed autographs for patrons attending the show.
Lawrence's first year back at Oxford after the War to write was portrayed by Tom Rooney in a play, The Oxford Roof Climbers Rebellion, written by Canadian playwright Stephen Massicotte (premiered Toronto 2006). The play explores Lawrence's reactions to war, and his friendship with Robert Graves. Urban Stages presented the American premiere in New York City in October 2007; Lawrence was portrayed by actor Dylan Chalfy.
Lawrence's final years are portrayed in a one-man show by Raymond Sargent, The Warrior and the Poet.
His 1922 retreat from public life forms the subject of Howard Brenton's play Lawrence After Arabia, commissioned for a 2016 premiere at the Hampstead Theatre to mark the centenary of the outbreak of the Arab Revolt.
A highly fictionalised version of Lawrence featured in the 2016 Swedish-language comedic play Lawrence i Mumiedalen.
Video games
A fictionalized Lawrence is an NPC who assists the party in Shadow Hearts: Covenant (2004).
A fictionalized Lawrence is an NPC who appears in cutscenes and guides the player through missions in Battlefield 1 (2016).
Lawrence and his work are referenced multiple times throughout the video game Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (2011).
See also
Hashemites, ruling family of Mecca (10th–20th century) and of Jordan since 1921
Kingdom of Iraq (1932–1958)
Lawrence of Arabia: The Authorised Biography of T. E. Lawrence by Jeremy Wilson (1989)
The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones, US TV series (1992–1993) with episodes depicting moments from Lawrence's life
Related individuals
Richard Meinertzhagen (1878–1967), British intelligence officer and ornithologist, on occasion a colleague of Lawrence's
Rafael de Nogales Méndez (1879–1937), Venezuelan officer who served in the Ottoman Army and was compared to Lawrence
Suleiman Mousa (1919–2008), Jordanian historian who wrote about Lawrence
Oskar von Niedermayer (1885–1948), German officer, professor and spy, sometimes referred to as the German Lawrence
Max von Oppenheim (1860–1946), German-Jewish lawyer, diplomat and archaeologist. Lawrence called his travelogue "the best book on the [Middle East] area I know".
Wilhelm Wassmuss (1880–1931), German diplomat and spy, known as "Wassmuss of Persia" and compared to Lawrence
References
Citations
Sources
External links
Digital collections
T. E. Lawrence's Original Letters on Palestine Shapell Manuscript Foundation
Works by T. E. Lawrence at Wikilivres
Physical collections
T. E. Lawrence's Collection at The University of Texas at Austin's Harry Ransom Center
"Creating History: Lowell Thomas and Lawrence of Arabia" online history exhibit at Clio Visualizing History.
Europeana Collections 1914–1918 makes 425,000 World War I items from European libraries available online, including manuscripts, photographs and diaries by or relating to Lawrence
T. E. Lawrence's Personal Manuscripts and Letters
News and analysis
The Guardian 19 May 1935 – The death of Lawrence of Arabia
The Legend of Lawrence of Arabia: The Recalcitrant Hero
T. E. Lawrence: The Enigmatic Lawrence of Arabia article by O'Brien Browne
Lawrence of Arabia: True and false (an Arab view) by Lucy Ladikoff
Documentaries
Footage of Lawrence of Arabia with publisher FN Doubleday and at a picnic
Lawrence of Arabia: The Battle for the Arab World, directed by James Hawes. PBS Home Video, 21 October 2003. (ASIN B0000BWVND)
Societies
T. E. Lawrence Studies, built by Lawrence's authorised biographer Jeremy Wilson (no longer maintained)
The T. E. Lawrence Society
1888 births
1935 deaths
20th-century archaeologists
20th-century British writers
20th-century translators
Alumni of Jesus College, Oxford
Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford
Arab Bureau officers
Arab Revolt
British archaeologists
British Army General List officers
British Army personnel of World War I
British guerrillas
British people of Irish descent
Castellologists
Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur
Companions of the Distinguished Service Order
Companions of the Order of the Bath
Fellows of All Souls College, Oxford
French–English translators
Greek–English translators
Guerrilla warfare theorists
Motorcycle road incident deaths
People educated at the City of Oxford High School for Boys
People from Caernarfonshire
People of Anglo-Irish descent
Road incident deaths in England
Royal Air Force airmen
Royal Garrison Artillery soldiers
Royal Tank Regiment soldiers
Welsh people of Irish descent
Translators of Homer | false | [
"Asymphorodes fractura is a moth of the family Agonoxenidae. An interesting fact about the 'Asymphorodes fractura' is that has a described, \"wonderfully glorious rear end\". It was described by John Frederick Gates Clarke in 1986. It is found in French Polynesia.\n\nReferences\n\nMoths described in 1986\nAgonoxeninae\nMoths of Oceania\nEndemic fauna of French Polynesia",
"Charles Boileau Elliott (1803–1875) was an English travel writer. He published 3 travel diaries in his lifetime. His best known works are Letters from the North of Europe, Travels in the Three Great Empires, and Travels in the Archipelago. All 3 books provide a unique historical account of life in those areas during the mid 1800s just prior to the wars and industrial achievements that would be coming later in the 20th century.\n\nLife\n\nElliott was educated at Harrow School and Haileybury College. He spent some time working for the East India Company. He matriculated at Queens' College, Cambridge in 1829, graduating B.A. in 1833, and M.A. in 1837. He became vicar of Godalming in Surrey in 1833, and rector of Tattingstone in Suffolk in 1838. During the writing of his most famous work, Travels in the Three Great Empires, he wrote extensively about the political, social, and economic conditions of the day in what is now Austria, Russia, Hungary, Prague, Slovenia, Crimea, Macedonia and Turkey. The book has very accurate population accounts of the day, and several little known factoids that may have been overlooked by modern history. \n\nAn arduous journey to say the least, the trip he undertook to write the famous and well known travel diary almost ended his life, as accounted in his writings, when he contracted malaria while boating down the Danube River, towards the end of his trip. The book ends with him being given his last rights by a pagan priest in Turkey, whom wishes his death to come at his bedside so he may be cleansed as a sinner against God. In a fortune turn of events, and to the priests miscalculation, he survived and it gives the book a dramatic ending. The book also gives an interesting account of the Russian belief that Crimea belongs to them, and there is mention made even back then as to the nature of this ongoing dispute. \n\nTravels in The Three Great Empires is unique in the sense that it is one of the few, if only travel diaries written from a westerners perspective at this exact moment in history prior to the Industrial Revolution and World War I. The bold and charismatic nature of Elliott's writing is starkly vivid, and written with a sense of purpose to compare the piety of his homeland, England, with the relative barbarity of the cultures and people he is forced to endure on this trip. Make no mistake about it, Elliot was an English nobleman, and frowned upon the poverty stricken, under-developed countries and nation states along his travels. You see this most reassuringly when he writes about his entrance into Turkey and Russia, and the relative ignorance of knowledge and etiquette as compared to himself as an English nobleman.\n\nWorks\n\nLetters from the North of Europe (1832)\nTravels in the Three Great Empires of Austria, Russia, and Turkey (1838)\nTravels in the Archipelago (1840)\n\nExternal links\n\nTravels In The Three Great Empires of Austria, Russia, and Turkey\n\n1803 births\n1875 deaths\nPeople educated at Harrow School\nPeople educated at Haileybury and Imperial Service College\nAlumni of Queens' College, Cambridge\n19th-century English Anglican priests\nEnglish travel writers\nFellows of the Royal Society"
]
|
[
"T. E. Lawrence",
"Antiquities and archaeology",
"How did he get interested in antiquities and archaeology?",
"Lawrence and his schoolfriend Cyril Beeson cycled around Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, and Oxfordshire, visited almost every village's parish church, studied their monuments and antiquities,",
"Did Lawrence attend school?",
"From 1907 to 1910, Lawrence read History at Jesus College, Oxford.",
"What did they do at the sites?",
"studied their monuments and antiquities, and made rubbings of their monumental brasses.",
"Did they travel anywhere else?",
"\" In the summers of 1906 and 1907, Lawrence and Beeson toured France by bicycle,",
"What is an interesting fact about his travels?",
"In the summer of 1909, he set out alone on a three-month walking tour of crusader castles in Ottoman Syria, during which he travelled 1,000 mi (1,600 km) on foot."
]
| C_f8febb2118a84b91bb8cffa9bbb47998_1 | What did he accomplish while in Syria? | 6 | What did T.E. Lawrence accomplish while in Syria? | T. E. Lawrence | At the age of 15, Lawrence and his schoolfriend Cyril Beeson cycled around Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, and Oxfordshire, visited almost every village's parish church, studied their monuments and antiquities, and made rubbings of their monumental brasses. Lawrence and Beeson monitored building sites in Oxford and presented their finds to the Ashmolean Museum. The Ashmolean's Annual Report for 1906 said that the two teenage boys "by incessant watchfulness secured everything of antiquarian value which has been found." In the summers of 1906 and 1907, Lawrence and Beeson toured France by bicycle, collecting photographs, drawings, and measurements of medieval castles. In August 1907 Lawrence wrote home: "The Chaignons & the Lamballe people, complimented me on my wonderful French: I have been asked twice since I arrived what part of France I came from". From 1907 to 1910, Lawrence read History at Jesus College, Oxford. In the summer of 1909, he set out alone on a three-month walking tour of crusader castles in Ottoman Syria, during which he travelled 1,000 mi (1,600 km) on foot. Lawrence graduated with First Class Honours after submitting a thesis titled The Influence of the Crusades on European Military Architecture--to the End of the 12th Century, based on his field research with Beeson in France, notably in Chalus, and his solo research in the Middle East. Lawrence was fascinated by the Middle Ages with his brother Arnold writing in 1937 that for him "medieval researches" were a "dream way of escape from bourgeois England". In 1910 Lawrence was offered the opportunity to become a practising archaeologist in the Middle East, at Carchemish, in the expedition that D. G. Hogarth was setting up on behalf of the British Museum. Hogarth arranged a "Senior Demyship", a form of scholarship, for Lawrence at Magdalen College, Oxford, to fund Lawrence's work at PS100 a year. In December 1910, he sailed for Beirut and on his arrival went to Jbail (Byblos), where he studied Arabic. He then went to work on the excavations at Carchemish, near Jerablus in northern Syria, where he worked under Hogarth, R. Campbell Thompson of the British Museum, and Leonard Woolley, until 1914. He later stated that everything which he had accomplished he owed to Hogarth. While excavating at Carchemish, Lawrence met Gertrude Bell. In 1912 Lawrence worked briefly with Flinders Petrie at Kafr Ammar in Egypt. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Colonel Thomas Edward Lawrence (16 August 1888 – 19 May 1935) was a British archaeologist, army officer, diplomat, and writer, who became renowned for his role in the Arab Revolt (1916–1918) and the Sinai and Palestine Campaign (1915–1918) against the Ottoman Empire during the First World War. The breadth and variety of his activities and associations, and his ability to describe them vividly in writing, earned him international fame as Lawrence of Arabia, a title used for the 1962 film based on his wartime activities.
He was born out of wedlock in August 1888 to Sarah Junner (1861–1959), a governess, and Sir Thomas Chapman, 7th Baronet (1846–1919), an Anglo-Irish nobleman. Chapman left his wife and family in Ireland to cohabit with Junner. Chapman and Junner called themselves Mr and Mrs Lawrence, using the surname of Sarah's likely father; her mother had been employed as a servant for a Lawrence family when she became pregnant with Sarah. In 1896, the Lawrences moved to Oxford, where Thomas attended the High School and then studied history at Jesus College, Oxford from 1907 to 1910. Between 1910 and 1914 he worked as an archaeologist for the British Museum, chiefly at Carchemish in Ottoman Syria.
Soon after the outbreak of war in 1914 he volunteered for the British Army and was stationed at the Arab Bureau (established in 1916) intelligence unit in Egypt. In 1916, he travelled to Mesopotamia and to Arabia on intelligence missions and quickly became involved with the Arab Revolt as a liaison to the Arab forces, along with other British officers, supporting the Arab Kingdom of Hejaz's independence war against its former overlord, the Ottoman Empire. He worked closely with Emir Faisal, a leader of the revolt, and he participated, sometimes as leader, in military actions against the Ottoman armed forces, culminating in the capture of Damascus in October 1918.
After the First World War, Lawrence joined the British Foreign Office, working with the British government and with Faisal. In 1922, he retreated from public life and spent the years until 1935 serving as an enlisted man, mostly in the Royal Air Force (RAF), with a brief period in the Army. During this time, he published his best-known work Seven Pillars of Wisdom (1926), an autobiographical account of his participation in the Arab Revolt. He also translated books into English, and wrote The Mint, which detailed his time in the Royal Air Force working as an ordinary aircraftman. He corresponded extensively and was friendly with well-known artists, writers, and politicians. For the RAF, he participated in the development of rescue motorboats.
Lawrence's public image resulted in part from the sensationalised reporting of the Arab revolt by American journalist Lowell Thomas, as well as from Seven Pillars of Wisdom. In 1935, Lawrence was fatally injured in a motorcycle accident in Dorset.
Early life
Thomas Edward Lawrence was born on 16 August 1888 in Tremadog, Carnarvonshire, Wales, in a house named Gorphwysfa, now known as Snowdon Lodge. His Anglo-Irish father Thomas Chapman had left his wife Edith after he had a first son with Sarah Junner who had been governess to his daughters. Sarah had herself been an illegitimate child, having been born in Sunderland as the daughter of Elizabeth Junner, a servant employed by a family named Lawrence; she was dismissed four months before Sarah was born, and identified Sarah's father as "John Junner, Shipwright journeyman".
Lawrence's parents did not marry but lived together under the pseudonym Lawrence. In 1914, his father inherited the Chapman baronetcy based at Killua Castle, the ancestral family home in County Westmeath, Ireland. The couple had five sons, Thomas (called "Ned" by his immediate family) being the second eldest. From Wales, the family moved to Kirkcudbright, Galloway, in southwestern Scotland, then to Dinard in Brittany, then to Jersey.
The family lived at Langley Lodge (now demolished) from 1894 to 1896, set in private woods between the eastern borders of the New Forest and Southampton Water in Hampshire. The residence was isolated, and young Lawrence had many opportunities for outdoor activities and waterfront visits. Victorian-Edwardian Britain was a very conservative society, where the majority of people were Christians who considered premarital and extramarital sex to be shameful, and children born out of wedlock were born in disgrace. Lawrence was always something of an outsider, a bastard who could never hope to achieve the same level of social acceptance and success that others could expect who were born legitimate, and no girl from a respectable family would ever marry a bastard.
In the summer of 1896, the family moved to 2, Polstead Road in Oxford, where they lived until 1921. Lawrence attended the City of Oxford High School for Boys from 1896 until 1907, where one of the four houses was later named "Lawrence" in his honour; the school closed in 1966. Lawrence and one of his brothers became commissioned officers in the Church Lads' Brigade at St Aldate's Church.
Lawrence claimed that he ran away from home around 1905 and served for a few weeks as a boy soldier with the Royal Garrison Artillery at St Mawes Castle in Cornwall, from which he was bought out. However, no evidence of this appears in army records.
Travels, antiquities, and archaeology
At age 15, Lawrence and his schoolfriend Cyril Beeson cycled around Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, and Oxfordshire, visiting almost every village's parish church, studying their monuments and antiquities, and making rubbings of their monumental brasses. Lawrence and Beeson monitored building sites in Oxford and presented the Ashmolean Museum with anything that they found. The Ashmolean's Annual Report for 1906 said that the two teenage boys "by incessant watchfulness secured everything of antiquarian value which has been found." In the summers of 1906 and 1907, Lawrence toured France by bicycle, sometimes with Beeson, collecting photographs, drawings, and measurements of medieval castles. In August 1907, Lawrence wrote home: "The Chaignons & the Lamballe people complimented me on my wonderful French: I have been asked twice since I arrived what part of France I came from".
From 1907 to 1910, Lawrence read history at Jesus College, Oxford. In July and August 1908 he cycled 2,200 miles (3,500 km) solo through France to the Mediterranean and back researching French castles. In the summer of 1909, he set out alone on a three-month walking tour of crusader castles in Ottoman Syria, during which he travelled on foot. While at Jesus he was a keen member of the University Officers' Training Corps (OTC). He graduated with First Class Honours after submitting a thesis titled The Influence of the Crusades on European Military Architecture—to the End of the 12th Century, partly based on his field research with Beeson in France, and his solo research in France and the Middle East. Lawrence was fascinated by the Middle Ages; his brother Arnold wrote in 1937 that "medieval researches" were a "dream way of escape from bourgeois England".
In 1910, Lawrence was offered the opportunity to become a practising archaeologist at Carchemish, in the expedition that D. G. Hogarth was setting up on behalf of the British Museum. Hogarth arranged a "Senior Demyship" (a form of scholarship) for Lawrence at Magdalen College, Oxford, to fund his work at £100 a year. He sailed for Beirut in December 1910 and went to Byblos, where he studied Arabic. He then went to work on the excavations at Carchemish, near Jerablus in northern Syria, where he worked under Hogarth, R. Campbell Thompson of the British Museum, and Leonard Woolley until 1914. He later stated that everything which he had accomplished he owed to Hogarth. Lawrence met Gertrude Bell while excavating at Carchemish. He worked briefly with Flinders Petrie in 1912 at Kafr Ammar in Egypt.
At Carchemish, Lawrence was frequently involved in a high-tension relationship with a German-led team working nearby on the Baghdad Railway at Jerablus. While there was never open combat, there was regular conflict over access to land and treatment of the local workforce; Lawrence gained experience in Middle Eastern leadership practices and conflict resolution.
Military intelligence
In January 1914, Woolley and Lawrence were co-opted by the British military as an archaeological smokescreen for a British military survey of the Negev Desert. They were funded by the Palestine Exploration Fund to search for an area referred to in the Bible as the Wilderness of Zin, and they made an archaeological survey of the Negev Desert along the way. The Negev was strategically important, as an Ottoman army attacking Egypt would have to cross it. Woolley and Lawrence subsequently published a report of the expedition's archaeological findings, but a more important result was updated mapping of the area, with special attention to features of military relevance such as water sources. Lawrence also visited Aqaba and Shobek, not far from Petra.
Following the outbreak of hostilities in August 1914, Lawrence did not immediately enlist in the British Army. He held back until October on the advice of S. F. Newcombe, when he was commissioned on the General List. Before the end of the year, he was summoned by renowned archaeologist and historian Lt. Cmdr. David Hogarth, his mentor at Carchemish, to the new Arab Bureau intelligence unit in Cairo, and he arrived in Cairo on 15 December 1914. The Bureau's chief was General Gilbert Clayton who reported to Egyptian High Commissioner Henry McMahon.
The situation was complex during 1915. There was a growing Arab-nationalist movement within the Arabic-speaking Ottoman territories, including many Arabs serving in the Ottoman armed forces. They were in contact with Sharif Hussein, Emir of Mecca, who was negotiating with the British and offering to lead an Arab uprising against the Ottomans. In exchange, he wanted a British guarantee of an independent Arab state including the Hejaz, Syria, and Mesopotamia. Such an uprising would have been very helpful to Britain in its war against the Ottomans, greatly lessening the threat against the Suez Canal. However, there was resistance from French diplomats who insisted that Syria's future was as a French colony, not an independent Arab state. There were also strong objections from the Government of India, which was nominally part of the British government but acted independently. Its vision was of Mesopotamia under British control serving as a granary for India; furthermore, it wanted to hold on to its Arabian outpost in Aden.
At the Arab Bureau, Lawrence supervised the preparation of maps, produced a daily bulletin for the British generals operating in the theatre, and interviewed prisoners. He was an advocate of a British landing at Alexandretta which never came to pass. He was also a consistent advocate of an independent Arab Syria.
The situation came to a crisis in October 1915, as Sharif Hussein demanded an immediate commitment from Britain, with the threat that he would otherwise throw his weight behind the Ottomans. This would create a credible Pan-Islamic message that could have been very dangerous for Britain, which was in severe difficulties in the Gallipoli Campaign. The British replied with a letter from High Commissioner McMahon that was generally agreeable while reserving commitments concerning the Mediterranean coastline and Holy Land.
In the spring of 1916, Lawrence was dispatched to Mesopotamia to assist in relieving the Siege of Kut by some combination of starting an Arab uprising and bribing Ottoman officials. This mission produced no useful result. Meanwhile, the Sykes–Picot Agreement was being negotiated in London without the knowledge of British officials in Cairo, which awarded a large proportion of Syria to France. Further, it implied that the Arabs would have to conquer Syria's four great cities if they were to have any sort of state there: Damascus, Homs, Hama, and Aleppo. It is unclear at what point Lawrence became aware of the treaty's contents.
Arab Revolt
The Arab Revolt began in June 1916, but it bogged down after a few successes, with a real risk that the Ottoman forces would advance along the coast of the Red Sea and recapture Mecca. On 16 October 1916, Lawrence was sent to the Hejaz on an intelligence-gathering mission led by Ronald Storrs. He interviewed Sharif Hussein's sons Ali, Abdullah, and Faisal, and he concluded that Faisal was the best candidate to lead the Revolt.
In November, S. F. Newcombe was assigned to lead a permanent British liaison to Faisal's staff. Newcombe had not yet arrived in the area and the matter was of some urgency, so Lawrence was sent in his place. In late December 1916, Faisal and Lawrence worked out a plan for repositioning the Arab forces to prevent the Ottoman forces around Medina from threatening Arab positions and putting the railway from Syria under threat. Newcombe arrived and Lawrence was preparing to leave Arabia, but Faisal intervened urgently, asking that Lawrence's assignment become permanent.
Lawrence's most important contributions to the Arab Revolt were in the area of strategy and liaison with British armed forces, but he also participated personally in several military engagements:
3 January 1917: Attack on an Ottoman outpost in the Hejaz
26 March 1917: Attack on the railway at Aba el Naam
11 June 1917: Attack on a bridge at Ras Baalbek
2 July 1917: Defeat of the Ottoman forces at Aba el Lissan, an outpost of Aqaba
18 September 1917: Attack on the railway near Mudawara
27 September 1917: Attack on the railway, destroyed an engine
7 November 1917: Following a failed attack on the Yarmuk bridges, blew up a train on the railway between Dera'a and Amman, suffering several wounds in the explosion and ensuing combat
23 January 1918: The battle of Tafileh, a region southeast of the Dead Sea, with Arab regulars under the command of Jafar Pasha al-Askari; the battle was a defensive engagement that turned into an offensive rout and was described in the official history of the war as a "brilliant feat of arms". Lawrence was awarded the Distinguished Service Order for his leadership at Tafileh and was promoted to lieutenant colonel.
March 1918: Attack on the railway near Aqaba
19 April 1918: Attack using British armoured cars on Tell Shahm
16 September 1918: Destruction of railway bridge between Amman and Dera'a
26 September 1918: Attack on retreating Ottomans and Germans near the village of Tafas. The Ottoman forces massacred the villagers and then Arab forces in return massacred their prisoners with Lawrence's encouragement.
Lawrence made a 300-mile personal journey northward in June 1917, on the way to Aqaba, visiting Ras Baalbek, the outskirts of Damascus, and Azraq, Jordan. He met Arab nationalists, counselling them to avoid revolt until the arrival of Faisal's forces, and he attacked a bridge to create the impression of guerrilla activity. His findings were regarded by the British as extremely valuable and there was serious consideration of awarding him a Victoria Cross; in the end, he was invested as a Companion of the Order of the Bath and promoted to Major.
Lawrence travelled regularly between British headquarters and Faisal, co-ordinating military action. But by early 1918, Faisal's chief British liaison was Colonel Pierce Charles Joyce, and Lawrence's time was chiefly devoted to raiding and intelligence-gathering.
Strategy
The chief elements of the Arab strategy which Faisal and Lawrence developed were to avoid capturing Medina, and to extend northwards through Maan and Dera'a to Damascus and beyond. Faisal wanted to lead regular attacks against the Ottomans, but Lawrence persuaded him to drop that tactic. Lawrence wrote about the Bedouin as a fighting force:
The value of the tribes is defensive only and their real sphere is guerilla warfare. They are intelligent, and very lively, almost reckless, but too individualistic to endure commands, or fight in line, or to help each other. It would, I think, be possible to make an organized force out of them.… The Hejaz war is one of dervishes against regular forces—and we are on the side of the dervishes. Our text-books do not apply to its conditions at all.
Medina was an attractive target for the revolt as Islam's second holiest site, and because its Ottoman garrison was weakened by disease and isolation. It became clear that it was advantageous to leave it there rather than try to capture it, while continually attacking the Hejaz railway south from Damascus without permanently destroying it. This prevented the Ottomans from making effective use of their troops at Medina, and forced them to dedicate many resources to defending and repairing the railway line.
It is not known when Lawrence learned the details of the Sykes-Picot Agreement, nor if or when he briefed Faisal on what he knew, However, there is good reason to think that both these things happened, and earlier rather than later. In particular, the Arab strategy of northward extension makes perfect sense given the Sykes-Picot language that spoke of an independent Arab entity in Syria, which would only be granted if the Arabs liberated the territory themselves. The French, and some of their British Liaison officers, were specifically uncomfortable about the northward movement, as it would weaken French colonial claims.
Capture of Aqaba
In 1917, Lawrence proposed a joint action with the Arab irregulars and forces including Auda Abu Tayi, who had previously been in the employ of the Ottomans, against the strategically located but lightly defended town of Aqaba on the Red Sea. Aqaba could have been attacked from the sea, but the narrow defiles leading through the mountains were strongly defended and would have been very difficult to assault. The expedition was led by Sharif Nasir of Medina.
Lawrence carefully avoided informing his British superiors about the details of the planned inland attack, due to concern that it would be blocked as contrary to French interests. The expedition departed from Wejh on 9 May, and Aqaba fell to the Arab forces on 6 July, after a surprise overland attack which took the Turkish defences from behind. After Aqaba, General Sir Edmund Allenby, the new commander-in-chief of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force, agreed to Lawrence's strategy for the revolt. Lawrence now held a powerful position as an adviser to Faisal and a person who had Allenby's confidence, as Allenby acknowledged after the war:
Dera'a
Lawrence describes an episode on 20 November 1917 while reconnoitring Dera'a in disguise, when he was captured by the Ottoman military, heavily beaten, and sexually abused by the local bey and his guardsmen, though he does not specify the nature of the sexual contact. Some scholars have stated that he exaggerated the severity of the injuries that he suffered, or alleged that the episode never actually happened. There is no independent testimony, but the multiple consistent reports and the absence of evidence for outright invention in Lawrence's works make the account believable to some of his biographers. Malcolm Brown, John E. Mack, and Jeremy Wilson have argued that this episode had strong psychological effects on Lawrence, which may explain some of his unconventional behaviour in later life. Lawrence ended his account of the episode in Seven Pillars of Wisdom with the statement: "In Dera'a that night the citadel of my integrity had been irrevocably lost."
Fall of Damascus
Lawrence was involved in the build-up to the capture of Damascus in the final weeks of the war, but he was not present at the city's formal surrender, much to his disappointment. He arrived several hours after the city had fallen, entering Damascus around 9 am on 1 October 1918; the first to arrive was the 10th Australian Light Horse Brigade led by Major A. C. N. "Harry" Olden, who formally accepted the surrender of the city from acting Governor Emir Said. Lawrence was instrumental in establishing a provisional Arab government under Faisal in newly liberated Damascus, which he had envisioned as the capital of an Arab state. Faisal's rule as king, however, came to an abrupt end in 1920, after the battle of Maysaloun when the French Forces of General Gouraud entered Damascus under the command of General Mariano Goybet, destroying Lawrence's dream of an independent Arabia.
During the closing years of the war, Lawrence sought to convince his superiors in the British government that Arab independence was in their interests, but he met with mixed success. The secret Sykes-Picot Agreement between France and Britain contradicted the promises of independence that he had made to the Arabs and frustrated his work.
Post-war years
Lawrence returned to the United Kingdom a full colonel. Immediately after the war, he worked for the Foreign Office, attending the Paris Peace Conference between January and May as a member of Faisal's delegation. On 17 May 1919, a Handley Page Type O/400 taking Lawrence to Egypt crashed at the airport of Roma-Centocelle. The pilot and co-pilot were killed; Lawrence survived with a broken shoulder blade and two broken ribs. During his brief hospitalisation, he was visited by King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy.
In 1918, Lowell Thomas went to Jerusalem where he met Lawrence, "whose enigmatic figure in Arab uniform fired his imagination", in the words of author Rex Hall. Thomas and his cameraman Harry Chase shot a great deal of film and many photographs involving Lawrence. Thomas produced a stage presentation entitled With Allenby in Palestine which included a lecture, dancing, and music and engaged in "Orientalism", depicting the Middle East as exotic, mysterious, sensuous, and violent.
The show premiered in New York in March 1919. He was invited to take his show to England, and he agreed to do so provided that he was personally invited by the King and provided the use of either Drury Lane or Covent Garden. He opened at Covent Garden on 14 August 1919 and continued for hundreds of lectures, "attended by the highest in the land".
Initially, Lawrence played only a supporting role in the show, as the main focus was on Allenby's campaigns; but then Thomas realised that it was the photos of Lawrence dressed as a Bedouin which had captured the public's imagination, so he had Lawrence photographed again in London in Arab dress. With the new photos, Thomas re-launched his show under the new title With Allenby in Palestine and Lawrence in Arabia in early 1920, which proved to be extremely popular. The new title elevated Lawrence from a supporting role to a co-star of the Near Eastern campaign and reflected a changed emphasis. Thomas' shows made the previously obscure Lawrence into a household name.
Lawrence worked with Thomas on the creation of the presentation, answering many questions and posing for many photographs. After its success, however, he expressed regret about having been featured in it.
Lawrence served as an advisor to Winston Churchill at the Colonial Office for just over a year starting in February 1920. He hated bureaucratic work, writing on 21 May 1921 to Robert Graves: "I wish I hadn't gone out there: the Arabs are like a page I have turned over; and sequels are rotten things. I'm locked up here: office every day and much of it". He travelled to the Middle East on multiple occasions during this period, at one time holding the title of "chief political officer for Trans-Jordania".
He campaigned actively for his and Churchill's vision of the Middle East, publishing pieces in multiple newspapers, including The Times, The Observer, The Daily Mail, and The Daily Express.
Lawrence had a sinister reputation in France during his lifetime and even today as an implacable "enemy of France", the man who was constantly stirring up the Syrians to rebel against French rule throughout the 1920s. However, French historian Maurice Larès wrote that the real reason for France's problems in Syria was that the Syrians did not want to be ruled by France, and the French needed a scapegoat to blame for their difficulties in ruling the country. Larès wrote that Lawrence is usually pictured in France as a Francophobe, but he was really a Francophile.
Having seen and admired the effective use of air power during the war, Lawrence enlisted in the Royal Air Force as an aircraftman, under the name John Hume Ross in August 1922. At the RAF recruiting centre in Covent Garden, London, he was interviewed by recruiting officer Flying Officer W. E. Johns, later known as the author of the Biggles series of novels. Johns rejected Lawrence's application, as he suspected that "Ross" was a false name. Lawrence admitted that this was so and that he had provided false documents. He left, but returned some time later with an RAF messenger who carried a written order that Johns must accept Lawrence.
However, Lawrence was forced out of the RAF in February 1923 after his identity was exposed. He changed his name to T. E. Shaw (apparently as a consequence of his friendship with G. B. and Charlotte Shaw) and joined the Royal Tank Corps later that year. He was unhappy there and repeatedly petitioned to rejoin the RAF, which finally readmitted him in August 1925. A fresh burst of publicity after the publication of Revolt in the Desert resulted in his assignment to bases at Karachi and Miramshah in British India (now Pakistan) in late 1926, where he remained until the end of 1928. At that time, he was forced to return to Britain after rumours began to circulate that he was involved in espionage activities.
He purchased several small plots of land in Chingford, built a hut and swimming pool there, and visited frequently. The hut was removed in 1930 when Chingford Urban District Council acquired the land; it was given to the City of London Corporation which re-erected it in the grounds of The Warren, Loughton. Lawrence's tenure of the Chingford land has now been commemorated by a plaque fixed on the sighting obelisk on Pole Hill.
Lawrence continued serving in the RAF based at RAF Mount Batten near Plymouth, RAF Calshot near Southampton, and RAF Bridlington, East Riding of Yorkshire. He specialised in high-speed boats and professed happiness, and he left the service with considerable regret at the end of his enlistment in March 1935.
In late August or early September 1931 he stayed with Lady Houston aboard her luxury yacht, the Liberty, off Calshot, shortly before the Schneider Trophy competition. In later letters Lady Houston would ask Lawrence's advice on obtaining a new chauffeur for her Rolls Royce car ('Forgive my asking, but you know everything') and suggest that he join the Liberty, for she had discharged her captain, who had turned out to be a 'wrong 'un.'
In the inter-war period, the RAF's Marine Craft Section began to commission air-sea rescue launches capable of higher speeds and greater capacity. The arrival of high-speed craft into the MCS was driven in part by Lawrence. He had previously witnessed a seaplane crew drowning when the seaplane tender sent to their rescue was too slow in arriving. He worked with Hubert Scott-Paine, the founder of the British Power Boat Company (BPBC), to introduce the long ST 200 Seaplane Tender Mk1 into service. These boats had a range of 140 miles when cruising at 24 knots and could achieve a top speed of 29 knots.
Lawrence was a keen motorcyclist and owned eight Brough Superior motorcycles at different times. His last SS100 (Registration GW 2275) is privately owned but has been on loan to the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu and the Imperial War Museum in London. He was also an avid reader of Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur and carried a copy on his campaigns. He read an account of Eugene Vinaver's discovery of the Winchester Manuscript of the Morte in The Times in 1934, and he motorcycled from Manchester to Winchester to meet Vinaver.
Death
On 13 May 1935, Lawrence was fatally injured in an accident on his Brough Superior SS100 motorcycle in Dorset close to his cottage Clouds Hill, near Wareham, just two months after leaving military service. A dip in the road obstructed his view of two boys on their bicycles; he swerved to avoid them, lost control, and was thrown over the handlebars. He died six days later on 19 May 1935, aged 46. The location of the crash is marked by a small memorial at the roadside.
One of the doctors attending him was neurosurgeon Hugh Cairns, who consequently began a long study of the loss of life by motorcycle dispatch riders through head injuries. His research led to the use of crash helmets by both military and civilian motorcyclists.
The Moreton estate borders Bovington Camp, and Lawrence bought it from his cousins the Frampton family. He had been a frequent visitor to their home Okers Wood House, and had corresponded with Louisa Frampton for years. Lawrence's mother arranged with the Framptons to have his body buried in their family plot in the separate burial ground of St Nicholas' Church, Moreton. The coffin was transported on the Frampton estate's bier. Mourners included Winston Churchill, E. M. Forster, Lady Astor, and Lawrence's youngest brother Arnold.
Writings
Lawrence was a prolific writer throughout his life, a large portion of which was epistolary; he often sent several letters a day, and several collections of his letters have been published. He corresponded with many notable figures, including George Bernard Shaw, Edward Elgar, Winston Churchill, Robert Graves, Noël Coward, E. M. Forster, Siegfried Sassoon, John Buchan, Augustus John, and Henry Williamson. He met Joseph Conrad and commented perceptively on his works. The many letters that he sent to Shaw's wife Charlotte are revealing as to his character.
Lawrence was a competent speaker of French and Arabic, and reader of Latin and Ancient Greek.
Lawrence published three major texts in his lifetime. The most significant was his account of the Arab Revolt in Seven Pillars of Wisdom. Homer's Odyssey and The Forest Giant were translations, the latter an otherwise forgotten work of French fiction. He received a flat fee for the second translation, and negotiated a generous fee plus royalties for the first.
Seven Pillars of Wisdom
Lawrence's major work is Seven Pillars of Wisdom, an account of his war experiences. In 1919, he was elected to a seven-year research fellowship at All Souls College, Oxford, providing him with support while he worked on the book. Certain parts of the book also serve as essays on military strategy, Arabian culture and geography, and other topics. He rewrote Seven Pillars of Wisdom three times, once "blind" after he lost the manuscript.
There are many alleged "embellishments" in Seven Pillars, though some allegations have been disproved with time, most definitively in Jeremy Wilson's authorised biography. However, Lawrence's own notebooks refute his claim to have crossed the Sinai Peninsula from Aqaba to the Suez Canal in just 49 hours without any sleep. In reality, this famous camel ride lasted for more than 70 hours and was interrupted by two long breaks for sleeping, which Lawrence omitted when he wrote his book.
In the preface, Lawrence acknowledged George Bernard Shaw's help in editing the book. The first edition was published in 1926 as a high-priced private subscription edition, printed in London by Herbert John Hodgson and Roy Manning Pike, with illustrations by Eric Kennington, Augustus John, Paul Nash, Blair Hughes-Stanton, and Hughes-Stanton's wife Gertrude Hermes. Lawrence was afraid that the public would think that he would make a substantial income from the book, and he stated that it was written as a result of his war service. He vowed not to take any money from it, and indeed he did not, as the sale price was one third of the production costs, leaving him in substantial debt.
As a specialist in the Middle East, Fred Halliday praised Lawrence's Seven Pillars of Wisdom as a "fine work of prose" but described its relevance to the study of Arab history and society as "almost worthless."
Revolt in the Desert
Revolt in the Desert was an abridged version of Seven Pillars that he began in 1926 and that was published in March 1927 in both limited and trade editions. He undertook a needed but reluctant publicity exercise, which resulted in a best-seller. Again he vowed not to take any fees from the publication, partly to appease the subscribers to Seven Pillars who had paid dearly for their editions. By the fourth reprint in 1927, the debt from Seven Pillars was paid off. As Lawrence left for military service in India at the end of 1926, he set up the "Seven Pillars Trust" with his friend D. G. Hogarth as a trustee, in which he made over the copyright and any surplus income of Revolt in the Desert. He later told Hogarth that he had "made the Trust final, to save myself the temptation of reviewing it, if Revolt turned out a best seller."
The resultant trust paid off the debt, and Lawrence then invoked a clause in his publishing contract to halt publication of the abridgement in the United Kingdom. However, he allowed both American editions and translations, which resulted in a substantial flow of income. The trust paid income either into an educational fund for children of RAF officers who lost their lives or were invalided as a result of service, or more substantially into the RAF Benevolent Fund.
Posthumous
Lawrence left The Mint unpublished, a memoir of his experiences as an enlisted man in the Royal Air Force (RAF). For this, he worked from a notebook that he kept while enlisted, writing of the daily lives of enlisted men and his desire to be a part of something larger than himself. The book is stylistically very different from Seven Pillars of Wisdom, using sparse prose as opposed to the complicated syntax found in Seven Pillars. It was published posthumously, edited by his brother Professor A. W. Lawrence.
After Lawrence's death, A. W. Lawrence inherited Lawrence's estate and his copyrights as the sole beneficiary. To pay the inheritance tax, he sold the US copyright of Seven Pillars of Wisdom (subscribers' text) outright to Doubleday Doran in 1935. Doubleday still controls publication rights of this version of the text of Seven Pillars of Wisdom in the US, and will continue to until the copyright expires at the end of 2022 (publication plus 95 years). In 1936, A. W. Lawrence split the remaining assets of the estate, giving Clouds Hill and many copies of less substantial or historical letters to the National Trust, and then set up two trusts to control interests in his brother's residual copyrights. He assigned the copyright in Seven Pillars of Wisdom to the Seven Pillars of Wisdom Trust, and it was given its first general publication as a result. He assigned the copyright in The Mint and all Lawrence's letters to the Letters and Symposium Trust, which he edited and published in the book T. E. Lawrence by his Friends in 1937.
A substantial amount of income went directly to the RAF Benevolent Fund and to archaeological, environmental, and academic projects. The two trusts were amalgamated in 1986, and the unified trust acquired all the remaining rights to Lawrence's works that it had not owned on the death of A. W. Lawrence in 1991, plus rights to all of A. W. Lawrence's works. The UK copyrights on Lawrence's works published in his lifetime and within 20 years of his death expired on 1 January 2006. Works published more than 20 years after his death were protected for 50 years from publication or to 1 January 2040, whichever is earlier.
Writings
Seven Pillars of Wisdom, an account of Lawrence's part in the Arab Revolt. ()
Revolt in the Desert, an abridged version of Seven Pillars of Wisdom. ()
The Mint, an account of Lawrence's service in the Royal Air Force. ()
Crusader Castles, Lawrence's Oxford thesis. London: Michael Haag 1986 (). The first edition was published in London in 1936 by the Golden Cockerel Press, in 2 volumes, limited to 1000 editions.
The Odyssey of Homer, Lawrence's translation from the Greek, first published in 1932. ()
The Forest Giant, by Adrien Le Corbeau, novel, Lawrence's translation from the French, 1924.
The Letters of T. E. Lawrence, selected and edited by Malcolm Brown. London, J. M Dent. 1988 ()
The Letters of T. E. Lawrence, edited by David Garnett. ()
T. E. Lawrence. Letters, Jeremy Wilson. (See prospectus)
Minorities: Good Poems by Small Poets and Small Poems by Good Poets, edited by Jeremy Wilson, 1971. Lawrence's commonplace book includes an introduction by Wilson that explains how the poems comprising the book reflected Lawrence's life and thoughts.
Guerrilla Warfare, article in the 1929 Encyclopædia Britannica
The Wilderness of Zin, by C. Leonard Woolley and T. E. Lawrence. London, Harrison and Sons, 1914.
Sexuality
Lawrence's biographers have discussed his sexuality at considerable length and this discussion has spilled into the popular press. There is no reliable evidence for consensual sexual intimacy between Lawrence and any person. His friends have expressed the opinion that he was asexual, and Lawrence himself specifically denied any personal experience of sex in multiple private letters. There were suggestions that Lawrence had been intimate with Dahoum, who worked with him at a pre-war archaeological dig in Carchemish, and fellow serviceman R. A. M. Guy, but his biographers and contemporaries found them unconvincing.
The dedication to his book Seven Pillars is a poem titled "To S.A." which opens:
Lawrence was never specific about the identity of "S.A." Many theories argue in favour of individual men or women, and the Arab nation as a whole. The most popular theory is that S.A. represents (at least in part) his companion Selim Ahmed, "Dahoum", who apparently died of typhus before 1918.
Lawrence lived in a period of strong official opposition to homosexuality, but his writing on the subject was tolerant. He wrote to Charlotte Shaw, "I've seen lots of man-and-man loves: very lovely and fortunate some of them were." He refers to "the openness and honesty of perfect love" on one occasion in Seven Pillars, when discussing relationships between young male fighters in the war. He wrote in Chapter 1 of Seven Pillars:
There is considerable evidence that Lawrence was a masochist. He wrote in his description of the Dera'a beating that "a delicious warmth, probably sexual, was swelling through me," and he also included a detailed description of the guards' whip in a style typical of masochists' writing. In later life, Lawrence arranged to pay a military colleague to administer beatings to him, and to be subjected to severe formal tests of fitness and stamina. John Bruce first wrote on this topic, including some other statements that were not credible, but Lawrence's biographers regard the beatings as established fact. French novelist André Malraux admired Lawrence but wrote that he had a "taste for self-humiliation, now by discipline and now by veneration; a horror of respectability; a disgust for possessions". Biographer Lawrence James wrote that the evidence suggested a "strong homosexual masochism", noting that he never sought punishment from women.
Psychologist John E. Mack sees a possible connection between Lawrence's masochism and the childhood beatings that he had received from his mother for routine misbehaviours. His brother Arnold thought that the beatings had been given for the purpose of breaking his brother's will. Angus Calder suggested in 1997 that Lawrence's apparent masochism and self-loathing might have stemmed from a sense of guilt over losing his brothers Frank and Will on the Western Front, along with many other school friends, while he survived.
Aldington controversy
In 1955 Richard Aldington published Lawrence of Arabia: A Biographical Enquiry, a sustained attack on Lawrence's character, writing, accomplishments, and truthfulness. Specifically, Aldington alleges that Lawrence lied and exaggerated continuously, promoted a misguided policy in the Middle East, that his strategy of containing but not capturing Medina was incorrect, and that Seven Pillars of Wisdom was a bad book with few redeeming features. He also revealed Lawrence's illegitimacy and strongly suggested that he was homosexual. For example: "Seven Pillars of Wisdom is rather a work of quasi-fiction than history.", and "It was seldom that he reported any fact or episode involving himself without embellishing them and indeed in some cases entirely inventing them."
It is significant that Aldington was a colonialist, arguing that the French colonial administration of Syria (strongly resisted by Lawrence) had benefited that country and that Arabia's peoples were "far enough advanced for some government though not for complete self-government." He was also a Francophile, railing against Lawrence's "Francophobia, a hatred and an envy so irrational, so irresponsible and so unscrupulous that it is fair to say his attitude towards Syria was determined more by hatred of France than by devotion to the 'Arabs' - a convenient propaganda word which grouped many disharmonious and even mutually hostile tribes and peoples."
Prior to the publication of Aldington's book, its contents became known in London's literary community. A group Aldington and some subsequent authors referred to as "The Lawrence Bureau", led by B. H. Liddell Hart tried energetically, starting in 1954, to have the book suppressed. That effort having failed, Liddell Hart prepared and distributed hundreds of copies of Aldington's 'Lawrence': His Charges--and Treatment of the Evidence, a 7-page single-spaced document. This worked: Aldington's book received many extremely negative and even abusive reviews, with strong evidence that some reviewers had read Liddell's rebuttal but not Aldington's book.
Aldington wrote that Lawrence embellished many stories and invented others, and in particular that his claims involving numbers were usually inflated - for example claims of having read 50,000 books in the Oxford Union library, of having blown up 79 bridges, of having had a price of £50,000 on his head, and of having suffered 60 or more injuries. Many of Aldington's specific claims against Lawrence have been accepted by subsequent biographers. In Richard Aldington and Lawrence of Arabia: A Cautionary Tale, Fred D. Crawford writes "Much that shocked in 1955 is now standard knowledge--that TEL was illegitimate, that this profoundly troubled him, that he frequently resented his mother's dominance, that such reminiscences as T.E. Lawrence by His Friends are not reliable, that TEL's leg-pulling and other adolescent traits could be offensive, that TEL took liberties with the truth in his official reports and Seven Pillars, that the significance of his exploits during the Arab Revolt was more political than military, that he contributed to his own myth, that when he vetted the books by Graves and Liddell he let remain much that he knew was untrue, and that his feelings about publicity were ambiguous."
This has not prevented most post-Aldington biographers (including Fred D. Crawford, who studied the Aldington claims intensely) from expressing strong admiration for Lawrence's military, political, and writing achievements.
Awards and commemorations
Lawrence was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath on 7 August 1917, appointed a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order on 10 May 1918, awarded the Knight of the Legion of Honour (France) on 30 May 1916 and awarded the Croix de guerre (France) on 16 April 1918.
King George V offered Lawrence a knighthood on 30 October 1918 at a private audience in Buckingham Palace for his services in the Arab Revolt, but he declined. He was unwilling to accept the honour in light of how his country had betrayed the Arabs.
A bronze bust of Lawrence by Eric Kennington was placed in the crypt of St Paul's Cathedral, London, on 29 January 1936, alongside the tombs of Britain's greatest military leaders. A recumbent stone effigy by Kennington was installed in St Martin's Church, Wareham, Dorset, in 1939.
An English Heritage blue plaque marks Lawrence's childhood home at 2 Polstead Road, Oxford, and another appears on his London home at 14 Barton Street, Westminster. Lawrence appears on the album cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles. In 2002, Lawrence was named 53rd in the BBC's list of the 100 Greatest Britons following a UK-wide vote.
In 2018, Lawrence was featured on a £5 coin (issued in silver and gold) in a six-coin set commemorating the Centenary of the First World War produced by the Royal Mint.
In popular culture
Film
Alexander Korda bought the film rights to The Seven Pillars in the 1930s. The production was in development, with various actors cast as the lead, such as Leslie Howard.
Peter O'Toole was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Lawrence in the 1962 film Lawrence of Arabia.
Lawrence was portrayed by Robert Pattinson in the 2014 biographical drama about Gertrude Bell, Queen of the Desert.
Peter O'Toole's portrayal of Lawrence inspired behavioural affectations in the synthetic model called David, portrayed by Michael Fassbender in the 2012 film Prometheus, and in the 2017 sequel Alien: Covenant, part of the Alien franchise.
Literature
T.E. Lawrence (T.E.ロレンス) is a seven-volume manga series by Tomoko Kosaka, which retells Lawrence's life story from childhood onward.
The Oath of the Five Lords tells a fictional story including several references to T.E. Lawrence and his memoirs in which he describes how the United Kingdom did not honour its promises to the Arab nation. The comic is the twenty-first book in the Blake and Mortimer comic series. The story was written by Yves Sente and drawn by André Juillard and was released in 2012.
The T.E. Lawrence Poems was published by Canadian poet Gwendolyn MacEwen in 1982. The poems rely heavily, and quote directly from, primary material including Seven Pillars and the collected letters.
Television
He was portrayed by Judson Scott in the 1982 TV series Voyagers!
Ralph Fiennes portrayed Lawrence in the 1992 British made-for-TV movie A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia.
Joseph A. Bennett and Douglas Henshall portrayed him in the 1992 TV series The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles.
He was also portrayed in a Syrian series, directed by Thaer Mousa, called Lawrence Al Arab. The series consisted of 37 episodes, each between 45 minutes and one hour in length.
Theatre
Lawrence was the subject of Terence Rattigan's controversial play Ross, which explored Lawrence's alleged homosexuality. Ross ran in London in 1960–61, starring Alec Guinness, who was an admirer of Lawrence, and Gerald Harper as his blackmailer, Dickinson. The play had originally been written as a screenplay, but the planned film was never made. In January 1986 at the Theatre Royal, Plymouth, on the opening night of the revival of Ross, Marc Sinden, who was playing Dickinson (the man who recognised and blackmailed Lawrence, played by Simon Ward), was introduced to the man on whom the character of Dickinson was based. Sinden asked him why he had blackmailed Ross, and he replied, "Oh, for the money. I was financially embarrassed at the time and needed to get up to London to see a girlfriend. It was never meant to be a big thing, but a good friend of mine was very close to Terence Rattigan and years later, the silly devil told him the story."
Alan Bennett's Forty Years On (1968) includes a satire on Lawrence; known as "Tee Hee Lawrence" because of his high-pitched, girlish giggle. "Clad in the magnificent white silk robes of an Arab prince ... he hoped to pass unnoticed through London. Alas he was mistaken."
The character of Private Napoleon Meek in George Bernard Shaw's 1931 play Too True to Be Good was inspired by Lawrence. Meek is depicted as thoroughly conversant with the language and lifestyle of the native tribes. He repeatedly enlists with the army, quitting whenever offered a promotion. Lawrence attended a performance of the play's original Worcestershire run, and reportedly signed autographs for patrons attending the show.
Lawrence's first year back at Oxford after the War to write was portrayed by Tom Rooney in a play, The Oxford Roof Climbers Rebellion, written by Canadian playwright Stephen Massicotte (premiered Toronto 2006). The play explores Lawrence's reactions to war, and his friendship with Robert Graves. Urban Stages presented the American premiere in New York City in October 2007; Lawrence was portrayed by actor Dylan Chalfy.
Lawrence's final years are portrayed in a one-man show by Raymond Sargent, The Warrior and the Poet.
His 1922 retreat from public life forms the subject of Howard Brenton's play Lawrence After Arabia, commissioned for a 2016 premiere at the Hampstead Theatre to mark the centenary of the outbreak of the Arab Revolt.
A highly fictionalised version of Lawrence featured in the 2016 Swedish-language comedic play Lawrence i Mumiedalen.
Video games
A fictionalized Lawrence is an NPC who assists the party in Shadow Hearts: Covenant (2004).
A fictionalized Lawrence is an NPC who appears in cutscenes and guides the player through missions in Battlefield 1 (2016).
Lawrence and his work are referenced multiple times throughout the video game Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (2011).
See also
Hashemites, ruling family of Mecca (10th–20th century) and of Jordan since 1921
Kingdom of Iraq (1932–1958)
Lawrence of Arabia: The Authorised Biography of T. E. Lawrence by Jeremy Wilson (1989)
The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones, US TV series (1992–1993) with episodes depicting moments from Lawrence's life
Related individuals
Richard Meinertzhagen (1878–1967), British intelligence officer and ornithologist, on occasion a colleague of Lawrence's
Rafael de Nogales Méndez (1879–1937), Venezuelan officer who served in the Ottoman Army and was compared to Lawrence
Suleiman Mousa (1919–2008), Jordanian historian who wrote about Lawrence
Oskar von Niedermayer (1885–1948), German officer, professor and spy, sometimes referred to as the German Lawrence
Max von Oppenheim (1860–1946), German-Jewish lawyer, diplomat and archaeologist. Lawrence called his travelogue "the best book on the [Middle East] area I know".
Wilhelm Wassmuss (1880–1931), German diplomat and spy, known as "Wassmuss of Persia" and compared to Lawrence
References
Citations
Sources
External links
Digital collections
T. E. Lawrence's Original Letters on Palestine Shapell Manuscript Foundation
Works by T. E. Lawrence at Wikilivres
Physical collections
T. E. Lawrence's Collection at The University of Texas at Austin's Harry Ransom Center
"Creating History: Lowell Thomas and Lawrence of Arabia" online history exhibit at Clio Visualizing History.
Europeana Collections 1914–1918 makes 425,000 World War I items from European libraries available online, including manuscripts, photographs and diaries by or relating to Lawrence
T. E. Lawrence's Personal Manuscripts and Letters
News and analysis
The Guardian 19 May 1935 – The death of Lawrence of Arabia
The Legend of Lawrence of Arabia: The Recalcitrant Hero
T. E. Lawrence: The Enigmatic Lawrence of Arabia article by O'Brien Browne
Lawrence of Arabia: True and false (an Arab view) by Lucy Ladikoff
Documentaries
Footage of Lawrence of Arabia with publisher FN Doubleday and at a picnic
Lawrence of Arabia: The Battle for the Arab World, directed by James Hawes. PBS Home Video, 21 October 2003. (ASIN B0000BWVND)
Societies
T. E. Lawrence Studies, built by Lawrence's authorised biographer Jeremy Wilson (no longer maintained)
The T. E. Lawrence Society
1888 births
1935 deaths
20th-century archaeologists
20th-century British writers
20th-century translators
Alumni of Jesus College, Oxford
Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford
Arab Bureau officers
Arab Revolt
British archaeologists
British Army General List officers
British Army personnel of World War I
British guerrillas
British people of Irish descent
Castellologists
Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur
Companions of the Distinguished Service Order
Companions of the Order of the Bath
Fellows of All Souls College, Oxford
French–English translators
Greek–English translators
Guerrilla warfare theorists
Motorcycle road incident deaths
People educated at the City of Oxford High School for Boys
People from Caernarfonshire
People of Anglo-Irish descent
Road incident deaths in England
Royal Air Force airmen
Royal Garrison Artillery soldiers
Royal Tank Regiment soldiers
Welsh people of Irish descent
Translators of Homer | false | [
"Jac Holmes (18 January 1993 - 23 October 2017) was a British volunteer with the Kurdish YPG militia who fought against ISIL in Syria from January 2015 until his death in Raqqa on 23 October 2017 while clearing mines from the city.\n\nHolmes was a former IT worker and decorator from Poole in Dorset. He had no military experience before traveling to Syria in January 2015, shortly after he turned 22. Holmes did three tours of northern Syria with the YPG and featured regularly in international media about foreign fighters with Kurdish-led forces, including the Channel 4 documentary 'Frontline Fighting: The Brits Battling ISIS'. His death came four days after the Syrian Democratic Forces declared the liberation of Raqqa.\n\nIn a Q&A on Facebook on 4 October 2017, Holmes said his reason for travelling to Syria was \"Because I was sick of seeing what was going on in Syria, and western nations not doing enough to help\"\n\nJosh Walker, another British volunteer with the YPG who was cleared of terrorism charges after returning from fighting in Syria, said Holmes was \"A good fighter dedicated to the cause, he learned & spoke the language well - which is unusual in foreign fighters. Among foreigners and Kurds alike he was very popular and a very good man.\"\n\nHolmes took the Kurdish nom-de-guerre Sores Amanos. 'Sores' means 'revolution' in Kurdish. He was one of the longest serving U.K. foreign fighters when he died.\n\nDuring the battle for Raqqa, he commanded the four-man 223 YPG Sniper Unit made up of international volunteers from Spain, the US and Germany.\n\nHolmes was killed on 23 October by an IED in Raqqa. He was the sixth British volunteer to be killed while fighting ISIL in Syria.\n\nHundreds of mourners gathered in Dorset on Friday 2 February 2018 to attend Holmes' funeral. \"About 500 people, including family members, friends, British Kurds, the parents of other British men to have died in Syria and about 30 former YPG comrades from across the world\" attended the service in Wimborne to pay tribute to Holmes, according to The Guardian. His coffin was covered with flowers in the colours of the YPG and the YPG commander Nuri Mahmud spoke via Skype from Syria to offer his personal condolences and to commend Jac for his contribution to the eradication of ISIS in Raqqa. Following the service, his coffin was taken to Poole Crematorium.\n\nExternal links \n Jac Holmes Instagram account\n\nReferences\n\n2017 deaths\nPeople killed in the Syrian civil war\nPeople's Protection Units\n1993 births",
"The Syria national futsal team represents Syria in international futsal competitions and is controlled by the Syrian Arab Federation for Football, the governing body for futsal in Syria.\n\nTournament records\n\nFIFA Futsal World Cup\n 1989-2016 - Did not enter\n 2020 - To be determined\n\nAFC Futsal Championship\n\nFutsal at the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games\n 2005-2013 - Did not enter\n 2017 - TBD\n\nWAFF Futsal Championship\n 2007 - Did not enter\n 2009 - 5th place\n 2012 - Did not enter\n\nMediterranean Futsal Cup\n2010 - 13th place\n\nArab Futsal Championship\n 1998-2007 - Did not enter \n 2008 - 1st round\n\nMatches \nHere are all the matches of Syrian national futsal team\n\nSee also \nSyria national football team\nSyria national under-23 football team\nSyria national under-20 football team\nSyria national under-17 football team\nSyria women's national football team\nSyrian Football Association\nFootball in Syria\nSport in Syria\nSyria\n\nReferences\n\n \n\nAsian national futsal teams\nFutsal\nNational"
]
|
[
"T. E. Lawrence",
"Antiquities and archaeology",
"How did he get interested in antiquities and archaeology?",
"Lawrence and his schoolfriend Cyril Beeson cycled around Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, and Oxfordshire, visited almost every village's parish church, studied their monuments and antiquities,",
"Did Lawrence attend school?",
"From 1907 to 1910, Lawrence read History at Jesus College, Oxford.",
"What did they do at the sites?",
"studied their monuments and antiquities, and made rubbings of their monumental brasses.",
"Did they travel anywhere else?",
"\" In the summers of 1906 and 1907, Lawrence and Beeson toured France by bicycle,",
"What is an interesting fact about his travels?",
"In the summer of 1909, he set out alone on a three-month walking tour of crusader castles in Ottoman Syria, during which he travelled 1,000 mi (1,600 km) on foot.",
"What did he accomplish while in Syria?",
"I don't know."
]
| C_f8febb2118a84b91bb8cffa9bbb47998_1 | What archaeology did he participate in? | 7 | What archaeology did T.E. Lawrence participate in? | T. E. Lawrence | At the age of 15, Lawrence and his schoolfriend Cyril Beeson cycled around Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, and Oxfordshire, visited almost every village's parish church, studied their monuments and antiquities, and made rubbings of their monumental brasses. Lawrence and Beeson monitored building sites in Oxford and presented their finds to the Ashmolean Museum. The Ashmolean's Annual Report for 1906 said that the two teenage boys "by incessant watchfulness secured everything of antiquarian value which has been found." In the summers of 1906 and 1907, Lawrence and Beeson toured France by bicycle, collecting photographs, drawings, and measurements of medieval castles. In August 1907 Lawrence wrote home: "The Chaignons & the Lamballe people, complimented me on my wonderful French: I have been asked twice since I arrived what part of France I came from". From 1907 to 1910, Lawrence read History at Jesus College, Oxford. In the summer of 1909, he set out alone on a three-month walking tour of crusader castles in Ottoman Syria, during which he travelled 1,000 mi (1,600 km) on foot. Lawrence graduated with First Class Honours after submitting a thesis titled The Influence of the Crusades on European Military Architecture--to the End of the 12th Century, based on his field research with Beeson in France, notably in Chalus, and his solo research in the Middle East. Lawrence was fascinated by the Middle Ages with his brother Arnold writing in 1937 that for him "medieval researches" were a "dream way of escape from bourgeois England". In 1910 Lawrence was offered the opportunity to become a practising archaeologist in the Middle East, at Carchemish, in the expedition that D. G. Hogarth was setting up on behalf of the British Museum. Hogarth arranged a "Senior Demyship", a form of scholarship, for Lawrence at Magdalen College, Oxford, to fund Lawrence's work at PS100 a year. In December 1910, he sailed for Beirut and on his arrival went to Jbail (Byblos), where he studied Arabic. He then went to work on the excavations at Carchemish, near Jerablus in northern Syria, where he worked under Hogarth, R. Campbell Thompson of the British Museum, and Leonard Woolley, until 1914. He later stated that everything which he had accomplished he owed to Hogarth. While excavating at Carchemish, Lawrence met Gertrude Bell. In 1912 Lawrence worked briefly with Flinders Petrie at Kafr Ammar in Egypt. CANNOTANSWER | He then went to work on the excavations at Carchemish, near Jerablus in northern Syria, | Colonel Thomas Edward Lawrence (16 August 1888 – 19 May 1935) was a British archaeologist, army officer, diplomat, and writer, who became renowned for his role in the Arab Revolt (1916–1918) and the Sinai and Palestine Campaign (1915–1918) against the Ottoman Empire during the First World War. The breadth and variety of his activities and associations, and his ability to describe them vividly in writing, earned him international fame as Lawrence of Arabia, a title used for the 1962 film based on his wartime activities.
He was born out of wedlock in August 1888 to Sarah Junner (1861–1959), a governess, and Sir Thomas Chapman, 7th Baronet (1846–1919), an Anglo-Irish nobleman. Chapman left his wife and family in Ireland to cohabit with Junner. Chapman and Junner called themselves Mr and Mrs Lawrence, using the surname of Sarah's likely father; her mother had been employed as a servant for a Lawrence family when she became pregnant with Sarah. In 1896, the Lawrences moved to Oxford, where Thomas attended the High School and then studied history at Jesus College, Oxford from 1907 to 1910. Between 1910 and 1914 he worked as an archaeologist for the British Museum, chiefly at Carchemish in Ottoman Syria.
Soon after the outbreak of war in 1914 he volunteered for the British Army and was stationed at the Arab Bureau (established in 1916) intelligence unit in Egypt. In 1916, he travelled to Mesopotamia and to Arabia on intelligence missions and quickly became involved with the Arab Revolt as a liaison to the Arab forces, along with other British officers, supporting the Arab Kingdom of Hejaz's independence war against its former overlord, the Ottoman Empire. He worked closely with Emir Faisal, a leader of the revolt, and he participated, sometimes as leader, in military actions against the Ottoman armed forces, culminating in the capture of Damascus in October 1918.
After the First World War, Lawrence joined the British Foreign Office, working with the British government and with Faisal. In 1922, he retreated from public life and spent the years until 1935 serving as an enlisted man, mostly in the Royal Air Force (RAF), with a brief period in the Army. During this time, he published his best-known work Seven Pillars of Wisdom (1926), an autobiographical account of his participation in the Arab Revolt. He also translated books into English, and wrote The Mint, which detailed his time in the Royal Air Force working as an ordinary aircraftman. He corresponded extensively and was friendly with well-known artists, writers, and politicians. For the RAF, he participated in the development of rescue motorboats.
Lawrence's public image resulted in part from the sensationalised reporting of the Arab revolt by American journalist Lowell Thomas, as well as from Seven Pillars of Wisdom. In 1935, Lawrence was fatally injured in a motorcycle accident in Dorset.
Early life
Thomas Edward Lawrence was born on 16 August 1888 in Tremadog, Carnarvonshire, Wales, in a house named Gorphwysfa, now known as Snowdon Lodge. His Anglo-Irish father Thomas Chapman had left his wife Edith after he had a first son with Sarah Junner who had been governess to his daughters. Sarah had herself been an illegitimate child, having been born in Sunderland as the daughter of Elizabeth Junner, a servant employed by a family named Lawrence; she was dismissed four months before Sarah was born, and identified Sarah's father as "John Junner, Shipwright journeyman".
Lawrence's parents did not marry but lived together under the pseudonym Lawrence. In 1914, his father inherited the Chapman baronetcy based at Killua Castle, the ancestral family home in County Westmeath, Ireland. The couple had five sons, Thomas (called "Ned" by his immediate family) being the second eldest. From Wales, the family moved to Kirkcudbright, Galloway, in southwestern Scotland, then to Dinard in Brittany, then to Jersey.
The family lived at Langley Lodge (now demolished) from 1894 to 1896, set in private woods between the eastern borders of the New Forest and Southampton Water in Hampshire. The residence was isolated, and young Lawrence had many opportunities for outdoor activities and waterfront visits. Victorian-Edwardian Britain was a very conservative society, where the majority of people were Christians who considered premarital and extramarital sex to be shameful, and children born out of wedlock were born in disgrace. Lawrence was always something of an outsider, a bastard who could never hope to achieve the same level of social acceptance and success that others could expect who were born legitimate, and no girl from a respectable family would ever marry a bastard.
In the summer of 1896, the family moved to 2, Polstead Road in Oxford, where they lived until 1921. Lawrence attended the City of Oxford High School for Boys from 1896 until 1907, where one of the four houses was later named "Lawrence" in his honour; the school closed in 1966. Lawrence and one of his brothers became commissioned officers in the Church Lads' Brigade at St Aldate's Church.
Lawrence claimed that he ran away from home around 1905 and served for a few weeks as a boy soldier with the Royal Garrison Artillery at St Mawes Castle in Cornwall, from which he was bought out. However, no evidence of this appears in army records.
Travels, antiquities, and archaeology
At age 15, Lawrence and his schoolfriend Cyril Beeson cycled around Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, and Oxfordshire, visiting almost every village's parish church, studying their monuments and antiquities, and making rubbings of their monumental brasses. Lawrence and Beeson monitored building sites in Oxford and presented the Ashmolean Museum with anything that they found. The Ashmolean's Annual Report for 1906 said that the two teenage boys "by incessant watchfulness secured everything of antiquarian value which has been found." In the summers of 1906 and 1907, Lawrence toured France by bicycle, sometimes with Beeson, collecting photographs, drawings, and measurements of medieval castles. In August 1907, Lawrence wrote home: "The Chaignons & the Lamballe people complimented me on my wonderful French: I have been asked twice since I arrived what part of France I came from".
From 1907 to 1910, Lawrence read history at Jesus College, Oxford. In July and August 1908 he cycled 2,200 miles (3,500 km) solo through France to the Mediterranean and back researching French castles. In the summer of 1909, he set out alone on a three-month walking tour of crusader castles in Ottoman Syria, during which he travelled on foot. While at Jesus he was a keen member of the University Officers' Training Corps (OTC). He graduated with First Class Honours after submitting a thesis titled The Influence of the Crusades on European Military Architecture—to the End of the 12th Century, partly based on his field research with Beeson in France, and his solo research in France and the Middle East. Lawrence was fascinated by the Middle Ages; his brother Arnold wrote in 1937 that "medieval researches" were a "dream way of escape from bourgeois England".
In 1910, Lawrence was offered the opportunity to become a practising archaeologist at Carchemish, in the expedition that D. G. Hogarth was setting up on behalf of the British Museum. Hogarth arranged a "Senior Demyship" (a form of scholarship) for Lawrence at Magdalen College, Oxford, to fund his work at £100 a year. He sailed for Beirut in December 1910 and went to Byblos, where he studied Arabic. He then went to work on the excavations at Carchemish, near Jerablus in northern Syria, where he worked under Hogarth, R. Campbell Thompson of the British Museum, and Leonard Woolley until 1914. He later stated that everything which he had accomplished he owed to Hogarth. Lawrence met Gertrude Bell while excavating at Carchemish. He worked briefly with Flinders Petrie in 1912 at Kafr Ammar in Egypt.
At Carchemish, Lawrence was frequently involved in a high-tension relationship with a German-led team working nearby on the Baghdad Railway at Jerablus. While there was never open combat, there was regular conflict over access to land and treatment of the local workforce; Lawrence gained experience in Middle Eastern leadership practices and conflict resolution.
Military intelligence
In January 1914, Woolley and Lawrence were co-opted by the British military as an archaeological smokescreen for a British military survey of the Negev Desert. They were funded by the Palestine Exploration Fund to search for an area referred to in the Bible as the Wilderness of Zin, and they made an archaeological survey of the Negev Desert along the way. The Negev was strategically important, as an Ottoman army attacking Egypt would have to cross it. Woolley and Lawrence subsequently published a report of the expedition's archaeological findings, but a more important result was updated mapping of the area, with special attention to features of military relevance such as water sources. Lawrence also visited Aqaba and Shobek, not far from Petra.
Following the outbreak of hostilities in August 1914, Lawrence did not immediately enlist in the British Army. He held back until October on the advice of S. F. Newcombe, when he was commissioned on the General List. Before the end of the year, he was summoned by renowned archaeologist and historian Lt. Cmdr. David Hogarth, his mentor at Carchemish, to the new Arab Bureau intelligence unit in Cairo, and he arrived in Cairo on 15 December 1914. The Bureau's chief was General Gilbert Clayton who reported to Egyptian High Commissioner Henry McMahon.
The situation was complex during 1915. There was a growing Arab-nationalist movement within the Arabic-speaking Ottoman territories, including many Arabs serving in the Ottoman armed forces. They were in contact with Sharif Hussein, Emir of Mecca, who was negotiating with the British and offering to lead an Arab uprising against the Ottomans. In exchange, he wanted a British guarantee of an independent Arab state including the Hejaz, Syria, and Mesopotamia. Such an uprising would have been very helpful to Britain in its war against the Ottomans, greatly lessening the threat against the Suez Canal. However, there was resistance from French diplomats who insisted that Syria's future was as a French colony, not an independent Arab state. There were also strong objections from the Government of India, which was nominally part of the British government but acted independently. Its vision was of Mesopotamia under British control serving as a granary for India; furthermore, it wanted to hold on to its Arabian outpost in Aden.
At the Arab Bureau, Lawrence supervised the preparation of maps, produced a daily bulletin for the British generals operating in the theatre, and interviewed prisoners. He was an advocate of a British landing at Alexandretta which never came to pass. He was also a consistent advocate of an independent Arab Syria.
The situation came to a crisis in October 1915, as Sharif Hussein demanded an immediate commitment from Britain, with the threat that he would otherwise throw his weight behind the Ottomans. This would create a credible Pan-Islamic message that could have been very dangerous for Britain, which was in severe difficulties in the Gallipoli Campaign. The British replied with a letter from High Commissioner McMahon that was generally agreeable while reserving commitments concerning the Mediterranean coastline and Holy Land.
In the spring of 1916, Lawrence was dispatched to Mesopotamia to assist in relieving the Siege of Kut by some combination of starting an Arab uprising and bribing Ottoman officials. This mission produced no useful result. Meanwhile, the Sykes–Picot Agreement was being negotiated in London without the knowledge of British officials in Cairo, which awarded a large proportion of Syria to France. Further, it implied that the Arabs would have to conquer Syria's four great cities if they were to have any sort of state there: Damascus, Homs, Hama, and Aleppo. It is unclear at what point Lawrence became aware of the treaty's contents.
Arab Revolt
The Arab Revolt began in June 1916, but it bogged down after a few successes, with a real risk that the Ottoman forces would advance along the coast of the Red Sea and recapture Mecca. On 16 October 1916, Lawrence was sent to the Hejaz on an intelligence-gathering mission led by Ronald Storrs. He interviewed Sharif Hussein's sons Ali, Abdullah, and Faisal, and he concluded that Faisal was the best candidate to lead the Revolt.
In November, S. F. Newcombe was assigned to lead a permanent British liaison to Faisal's staff. Newcombe had not yet arrived in the area and the matter was of some urgency, so Lawrence was sent in his place. In late December 1916, Faisal and Lawrence worked out a plan for repositioning the Arab forces to prevent the Ottoman forces around Medina from threatening Arab positions and putting the railway from Syria under threat. Newcombe arrived and Lawrence was preparing to leave Arabia, but Faisal intervened urgently, asking that Lawrence's assignment become permanent.
Lawrence's most important contributions to the Arab Revolt were in the area of strategy and liaison with British armed forces, but he also participated personally in several military engagements:
3 January 1917: Attack on an Ottoman outpost in the Hejaz
26 March 1917: Attack on the railway at Aba el Naam
11 June 1917: Attack on a bridge at Ras Baalbek
2 July 1917: Defeat of the Ottoman forces at Aba el Lissan, an outpost of Aqaba
18 September 1917: Attack on the railway near Mudawara
27 September 1917: Attack on the railway, destroyed an engine
7 November 1917: Following a failed attack on the Yarmuk bridges, blew up a train on the railway between Dera'a and Amman, suffering several wounds in the explosion and ensuing combat
23 January 1918: The battle of Tafileh, a region southeast of the Dead Sea, with Arab regulars under the command of Jafar Pasha al-Askari; the battle was a defensive engagement that turned into an offensive rout and was described in the official history of the war as a "brilliant feat of arms". Lawrence was awarded the Distinguished Service Order for his leadership at Tafileh and was promoted to lieutenant colonel.
March 1918: Attack on the railway near Aqaba
19 April 1918: Attack using British armoured cars on Tell Shahm
16 September 1918: Destruction of railway bridge between Amman and Dera'a
26 September 1918: Attack on retreating Ottomans and Germans near the village of Tafas. The Ottoman forces massacred the villagers and then Arab forces in return massacred their prisoners with Lawrence's encouragement.
Lawrence made a 300-mile personal journey northward in June 1917, on the way to Aqaba, visiting Ras Baalbek, the outskirts of Damascus, and Azraq, Jordan. He met Arab nationalists, counselling them to avoid revolt until the arrival of Faisal's forces, and he attacked a bridge to create the impression of guerrilla activity. His findings were regarded by the British as extremely valuable and there was serious consideration of awarding him a Victoria Cross; in the end, he was invested as a Companion of the Order of the Bath and promoted to Major.
Lawrence travelled regularly between British headquarters and Faisal, co-ordinating military action. But by early 1918, Faisal's chief British liaison was Colonel Pierce Charles Joyce, and Lawrence's time was chiefly devoted to raiding and intelligence-gathering.
Strategy
The chief elements of the Arab strategy which Faisal and Lawrence developed were to avoid capturing Medina, and to extend northwards through Maan and Dera'a to Damascus and beyond. Faisal wanted to lead regular attacks against the Ottomans, but Lawrence persuaded him to drop that tactic. Lawrence wrote about the Bedouin as a fighting force:
The value of the tribes is defensive only and their real sphere is guerilla warfare. They are intelligent, and very lively, almost reckless, but too individualistic to endure commands, or fight in line, or to help each other. It would, I think, be possible to make an organized force out of them.… The Hejaz war is one of dervishes against regular forces—and we are on the side of the dervishes. Our text-books do not apply to its conditions at all.
Medina was an attractive target for the revolt as Islam's second holiest site, and because its Ottoman garrison was weakened by disease and isolation. It became clear that it was advantageous to leave it there rather than try to capture it, while continually attacking the Hejaz railway south from Damascus without permanently destroying it. This prevented the Ottomans from making effective use of their troops at Medina, and forced them to dedicate many resources to defending and repairing the railway line.
It is not known when Lawrence learned the details of the Sykes-Picot Agreement, nor if or when he briefed Faisal on what he knew, However, there is good reason to think that both these things happened, and earlier rather than later. In particular, the Arab strategy of northward extension makes perfect sense given the Sykes-Picot language that spoke of an independent Arab entity in Syria, which would only be granted if the Arabs liberated the territory themselves. The French, and some of their British Liaison officers, were specifically uncomfortable about the northward movement, as it would weaken French colonial claims.
Capture of Aqaba
In 1917, Lawrence proposed a joint action with the Arab irregulars and forces including Auda Abu Tayi, who had previously been in the employ of the Ottomans, against the strategically located but lightly defended town of Aqaba on the Red Sea. Aqaba could have been attacked from the sea, but the narrow defiles leading through the mountains were strongly defended and would have been very difficult to assault. The expedition was led by Sharif Nasir of Medina.
Lawrence carefully avoided informing his British superiors about the details of the planned inland attack, due to concern that it would be blocked as contrary to French interests. The expedition departed from Wejh on 9 May, and Aqaba fell to the Arab forces on 6 July, after a surprise overland attack which took the Turkish defences from behind. After Aqaba, General Sir Edmund Allenby, the new commander-in-chief of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force, agreed to Lawrence's strategy for the revolt. Lawrence now held a powerful position as an adviser to Faisal and a person who had Allenby's confidence, as Allenby acknowledged after the war:
Dera'a
Lawrence describes an episode on 20 November 1917 while reconnoitring Dera'a in disguise, when he was captured by the Ottoman military, heavily beaten, and sexually abused by the local bey and his guardsmen, though he does not specify the nature of the sexual contact. Some scholars have stated that he exaggerated the severity of the injuries that he suffered, or alleged that the episode never actually happened. There is no independent testimony, but the multiple consistent reports and the absence of evidence for outright invention in Lawrence's works make the account believable to some of his biographers. Malcolm Brown, John E. Mack, and Jeremy Wilson have argued that this episode had strong psychological effects on Lawrence, which may explain some of his unconventional behaviour in later life. Lawrence ended his account of the episode in Seven Pillars of Wisdom with the statement: "In Dera'a that night the citadel of my integrity had been irrevocably lost."
Fall of Damascus
Lawrence was involved in the build-up to the capture of Damascus in the final weeks of the war, but he was not present at the city's formal surrender, much to his disappointment. He arrived several hours after the city had fallen, entering Damascus around 9 am on 1 October 1918; the first to arrive was the 10th Australian Light Horse Brigade led by Major A. C. N. "Harry" Olden, who formally accepted the surrender of the city from acting Governor Emir Said. Lawrence was instrumental in establishing a provisional Arab government under Faisal in newly liberated Damascus, which he had envisioned as the capital of an Arab state. Faisal's rule as king, however, came to an abrupt end in 1920, after the battle of Maysaloun when the French Forces of General Gouraud entered Damascus under the command of General Mariano Goybet, destroying Lawrence's dream of an independent Arabia.
During the closing years of the war, Lawrence sought to convince his superiors in the British government that Arab independence was in their interests, but he met with mixed success. The secret Sykes-Picot Agreement between France and Britain contradicted the promises of independence that he had made to the Arabs and frustrated his work.
Post-war years
Lawrence returned to the United Kingdom a full colonel. Immediately after the war, he worked for the Foreign Office, attending the Paris Peace Conference between January and May as a member of Faisal's delegation. On 17 May 1919, a Handley Page Type O/400 taking Lawrence to Egypt crashed at the airport of Roma-Centocelle. The pilot and co-pilot were killed; Lawrence survived with a broken shoulder blade and two broken ribs. During his brief hospitalisation, he was visited by King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy.
In 1918, Lowell Thomas went to Jerusalem where he met Lawrence, "whose enigmatic figure in Arab uniform fired his imagination", in the words of author Rex Hall. Thomas and his cameraman Harry Chase shot a great deal of film and many photographs involving Lawrence. Thomas produced a stage presentation entitled With Allenby in Palestine which included a lecture, dancing, and music and engaged in "Orientalism", depicting the Middle East as exotic, mysterious, sensuous, and violent.
The show premiered in New York in March 1919. He was invited to take his show to England, and he agreed to do so provided that he was personally invited by the King and provided the use of either Drury Lane or Covent Garden. He opened at Covent Garden on 14 August 1919 and continued for hundreds of lectures, "attended by the highest in the land".
Initially, Lawrence played only a supporting role in the show, as the main focus was on Allenby's campaigns; but then Thomas realised that it was the photos of Lawrence dressed as a Bedouin which had captured the public's imagination, so he had Lawrence photographed again in London in Arab dress. With the new photos, Thomas re-launched his show under the new title With Allenby in Palestine and Lawrence in Arabia in early 1920, which proved to be extremely popular. The new title elevated Lawrence from a supporting role to a co-star of the Near Eastern campaign and reflected a changed emphasis. Thomas' shows made the previously obscure Lawrence into a household name.
Lawrence worked with Thomas on the creation of the presentation, answering many questions and posing for many photographs. After its success, however, he expressed regret about having been featured in it.
Lawrence served as an advisor to Winston Churchill at the Colonial Office for just over a year starting in February 1920. He hated bureaucratic work, writing on 21 May 1921 to Robert Graves: "I wish I hadn't gone out there: the Arabs are like a page I have turned over; and sequels are rotten things. I'm locked up here: office every day and much of it". He travelled to the Middle East on multiple occasions during this period, at one time holding the title of "chief political officer for Trans-Jordania".
He campaigned actively for his and Churchill's vision of the Middle East, publishing pieces in multiple newspapers, including The Times, The Observer, The Daily Mail, and The Daily Express.
Lawrence had a sinister reputation in France during his lifetime and even today as an implacable "enemy of France", the man who was constantly stirring up the Syrians to rebel against French rule throughout the 1920s. However, French historian Maurice Larès wrote that the real reason for France's problems in Syria was that the Syrians did not want to be ruled by France, and the French needed a scapegoat to blame for their difficulties in ruling the country. Larès wrote that Lawrence is usually pictured in France as a Francophobe, but he was really a Francophile.
Having seen and admired the effective use of air power during the war, Lawrence enlisted in the Royal Air Force as an aircraftman, under the name John Hume Ross in August 1922. At the RAF recruiting centre in Covent Garden, London, he was interviewed by recruiting officer Flying Officer W. E. Johns, later known as the author of the Biggles series of novels. Johns rejected Lawrence's application, as he suspected that "Ross" was a false name. Lawrence admitted that this was so and that he had provided false documents. He left, but returned some time later with an RAF messenger who carried a written order that Johns must accept Lawrence.
However, Lawrence was forced out of the RAF in February 1923 after his identity was exposed. He changed his name to T. E. Shaw (apparently as a consequence of his friendship with G. B. and Charlotte Shaw) and joined the Royal Tank Corps later that year. He was unhappy there and repeatedly petitioned to rejoin the RAF, which finally readmitted him in August 1925. A fresh burst of publicity after the publication of Revolt in the Desert resulted in his assignment to bases at Karachi and Miramshah in British India (now Pakistan) in late 1926, where he remained until the end of 1928. At that time, he was forced to return to Britain after rumours began to circulate that he was involved in espionage activities.
He purchased several small plots of land in Chingford, built a hut and swimming pool there, and visited frequently. The hut was removed in 1930 when Chingford Urban District Council acquired the land; it was given to the City of London Corporation which re-erected it in the grounds of The Warren, Loughton. Lawrence's tenure of the Chingford land has now been commemorated by a plaque fixed on the sighting obelisk on Pole Hill.
Lawrence continued serving in the RAF based at RAF Mount Batten near Plymouth, RAF Calshot near Southampton, and RAF Bridlington, East Riding of Yorkshire. He specialised in high-speed boats and professed happiness, and he left the service with considerable regret at the end of his enlistment in March 1935.
In late August or early September 1931 he stayed with Lady Houston aboard her luxury yacht, the Liberty, off Calshot, shortly before the Schneider Trophy competition. In later letters Lady Houston would ask Lawrence's advice on obtaining a new chauffeur for her Rolls Royce car ('Forgive my asking, but you know everything') and suggest that he join the Liberty, for she had discharged her captain, who had turned out to be a 'wrong 'un.'
In the inter-war period, the RAF's Marine Craft Section began to commission air-sea rescue launches capable of higher speeds and greater capacity. The arrival of high-speed craft into the MCS was driven in part by Lawrence. He had previously witnessed a seaplane crew drowning when the seaplane tender sent to their rescue was too slow in arriving. He worked with Hubert Scott-Paine, the founder of the British Power Boat Company (BPBC), to introduce the long ST 200 Seaplane Tender Mk1 into service. These boats had a range of 140 miles when cruising at 24 knots and could achieve a top speed of 29 knots.
Lawrence was a keen motorcyclist and owned eight Brough Superior motorcycles at different times. His last SS100 (Registration GW 2275) is privately owned but has been on loan to the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu and the Imperial War Museum in London. He was also an avid reader of Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur and carried a copy on his campaigns. He read an account of Eugene Vinaver's discovery of the Winchester Manuscript of the Morte in The Times in 1934, and he motorcycled from Manchester to Winchester to meet Vinaver.
Death
On 13 May 1935, Lawrence was fatally injured in an accident on his Brough Superior SS100 motorcycle in Dorset close to his cottage Clouds Hill, near Wareham, just two months after leaving military service. A dip in the road obstructed his view of two boys on their bicycles; he swerved to avoid them, lost control, and was thrown over the handlebars. He died six days later on 19 May 1935, aged 46. The location of the crash is marked by a small memorial at the roadside.
One of the doctors attending him was neurosurgeon Hugh Cairns, who consequently began a long study of the loss of life by motorcycle dispatch riders through head injuries. His research led to the use of crash helmets by both military and civilian motorcyclists.
The Moreton estate borders Bovington Camp, and Lawrence bought it from his cousins the Frampton family. He had been a frequent visitor to their home Okers Wood House, and had corresponded with Louisa Frampton for years. Lawrence's mother arranged with the Framptons to have his body buried in their family plot in the separate burial ground of St Nicholas' Church, Moreton. The coffin was transported on the Frampton estate's bier. Mourners included Winston Churchill, E. M. Forster, Lady Astor, and Lawrence's youngest brother Arnold.
Writings
Lawrence was a prolific writer throughout his life, a large portion of which was epistolary; he often sent several letters a day, and several collections of his letters have been published. He corresponded with many notable figures, including George Bernard Shaw, Edward Elgar, Winston Churchill, Robert Graves, Noël Coward, E. M. Forster, Siegfried Sassoon, John Buchan, Augustus John, and Henry Williamson. He met Joseph Conrad and commented perceptively on his works. The many letters that he sent to Shaw's wife Charlotte are revealing as to his character.
Lawrence was a competent speaker of French and Arabic, and reader of Latin and Ancient Greek.
Lawrence published three major texts in his lifetime. The most significant was his account of the Arab Revolt in Seven Pillars of Wisdom. Homer's Odyssey and The Forest Giant were translations, the latter an otherwise forgotten work of French fiction. He received a flat fee for the second translation, and negotiated a generous fee plus royalties for the first.
Seven Pillars of Wisdom
Lawrence's major work is Seven Pillars of Wisdom, an account of his war experiences. In 1919, he was elected to a seven-year research fellowship at All Souls College, Oxford, providing him with support while he worked on the book. Certain parts of the book also serve as essays on military strategy, Arabian culture and geography, and other topics. He rewrote Seven Pillars of Wisdom three times, once "blind" after he lost the manuscript.
There are many alleged "embellishments" in Seven Pillars, though some allegations have been disproved with time, most definitively in Jeremy Wilson's authorised biography. However, Lawrence's own notebooks refute his claim to have crossed the Sinai Peninsula from Aqaba to the Suez Canal in just 49 hours without any sleep. In reality, this famous camel ride lasted for more than 70 hours and was interrupted by two long breaks for sleeping, which Lawrence omitted when he wrote his book.
In the preface, Lawrence acknowledged George Bernard Shaw's help in editing the book. The first edition was published in 1926 as a high-priced private subscription edition, printed in London by Herbert John Hodgson and Roy Manning Pike, with illustrations by Eric Kennington, Augustus John, Paul Nash, Blair Hughes-Stanton, and Hughes-Stanton's wife Gertrude Hermes. Lawrence was afraid that the public would think that he would make a substantial income from the book, and he stated that it was written as a result of his war service. He vowed not to take any money from it, and indeed he did not, as the sale price was one third of the production costs, leaving him in substantial debt.
As a specialist in the Middle East, Fred Halliday praised Lawrence's Seven Pillars of Wisdom as a "fine work of prose" but described its relevance to the study of Arab history and society as "almost worthless."
Revolt in the Desert
Revolt in the Desert was an abridged version of Seven Pillars that he began in 1926 and that was published in March 1927 in both limited and trade editions. He undertook a needed but reluctant publicity exercise, which resulted in a best-seller. Again he vowed not to take any fees from the publication, partly to appease the subscribers to Seven Pillars who had paid dearly for their editions. By the fourth reprint in 1927, the debt from Seven Pillars was paid off. As Lawrence left for military service in India at the end of 1926, he set up the "Seven Pillars Trust" with his friend D. G. Hogarth as a trustee, in which he made over the copyright and any surplus income of Revolt in the Desert. He later told Hogarth that he had "made the Trust final, to save myself the temptation of reviewing it, if Revolt turned out a best seller."
The resultant trust paid off the debt, and Lawrence then invoked a clause in his publishing contract to halt publication of the abridgement in the United Kingdom. However, he allowed both American editions and translations, which resulted in a substantial flow of income. The trust paid income either into an educational fund for children of RAF officers who lost their lives or were invalided as a result of service, or more substantially into the RAF Benevolent Fund.
Posthumous
Lawrence left The Mint unpublished, a memoir of his experiences as an enlisted man in the Royal Air Force (RAF). For this, he worked from a notebook that he kept while enlisted, writing of the daily lives of enlisted men and his desire to be a part of something larger than himself. The book is stylistically very different from Seven Pillars of Wisdom, using sparse prose as opposed to the complicated syntax found in Seven Pillars. It was published posthumously, edited by his brother Professor A. W. Lawrence.
After Lawrence's death, A. W. Lawrence inherited Lawrence's estate and his copyrights as the sole beneficiary. To pay the inheritance tax, he sold the US copyright of Seven Pillars of Wisdom (subscribers' text) outright to Doubleday Doran in 1935. Doubleday still controls publication rights of this version of the text of Seven Pillars of Wisdom in the US, and will continue to until the copyright expires at the end of 2022 (publication plus 95 years). In 1936, A. W. Lawrence split the remaining assets of the estate, giving Clouds Hill and many copies of less substantial or historical letters to the National Trust, and then set up two trusts to control interests in his brother's residual copyrights. He assigned the copyright in Seven Pillars of Wisdom to the Seven Pillars of Wisdom Trust, and it was given its first general publication as a result. He assigned the copyright in The Mint and all Lawrence's letters to the Letters and Symposium Trust, which he edited and published in the book T. E. Lawrence by his Friends in 1937.
A substantial amount of income went directly to the RAF Benevolent Fund and to archaeological, environmental, and academic projects. The two trusts were amalgamated in 1986, and the unified trust acquired all the remaining rights to Lawrence's works that it had not owned on the death of A. W. Lawrence in 1991, plus rights to all of A. W. Lawrence's works. The UK copyrights on Lawrence's works published in his lifetime and within 20 years of his death expired on 1 January 2006. Works published more than 20 years after his death were protected for 50 years from publication or to 1 January 2040, whichever is earlier.
Writings
Seven Pillars of Wisdom, an account of Lawrence's part in the Arab Revolt. ()
Revolt in the Desert, an abridged version of Seven Pillars of Wisdom. ()
The Mint, an account of Lawrence's service in the Royal Air Force. ()
Crusader Castles, Lawrence's Oxford thesis. London: Michael Haag 1986 (). The first edition was published in London in 1936 by the Golden Cockerel Press, in 2 volumes, limited to 1000 editions.
The Odyssey of Homer, Lawrence's translation from the Greek, first published in 1932. ()
The Forest Giant, by Adrien Le Corbeau, novel, Lawrence's translation from the French, 1924.
The Letters of T. E. Lawrence, selected and edited by Malcolm Brown. London, J. M Dent. 1988 ()
The Letters of T. E. Lawrence, edited by David Garnett. ()
T. E. Lawrence. Letters, Jeremy Wilson. (See prospectus)
Minorities: Good Poems by Small Poets and Small Poems by Good Poets, edited by Jeremy Wilson, 1971. Lawrence's commonplace book includes an introduction by Wilson that explains how the poems comprising the book reflected Lawrence's life and thoughts.
Guerrilla Warfare, article in the 1929 Encyclopædia Britannica
The Wilderness of Zin, by C. Leonard Woolley and T. E. Lawrence. London, Harrison and Sons, 1914.
Sexuality
Lawrence's biographers have discussed his sexuality at considerable length and this discussion has spilled into the popular press. There is no reliable evidence for consensual sexual intimacy between Lawrence and any person. His friends have expressed the opinion that he was asexual, and Lawrence himself specifically denied any personal experience of sex in multiple private letters. There were suggestions that Lawrence had been intimate with Dahoum, who worked with him at a pre-war archaeological dig in Carchemish, and fellow serviceman R. A. M. Guy, but his biographers and contemporaries found them unconvincing.
The dedication to his book Seven Pillars is a poem titled "To S.A." which opens:
Lawrence was never specific about the identity of "S.A." Many theories argue in favour of individual men or women, and the Arab nation as a whole. The most popular theory is that S.A. represents (at least in part) his companion Selim Ahmed, "Dahoum", who apparently died of typhus before 1918.
Lawrence lived in a period of strong official opposition to homosexuality, but his writing on the subject was tolerant. He wrote to Charlotte Shaw, "I've seen lots of man-and-man loves: very lovely and fortunate some of them were." He refers to "the openness and honesty of perfect love" on one occasion in Seven Pillars, when discussing relationships between young male fighters in the war. He wrote in Chapter 1 of Seven Pillars:
There is considerable evidence that Lawrence was a masochist. He wrote in his description of the Dera'a beating that "a delicious warmth, probably sexual, was swelling through me," and he also included a detailed description of the guards' whip in a style typical of masochists' writing. In later life, Lawrence arranged to pay a military colleague to administer beatings to him, and to be subjected to severe formal tests of fitness and stamina. John Bruce first wrote on this topic, including some other statements that were not credible, but Lawrence's biographers regard the beatings as established fact. French novelist André Malraux admired Lawrence but wrote that he had a "taste for self-humiliation, now by discipline and now by veneration; a horror of respectability; a disgust for possessions". Biographer Lawrence James wrote that the evidence suggested a "strong homosexual masochism", noting that he never sought punishment from women.
Psychologist John E. Mack sees a possible connection between Lawrence's masochism and the childhood beatings that he had received from his mother for routine misbehaviours. His brother Arnold thought that the beatings had been given for the purpose of breaking his brother's will. Angus Calder suggested in 1997 that Lawrence's apparent masochism and self-loathing might have stemmed from a sense of guilt over losing his brothers Frank and Will on the Western Front, along with many other school friends, while he survived.
Aldington controversy
In 1955 Richard Aldington published Lawrence of Arabia: A Biographical Enquiry, a sustained attack on Lawrence's character, writing, accomplishments, and truthfulness. Specifically, Aldington alleges that Lawrence lied and exaggerated continuously, promoted a misguided policy in the Middle East, that his strategy of containing but not capturing Medina was incorrect, and that Seven Pillars of Wisdom was a bad book with few redeeming features. He also revealed Lawrence's illegitimacy and strongly suggested that he was homosexual. For example: "Seven Pillars of Wisdom is rather a work of quasi-fiction than history.", and "It was seldom that he reported any fact or episode involving himself without embellishing them and indeed in some cases entirely inventing them."
It is significant that Aldington was a colonialist, arguing that the French colonial administration of Syria (strongly resisted by Lawrence) had benefited that country and that Arabia's peoples were "far enough advanced for some government though not for complete self-government." He was also a Francophile, railing against Lawrence's "Francophobia, a hatred and an envy so irrational, so irresponsible and so unscrupulous that it is fair to say his attitude towards Syria was determined more by hatred of France than by devotion to the 'Arabs' - a convenient propaganda word which grouped many disharmonious and even mutually hostile tribes and peoples."
Prior to the publication of Aldington's book, its contents became known in London's literary community. A group Aldington and some subsequent authors referred to as "The Lawrence Bureau", led by B. H. Liddell Hart tried energetically, starting in 1954, to have the book suppressed. That effort having failed, Liddell Hart prepared and distributed hundreds of copies of Aldington's 'Lawrence': His Charges--and Treatment of the Evidence, a 7-page single-spaced document. This worked: Aldington's book received many extremely negative and even abusive reviews, with strong evidence that some reviewers had read Liddell's rebuttal but not Aldington's book.
Aldington wrote that Lawrence embellished many stories and invented others, and in particular that his claims involving numbers were usually inflated - for example claims of having read 50,000 books in the Oxford Union library, of having blown up 79 bridges, of having had a price of £50,000 on his head, and of having suffered 60 or more injuries. Many of Aldington's specific claims against Lawrence have been accepted by subsequent biographers. In Richard Aldington and Lawrence of Arabia: A Cautionary Tale, Fred D. Crawford writes "Much that shocked in 1955 is now standard knowledge--that TEL was illegitimate, that this profoundly troubled him, that he frequently resented his mother's dominance, that such reminiscences as T.E. Lawrence by His Friends are not reliable, that TEL's leg-pulling and other adolescent traits could be offensive, that TEL took liberties with the truth in his official reports and Seven Pillars, that the significance of his exploits during the Arab Revolt was more political than military, that he contributed to his own myth, that when he vetted the books by Graves and Liddell he let remain much that he knew was untrue, and that his feelings about publicity were ambiguous."
This has not prevented most post-Aldington biographers (including Fred D. Crawford, who studied the Aldington claims intensely) from expressing strong admiration for Lawrence's military, political, and writing achievements.
Awards and commemorations
Lawrence was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath on 7 August 1917, appointed a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order on 10 May 1918, awarded the Knight of the Legion of Honour (France) on 30 May 1916 and awarded the Croix de guerre (France) on 16 April 1918.
King George V offered Lawrence a knighthood on 30 October 1918 at a private audience in Buckingham Palace for his services in the Arab Revolt, but he declined. He was unwilling to accept the honour in light of how his country had betrayed the Arabs.
A bronze bust of Lawrence by Eric Kennington was placed in the crypt of St Paul's Cathedral, London, on 29 January 1936, alongside the tombs of Britain's greatest military leaders. A recumbent stone effigy by Kennington was installed in St Martin's Church, Wareham, Dorset, in 1939.
An English Heritage blue plaque marks Lawrence's childhood home at 2 Polstead Road, Oxford, and another appears on his London home at 14 Barton Street, Westminster. Lawrence appears on the album cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles. In 2002, Lawrence was named 53rd in the BBC's list of the 100 Greatest Britons following a UK-wide vote.
In 2018, Lawrence was featured on a £5 coin (issued in silver and gold) in a six-coin set commemorating the Centenary of the First World War produced by the Royal Mint.
In popular culture
Film
Alexander Korda bought the film rights to The Seven Pillars in the 1930s. The production was in development, with various actors cast as the lead, such as Leslie Howard.
Peter O'Toole was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Lawrence in the 1962 film Lawrence of Arabia.
Lawrence was portrayed by Robert Pattinson in the 2014 biographical drama about Gertrude Bell, Queen of the Desert.
Peter O'Toole's portrayal of Lawrence inspired behavioural affectations in the synthetic model called David, portrayed by Michael Fassbender in the 2012 film Prometheus, and in the 2017 sequel Alien: Covenant, part of the Alien franchise.
Literature
T.E. Lawrence (T.E.ロレンス) is a seven-volume manga series by Tomoko Kosaka, which retells Lawrence's life story from childhood onward.
The Oath of the Five Lords tells a fictional story including several references to T.E. Lawrence and his memoirs in which he describes how the United Kingdom did not honour its promises to the Arab nation. The comic is the twenty-first book in the Blake and Mortimer comic series. The story was written by Yves Sente and drawn by André Juillard and was released in 2012.
The T.E. Lawrence Poems was published by Canadian poet Gwendolyn MacEwen in 1982. The poems rely heavily, and quote directly from, primary material including Seven Pillars and the collected letters.
Television
He was portrayed by Judson Scott in the 1982 TV series Voyagers!
Ralph Fiennes portrayed Lawrence in the 1992 British made-for-TV movie A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia.
Joseph A. Bennett and Douglas Henshall portrayed him in the 1992 TV series The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles.
He was also portrayed in a Syrian series, directed by Thaer Mousa, called Lawrence Al Arab. The series consisted of 37 episodes, each between 45 minutes and one hour in length.
Theatre
Lawrence was the subject of Terence Rattigan's controversial play Ross, which explored Lawrence's alleged homosexuality. Ross ran in London in 1960–61, starring Alec Guinness, who was an admirer of Lawrence, and Gerald Harper as his blackmailer, Dickinson. The play had originally been written as a screenplay, but the planned film was never made. In January 1986 at the Theatre Royal, Plymouth, on the opening night of the revival of Ross, Marc Sinden, who was playing Dickinson (the man who recognised and blackmailed Lawrence, played by Simon Ward), was introduced to the man on whom the character of Dickinson was based. Sinden asked him why he had blackmailed Ross, and he replied, "Oh, for the money. I was financially embarrassed at the time and needed to get up to London to see a girlfriend. It was never meant to be a big thing, but a good friend of mine was very close to Terence Rattigan and years later, the silly devil told him the story."
Alan Bennett's Forty Years On (1968) includes a satire on Lawrence; known as "Tee Hee Lawrence" because of his high-pitched, girlish giggle. "Clad in the magnificent white silk robes of an Arab prince ... he hoped to pass unnoticed through London. Alas he was mistaken."
The character of Private Napoleon Meek in George Bernard Shaw's 1931 play Too True to Be Good was inspired by Lawrence. Meek is depicted as thoroughly conversant with the language and lifestyle of the native tribes. He repeatedly enlists with the army, quitting whenever offered a promotion. Lawrence attended a performance of the play's original Worcestershire run, and reportedly signed autographs for patrons attending the show.
Lawrence's first year back at Oxford after the War to write was portrayed by Tom Rooney in a play, The Oxford Roof Climbers Rebellion, written by Canadian playwright Stephen Massicotte (premiered Toronto 2006). The play explores Lawrence's reactions to war, and his friendship with Robert Graves. Urban Stages presented the American premiere in New York City in October 2007; Lawrence was portrayed by actor Dylan Chalfy.
Lawrence's final years are portrayed in a one-man show by Raymond Sargent, The Warrior and the Poet.
His 1922 retreat from public life forms the subject of Howard Brenton's play Lawrence After Arabia, commissioned for a 2016 premiere at the Hampstead Theatre to mark the centenary of the outbreak of the Arab Revolt.
A highly fictionalised version of Lawrence featured in the 2016 Swedish-language comedic play Lawrence i Mumiedalen.
Video games
A fictionalized Lawrence is an NPC who assists the party in Shadow Hearts: Covenant (2004).
A fictionalized Lawrence is an NPC who appears in cutscenes and guides the player through missions in Battlefield 1 (2016).
Lawrence and his work are referenced multiple times throughout the video game Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (2011).
See also
Hashemites, ruling family of Mecca (10th–20th century) and of Jordan since 1921
Kingdom of Iraq (1932–1958)
Lawrence of Arabia: The Authorised Biography of T. E. Lawrence by Jeremy Wilson (1989)
The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones, US TV series (1992–1993) with episodes depicting moments from Lawrence's life
Related individuals
Richard Meinertzhagen (1878–1967), British intelligence officer and ornithologist, on occasion a colleague of Lawrence's
Rafael de Nogales Méndez (1879–1937), Venezuelan officer who served in the Ottoman Army and was compared to Lawrence
Suleiman Mousa (1919–2008), Jordanian historian who wrote about Lawrence
Oskar von Niedermayer (1885–1948), German officer, professor and spy, sometimes referred to as the German Lawrence
Max von Oppenheim (1860–1946), German-Jewish lawyer, diplomat and archaeologist. Lawrence called his travelogue "the best book on the [Middle East] area I know".
Wilhelm Wassmuss (1880–1931), German diplomat and spy, known as "Wassmuss of Persia" and compared to Lawrence
References
Citations
Sources
External links
Digital collections
T. E. Lawrence's Original Letters on Palestine Shapell Manuscript Foundation
Works by T. E. Lawrence at Wikilivres
Physical collections
T. E. Lawrence's Collection at The University of Texas at Austin's Harry Ransom Center
"Creating History: Lowell Thomas and Lawrence of Arabia" online history exhibit at Clio Visualizing History.
Europeana Collections 1914–1918 makes 425,000 World War I items from European libraries available online, including manuscripts, photographs and diaries by or relating to Lawrence
T. E. Lawrence's Personal Manuscripts and Letters
News and analysis
The Guardian 19 May 1935 – The death of Lawrence of Arabia
The Legend of Lawrence of Arabia: The Recalcitrant Hero
T. E. Lawrence: The Enigmatic Lawrence of Arabia article by O'Brien Browne
Lawrence of Arabia: True and false (an Arab view) by Lucy Ladikoff
Documentaries
Footage of Lawrence of Arabia with publisher FN Doubleday and at a picnic
Lawrence of Arabia: The Battle for the Arab World, directed by James Hawes. PBS Home Video, 21 October 2003. (ASIN B0000BWVND)
Societies
T. E. Lawrence Studies, built by Lawrence's authorised biographer Jeremy Wilson (no longer maintained)
The T. E. Lawrence Society
1888 births
1935 deaths
20th-century archaeologists
20th-century British writers
20th-century translators
Alumni of Jesus College, Oxford
Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford
Arab Bureau officers
Arab Revolt
British archaeologists
British Army General List officers
British Army personnel of World War I
British guerrillas
British people of Irish descent
Castellologists
Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur
Companions of the Distinguished Service Order
Companions of the Order of the Bath
Fellows of All Souls College, Oxford
French–English translators
Greek–English translators
Guerrilla warfare theorists
Motorcycle road incident deaths
People educated at the City of Oxford High School for Boys
People from Caernarfonshire
People of Anglo-Irish descent
Road incident deaths in England
Royal Air Force airmen
Royal Garrison Artillery soldiers
Royal Tank Regiment soldiers
Welsh people of Irish descent
Translators of Homer | true | [
"Systems theory in archaeology is the application of systems theory and systems thinking in archaeology. It originated with the work of Ludwig von Bertalanffy in the 1950s, and is introduced in archaeology in the 1960s with the work of Sally R. Binford & Lewis Binford's \"New Perspectives in Archaeology\" and Kent V. Flannery's \"Archaeological Systems Theory and Early Mesoamerica\".\n\nOverview \nBertalanffy attempted to construct a general systems theory that would explain the interactions of different variables in a variety of systems, no matter what those variables actually represented. A system was defined as a group of interacting parts and the relative influence of these parts followed rules which, once formulated could be used to describe the system no matter what the actual components were. \n\nBinford stated the problem in New Perspectives in Archaeology, identifying the low range theory, the middle range theory, and the upper range theory. \n The low range theory could be used to explain a specific aspect of a specific culture, such as the archaeology of Mesoamerican agriculture. \n A middle range theory could describe any cultural system outside of its specific cultural context, for example, the archaeology of agriculture. \n An upper range theory can explain any cultural system, independent of any specifics and regardless of the nature of the variables. \nAt the time Binford thought the middle range theory may be as far as archaeologists could ever go, but in the mid-1970s some believed that systems theory offered the definitive upper range theory.\n\nArchaeologist Kent Flannery described the application of systems theory to archaeology in his paper Archaeological Systems Theory and Early Mesoamerica. Systems theory allowed archaeologists to treat the archaeological record in a completely new way. No longer did it matter what was being looked at, because it was being broken down to its elemental system components. Culture may be subjective, but unless the model of systems theory is attacked in general and as long as it is treated mathematically the same way a retreating glacier is treated, the results were objective. In other words, the problem of cultural bias no longer had any meaning, unless it was a problem with systems theory itself. Culture was now just another natural system that could be explained in mathematical terms.\n\nCriticism \nArchaeologists found it was rarely possible to use systems theory in a rigorously mathematical way. While it provided a framework for describing interactions in terms of types of feedback within the system, it was rarely possible to put the quantitative values that systems theory requires for full use, as Flannery himself admits. The result was that in the long run systems theory was less useful in explaining change as it was in describing it. \n\nSystems theory also eventually went on to show that predictions that a high amount of cultural regularities would be found were certainly overly optimistic during the early stages of processual archaeology, the opposite of what processual archaeologists were hoping it would be able to do with systems theory. However, systems theory is still used to describe how variables inside a cultural system can interact.\n\nSystems theory, at least, was important in the rise of processual archaeology and was a call against culture-historical methods of past generations. It held argument that one could contemplate the past impartially and sidestep pitfalls through rigour.\n\nSee also \nWorld-systems theory\n\nReferences\n\nFurther reading \n Sally R. Binford & Lewis Binford (1968). New Perspectives in Archaeology. Chicago, Aldine Press.\n K.V. Flannery (1968). Archaeological Systems Theory and Early Mesoamerica\". In Anthropological Archaeology in the Americas, ed. by B. J. Meggers, pp. 67-87. Washington, Anthropological Society of Washington.\n Bruce Trigger (1989). A History of Archaeological Thought. Cambridge University Press: New York\n\nArchaeological theory\nArchaeology",
"Mike Seager Thomas is a British archaeologist, author and Honorary Research Fellow of the UCL Institute of Archaeology specialising in the study of stone in prehistoric archaeology and landscape archaeology.\n\nCareer\n\nMike Seager Thomas first studied archaeology at Brighton Technical College, later gaining a first class honours degree in General Archaeology from the UCL Institute of Archaeology. He has been a full time professional archaeologist since 1996. Between 1996 and 2020, he worked in the commercial sector as an excavator/excavation supervisor (for Archaeology South-East, BUFAU and C.G. Archaeology) and as a freelance prehistoric pottery specialist. Mike Seager Thomas is also a long-term participant in UCL Institute of Archaeology research projects, including the well-known Leskernick Project, the Tavoliere-Gargano Prehistory Project, and—most recently—the Rapa Nui (Easter Island) Landscapes of Construction Project. Out of his involvement in the Leskernick Project, he became the principal butt of project sociologist Mike Willmore's very funny \"The Book and the Trowel,\" published in the Leskernick project book Stone Worlds, and the perceived victim of a \"top-down interpersonal project hierarchy,\" which challenged the egalitarian pretensions of what is otherwise considered a theoretically seminal archaeological project. He has directed and co-directed archaeological excavations for the Sussex Wildlife Trust and the Sussex Archaeological Society and set up and directed independent projects, involving the rescue excavation of prehistoric features exposed in the Selsey Raised Beach, West Sussex, and the analysis of later prehistoric stone finds from southeast England. He has ongoing academic interests in stone in prehistoric archaeology and landscape archaeology, recording strategies for Rapa Nui archaeology, Polynesian architecture, the faking of military antiques, and the use of period photographs in archaeological and historical research. Books by Mike Seager Thomas include Excavating Stone Worlds, co-written with Sue Hamilton and Phillip Thomas and published in 2007, the Afrikamütze Database, published online in 2019, and Neolithic Spaces, Volume 2: The Bradford Archive of Aerial Photographs, published in 2020.\n\nReferences \n\nYear of birth missing (living people)\nLiving people\nBritish archaeologists\nPeople associated with the UCL Institute of Archaeology\nAlumni of the UCL Institute of Archaeology\nGeoarchaeologists\nResearchers in Rapa Nui archaeology\nPeople from Surbiton"
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"T. E. Lawrence",
"Antiquities and archaeology",
"How did he get interested in antiquities and archaeology?",
"Lawrence and his schoolfriend Cyril Beeson cycled around Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, and Oxfordshire, visited almost every village's parish church, studied their monuments and antiquities,",
"Did Lawrence attend school?",
"From 1907 to 1910, Lawrence read History at Jesus College, Oxford.",
"What did they do at the sites?",
"studied their monuments and antiquities, and made rubbings of their monumental brasses.",
"Did they travel anywhere else?",
"\" In the summers of 1906 and 1907, Lawrence and Beeson toured France by bicycle,",
"What is an interesting fact about his travels?",
"In the summer of 1909, he set out alone on a three-month walking tour of crusader castles in Ottoman Syria, during which he travelled 1,000 mi (1,600 km) on foot.",
"What did he accomplish while in Syria?",
"I don't know.",
"What archaeology did he participate in?",
"He then went to work on the excavations at Carchemish, near Jerablus in northern Syria,"
]
| C_f8febb2118a84b91bb8cffa9bbb47998_1 | who was he working for? | 8 | who was T.E. Lawrence working for at Carchemish? | T. E. Lawrence | At the age of 15, Lawrence and his schoolfriend Cyril Beeson cycled around Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, and Oxfordshire, visited almost every village's parish church, studied their monuments and antiquities, and made rubbings of their monumental brasses. Lawrence and Beeson monitored building sites in Oxford and presented their finds to the Ashmolean Museum. The Ashmolean's Annual Report for 1906 said that the two teenage boys "by incessant watchfulness secured everything of antiquarian value which has been found." In the summers of 1906 and 1907, Lawrence and Beeson toured France by bicycle, collecting photographs, drawings, and measurements of medieval castles. In August 1907 Lawrence wrote home: "The Chaignons & the Lamballe people, complimented me on my wonderful French: I have been asked twice since I arrived what part of France I came from". From 1907 to 1910, Lawrence read History at Jesus College, Oxford. In the summer of 1909, he set out alone on a three-month walking tour of crusader castles in Ottoman Syria, during which he travelled 1,000 mi (1,600 km) on foot. Lawrence graduated with First Class Honours after submitting a thesis titled The Influence of the Crusades on European Military Architecture--to the End of the 12th Century, based on his field research with Beeson in France, notably in Chalus, and his solo research in the Middle East. Lawrence was fascinated by the Middle Ages with his brother Arnold writing in 1937 that for him "medieval researches" were a "dream way of escape from bourgeois England". In 1910 Lawrence was offered the opportunity to become a practising archaeologist in the Middle East, at Carchemish, in the expedition that D. G. Hogarth was setting up on behalf of the British Museum. Hogarth arranged a "Senior Demyship", a form of scholarship, for Lawrence at Magdalen College, Oxford, to fund Lawrence's work at PS100 a year. In December 1910, he sailed for Beirut and on his arrival went to Jbail (Byblos), where he studied Arabic. He then went to work on the excavations at Carchemish, near Jerablus in northern Syria, where he worked under Hogarth, R. Campbell Thompson of the British Museum, and Leonard Woolley, until 1914. He later stated that everything which he had accomplished he owed to Hogarth. While excavating at Carchemish, Lawrence met Gertrude Bell. In 1912 Lawrence worked briefly with Flinders Petrie at Kafr Ammar in Egypt. CANNOTANSWER | he worked under Hogarth, R. Campbell Thompson of the British Museum, and Leonard Woolley, until 1914. | Colonel Thomas Edward Lawrence (16 August 1888 – 19 May 1935) was a British archaeologist, army officer, diplomat, and writer, who became renowned for his role in the Arab Revolt (1916–1918) and the Sinai and Palestine Campaign (1915–1918) against the Ottoman Empire during the First World War. The breadth and variety of his activities and associations, and his ability to describe them vividly in writing, earned him international fame as Lawrence of Arabia, a title used for the 1962 film based on his wartime activities.
He was born out of wedlock in August 1888 to Sarah Junner (1861–1959), a governess, and Sir Thomas Chapman, 7th Baronet (1846–1919), an Anglo-Irish nobleman. Chapman left his wife and family in Ireland to cohabit with Junner. Chapman and Junner called themselves Mr and Mrs Lawrence, using the surname of Sarah's likely father; her mother had been employed as a servant for a Lawrence family when she became pregnant with Sarah. In 1896, the Lawrences moved to Oxford, where Thomas attended the High School and then studied history at Jesus College, Oxford from 1907 to 1910. Between 1910 and 1914 he worked as an archaeologist for the British Museum, chiefly at Carchemish in Ottoman Syria.
Soon after the outbreak of war in 1914 he volunteered for the British Army and was stationed at the Arab Bureau (established in 1916) intelligence unit in Egypt. In 1916, he travelled to Mesopotamia and to Arabia on intelligence missions and quickly became involved with the Arab Revolt as a liaison to the Arab forces, along with other British officers, supporting the Arab Kingdom of Hejaz's independence war against its former overlord, the Ottoman Empire. He worked closely with Emir Faisal, a leader of the revolt, and he participated, sometimes as leader, in military actions against the Ottoman armed forces, culminating in the capture of Damascus in October 1918.
After the First World War, Lawrence joined the British Foreign Office, working with the British government and with Faisal. In 1922, he retreated from public life and spent the years until 1935 serving as an enlisted man, mostly in the Royal Air Force (RAF), with a brief period in the Army. During this time, he published his best-known work Seven Pillars of Wisdom (1926), an autobiographical account of his participation in the Arab Revolt. He also translated books into English, and wrote The Mint, which detailed his time in the Royal Air Force working as an ordinary aircraftman. He corresponded extensively and was friendly with well-known artists, writers, and politicians. For the RAF, he participated in the development of rescue motorboats.
Lawrence's public image resulted in part from the sensationalised reporting of the Arab revolt by American journalist Lowell Thomas, as well as from Seven Pillars of Wisdom. In 1935, Lawrence was fatally injured in a motorcycle accident in Dorset.
Early life
Thomas Edward Lawrence was born on 16 August 1888 in Tremadog, Carnarvonshire, Wales, in a house named Gorphwysfa, now known as Snowdon Lodge. His Anglo-Irish father Thomas Chapman had left his wife Edith after he had a first son with Sarah Junner who had been governess to his daughters. Sarah had herself been an illegitimate child, having been born in Sunderland as the daughter of Elizabeth Junner, a servant employed by a family named Lawrence; she was dismissed four months before Sarah was born, and identified Sarah's father as "John Junner, Shipwright journeyman".
Lawrence's parents did not marry but lived together under the pseudonym Lawrence. In 1914, his father inherited the Chapman baronetcy based at Killua Castle, the ancestral family home in County Westmeath, Ireland. The couple had five sons, Thomas (called "Ned" by his immediate family) being the second eldest. From Wales, the family moved to Kirkcudbright, Galloway, in southwestern Scotland, then to Dinard in Brittany, then to Jersey.
The family lived at Langley Lodge (now demolished) from 1894 to 1896, set in private woods between the eastern borders of the New Forest and Southampton Water in Hampshire. The residence was isolated, and young Lawrence had many opportunities for outdoor activities and waterfront visits. Victorian-Edwardian Britain was a very conservative society, where the majority of people were Christians who considered premarital and extramarital sex to be shameful, and children born out of wedlock were born in disgrace. Lawrence was always something of an outsider, a bastard who could never hope to achieve the same level of social acceptance and success that others could expect who were born legitimate, and no girl from a respectable family would ever marry a bastard.
In the summer of 1896, the family moved to 2, Polstead Road in Oxford, where they lived until 1921. Lawrence attended the City of Oxford High School for Boys from 1896 until 1907, where one of the four houses was later named "Lawrence" in his honour; the school closed in 1966. Lawrence and one of his brothers became commissioned officers in the Church Lads' Brigade at St Aldate's Church.
Lawrence claimed that he ran away from home around 1905 and served for a few weeks as a boy soldier with the Royal Garrison Artillery at St Mawes Castle in Cornwall, from which he was bought out. However, no evidence of this appears in army records.
Travels, antiquities, and archaeology
At age 15, Lawrence and his schoolfriend Cyril Beeson cycled around Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, and Oxfordshire, visiting almost every village's parish church, studying their monuments and antiquities, and making rubbings of their monumental brasses. Lawrence and Beeson monitored building sites in Oxford and presented the Ashmolean Museum with anything that they found. The Ashmolean's Annual Report for 1906 said that the two teenage boys "by incessant watchfulness secured everything of antiquarian value which has been found." In the summers of 1906 and 1907, Lawrence toured France by bicycle, sometimes with Beeson, collecting photographs, drawings, and measurements of medieval castles. In August 1907, Lawrence wrote home: "The Chaignons & the Lamballe people complimented me on my wonderful French: I have been asked twice since I arrived what part of France I came from".
From 1907 to 1910, Lawrence read history at Jesus College, Oxford. In July and August 1908 he cycled 2,200 miles (3,500 km) solo through France to the Mediterranean and back researching French castles. In the summer of 1909, he set out alone on a three-month walking tour of crusader castles in Ottoman Syria, during which he travelled on foot. While at Jesus he was a keen member of the University Officers' Training Corps (OTC). He graduated with First Class Honours after submitting a thesis titled The Influence of the Crusades on European Military Architecture—to the End of the 12th Century, partly based on his field research with Beeson in France, and his solo research in France and the Middle East. Lawrence was fascinated by the Middle Ages; his brother Arnold wrote in 1937 that "medieval researches" were a "dream way of escape from bourgeois England".
In 1910, Lawrence was offered the opportunity to become a practising archaeologist at Carchemish, in the expedition that D. G. Hogarth was setting up on behalf of the British Museum. Hogarth arranged a "Senior Demyship" (a form of scholarship) for Lawrence at Magdalen College, Oxford, to fund his work at £100 a year. He sailed for Beirut in December 1910 and went to Byblos, where he studied Arabic. He then went to work on the excavations at Carchemish, near Jerablus in northern Syria, where he worked under Hogarth, R. Campbell Thompson of the British Museum, and Leonard Woolley until 1914. He later stated that everything which he had accomplished he owed to Hogarth. Lawrence met Gertrude Bell while excavating at Carchemish. He worked briefly with Flinders Petrie in 1912 at Kafr Ammar in Egypt.
At Carchemish, Lawrence was frequently involved in a high-tension relationship with a German-led team working nearby on the Baghdad Railway at Jerablus. While there was never open combat, there was regular conflict over access to land and treatment of the local workforce; Lawrence gained experience in Middle Eastern leadership practices and conflict resolution.
Military intelligence
In January 1914, Woolley and Lawrence were co-opted by the British military as an archaeological smokescreen for a British military survey of the Negev Desert. They were funded by the Palestine Exploration Fund to search for an area referred to in the Bible as the Wilderness of Zin, and they made an archaeological survey of the Negev Desert along the way. The Negev was strategically important, as an Ottoman army attacking Egypt would have to cross it. Woolley and Lawrence subsequently published a report of the expedition's archaeological findings, but a more important result was updated mapping of the area, with special attention to features of military relevance such as water sources. Lawrence also visited Aqaba and Shobek, not far from Petra.
Following the outbreak of hostilities in August 1914, Lawrence did not immediately enlist in the British Army. He held back until October on the advice of S. F. Newcombe, when he was commissioned on the General List. Before the end of the year, he was summoned by renowned archaeologist and historian Lt. Cmdr. David Hogarth, his mentor at Carchemish, to the new Arab Bureau intelligence unit in Cairo, and he arrived in Cairo on 15 December 1914. The Bureau's chief was General Gilbert Clayton who reported to Egyptian High Commissioner Henry McMahon.
The situation was complex during 1915. There was a growing Arab-nationalist movement within the Arabic-speaking Ottoman territories, including many Arabs serving in the Ottoman armed forces. They were in contact with Sharif Hussein, Emir of Mecca, who was negotiating with the British and offering to lead an Arab uprising against the Ottomans. In exchange, he wanted a British guarantee of an independent Arab state including the Hejaz, Syria, and Mesopotamia. Such an uprising would have been very helpful to Britain in its war against the Ottomans, greatly lessening the threat against the Suez Canal. However, there was resistance from French diplomats who insisted that Syria's future was as a French colony, not an independent Arab state. There were also strong objections from the Government of India, which was nominally part of the British government but acted independently. Its vision was of Mesopotamia under British control serving as a granary for India; furthermore, it wanted to hold on to its Arabian outpost in Aden.
At the Arab Bureau, Lawrence supervised the preparation of maps, produced a daily bulletin for the British generals operating in the theatre, and interviewed prisoners. He was an advocate of a British landing at Alexandretta which never came to pass. He was also a consistent advocate of an independent Arab Syria.
The situation came to a crisis in October 1915, as Sharif Hussein demanded an immediate commitment from Britain, with the threat that he would otherwise throw his weight behind the Ottomans. This would create a credible Pan-Islamic message that could have been very dangerous for Britain, which was in severe difficulties in the Gallipoli Campaign. The British replied with a letter from High Commissioner McMahon that was generally agreeable while reserving commitments concerning the Mediterranean coastline and Holy Land.
In the spring of 1916, Lawrence was dispatched to Mesopotamia to assist in relieving the Siege of Kut by some combination of starting an Arab uprising and bribing Ottoman officials. This mission produced no useful result. Meanwhile, the Sykes–Picot Agreement was being negotiated in London without the knowledge of British officials in Cairo, which awarded a large proportion of Syria to France. Further, it implied that the Arabs would have to conquer Syria's four great cities if they were to have any sort of state there: Damascus, Homs, Hama, and Aleppo. It is unclear at what point Lawrence became aware of the treaty's contents.
Arab Revolt
The Arab Revolt began in June 1916, but it bogged down after a few successes, with a real risk that the Ottoman forces would advance along the coast of the Red Sea and recapture Mecca. On 16 October 1916, Lawrence was sent to the Hejaz on an intelligence-gathering mission led by Ronald Storrs. He interviewed Sharif Hussein's sons Ali, Abdullah, and Faisal, and he concluded that Faisal was the best candidate to lead the Revolt.
In November, S. F. Newcombe was assigned to lead a permanent British liaison to Faisal's staff. Newcombe had not yet arrived in the area and the matter was of some urgency, so Lawrence was sent in his place. In late December 1916, Faisal and Lawrence worked out a plan for repositioning the Arab forces to prevent the Ottoman forces around Medina from threatening Arab positions and putting the railway from Syria under threat. Newcombe arrived and Lawrence was preparing to leave Arabia, but Faisal intervened urgently, asking that Lawrence's assignment become permanent.
Lawrence's most important contributions to the Arab Revolt were in the area of strategy and liaison with British armed forces, but he also participated personally in several military engagements:
3 January 1917: Attack on an Ottoman outpost in the Hejaz
26 March 1917: Attack on the railway at Aba el Naam
11 June 1917: Attack on a bridge at Ras Baalbek
2 July 1917: Defeat of the Ottoman forces at Aba el Lissan, an outpost of Aqaba
18 September 1917: Attack on the railway near Mudawara
27 September 1917: Attack on the railway, destroyed an engine
7 November 1917: Following a failed attack on the Yarmuk bridges, blew up a train on the railway between Dera'a and Amman, suffering several wounds in the explosion and ensuing combat
23 January 1918: The battle of Tafileh, a region southeast of the Dead Sea, with Arab regulars under the command of Jafar Pasha al-Askari; the battle was a defensive engagement that turned into an offensive rout and was described in the official history of the war as a "brilliant feat of arms". Lawrence was awarded the Distinguished Service Order for his leadership at Tafileh and was promoted to lieutenant colonel.
March 1918: Attack on the railway near Aqaba
19 April 1918: Attack using British armoured cars on Tell Shahm
16 September 1918: Destruction of railway bridge between Amman and Dera'a
26 September 1918: Attack on retreating Ottomans and Germans near the village of Tafas. The Ottoman forces massacred the villagers and then Arab forces in return massacred their prisoners with Lawrence's encouragement.
Lawrence made a 300-mile personal journey northward in June 1917, on the way to Aqaba, visiting Ras Baalbek, the outskirts of Damascus, and Azraq, Jordan. He met Arab nationalists, counselling them to avoid revolt until the arrival of Faisal's forces, and he attacked a bridge to create the impression of guerrilla activity. His findings were regarded by the British as extremely valuable and there was serious consideration of awarding him a Victoria Cross; in the end, he was invested as a Companion of the Order of the Bath and promoted to Major.
Lawrence travelled regularly between British headquarters and Faisal, co-ordinating military action. But by early 1918, Faisal's chief British liaison was Colonel Pierce Charles Joyce, and Lawrence's time was chiefly devoted to raiding and intelligence-gathering.
Strategy
The chief elements of the Arab strategy which Faisal and Lawrence developed were to avoid capturing Medina, and to extend northwards through Maan and Dera'a to Damascus and beyond. Faisal wanted to lead regular attacks against the Ottomans, but Lawrence persuaded him to drop that tactic. Lawrence wrote about the Bedouin as a fighting force:
The value of the tribes is defensive only and their real sphere is guerilla warfare. They are intelligent, and very lively, almost reckless, but too individualistic to endure commands, or fight in line, or to help each other. It would, I think, be possible to make an organized force out of them.… The Hejaz war is one of dervishes against regular forces—and we are on the side of the dervishes. Our text-books do not apply to its conditions at all.
Medina was an attractive target for the revolt as Islam's second holiest site, and because its Ottoman garrison was weakened by disease and isolation. It became clear that it was advantageous to leave it there rather than try to capture it, while continually attacking the Hejaz railway south from Damascus without permanently destroying it. This prevented the Ottomans from making effective use of their troops at Medina, and forced them to dedicate many resources to defending and repairing the railway line.
It is not known when Lawrence learned the details of the Sykes-Picot Agreement, nor if or when he briefed Faisal on what he knew, However, there is good reason to think that both these things happened, and earlier rather than later. In particular, the Arab strategy of northward extension makes perfect sense given the Sykes-Picot language that spoke of an independent Arab entity in Syria, which would only be granted if the Arabs liberated the territory themselves. The French, and some of their British Liaison officers, were specifically uncomfortable about the northward movement, as it would weaken French colonial claims.
Capture of Aqaba
In 1917, Lawrence proposed a joint action with the Arab irregulars and forces including Auda Abu Tayi, who had previously been in the employ of the Ottomans, against the strategically located but lightly defended town of Aqaba on the Red Sea. Aqaba could have been attacked from the sea, but the narrow defiles leading through the mountains were strongly defended and would have been very difficult to assault. The expedition was led by Sharif Nasir of Medina.
Lawrence carefully avoided informing his British superiors about the details of the planned inland attack, due to concern that it would be blocked as contrary to French interests. The expedition departed from Wejh on 9 May, and Aqaba fell to the Arab forces on 6 July, after a surprise overland attack which took the Turkish defences from behind. After Aqaba, General Sir Edmund Allenby, the new commander-in-chief of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force, agreed to Lawrence's strategy for the revolt. Lawrence now held a powerful position as an adviser to Faisal and a person who had Allenby's confidence, as Allenby acknowledged after the war:
Dera'a
Lawrence describes an episode on 20 November 1917 while reconnoitring Dera'a in disguise, when he was captured by the Ottoman military, heavily beaten, and sexually abused by the local bey and his guardsmen, though he does not specify the nature of the sexual contact. Some scholars have stated that he exaggerated the severity of the injuries that he suffered, or alleged that the episode never actually happened. There is no independent testimony, but the multiple consistent reports and the absence of evidence for outright invention in Lawrence's works make the account believable to some of his biographers. Malcolm Brown, John E. Mack, and Jeremy Wilson have argued that this episode had strong psychological effects on Lawrence, which may explain some of his unconventional behaviour in later life. Lawrence ended his account of the episode in Seven Pillars of Wisdom with the statement: "In Dera'a that night the citadel of my integrity had been irrevocably lost."
Fall of Damascus
Lawrence was involved in the build-up to the capture of Damascus in the final weeks of the war, but he was not present at the city's formal surrender, much to his disappointment. He arrived several hours after the city had fallen, entering Damascus around 9 am on 1 October 1918; the first to arrive was the 10th Australian Light Horse Brigade led by Major A. C. N. "Harry" Olden, who formally accepted the surrender of the city from acting Governor Emir Said. Lawrence was instrumental in establishing a provisional Arab government under Faisal in newly liberated Damascus, which he had envisioned as the capital of an Arab state. Faisal's rule as king, however, came to an abrupt end in 1920, after the battle of Maysaloun when the French Forces of General Gouraud entered Damascus under the command of General Mariano Goybet, destroying Lawrence's dream of an independent Arabia.
During the closing years of the war, Lawrence sought to convince his superiors in the British government that Arab independence was in their interests, but he met with mixed success. The secret Sykes-Picot Agreement between France and Britain contradicted the promises of independence that he had made to the Arabs and frustrated his work.
Post-war years
Lawrence returned to the United Kingdom a full colonel. Immediately after the war, he worked for the Foreign Office, attending the Paris Peace Conference between January and May as a member of Faisal's delegation. On 17 May 1919, a Handley Page Type O/400 taking Lawrence to Egypt crashed at the airport of Roma-Centocelle. The pilot and co-pilot were killed; Lawrence survived with a broken shoulder blade and two broken ribs. During his brief hospitalisation, he was visited by King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy.
In 1918, Lowell Thomas went to Jerusalem where he met Lawrence, "whose enigmatic figure in Arab uniform fired his imagination", in the words of author Rex Hall. Thomas and his cameraman Harry Chase shot a great deal of film and many photographs involving Lawrence. Thomas produced a stage presentation entitled With Allenby in Palestine which included a lecture, dancing, and music and engaged in "Orientalism", depicting the Middle East as exotic, mysterious, sensuous, and violent.
The show premiered in New York in March 1919. He was invited to take his show to England, and he agreed to do so provided that he was personally invited by the King and provided the use of either Drury Lane or Covent Garden. He opened at Covent Garden on 14 August 1919 and continued for hundreds of lectures, "attended by the highest in the land".
Initially, Lawrence played only a supporting role in the show, as the main focus was on Allenby's campaigns; but then Thomas realised that it was the photos of Lawrence dressed as a Bedouin which had captured the public's imagination, so he had Lawrence photographed again in London in Arab dress. With the new photos, Thomas re-launched his show under the new title With Allenby in Palestine and Lawrence in Arabia in early 1920, which proved to be extremely popular. The new title elevated Lawrence from a supporting role to a co-star of the Near Eastern campaign and reflected a changed emphasis. Thomas' shows made the previously obscure Lawrence into a household name.
Lawrence worked with Thomas on the creation of the presentation, answering many questions and posing for many photographs. After its success, however, he expressed regret about having been featured in it.
Lawrence served as an advisor to Winston Churchill at the Colonial Office for just over a year starting in February 1920. He hated bureaucratic work, writing on 21 May 1921 to Robert Graves: "I wish I hadn't gone out there: the Arabs are like a page I have turned over; and sequels are rotten things. I'm locked up here: office every day and much of it". He travelled to the Middle East on multiple occasions during this period, at one time holding the title of "chief political officer for Trans-Jordania".
He campaigned actively for his and Churchill's vision of the Middle East, publishing pieces in multiple newspapers, including The Times, The Observer, The Daily Mail, and The Daily Express.
Lawrence had a sinister reputation in France during his lifetime and even today as an implacable "enemy of France", the man who was constantly stirring up the Syrians to rebel against French rule throughout the 1920s. However, French historian Maurice Larès wrote that the real reason for France's problems in Syria was that the Syrians did not want to be ruled by France, and the French needed a scapegoat to blame for their difficulties in ruling the country. Larès wrote that Lawrence is usually pictured in France as a Francophobe, but he was really a Francophile.
Having seen and admired the effective use of air power during the war, Lawrence enlisted in the Royal Air Force as an aircraftman, under the name John Hume Ross in August 1922. At the RAF recruiting centre in Covent Garden, London, he was interviewed by recruiting officer Flying Officer W. E. Johns, later known as the author of the Biggles series of novels. Johns rejected Lawrence's application, as he suspected that "Ross" was a false name. Lawrence admitted that this was so and that he had provided false documents. He left, but returned some time later with an RAF messenger who carried a written order that Johns must accept Lawrence.
However, Lawrence was forced out of the RAF in February 1923 after his identity was exposed. He changed his name to T. E. Shaw (apparently as a consequence of his friendship with G. B. and Charlotte Shaw) and joined the Royal Tank Corps later that year. He was unhappy there and repeatedly petitioned to rejoin the RAF, which finally readmitted him in August 1925. A fresh burst of publicity after the publication of Revolt in the Desert resulted in his assignment to bases at Karachi and Miramshah in British India (now Pakistan) in late 1926, where he remained until the end of 1928. At that time, he was forced to return to Britain after rumours began to circulate that he was involved in espionage activities.
He purchased several small plots of land in Chingford, built a hut and swimming pool there, and visited frequently. The hut was removed in 1930 when Chingford Urban District Council acquired the land; it was given to the City of London Corporation which re-erected it in the grounds of The Warren, Loughton. Lawrence's tenure of the Chingford land has now been commemorated by a plaque fixed on the sighting obelisk on Pole Hill.
Lawrence continued serving in the RAF based at RAF Mount Batten near Plymouth, RAF Calshot near Southampton, and RAF Bridlington, East Riding of Yorkshire. He specialised in high-speed boats and professed happiness, and he left the service with considerable regret at the end of his enlistment in March 1935.
In late August or early September 1931 he stayed with Lady Houston aboard her luxury yacht, the Liberty, off Calshot, shortly before the Schneider Trophy competition. In later letters Lady Houston would ask Lawrence's advice on obtaining a new chauffeur for her Rolls Royce car ('Forgive my asking, but you know everything') and suggest that he join the Liberty, for she had discharged her captain, who had turned out to be a 'wrong 'un.'
In the inter-war period, the RAF's Marine Craft Section began to commission air-sea rescue launches capable of higher speeds and greater capacity. The arrival of high-speed craft into the MCS was driven in part by Lawrence. He had previously witnessed a seaplane crew drowning when the seaplane tender sent to their rescue was too slow in arriving. He worked with Hubert Scott-Paine, the founder of the British Power Boat Company (BPBC), to introduce the long ST 200 Seaplane Tender Mk1 into service. These boats had a range of 140 miles when cruising at 24 knots and could achieve a top speed of 29 knots.
Lawrence was a keen motorcyclist and owned eight Brough Superior motorcycles at different times. His last SS100 (Registration GW 2275) is privately owned but has been on loan to the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu and the Imperial War Museum in London. He was also an avid reader of Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur and carried a copy on his campaigns. He read an account of Eugene Vinaver's discovery of the Winchester Manuscript of the Morte in The Times in 1934, and he motorcycled from Manchester to Winchester to meet Vinaver.
Death
On 13 May 1935, Lawrence was fatally injured in an accident on his Brough Superior SS100 motorcycle in Dorset close to his cottage Clouds Hill, near Wareham, just two months after leaving military service. A dip in the road obstructed his view of two boys on their bicycles; he swerved to avoid them, lost control, and was thrown over the handlebars. He died six days later on 19 May 1935, aged 46. The location of the crash is marked by a small memorial at the roadside.
One of the doctors attending him was neurosurgeon Hugh Cairns, who consequently began a long study of the loss of life by motorcycle dispatch riders through head injuries. His research led to the use of crash helmets by both military and civilian motorcyclists.
The Moreton estate borders Bovington Camp, and Lawrence bought it from his cousins the Frampton family. He had been a frequent visitor to their home Okers Wood House, and had corresponded with Louisa Frampton for years. Lawrence's mother arranged with the Framptons to have his body buried in their family plot in the separate burial ground of St Nicholas' Church, Moreton. The coffin was transported on the Frampton estate's bier. Mourners included Winston Churchill, E. M. Forster, Lady Astor, and Lawrence's youngest brother Arnold.
Writings
Lawrence was a prolific writer throughout his life, a large portion of which was epistolary; he often sent several letters a day, and several collections of his letters have been published. He corresponded with many notable figures, including George Bernard Shaw, Edward Elgar, Winston Churchill, Robert Graves, Noël Coward, E. M. Forster, Siegfried Sassoon, John Buchan, Augustus John, and Henry Williamson. He met Joseph Conrad and commented perceptively on his works. The many letters that he sent to Shaw's wife Charlotte are revealing as to his character.
Lawrence was a competent speaker of French and Arabic, and reader of Latin and Ancient Greek.
Lawrence published three major texts in his lifetime. The most significant was his account of the Arab Revolt in Seven Pillars of Wisdom. Homer's Odyssey and The Forest Giant were translations, the latter an otherwise forgotten work of French fiction. He received a flat fee for the second translation, and negotiated a generous fee plus royalties for the first.
Seven Pillars of Wisdom
Lawrence's major work is Seven Pillars of Wisdom, an account of his war experiences. In 1919, he was elected to a seven-year research fellowship at All Souls College, Oxford, providing him with support while he worked on the book. Certain parts of the book also serve as essays on military strategy, Arabian culture and geography, and other topics. He rewrote Seven Pillars of Wisdom three times, once "blind" after he lost the manuscript.
There are many alleged "embellishments" in Seven Pillars, though some allegations have been disproved with time, most definitively in Jeremy Wilson's authorised biography. However, Lawrence's own notebooks refute his claim to have crossed the Sinai Peninsula from Aqaba to the Suez Canal in just 49 hours without any sleep. In reality, this famous camel ride lasted for more than 70 hours and was interrupted by two long breaks for sleeping, which Lawrence omitted when he wrote his book.
In the preface, Lawrence acknowledged George Bernard Shaw's help in editing the book. The first edition was published in 1926 as a high-priced private subscription edition, printed in London by Herbert John Hodgson and Roy Manning Pike, with illustrations by Eric Kennington, Augustus John, Paul Nash, Blair Hughes-Stanton, and Hughes-Stanton's wife Gertrude Hermes. Lawrence was afraid that the public would think that he would make a substantial income from the book, and he stated that it was written as a result of his war service. He vowed not to take any money from it, and indeed he did not, as the sale price was one third of the production costs, leaving him in substantial debt.
As a specialist in the Middle East, Fred Halliday praised Lawrence's Seven Pillars of Wisdom as a "fine work of prose" but described its relevance to the study of Arab history and society as "almost worthless."
Revolt in the Desert
Revolt in the Desert was an abridged version of Seven Pillars that he began in 1926 and that was published in March 1927 in both limited and trade editions. He undertook a needed but reluctant publicity exercise, which resulted in a best-seller. Again he vowed not to take any fees from the publication, partly to appease the subscribers to Seven Pillars who had paid dearly for their editions. By the fourth reprint in 1927, the debt from Seven Pillars was paid off. As Lawrence left for military service in India at the end of 1926, he set up the "Seven Pillars Trust" with his friend D. G. Hogarth as a trustee, in which he made over the copyright and any surplus income of Revolt in the Desert. He later told Hogarth that he had "made the Trust final, to save myself the temptation of reviewing it, if Revolt turned out a best seller."
The resultant trust paid off the debt, and Lawrence then invoked a clause in his publishing contract to halt publication of the abridgement in the United Kingdom. However, he allowed both American editions and translations, which resulted in a substantial flow of income. The trust paid income either into an educational fund for children of RAF officers who lost their lives or were invalided as a result of service, or more substantially into the RAF Benevolent Fund.
Posthumous
Lawrence left The Mint unpublished, a memoir of his experiences as an enlisted man in the Royal Air Force (RAF). For this, he worked from a notebook that he kept while enlisted, writing of the daily lives of enlisted men and his desire to be a part of something larger than himself. The book is stylistically very different from Seven Pillars of Wisdom, using sparse prose as opposed to the complicated syntax found in Seven Pillars. It was published posthumously, edited by his brother Professor A. W. Lawrence.
After Lawrence's death, A. W. Lawrence inherited Lawrence's estate and his copyrights as the sole beneficiary. To pay the inheritance tax, he sold the US copyright of Seven Pillars of Wisdom (subscribers' text) outright to Doubleday Doran in 1935. Doubleday still controls publication rights of this version of the text of Seven Pillars of Wisdom in the US, and will continue to until the copyright expires at the end of 2022 (publication plus 95 years). In 1936, A. W. Lawrence split the remaining assets of the estate, giving Clouds Hill and many copies of less substantial or historical letters to the National Trust, and then set up two trusts to control interests in his brother's residual copyrights. He assigned the copyright in Seven Pillars of Wisdom to the Seven Pillars of Wisdom Trust, and it was given its first general publication as a result. He assigned the copyright in The Mint and all Lawrence's letters to the Letters and Symposium Trust, which he edited and published in the book T. E. Lawrence by his Friends in 1937.
A substantial amount of income went directly to the RAF Benevolent Fund and to archaeological, environmental, and academic projects. The two trusts were amalgamated in 1986, and the unified trust acquired all the remaining rights to Lawrence's works that it had not owned on the death of A. W. Lawrence in 1991, plus rights to all of A. W. Lawrence's works. The UK copyrights on Lawrence's works published in his lifetime and within 20 years of his death expired on 1 January 2006. Works published more than 20 years after his death were protected for 50 years from publication or to 1 January 2040, whichever is earlier.
Writings
Seven Pillars of Wisdom, an account of Lawrence's part in the Arab Revolt. ()
Revolt in the Desert, an abridged version of Seven Pillars of Wisdom. ()
The Mint, an account of Lawrence's service in the Royal Air Force. ()
Crusader Castles, Lawrence's Oxford thesis. London: Michael Haag 1986 (). The first edition was published in London in 1936 by the Golden Cockerel Press, in 2 volumes, limited to 1000 editions.
The Odyssey of Homer, Lawrence's translation from the Greek, first published in 1932. ()
The Forest Giant, by Adrien Le Corbeau, novel, Lawrence's translation from the French, 1924.
The Letters of T. E. Lawrence, selected and edited by Malcolm Brown. London, J. M Dent. 1988 ()
The Letters of T. E. Lawrence, edited by David Garnett. ()
T. E. Lawrence. Letters, Jeremy Wilson. (See prospectus)
Minorities: Good Poems by Small Poets and Small Poems by Good Poets, edited by Jeremy Wilson, 1971. Lawrence's commonplace book includes an introduction by Wilson that explains how the poems comprising the book reflected Lawrence's life and thoughts.
Guerrilla Warfare, article in the 1929 Encyclopædia Britannica
The Wilderness of Zin, by C. Leonard Woolley and T. E. Lawrence. London, Harrison and Sons, 1914.
Sexuality
Lawrence's biographers have discussed his sexuality at considerable length and this discussion has spilled into the popular press. There is no reliable evidence for consensual sexual intimacy between Lawrence and any person. His friends have expressed the opinion that he was asexual, and Lawrence himself specifically denied any personal experience of sex in multiple private letters. There were suggestions that Lawrence had been intimate with Dahoum, who worked with him at a pre-war archaeological dig in Carchemish, and fellow serviceman R. A. M. Guy, but his biographers and contemporaries found them unconvincing.
The dedication to his book Seven Pillars is a poem titled "To S.A." which opens:
Lawrence was never specific about the identity of "S.A." Many theories argue in favour of individual men or women, and the Arab nation as a whole. The most popular theory is that S.A. represents (at least in part) his companion Selim Ahmed, "Dahoum", who apparently died of typhus before 1918.
Lawrence lived in a period of strong official opposition to homosexuality, but his writing on the subject was tolerant. He wrote to Charlotte Shaw, "I've seen lots of man-and-man loves: very lovely and fortunate some of them were." He refers to "the openness and honesty of perfect love" on one occasion in Seven Pillars, when discussing relationships between young male fighters in the war. He wrote in Chapter 1 of Seven Pillars:
There is considerable evidence that Lawrence was a masochist. He wrote in his description of the Dera'a beating that "a delicious warmth, probably sexual, was swelling through me," and he also included a detailed description of the guards' whip in a style typical of masochists' writing. In later life, Lawrence arranged to pay a military colleague to administer beatings to him, and to be subjected to severe formal tests of fitness and stamina. John Bruce first wrote on this topic, including some other statements that were not credible, but Lawrence's biographers regard the beatings as established fact. French novelist André Malraux admired Lawrence but wrote that he had a "taste for self-humiliation, now by discipline and now by veneration; a horror of respectability; a disgust for possessions". Biographer Lawrence James wrote that the evidence suggested a "strong homosexual masochism", noting that he never sought punishment from women.
Psychologist John E. Mack sees a possible connection between Lawrence's masochism and the childhood beatings that he had received from his mother for routine misbehaviours. His brother Arnold thought that the beatings had been given for the purpose of breaking his brother's will. Angus Calder suggested in 1997 that Lawrence's apparent masochism and self-loathing might have stemmed from a sense of guilt over losing his brothers Frank and Will on the Western Front, along with many other school friends, while he survived.
Aldington controversy
In 1955 Richard Aldington published Lawrence of Arabia: A Biographical Enquiry, a sustained attack on Lawrence's character, writing, accomplishments, and truthfulness. Specifically, Aldington alleges that Lawrence lied and exaggerated continuously, promoted a misguided policy in the Middle East, that his strategy of containing but not capturing Medina was incorrect, and that Seven Pillars of Wisdom was a bad book with few redeeming features. He also revealed Lawrence's illegitimacy and strongly suggested that he was homosexual. For example: "Seven Pillars of Wisdom is rather a work of quasi-fiction than history.", and "It was seldom that he reported any fact or episode involving himself without embellishing them and indeed in some cases entirely inventing them."
It is significant that Aldington was a colonialist, arguing that the French colonial administration of Syria (strongly resisted by Lawrence) had benefited that country and that Arabia's peoples were "far enough advanced for some government though not for complete self-government." He was also a Francophile, railing against Lawrence's "Francophobia, a hatred and an envy so irrational, so irresponsible and so unscrupulous that it is fair to say his attitude towards Syria was determined more by hatred of France than by devotion to the 'Arabs' - a convenient propaganda word which grouped many disharmonious and even mutually hostile tribes and peoples."
Prior to the publication of Aldington's book, its contents became known in London's literary community. A group Aldington and some subsequent authors referred to as "The Lawrence Bureau", led by B. H. Liddell Hart tried energetically, starting in 1954, to have the book suppressed. That effort having failed, Liddell Hart prepared and distributed hundreds of copies of Aldington's 'Lawrence': His Charges--and Treatment of the Evidence, a 7-page single-spaced document. This worked: Aldington's book received many extremely negative and even abusive reviews, with strong evidence that some reviewers had read Liddell's rebuttal but not Aldington's book.
Aldington wrote that Lawrence embellished many stories and invented others, and in particular that his claims involving numbers were usually inflated - for example claims of having read 50,000 books in the Oxford Union library, of having blown up 79 bridges, of having had a price of £50,000 on his head, and of having suffered 60 or more injuries. Many of Aldington's specific claims against Lawrence have been accepted by subsequent biographers. In Richard Aldington and Lawrence of Arabia: A Cautionary Tale, Fred D. Crawford writes "Much that shocked in 1955 is now standard knowledge--that TEL was illegitimate, that this profoundly troubled him, that he frequently resented his mother's dominance, that such reminiscences as T.E. Lawrence by His Friends are not reliable, that TEL's leg-pulling and other adolescent traits could be offensive, that TEL took liberties with the truth in his official reports and Seven Pillars, that the significance of his exploits during the Arab Revolt was more political than military, that he contributed to his own myth, that when he vetted the books by Graves and Liddell he let remain much that he knew was untrue, and that his feelings about publicity were ambiguous."
This has not prevented most post-Aldington biographers (including Fred D. Crawford, who studied the Aldington claims intensely) from expressing strong admiration for Lawrence's military, political, and writing achievements.
Awards and commemorations
Lawrence was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath on 7 August 1917, appointed a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order on 10 May 1918, awarded the Knight of the Legion of Honour (France) on 30 May 1916 and awarded the Croix de guerre (France) on 16 April 1918.
King George V offered Lawrence a knighthood on 30 October 1918 at a private audience in Buckingham Palace for his services in the Arab Revolt, but he declined. He was unwilling to accept the honour in light of how his country had betrayed the Arabs.
A bronze bust of Lawrence by Eric Kennington was placed in the crypt of St Paul's Cathedral, London, on 29 January 1936, alongside the tombs of Britain's greatest military leaders. A recumbent stone effigy by Kennington was installed in St Martin's Church, Wareham, Dorset, in 1939.
An English Heritage blue plaque marks Lawrence's childhood home at 2 Polstead Road, Oxford, and another appears on his London home at 14 Barton Street, Westminster. Lawrence appears on the album cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles. In 2002, Lawrence was named 53rd in the BBC's list of the 100 Greatest Britons following a UK-wide vote.
In 2018, Lawrence was featured on a £5 coin (issued in silver and gold) in a six-coin set commemorating the Centenary of the First World War produced by the Royal Mint.
In popular culture
Film
Alexander Korda bought the film rights to The Seven Pillars in the 1930s. The production was in development, with various actors cast as the lead, such as Leslie Howard.
Peter O'Toole was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Lawrence in the 1962 film Lawrence of Arabia.
Lawrence was portrayed by Robert Pattinson in the 2014 biographical drama about Gertrude Bell, Queen of the Desert.
Peter O'Toole's portrayal of Lawrence inspired behavioural affectations in the synthetic model called David, portrayed by Michael Fassbender in the 2012 film Prometheus, and in the 2017 sequel Alien: Covenant, part of the Alien franchise.
Literature
T.E. Lawrence (T.E.ロレンス) is a seven-volume manga series by Tomoko Kosaka, which retells Lawrence's life story from childhood onward.
The Oath of the Five Lords tells a fictional story including several references to T.E. Lawrence and his memoirs in which he describes how the United Kingdom did not honour its promises to the Arab nation. The comic is the twenty-first book in the Blake and Mortimer comic series. The story was written by Yves Sente and drawn by André Juillard and was released in 2012.
The T.E. Lawrence Poems was published by Canadian poet Gwendolyn MacEwen in 1982. The poems rely heavily, and quote directly from, primary material including Seven Pillars and the collected letters.
Television
He was portrayed by Judson Scott in the 1982 TV series Voyagers!
Ralph Fiennes portrayed Lawrence in the 1992 British made-for-TV movie A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia.
Joseph A. Bennett and Douglas Henshall portrayed him in the 1992 TV series The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles.
He was also portrayed in a Syrian series, directed by Thaer Mousa, called Lawrence Al Arab. The series consisted of 37 episodes, each between 45 minutes and one hour in length.
Theatre
Lawrence was the subject of Terence Rattigan's controversial play Ross, which explored Lawrence's alleged homosexuality. Ross ran in London in 1960–61, starring Alec Guinness, who was an admirer of Lawrence, and Gerald Harper as his blackmailer, Dickinson. The play had originally been written as a screenplay, but the planned film was never made. In January 1986 at the Theatre Royal, Plymouth, on the opening night of the revival of Ross, Marc Sinden, who was playing Dickinson (the man who recognised and blackmailed Lawrence, played by Simon Ward), was introduced to the man on whom the character of Dickinson was based. Sinden asked him why he had blackmailed Ross, and he replied, "Oh, for the money. I was financially embarrassed at the time and needed to get up to London to see a girlfriend. It was never meant to be a big thing, but a good friend of mine was very close to Terence Rattigan and years later, the silly devil told him the story."
Alan Bennett's Forty Years On (1968) includes a satire on Lawrence; known as "Tee Hee Lawrence" because of his high-pitched, girlish giggle. "Clad in the magnificent white silk robes of an Arab prince ... he hoped to pass unnoticed through London. Alas he was mistaken."
The character of Private Napoleon Meek in George Bernard Shaw's 1931 play Too True to Be Good was inspired by Lawrence. Meek is depicted as thoroughly conversant with the language and lifestyle of the native tribes. He repeatedly enlists with the army, quitting whenever offered a promotion. Lawrence attended a performance of the play's original Worcestershire run, and reportedly signed autographs for patrons attending the show.
Lawrence's first year back at Oxford after the War to write was portrayed by Tom Rooney in a play, The Oxford Roof Climbers Rebellion, written by Canadian playwright Stephen Massicotte (premiered Toronto 2006). The play explores Lawrence's reactions to war, and his friendship with Robert Graves. Urban Stages presented the American premiere in New York City in October 2007; Lawrence was portrayed by actor Dylan Chalfy.
Lawrence's final years are portrayed in a one-man show by Raymond Sargent, The Warrior and the Poet.
His 1922 retreat from public life forms the subject of Howard Brenton's play Lawrence After Arabia, commissioned for a 2016 premiere at the Hampstead Theatre to mark the centenary of the outbreak of the Arab Revolt.
A highly fictionalised version of Lawrence featured in the 2016 Swedish-language comedic play Lawrence i Mumiedalen.
Video games
A fictionalized Lawrence is an NPC who assists the party in Shadow Hearts: Covenant (2004).
A fictionalized Lawrence is an NPC who appears in cutscenes and guides the player through missions in Battlefield 1 (2016).
Lawrence and his work are referenced multiple times throughout the video game Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (2011).
See also
Hashemites, ruling family of Mecca (10th–20th century) and of Jordan since 1921
Kingdom of Iraq (1932–1958)
Lawrence of Arabia: The Authorised Biography of T. E. Lawrence by Jeremy Wilson (1989)
The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones, US TV series (1992–1993) with episodes depicting moments from Lawrence's life
Related individuals
Richard Meinertzhagen (1878–1967), British intelligence officer and ornithologist, on occasion a colleague of Lawrence's
Rafael de Nogales Méndez (1879–1937), Venezuelan officer who served in the Ottoman Army and was compared to Lawrence
Suleiman Mousa (1919–2008), Jordanian historian who wrote about Lawrence
Oskar von Niedermayer (1885–1948), German officer, professor and spy, sometimes referred to as the German Lawrence
Max von Oppenheim (1860–1946), German-Jewish lawyer, diplomat and archaeologist. Lawrence called his travelogue "the best book on the [Middle East] area I know".
Wilhelm Wassmuss (1880–1931), German diplomat and spy, known as "Wassmuss of Persia" and compared to Lawrence
References
Citations
Sources
External links
Digital collections
T. E. Lawrence's Original Letters on Palestine Shapell Manuscript Foundation
Works by T. E. Lawrence at Wikilivres
Physical collections
T. E. Lawrence's Collection at The University of Texas at Austin's Harry Ransom Center
"Creating History: Lowell Thomas and Lawrence of Arabia" online history exhibit at Clio Visualizing History.
Europeana Collections 1914–1918 makes 425,000 World War I items from European libraries available online, including manuscripts, photographs and diaries by or relating to Lawrence
T. E. Lawrence's Personal Manuscripts and Letters
News and analysis
The Guardian 19 May 1935 – The death of Lawrence of Arabia
The Legend of Lawrence of Arabia: The Recalcitrant Hero
T. E. Lawrence: The Enigmatic Lawrence of Arabia article by O'Brien Browne
Lawrence of Arabia: True and false (an Arab view) by Lucy Ladikoff
Documentaries
Footage of Lawrence of Arabia with publisher FN Doubleday and at a picnic
Lawrence of Arabia: The Battle for the Arab World, directed by James Hawes. PBS Home Video, 21 October 2003. (ASIN B0000BWVND)
Societies
T. E. Lawrence Studies, built by Lawrence's authorised biographer Jeremy Wilson (no longer maintained)
The T. E. Lawrence Society
1888 births
1935 deaths
20th-century archaeologists
20th-century British writers
20th-century translators
Alumni of Jesus College, Oxford
Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford
Arab Bureau officers
Arab Revolt
British archaeologists
British Army General List officers
British Army personnel of World War I
British guerrillas
British people of Irish descent
Castellologists
Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur
Companions of the Distinguished Service Order
Companions of the Order of the Bath
Fellows of All Souls College, Oxford
French–English translators
Greek–English translators
Guerrilla warfare theorists
Motorcycle road incident deaths
People educated at the City of Oxford High School for Boys
People from Caernarfonshire
People of Anglo-Irish descent
Road incident deaths in England
Royal Air Force airmen
Royal Garrison Artillery soldiers
Royal Tank Regiment soldiers
Welsh people of Irish descent
Translators of Homer | false | [
"As of June 23, 2011, 749 foreign private contractor deaths in Iraq as part of the Iraq War are listed in this article. Of those, 355 were Americans, at least were 130 Turks and 58 were Britons. 225 of those killed were private military contractors or PMC's.\n\nThe U.S. Department of Labor confirmed that by the end of March 2009, 917 civilian contractors were killed in Iraq, of which 224 (23 percent) were U.S. citizens. This number was updated to 1,537, by the end of March 2011, with an estimated 354 of these being U.S. citizens. The total number of dead was further updated to 1,569, by July 20, 2012.\n\nIncidents\n\n2003 \n April 10, 2003 – American, Robert Grimm, was killed in a vehicle accident on the Kuwait-Iraq border. He was working for National Response Corp. of Long Island as a fireman.\n July 10, 2003 – American, name unknown, was killed in a vehicle accident near Basra. He was working for Kellogg, Brown & Root as a truck driver.\n July 21, 2003 – Briton, Peter Rudolf, drowned when he fell ill while on a dive near Umm Qasr. He was working for Sub-Surface Eng'g as a diver.\n August 5, 2003 – American, Fred Bryant Jr., was killed by a roadside bomb near Tikrit. He was working for Kellogg, Brown & Root as a truck driver.\n August 10, 2003 – Nepali, name unknown, was killed by a riot in Basra. He was working as a PMC.\n August 19, 2003 – American, Nadan Audisho Younadam, was killed in an ambush in Tikrit. He was working for the U.S. Army as a translator.\n September 3, 2003 – American, Vernon Gaston, was killed in an ambush in Baghdad. He was working for Kellogg, Brown & Root as Operations Manager at the Joint Military Mail Terminal at Baghdad Airport.\n September 4, 2003 – Briton, Ian Rimell, was killed in an ambush near Mosul. He was working for Mines Advisory Group as a bomb disposal expert.\n September 12, 2003 – Jordanian, name unknown, was killed by friendly fire in Fallujah. He was working for a Jordanian hospital as a PMC.\n September 25, 2003 – Somali, name unknown, was killed by a bomb in Baghdad. He was working for a \"al-Aike\" hotel housing journalists from US television network NBC as a PMC\n October 9, 2003 – American, Kirk von Ackermann, was captured on a road between Kirkuk and Tikrit, he is still missing and presumed dead. He was working for IREX Services as a PMC. The CID determined that Von Ackermann died on October 9, 2003, in a botched kidnapping attempt. They still, however, refuse to give out information on his case which is still \"active.\" Ackermann's body was never found.\n November 2, 2003 – Two Americans, Roy Buckmaster and David Dyess, were killed by a roadside bomb in Fallujah. They were working for EOD Technology, Inc. as bomb disposal experts.\n November 13, 2003 – American, Forrest Snare, was killed in an ambush west of Balad. He was working for IAP Worldwide Services as a private contractor.\n November 17, 2003 – American, Brent McJennett, was killed by a land mine in Tikrit. He was working for Proactive Communications Inc as a communications contractor. Hungarian, Péter Varga-Balázs, was killed by friendly fire near Ramadi. He was working for ToiFor Kft as a truck driver.\n November 23, 2003 – Two Americans, Todd Drobnick and Gordon Sinclair, were killed in a vehicle accident between Mosul and Dohuk. They were working for Titan National Security Solutions as translators.\n November 29, 2003 – Colombian, Jorge Arias Duque, was killed in an ambush in Balad. He was working for Kellogg, Brown & Root as a PMC.\n November 30, 2003 – Two South Koreans, Man-Soo Kim and Kyung-Hae Kwak, were killed in an ambush south of Tikrit. They were working for Omu Electric Co. as electricians.\n December 14, 2003 – American, Ryan Manelick, was killed in an ambush in Baghdad. He was working for IREX Services as a PMC.\n\n2004 \n January 5, 2004 – Canadian, Richard Flynn, was killed by a roadside bomb. He was working as a PMC.\n January 6, 2004 – Two Frenchmen, names unknown, were killed in an ambush in Fallujah. They were working as private contractors.\n January 14, 2004 – Two Americans, names unknown, were killed in an ambush near Tikrit. They were working for Kellogg, Brown & Root as truck drivers.\n January 21, 2004 – American, Jody Deatherage, was killed in a vehicle accident. He was working for Kellogg, Brown & Root as a truck driver.\n January 24, 2004 – Pakistani, Habibur Rehman, was killed in an ambush. He was working for a Saudi Arabian firm as a truck driver.\n January 26, 2004 – American, Arthur Linderman Jr., was killed in an ambush near Tikrit. He was working for Kellogg, Brown & Root as a truck driver.\n January 29, 2004 – South African, Francois Strydom, was killed by a suicide bomber in Baghdad. He was working for SAS International as a PMC. Four other South African PMC were injured.\n February 8, 2004 – Fijian, Tomasi Ramatau, was killed in a mortar attack in Baghdad. He was working for Global Risk Strategies Limited as a PMC.\n February 16, 2004 – American, Ray Parks, was killed in an ambush in Baghdad. He was working for American Services Center as a private contractor.\n February 23, 2004 – American, Albert Luther Cayton, was killed by a roadside bomb. He was working for Kellogg, Brown & Root as a truck driver.\n February 29, 2004 – American, Travis B.Whitman, was killed in a vehicle accident in Baghdad. He was working as a PMC.\n March 16, 2004 – A Dutch and a German, names unknown, were killed in an ambush near Hillah. They were working as water project engineers.\n March 18, 2004 – Briton, Scott Mounce, was killed by a suicide bomber in Baghdad. He was working for an Italian communications company as a telecommunications engineer.\n March 22, 2004 – Two Finns, Seppo Haapanen and Jorma Toronen, were killed by a sniper west of Baghdad. They were both businessmen.\n March 28, 2004 – A Canadian and a Briton, Andy Bradsell and Christopher McDonald, were killed in an ambush in Mosul. They were working for Olive Security as PMC's.\n March 31, 2004 – Four Americans: Wesley Batalona, Scott Helvenston, Michael Teague and Jerko Zovko, were killed when they were ambushed and massacred in Fallujah, their bodies were mutilated and hanged for public display. They were working for Blackwater Security as PMC's.\n April 1, 2004 – Czech, Jiří Juran, was killed in an accidental gas explosion at a refinery in Baiji- Iraq. He was working for Chemoprojekt as a petrochemical expert.\n April 3, 2004 – American, Emad Mikha, was killed in an ambush in Muqdadiyah. He was working for Titan National Security Solutions as a translator.\n April 6, 2004 – South African, Gray Branfield, was killed during street fighting in Al Kut, his body was mutilated and hanged for public display. He was working for Hart Security Company as a PMC. Bulgarian, Mario Manchev, was killed in an ambush south of Nasiriyah. He was working for SOMAT as a truck driver.\n April 7, 2004 – Two Germans, Tobias Retterath and Thomas Hafenecker, were killed by Iraqi Terrorists in an ambush near Fallujah. They were members of the elite counter-terrorism unit GSG-9 working at the German embassy as guards. The second Officer; Thomas Hafenecker, is still missing today.\n April 8, 2004 – American, Tim Smith, was killed in an ambush. He was working for Kellogg, Brown & Root as a truck driver. Briton, Michael John Bloss, was killed in an ambush near Hit. He was working for Custer Battles as a PMC.\n April 9, 2004 – Seven Americans: William Bradley, Timothy Bell, Stephen Hulett, Steven Scott Fisher, Tony Duane Johnson, Jack Montague and Jeffery Parker, were killed when their convoy was ambushed and decimated in Baghdad. Bradley and Bell were initially classified as missing, Bradley's remains were recovered in 2005, while Bell is still missing and presumed dead. Another American, Thomas Hamill, was captured but he escaped the next month. They were working for Kellogg, Brown & Root as truck drivers. Two Nepalis, Ram Bahadur Gurung and Shiva Prasad Lawati, were killed by a land mine in northern Iraq. They were working for Global Risk Strategies Limited as PMC's.\n April 10, 2004 – American, Nick Berg, was captured in Baghdad and executed on May 7, his remains were recovered the next day. He was a businessman.\n April 11, 2004 – Dane, Henrik Frandsen, was shot and killed in Baghdad. He was a businessman. Romanian, Aron Alexandru, was killed in an ambush near Baghdad. He was working for Bidepa as a PMC.\n April 12, 2004 – South African, Hendrik Visagie, died at a U.S. military hospital from wounds received five days earlier in an ambush while escorting a convoy of diplomats from Jordan to Baghdad. He was working for Erinys International as a PMC.\n April 13, 2004 – Italian, Fabrizio Quattrocchi, was captured, along with three other Italians, and executed the next day. The other three Italians were rescued later that month. He was working as a PMC.\n April 22, 2004 – South African, Francois de Beer, was shot and killed in Baghdad. He was working for Meteoric Tactical Solutions as a PMC.\n April 25, 2004 – Two Americans, Thomas Carter and Vincent Foster, were killed by a roadside bomb near Baiji. They were working for Cochise Consultancy Inc. as PMC's.\n April 28, 2004 – Filipino, Rodrigo Reyes, was killed in an ambush in Abdali, near the Kuwait border. He was working for Kellogg, Brown & Root as a truck driver.\n April 29, 2004 – South African, name unknown, was shot and killed in Basra. He was working for a construction company as a PMC.\n April 30, 2004 – American, Mike Price, was killed by a roadside bomb near Baiji. He was working for Cochise Consultancy Inc. as a PMC. South African, name unknown, was killed by a land mine in Fallujah. He was working for a British security company as a PMC.\n May 1, 2004 – American, Christian F.Kilpatrick, was killed in an ambush near Tikrit. He was working for DynCorp International as a PMC. Turk, Cemal Ugar, was killed in an ambush near Baghdad. He was working as a truck driver.\n May 2, 2004 – Two Fijians, Kelepi Qaranivalu and Emori Vunibokoi, were killed in an ambush in Mosul. They were working for Global Risk Strategies Limited as PMC's.\n May 3, 2004 – American, Aban Elias, was captured in Baghdad, he is still missing and presumed dead. He was working as a civil engineer.\n May 7, 2004 – American, Daniel Parker, was killed by a roadside bomb in Baghdad. He was working for Kellogg, Brown & Root as a PMC. Poles, Waldemar Milewicz and Mounir Bouamrane were killed in an ambush in Latifiya. They were working as a journalist and cameraman for Polish National TV.\n May 10, 2004 – A New Zealander, John Robert Tyrrell, and a South African, William (Bill) John Richard, were killed in an ambush in Kirkuk. They were working for an Iraqi construction company as engineers.\n May 11, 2004 – Filipino, Raymundo Natividad, was killed in a mortar attack near Balad. He was working for Prime Projects International as a warehouseman. Russian, Alexei Konorev, was killed in an ambush in Musayyib, south of Baghdad. He was working for InterEnergoServis as a construction worker.\n May 12, 2004 – Two Turks, Suayip Kaplanli and the other name unknown, were killed in an ambush in Mosul. They were working for Yuksel Construction as construction workers.\n May 13, 2004 – Two Americans, Henry Doll and Jesse Gentry, were killed in a vehicle accident near Tikrit. They were working for DynCorp International as PMC's.\n May 14, 2004 – Briton, Brian Tilley, was killed in an ambush. He was working for an Egyptian communications project as a PMC.\n May 18, 2004 – Briton, Andrew Harries, was killed in an ambush between Mosul and Irbil. He was working for ArmourGroup as a PMC.\n May 24, 2004 – Two Britons, Mark Carman and Bob Morgan, were killed by a roadside bomb in Baghdad. Carman was working for Control Risks Group as a PMC, while Morgan was working for the British Foreign Office as a petroleum consultant.\n May 25, 2004 – Two Russians, Viktor Dynkin and Vyacheslav Ovsyannikov, were killed in an ambush south of Baghdad. They were working for InterEnergoServis as power plant technicians.\n May 30, 2004 – American, Bruce Tow, was killed in an ambush in Baghdad. He was working for DynCorp International as a PMC.\n June 2, 2004 – American, Richard Bruce, was killed in a vehicle accident. He was working for Blackwater Security as a PMC.\n June 5, 2004 – Two Americans, Jarrod Little and Chris Neidrich, and two Poles, Krzysztof Kaskos, Artur Zukowski, were killed in an ambush in Baghdad. They were working for Blackwater Security as PMC's. American, James Gregory Wingate, was killed by a roadside bomb near Haditha. He was working for Kellogg, Brown & Root as a truck driver. Briton, Craig Dickens, was killed in an ambush near Mosul. He was working for ArmourGroup as a PMC.\n June 11, 2004 – Lebanese, Hussein Ali Alyan, was captured and executed. He was working as a construction worker.\n June 13, 2004 – American, Shaun Fyfe, died of natural causes. He was working for Environmental Chemical Corp. International as a construction worker.\n June 14, 2004 – An American, Bill Hoke II, two Britons, Keith Butler and John Poole, a Frenchman, name unknown, and a Filipino, Raul Flores, were killed by a car bomb in Baghdad. The two Britons were working for Olive Security as PMC's, while the rest worked for Granite Services, Inc. as power industry workers. American, Rex G.Sprague III, was killed in an ambush in Baghdad. He worked for Titan National Security Solutions as a PMC.\n June 17, 2004 – American, Walter J.Zbryski, was killed by a roadside bomb. He was working for Kellogg, Brown & Root as a truck driver. Turk, Faysal Demir, was killed by friendly fire in Baghdad. He was working for a Turkish manufacturer of prefab housing as a truck driver.\n June 19, 2004 – Portuguese, Roberto Carlos, was killed by a roadside bomb south of Basra. He was working for Al-Atheer as a telecommunications worker.\n June 22, 2004 – Briton, Julian Davies, was killed in an ambush in Mosul. He was working for Global Risk Strategies Limited as a PMC. South Korean, Kim Sun-il, was captured and executed. He was working for Gana General Trading Co. as a supplier.\n June 27, 2004 – American, Joseph Arguelles, was killed when his transport plane was fired on over Baghdad. He worked for Readiness Mgmt. Svcs. as an electric power specialist.\n July 2, 2004 – American, Vern O'Neal Richerson, died at the U.S. military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany, of wounds he received in a mortar attack. He was working for Kellogg, Brown & Root as a construction foreman.\n July 9, 2004 – Two Turks, names unknown, were killed in an ambush near Samarra. They were working as truck drivers.\n July 12, 2004 – Turk, name unknown, was killed by a roadside bomb near Baiji. He worked as a truck driver.\n July 13, 2004 – Bulgarian, Georgi Lazov, was captured and executed in Mosul. He worked for a Bulgarian trucking company as a truck driver.\n July 17, 2004 – Jordanian, Ayid Nassir, was killed in an ambush in Ramadi. He worked as a truck driver. Turk, Abdulcelil Bayik, was killed in an ambush near Mosul. He worked as a truck driver.\n July 19, 2004 – American, Mike Copley, was killed in a mortar attack in Samarra. He was working for United Defense Industries as a Bradley fighting vehicle maintenance technician.\n July 20, 2004 – Russian, Anatoly Korenkov, died at a Moscow hospital of wounds he received in an ambush. He worked for InterEnergoServis as a power plant technician.\n July 22, 2004 – Bulgarian, Ivaylo Kepov, was captured and executed near Baiji. He was working for a Bulgarian trucking company as a truck driver.\n July 25, 2004 – Jordanian, Marwan Zuheir Al Rusan, was shot and killed in Mosul. He was a businessman.\n July 28, 2004 – Two Pakistanis, Raja Azad and Sajad Naeem, were captured and executed. They were working for Al Tamimi group as construction workers.\n August 1, 2004 – Turk, Murat Yuce, was captured and executed. He was working for Bilintur as a cleaner.\n August 2, 2004 – Turk, Ferit Nural, was killed in an ambush near Baghdad. He worked as a truck driver.\n August 4, 2004 – Turk, Osman Alisan, was killed in an ambush near Baghdad. He worked for Ulasli Oil Company as a truck driver.\n August 10, 2004 – Egyptian, Mohammed Abdel Aal, was captured and executed. He worked as a car mechanic.\n August 11, 2004 – American, Kevin Rader, was killed in an ambush. He was working for Kellogg, Brown & Root as a truck driver.\n August 12, 2004 – Indian, Eldho Abraham, was killed by a roadside bomb in Baghdad. He worked for a British construction company \"Frame Project International\" as an electrical engineer.\n August 16, 2004 – South African, Herman Pretorius, was killed in an ambush in Mosul. He was working for DynCorp International as a PMC.\n August 22, 2004 – Indonesian, Fahmi Ahmad, was killed in an ambush in Mosul. He was working for a subcontractor to Siemens as a telecommunications engineer. Turk, name unknown, was killed in an ambush between Tikrit & Kirkuk. He worked for a Tikrit bridge repair firm as a construction worker.\n August 23, 2004 – Three Macedonians: Dalibor Lazarevski, Dragan Markovikj and Zoran Naskovski, were captured and executed in Baghdad. They were working for Soufan Engineering as construction workers. Jordanian, Beshir Ahmed, was killed in a car hijacking between Tikrit & Baiji. He was a businessman.\n August 24, 2004 – American, Jamal Tewfik Salman, was captured and executed. He was working as a translator.\n August 27, 2004 – Egyptian, Jawdee Baker, was shot and killed in Baiji. He was working as a private contractor.\n August 30, 2004 – 12 Nepalese were captured and executed. Their names were: Prakash Adhikari, Ramesh Khadka, Lalan Singh Koiri, Mangal Bahadur Limbu, Jit Bahadur Thapa Magar, Gyanendra Shrestha, Rajendra Kumar Shrestha, Bodhan Kumar Sah Sudi, Manoj Kumar Thakur, Sanjay Kumar Thakur, Bhekh Bahadur Thapa and Bishnu Hari Thapa. They were working for Morning Star Co. as cooks and cleaners. Three Turks: Majid Mehmet al-Gilami, Yahya Sadr and one name unknown, were captured and executed near Samarra. They were working as truck drivers.\n September 4, 2004 – American, John N.Mallery, was killed in an ambush in Taji. He was returning to his home base in Baghdad after picking up a payment at Camp Anaconda, Balad, Iraq. At the time of his death he was working for MayDay Supply as a project manager. Egyptian, Nasser Salama, was captured and executed near Baiji. He was working as a private contractor.\n September 10, 2004 – American, William Earl Bowers, was killed in an ambush near Baghdad. He was working for SEI Group Inc. as an engineer.\n September 14, 2004 – Two Canadians, Andrew Shmakov and Munir Toma, were killed by a car bomb in Baghdad. They were working as private contractors. American, Todd Engstrom, was killed in an ambush near Balad. He was working for EOD Technology Inc. as a PMC.\n September 16, 2004 – Two Americans, Eugene Armstrong and Jack Hensley, and a Briton, Kenneth Bigley, were captured in Baghdad. Armstrong was executed on September 20, Hensley was executed the next day and Bigley was executed on October 7. They were working for Gulf Services Co. as engineers.\n September 21, 2004 – Turk, Akar Besir, was captured and executed. He was working as a truck driver.\n September 28, 2004 – American, Roger Moffett, was killed by a roadside bomb. He was working for Kellogg, Brown & Root as a truck driver.\n September 29, 2004 – Briton, Iain Hunter, was killed in a vehicle accident in Tikrit. He was working for ArmourGroup as a PMC.\n September 30, 2004 – Briton, Alan Wimpenny, was killed by a roadside bomb near Samarra. He was working as a PMC.\n October 4, 2004 – South African, Johann Hattingh, was killed and one other South African, Gavin Holtzhausen, was wounded by a suicide car-bomber on Sadoon Street, Baghdad. Holtzhausen later died of his injuries.\n October 11, 2004 – Two Britons, died in Kirkuk, one, Paul Chadwick, accidentally shot himself while the other, name unknown, was killed by a sniper. They were working for ArmourGroup as PMC's. Turk, Maher Kemal, was captured and executed. He was working as a truck driver.\n October 12, 2004 – Two South Africans, Johan Botha and Louis Campher, were killed in an ambush south of Baghdad. They were working for Omega Risk Solutions as PMC's.\n October 14, 2004 – Four Americans: Eric Miner, Steve Osborne, John Pinsonneault and Ferdinand Ibabao, were killed by a suicide bomber in Baghdad. They were working for DynCorp International as PMC's. Turk, Ramazan Elbu, was captured and executed. He was working as a truck driver.\n October 19, 2004 – American, Felipe E.Lugo III, was killed in a mortar attack near Baghdad. He was working for Kellogg, Brown & Root as a labor foreman.\n October 23, 2004 – Croat, Dalibor Burazović, was killed in an ambush near Mosul. He was working for Eurodelta d.o.o. as a truck driver. Turk, name unknown, was killed in an ambush in Baiji. He was working as a truck driver.\n October 27, 2004 – American, Travis Schnoor, was killed by a roadside bomb west of Baghdad. He was working for Custer Battle as a PMC.\n October 29, 2004 – Turk, name unknown, was killed in an ambush in Mosul. He was working as a truck driver.\n November 2, 2004 – American, Radim Sadeq Mohammed Sadeq, was captured in Baghdad, he is still missing and presumed dead. He was a businessman.\n November 3, 2004 – American, Jeffery Serrett, was killed in an attack on a prison in Baghdad. He was working for Kellogg, Brown & Root as a medic. Briton, John Barker, was killed by a suicide bomber in Baghdad. He was working for Global Risk Strategies Limited as a PMC.\n November 5, 2004 – Nepali, Tikaram Gurung, was killed in an ambush. He was working for Gorkha Manpower Company as a PMC.\n November 7, 2004 – Turk, name unknown, was killed in an ambush in Samarra. He was working as a truck driver.\n November 8–16, 2004 – A Briton and a Turk, names unknown, were killed during the battle of Mosul. The Briton was working as a PMC, while the Turk was working as a truck driver.\n November 9, 2004 – Two Americans, Aaron Iversen and David Randolph, were killed in an ambush between Baghdad and Fallujah. They were working for EOD Technology Inc. as PMC's.\n November 11, 2004 – American, Mike Tatar, was killed with friendly fire on the way to Baghdad from FOB Far ion Huggins. He was working for DynCorp International as a PMC.\n November 12, 2004 – American, Douglas S.Thomas, was killed by an IED while in a convoy en route to Tikrit. He was working for DynCorp International as a PMC.\n November 14, 2004 – American, Wolf Weis, was killed in an ambush near Mosul. He was working as a private contractor.\n November 7, 2004 – A Briton and a South African, Shaun Husband and Johan Terry, were killed by a roadside bomb in Zubayr, near Basra. They were working for Olive Security as PMC's.\n November 16, 2004 – South Korean, Jung Myeong-nam, was killed in an accident in Irbil. He was working for Taehwa Electric Co. as a private contractor.\n November, 2004 – South African, Jacques Oosthuize, was killed in an ambush on a road between Tikrit and Mosul. He was working for Erinys Iraq as a PMC.\n November 25, 2004 – Four Nepalis, names unknown, were killed by a mortar attack in Baghdad. They were working for Global Risk Strategies Limited as PMC's.\n November 30, 2004 – Honduran, José Mauricio Mena Puerto, was killed in an ambush. He was working for DynCorp International as a medic.\n December 8, 2004 – Two Americans, Dale Stoffel and Joseph Wemple, were shot and killed outside Baghdad. They were working for CLI USA as construction contractors.\n December 15, 2004 – Italian, Salvatore Santoro, was shot and killed at an insurgent checkpoint outside Ramadi. He was working as an aid worker.\n December 20, 2004 – Turk, Saban Ozsagir, was killed in an ambush near Mosul. He was working as a truck driver.\n December 21, 2004 – Four Americans: Leslie W. Davis, Brett A.Hunter, Allen Smith and Anthony M. Stramiello Jr., were killed by a suicide bomber in Mosul. They were working for Kellogg, Brown & Root as construction foremen and technicians.\n\n2005 \n January 3, 2005 – Three Britons: John Dolman, Nick Pear, one not known and one American, Tracy Hushin, were killed by a suicide bomber in Baghdad. Dolman and Pears were working for Kroll Security International as PMC's, while the other two worked for BearingPoint Inc. as financial managers.\n January 16, 2005 – American, name unknown, was killed in an ambush north of Baghdad. He was working for Steele Foundation as a PMC. Egyptian, Ibrahim Mohammed Ismail, was found dead, his body dumped in a street, in Ramadi. He was working as a truck driver.\n January 19, 2005 – Briton, Andrew Whyte, was killed in an ambush south of Baiji. He was working for Janusian Security Risk Mgmt. as a PMC.\n February 8, 2005 – Croat, Ivan Pavčević, was killed in an ambush near Tikrit. He was working as a truck driver.\n March 3, 2005 – Two Americans, Jimmy A.Riddle and Brian J.Wagoner, were killed by a roadside bomb in Ashraf. They were working for Special Operations Consulting-Security Mgmt. Group Inc. as PMC's.\n March 12, 2005 – Two Americans, Jim Cantrell and Bruce Durr, were killed by a roadside bomb in Hilla. They were working for Blackwater Security as PMC's. A Turk, name unknown, was killed by a roadside bomb near Baiji. He was working as a truck driver.\n March 20, 2005 – Turk, name unknown, was killed in an ambush north of Baiji. He was working as a truck driver.\n March 25, 2005 – American, Eugene Hyatt, was killed in an accident. He was working for Kellogg, Brown & Root as a carpenter foreman.\n April 1, 2005 – American, Alfred Habelman, was killed in an ambush. He was working for a California-based construction company as a PMC.\n April 11, 2005 – Turk, name unknown, was killed by a roadside bomb in Baiji. He was working as a truck driver.\n April 16, 2005 – Turk, name unknown, was killed by a roadside bomb south of Mosul. He was working as a truck driver.\n April 18, 2005 – Filipino, Rey Torres, was killed in an ambush in Baghdad. He was working for Qatar International Trading Company as a PMC.\n April 20, 2005 – An American, an Australian and a Canadian: James Hunt, Chris Ahmelman and Stefan Surette, were killed in ambush in Baghdad. They were working for Edinburgh Risk Inc. as PMC's. Turk, name unknown, was killed by a roadside bomb in Baghdad. He was working as a truck driver.\n April 21, 2005 – Six Americans, three Bulgarians and two Fijians were killed when their Mi-8 transport helicopter was shot down near Tarmiya, north of Baghdad. Their names were: Robert Jason Gore, Stephen Matthew McGovern, Jason Obert, David Patterson, Luke Adam Petrik, Eric Smith, Stoyan Anchev, Lyubomir Kostov, Georgi Naydenov, Jim Atalifo and Timoci Lalaqila. The Bulgarians were working as helicopter pilots, while the rest were working for Blackwater Security as PMC's. American, Curtis Hundley, was killed by a roadside bomb near Ramadi. He was working for Blackwater Security as a PMC. Briton, Alan Parkin, was killed by a suicide bomber in Baghdad. He was working for Aegis Defence Services as a PMC.\n May 1, 2005 – Turk, name unknown, was killed in an ambush north of Baghdad. He was working as a truck driver.\n May 3, 2005 – Turk, Salih Gulbol, was killed in an ambush near Baghdad. He was working for a Kuwaiti company \"Eskiocaklar\" as a truck driver.\n May 7, 2005 – Two Americans, Brandon Thomas and Todd Venette, were killed by a car bomb in Baghdad. They were working for CTU Consulting as PMC's.\n May 9, 2005 – Four South Africans, names unknown, and one Japanese, Akihiko Saito, were killed when their convoy was ambushed and decimated near Hit. Saito was initially wounded and allegedly captured but died later of his wounds. They were working for Hart Security Company as PMC's under contract to PWC Logitsics at the Abu Ghraib Warehouse Distribution Center near Baghdad International Airport.\n May 10, 2005 – American, Thomas W.Jaichner, was killed by a sniper in Ramadi. He was working for Blackwater Security as a PMC.\n May 12, 2005 – American, Reuben Ray Miller, was killed by a roadside bomb. He was working for Kellogg, Brown & Root as a truck driver.\n May 22, 2005 – Jordanian, Al-Sanie, was killed in an ambush. He was working as a truck driver.\n May 28, 2005 – Lebanese, name unknown, was killed in a drive-by shooting in Baghdad. He was working as an interpreter.\n June 2, 2005 – Turk, Salih Gulbol, was killed in an ambush in Baiji. He was working as a truck driver.\n June 7, 2005 – South African, Séan Ronald Laver, was killed by a roadside bomb in Habbaniya. He was working for Hart Security Companyas as a PMC.\n June 9, 2005 – Turk, Yusuf Akar, was killed in an ambush in Ramadi. He was working as a truck driver.\n June 15, 2005 – Bosnian, Ljubiša Aleksić, was killed in an ambush 60 kilometres south of Baghdad. He was working for Lloyd-Owen International as a PMC.\n June 21, 2005 – Turk, name unknown, was killed in an ambush east of Balad. He was working as a truck driver.\n June 27, 2005 – American, Deborah Dawn Klecker, was killed by a roadside bomb east of Baghdad. She was working for DynCorp International as a PMC.\n July 1, 2005 – Turk, name unknown, was killed in an ambush near Baiji. He was working as a truck driver.\n September 2, 2005- American Leon \"Vince\" Kimbrell was killed by a shaped charge IED near the Al-Sadeer Compound in Baghdad. He worked for Dyncorp.\n September 3, 2005 – American, Ron Wiebe (US Navy Retired RVN Vet), and Briton, Jim Martin, were killed on their way back from Tikrit to Baghdad.\n September 20, 2005 – Four Americans: Keven Dagit, Sascha Grenner-Case, Christopher Lem and one name unknown, were killed when they were ambushed and massacred in Duluiya, their bodies were mutilated. They were working for Kellogg, Brown & Root as truck drivers.\n November 12, 2005 – Sudanese, name unknown, was killed in an attack on the Omani embassy in Baghdad. He was working as a private contractor.\n November 14, 2005 – Two South Africans, Naas Du Preez and Johannes Potgieter, were killed by a roadside bomb on Haifa Street, Baghdad.\n November 17, 2005 – South African, \"Tabs\" from 23 Battalion, died as a result of wounds he sustained from a roadside bomb on November 14, on Haifa Street, Baghdad.\n December 22, 2005 – An American and a South African, Kyle Kaszynski and Jan Strauss, were killed by a roadside bomb north of Baghdad. Kaszynski was working for Croll Management while Strauss was working for DynCorp International. They were both PMC's.\n\n2006 \n January 5, 2006 – Indian, Sibi Kora, was killed by a roadside bomb. He was working as a truck driver\n March 6, 2006 – South African, Morne Pieterse, was killed by a roadside bomb in Basra.\n May 7, 2006 – British, Karl Saville was killed in Baghdad. He was working for \"Danubia Global\" as security contractor.\n May, 2006 – South African, Richard Andrew Kolver, was killed by a roadside bomb in Baghdad\n June 8, 2006 – Australian Wayne Schulz was killed when the armoured vehicle in which he was travelling was destroyed by an explosive device. He was working for ArmorGroup.\n June 11, 2006 Briton Kenneth Clarke killed in Tikrit by a roadside bomb\n June 14, 2006 – A Swedish security contractor was killed by an explosive device. He was working for \"Genric Ltd.\".\n July 15, 2006 – Syrian, Salih Fawzi al-Madani, was captured in Baghdad, his body was found mutilated at the beginning of August. He was working as a private contractor.\n August 19, 2006 – South African, Edmund Bruwer, was killed by a roadside bomb.\n September 17, 2006 – American, Darrell Leroy Wetherbee, was killed by a sniper in Hawijah. He was working for DynCorp as a PMC.\n October 2, 2006 – Two Turks, Nuri Akceren and Zeki Kilicwho, were killed in an ambush near Mosul. They were working as truck drivers.\n October 30, 2006 – South African, Morne Pieters, killed by hostile fire.\n\n2007 \n January 7, 2007 – American, Glenda Oliver Butts, died of natural causes. She was working for Two Rivers Consultants as a construction consultant.\n January 9, 2007 – 2007 Balad aircraft crash, 5 pilots – citizens of Moldavia and 28 Turkish construction workers were killed\n January 17, 2007 – Croatian Željko Both was killed in an ambush in Baghdad. He was working for \"Unity Resources Group\" as security contractor. Also, Hungarian, Janos Nemeth, killed same contact.\n January 23, 2007 – Five Americans: Steve Gernet, Ron Johnson, Art Laguna, Shane Stanfield and Casey Casavant, were killed by insurgents during the rescue of US dignitaries from an ambushed meeting in Eastern Baghdad. They worked for Blackwater and were contracted Dept. of State PMC's.\n February, 2007 – U.S. citizen Donald E. Tolfree Jr. was killed at Camp Anaconda. He was worked for KBR, Inc. as truck driver\n February 15, South African, Glen Joyce, was killed by an IED in Baghdad.\n February 18, Don Schneider an American civilian driving a post office mail truck from Kuwait to Camp Ceder Iraq died from two 155 round IED's\n March 2007 – U.S. citizen Carolyn Edwards was killed in Baghdad's Green Zone. She was worked for KBR, Inc. as logistics coordinator\n April 5, 2007 – Kuwaiti, name unknown, was killed in an ambush in Basra. He was working as a translator.\n April 15, 2007 – Five Iranians, names unknown, were killed in an ambush in Baqubah. They were working as truck drivers.\n June 12, 2007 – American, Michael Wayne Butler, was killed by a rocket propelled grenade in Tikrit. He worked for DynCorp International as a PMC.\n July 15, 2007 – Australians Brendan Hurst and Justin Saint were killed by a rocket propelled grenade in an ambush. They were working for BLP International.\n August 28, 2007 – South African, Frans Robert Brand, was killed by an IED. He was employed as a security specialist by the London-based ArmorGroup Iraq.\n October 10, 2007 – U.S. Citizens Michael Doheny; Micah Shaw; Steve Evrard, killed by E.F.P near Al Kut. They was worked as a PSC for SOC-LLC U.S. Private Security Company.\n\n2008 \n March 16, 2008 - Briton, Liam Carmichael, was killed when he was thrown from his vehicle after a tyre blow out in Sulaymaniyah, Iraq.\n June 12, 2008 – Briton, Darryl Fern, was killed by a roadside bomb. He was working for AEGIS as a PMC.\n June 13, 2008 – South African Desmond Milnes died from wounds sustained in the same attack as Darryl Fern.\n July 6, 2008- American Justin English was killed when his convoy struck an IED. He was a firefighter for WSI.\n November 13, 2008 – three Russians, two Ukrainians, one Belarusian, names unknown, and one Indian, Jaychandran Appukutten, were killed when their AN12 transport plane crashed near Fallujah. They were working for Falcon Aviation Group as cargo plane operators.\n\n2009 \n March 4, 2009 – American, Justin Pope, died of an accidental gunshot wound. He was working for DynCorp International as a PMC\n March 9, 2009 – Pakistani, name unknown, was killed by Katyusha rocket fire in Basra. He was working as a private contractor at Basra International Airport.\n March 26, 2009 – Hungarian, Tibor Bogdan was killed by U.S. soldier near Camp Taji, north of Baghdad\n May 15, 2009 – Briton, name unknown, was killed by a roadside bomb in Hilla. He was working as a PMC.\n May 22, 2009 – American, Jim Kitterman, was stabbed and killed by fellow contractors in the Green Zone in Baghdad. He was working for Janus Construction as an engineer. Larry Eugene Young, was killed in a mortar attack on the Green Zone in Baghdad. He was working for Corporate Training Unlimited as a PMC.\n May 25, 2009 – American, Kenneth Rose was killed by a roadside bomb in Fallujah. He was working as a private contractor.\n May 25, 2009 – Two Americans, Terrance \"Terry\" Barnich and Dr. Maged Hussein, were killed by an IED outside Fallujah. They were working for the Iraq Transition Assistance Office.\n June 20, 2009 – The bodies of two Britons, Jason Creswell and Jason Swindlehurst, were recovered in Baghdad, they were captured on May 27, 2007. They were working for GardaWorld as PMC's.\n July 17, 2009 – Two Americans, William F. Hinchman and one name unknown, were killed when their helicopter crashed in Baghdad. They were working for Blackwater Security as PMC's.\n July 29, 2009 – The bodies of two Britons, Alec MacLachlan and Alan McMenemy, were recovered in Baghdad, they were captured on May 27, 2007. They were working for GardaWorld as PMC's.\n August 9, 2009 – An Australian and a Briton, Darren Hoare and Paul McGuigan, were killed by a fellow contractor in the Green Zone in Baghdad. They were working for ArmourGroup as PMC's.\n September 1, 2009 – American, Adam Hermanson, was electrocuted in Baghdad. He was working for Triple Canopy as a PMC.\n September 13, 2009 – American, Lucas \"Trent\" Vinson, was killed by a U.S. soldier at Contingency Operating Base Speicher in Tikrit. He was working for Kellogg, Brown & Root as a private contractor.\n\n2010 \n March 10 – Briton, Robbie Napier, an Aegis Security contractor, died after the IED explosion in Iraq\n May 19 – Briton, Nic Crouch was killed by a suicide car bomber in Mosul. Two other western contractors – believed to be Americans – and at least one Iraqi contractor were seriously injured in the attack. All the contractors worked for the British security company Aegis.\n July 22 – Two Ugandans and a Peruvian, names unknown, were working as PMC's who were guarding the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad when they were killed in a rocket attack on the Green Zone.\n September 14 – Briton, Karl Bowen, was killed in a car accident near Kirkuk.\n October 4 – An American contractor, Michael Behr, passed away.\n\n2011 \n March 16 – American, Johnnie Lee Smith died in Germany from injuries he received in Iraq when the truck he was driving hit an area covered in oil that had been ignited. He received burn injuries while trying to escape his vehicle. He was KBR truck driver\n June 23 – American, Stephen Everhart, was killed when his convoy was ambushed in Baghdad. He was working for USAID as an \"international development and finance expert\".\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n Iraq Coalition Casualties: Contractors – A Partial List\n\nIraq War casualties\nPrivate military contractors",
"Russell Ball (24 March 1891 – 12 June 1942) was a studio glamour photographer who made stills for films and portraits of Hollywood film stars including Jean Harlow, Greta Garbo, Louise Brooks, Mary Pickford, Esther Ralston and Carol Dempster.\n\nLife\n\nRussell Earp Ball was born in Philadelphia. His father died while Russell was still a teenager; by 1910 Russell was working as a salesman for the Gas Light Manufacturing Company. He moved to New York and on 1 February 1912 he married the film journalist Gladys Hall, with whom he had two children, while working as a newspaper photographer. By 1917 he was working as a photographer, and by 1920 he had specialised into making portrait publicity stills for films, among others for the Shubert Organization. After working independently for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1925 (on the East Coast), he opened his own studio at 9528 Brighton Way, Beverly Hills to work for private patrons and celebrities at the end of the 1920s.\n\nReferences\n\nFurther reading\n\n \n\n1896 births\n1942 deaths\n20th-century American photographers\nPhotographers from California"
]
|
[
"Bring Me the Horizon",
"Style and influences"
]
| C_50898b4862fb42f5b989ea579db6fb46_1 | What influenced their music style? | 1 | What influenced Bring Me the Horizon's music style? | Bring Me the Horizon | Among Bring Me the Horizon's earliest influences were bands like At the Gates, Carcass, Pantera, Metallica, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Every Time I Die, Norma Jean, Skycamefalling and Poison the Well; and genres death metal, grindcore, and emo have been cited by AllMusic writer Steward Mason. However, as their sound developed, the band started to take influences from progressive rock, post-rock, dubstep and electronica. The band's musical style has been described mainly as metalcore and - though they have since moved on from the genre - their early material was considered deathcore. Across their career the band has also been said to play within the genres post-hardcore, hardcore punk, technical metal, heavy metal, and emo. Bring Me the Horizon have attempted to grow and change with each album, believing they should be different. Raziq Rauf, writing for Drowned In Sound, described Count Your Blessings as possessing "Norma Jean-style thunderous riffs mixed with some dastardly sludgy doom moments and more breakdowns than your dad's old Nissan Sunny." Metal Hammer described Suicide Season as a "creative, critical and commercial success" for the band as they started to adopt a more eclectic style, with its "crushingly heavy party deathcore". Leading up to its release Oliver Sykes described it as "100% different to Count Your Blessings" and noted the album sounds "more rock than metal". As time went by, Bring Me the Horizon began rejecting their debut album Count Your Blessings and considered Suicide Season as their "Year Zero[...] [their] wipe-the-slate-clean time". Bring Me the Horizon then moved even further away from deathcore with their third album There Is a Hell, which incorporated electronica, classical music and pop music into their metalcore style. This required more ambitious production feats, such as using a full choir, a synthesised orchestra and glitched out vocals and breakdowns that were also toned down, favouring quiet atmospheric passages in song breaks. For the writing of Sempiternal, the band pooled far broader influences such as post-rock acts like This Will Destroy You and Explosions In The Sky and from pop music. Bring Me the Horizon has experimented with its music in recent years, mixing pop with metal music, leading the band to be labeled a "pop metal" act. With the release of That's the Spirit, their sound shifted towards alternative metal and alternative rock, also incorporated other genres such as pop rock and nu metal, while completely abandoning the metalcore sound of their earlier albums. CANNOTANSWER | Among Bring Me the Horizon's earliest influences were bands like At the Gates, Carcass, Pantera, Metallica, The Dillinger Escape Plan, | Bring Me the Horizon (often abbreviated as BMTH) are a British rock band formed in Sheffield in 2004. The group consists of lead vocalist Oliver Sykes, guitarist Lee Malia, bassist Matt Kean, drummer Matt Nicholls and keyboardist Jordan Fish. They are signed to RCA Records globally and Columbia Records exclusively in the United States.
The band released their debut album Count Your Blessings in 2006. Upon release, the album's sound polarised listeners, and was met with critical disdain. The band began to break away from their controversial sound with Suicide Season (2008), which was a creative, critical and commercial turning point for the band. Bring Me the Horizon released their third album, There Is a Hell Believe Me I've Seen It. There Is a Heaven Let's Keep It a Secret., in 2010, propelling them to greater international fame, whilst incorporating influences from classical music, electronica and pop. Their major label debut, Sempiternal (2013) achieved Gold certification in Australia (35,000) and Silver in the United Kingdom (60,000). That's the Spirit (2015) debuted at number two in the UK Albums Chart and the US Billboard 200. Their sixth studio album Amo (2019) became their first UK chart topper. As well as these six studio albums, they have also released two extended plays and two live albums. They have received four Kerrang! Awards, including two for Best British Band and one for Best Live Band, and have been nominated for two Grammy Awards.
The style of their early work, including their debut album Count Your Blessings, has been described primarily as deathcore, but they started to adopt a more eclectic style of metalcore on later albums. Furthermore, That's the Spirit marked a shift in their sound to less aggressive rock music styles. Amo saw a shift into different genres, such as electronica, pop and hip hop.
History
Formation and early releases (2002–2006)
Bring Me the Horizon's founding members came from diverse musical backgrounds within metal and rock. Matt Nicholls and Oliver Sykes had a common interest in American metalcore such as Norma Jean and Skycamefalling, and used to attend local hardcore punk shows. They later met Lee Malia, who spoke with them about thrash metal and melodic death metal bands like Metallica and At the Gates; Malia had also been part of a Metallica tribute band before meeting the pair. Bring Me the Horizon officially formed in March 2004, when the members were aged 15 to 17. Curtis Ward, who also lived in the Rotherham area, joined Sykes, Malia and Nicholls on drums. Bassist Matt Kean, who was in other local bands, completed the line-up. Their name is paraphrased from a line of dialogue spoken by Captain Jack Sparrow in the 2003 film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, where Captain Jack Sparrow says: "Now, bring me that horizon."
In the months following their formation, Bring Me the Horizon created a demo album titled Bedroom Sessions. They followed this by releasing their first EP, This Is What the Edge of Your Seat Was Made For, in September 2004 through local UK label Thirty Days of Night Records. Bring Me the Horizon were the label's first signing. It was recorded at Pristine Studios in Nottingham over the course of two weekends, with drums and bass guitar laid down over the first weekend, and guitars and vocals completed a week later.
UK label Visible Noise noticed the band after the release of their EP, and signed them for a four-album deal, in addition to re-releasing the EP in January 2005. The re-release gained the band significant attention, eventually peaking at No. 41 on the UK album charts. The band was later awarded Best British Newcomer at the 2006 Kerrang! Awards ceremony.
The band's first tour was supporting The Red Chord across the United Kingdom. As with other early tours, they were able to get this slot by tricking venue promoters. Kean and Oliver's mother Carol Sykes were the de facto managers of the band at this time, a role they continued to occupy until 2008. For The Red Chord support, Kean emailed promoters and pretended they were opening on all the dates, when they were supposed to play only at their local show. This led them to being booked for the whole tour. In another case, Sykes created an e-mail account in the name of Johnny Truant vocalist Oliver Mitchell, which he used to contact a promoter requesting Bring Me the Horizon on their tour. Alcohol consumption fuelled their live performances in their early history when the band would get so drunk they vomited on stage and damaged their equipment.
Count Your Blessings (2006–2007)
The band released their debut album Count Your Blessings in October 2006 in the United Kingdom and in August 2007 in the United States. They rented a house in the country to write songs, but easily became distracted. They then recorded the album in inner-city Birmingham, a process which was infamous for their excessive and dangerous drinking. During this period drummer Nicholls summarised it saying "we were out every night, just being regular 18-year-olds". Critics panned the album adding to the strongly polarised responses the band were already seeing from the public.
They supported Count Your Blessings by going on a lengthy headline tour of the UK in November, and immediately followed this joining Lostprophets and The Blackout on a UK tour through late November and December 2006.
In January 2007, Bring Me the Horizon were able to set their sights beyond the UK, when they replaced Bury Your Dead on Killswitch Engage's European headline tour. The slot became available after Bury Your Dead were forced to withdraw by the departure from the band of their vocalist, Mat Bruso. Bring Me the Horizon's presence on the tour was poorly received by fans of Killswitch Engage, with concert attendees regularly throwing bottles at the band before they even started playing their set.
Suicide Season and Ward's departure (2008–2009)
Bring Me the Horizon recorded their second studio album, Suicide Season, in Sweden with producer Fredrik Nordström. He was unimpressed with their first album and was initially absent from the recording sessions unless he needed to be there. Nordström later heard the new sound they were experimenting with during a recording session and became very involved in the record. It was promoted virally in the weeks before its release with the promotional tag line "September is Suicide Season." To promote Suicide Season the band embarked on their first headline tour of the United States, as well as appearing at the 2008 Warped Tour. In May 2008, Bring Me the Horizon was the main supporting band on I Killed the Prom Queen's farewell Australian tour with The Ghost Inside and The Red Shore.
Suicide Season was released on 18 September 2008 in the United States on Epitaph and on 29 September in Europe through Visible Noise. In 2009, Bring Me the Horizon attended the 2009 Kerrang! Tour alongside Black Tide, Dir En Grey, In Case of Fire and Mindless Self Indulgence. They also joined Thursday, Cancer Bats, Four Year Strong and Pierce the Veil on the North American leg of the 2009 Taste of Chaos tour from February to April after the tour's organizer Kevin Lyman offered them the slot. The band were initially hesitant to join this tour, but were convinced after Lyman offered them a bus and $500 of fuel for the tour.
During the Taste of Chaos tour in March of that year, guitarist Curtis Ward left the band. His relationship with the band had deteriorated as his stage performances were poor. He was abusive to audiences during the Taste of Chaos tour, and had contributed little to the writing of Suicide Season. Another reason for his departure was the worsening tinnitus in his one functioning ear. Ward was born deaf in one ear and admitted playing in the band worsened the ringing in his other ear to such a degree that he was unable to sleep at night. Ward offered to perform the rest of the tour dates, which the band rejected and instead asked their guitar technician, Dean Rowbotham, to substitute for him for the remaining performances. Lee Malia noted that Ward's departure helped improve everyone's mood as he had been very negative. Within a week of the tour finishing, Sykes began talking to Jona Weinhofen, at the time the guitarist of Bleeding Through. The band knew of him from his work with his former band I Killed the Prom Queen, and he was asked to join them. Ward has since worked on the TV show Top Gear, and has occasionally performed on stage with Bring Me The Horizon, playing "Pray For Plagues", most notably at Wembley Arena in 2015. In 2016, it was announced that Ward had joined the band Counting Days.
In November 2009, Bring Me the Horizon released a remixed version of Suicide Season, titled Suicide Season: Cut Up! Musicians and producers featured on the album include: Ben Weinman, Skrillex, L'Amour La Morgue, Utah Saints and Shawn Crahan. Musically, the album incorporates many genres including: electronica, drum and bass, hip-hop and dubstep. The dubstep style of the record has been acknowledged in tracks by Tek-One and Skrillex while the hip-hop elements are found in Travis McCoy's remix of "Chelsea Smile".
There Is a Hell... (2010–2011)
The band's third album, and first with their new rhythm guitarist Jona Weinhofen, titled There Is a Hell Believe Me I've Seen It. There Is a Heaven Let's Keep It a Secret., was released on 4 October 2010 and debuted at number 17 on the Billboard 200 in the United States, number 13 on the UK Album Chart, and number one on the Australian Albums Chart, the UK Rock Chart and the UK Indie Chart. Despite reaching number one in Australia, the album's sales were the lowest for a number one album in the history of the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) charts.
Matt Nicholls describes the lyrical themes of There Is a Hell... as being "repercussions of everything we were singing about on our last CD [Suicide Season]," calling the music and lyrics a lot moodier and darker. Five singles were released from the album including: "It Never Ends", "Anthem", "Blessed with a Curse", "Visions", and "Alligator Blood", with music videos produced for each of the songs. The band embarked on a headline tour in intimate venues across the United Kingdom with support from Cancer Bats and Tek-One. In December 2010, Bring Me the Horizon joined Bullet for My Valentine as the main support band, alongside Atreyu, on a short five-date arena tour around the United Kingdom. To cope with high demand, Live Nation released extra standing tickets for all dates.
In April 2011, Bring Me the Horizon embarked on a European tour, starting in the United Kingdom. They toured with Parkway Drive and Architects as main support bands, with The Devil Wears Prada as the opening support for the UK and dubstep group Tek-One. The tour, however, was not without its hindrances. On 28 April, Nicholls broke his arm whilst playing football with members of Bring Me the Horizon, Parkway Drive and Architects. Instead of cancelling the tour, Architects' drummer Dan Searle filled in as drummer, but this meant that Bring Me the Horizon's setlist was halved in length. The tour was extended with a North American leg from 13 August to 4 October, retaining Parkway Drive and Architects and adding Deez Nuts to the line up. On 23 August they released the fourth music video and single, "Visions", and on 31 October the music video for the song "Alligator Blood" was released.
In December 2011, Machine Head completed an arena tour across Europe with Bring Me the Horizon as the main support band along with DevilDriver and Darkest Hour. Oliver Sykes said these would be the last European dates before they began writing and the recording their fourth album. 2011 ended with an announcement by the band on 29 December of a new extended play titled The Chill Out Sessions, a collaborative effort with British DJ Draper. Draper first released an "officially sanctioned" remix of the song "Blessed with a Curse" in May 2011. The EP was originally supposed to be released in time for New Year's Day, and made available for download and purchase though Bring Me the Horizon's website, but the EP's release was cancelled due to the band's "current management and label situation".
Sempiternal and Weinhofen's departure (2012–2014)
After an intense touring schedule, Bring Me the Horizon finally completed their third album's promotion at the end of 2011. They returned to the UK for an extended break and eventually starting work on their next album. Much like their previous two albums, they wrote their fourth album in seclusion and isolation to stay focused. This time, they retreated to a house in the Lake District. In July, the band started to publish images of themselves recording at a 'Top Secret Studio Location,' and revealed they were working with producer Terry Date for the recording and production of the album. On 30 July, the band announced they had left their label and signed with RCA, who would release their fourth album in 2013. The band played only three shows in all of 2012: Warped Tour 2012 on 10 November at the Alexandra Palace in London, which they headlined, (and was initially believed to be their only show), the BBC Radio 1's Radio 1 Rocks show on 22 October, where they played a six-song set supporting Bullet for My Valentine, and at a warm-up show for Warped Tour in Sheffield on 9 November. In late October it was announced that the fourth album would be called Sempiternal with a tentative release in early 2013. On 22 November the band released the Draper collaborative album The Chill Out Sessions free of charge.
On 4 January 2013, Bring Me the Horizon released the first single from Sempiternal, "Shadow Moses". It was first played by radio presenter Daniel P. Carter on BBC's Radio 1. Due to popular demand, Epitaph released the music video for the song a week earlier than planned. In January, the band also saw a change in their line up. This began early in the month when Jordan Fish, Worship keyboardist and session musician for the band during the writing of Sempiternal, was announced as a full member. Then later in the month, Jona Weinhofen left the band. Despite the band denying speculation that Fish replaced Weinhofen, reviewers said that replacing a guitarist with a keyboardist better fit their style.
The band was confirmed for several festival appearances in February. They played the Australian Soundwave festival, performing at all five dates in: Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth, and then at RAMFest in South Africa with Rise Against in March, Rock Am Ring and Rock im Park festivals in Germany in June, and from June until August they played Warped Tour 2013 in the U.S. and Canada. To coincide with 29 April release of Sempiternal the band made their first headline tour of the United Kingdom in 18 months with Crossfaith and Empress AD.
In support of Sempiternal, the band toured Australia with Of Mice & Men and Crossfaith, and played a British tour with Pierce The Veil and Sights & Sounds. They then completed the American Dream Tour in North America, supported by Of Mice & Men, Issues, letlive. and Northlane. The band was announced as the main supporter for American band A Day to Remember on their "Parks & Devastation Tour" across America throughout September and October, along with support acts Motionless in White and Chiodos. The band performed at Wembley Arena in London on 5 December with support acts Young Guns, Issues and Sleepwave, which was recorded and released as a live album/DVD.
Later in 2014, the band released two new tracks titled "Drown" on 21 October, as a stand-alone single, and "Don't Look Down" on 29 October, as part of the re-score of Drive.
That's the Spirit (2015–2017)
In late June, the band began to promote pictures of an umbrella symbol being used as a tattoo, and on stickers, and posters across England, the United States, Australia, and Europe; it was later used for a promotional cover for the band's first single. The band released a short video in early July where the words "that's the spirit" could be heard in reverse. On 13 July 2015, the promotional single "Happy Song" was released on the band's Vevo page, and on 21 July 2015, Sykes revealed the album's name was That's the Spirit. The band released the single and music video for "Throne" on 23 July 2015, and another promotional track from the album, titled "True Friends", was released on 24 August 2015. The album was released on 11 September 2015 to critical acclaim. It has led to several music videos including "Drown", "Throne", "True Friends", "Follow You", "Avalanche", and "Oh No".
The band embarked on a U.S. tour in October 2015 with support from metalcore band Issues and rock band PVRIS. The band also toured Europe in November 2015, and embarked on a second U.S. tour in April and May 2016. This was followed by an Australian tour in September 2016, and a second European tour in November 2016.
On 22 April 2016, the band performed a live concert with an orchestra conducted by Simon Dobson at the Royal Albert Hall in London. The concert marked the first time the band had performed with a live orchestra. It was recorded, and the live album, Live at the Royal Albert Hall, was released on 2 December 2016 through the crowdfunding platform PledgeMusic on CD, DVD, and vinyl, with all proceeds donated to Teenage Cancer Trust. Following the show, Fish hinted at the possibility of doing a full tour with an orchestra, saying: "It seems almost a bit of a shame to go to all this effort for months and months for just one night."
Amo (2018–2019)
In August 2018, cryptic posters appeared in major cities throughout the world with the message "do you wanna start a cult with me?". The posters were attributed by major media outlets to the band only by their use of the hexagram logo previously used by the band. During this time the band themselves have not acknowledged their involvement with the campaign publicly. Each poster provided a unique phone number and a website address. The website provided a brief message titled "An Invitation To Salvation" and shows the date of 21 August 2018. The phone lines placed fans on hold with lengthy, varied audio messages that changed frequently. Some of these messages reportedly end with a distorted audio clip of what was assumed to be new music from the band.
On 21 August, the band released the lead single "Mantra". The following day the band announced their album Amo, released on 11 January 2019, along with a set of tour dates called the First Love World Tour.
On 21 October, the band released their second single "Wonderful Life" featuring Dani Filth, along with the tracklist for Amo. That same day, the band announced that the album has been delayed and is now set for 25 January 2019.
On 1 December, it was reported that during a show at Ally Pally a fan died in the mosh pit and was escorted by paramedics and security. A day later, it was confirmed by the band with a statement: "Words cannot express how horrified we are feeling this evening after hearing about the death of a young man at our show last night. Our hearts and deepest condolences go out to his family and loved ones at this terrible time. We will comment further in due course."
On 3 January 2019, the band released their third single "Medicine" and its corresponding music video. On 22 January, three days before the album release, the band released the fourth single "Mother Tongue". On 24 January, the band released the fifth single "Nihilist Blues" featuring Grimes.
On 26 July, the band released the sixth single "Sugar Honey Ice & Tea" alongside an accompanying music video. On 21 October, the band released the seventh single "In the Dark" alongside an accompanying music video featuring Forest Whitaker. On 6 November, the band released the song "Ludens", which is part of Death Stranding: Timefall, along with the news that the band are planning on never releasing an album again and instead want to release EPs. On 27 December, the band released Music to Listen to~Dance to~Blaze to~Pray to~Feed to~Sleep to~Talk to~Grind to~Trip to~Breathe to~Help to~Hurt to~Scroll to~Roll to~Love to~Hate to~Learn Too~Plot to~Play to~Be to~Feel to~Breed to~Sweat to~Dream to~Hide to~Live to~Die to~Go To without any prior announcement.
Post Human: Survival Horror (2020–present)
On 20 March 2020, the band shared that they were in a home studio, writing and recording material for their eighth record, which is expected to be an EP, with part of it being co-produced by Mick Gordon. On 25 June, the band released the single "Parasite Eve" alongside an accompanying music video. On the same day, the band also announced a project that they have been working on titled Post Human, which they said to be four EPs released throughout the next year which when combined would make an album. On 2 September, the band released with English singer Yungblud a collaborative single titled "Obey" and its corresponding music video. On 14 October, the band officially announced through social media that Post Human: Survival Horror would be released on 30 October 2020. On 22 October, a week before the release date, the fourth single "Teardrops" was released alongside an accompanying music video.
In December 2020, Fish said that the band had been writing "on and off" and would be focusing on their next release in early 2021. He also updated the group's release plan, saying that they "planned to do four EPs in a year, but [Post Human: Survival Horror] was almost an album, so I think the spacing will be a bit longer than intended, just because they're probably going to turn out bigger than intended." Upon being released on physical formats on 22 January 2021, Post Human: Survival Horror would chart again and reach a new peak to gift Bring Me the Horizon their second UK number one on the UK Albums Chart. Two years after Amo would be the first to reach this feat. The band collaborated with singer Olivia O'Brien on a track titled "No More Friends". The song is from O'Brien's Episodes: Season 1' EP which was released on 11 June 2021.
On 2 September 2021, the band announced the release of an upcoming single, "Die4U", which was released on 16 September. On 8 December, the band was announced as the Saturday co-headliner alongside Arctic Monkeys at the 2022 iteration of the Reading and Leeds Festival, headlining the bill for the first time ever. Speaking to NME about the announcement, Sykes expressed his thoughts about headlining Reading and Leeds, as well as what to expect from their headline set:
In February 2022, it was reported that the band were set to contribute to the soundtrack and provide the main theme for Gran Turismo 7. A few days later, the band released their rendition of "Moon Over the Castle" as a single ahead of schedule due to the song being leaked early. At the 42nd Brit Awards, the band were brought out as a surprise act to perform "Bad Habits" alongside Ed Sheeran. On 17 February, the studio version of "Bad Habits" by Ed Sheeran featuring the band was released.
Artistry
Style and influences
Among Bring Me the Horizon's earliest influences were bands like At the Gates, Carcass, Pantera, Metallica, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Every Time I Die, Norma Jean, Skycamefalling and Poison the Well; and genres death metal, grindcore, and emo have been cited by AllMusic writer Steward Mason. However, as their sound developed, the band started to take influences from progressive rock, post-rock, dubstep and electronica. The band's musical style has been described mainly as metalcore and – though they have since moved on from the genre – their early material was considered deathcore. Across their career the band has also been said to play within the genres alternative metal, alternative rock, pop rock, electronic rock, hard rock, heavy metal, post-hardcore, pop, nu metal, electropop, hip hop, EDM, arena rock, melodic metalcore, electronicore, electronica, screamo, hardcore punk, technical metal, and emo.
Bring Me the Horizon have attempted to grow and change with each album, believing they should be different. Raziq Rauf, writing for Drowned in Sound, described Count Your Blessings as possessing "Norma Jean-style thunderous riffs mixed with some dastardly sludgy doom moments and more breakdowns than your dad's old Nissan Sunny." Metal Hammer described Suicide Season as a "creative, critical and commercial success" for the band as they started to adopt a more eclectic style, with its "crushingly heavy party deathcore". Leading up to its release, Oliver Sykes described it as "100% different to Count Your Blessings" and noted the album sounds "more rock than metal". As time went by, Bring Me the Horizon began rejecting their debut album Count Your Blessings and considered Suicide Season as their "Year Zero[...] [their] wipe-the-slate-clean time".
Bring Me the Horizon then moved even further away from deathcore with their third album There Is a Hell..., which incorporated electronica, classical music and pop music into their metalcore style. This required more ambitious production feats, such as using a full choir, a synthesised orchestra and glitched out vocals and breakdowns that were also toned down, favouring quiet atmospheric passages in song breaks. For the writing of Sempiternal, the band pooled far broader influences such as post-rock acts like This Will Destroy You and Explosions in the Sky and from pop music.
Bring Me the Horizon has experimented with its music in recent years, mixing pop with metal music, leading the band to be labelled a "pop metal" act. With the release of That's the Spirit, their sound shifted towards electronic rock, alternative metal and alternative rock, also incorporated other genres such as pop rock and nu metal, while completely abandoning the metalcore sound of their earlier albums.
Songwriting and recording process
In all the band's album notes, all of Bring Me the Horizon's lyrics are said to be written by lead vocalist Oliver Sykes while all five members—as a band—were credited with writing the music. With the exception of Count Your Blessings, the band has always written in a secluded location to avoid being distracted. Oliver Sykes' lyrics have a strong feeling of catharsis for him. He mainly draws from personal experience and has described the band's live performances as therapeutic. In 2006, when asked about the lyrics of Count Your Blessings, as they had been criticised for their content solely fixated on heartbreak and other themes that were called "shallow and meaningless", he responded "My life's never been that bad so I've not got that much to talk about."
Band members have described how the debut album was written in inner-city areas of Birmingham while being pressured to write and record songs to the deadlines given. This resulted in the band being unimpressed with the final product. However, for the writing process of Suicide Season, the band realised that they much preferred picking areas with less human contact in order to focus on the music; they wrote their second album in the Swedish countryside. During the writing of Suicide Season, former and founding rhythm guitarist Curtis Ward wrote only two riffs of his rhythm parts of the album, mostly relying on Lee Malia to write all of the guitar sections of the album.
Lee Malia has stated that the typical writing process involves Oliver Sykes writing the main structure of the songs, followed by Malia writing the main riff. From this they would collaborate with each other to structure their work better and then later include the rest of the band in writing the rest of the song. The writing dynamic of Sempiternal, typically featured Sykes, Malia and newly introduced member Jordan Fish. Malia felt that with Fish's influence on the record he was pushed to create more inspired guitar riffs. As they all took a break before writing their fourth album, they felt less of a need for an isolated writing environment.
Image and legacy
During the band's early years, they were praised for their business acumen for selling mail-order merchandise and not relying on sales at live shows. Bring Me the Horizon's image has been characterised by the dominating personality of singer and front-man Oliver Sykes, and he has often been seen as the band's "Poster boy", bearing the brunt of the band's controversial reputation. In their early years, Bring Me the Horizon's image was infamously characterised by its members fashion sense and use of skinny-fit jeans, T-shirts with death metal band logos on the front and coloured hair/straightened hair. The band's image fit into what was called scene fashion. The effect of their fashion aesthetics showed people, in show promoter Iain Scott's perspective, that "you don't have to look like a diabolical metalhead to be into metal or play in a metal band". However, their fashion conscious appearance earned them a "style over substance" label.
Many controversies that occurred in their early years greatly affected public perceptions of the band, particularly an incident in 2007 at Nottingham's Rock City venue, when a female fan claimed that Oliver Sykes had urinated on her. The charges were dropped due to a lack of evidence from CCTV footage in the area. There were several documented examples of violence against the band during their live shows, including Sykes being pepper sprayed on stage; and people getting onstage to assault the band.
Despite the controversy over their image, various journalists have credited the band as being one of the most forward-thinking heavy bands in the UK. In 2012, just four years after the release of Suicide Season, the album was inducted into Rock Sound's Hall of Fame, credited as a significant influence on the works of Asking Alexandria, The Ghost Inside and While She Sleeps. It was credited as an influence on metalcore contemporaries Architects on Hollow Crown with their incorporation of keyboards and programming, and The Devil Wears Prada's Dead Throne for its more experimental and opinion-dividing sound.
The band caused further controversy in February 2016 when Oliver Sykes trashed Coldplay's table at the 2016 NME Awards during a live performance of Bring Me the Horizon's track "Happy Song". Although some people thought the table trashing was because of a prior feud between the two bands relating to similar album artwork, Sykes later stated that the act was not an act of "dirty protest", and suggested that it was "pure coincidence" that Coldplay were sitting at the table he trampled. Coldplay frontman Chris Martin admitted that he had never even heard of Bring Me the Horizon before the incident and he laughed it off, stating that "it was great, very 'rock and roll'".
Band members
Current
Oliver Sykes – lead vocals ; keyboards, programming
Matt Kean – bass
Lee Malia – lead guitar ; rhythm guitar
Matt Nicholls – drums
Jordan Fish – keyboards, programming, percussion, backing vocals
Current touring musicians
John Jones – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
Former
Curtis Ward – rhythm guitar
Jona Weinhofen – rhythm guitar, keyboards, programming, backing vocals
Former touring musicians
Dean Rowbotham – rhythm guitar
Robin Urbino – rhythm guitar
Tim Hillier-Brook – rhythm guitar
Brendan MacDonald – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
Timeline
Discography
Count Your Blessings (2006)
Suicide Season (2008)
There Is a Hell Believe Me I've Seen It. There Is a Heaven Let's Keep It a Secret. (2010)
Sempiternal (2013)
That's the Spirit (2015)
Amo (2019)
Awards and nominations
Grammy Awards
|-
| 2019 || "Mantra" || Best Rock Song ||
|-
| 2020 || Amo || Best Rock Album ||
BRIT Awards
|-
| 2020 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best Group ||
|-
NME Awards|-
|rowspan="2"| 2017
|Bring Me the Horizon || Best Live Band ||
|-
| Bring Me the Horizon || Music Moment of the Year ||
|-
| 2020 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best Band in the World ||
|-
|rowspan="2"| 2022 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best Band in the World ||
|-
| Bring Me the Horizon || Best Live Act ||Kerrang! Awards|-
| 2006 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best British Newcomer ||
|-
| 2008 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best British Band ||
|-
| 2009 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best British Band ||
|-
|rowspan="3"| 2011 || "Blessed with a Curse" || Best Single ||
|-
| Bring Me the Horizon || Best British Band ||
|-
| There Is a Hell Believe Me I've Seen It. There Is a Heaven Let's Keep It a Secret. || Best Album ||
|-
| 2012 || "Alligator Blood" || Best Video ||
|-
| rowspan="4"| 2013 || "Shadow Moses" || Best Single ||
|-
| "Shadow Moses" || Best Video ||
|-
| Sempiternal || Best Album ||
|-
| Bring Me the Horizon || Best British Band ||
|-
| 2014 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best Live Band ||
|-
| 2014 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best British Band ||
|-
|rowspan="2"| 2015|| Bring Me the Horizon || Best British Band ||
|-
| "Drown" || Best Single ||
|-
| 2016 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best British Band ||
|-
|rowspan="2"|2019 || Amo || Best Album ||
|-
| Bring Me the Horizon || Best British Band || AIM Independent Music Awards|-
| 2011 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best Live Act ||
|-
| 2011 || Bring Me the Horizon || Hardest Working Band or Artist ||
|-
| 2011 || Bring Me the Horizon || Independent Breakthrough of Year || Alternative Press
|-
| 2014 || Sempiternal || Best Album ||
|-
| 2014 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best International Band ||
|-
| 2015 || "Drown" || Best Music Video ||
|-
UK Music Video Awards
|-
| 2016
| "True Friends"
| Best Rock/Indie Video – UK
|
Readers polls
In a 2009 Rock Sound readers' poll, Bring Me the Horizon achieved both Best British Band and Worst British Band.
In 2011 The Guardian ran a poll for "Who should win the Mercury prize?" and used 50 albums, Bring Me the Horizon's third album There Is a Hell... won with 37%.
In a 2013 Sirius XM published poll, Bring Me the Horizon won Best Song Discovery for "Go to Hell, for Heaven's Sake" with the Octane radio station.
In a 2013 Alternative Press readers poll, Bring Me the Horizon was nominated for four categories: Best Vocalist (Oliver Sykes; position 3), Best Keyboardist (Jordan Fish; position 1), Single Of The Year ("Shadow Moses"; position 2) and "Best Album Art" (Sempiternal; position 2).
In 2021, Kerrang! readers voted "Die4U" as the best song and music video of the year. Bring Me the Horizon was also voted as the best band and best live band of the year. They were also voted as the second-best cover story of the year by Kerrang Magazine.
Notes
References
Bibliography
External links
2004 establishments in England
British alternative metal musical groups
Columbia Records artists
English alternative rock groups
English deathcore musical groups
English metalcore musical groups
English pop rock music groups
Kerrang! Awards winners
Musical groups from Sheffield
Musical groups established in 2004
Musical quintets
RCA Records artists | true | [
"Mainstream jazz is a term coined in the 1950s by music journalist Stanley Dance, who considered anything within the popular jazz of the Swing Era \"mainstream\", and did not include the bebop style.\n\nJazz in the mainstream \n\nAfter Dance defined mainstream jazz in the 1950s, the definition changed with the evolution and progression of jazz music. What was mainstream then would not be considered mainstream now. In a general sense, mainstream jazz can be considered what was most popular at the time: For example, during the Swing era, swing and big band music were in their prime and what target audiences were looking for. Although bebop was introduced into jazz during that time, audiences had not developed an ear for it.\n\nMainstream jazz musicians \nThe jazz musicians listed below were either considered \"mainstream\" musicians, or were influenced by mainstream musicians.\n\nSwing era \n Duke Ellington was an important influence on mainstream jazz; his music during the swing era was not known for breaking rules. \n Coleman Hawkins made significant contributions to big band music prior to introducing bebop to his style. \n Johnny Hodges was a member of Duke Ellington's Orchestra and became a familiar voice within the orchestra itself. \n Benny Carter was a major influence on the big band style. \n Roy Eldridge has been named one of the most influential jazz musicians both within the swing era and to the development of bebop. His trumpet playing was influenced by Louis Armstrong.\n\nMainstream jazz in popular culture \nIn the 1950s and 1960s, jazz was a mainstream part of pop culture. Jazz music was on the radio and Hollywood frequently incorporated jazz in television and films.\n\nReferences \n\n \nJazz genres",
"New Look were a Canadian electronic music duo consisting of husband and wife, Adam Pavao and Sarah Ruba. The band released their first EP 'How's My Hair?' in 2008. Their debut album 'New Look' was recorded in Berlin and released on the record label !K7 on October 10, 2011. It has received critical acclamation from both The Guardian and Vogue. The couple split their time between Toronto, Canada where they have a house and studio, and New York City where Ruba works part-time as a model. In 2010, the band toured with English indie pop band The xx.\n\nNew Look's music is influenced by '80s sounds, using keyboards and synthesizers to create what they call 'future pop'. Their style also incorporates aspects of modern electro, pop, dubstep, soul and R&B. Ruba admits being influenced by early experiences of singing in a jazz band while in school. Writing the songs is a collaborative effort, both names being credited with authoring, composing and producing. Ruba provides vocals and synths while Pavao plays keyboards and instrumentals.\n\nDiscography \n How's My Hair? (EP) (2008)\n New Look (LP) (2011)\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n RelaxYourMind wordpress\n New Look on Discogs\n\nCanadian electronic music groups"
]
|
[
"Bring Me the Horizon",
"Style and influences",
"What influenced their music style?",
"Among Bring Me the Horizon's earliest influences were bands like At the Gates, Carcass, Pantera, Metallica, The Dillinger Escape Plan,"
]
| C_50898b4862fb42f5b989ea579db6fb46_1 | Did they ever make a statement regarding this influence? | 2 | Did Bring Me the Horizon ever make a statement regarding their influences from At the Gates, Carcass, Pantera, Metallica, and The Dillinger Escape Plan? | Bring Me the Horizon | Among Bring Me the Horizon's earliest influences were bands like At the Gates, Carcass, Pantera, Metallica, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Every Time I Die, Norma Jean, Skycamefalling and Poison the Well; and genres death metal, grindcore, and emo have been cited by AllMusic writer Steward Mason. However, as their sound developed, the band started to take influences from progressive rock, post-rock, dubstep and electronica. The band's musical style has been described mainly as metalcore and - though they have since moved on from the genre - their early material was considered deathcore. Across their career the band has also been said to play within the genres post-hardcore, hardcore punk, technical metal, heavy metal, and emo. Bring Me the Horizon have attempted to grow and change with each album, believing they should be different. Raziq Rauf, writing for Drowned In Sound, described Count Your Blessings as possessing "Norma Jean-style thunderous riffs mixed with some dastardly sludgy doom moments and more breakdowns than your dad's old Nissan Sunny." Metal Hammer described Suicide Season as a "creative, critical and commercial success" for the band as they started to adopt a more eclectic style, with its "crushingly heavy party deathcore". Leading up to its release Oliver Sykes described it as "100% different to Count Your Blessings" and noted the album sounds "more rock than metal". As time went by, Bring Me the Horizon began rejecting their debut album Count Your Blessings and considered Suicide Season as their "Year Zero[...] [their] wipe-the-slate-clean time". Bring Me the Horizon then moved even further away from deathcore with their third album There Is a Hell, which incorporated electronica, classical music and pop music into their metalcore style. This required more ambitious production feats, such as using a full choir, a synthesised orchestra and glitched out vocals and breakdowns that were also toned down, favouring quiet atmospheric passages in song breaks. For the writing of Sempiternal, the band pooled far broader influences such as post-rock acts like This Will Destroy You and Explosions In The Sky and from pop music. Bring Me the Horizon has experimented with its music in recent years, mixing pop with metal music, leading the band to be labeled a "pop metal" act. With the release of That's the Spirit, their sound shifted towards alternative metal and alternative rock, also incorporated other genres such as pop rock and nu metal, while completely abandoning the metalcore sound of their earlier albums. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Bring Me the Horizon (often abbreviated as BMTH) are a British rock band formed in Sheffield in 2004. The group consists of lead vocalist Oliver Sykes, guitarist Lee Malia, bassist Matt Kean, drummer Matt Nicholls and keyboardist Jordan Fish. They are signed to RCA Records globally and Columbia Records exclusively in the United States.
The band released their debut album Count Your Blessings in 2006. Upon release, the album's sound polarised listeners, and was met with critical disdain. The band began to break away from their controversial sound with Suicide Season (2008), which was a creative, critical and commercial turning point for the band. Bring Me the Horizon released their third album, There Is a Hell Believe Me I've Seen It. There Is a Heaven Let's Keep It a Secret., in 2010, propelling them to greater international fame, whilst incorporating influences from classical music, electronica and pop. Their major label debut, Sempiternal (2013) achieved Gold certification in Australia (35,000) and Silver in the United Kingdom (60,000). That's the Spirit (2015) debuted at number two in the UK Albums Chart and the US Billboard 200. Their sixth studio album Amo (2019) became their first UK chart topper. As well as these six studio albums, they have also released two extended plays and two live albums. They have received four Kerrang! Awards, including two for Best British Band and one for Best Live Band, and have been nominated for two Grammy Awards.
The style of their early work, including their debut album Count Your Blessings, has been described primarily as deathcore, but they started to adopt a more eclectic style of metalcore on later albums. Furthermore, That's the Spirit marked a shift in their sound to less aggressive rock music styles. Amo saw a shift into different genres, such as electronica, pop and hip hop.
History
Formation and early releases (2002–2006)
Bring Me the Horizon's founding members came from diverse musical backgrounds within metal and rock. Matt Nicholls and Oliver Sykes had a common interest in American metalcore such as Norma Jean and Skycamefalling, and used to attend local hardcore punk shows. They later met Lee Malia, who spoke with them about thrash metal and melodic death metal bands like Metallica and At the Gates; Malia had also been part of a Metallica tribute band before meeting the pair. Bring Me the Horizon officially formed in March 2004, when the members were aged 15 to 17. Curtis Ward, who also lived in the Rotherham area, joined Sykes, Malia and Nicholls on drums. Bassist Matt Kean, who was in other local bands, completed the line-up. Their name is paraphrased from a line of dialogue spoken by Captain Jack Sparrow in the 2003 film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, where Captain Jack Sparrow says: "Now, bring me that horizon."
In the months following their formation, Bring Me the Horizon created a demo album titled Bedroom Sessions. They followed this by releasing their first EP, This Is What the Edge of Your Seat Was Made For, in September 2004 through local UK label Thirty Days of Night Records. Bring Me the Horizon were the label's first signing. It was recorded at Pristine Studios in Nottingham over the course of two weekends, with drums and bass guitar laid down over the first weekend, and guitars and vocals completed a week later.
UK label Visible Noise noticed the band after the release of their EP, and signed them for a four-album deal, in addition to re-releasing the EP in January 2005. The re-release gained the band significant attention, eventually peaking at No. 41 on the UK album charts. The band was later awarded Best British Newcomer at the 2006 Kerrang! Awards ceremony.
The band's first tour was supporting The Red Chord across the United Kingdom. As with other early tours, they were able to get this slot by tricking venue promoters. Kean and Oliver's mother Carol Sykes were the de facto managers of the band at this time, a role they continued to occupy until 2008. For The Red Chord support, Kean emailed promoters and pretended they were opening on all the dates, when they were supposed to play only at their local show. This led them to being booked for the whole tour. In another case, Sykes created an e-mail account in the name of Johnny Truant vocalist Oliver Mitchell, which he used to contact a promoter requesting Bring Me the Horizon on their tour. Alcohol consumption fuelled their live performances in their early history when the band would get so drunk they vomited on stage and damaged their equipment.
Count Your Blessings (2006–2007)
The band released their debut album Count Your Blessings in October 2006 in the United Kingdom and in August 2007 in the United States. They rented a house in the country to write songs, but easily became distracted. They then recorded the album in inner-city Birmingham, a process which was infamous for their excessive and dangerous drinking. During this period drummer Nicholls summarised it saying "we were out every night, just being regular 18-year-olds". Critics panned the album adding to the strongly polarised responses the band were already seeing from the public.
They supported Count Your Blessings by going on a lengthy headline tour of the UK in November, and immediately followed this joining Lostprophets and The Blackout on a UK tour through late November and December 2006.
In January 2007, Bring Me the Horizon were able to set their sights beyond the UK, when they replaced Bury Your Dead on Killswitch Engage's European headline tour. The slot became available after Bury Your Dead were forced to withdraw by the departure from the band of their vocalist, Mat Bruso. Bring Me the Horizon's presence on the tour was poorly received by fans of Killswitch Engage, with concert attendees regularly throwing bottles at the band before they even started playing their set.
Suicide Season and Ward's departure (2008–2009)
Bring Me the Horizon recorded their second studio album, Suicide Season, in Sweden with producer Fredrik Nordström. He was unimpressed with their first album and was initially absent from the recording sessions unless he needed to be there. Nordström later heard the new sound they were experimenting with during a recording session and became very involved in the record. It was promoted virally in the weeks before its release with the promotional tag line "September is Suicide Season." To promote Suicide Season the band embarked on their first headline tour of the United States, as well as appearing at the 2008 Warped Tour. In May 2008, Bring Me the Horizon was the main supporting band on I Killed the Prom Queen's farewell Australian tour with The Ghost Inside and The Red Shore.
Suicide Season was released on 18 September 2008 in the United States on Epitaph and on 29 September in Europe through Visible Noise. In 2009, Bring Me the Horizon attended the 2009 Kerrang! Tour alongside Black Tide, Dir En Grey, In Case of Fire and Mindless Self Indulgence. They also joined Thursday, Cancer Bats, Four Year Strong and Pierce the Veil on the North American leg of the 2009 Taste of Chaos tour from February to April after the tour's organizer Kevin Lyman offered them the slot. The band were initially hesitant to join this tour, but were convinced after Lyman offered them a bus and $500 of fuel for the tour.
During the Taste of Chaos tour in March of that year, guitarist Curtis Ward left the band. His relationship with the band had deteriorated as his stage performances were poor. He was abusive to audiences during the Taste of Chaos tour, and had contributed little to the writing of Suicide Season. Another reason for his departure was the worsening tinnitus in his one functioning ear. Ward was born deaf in one ear and admitted playing in the band worsened the ringing in his other ear to such a degree that he was unable to sleep at night. Ward offered to perform the rest of the tour dates, which the band rejected and instead asked their guitar technician, Dean Rowbotham, to substitute for him for the remaining performances. Lee Malia noted that Ward's departure helped improve everyone's mood as he had been very negative. Within a week of the tour finishing, Sykes began talking to Jona Weinhofen, at the time the guitarist of Bleeding Through. The band knew of him from his work with his former band I Killed the Prom Queen, and he was asked to join them. Ward has since worked on the TV show Top Gear, and has occasionally performed on stage with Bring Me The Horizon, playing "Pray For Plagues", most notably at Wembley Arena in 2015. In 2016, it was announced that Ward had joined the band Counting Days.
In November 2009, Bring Me the Horizon released a remixed version of Suicide Season, titled Suicide Season: Cut Up! Musicians and producers featured on the album include: Ben Weinman, Skrillex, L'Amour La Morgue, Utah Saints and Shawn Crahan. Musically, the album incorporates many genres including: electronica, drum and bass, hip-hop and dubstep. The dubstep style of the record has been acknowledged in tracks by Tek-One and Skrillex while the hip-hop elements are found in Travis McCoy's remix of "Chelsea Smile".
There Is a Hell... (2010–2011)
The band's third album, and first with their new rhythm guitarist Jona Weinhofen, titled There Is a Hell Believe Me I've Seen It. There Is a Heaven Let's Keep It a Secret., was released on 4 October 2010 and debuted at number 17 on the Billboard 200 in the United States, number 13 on the UK Album Chart, and number one on the Australian Albums Chart, the UK Rock Chart and the UK Indie Chart. Despite reaching number one in Australia, the album's sales were the lowest for a number one album in the history of the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) charts.
Matt Nicholls describes the lyrical themes of There Is a Hell... as being "repercussions of everything we were singing about on our last CD [Suicide Season]," calling the music and lyrics a lot moodier and darker. Five singles were released from the album including: "It Never Ends", "Anthem", "Blessed with a Curse", "Visions", and "Alligator Blood", with music videos produced for each of the songs. The band embarked on a headline tour in intimate venues across the United Kingdom with support from Cancer Bats and Tek-One. In December 2010, Bring Me the Horizon joined Bullet for My Valentine as the main support band, alongside Atreyu, on a short five-date arena tour around the United Kingdom. To cope with high demand, Live Nation released extra standing tickets for all dates.
In April 2011, Bring Me the Horizon embarked on a European tour, starting in the United Kingdom. They toured with Parkway Drive and Architects as main support bands, with The Devil Wears Prada as the opening support for the UK and dubstep group Tek-One. The tour, however, was not without its hindrances. On 28 April, Nicholls broke his arm whilst playing football with members of Bring Me the Horizon, Parkway Drive and Architects. Instead of cancelling the tour, Architects' drummer Dan Searle filled in as drummer, but this meant that Bring Me the Horizon's setlist was halved in length. The tour was extended with a North American leg from 13 August to 4 October, retaining Parkway Drive and Architects and adding Deez Nuts to the line up. On 23 August they released the fourth music video and single, "Visions", and on 31 October the music video for the song "Alligator Blood" was released.
In December 2011, Machine Head completed an arena tour across Europe with Bring Me the Horizon as the main support band along with DevilDriver and Darkest Hour. Oliver Sykes said these would be the last European dates before they began writing and the recording their fourth album. 2011 ended with an announcement by the band on 29 December of a new extended play titled The Chill Out Sessions, a collaborative effort with British DJ Draper. Draper first released an "officially sanctioned" remix of the song "Blessed with a Curse" in May 2011. The EP was originally supposed to be released in time for New Year's Day, and made available for download and purchase though Bring Me the Horizon's website, but the EP's release was cancelled due to the band's "current management and label situation".
Sempiternal and Weinhofen's departure (2012–2014)
After an intense touring schedule, Bring Me the Horizon finally completed their third album's promotion at the end of 2011. They returned to the UK for an extended break and eventually starting work on their next album. Much like their previous two albums, they wrote their fourth album in seclusion and isolation to stay focused. This time, they retreated to a house in the Lake District. In July, the band started to publish images of themselves recording at a 'Top Secret Studio Location,' and revealed they were working with producer Terry Date for the recording and production of the album. On 30 July, the band announced they had left their label and signed with RCA, who would release their fourth album in 2013. The band played only three shows in all of 2012: Warped Tour 2012 on 10 November at the Alexandra Palace in London, which they headlined, (and was initially believed to be their only show), the BBC Radio 1's Radio 1 Rocks show on 22 October, where they played a six-song set supporting Bullet for My Valentine, and at a warm-up show for Warped Tour in Sheffield on 9 November. In late October it was announced that the fourth album would be called Sempiternal with a tentative release in early 2013. On 22 November the band released the Draper collaborative album The Chill Out Sessions free of charge.
On 4 January 2013, Bring Me the Horizon released the first single from Sempiternal, "Shadow Moses". It was first played by radio presenter Daniel P. Carter on BBC's Radio 1. Due to popular demand, Epitaph released the music video for the song a week earlier than planned. In January, the band also saw a change in their line up. This began early in the month when Jordan Fish, Worship keyboardist and session musician for the band during the writing of Sempiternal, was announced as a full member. Then later in the month, Jona Weinhofen left the band. Despite the band denying speculation that Fish replaced Weinhofen, reviewers said that replacing a guitarist with a keyboardist better fit their style.
The band was confirmed for several festival appearances in February. They played the Australian Soundwave festival, performing at all five dates in: Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth, and then at RAMFest in South Africa with Rise Against in March, Rock Am Ring and Rock im Park festivals in Germany in June, and from June until August they played Warped Tour 2013 in the U.S. and Canada. To coincide with 29 April release of Sempiternal the band made their first headline tour of the United Kingdom in 18 months with Crossfaith and Empress AD.
In support of Sempiternal, the band toured Australia with Of Mice & Men and Crossfaith, and played a British tour with Pierce The Veil and Sights & Sounds. They then completed the American Dream Tour in North America, supported by Of Mice & Men, Issues, letlive. and Northlane. The band was announced as the main supporter for American band A Day to Remember on their "Parks & Devastation Tour" across America throughout September and October, along with support acts Motionless in White and Chiodos. The band performed at Wembley Arena in London on 5 December with support acts Young Guns, Issues and Sleepwave, which was recorded and released as a live album/DVD.
Later in 2014, the band released two new tracks titled "Drown" on 21 October, as a stand-alone single, and "Don't Look Down" on 29 October, as part of the re-score of Drive.
That's the Spirit (2015–2017)
In late June, the band began to promote pictures of an umbrella symbol being used as a tattoo, and on stickers, and posters across England, the United States, Australia, and Europe; it was later used for a promotional cover for the band's first single. The band released a short video in early July where the words "that's the spirit" could be heard in reverse. On 13 July 2015, the promotional single "Happy Song" was released on the band's Vevo page, and on 21 July 2015, Sykes revealed the album's name was That's the Spirit. The band released the single and music video for "Throne" on 23 July 2015, and another promotional track from the album, titled "True Friends", was released on 24 August 2015. The album was released on 11 September 2015 to critical acclaim. It has led to several music videos including "Drown", "Throne", "True Friends", "Follow You", "Avalanche", and "Oh No".
The band embarked on a U.S. tour in October 2015 with support from metalcore band Issues and rock band PVRIS. The band also toured Europe in November 2015, and embarked on a second U.S. tour in April and May 2016. This was followed by an Australian tour in September 2016, and a second European tour in November 2016.
On 22 April 2016, the band performed a live concert with an orchestra conducted by Simon Dobson at the Royal Albert Hall in London. The concert marked the first time the band had performed with a live orchestra. It was recorded, and the live album, Live at the Royal Albert Hall, was released on 2 December 2016 through the crowdfunding platform PledgeMusic on CD, DVD, and vinyl, with all proceeds donated to Teenage Cancer Trust. Following the show, Fish hinted at the possibility of doing a full tour with an orchestra, saying: "It seems almost a bit of a shame to go to all this effort for months and months for just one night."
Amo (2018–2019)
In August 2018, cryptic posters appeared in major cities throughout the world with the message "do you wanna start a cult with me?". The posters were attributed by major media outlets to the band only by their use of the hexagram logo previously used by the band. During this time the band themselves have not acknowledged their involvement with the campaign publicly. Each poster provided a unique phone number and a website address. The website provided a brief message titled "An Invitation To Salvation" and shows the date of 21 August 2018. The phone lines placed fans on hold with lengthy, varied audio messages that changed frequently. Some of these messages reportedly end with a distorted audio clip of what was assumed to be new music from the band.
On 21 August, the band released the lead single "Mantra". The following day the band announced their album Amo, released on 11 January 2019, along with a set of tour dates called the First Love World Tour.
On 21 October, the band released their second single "Wonderful Life" featuring Dani Filth, along with the tracklist for Amo. That same day, the band announced that the album has been delayed and is now set for 25 January 2019.
On 1 December, it was reported that during a show at Ally Pally a fan died in the mosh pit and was escorted by paramedics and security. A day later, it was confirmed by the band with a statement: "Words cannot express how horrified we are feeling this evening after hearing about the death of a young man at our show last night. Our hearts and deepest condolences go out to his family and loved ones at this terrible time. We will comment further in due course."
On 3 January 2019, the band released their third single "Medicine" and its corresponding music video. On 22 January, three days before the album release, the band released the fourth single "Mother Tongue". On 24 January, the band released the fifth single "Nihilist Blues" featuring Grimes.
On 26 July, the band released the sixth single "Sugar Honey Ice & Tea" alongside an accompanying music video. On 21 October, the band released the seventh single "In the Dark" alongside an accompanying music video featuring Forest Whitaker. On 6 November, the band released the song "Ludens", which is part of Death Stranding: Timefall, along with the news that the band are planning on never releasing an album again and instead want to release EPs. On 27 December, the band released Music to Listen to~Dance to~Blaze to~Pray to~Feed to~Sleep to~Talk to~Grind to~Trip to~Breathe to~Help to~Hurt to~Scroll to~Roll to~Love to~Hate to~Learn Too~Plot to~Play to~Be to~Feel to~Breed to~Sweat to~Dream to~Hide to~Live to~Die to~Go To without any prior announcement.
Post Human: Survival Horror (2020–present)
On 20 March 2020, the band shared that they were in a home studio, writing and recording material for their eighth record, which is expected to be an EP, with part of it being co-produced by Mick Gordon. On 25 June, the band released the single "Parasite Eve" alongside an accompanying music video. On the same day, the band also announced a project that they have been working on titled Post Human, which they said to be four EPs released throughout the next year which when combined would make an album. On 2 September, the band released with English singer Yungblud a collaborative single titled "Obey" and its corresponding music video. On 14 October, the band officially announced through social media that Post Human: Survival Horror would be released on 30 October 2020. On 22 October, a week before the release date, the fourth single "Teardrops" was released alongside an accompanying music video.
In December 2020, Fish said that the band had been writing "on and off" and would be focusing on their next release in early 2021. He also updated the group's release plan, saying that they "planned to do four EPs in a year, but [Post Human: Survival Horror] was almost an album, so I think the spacing will be a bit longer than intended, just because they're probably going to turn out bigger than intended." Upon being released on physical formats on 22 January 2021, Post Human: Survival Horror would chart again and reach a new peak to gift Bring Me the Horizon their second UK number one on the UK Albums Chart. Two years after Amo would be the first to reach this feat. The band collaborated with singer Olivia O'Brien on a track titled "No More Friends". The song is from O'Brien's Episodes: Season 1' EP which was released on 11 June 2021.
On 2 September 2021, the band announced the release of an upcoming single, "Die4U", which was released on 16 September. On 8 December, the band was announced as the Saturday co-headliner alongside Arctic Monkeys at the 2022 iteration of the Reading and Leeds Festival, headlining the bill for the first time ever. Speaking to NME about the announcement, Sykes expressed his thoughts about headlining Reading and Leeds, as well as what to expect from their headline set:
In February 2022, it was reported that the band were set to contribute to the soundtrack and provide the main theme for Gran Turismo 7. A few days later, the band released their rendition of "Moon Over the Castle" as a single ahead of schedule due to the song being leaked early. At the 42nd Brit Awards, the band were brought out as a surprise act to perform "Bad Habits" alongside Ed Sheeran. On 17 February, the studio version of "Bad Habits" by Ed Sheeran featuring the band was released.
Artistry
Style and influences
Among Bring Me the Horizon's earliest influences were bands like At the Gates, Carcass, Pantera, Metallica, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Every Time I Die, Norma Jean, Skycamefalling and Poison the Well; and genres death metal, grindcore, and emo have been cited by AllMusic writer Steward Mason. However, as their sound developed, the band started to take influences from progressive rock, post-rock, dubstep and electronica. The band's musical style has been described mainly as metalcore and – though they have since moved on from the genre – their early material was considered deathcore. Across their career the band has also been said to play within the genres alternative metal, alternative rock, pop rock, electronic rock, hard rock, heavy metal, post-hardcore, pop, nu metal, electropop, hip hop, EDM, arena rock, melodic metalcore, electronicore, electronica, screamo, hardcore punk, technical metal, and emo.
Bring Me the Horizon have attempted to grow and change with each album, believing they should be different. Raziq Rauf, writing for Drowned in Sound, described Count Your Blessings as possessing "Norma Jean-style thunderous riffs mixed with some dastardly sludgy doom moments and more breakdowns than your dad's old Nissan Sunny." Metal Hammer described Suicide Season as a "creative, critical and commercial success" for the band as they started to adopt a more eclectic style, with its "crushingly heavy party deathcore". Leading up to its release, Oliver Sykes described it as "100% different to Count Your Blessings" and noted the album sounds "more rock than metal". As time went by, Bring Me the Horizon began rejecting their debut album Count Your Blessings and considered Suicide Season as their "Year Zero[...] [their] wipe-the-slate-clean time".
Bring Me the Horizon then moved even further away from deathcore with their third album There Is a Hell..., which incorporated electronica, classical music and pop music into their metalcore style. This required more ambitious production feats, such as using a full choir, a synthesised orchestra and glitched out vocals and breakdowns that were also toned down, favouring quiet atmospheric passages in song breaks. For the writing of Sempiternal, the band pooled far broader influences such as post-rock acts like This Will Destroy You and Explosions in the Sky and from pop music.
Bring Me the Horizon has experimented with its music in recent years, mixing pop with metal music, leading the band to be labelled a "pop metal" act. With the release of That's the Spirit, their sound shifted towards electronic rock, alternative metal and alternative rock, also incorporated other genres such as pop rock and nu metal, while completely abandoning the metalcore sound of their earlier albums.
Songwriting and recording process
In all the band's album notes, all of Bring Me the Horizon's lyrics are said to be written by lead vocalist Oliver Sykes while all five members—as a band—were credited with writing the music. With the exception of Count Your Blessings, the band has always written in a secluded location to avoid being distracted. Oliver Sykes' lyrics have a strong feeling of catharsis for him. He mainly draws from personal experience and has described the band's live performances as therapeutic. In 2006, when asked about the lyrics of Count Your Blessings, as they had been criticised for their content solely fixated on heartbreak and other themes that were called "shallow and meaningless", he responded "My life's never been that bad so I've not got that much to talk about."
Band members have described how the debut album was written in inner-city areas of Birmingham while being pressured to write and record songs to the deadlines given. This resulted in the band being unimpressed with the final product. However, for the writing process of Suicide Season, the band realised that they much preferred picking areas with less human contact in order to focus on the music; they wrote their second album in the Swedish countryside. During the writing of Suicide Season, former and founding rhythm guitarist Curtis Ward wrote only two riffs of his rhythm parts of the album, mostly relying on Lee Malia to write all of the guitar sections of the album.
Lee Malia has stated that the typical writing process involves Oliver Sykes writing the main structure of the songs, followed by Malia writing the main riff. From this they would collaborate with each other to structure their work better and then later include the rest of the band in writing the rest of the song. The writing dynamic of Sempiternal, typically featured Sykes, Malia and newly introduced member Jordan Fish. Malia felt that with Fish's influence on the record he was pushed to create more inspired guitar riffs. As they all took a break before writing their fourth album, they felt less of a need for an isolated writing environment.
Image and legacy
During the band's early years, they were praised for their business acumen for selling mail-order merchandise and not relying on sales at live shows. Bring Me the Horizon's image has been characterised by the dominating personality of singer and front-man Oliver Sykes, and he has often been seen as the band's "Poster boy", bearing the brunt of the band's controversial reputation. In their early years, Bring Me the Horizon's image was infamously characterised by its members fashion sense and use of skinny-fit jeans, T-shirts with death metal band logos on the front and coloured hair/straightened hair. The band's image fit into what was called scene fashion. The effect of their fashion aesthetics showed people, in show promoter Iain Scott's perspective, that "you don't have to look like a diabolical metalhead to be into metal or play in a metal band". However, their fashion conscious appearance earned them a "style over substance" label.
Many controversies that occurred in their early years greatly affected public perceptions of the band, particularly an incident in 2007 at Nottingham's Rock City venue, when a female fan claimed that Oliver Sykes had urinated on her. The charges were dropped due to a lack of evidence from CCTV footage in the area. There were several documented examples of violence against the band during their live shows, including Sykes being pepper sprayed on stage; and people getting onstage to assault the band.
Despite the controversy over their image, various journalists have credited the band as being one of the most forward-thinking heavy bands in the UK. In 2012, just four years after the release of Suicide Season, the album was inducted into Rock Sound's Hall of Fame, credited as a significant influence on the works of Asking Alexandria, The Ghost Inside and While She Sleeps. It was credited as an influence on metalcore contemporaries Architects on Hollow Crown with their incorporation of keyboards and programming, and The Devil Wears Prada's Dead Throne for its more experimental and opinion-dividing sound.
The band caused further controversy in February 2016 when Oliver Sykes trashed Coldplay's table at the 2016 NME Awards during a live performance of Bring Me the Horizon's track "Happy Song". Although some people thought the table trashing was because of a prior feud between the two bands relating to similar album artwork, Sykes later stated that the act was not an act of "dirty protest", and suggested that it was "pure coincidence" that Coldplay were sitting at the table he trampled. Coldplay frontman Chris Martin admitted that he had never even heard of Bring Me the Horizon before the incident and he laughed it off, stating that "it was great, very 'rock and roll'".
Band members
Current
Oliver Sykes – lead vocals ; keyboards, programming
Matt Kean – bass
Lee Malia – lead guitar ; rhythm guitar
Matt Nicholls – drums
Jordan Fish – keyboards, programming, percussion, backing vocals
Current touring musicians
John Jones – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
Former
Curtis Ward – rhythm guitar
Jona Weinhofen – rhythm guitar, keyboards, programming, backing vocals
Former touring musicians
Dean Rowbotham – rhythm guitar
Robin Urbino – rhythm guitar
Tim Hillier-Brook – rhythm guitar
Brendan MacDonald – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
Timeline
Discography
Count Your Blessings (2006)
Suicide Season (2008)
There Is a Hell Believe Me I've Seen It. There Is a Heaven Let's Keep It a Secret. (2010)
Sempiternal (2013)
That's the Spirit (2015)
Amo (2019)
Awards and nominations
Grammy Awards
|-
| 2019 || "Mantra" || Best Rock Song ||
|-
| 2020 || Amo || Best Rock Album ||
BRIT Awards
|-
| 2020 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best Group ||
|-
NME Awards|-
|rowspan="2"| 2017
|Bring Me the Horizon || Best Live Band ||
|-
| Bring Me the Horizon || Music Moment of the Year ||
|-
| 2020 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best Band in the World ||
|-
|rowspan="2"| 2022 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best Band in the World ||
|-
| Bring Me the Horizon || Best Live Act ||Kerrang! Awards|-
| 2006 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best British Newcomer ||
|-
| 2008 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best British Band ||
|-
| 2009 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best British Band ||
|-
|rowspan="3"| 2011 || "Blessed with a Curse" || Best Single ||
|-
| Bring Me the Horizon || Best British Band ||
|-
| There Is a Hell Believe Me I've Seen It. There Is a Heaven Let's Keep It a Secret. || Best Album ||
|-
| 2012 || "Alligator Blood" || Best Video ||
|-
| rowspan="4"| 2013 || "Shadow Moses" || Best Single ||
|-
| "Shadow Moses" || Best Video ||
|-
| Sempiternal || Best Album ||
|-
| Bring Me the Horizon || Best British Band ||
|-
| 2014 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best Live Band ||
|-
| 2014 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best British Band ||
|-
|rowspan="2"| 2015|| Bring Me the Horizon || Best British Band ||
|-
| "Drown" || Best Single ||
|-
| 2016 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best British Band ||
|-
|rowspan="2"|2019 || Amo || Best Album ||
|-
| Bring Me the Horizon || Best British Band || AIM Independent Music Awards|-
| 2011 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best Live Act ||
|-
| 2011 || Bring Me the Horizon || Hardest Working Band or Artist ||
|-
| 2011 || Bring Me the Horizon || Independent Breakthrough of Year || Alternative Press
|-
| 2014 || Sempiternal || Best Album ||
|-
| 2014 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best International Band ||
|-
| 2015 || "Drown" || Best Music Video ||
|-
UK Music Video Awards
|-
| 2016
| "True Friends"
| Best Rock/Indie Video – UK
|
Readers polls
In a 2009 Rock Sound readers' poll, Bring Me the Horizon achieved both Best British Band and Worst British Band.
In 2011 The Guardian ran a poll for "Who should win the Mercury prize?" and used 50 albums, Bring Me the Horizon's third album There Is a Hell... won with 37%.
In a 2013 Sirius XM published poll, Bring Me the Horizon won Best Song Discovery for "Go to Hell, for Heaven's Sake" with the Octane radio station.
In a 2013 Alternative Press readers poll, Bring Me the Horizon was nominated for four categories: Best Vocalist (Oliver Sykes; position 3), Best Keyboardist (Jordan Fish; position 1), Single Of The Year ("Shadow Moses"; position 2) and "Best Album Art" (Sempiternal; position 2).
In 2021, Kerrang! readers voted "Die4U" as the best song and music video of the year. Bring Me the Horizon was also voted as the best band and best live band of the year. They were also voted as the second-best cover story of the year by Kerrang Magazine.
Notes
References
Bibliography
External links
2004 establishments in England
British alternative metal musical groups
Columbia Records artists
English alternative rock groups
English deathcore musical groups
English metalcore musical groups
English pop rock music groups
Kerrang! Awards winners
Musical groups from Sheffield
Musical groups established in 2004
Musical quintets
RCA Records artists | false | [
"Mapping theorem may refer to\n Continuous mapping theorem, a statement regarding the stability of convergence under mappings\n Mapping theorem (point process), a statement regarding the stability of Poisson point processes under mappings",
"Colorado v. Spring, 479 U.S. 564 (1987), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that a suspect's awareness of the crimes about which he may be questioned is not relevant to his waiver of his Fifth Amendment rights.\n\nBackground \nWhile on vacation in Colorado, a man named John Leroy Spring purportedly murdered one Donald Walker in the month of February 1979. There was supposedly an anonymous accomplice who assisted Spring, but no such person was ever apprehended in the investigation of Walker's death. An informant, whose identity was concealed, tipped off agents in the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) as to Spring's alleged involvement in the illegal interstate transportation of ill-gotten firearms. The agents also learned that John Spring talked with an unknown party about the Walker homicide and the role he played in it.\n\nWorking off the information provided by the informant, ATF agents planned out a sting operation to arrest Spring on the 30th of March. Their goal came to fruition, as Spring was successfully caught and arrested in Kansas City, Missouri for the crime of the illegal distribution of stolen firearms. They hoped this arrest would provide a launching pad from which to judge him as a suspect in the investigation of the Walker homicide.\n\nAs required by Miranda v. Arizona, Spring was advised of his fifth amendment rights to protection against self-incrimination, an attorney, and silence when interrogated. Spring was actually reminded twice of his rights: first on the scene of the arrest, then again back at the ATF office in Kansas City. However, Spring opted to waive them through written signature. He then voluntarily made a statement and answered questions regarding the ongoing investigation surrounding his involvement in illegal interstate firearms trafficking.\n\nThe ATF agents began the interrogation by asking Spring to elaborate on the firearms transactions that directly led to his arrest, so as not to give away that they planned on eventually questioning about the death of Walker. From there, the agents progressed to the topic of whether or not he had a prior a criminal record. When Spring admitted he shot his aunt at age ten, the agents saw an opportunity. Given Spring had just confessed to shooting someone as close to him as a family member, they questioned whether or not there were other victims. In response, Spring lowered his head and simply uttered the phrase, “I shot another guy once,” without specifically naming or describing the man who he fired upon. The agents pressed further, first asking if he ever visited the state of Colorado in the past, and if the man he claimed to have shot was named Donald Walker. They also questioned if he used a snowbank to hide Walker's corpse, in the case that he did murder the man. Spring responded to both questions with a “no,” and the interview ended at this point.\n\nNearly two months later, on May 26, 1979, Spring, after having once again waived his Miranda rights through written signature, verbally confessed to the Colorado murder to Colorado law enforcement officers. He then signed a formal statement which bound him to this confession, a confession that would ultimately seal his fate for better or worse.\n\nTrial\nWhen charged with first-degree murder in a Colorado state court, however, Spring and his attorney did not sit idly by. Instead, they moved quickly to nullify the statements made by Spring on May 26 and March 30; the basis of their argument was that the interrogating agents violated his due process rights as decreed by Miranda v. Arizona. Spring and his defending attorney emphasized that, as he was not notified prior to interrogation that he would be questioned about the killing of Donald Walker, the ATF agents pushed him to incriminate himself.\n\nThe trial court insisted that this statement be deemed inadmissible not because of the failure by the ATF agents to notify Spring of the focus of the interrogation, but because his statement that he “shot another guy once” was irrelevant, and that the context of the discussion did not point to his aforementioned confession being about his participation in the Walker homicide. However, the court held that the May 26th statement, as it was made freely, voluntarily, and intelligently, should be admitted as evidence, thus convicting Spring of the first-degree murder of Donald Walker.\n\nThis holding was reversed by the Colorado Court of Appeals, who sided with the argument proposed by Spring's legal team that the failure on part of the ATF agents to inform Spring of the topic of questioning prior to the interrogation should invalidate the March 30th statement. The court also argued that the State of Colorado failed to substantially prove that the May 26th statement was not the illegal “fruit” of the March 30th statement; this doctrine of “fruit of the poisonous tree” holds that if any evidence is collected through illegal means, like entering a house without a (proper) search warrant, then such evidence must not be admitted into trial. This holds true even for an interrogation; if tactics used in an interrogation are illegal, or if the interrogation itself is illegally performed, then it, along with any physical evidence it produces, may be excluded from trial. The Colorado Supreme Court affirmed the holding made by the Court of Appeals, once again saying the murder confession made on May 26 was the illegal “fruit” of the March 30th statement.\n\nThe Supreme Court of the United States, in the Spring decision, reversed the rulings of both the Colorado Supreme Court and the Colorado Court of Appeals. By a vote of seven to two, the Supreme Court held that the interrogating officers’ failure to notify the suspect that they would question him about the Walker murder did not impact, and thus invalidate, his waiver of his Miranda rights. Delivering the majority opinion, Associate Justice Lewis F. Powell, Jr. stated that the Court's only focus of inquiry was the March 30th statement, as it was the illegality of this statement that supposedly marred the May 26th statement.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\n1987 in United States case law\nUnited States Supreme Court cases\nUnited States Supreme Court cases of the Rehnquist Court\nMiranda warning case law"
]
|
[
"Bring Me the Horizon",
"Style and influences",
"What influenced their music style?",
"Among Bring Me the Horizon's earliest influences were bands like At the Gates, Carcass, Pantera, Metallica, The Dillinger Escape Plan,",
"Did they ever make a statement regarding this influence?",
"I don't know."
]
| C_50898b4862fb42f5b989ea579db6fb46_1 | Who did they model their style after? | 3 | Who did Bring Me the Horizon model their style after? | Bring Me the Horizon | Among Bring Me the Horizon's earliest influences were bands like At the Gates, Carcass, Pantera, Metallica, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Every Time I Die, Norma Jean, Skycamefalling and Poison the Well; and genres death metal, grindcore, and emo have been cited by AllMusic writer Steward Mason. However, as their sound developed, the band started to take influences from progressive rock, post-rock, dubstep and electronica. The band's musical style has been described mainly as metalcore and - though they have since moved on from the genre - their early material was considered deathcore. Across their career the band has also been said to play within the genres post-hardcore, hardcore punk, technical metal, heavy metal, and emo. Bring Me the Horizon have attempted to grow and change with each album, believing they should be different. Raziq Rauf, writing for Drowned In Sound, described Count Your Blessings as possessing "Norma Jean-style thunderous riffs mixed with some dastardly sludgy doom moments and more breakdowns than your dad's old Nissan Sunny." Metal Hammer described Suicide Season as a "creative, critical and commercial success" for the band as they started to adopt a more eclectic style, with its "crushingly heavy party deathcore". Leading up to its release Oliver Sykes described it as "100% different to Count Your Blessings" and noted the album sounds "more rock than metal". As time went by, Bring Me the Horizon began rejecting their debut album Count Your Blessings and considered Suicide Season as their "Year Zero[...] [their] wipe-the-slate-clean time". Bring Me the Horizon then moved even further away from deathcore with their third album There Is a Hell, which incorporated electronica, classical music and pop music into their metalcore style. This required more ambitious production feats, such as using a full choir, a synthesised orchestra and glitched out vocals and breakdowns that were also toned down, favouring quiet atmospheric passages in song breaks. For the writing of Sempiternal, the band pooled far broader influences such as post-rock acts like This Will Destroy You and Explosions In The Sky and from pop music. Bring Me the Horizon has experimented with its music in recent years, mixing pop with metal music, leading the band to be labeled a "pop metal" act. With the release of That's the Spirit, their sound shifted towards alternative metal and alternative rock, also incorporated other genres such as pop rock and nu metal, while completely abandoning the metalcore sound of their earlier albums. CANNOTANSWER | Every Time I Die, Norma Jean, Skycamefalling and Poison the Well; | Bring Me the Horizon (often abbreviated as BMTH) are a British rock band formed in Sheffield in 2004. The group consists of lead vocalist Oliver Sykes, guitarist Lee Malia, bassist Matt Kean, drummer Matt Nicholls and keyboardist Jordan Fish. They are signed to RCA Records globally and Columbia Records exclusively in the United States.
The band released their debut album Count Your Blessings in 2006. Upon release, the album's sound polarised listeners, and was met with critical disdain. The band began to break away from their controversial sound with Suicide Season (2008), which was a creative, critical and commercial turning point for the band. Bring Me the Horizon released their third album, There Is a Hell Believe Me I've Seen It. There Is a Heaven Let's Keep It a Secret., in 2010, propelling them to greater international fame, whilst incorporating influences from classical music, electronica and pop. Their major label debut, Sempiternal (2013) achieved Gold certification in Australia (35,000) and Silver in the United Kingdom (60,000). That's the Spirit (2015) debuted at number two in the UK Albums Chart and the US Billboard 200. Their sixth studio album Amo (2019) became their first UK chart topper. As well as these six studio albums, they have also released two extended plays and two live albums. They have received four Kerrang! Awards, including two for Best British Band and one for Best Live Band, and have been nominated for two Grammy Awards.
The style of their early work, including their debut album Count Your Blessings, has been described primarily as deathcore, but they started to adopt a more eclectic style of metalcore on later albums. Furthermore, That's the Spirit marked a shift in their sound to less aggressive rock music styles. Amo saw a shift into different genres, such as electronica, pop and hip hop.
History
Formation and early releases (2002–2006)
Bring Me the Horizon's founding members came from diverse musical backgrounds within metal and rock. Matt Nicholls and Oliver Sykes had a common interest in American metalcore such as Norma Jean and Skycamefalling, and used to attend local hardcore punk shows. They later met Lee Malia, who spoke with them about thrash metal and melodic death metal bands like Metallica and At the Gates; Malia had also been part of a Metallica tribute band before meeting the pair. Bring Me the Horizon officially formed in March 2004, when the members were aged 15 to 17. Curtis Ward, who also lived in the Rotherham area, joined Sykes, Malia and Nicholls on drums. Bassist Matt Kean, who was in other local bands, completed the line-up. Their name is paraphrased from a line of dialogue spoken by Captain Jack Sparrow in the 2003 film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, where Captain Jack Sparrow says: "Now, bring me that horizon."
In the months following their formation, Bring Me the Horizon created a demo album titled Bedroom Sessions. They followed this by releasing their first EP, This Is What the Edge of Your Seat Was Made For, in September 2004 through local UK label Thirty Days of Night Records. Bring Me the Horizon were the label's first signing. It was recorded at Pristine Studios in Nottingham over the course of two weekends, with drums and bass guitar laid down over the first weekend, and guitars and vocals completed a week later.
UK label Visible Noise noticed the band after the release of their EP, and signed them for a four-album deal, in addition to re-releasing the EP in January 2005. The re-release gained the band significant attention, eventually peaking at No. 41 on the UK album charts. The band was later awarded Best British Newcomer at the 2006 Kerrang! Awards ceremony.
The band's first tour was supporting The Red Chord across the United Kingdom. As with other early tours, they were able to get this slot by tricking venue promoters. Kean and Oliver's mother Carol Sykes were the de facto managers of the band at this time, a role they continued to occupy until 2008. For The Red Chord support, Kean emailed promoters and pretended they were opening on all the dates, when they were supposed to play only at their local show. This led them to being booked for the whole tour. In another case, Sykes created an e-mail account in the name of Johnny Truant vocalist Oliver Mitchell, which he used to contact a promoter requesting Bring Me the Horizon on their tour. Alcohol consumption fuelled their live performances in their early history when the band would get so drunk they vomited on stage and damaged their equipment.
Count Your Blessings (2006–2007)
The band released their debut album Count Your Blessings in October 2006 in the United Kingdom and in August 2007 in the United States. They rented a house in the country to write songs, but easily became distracted. They then recorded the album in inner-city Birmingham, a process which was infamous for their excessive and dangerous drinking. During this period drummer Nicholls summarised it saying "we were out every night, just being regular 18-year-olds". Critics panned the album adding to the strongly polarised responses the band were already seeing from the public.
They supported Count Your Blessings by going on a lengthy headline tour of the UK in November, and immediately followed this joining Lostprophets and The Blackout on a UK tour through late November and December 2006.
In January 2007, Bring Me the Horizon were able to set their sights beyond the UK, when they replaced Bury Your Dead on Killswitch Engage's European headline tour. The slot became available after Bury Your Dead were forced to withdraw by the departure from the band of their vocalist, Mat Bruso. Bring Me the Horizon's presence on the tour was poorly received by fans of Killswitch Engage, with concert attendees regularly throwing bottles at the band before they even started playing their set.
Suicide Season and Ward's departure (2008–2009)
Bring Me the Horizon recorded their second studio album, Suicide Season, in Sweden with producer Fredrik Nordström. He was unimpressed with their first album and was initially absent from the recording sessions unless he needed to be there. Nordström later heard the new sound they were experimenting with during a recording session and became very involved in the record. It was promoted virally in the weeks before its release with the promotional tag line "September is Suicide Season." To promote Suicide Season the band embarked on their first headline tour of the United States, as well as appearing at the 2008 Warped Tour. In May 2008, Bring Me the Horizon was the main supporting band on I Killed the Prom Queen's farewell Australian tour with The Ghost Inside and The Red Shore.
Suicide Season was released on 18 September 2008 in the United States on Epitaph and on 29 September in Europe through Visible Noise. In 2009, Bring Me the Horizon attended the 2009 Kerrang! Tour alongside Black Tide, Dir En Grey, In Case of Fire and Mindless Self Indulgence. They also joined Thursday, Cancer Bats, Four Year Strong and Pierce the Veil on the North American leg of the 2009 Taste of Chaos tour from February to April after the tour's organizer Kevin Lyman offered them the slot. The band were initially hesitant to join this tour, but were convinced after Lyman offered them a bus and $500 of fuel for the tour.
During the Taste of Chaos tour in March of that year, guitarist Curtis Ward left the band. His relationship with the band had deteriorated as his stage performances were poor. He was abusive to audiences during the Taste of Chaos tour, and had contributed little to the writing of Suicide Season. Another reason for his departure was the worsening tinnitus in his one functioning ear. Ward was born deaf in one ear and admitted playing in the band worsened the ringing in his other ear to such a degree that he was unable to sleep at night. Ward offered to perform the rest of the tour dates, which the band rejected and instead asked their guitar technician, Dean Rowbotham, to substitute for him for the remaining performances. Lee Malia noted that Ward's departure helped improve everyone's mood as he had been very negative. Within a week of the tour finishing, Sykes began talking to Jona Weinhofen, at the time the guitarist of Bleeding Through. The band knew of him from his work with his former band I Killed the Prom Queen, and he was asked to join them. Ward has since worked on the TV show Top Gear, and has occasionally performed on stage with Bring Me The Horizon, playing "Pray For Plagues", most notably at Wembley Arena in 2015. In 2016, it was announced that Ward had joined the band Counting Days.
In November 2009, Bring Me the Horizon released a remixed version of Suicide Season, titled Suicide Season: Cut Up! Musicians and producers featured on the album include: Ben Weinman, Skrillex, L'Amour La Morgue, Utah Saints and Shawn Crahan. Musically, the album incorporates many genres including: electronica, drum and bass, hip-hop and dubstep. The dubstep style of the record has been acknowledged in tracks by Tek-One and Skrillex while the hip-hop elements are found in Travis McCoy's remix of "Chelsea Smile".
There Is a Hell... (2010–2011)
The band's third album, and first with their new rhythm guitarist Jona Weinhofen, titled There Is a Hell Believe Me I've Seen It. There Is a Heaven Let's Keep It a Secret., was released on 4 October 2010 and debuted at number 17 on the Billboard 200 in the United States, number 13 on the UK Album Chart, and number one on the Australian Albums Chart, the UK Rock Chart and the UK Indie Chart. Despite reaching number one in Australia, the album's sales were the lowest for a number one album in the history of the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) charts.
Matt Nicholls describes the lyrical themes of There Is a Hell... as being "repercussions of everything we were singing about on our last CD [Suicide Season]," calling the music and lyrics a lot moodier and darker. Five singles were released from the album including: "It Never Ends", "Anthem", "Blessed with a Curse", "Visions", and "Alligator Blood", with music videos produced for each of the songs. The band embarked on a headline tour in intimate venues across the United Kingdom with support from Cancer Bats and Tek-One. In December 2010, Bring Me the Horizon joined Bullet for My Valentine as the main support band, alongside Atreyu, on a short five-date arena tour around the United Kingdom. To cope with high demand, Live Nation released extra standing tickets for all dates.
In April 2011, Bring Me the Horizon embarked on a European tour, starting in the United Kingdom. They toured with Parkway Drive and Architects as main support bands, with The Devil Wears Prada as the opening support for the UK and dubstep group Tek-One. The tour, however, was not without its hindrances. On 28 April, Nicholls broke his arm whilst playing football with members of Bring Me the Horizon, Parkway Drive and Architects. Instead of cancelling the tour, Architects' drummer Dan Searle filled in as drummer, but this meant that Bring Me the Horizon's setlist was halved in length. The tour was extended with a North American leg from 13 August to 4 October, retaining Parkway Drive and Architects and adding Deez Nuts to the line up. On 23 August they released the fourth music video and single, "Visions", and on 31 October the music video for the song "Alligator Blood" was released.
In December 2011, Machine Head completed an arena tour across Europe with Bring Me the Horizon as the main support band along with DevilDriver and Darkest Hour. Oliver Sykes said these would be the last European dates before they began writing and the recording their fourth album. 2011 ended with an announcement by the band on 29 December of a new extended play titled The Chill Out Sessions, a collaborative effort with British DJ Draper. Draper first released an "officially sanctioned" remix of the song "Blessed with a Curse" in May 2011. The EP was originally supposed to be released in time for New Year's Day, and made available for download and purchase though Bring Me the Horizon's website, but the EP's release was cancelled due to the band's "current management and label situation".
Sempiternal and Weinhofen's departure (2012–2014)
After an intense touring schedule, Bring Me the Horizon finally completed their third album's promotion at the end of 2011. They returned to the UK for an extended break and eventually starting work on their next album. Much like their previous two albums, they wrote their fourth album in seclusion and isolation to stay focused. This time, they retreated to a house in the Lake District. In July, the band started to publish images of themselves recording at a 'Top Secret Studio Location,' and revealed they were working with producer Terry Date for the recording and production of the album. On 30 July, the band announced they had left their label and signed with RCA, who would release their fourth album in 2013. The band played only three shows in all of 2012: Warped Tour 2012 on 10 November at the Alexandra Palace in London, which they headlined, (and was initially believed to be their only show), the BBC Radio 1's Radio 1 Rocks show on 22 October, where they played a six-song set supporting Bullet for My Valentine, and at a warm-up show for Warped Tour in Sheffield on 9 November. In late October it was announced that the fourth album would be called Sempiternal with a tentative release in early 2013. On 22 November the band released the Draper collaborative album The Chill Out Sessions free of charge.
On 4 January 2013, Bring Me the Horizon released the first single from Sempiternal, "Shadow Moses". It was first played by radio presenter Daniel P. Carter on BBC's Radio 1. Due to popular demand, Epitaph released the music video for the song a week earlier than planned. In January, the band also saw a change in their line up. This began early in the month when Jordan Fish, Worship keyboardist and session musician for the band during the writing of Sempiternal, was announced as a full member. Then later in the month, Jona Weinhofen left the band. Despite the band denying speculation that Fish replaced Weinhofen, reviewers said that replacing a guitarist with a keyboardist better fit their style.
The band was confirmed for several festival appearances in February. They played the Australian Soundwave festival, performing at all five dates in: Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth, and then at RAMFest in South Africa with Rise Against in March, Rock Am Ring and Rock im Park festivals in Germany in June, and from June until August they played Warped Tour 2013 in the U.S. and Canada. To coincide with 29 April release of Sempiternal the band made their first headline tour of the United Kingdom in 18 months with Crossfaith and Empress AD.
In support of Sempiternal, the band toured Australia with Of Mice & Men and Crossfaith, and played a British tour with Pierce The Veil and Sights & Sounds. They then completed the American Dream Tour in North America, supported by Of Mice & Men, Issues, letlive. and Northlane. The band was announced as the main supporter for American band A Day to Remember on their "Parks & Devastation Tour" across America throughout September and October, along with support acts Motionless in White and Chiodos. The band performed at Wembley Arena in London on 5 December with support acts Young Guns, Issues and Sleepwave, which was recorded and released as a live album/DVD.
Later in 2014, the band released two new tracks titled "Drown" on 21 October, as a stand-alone single, and "Don't Look Down" on 29 October, as part of the re-score of Drive.
That's the Spirit (2015–2017)
In late June, the band began to promote pictures of an umbrella symbol being used as a tattoo, and on stickers, and posters across England, the United States, Australia, and Europe; it was later used for a promotional cover for the band's first single. The band released a short video in early July where the words "that's the spirit" could be heard in reverse. On 13 July 2015, the promotional single "Happy Song" was released on the band's Vevo page, and on 21 July 2015, Sykes revealed the album's name was That's the Spirit. The band released the single and music video for "Throne" on 23 July 2015, and another promotional track from the album, titled "True Friends", was released on 24 August 2015. The album was released on 11 September 2015 to critical acclaim. It has led to several music videos including "Drown", "Throne", "True Friends", "Follow You", "Avalanche", and "Oh No".
The band embarked on a U.S. tour in October 2015 with support from metalcore band Issues and rock band PVRIS. The band also toured Europe in November 2015, and embarked on a second U.S. tour in April and May 2016. This was followed by an Australian tour in September 2016, and a second European tour in November 2016.
On 22 April 2016, the band performed a live concert with an orchestra conducted by Simon Dobson at the Royal Albert Hall in London. The concert marked the first time the band had performed with a live orchestra. It was recorded, and the live album, Live at the Royal Albert Hall, was released on 2 December 2016 through the crowdfunding platform PledgeMusic on CD, DVD, and vinyl, with all proceeds donated to Teenage Cancer Trust. Following the show, Fish hinted at the possibility of doing a full tour with an orchestra, saying: "It seems almost a bit of a shame to go to all this effort for months and months for just one night."
Amo (2018–2019)
In August 2018, cryptic posters appeared in major cities throughout the world with the message "do you wanna start a cult with me?". The posters were attributed by major media outlets to the band only by their use of the hexagram logo previously used by the band. During this time the band themselves have not acknowledged their involvement with the campaign publicly. Each poster provided a unique phone number and a website address. The website provided a brief message titled "An Invitation To Salvation" and shows the date of 21 August 2018. The phone lines placed fans on hold with lengthy, varied audio messages that changed frequently. Some of these messages reportedly end with a distorted audio clip of what was assumed to be new music from the band.
On 21 August, the band released the lead single "Mantra". The following day the band announced their album Amo, released on 11 January 2019, along with a set of tour dates called the First Love World Tour.
On 21 October, the band released their second single "Wonderful Life" featuring Dani Filth, along with the tracklist for Amo. That same day, the band announced that the album has been delayed and is now set for 25 January 2019.
On 1 December, it was reported that during a show at Ally Pally a fan died in the mosh pit and was escorted by paramedics and security. A day later, it was confirmed by the band with a statement: "Words cannot express how horrified we are feeling this evening after hearing about the death of a young man at our show last night. Our hearts and deepest condolences go out to his family and loved ones at this terrible time. We will comment further in due course."
On 3 January 2019, the band released their third single "Medicine" and its corresponding music video. On 22 January, three days before the album release, the band released the fourth single "Mother Tongue". On 24 January, the band released the fifth single "Nihilist Blues" featuring Grimes.
On 26 July, the band released the sixth single "Sugar Honey Ice & Tea" alongside an accompanying music video. On 21 October, the band released the seventh single "In the Dark" alongside an accompanying music video featuring Forest Whitaker. On 6 November, the band released the song "Ludens", which is part of Death Stranding: Timefall, along with the news that the band are planning on never releasing an album again and instead want to release EPs. On 27 December, the band released Music to Listen to~Dance to~Blaze to~Pray to~Feed to~Sleep to~Talk to~Grind to~Trip to~Breathe to~Help to~Hurt to~Scroll to~Roll to~Love to~Hate to~Learn Too~Plot to~Play to~Be to~Feel to~Breed to~Sweat to~Dream to~Hide to~Live to~Die to~Go To without any prior announcement.
Post Human: Survival Horror (2020–present)
On 20 March 2020, the band shared that they were in a home studio, writing and recording material for their eighth record, which is expected to be an EP, with part of it being co-produced by Mick Gordon. On 25 June, the band released the single "Parasite Eve" alongside an accompanying music video. On the same day, the band also announced a project that they have been working on titled Post Human, which they said to be four EPs released throughout the next year which when combined would make an album. On 2 September, the band released with English singer Yungblud a collaborative single titled "Obey" and its corresponding music video. On 14 October, the band officially announced through social media that Post Human: Survival Horror would be released on 30 October 2020. On 22 October, a week before the release date, the fourth single "Teardrops" was released alongside an accompanying music video.
In December 2020, Fish said that the band had been writing "on and off" and would be focusing on their next release in early 2021. He also updated the group's release plan, saying that they "planned to do four EPs in a year, but [Post Human: Survival Horror] was almost an album, so I think the spacing will be a bit longer than intended, just because they're probably going to turn out bigger than intended." Upon being released on physical formats on 22 January 2021, Post Human: Survival Horror would chart again and reach a new peak to gift Bring Me the Horizon their second UK number one on the UK Albums Chart. Two years after Amo would be the first to reach this feat. The band collaborated with singer Olivia O'Brien on a track titled "No More Friends". The song is from O'Brien's Episodes: Season 1' EP which was released on 11 June 2021.
On 2 September 2021, the band announced the release of an upcoming single, "Die4U", which was released on 16 September. On 8 December, the band was announced as the Saturday co-headliner alongside Arctic Monkeys at the 2022 iteration of the Reading and Leeds Festival, headlining the bill for the first time ever. Speaking to NME about the announcement, Sykes expressed his thoughts about headlining Reading and Leeds, as well as what to expect from their headline set:
In February 2022, it was reported that the band were set to contribute to the soundtrack and provide the main theme for Gran Turismo 7. A few days later, the band released their rendition of "Moon Over the Castle" as a single ahead of schedule due to the song being leaked early. At the 42nd Brit Awards, the band were brought out as a surprise act to perform "Bad Habits" alongside Ed Sheeran. On 17 February, the studio version of "Bad Habits" by Ed Sheeran featuring the band was released.
Artistry
Style and influences
Among Bring Me the Horizon's earliest influences were bands like At the Gates, Carcass, Pantera, Metallica, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Every Time I Die, Norma Jean, Skycamefalling and Poison the Well; and genres death metal, grindcore, and emo have been cited by AllMusic writer Steward Mason. However, as their sound developed, the band started to take influences from progressive rock, post-rock, dubstep and electronica. The band's musical style has been described mainly as metalcore and – though they have since moved on from the genre – their early material was considered deathcore. Across their career the band has also been said to play within the genres alternative metal, alternative rock, pop rock, electronic rock, hard rock, heavy metal, post-hardcore, pop, nu metal, electropop, hip hop, EDM, arena rock, melodic metalcore, electronicore, electronica, screamo, hardcore punk, technical metal, and emo.
Bring Me the Horizon have attempted to grow and change with each album, believing they should be different. Raziq Rauf, writing for Drowned in Sound, described Count Your Blessings as possessing "Norma Jean-style thunderous riffs mixed with some dastardly sludgy doom moments and more breakdowns than your dad's old Nissan Sunny." Metal Hammer described Suicide Season as a "creative, critical and commercial success" for the band as they started to adopt a more eclectic style, with its "crushingly heavy party deathcore". Leading up to its release, Oliver Sykes described it as "100% different to Count Your Blessings" and noted the album sounds "more rock than metal". As time went by, Bring Me the Horizon began rejecting their debut album Count Your Blessings and considered Suicide Season as their "Year Zero[...] [their] wipe-the-slate-clean time".
Bring Me the Horizon then moved even further away from deathcore with their third album There Is a Hell..., which incorporated electronica, classical music and pop music into their metalcore style. This required more ambitious production feats, such as using a full choir, a synthesised orchestra and glitched out vocals and breakdowns that were also toned down, favouring quiet atmospheric passages in song breaks. For the writing of Sempiternal, the band pooled far broader influences such as post-rock acts like This Will Destroy You and Explosions in the Sky and from pop music.
Bring Me the Horizon has experimented with its music in recent years, mixing pop with metal music, leading the band to be labelled a "pop metal" act. With the release of That's the Spirit, their sound shifted towards electronic rock, alternative metal and alternative rock, also incorporated other genres such as pop rock and nu metal, while completely abandoning the metalcore sound of their earlier albums.
Songwriting and recording process
In all the band's album notes, all of Bring Me the Horizon's lyrics are said to be written by lead vocalist Oliver Sykes while all five members—as a band—were credited with writing the music. With the exception of Count Your Blessings, the band has always written in a secluded location to avoid being distracted. Oliver Sykes' lyrics have a strong feeling of catharsis for him. He mainly draws from personal experience and has described the band's live performances as therapeutic. In 2006, when asked about the lyrics of Count Your Blessings, as they had been criticised for their content solely fixated on heartbreak and other themes that were called "shallow and meaningless", he responded "My life's never been that bad so I've not got that much to talk about."
Band members have described how the debut album was written in inner-city areas of Birmingham while being pressured to write and record songs to the deadlines given. This resulted in the band being unimpressed with the final product. However, for the writing process of Suicide Season, the band realised that they much preferred picking areas with less human contact in order to focus on the music; they wrote their second album in the Swedish countryside. During the writing of Suicide Season, former and founding rhythm guitarist Curtis Ward wrote only two riffs of his rhythm parts of the album, mostly relying on Lee Malia to write all of the guitar sections of the album.
Lee Malia has stated that the typical writing process involves Oliver Sykes writing the main structure of the songs, followed by Malia writing the main riff. From this they would collaborate with each other to structure their work better and then later include the rest of the band in writing the rest of the song. The writing dynamic of Sempiternal, typically featured Sykes, Malia and newly introduced member Jordan Fish. Malia felt that with Fish's influence on the record he was pushed to create more inspired guitar riffs. As they all took a break before writing their fourth album, they felt less of a need for an isolated writing environment.
Image and legacy
During the band's early years, they were praised for their business acumen for selling mail-order merchandise and not relying on sales at live shows. Bring Me the Horizon's image has been characterised by the dominating personality of singer and front-man Oliver Sykes, and he has often been seen as the band's "Poster boy", bearing the brunt of the band's controversial reputation. In their early years, Bring Me the Horizon's image was infamously characterised by its members fashion sense and use of skinny-fit jeans, T-shirts with death metal band logos on the front and coloured hair/straightened hair. The band's image fit into what was called scene fashion. The effect of their fashion aesthetics showed people, in show promoter Iain Scott's perspective, that "you don't have to look like a diabolical metalhead to be into metal or play in a metal band". However, their fashion conscious appearance earned them a "style over substance" label.
Many controversies that occurred in their early years greatly affected public perceptions of the band, particularly an incident in 2007 at Nottingham's Rock City venue, when a female fan claimed that Oliver Sykes had urinated on her. The charges were dropped due to a lack of evidence from CCTV footage in the area. There were several documented examples of violence against the band during their live shows, including Sykes being pepper sprayed on stage; and people getting onstage to assault the band.
Despite the controversy over their image, various journalists have credited the band as being one of the most forward-thinking heavy bands in the UK. In 2012, just four years after the release of Suicide Season, the album was inducted into Rock Sound's Hall of Fame, credited as a significant influence on the works of Asking Alexandria, The Ghost Inside and While She Sleeps. It was credited as an influence on metalcore contemporaries Architects on Hollow Crown with their incorporation of keyboards and programming, and The Devil Wears Prada's Dead Throne for its more experimental and opinion-dividing sound.
The band caused further controversy in February 2016 when Oliver Sykes trashed Coldplay's table at the 2016 NME Awards during a live performance of Bring Me the Horizon's track "Happy Song". Although some people thought the table trashing was because of a prior feud between the two bands relating to similar album artwork, Sykes later stated that the act was not an act of "dirty protest", and suggested that it was "pure coincidence" that Coldplay were sitting at the table he trampled. Coldplay frontman Chris Martin admitted that he had never even heard of Bring Me the Horizon before the incident and he laughed it off, stating that "it was great, very 'rock and roll'".
Band members
Current
Oliver Sykes – lead vocals ; keyboards, programming
Matt Kean – bass
Lee Malia – lead guitar ; rhythm guitar
Matt Nicholls – drums
Jordan Fish – keyboards, programming, percussion, backing vocals
Current touring musicians
John Jones – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
Former
Curtis Ward – rhythm guitar
Jona Weinhofen – rhythm guitar, keyboards, programming, backing vocals
Former touring musicians
Dean Rowbotham – rhythm guitar
Robin Urbino – rhythm guitar
Tim Hillier-Brook – rhythm guitar
Brendan MacDonald – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
Timeline
Discography
Count Your Blessings (2006)
Suicide Season (2008)
There Is a Hell Believe Me I've Seen It. There Is a Heaven Let's Keep It a Secret. (2010)
Sempiternal (2013)
That's the Spirit (2015)
Amo (2019)
Awards and nominations
Grammy Awards
|-
| 2019 || "Mantra" || Best Rock Song ||
|-
| 2020 || Amo || Best Rock Album ||
BRIT Awards
|-
| 2020 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best Group ||
|-
NME Awards|-
|rowspan="2"| 2017
|Bring Me the Horizon || Best Live Band ||
|-
| Bring Me the Horizon || Music Moment of the Year ||
|-
| 2020 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best Band in the World ||
|-
|rowspan="2"| 2022 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best Band in the World ||
|-
| Bring Me the Horizon || Best Live Act ||Kerrang! Awards|-
| 2006 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best British Newcomer ||
|-
| 2008 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best British Band ||
|-
| 2009 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best British Band ||
|-
|rowspan="3"| 2011 || "Blessed with a Curse" || Best Single ||
|-
| Bring Me the Horizon || Best British Band ||
|-
| There Is a Hell Believe Me I've Seen It. There Is a Heaven Let's Keep It a Secret. || Best Album ||
|-
| 2012 || "Alligator Blood" || Best Video ||
|-
| rowspan="4"| 2013 || "Shadow Moses" || Best Single ||
|-
| "Shadow Moses" || Best Video ||
|-
| Sempiternal || Best Album ||
|-
| Bring Me the Horizon || Best British Band ||
|-
| 2014 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best Live Band ||
|-
| 2014 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best British Band ||
|-
|rowspan="2"| 2015|| Bring Me the Horizon || Best British Band ||
|-
| "Drown" || Best Single ||
|-
| 2016 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best British Band ||
|-
|rowspan="2"|2019 || Amo || Best Album ||
|-
| Bring Me the Horizon || Best British Band || AIM Independent Music Awards|-
| 2011 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best Live Act ||
|-
| 2011 || Bring Me the Horizon || Hardest Working Band or Artist ||
|-
| 2011 || Bring Me the Horizon || Independent Breakthrough of Year || Alternative Press
|-
| 2014 || Sempiternal || Best Album ||
|-
| 2014 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best International Band ||
|-
| 2015 || "Drown" || Best Music Video ||
|-
UK Music Video Awards
|-
| 2016
| "True Friends"
| Best Rock/Indie Video – UK
|
Readers polls
In a 2009 Rock Sound readers' poll, Bring Me the Horizon achieved both Best British Band and Worst British Band.
In 2011 The Guardian ran a poll for "Who should win the Mercury prize?" and used 50 albums, Bring Me the Horizon's third album There Is a Hell... won with 37%.
In a 2013 Sirius XM published poll, Bring Me the Horizon won Best Song Discovery for "Go to Hell, for Heaven's Sake" with the Octane radio station.
In a 2013 Alternative Press readers poll, Bring Me the Horizon was nominated for four categories: Best Vocalist (Oliver Sykes; position 3), Best Keyboardist (Jordan Fish; position 1), Single Of The Year ("Shadow Moses"; position 2) and "Best Album Art" (Sempiternal; position 2).
In 2021, Kerrang! readers voted "Die4U" as the best song and music video of the year. Bring Me the Horizon was also voted as the best band and best live band of the year. They were also voted as the second-best cover story of the year by Kerrang Magazine.
Notes
References
Bibliography
External links
2004 establishments in England
British alternative metal musical groups
Columbia Records artists
English alternative rock groups
English deathcore musical groups
English metalcore musical groups
English pop rock music groups
Kerrang! Awards winners
Musical groups from Sheffield
Musical groups established in 2004
Musical quintets
RCA Records artists | true | [
"The Springfield Model 1880 was a trapdoor rifle based on the design of the Springfield Model 1873.\n\nHistory and design\nIn the years following the U.S. Civil War, Springfield Armory had produced bayonets by re-working older bayonets left over from the war. By 1880, their supply of bayonets had been almost completely exhausted. Rather than re-tool their production equipment to make an item that was now considered obsolete, Springfield Armory chose instead to modify the Model 1873 to use a new bayonet system.\n\nIn the days of smooth bore muskets, bayonets had played a considerable role on the battlefield, often accounting for as many as a third or more of all battlefield casualties. The more accurate rifled muskets of the Civil War and the switch to breech-loading weapons in the years after the Civil War made older bayonet tactics obsolete. Many military leaders believed that soldiers would benefit more from a bayonet that functioned more as a trench digging instrument than a traditional combat style bayonet. Many of these new trowel type bayonets were fielded. However, in the late 1870s the U.S. Army high command remained unconvinced of the usefulness of this style of bayonet, and informed commanders in the field that they could exchange their trowel bayonets for more classical triangular bayonets.\n\nFor the Model 1880, Springfield Armory departed from previous bayonet designs and attempted to produce a combination bayonet and cleaning rod. The bayonet was of the triangular style, as the trowel type had recently fallen out of favor. Approximately 1,000 of the Model 1880 Springfields were produced and were fielded for testing.\n\nThe Model 1880s did not do well in testing. The rod's retaining mechanism was problematic and did not work well until a key was added to the locking spring. The design modifications altered the ballistics of the weapon, and the sights had to be modified to compensate for the changes. Because of these problems, the Model 1880s were all returned from the field and were placed into storage. After a failed successor design, the 1882, further attempts at improvement succeeded with the Springfield Model 1884, Springfield Model 1886 and Springfield Model 1888 rifles.\n\nSee also\n Springfield rifle\n\nReferences\n\nSpringfield firearms\nHinged breechblock rifles\nRifles of the United States",
"is the third remix album by P-Model.\n\nOverview\nThe album consists of a selection of rearrangements of older songs played by the \"defrosted\" lineup of the band in their style. Besides these songs, the \"defrosted\" P-Model also performed nine other songs from older albums (including In a Model Room, Landsale and Scuba, which are not represented in this selection) that did not receive studio remixes.\n\nIt is part of a pair of conceptual takes on a live album, alongside Pause: For this album, Hirasawa aimed to replicate the songs as they sounded to the band members. Since the band heard their music on stage coming from multiple speakers/monitors, they got a \"flood\" of distorted sound. As such, the album was mastered to bring out harshness and loudness, aiming to replicate that situation as well as the tension and the intensity of the formation's live shows.\n\nTrack listing\n\nPersonnel\nSusumu Hirasawa - Vocals, Synthesizer, Guitar, Computer programming, Amiga\nHikaru Kotobuki - Synthesizer, Computer programming, Amiga, Vocoder, Backing Vocals\nKayo \"Kokubo\" Matsumoto - \"MAMA\" Vocal on \"OH! MAMA\" (sampled)\nBoris Karloff and O.P. Heggie - acting in \"LEAK\" (sampled)\nMasanori Chinzei - Engineering\n\nRelease history\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n The Way of LIVE at NO ROOM - The official site of Susumu Hirasawa (P-MODEL)\n\nP-Model albums\n1994 remix albums\nDIW Records live albums\nJapanese-language albums"
]
|
[
"Bring Me the Horizon",
"Style and influences",
"What influenced their music style?",
"Among Bring Me the Horizon's earliest influences were bands like At the Gates, Carcass, Pantera, Metallica, The Dillinger Escape Plan,",
"Did they ever make a statement regarding this influence?",
"I don't know.",
"Who did they model their style after?",
"Every Time I Die, Norma Jean, Skycamefalling and Poison the Well;"
]
| C_50898b4862fb42f5b989ea579db6fb46_1 | How do they imitate these style makers? | 4 | How did Bring Me the Horizon imitate Every Time I Die, Norma Jean, Skycamefalling and Poison the Well's style makers? | Bring Me the Horizon | Among Bring Me the Horizon's earliest influences were bands like At the Gates, Carcass, Pantera, Metallica, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Every Time I Die, Norma Jean, Skycamefalling and Poison the Well; and genres death metal, grindcore, and emo have been cited by AllMusic writer Steward Mason. However, as their sound developed, the band started to take influences from progressive rock, post-rock, dubstep and electronica. The band's musical style has been described mainly as metalcore and - though they have since moved on from the genre - their early material was considered deathcore. Across their career the band has also been said to play within the genres post-hardcore, hardcore punk, technical metal, heavy metal, and emo. Bring Me the Horizon have attempted to grow and change with each album, believing they should be different. Raziq Rauf, writing for Drowned In Sound, described Count Your Blessings as possessing "Norma Jean-style thunderous riffs mixed with some dastardly sludgy doom moments and more breakdowns than your dad's old Nissan Sunny." Metal Hammer described Suicide Season as a "creative, critical and commercial success" for the band as they started to adopt a more eclectic style, with its "crushingly heavy party deathcore". Leading up to its release Oliver Sykes described it as "100% different to Count Your Blessings" and noted the album sounds "more rock than metal". As time went by, Bring Me the Horizon began rejecting their debut album Count Your Blessings and considered Suicide Season as their "Year Zero[...] [their] wipe-the-slate-clean time". Bring Me the Horizon then moved even further away from deathcore with their third album There Is a Hell, which incorporated electronica, classical music and pop music into their metalcore style. This required more ambitious production feats, such as using a full choir, a synthesised orchestra and glitched out vocals and breakdowns that were also toned down, favouring quiet atmospheric passages in song breaks. For the writing of Sempiternal, the band pooled far broader influences such as post-rock acts like This Will Destroy You and Explosions In The Sky and from pop music. Bring Me the Horizon has experimented with its music in recent years, mixing pop with metal music, leading the band to be labeled a "pop metal" act. With the release of That's the Spirit, their sound shifted towards alternative metal and alternative rock, also incorporated other genres such as pop rock and nu metal, while completely abandoning the metalcore sound of their earlier albums. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Bring Me the Horizon (often abbreviated as BMTH) are a British rock band formed in Sheffield in 2004. The group consists of lead vocalist Oliver Sykes, guitarist Lee Malia, bassist Matt Kean, drummer Matt Nicholls and keyboardist Jordan Fish. They are signed to RCA Records globally and Columbia Records exclusively in the United States.
The band released their debut album Count Your Blessings in 2006. Upon release, the album's sound polarised listeners, and was met with critical disdain. The band began to break away from their controversial sound with Suicide Season (2008), which was a creative, critical and commercial turning point for the band. Bring Me the Horizon released their third album, There Is a Hell Believe Me I've Seen It. There Is a Heaven Let's Keep It a Secret., in 2010, propelling them to greater international fame, whilst incorporating influences from classical music, electronica and pop. Their major label debut, Sempiternal (2013) achieved Gold certification in Australia (35,000) and Silver in the United Kingdom (60,000). That's the Spirit (2015) debuted at number two in the UK Albums Chart and the US Billboard 200. Their sixth studio album Amo (2019) became their first UK chart topper. As well as these six studio albums, they have also released two extended plays and two live albums. They have received four Kerrang! Awards, including two for Best British Band and one for Best Live Band, and have been nominated for two Grammy Awards.
The style of their early work, including their debut album Count Your Blessings, has been described primarily as deathcore, but they started to adopt a more eclectic style of metalcore on later albums. Furthermore, That's the Spirit marked a shift in their sound to less aggressive rock music styles. Amo saw a shift into different genres, such as electronica, pop and hip hop.
History
Formation and early releases (2002–2006)
Bring Me the Horizon's founding members came from diverse musical backgrounds within metal and rock. Matt Nicholls and Oliver Sykes had a common interest in American metalcore such as Norma Jean and Skycamefalling, and used to attend local hardcore punk shows. They later met Lee Malia, who spoke with them about thrash metal and melodic death metal bands like Metallica and At the Gates; Malia had also been part of a Metallica tribute band before meeting the pair. Bring Me the Horizon officially formed in March 2004, when the members were aged 15 to 17. Curtis Ward, who also lived in the Rotherham area, joined Sykes, Malia and Nicholls on drums. Bassist Matt Kean, who was in other local bands, completed the line-up. Their name is paraphrased from a line of dialogue spoken by Captain Jack Sparrow in the 2003 film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, where Captain Jack Sparrow says: "Now, bring me that horizon."
In the months following their formation, Bring Me the Horizon created a demo album titled Bedroom Sessions. They followed this by releasing their first EP, This Is What the Edge of Your Seat Was Made For, in September 2004 through local UK label Thirty Days of Night Records. Bring Me the Horizon were the label's first signing. It was recorded at Pristine Studios in Nottingham over the course of two weekends, with drums and bass guitar laid down over the first weekend, and guitars and vocals completed a week later.
UK label Visible Noise noticed the band after the release of their EP, and signed them for a four-album deal, in addition to re-releasing the EP in January 2005. The re-release gained the band significant attention, eventually peaking at No. 41 on the UK album charts. The band was later awarded Best British Newcomer at the 2006 Kerrang! Awards ceremony.
The band's first tour was supporting The Red Chord across the United Kingdom. As with other early tours, they were able to get this slot by tricking venue promoters. Kean and Oliver's mother Carol Sykes were the de facto managers of the band at this time, a role they continued to occupy until 2008. For The Red Chord support, Kean emailed promoters and pretended they were opening on all the dates, when they were supposed to play only at their local show. This led them to being booked for the whole tour. In another case, Sykes created an e-mail account in the name of Johnny Truant vocalist Oliver Mitchell, which he used to contact a promoter requesting Bring Me the Horizon on their tour. Alcohol consumption fuelled their live performances in their early history when the band would get so drunk they vomited on stage and damaged their equipment.
Count Your Blessings (2006–2007)
The band released their debut album Count Your Blessings in October 2006 in the United Kingdom and in August 2007 in the United States. They rented a house in the country to write songs, but easily became distracted. They then recorded the album in inner-city Birmingham, a process which was infamous for their excessive and dangerous drinking. During this period drummer Nicholls summarised it saying "we were out every night, just being regular 18-year-olds". Critics panned the album adding to the strongly polarised responses the band were already seeing from the public.
They supported Count Your Blessings by going on a lengthy headline tour of the UK in November, and immediately followed this joining Lostprophets and The Blackout on a UK tour through late November and December 2006.
In January 2007, Bring Me the Horizon were able to set their sights beyond the UK, when they replaced Bury Your Dead on Killswitch Engage's European headline tour. The slot became available after Bury Your Dead were forced to withdraw by the departure from the band of their vocalist, Mat Bruso. Bring Me the Horizon's presence on the tour was poorly received by fans of Killswitch Engage, with concert attendees regularly throwing bottles at the band before they even started playing their set.
Suicide Season and Ward's departure (2008–2009)
Bring Me the Horizon recorded their second studio album, Suicide Season, in Sweden with producer Fredrik Nordström. He was unimpressed with their first album and was initially absent from the recording sessions unless he needed to be there. Nordström later heard the new sound they were experimenting with during a recording session and became very involved in the record. It was promoted virally in the weeks before its release with the promotional tag line "September is Suicide Season." To promote Suicide Season the band embarked on their first headline tour of the United States, as well as appearing at the 2008 Warped Tour. In May 2008, Bring Me the Horizon was the main supporting band on I Killed the Prom Queen's farewell Australian tour with The Ghost Inside and The Red Shore.
Suicide Season was released on 18 September 2008 in the United States on Epitaph and on 29 September in Europe through Visible Noise. In 2009, Bring Me the Horizon attended the 2009 Kerrang! Tour alongside Black Tide, Dir En Grey, In Case of Fire and Mindless Self Indulgence. They also joined Thursday, Cancer Bats, Four Year Strong and Pierce the Veil on the North American leg of the 2009 Taste of Chaos tour from February to April after the tour's organizer Kevin Lyman offered them the slot. The band were initially hesitant to join this tour, but were convinced after Lyman offered them a bus and $500 of fuel for the tour.
During the Taste of Chaos tour in March of that year, guitarist Curtis Ward left the band. His relationship with the band had deteriorated as his stage performances were poor. He was abusive to audiences during the Taste of Chaos tour, and had contributed little to the writing of Suicide Season. Another reason for his departure was the worsening tinnitus in his one functioning ear. Ward was born deaf in one ear and admitted playing in the band worsened the ringing in his other ear to such a degree that he was unable to sleep at night. Ward offered to perform the rest of the tour dates, which the band rejected and instead asked their guitar technician, Dean Rowbotham, to substitute for him for the remaining performances. Lee Malia noted that Ward's departure helped improve everyone's mood as he had been very negative. Within a week of the tour finishing, Sykes began talking to Jona Weinhofen, at the time the guitarist of Bleeding Through. The band knew of him from his work with his former band I Killed the Prom Queen, and he was asked to join them. Ward has since worked on the TV show Top Gear, and has occasionally performed on stage with Bring Me The Horizon, playing "Pray For Plagues", most notably at Wembley Arena in 2015. In 2016, it was announced that Ward had joined the band Counting Days.
In November 2009, Bring Me the Horizon released a remixed version of Suicide Season, titled Suicide Season: Cut Up! Musicians and producers featured on the album include: Ben Weinman, Skrillex, L'Amour La Morgue, Utah Saints and Shawn Crahan. Musically, the album incorporates many genres including: electronica, drum and bass, hip-hop and dubstep. The dubstep style of the record has been acknowledged in tracks by Tek-One and Skrillex while the hip-hop elements are found in Travis McCoy's remix of "Chelsea Smile".
There Is a Hell... (2010–2011)
The band's third album, and first with their new rhythm guitarist Jona Weinhofen, titled There Is a Hell Believe Me I've Seen It. There Is a Heaven Let's Keep It a Secret., was released on 4 October 2010 and debuted at number 17 on the Billboard 200 in the United States, number 13 on the UK Album Chart, and number one on the Australian Albums Chart, the UK Rock Chart and the UK Indie Chart. Despite reaching number one in Australia, the album's sales were the lowest for a number one album in the history of the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) charts.
Matt Nicholls describes the lyrical themes of There Is a Hell... as being "repercussions of everything we were singing about on our last CD [Suicide Season]," calling the music and lyrics a lot moodier and darker. Five singles were released from the album including: "It Never Ends", "Anthem", "Blessed with a Curse", "Visions", and "Alligator Blood", with music videos produced for each of the songs. The band embarked on a headline tour in intimate venues across the United Kingdom with support from Cancer Bats and Tek-One. In December 2010, Bring Me the Horizon joined Bullet for My Valentine as the main support band, alongside Atreyu, on a short five-date arena tour around the United Kingdom. To cope with high demand, Live Nation released extra standing tickets for all dates.
In April 2011, Bring Me the Horizon embarked on a European tour, starting in the United Kingdom. They toured with Parkway Drive and Architects as main support bands, with The Devil Wears Prada as the opening support for the UK and dubstep group Tek-One. The tour, however, was not without its hindrances. On 28 April, Nicholls broke his arm whilst playing football with members of Bring Me the Horizon, Parkway Drive and Architects. Instead of cancelling the tour, Architects' drummer Dan Searle filled in as drummer, but this meant that Bring Me the Horizon's setlist was halved in length. The tour was extended with a North American leg from 13 August to 4 October, retaining Parkway Drive and Architects and adding Deez Nuts to the line up. On 23 August they released the fourth music video and single, "Visions", and on 31 October the music video for the song "Alligator Blood" was released.
In December 2011, Machine Head completed an arena tour across Europe with Bring Me the Horizon as the main support band along with DevilDriver and Darkest Hour. Oliver Sykes said these would be the last European dates before they began writing and the recording their fourth album. 2011 ended with an announcement by the band on 29 December of a new extended play titled The Chill Out Sessions, a collaborative effort with British DJ Draper. Draper first released an "officially sanctioned" remix of the song "Blessed with a Curse" in May 2011. The EP was originally supposed to be released in time for New Year's Day, and made available for download and purchase though Bring Me the Horizon's website, but the EP's release was cancelled due to the band's "current management and label situation".
Sempiternal and Weinhofen's departure (2012–2014)
After an intense touring schedule, Bring Me the Horizon finally completed their third album's promotion at the end of 2011. They returned to the UK for an extended break and eventually starting work on their next album. Much like their previous two albums, they wrote their fourth album in seclusion and isolation to stay focused. This time, they retreated to a house in the Lake District. In July, the band started to publish images of themselves recording at a 'Top Secret Studio Location,' and revealed they were working with producer Terry Date for the recording and production of the album. On 30 July, the band announced they had left their label and signed with RCA, who would release their fourth album in 2013. The band played only three shows in all of 2012: Warped Tour 2012 on 10 November at the Alexandra Palace in London, which they headlined, (and was initially believed to be their only show), the BBC Radio 1's Radio 1 Rocks show on 22 October, where they played a six-song set supporting Bullet for My Valentine, and at a warm-up show for Warped Tour in Sheffield on 9 November. In late October it was announced that the fourth album would be called Sempiternal with a tentative release in early 2013. On 22 November the band released the Draper collaborative album The Chill Out Sessions free of charge.
On 4 January 2013, Bring Me the Horizon released the first single from Sempiternal, "Shadow Moses". It was first played by radio presenter Daniel P. Carter on BBC's Radio 1. Due to popular demand, Epitaph released the music video for the song a week earlier than planned. In January, the band also saw a change in their line up. This began early in the month when Jordan Fish, Worship keyboardist and session musician for the band during the writing of Sempiternal, was announced as a full member. Then later in the month, Jona Weinhofen left the band. Despite the band denying speculation that Fish replaced Weinhofen, reviewers said that replacing a guitarist with a keyboardist better fit their style.
The band was confirmed for several festival appearances in February. They played the Australian Soundwave festival, performing at all five dates in: Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth, and then at RAMFest in South Africa with Rise Against in March, Rock Am Ring and Rock im Park festivals in Germany in June, and from June until August they played Warped Tour 2013 in the U.S. and Canada. To coincide with 29 April release of Sempiternal the band made their first headline tour of the United Kingdom in 18 months with Crossfaith and Empress AD.
In support of Sempiternal, the band toured Australia with Of Mice & Men and Crossfaith, and played a British tour with Pierce The Veil and Sights & Sounds. They then completed the American Dream Tour in North America, supported by Of Mice & Men, Issues, letlive. and Northlane. The band was announced as the main supporter for American band A Day to Remember on their "Parks & Devastation Tour" across America throughout September and October, along with support acts Motionless in White and Chiodos. The band performed at Wembley Arena in London on 5 December with support acts Young Guns, Issues and Sleepwave, which was recorded and released as a live album/DVD.
Later in 2014, the band released two new tracks titled "Drown" on 21 October, as a stand-alone single, and "Don't Look Down" on 29 October, as part of the re-score of Drive.
That's the Spirit (2015–2017)
In late June, the band began to promote pictures of an umbrella symbol being used as a tattoo, and on stickers, and posters across England, the United States, Australia, and Europe; it was later used for a promotional cover for the band's first single. The band released a short video in early July where the words "that's the spirit" could be heard in reverse. On 13 July 2015, the promotional single "Happy Song" was released on the band's Vevo page, and on 21 July 2015, Sykes revealed the album's name was That's the Spirit. The band released the single and music video for "Throne" on 23 July 2015, and another promotional track from the album, titled "True Friends", was released on 24 August 2015. The album was released on 11 September 2015 to critical acclaim. It has led to several music videos including "Drown", "Throne", "True Friends", "Follow You", "Avalanche", and "Oh No".
The band embarked on a U.S. tour in October 2015 with support from metalcore band Issues and rock band PVRIS. The band also toured Europe in November 2015, and embarked on a second U.S. tour in April and May 2016. This was followed by an Australian tour in September 2016, and a second European tour in November 2016.
On 22 April 2016, the band performed a live concert with an orchestra conducted by Simon Dobson at the Royal Albert Hall in London. The concert marked the first time the band had performed with a live orchestra. It was recorded, and the live album, Live at the Royal Albert Hall, was released on 2 December 2016 through the crowdfunding platform PledgeMusic on CD, DVD, and vinyl, with all proceeds donated to Teenage Cancer Trust. Following the show, Fish hinted at the possibility of doing a full tour with an orchestra, saying: "It seems almost a bit of a shame to go to all this effort for months and months for just one night."
Amo (2018–2019)
In August 2018, cryptic posters appeared in major cities throughout the world with the message "do you wanna start a cult with me?". The posters were attributed by major media outlets to the band only by their use of the hexagram logo previously used by the band. During this time the band themselves have not acknowledged their involvement with the campaign publicly. Each poster provided a unique phone number and a website address. The website provided a brief message titled "An Invitation To Salvation" and shows the date of 21 August 2018. The phone lines placed fans on hold with lengthy, varied audio messages that changed frequently. Some of these messages reportedly end with a distorted audio clip of what was assumed to be new music from the band.
On 21 August, the band released the lead single "Mantra". The following day the band announced their album Amo, released on 11 January 2019, along with a set of tour dates called the First Love World Tour.
On 21 October, the band released their second single "Wonderful Life" featuring Dani Filth, along with the tracklist for Amo. That same day, the band announced that the album has been delayed and is now set for 25 January 2019.
On 1 December, it was reported that during a show at Ally Pally a fan died in the mosh pit and was escorted by paramedics and security. A day later, it was confirmed by the band with a statement: "Words cannot express how horrified we are feeling this evening after hearing about the death of a young man at our show last night. Our hearts and deepest condolences go out to his family and loved ones at this terrible time. We will comment further in due course."
On 3 January 2019, the band released their third single "Medicine" and its corresponding music video. On 22 January, three days before the album release, the band released the fourth single "Mother Tongue". On 24 January, the band released the fifth single "Nihilist Blues" featuring Grimes.
On 26 July, the band released the sixth single "Sugar Honey Ice & Tea" alongside an accompanying music video. On 21 October, the band released the seventh single "In the Dark" alongside an accompanying music video featuring Forest Whitaker. On 6 November, the band released the song "Ludens", which is part of Death Stranding: Timefall, along with the news that the band are planning on never releasing an album again and instead want to release EPs. On 27 December, the band released Music to Listen to~Dance to~Blaze to~Pray to~Feed to~Sleep to~Talk to~Grind to~Trip to~Breathe to~Help to~Hurt to~Scroll to~Roll to~Love to~Hate to~Learn Too~Plot to~Play to~Be to~Feel to~Breed to~Sweat to~Dream to~Hide to~Live to~Die to~Go To without any prior announcement.
Post Human: Survival Horror (2020–present)
On 20 March 2020, the band shared that they were in a home studio, writing and recording material for their eighth record, which is expected to be an EP, with part of it being co-produced by Mick Gordon. On 25 June, the band released the single "Parasite Eve" alongside an accompanying music video. On the same day, the band also announced a project that they have been working on titled Post Human, which they said to be four EPs released throughout the next year which when combined would make an album. On 2 September, the band released with English singer Yungblud a collaborative single titled "Obey" and its corresponding music video. On 14 October, the band officially announced through social media that Post Human: Survival Horror would be released on 30 October 2020. On 22 October, a week before the release date, the fourth single "Teardrops" was released alongside an accompanying music video.
In December 2020, Fish said that the band had been writing "on and off" and would be focusing on their next release in early 2021. He also updated the group's release plan, saying that they "planned to do four EPs in a year, but [Post Human: Survival Horror] was almost an album, so I think the spacing will be a bit longer than intended, just because they're probably going to turn out bigger than intended." Upon being released on physical formats on 22 January 2021, Post Human: Survival Horror would chart again and reach a new peak to gift Bring Me the Horizon their second UK number one on the UK Albums Chart. Two years after Amo would be the first to reach this feat. The band collaborated with singer Olivia O'Brien on a track titled "No More Friends". The song is from O'Brien's Episodes: Season 1' EP which was released on 11 June 2021.
On 2 September 2021, the band announced the release of an upcoming single, "Die4U", which was released on 16 September. On 8 December, the band was announced as the Saturday co-headliner alongside Arctic Monkeys at the 2022 iteration of the Reading and Leeds Festival, headlining the bill for the first time ever. Speaking to NME about the announcement, Sykes expressed his thoughts about headlining Reading and Leeds, as well as what to expect from their headline set:
In February 2022, it was reported that the band were set to contribute to the soundtrack and provide the main theme for Gran Turismo 7. A few days later, the band released their rendition of "Moon Over the Castle" as a single ahead of schedule due to the song being leaked early. At the 42nd Brit Awards, the band were brought out as a surprise act to perform "Bad Habits" alongside Ed Sheeran. On 17 February, the studio version of "Bad Habits" by Ed Sheeran featuring the band was released.
Artistry
Style and influences
Among Bring Me the Horizon's earliest influences were bands like At the Gates, Carcass, Pantera, Metallica, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Every Time I Die, Norma Jean, Skycamefalling and Poison the Well; and genres death metal, grindcore, and emo have been cited by AllMusic writer Steward Mason. However, as their sound developed, the band started to take influences from progressive rock, post-rock, dubstep and electronica. The band's musical style has been described mainly as metalcore and – though they have since moved on from the genre – their early material was considered deathcore. Across their career the band has also been said to play within the genres alternative metal, alternative rock, pop rock, electronic rock, hard rock, heavy metal, post-hardcore, pop, nu metal, electropop, hip hop, EDM, arena rock, melodic metalcore, electronicore, electronica, screamo, hardcore punk, technical metal, and emo.
Bring Me the Horizon have attempted to grow and change with each album, believing they should be different. Raziq Rauf, writing for Drowned in Sound, described Count Your Blessings as possessing "Norma Jean-style thunderous riffs mixed with some dastardly sludgy doom moments and more breakdowns than your dad's old Nissan Sunny." Metal Hammer described Suicide Season as a "creative, critical and commercial success" for the band as they started to adopt a more eclectic style, with its "crushingly heavy party deathcore". Leading up to its release, Oliver Sykes described it as "100% different to Count Your Blessings" and noted the album sounds "more rock than metal". As time went by, Bring Me the Horizon began rejecting their debut album Count Your Blessings and considered Suicide Season as their "Year Zero[...] [their] wipe-the-slate-clean time".
Bring Me the Horizon then moved even further away from deathcore with their third album There Is a Hell..., which incorporated electronica, classical music and pop music into their metalcore style. This required more ambitious production feats, such as using a full choir, a synthesised orchestra and glitched out vocals and breakdowns that were also toned down, favouring quiet atmospheric passages in song breaks. For the writing of Sempiternal, the band pooled far broader influences such as post-rock acts like This Will Destroy You and Explosions in the Sky and from pop music.
Bring Me the Horizon has experimented with its music in recent years, mixing pop with metal music, leading the band to be labelled a "pop metal" act. With the release of That's the Spirit, their sound shifted towards electronic rock, alternative metal and alternative rock, also incorporated other genres such as pop rock and nu metal, while completely abandoning the metalcore sound of their earlier albums.
Songwriting and recording process
In all the band's album notes, all of Bring Me the Horizon's lyrics are said to be written by lead vocalist Oliver Sykes while all five members—as a band—were credited with writing the music. With the exception of Count Your Blessings, the band has always written in a secluded location to avoid being distracted. Oliver Sykes' lyrics have a strong feeling of catharsis for him. He mainly draws from personal experience and has described the band's live performances as therapeutic. In 2006, when asked about the lyrics of Count Your Blessings, as they had been criticised for their content solely fixated on heartbreak and other themes that were called "shallow and meaningless", he responded "My life's never been that bad so I've not got that much to talk about."
Band members have described how the debut album was written in inner-city areas of Birmingham while being pressured to write and record songs to the deadlines given. This resulted in the band being unimpressed with the final product. However, for the writing process of Suicide Season, the band realised that they much preferred picking areas with less human contact in order to focus on the music; they wrote their second album in the Swedish countryside. During the writing of Suicide Season, former and founding rhythm guitarist Curtis Ward wrote only two riffs of his rhythm parts of the album, mostly relying on Lee Malia to write all of the guitar sections of the album.
Lee Malia has stated that the typical writing process involves Oliver Sykes writing the main structure of the songs, followed by Malia writing the main riff. From this they would collaborate with each other to structure their work better and then later include the rest of the band in writing the rest of the song. The writing dynamic of Sempiternal, typically featured Sykes, Malia and newly introduced member Jordan Fish. Malia felt that with Fish's influence on the record he was pushed to create more inspired guitar riffs. As they all took a break before writing their fourth album, they felt less of a need for an isolated writing environment.
Image and legacy
During the band's early years, they were praised for their business acumen for selling mail-order merchandise and not relying on sales at live shows. Bring Me the Horizon's image has been characterised by the dominating personality of singer and front-man Oliver Sykes, and he has often been seen as the band's "Poster boy", bearing the brunt of the band's controversial reputation. In their early years, Bring Me the Horizon's image was infamously characterised by its members fashion sense and use of skinny-fit jeans, T-shirts with death metal band logos on the front and coloured hair/straightened hair. The band's image fit into what was called scene fashion. The effect of their fashion aesthetics showed people, in show promoter Iain Scott's perspective, that "you don't have to look like a diabolical metalhead to be into metal or play in a metal band". However, their fashion conscious appearance earned them a "style over substance" label.
Many controversies that occurred in their early years greatly affected public perceptions of the band, particularly an incident in 2007 at Nottingham's Rock City venue, when a female fan claimed that Oliver Sykes had urinated on her. The charges were dropped due to a lack of evidence from CCTV footage in the area. There were several documented examples of violence against the band during their live shows, including Sykes being pepper sprayed on stage; and people getting onstage to assault the band.
Despite the controversy over their image, various journalists have credited the band as being one of the most forward-thinking heavy bands in the UK. In 2012, just four years after the release of Suicide Season, the album was inducted into Rock Sound's Hall of Fame, credited as a significant influence on the works of Asking Alexandria, The Ghost Inside and While She Sleeps. It was credited as an influence on metalcore contemporaries Architects on Hollow Crown with their incorporation of keyboards and programming, and The Devil Wears Prada's Dead Throne for its more experimental and opinion-dividing sound.
The band caused further controversy in February 2016 when Oliver Sykes trashed Coldplay's table at the 2016 NME Awards during a live performance of Bring Me the Horizon's track "Happy Song". Although some people thought the table trashing was because of a prior feud between the two bands relating to similar album artwork, Sykes later stated that the act was not an act of "dirty protest", and suggested that it was "pure coincidence" that Coldplay were sitting at the table he trampled. Coldplay frontman Chris Martin admitted that he had never even heard of Bring Me the Horizon before the incident and he laughed it off, stating that "it was great, very 'rock and roll'".
Band members
Current
Oliver Sykes – lead vocals ; keyboards, programming
Matt Kean – bass
Lee Malia – lead guitar ; rhythm guitar
Matt Nicholls – drums
Jordan Fish – keyboards, programming, percussion, backing vocals
Current touring musicians
John Jones – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
Former
Curtis Ward – rhythm guitar
Jona Weinhofen – rhythm guitar, keyboards, programming, backing vocals
Former touring musicians
Dean Rowbotham – rhythm guitar
Robin Urbino – rhythm guitar
Tim Hillier-Brook – rhythm guitar
Brendan MacDonald – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
Timeline
Discography
Count Your Blessings (2006)
Suicide Season (2008)
There Is a Hell Believe Me I've Seen It. There Is a Heaven Let's Keep It a Secret. (2010)
Sempiternal (2013)
That's the Spirit (2015)
Amo (2019)
Awards and nominations
Grammy Awards
|-
| 2019 || "Mantra" || Best Rock Song ||
|-
| 2020 || Amo || Best Rock Album ||
BRIT Awards
|-
| 2020 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best Group ||
|-
NME Awards|-
|rowspan="2"| 2017
|Bring Me the Horizon || Best Live Band ||
|-
| Bring Me the Horizon || Music Moment of the Year ||
|-
| 2020 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best Band in the World ||
|-
|rowspan="2"| 2022 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best Band in the World ||
|-
| Bring Me the Horizon || Best Live Act ||Kerrang! Awards|-
| 2006 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best British Newcomer ||
|-
| 2008 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best British Band ||
|-
| 2009 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best British Band ||
|-
|rowspan="3"| 2011 || "Blessed with a Curse" || Best Single ||
|-
| Bring Me the Horizon || Best British Band ||
|-
| There Is a Hell Believe Me I've Seen It. There Is a Heaven Let's Keep It a Secret. || Best Album ||
|-
| 2012 || "Alligator Blood" || Best Video ||
|-
| rowspan="4"| 2013 || "Shadow Moses" || Best Single ||
|-
| "Shadow Moses" || Best Video ||
|-
| Sempiternal || Best Album ||
|-
| Bring Me the Horizon || Best British Band ||
|-
| 2014 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best Live Band ||
|-
| 2014 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best British Band ||
|-
|rowspan="2"| 2015|| Bring Me the Horizon || Best British Band ||
|-
| "Drown" || Best Single ||
|-
| 2016 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best British Band ||
|-
|rowspan="2"|2019 || Amo || Best Album ||
|-
| Bring Me the Horizon || Best British Band || AIM Independent Music Awards|-
| 2011 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best Live Act ||
|-
| 2011 || Bring Me the Horizon || Hardest Working Band or Artist ||
|-
| 2011 || Bring Me the Horizon || Independent Breakthrough of Year || Alternative Press
|-
| 2014 || Sempiternal || Best Album ||
|-
| 2014 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best International Band ||
|-
| 2015 || "Drown" || Best Music Video ||
|-
UK Music Video Awards
|-
| 2016
| "True Friends"
| Best Rock/Indie Video – UK
|
Readers polls
In a 2009 Rock Sound readers' poll, Bring Me the Horizon achieved both Best British Band and Worst British Band.
In 2011 The Guardian ran a poll for "Who should win the Mercury prize?" and used 50 albums, Bring Me the Horizon's third album There Is a Hell... won with 37%.
In a 2013 Sirius XM published poll, Bring Me the Horizon won Best Song Discovery for "Go to Hell, for Heaven's Sake" with the Octane radio station.
In a 2013 Alternative Press readers poll, Bring Me the Horizon was nominated for four categories: Best Vocalist (Oliver Sykes; position 3), Best Keyboardist (Jordan Fish; position 1), Single Of The Year ("Shadow Moses"; position 2) and "Best Album Art" (Sempiternal; position 2).
In 2021, Kerrang! readers voted "Die4U" as the best song and music video of the year. Bring Me the Horizon was also voted as the best band and best live band of the year. They were also voted as the second-best cover story of the year by Kerrang Magazine.
Notes
References
Bibliography
External links
2004 establishments in England
British alternative metal musical groups
Columbia Records artists
English alternative rock groups
English deathcore musical groups
English metalcore musical groups
English pop rock music groups
Kerrang! Awards winners
Musical groups from Sheffield
Musical groups established in 2004
Musical quintets
RCA Records artists | false | [
"Imitation (from Latin imitatio, \"a copying, imitation\") is a behavior whereby an individual observes and replicates another's behavior. Imitation is also a form of social learning that leads to the \"development of traditions, and ultimately our culture. It allows for the transfer of information (behaviours, customs, etc.) between individuals and down generations without the need for genetic inheritance.\" The word imitation can be applied in many contexts, ranging from animal training to politics. The term generally refers to conscious behavior; subconscious imitation is termed mirroring.\n\nAnthropology and social sciences\nIn anthropology, some theories hold that all cultures imitate ideas from one of a few original cultures or several cultures whose influence overlaps geographically. Evolutionary diffusion theory holds that cultures influence one another, but that similar ideas can be developed in isolation.\n\nScholars as well as popular authors have argued that the role of imitation in humans is unique among animals. However, this claim has been recently challenged by scientific research which observed social learning and imitative abilities in animals.\n\nPsychologist Kenneth Kaye showed that infants' ability to match the sounds or gestures of an adult depends on an interactive process of turn-taking over many successive trials, in which adults' instinctive behavior plays as great a role as that of the infant. These writers assume that evolution would have selected imitative abilities as fit because those who were good at it had a wider arsenal of learned behavior at their disposal, including tool-making and language.\n\nHowever, research also suggests that imitative behaviours and other social learning processes are only selected for when outnumbered or accompanied by asocial learning processes: an over-saturation of imitation and imitating individuals leads humans to collectively copy inefficient strategies and evolutionarily maladaptive behaviours, thereby reduce flexibility to new environmental contexts that require adaptation. Research suggests imitative social learning hinders the acquisition of knowledge in novel environments and in situations where asocial learning is faster and more advantageous.\n\nIn the mid-20th century, social scientists began to study how and why people imitate ideas. Everett Rogers pioneered innovation diffusion studies, identifying factors in adoption and profiles of adopters of ideas. Imitation mechanisms play a central role in both analytical and empirical models of collective human behavior\n\nNeuroscience\nWe are capable of imitating movements, actions, skills, behaviors, gestures, pantomimes, mimics, vocalizations, sounds, speech, etc. and that we have particular \"imitation systems\" in the brain is old neurological knowledge dating back to Hugo Karl Liepmann. Liepmann's model 1908 \"Das hierarchische Modell der Handlungsplanung\" (the hierarchical model of action planning) is still valid. On studying the cerebral localization of function, Liepmann postulated that planned or commanded actions were prepared in the parietal lobe of the brain's dominant hemisphere, and also frontally. His most important pioneering work is when extensively studying patients with lesions in these brain areas, he discovered that the patients lost (among other things) the ability to imitate. He was the one who coined the term \"apraxia\" and differentiated between ideational and ideomotor apraxia. It is in this basic and wider frame of classical neurological knowledge that the discovery of the mirror neuron has to be seen. Though mirror neurons were first discovered in macaques, their discovery also relates to humans.\n\nHuman brain studies using FMRI (Functional magnetic resonance imaging) revealed a network of regions in the inferior frontal cortex and inferior parietal cortex which are typically activated during imitation tasks. It has been suggested that these regions contain mirror neurons similar to the mirror neurons recorded in the macaque monkey. However, it is not clear if macaques spontaneously imitate each other in the wild.\n\nNeurologist V.S. Ramachandran argues that the evolution of mirror neurons were important in the human acquisition of complex skills such as language and believes the discovery of mirror neurons to be a most important advance in neuroscience. However, little evidence directly supports the theory that mirror neuron activity is involved in cognitive functions such as empathy or learning by imitation.\n\nEvidence is accumulating that bottlenose dolphins employ imitation to learn hunting and other skills from other dolphins.\n\nJapanese monkeys have been seen to spontaneously begin washing potatoes after seeing humans washing them.\n\nMirror neuron system\nResearch has been conducted to locate where in the brain specific parts and neurological systems are activated when humans imitate behaviors and actions of others, discovering a mirror neuron system. This neuron system allows a person to observe and then recreate the actions of others. Mirror neurons are premotor and parietal cells in the macaque brain that fire when the animal performs a goal directed action and when it sees others performing the same action.\" Evidence suggests that the mirror neuron system also allows people to comprehend and understand the intentions and emotions of others. Problems of the mirror neuron system may be correlated with the social inadequacies of autism. There have been many studies done showing that children with autism, compared with typically developing children, demonstrate reduced activity in the frontal mirror neuron system area when observing or imitating facial emotional expressions. Of course, the higher the severity of the disease, the lower the activity in the mirror neuron system is.\n\nAnimal behavior\nScientists debate whether animals can consciously imitate the unconscious incitement from sentinel animals, whether imitation is uniquely human, or whether humans do a complex version of what other animals do. The current controversy is partly definitional. Thorndike uses \"learning to do an act from seeing it done.\" It has two major shortcomings: first, by using \"seeing\" it restricts imitation to the visual domain and excludes, e.g., vocal imitation and, second, it would also include mechanisms such as priming, contagious behavior and social facilitation, which most scientist distinguish as separate forms of observational learning. Thorpe suggested defining imitation as \"the copying of a novel or otherwise improbable act or utterance, or some act for which there is clearly no instinctive tendency.\" This definition is favored by many scholars, though questions have been raised how strictly the term \"novel\" has to be interpreted and how exactly a performed act has to match the demonstration to count as a copy.\n\nIn 1952 Hayes & Hayes used the \"do-as-I-do\" procedure to demonstrate the imitative abilities of their trained chimpanzee \"Viki.\" Their study was repeatedly criticized for its subjective interpretations of their subjects' responses. Replications of this study found much lower matching degrees between subjects and models. However, imitation research focusing on the copying fidelity got new momentum from a study by Voelkl and Huber. They analyzed the motion trajectories of both model and observer monkeys and found a high matching degree in their movement patterns.\n\nParalleling these studies, comparative psychologists provided tools or apparatuses that could be handled in different ways. Heyes and co-workers reported evidence for imitation in rats that pushed a lever in the same direction as their models, though later on they withdrew their claims due to methodological problems in their original setup. By trying to design a testing paradigm that is less arbitrary than pushing a lever to the left or to the right, Custance and co-workers introduced the \"artificial fruit\" paradigm, where a small object could be opened in different ways to retrieve food placed inside—not unlike a hard-shelled fruit. Using this paradigm, scientists reported evidence for imitation in monkeys and apes. There remains a problem with such tool (or apparatus) use studies: what animals might learn in such studies need not be the actual behavior patterns (i.e., the actions) that were observed. Instead they might learn about some effects in the environment (i.e., how the tool moves, or how the apparatus works). This type of observational learning, which focuses on results, not actions, has been dubbed emulation (see Emulation (observational learning)).\n\nAn article was written by Carl Zimmer, he looked into a study being done by Derek lyons, he was focusing on human evolution, so he started to study a chimpanzee. He first started with showing the chimp how to retrieve food from a box, So they had the scientist go in a demonstrate how to retrieve the food from the box. The chimp soon caught on and did exactly what the scientist just did. They wanted to see if the chimpanzees brain functioned just like humans brain so they related this same exact study to 16 children and they did the same procedure and once the children seen how it was done, they followed the same steps.\n\nImitation in animals\nImitation in animals is a study in the field of social learning where learning behavior is observed in animals specifically how animals learn and adapt through imitation. Ethologists can classify imitation in animals by the learning of certain behaviors from conspecifics. More specifically, these behaviors are usually unique to the species and can be complex in nature and can benefit the individuals survival.\n\nSome scientists believe true imitation is only produced by humans, arguing that simple learning though sight is not enough to sustain as a being who can truly imitate. Thorpe defines true imitation as \"the copying of a novel or otherwise improbable act or utterance, or some act for which there is clearly no instinctive tendency,\" which is highly debated for its portrayal of imitation as a mindless repeating act. True imitation is produced when behavioral, visual and vocal imitation is achieved, not just the simple reproduction of exclusive behaviors. Imitation is not a simple reproduction of what one sees; rather it incorporates intention and purpose. Animal imitation can range from survival purpose; imitating as a function of surviving or adapting, to unknown possible curiosity, which vary between different animals and produce different results depending on the measured intelligence of the animal.\n\nThere is considerable evidence to support true imitation in animals. Experiments performed on apes, birds and more specifically the Japanese quail have provided positive results to imitating behavior, demonstrating imitation of opaque behavior. However the problem that lies is in the discrepancies between what is considered true imitation in behavior. Birds have demonstrated visual imitation, where the animal simply does as it sees. Studies on apes however have proven more advanced results in imitation, being able to remember and learn from what they imitate. Studies have demonstrated far more positive results with behavioral imitation in primates and birds than any other type of animal. Imitation in non primate mammals and other animals have been proven difficult to conclude solid positive results for and poses a difficult question to scientists on why that is so.\n\nTheories\n\nThere are two types of theories of imitation, transformational and associative. Transformational theories suggest that the information that is required to display certain behavior is created internally through cognitive processes and observing these behaviors provides incentive to duplicate them. Meaning we already have the codes to recreate any behavior and observing it results in its replication. Bandura's \"social cognitive theory\" is one example of a transformational theory. Associative, or sometimes referred to as \"contiguity\", theories suggest that the information required to display certain behaviors does not come from within ourselves but solely from our surroundings and experiences. Unfortunately these theories have not yet provided testable predictions in the field of social learning in animals and have yet to conclude strong results.\n\nNew developments\n\nThere have been three major developments in the field of animal imitation. The first, behavioral ecologists and experimental psychologists found there to be adaptive patterns in behaviors in different vertebrate species in biologically important situations. The second, primatologists and comparative psychologists have found imperative evidence that suggest true learning through imitation in animals. The third, population biologists and behavioral ecologists created experiments that demand animals to depend on social learning in certain manipulated environments.\n\nChild development\n\nDevelopmental psychologist Jean Piaget noted that children in a developmental phase he called the sensorimotor stage (a period which lasts up to the first two years of a child) begin to imitate observed actions. This is an important stage in the development of a child because the child is beginning to think symbolically, associating behaviors with actions, thus setting the child up for the development of further symbolic thinking. Imitative learning also plays a crucial role in the development of cognitive and social communication behaviors, such as language, play, and joint attention. Imitation serves as both a learning and a social function because new skills and knowledge are acquired, and communication skills are improved by interacting in social and emotional exchanges. It is shown, however, that \"children with autism exhibit significant deficits in imitation that are associated with impairments in other social communication skills.\" To help children with autism, reciprocal imitation training (RIT) is used. It is a naturalistic imitation intervention that helps teach the social benefits of imitation during play by increasing child responsiveness and by increasing imitative language.\n\nReinforcement learning, both positive and negative, and punishment, are used by people that children imitate to either promote or discontinue behavior. If a child imitates a certain type of behavior or action and the consequences are rewarding, the child is very likely to continue performing the same behavior or action. The behavior \"has been reinforced (i.e. strengthened)\". However, if the imitation is not accepted and approved by others, then the behavior will be weakened.\n\nNaturally, children are surrounded by many different types of people that influence their actions and behaviors, including parents, family members, teachers, peers, and even characters on television programs. These different types of individuals that are observed are called models. According to Saul McLeod, \"these models provide examples of masculine and feminine behavior to observe and imitate.\" Children imitate the behavior they have observed from others, regardless of the gender of the person and whether or not the behavior is gender appropriate. However, it has been proven that children will reproduce the behavior that \"its society deems appropriate for its sex.\"\n\nInfants\n\nInfants have the ability to reveal an understanding of certain outcomes before they occur, therefore in this sense they can somewhat imitate what they have perceived. Andrew N. Meltzoff, ran a series of tasks involving 14-month-old infants to imitate actions they perceived from adults. In this gathering he had concluded that the infants, before trying to reproduce the actions they wish to imitate, some how revealed an understanding of the intended goal even though they failed to replicate the result wished to be imitated. These task implicated that the infants knew the goal intended. Gergely, Bekkering, and Király (2002) figured that infants not only understand the intended goal but also the intentions of the person they were trying to imitate engaging in \"rational imitation\", as described by Tomasello, Carpenter and others \n\nIt has long been claimed that newborn humans imitate bodily gestures and facial expressions as soon as their first few days of life. For example, in a study conducted at the Mailman Centre for Child Development at the University of Miami Medical School, 74 newborn babies (with a mean age of 36 hours) were tested to see if they were able to imitate a smile, a frown and a pout, and a wide-open mouth and eyes. An observer stood behind the experimenter (so he/she couldn't see what facial expressions were being made by the experimenter) and watched only the babies' facial expressions, recording their results. Just by looking only at the babies' faces, the observer was more often able to correctly guess what facial expression was being presented to the child by the experimenter. After the results were calculated, \"the researchers concluded that...babies have an innate ability to compare an expression they see with their own sense of muscular feedback from making the movements to match that expression.\"\n\nHowever, the idea that imitation is an inborn ability has been recently challenged. A research group from the University of Queensland in Australia carried out the largest-ever longitudinal study of neonatal imitation in humans. One hundred and nine newborns were shown a variety of gestures including tongue protrusion, mouth opening, happy and sad facial expressions, at four time points between one week and 9 weeks of age. The results failed to reveal compelling evidence that newborns imitate: Infants were just as likely to produce matching and non-matching gestures in response to what they saw.\n\nAt around eight months, infants will start to copy their child care providers' movements when playing pat-a-cake and peek-a-boo, as well as imitating familiar gestures, such as clapping hands together or patting a doll's back. At around 18 months, infants will then begin to imitate simple actions they observe adults doing, such as taking a toy phone out of a purse and saying \"hello\", pretending to sweep with a child-sized broom, as well as imitating using a toy hammer.\n\nToddlers\n\nAt around 30–36 months, toddlers will start to imitate their parents by pretending to get ready for work and school and saying the last word(s) of what an adult just said. For example, toddlers may say \"bowl\" or \"a bowl\" after they hear someone say, \"That's a bowl.\" They may also imitate the way family members communicate by using the same gestures and words. For example, a toddler will say, \"Mommy bye-bye\" after the father says, \"Mommy went bye-bye.\"\n\nToddlers love to imitate their parents and help when they can; imitation helps toddlers learn, and through their experiences lasting impressions are made. 12 to 36-month-olds learn by doing, not by watching, and so it is often recommended to be a good role model and caretaker by showing them simple tasks like putting on socks or holding a spoon.\n\nDuke developmental psychologist Carol Eckerman did a study on toddlers imitating toddlers and found that at the age of 2 children involve themselves in imitation play to communicate with one another. This can be seen within a culture or across different cultures. 3 common imitative patterns Eckerman found were reciprocal imitation, follow-the-leader and lead-follow.\n\nKenneth Kaye's \"apprenticeship\" theory of imitation rejected assumptions that other authors had made about its development. His research showed that there is no one simple imitation skill with its own course of development. What changes is the type of behavior imitated.\n\nAn important agenda for infancy is the progressive imitation of higher levels of use of signs, until the ultimate achievement of symbols. The principal role played by parents in this process is their provision of salient models within the facilitating frames that channel the infant's attention and organize his imitative efforts.\n\nGender and age differences\n\nImitation and imitative behaviours do not manifest ubiquitously and evenly in all human individuals, some individuals rely more on imitated information than others. Although imitation is very useful when it comes to cognitive learning with toddlers, research has shown that there are some gender and age differences when it comes to imitation. Research done to judge imitation in toddlers 2–3 years old shows that when faced with certain conditions \"2-year-olds displayed more motor imitation than 3-year-olds, and 3-year-olds displayed more verbal-reality imitation than 2-year-olds. Boys displayed more motor imitation than girls.\"\n\nNo other research is more controversial pertaining gender differences in toddler imitation than renowned psychologist, Bandura's, bobo doll experiments. The goal of the experiment was to see what happens to toddlers when exposed to aggressive and non aggressive adults, would the toddlers imitate the behavior of the adults and if so, which gender is more likely to imitate the aggressive adult. In the beginning of the experiment Bandura had several predictions that actually came true. Children exposed to violent adults will imitate the actions of that adult when the adult is not present, boys who had observed an adult of the opposite sex act aggressively are less likely to act violently than those who witnessed a male adult act violently. In fact 'boys who observed an adult male behaving violently were more influenced than those who had observed a female model behavior aggressively'. One fascinating observation was that while boys are likely to imitate physical acts of violence, girls are likely to imitate verbal acts of violence.\n\nNegative imitation\nImitation plays such a major role on how a toddler interprets the world. So much of a child's understanding is derived from imitation, due to lack of verbal skill imitation is a toddlers way of communication with the world. It is what connects them to the communicating world, as they continue to grow they begin to learn more and more. That is why it is crucial for parents to be cautious as to how they act and behave around their toddlers. Imitation is the toddlers way of confirming and dis-conforming socially acceptable actions in our society. Actions like washing dishes, cleaning up the house and doing chores are actions you want your toddlers to imitate. Imitating negative things is something that is never beyond young toddlers. If they are exposed to cursing and violence, it is going to be what the child views as the norm of his or her world, remember imitation is the 'mental activity that helps to formulate the conceptions of the world for toddlers' Hay et al. (1991), when a toddler sees something so often he or she will form his or her reality around that action. So it is important for parents to be careful what they say or do in front of their children.\n\nAutism\nChildren with autism exhibit significant impairment in imitation skills. Imitation deficits have been reported on a variety of tasks including symbolic and nonsymbolic body movements, symbolic and functional object use, vocalizations, and facial expressions. In contrast, typically-developing children can copy a broad range of novel (as well as familiar) rules from a very early age. Problems with imitation discriminate children with autism from those with other developmental disorders as early as age 2 and continue into adulthood.\n\nHowever, recent research suggests that people affected with forms of High Functioning Autism easily interact with one another by using a more analytically-centered communication approach rather than an imitative cue-based approach, suggesting that reduced imitative capabilities don't affect abilities for expressive social behaviour but only the understanding of said social behaviour: Social communication is not negatively affected when said communication involves less or no imitation. Children with Autism may have significant problems understanding typical social communication not because of inherent social deficits, but because of differences in communication style which affect reciprocal understanding.\n\nIndividuals with Autism are also shown to possess increased analytical, cognitive and visual processing, suggesting people with autism have no true impairments in observing the actions of others but may decide not to imitate them because they do not analytically understand them.\n\nImitation plays a crucial role in the development of cognitive and social communication behaviors, such as language, play, and joint attention. Children with autism exhibit significant deficits in imitation that are associated with impairments in other social communication skills. It is unclear whether imitation is mediating these relationships directly, or whether they are due to some other developmental variable that is also reflected in the measurement of imitation skills.\n\nAutomatic imitation\nThe automatic imitation comes very fast when a stimulus is given to replicate. The imitation can match the commands with the visual stimulus (compatible) or it cannot match the commands with the visual stimulus (incompatible). For example: 'Simon Says', a game played with children where they are told to follow the commands given by the adult. In this game, the adult gives the commands and shows the actions; the commands given can either match the action to be done or it will not match the action. The children who imitate the adult who has given the command with the correct action will stay in the game. The children who imitate the command with the wrong action will go out of the game, and this is where the child's automatic imitation comes into play. Psychologically, the visual stimulus being looked upon by the child is being imitated faster than the imitation of the command. In addition, the response times were faster in compatible scenarios than in incompatible scenarios.\n\nChildren are surrounded by many different people, day by day. Their parents make a big impact on them, and usually what the children do is what they have seen their parent do. In this article they found that a child, simply watching its mother sweep the floor, right after soon picks up on it and starts to imitate the mother by sweeping the floor. By the children imitating, they are really teaching themselves how to do things without instruction from the parent or guardian. Toddlers love to play the game of house. They picked up on this game of house by television, school or at home; they play the game how they see it. The kids imitate their parents or anybody in their family. In the article it says it is so easy for them to pick up on the things they see on an everyday basis.\n\nOver-imitation\nOver-imitation is \"the tendency of young children to copy all of an adult model's actions, even components that are irrelevant for the task at hand.\" According to this human and cross-cultural phenomenon, a child has a strong tendency to automatically encode the deliberate action of an adult as causally meaningful even when the child observes evidence that proves that its performance is unnecessary. It is suggested that over-imitation \"may be critical to the transmission of human culture.\"\n\nHowever, another study suggests that children don't just \"blindly follow the crowd\" since they can also be just as discriminating as adults in choosing whether an unnecessary action should be copied or not. They may imitate additional but unnecessary steps to a novel process if the adult demonstrations are all the same. However, in cases where one out of four adults showed a better technique, only 40% actually copied the extra step, as described by Evans, Carpenter and others.\n\nDeferred imitation\nPiaget coined the term deferred imitation and suggested that it arises out of the child's increasing ability to \"form mental representations of behavior performed by others.\" Deferred imitation is also \"the ability to reproduce a previously witnessed action or sequence of actions in the absence of current perceptual support for the action.\" Instead of copying what is currently occurring, individuals repeat the action or behavior later on. It appears that infants show an improving ability for deferred imitation as they get older, especially by 24 months. By 24 months, infants are able to imitate action sequences after a delay of up to three months, meaning that \"they're able to generalize knowledge they have gained from one test environment to another and from one test object to another.\"\n\nA child's deferred imitation ability \"to form mental representations of actions occurring in everyday life and their knowledge of communicative gestures\" has also been linked to earlier productive language development. Between 9 (preverbal period) and 16 months (verbal period), deferred imitation performance on a standard actions-on-objects task was consistent in one longitudinal study testing participants' ability to complete a target action, with high achievers at 9 months remaining so at 16 months. Gestural development at 9 months was also linked to productive language at 16 months. Researchers now believe that early deferred imitation ability is indicative of early declarative memory, also considered a predictor of productive language development.\n\nSee also\n Appropriation (sociology)\n Articulation (sociology)\n Associative Sequence Learning\n Cognitive imitation\n Copycat crime\n Copycat suicide\n Identification (psychology)\n Mimicry\n Royal Commission on Animal Magnetism\n\nReferences\n\nFurther reading\n\nExternal links\n\n M. Metzmacher, 1995. La transmission du chant chez le Pinson des arbres (Fringilla c. coelebs) : phase sensible et rôle des tuteurs chez les oiseaux captifs. Alauda, 63 : 123 – 134. \n M. Metzmacher, 2016. Imitations et transmission culturelle dans le chant du Pinson des arbres Fringilla coelebs ? Alauda, 84 : 203-220.\n\nSocial learning theory\nBehaviorism\n\nes:Mimesis#Sociología",
"Knowledge-Based Decision-Making (KBDM) in management is a decision-making process that uses predetermined criteria to measure and ensure the optimal outcome for a specific topic.\n\nKBDM is used to make decisions by establishing a thought process and reasoning behind a decision. It gathers vital background essentials to collectively increase understanding about a topic or agreed criteria.\n\nKey elements\nHistory of knowledge management is quite short because there was a long-time lack of consensus on what would be a good definition of knowledge management. Before starting to use knowledge management as a theoretical frame there was only know-how about thinking with knowledge. The most important key factor of knowledge management is recognizing Tacit and Explicit knowledge.\nOpen communication between leadership and membership consists of being able to demonstrate face-to-face dialogue, exchange information and experiences, and sharing facts with one another. Each party takes turns listening and respects what others have to say. There should be regular dialogue and communication between individuals regarding the specified topic.\n\nDialogue before deliberation – \"I must consider all the facts and examine the possible consequences\". Dialogue before deliberation recommends communicating prior to demonstrating actions. It is similar to KBDM in that background information about the selected topic must be gathered and made available to all the decision makers prior to meeting or discussing the information. The storage location of materials and sources is shared so that all decision makers involved have equal access to the same information. During the duration of the discussion period, background information and facts are evaluated and discussed among the decision makers. This is done so that decision makers can use this time as an opportunity to ask questions about the specified topic and receive timely and appropriate responses. The overall purpose of these meetings is to discuss the background information, as well as ensuring each decision makers' questions have been answered, via face-to-face contact.\n\nAll decision makers have common access to information – All information involved in the KBDM process must be distributed equally to all decision makers and the sources should be stored in a mutual location to ensure the same grounds for each decision maker. It is important that all of the information provided to the decision makers have the same content.\n\nDecisions makers exist in a culture of trust – Organizational culture comes from individual beliefs, procedures, norms, values, and meanings shared by other members in the organization. Organizational culture has an impact on an individual's behavior in various situations. \"Culture\" is based on the characteristics and behavior among a particular group of individuals. Corresponding to this, knowledge-based decision making tries to focus on functioning within an environment containing a variety of components, including respecting one another's decisions and listening to each other. These factors influence a culture since they can contribute to how an individual feels within the environment. This influence can be positive or negative, reducing the amount of fear and pressure put on individuals if they make a mistake. If individuals feel as though they need advice, the culture can assist individuals, since it would be normal to help each other, by reassuring as well as encouraging. In contrast, not having a culture of trust can increase the level of risk when making decisions, as individuals may take advantage of situations and be non-supportive or unwilling to give advice to others.\n\nAdvantages\n\nOpen communication contributes to increased relevant overall knowledge and understanding about the topic, doing this can limit both confusion and misunderstanding.\n\nDialogue before deliberation gives a clear direction of the conversation and provides an opportunity for decision makers to prepare by viewing background information founded, which can generate a better understanding of the topic involved. Decision makers are prepared for discussions as they have the chance to formulate questions and identify specific aspects of the findings and information they want to discuss or develop. The decision makers gain a clearer and rounded understanding of the topic beforehand from the background information provided.\n\nAll decision makers have common access to information. Having information published in one location contributes to ease of access and ensures availability, allowing decision makers to view information efficiently and effectively before a meeting. Publishing information beforehand allows members to have sufficient time to become informed about the content provided, generate further questions, and express opinions about the matter to reach the most suitable outcome.\n\nDecision makers exist in a culture of trust. It allows them to help, advise, and support each other, as well as fostering a common goal towards achieving the same objectives. The content of information needed to make an informed decision supersedes authority, and group members are more likely to support a decision made because of their contribution.\n\nDisadvantages\n\nHolding open communication can still lead to confusion if some decision makers do not communicate effectively. Miscommunication can still occur between individuals from different perceptions.\n\nDialogue before deliberation may be impeded by individuals who may not have read the background information or understand the direction of the conversation. Background information provided may be hard to understand and impact preparation time.\n\nAll decision makers have common access to information that may not always be possible for all decision makers. Storing all information in one location is a huge risk if the location is compromised. Background information may be outdated.\n\nNew decision makers may not fully understand the culture of trust. It is important to understand the benefits of the Internet as a tool that knit together the intellectual asset of an organization and organize and manage this content through the lenses of common interest.\nNowadays ability to simulate rich, interactive, face-to-face knowledge is the key factory to use knowledge management as a part of decision making in B2B business.\n\nBias influenced according to the veil of ignorance of decision making, for one to make a sound choice they have to separate themselves from what they know so as not to be biased.\n\nProcess\nThe process is composed of six main components:\n\n A topic is specified.\n Relevant background information and key facts are identified and gathered in relation to the specified topic. This information is stored in a mutual location and made accessible to all decision makers. At this stage, decision makers may add any missing information.\n The background information is analyzed using set criteria, or a set of questions by the decision makers. During this stage, questions and queries are created.\n A discussion occurs between all decision makers; questions and queries are discussed during this stage. Concerns and opinions are also stated during this stage.\n From the discussions and information gathered a summary is made. The purpose of the summary is to clearly outline key factors that are most relevant to the specified topic.\n The results and findings from the analysis are discussed among decision makers as a group to ensure that the best possible outcome can be made strategically.\n\nPurpose\nThe KBDM process allows the main focus and emphasis to be on the actual decision and reasoning. Authority is not a major factor.\n\nIn KBDM, there are structures in place that allow methodical approaches to occur and indicate a starting point when making vital decisions. In this case, KBDM is used as an indicator and standard guideline which can be applied to decision-making situations.\n\nAt the beginning of the process, the relevant information is gathered so that the overall decision can be based on background information and factual knowledge. By researching background information can focus on particular areas in the topic. The structure enables the thought process of a decision to be specified and states the reasons behind a decision, so if an issue occurs with the overall outcome the thought process can be evaluated thoroughly.\n\nIn regards to business, the KBDM process can give companies or organizations a competitive advantage, create common grounds, and gain an understanding of others in the same sector due to the structured format. The structure supports and is suited to assist long-term planning and strategic decision-making. At the beginning of the process key background information is assembled to increase the amount of knowledge and understanding each individual decision maker has about the topic; vital aspects of information are included. Discovered research and information are put into a mutual location to provide equal grounds in terms of knowledge before a discussion occurs to give time for questions to be established. From the KBDM process, a decision can be made based on facts, understanding and suitable reasoning from discussions to conclude the most appropriate decision.\n\nQuestions\nIn the third stage of the process background information is measured against a set of questions. These questions are answered and then used to contribute to the overall decision made.\n\nQuestions that are used to measure information include:\n What do we currently know about the needs, wants and preferences of our members that relate to this discussion?\n What do we know about both our resources and strategic position that is relevant to this issue?\n What do we know about the current environment and culture that relates to this issue?\n What are the (ethical) implications of our choice (pros and cons)?\n What do we not know about this issue that we wish we knew?\n How do the organization's legacies apply to this issue?\n What is your part in the process?\n\nDecision making in project management \nEffective project management is best achieved using an adaptive approach focused on effective decision-making. Therefore, a variety of tools based on software and structure have been developed to support decision making in groups. Decision Making processes are strongly correlated to the level of available knowledge regarding the environment, the decision is based on. Successfully using knowledge management supporting tools improves overall project performance and is an essential method for organizations with project-related work styles.\n\nB2B decision making based on knowledge management\nThere are many studies that discuss the importance of knowledge management on organizational outcomes such as organizational performance, product quality and organizational learning. Despite these various studies, knowledge management literature and practice are lacking research on how decision-making styles influence the processes of knowledge management on organizational performance.\n\nDecision-making is a solid part of the problem solving process. The description of a problem solving process begins with the complicated description of a problem that is required to be solved by the so-called initial situation diagnosis. For such purpose, there are specific tools and methods. Then there is a decision on how to solve the particular problem. The final stage of the process is the optimization of the proposed solution. It is recommended that companies take into account matters related to the company management (i.e. employees, processes, equipment) if their decision making is based on knowledge. It is also important to identify and update the critical knowledge of the company and continuous conduct the critical knowledge area analyses. It is not to be forgotten to monitor and develop data resources and their content either.\n\nSee also\n Crowdsourcing\n Enterprise resource planning\n Evidence-based policy\n Knowledge management\n Knowledge society\n Management\n Online participation\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\nKnowledge management\nDecision-making"
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"Bring Me the Horizon",
"Style and influences",
"What influenced their music style?",
"Among Bring Me the Horizon's earliest influences were bands like At the Gates, Carcass, Pantera, Metallica, The Dillinger Escape Plan,",
"Did they ever make a statement regarding this influence?",
"I don't know.",
"Who did they model their style after?",
"Every Time I Die, Norma Jean, Skycamefalling and Poison the Well;",
"How do they imitate these style makers?",
"I don't know."
]
| C_50898b4862fb42f5b989ea579db6fb46_1 | Have they always had the same musical style and influences? | 5 | Has Bring Me the Horizon always had the same musical style and influences? | Bring Me the Horizon | Among Bring Me the Horizon's earliest influences were bands like At the Gates, Carcass, Pantera, Metallica, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Every Time I Die, Norma Jean, Skycamefalling and Poison the Well; and genres death metal, grindcore, and emo have been cited by AllMusic writer Steward Mason. However, as their sound developed, the band started to take influences from progressive rock, post-rock, dubstep and electronica. The band's musical style has been described mainly as metalcore and - though they have since moved on from the genre - their early material was considered deathcore. Across their career the band has also been said to play within the genres post-hardcore, hardcore punk, technical metal, heavy metal, and emo. Bring Me the Horizon have attempted to grow and change with each album, believing they should be different. Raziq Rauf, writing for Drowned In Sound, described Count Your Blessings as possessing "Norma Jean-style thunderous riffs mixed with some dastardly sludgy doom moments and more breakdowns than your dad's old Nissan Sunny." Metal Hammer described Suicide Season as a "creative, critical and commercial success" for the band as they started to adopt a more eclectic style, with its "crushingly heavy party deathcore". Leading up to its release Oliver Sykes described it as "100% different to Count Your Blessings" and noted the album sounds "more rock than metal". As time went by, Bring Me the Horizon began rejecting their debut album Count Your Blessings and considered Suicide Season as their "Year Zero[...] [their] wipe-the-slate-clean time". Bring Me the Horizon then moved even further away from deathcore with their third album There Is a Hell, which incorporated electronica, classical music and pop music into their metalcore style. This required more ambitious production feats, such as using a full choir, a synthesised orchestra and glitched out vocals and breakdowns that were also toned down, favouring quiet atmospheric passages in song breaks. For the writing of Sempiternal, the band pooled far broader influences such as post-rock acts like This Will Destroy You and Explosions In The Sky and from pop music. Bring Me the Horizon has experimented with its music in recent years, mixing pop with metal music, leading the band to be labeled a "pop metal" act. With the release of That's the Spirit, their sound shifted towards alternative metal and alternative rock, also incorporated other genres such as pop rock and nu metal, while completely abandoning the metalcore sound of their earlier albums. CANNOTANSWER | However, as their sound developed, the band started to take influences from progressive rock, post-rock, dubstep and electronica. | Bring Me the Horizon (often abbreviated as BMTH) are a British rock band formed in Sheffield in 2004. The group consists of lead vocalist Oliver Sykes, guitarist Lee Malia, bassist Matt Kean, drummer Matt Nicholls and keyboardist Jordan Fish. They are signed to RCA Records globally and Columbia Records exclusively in the United States.
The band released their debut album Count Your Blessings in 2006. Upon release, the album's sound polarised listeners, and was met with critical disdain. The band began to break away from their controversial sound with Suicide Season (2008), which was a creative, critical and commercial turning point for the band. Bring Me the Horizon released their third album, There Is a Hell Believe Me I've Seen It. There Is a Heaven Let's Keep It a Secret., in 2010, propelling them to greater international fame, whilst incorporating influences from classical music, electronica and pop. Their major label debut, Sempiternal (2013) achieved Gold certification in Australia (35,000) and Silver in the United Kingdom (60,000). That's the Spirit (2015) debuted at number two in the UK Albums Chart and the US Billboard 200. Their sixth studio album Amo (2019) became their first UK chart topper. As well as these six studio albums, they have also released two extended plays and two live albums. They have received four Kerrang! Awards, including two for Best British Band and one for Best Live Band, and have been nominated for two Grammy Awards.
The style of their early work, including their debut album Count Your Blessings, has been described primarily as deathcore, but they started to adopt a more eclectic style of metalcore on later albums. Furthermore, That's the Spirit marked a shift in their sound to less aggressive rock music styles. Amo saw a shift into different genres, such as electronica, pop and hip hop.
History
Formation and early releases (2002–2006)
Bring Me the Horizon's founding members came from diverse musical backgrounds within metal and rock. Matt Nicholls and Oliver Sykes had a common interest in American metalcore such as Norma Jean and Skycamefalling, and used to attend local hardcore punk shows. They later met Lee Malia, who spoke with them about thrash metal and melodic death metal bands like Metallica and At the Gates; Malia had also been part of a Metallica tribute band before meeting the pair. Bring Me the Horizon officially formed in March 2004, when the members were aged 15 to 17. Curtis Ward, who also lived in the Rotherham area, joined Sykes, Malia and Nicholls on drums. Bassist Matt Kean, who was in other local bands, completed the line-up. Their name is paraphrased from a line of dialogue spoken by Captain Jack Sparrow in the 2003 film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, where Captain Jack Sparrow says: "Now, bring me that horizon."
In the months following their formation, Bring Me the Horizon created a demo album titled Bedroom Sessions. They followed this by releasing their first EP, This Is What the Edge of Your Seat Was Made For, in September 2004 through local UK label Thirty Days of Night Records. Bring Me the Horizon were the label's first signing. It was recorded at Pristine Studios in Nottingham over the course of two weekends, with drums and bass guitar laid down over the first weekend, and guitars and vocals completed a week later.
UK label Visible Noise noticed the band after the release of their EP, and signed them for a four-album deal, in addition to re-releasing the EP in January 2005. The re-release gained the band significant attention, eventually peaking at No. 41 on the UK album charts. The band was later awarded Best British Newcomer at the 2006 Kerrang! Awards ceremony.
The band's first tour was supporting The Red Chord across the United Kingdom. As with other early tours, they were able to get this slot by tricking venue promoters. Kean and Oliver's mother Carol Sykes were the de facto managers of the band at this time, a role they continued to occupy until 2008. For The Red Chord support, Kean emailed promoters and pretended they were opening on all the dates, when they were supposed to play only at their local show. This led them to being booked for the whole tour. In another case, Sykes created an e-mail account in the name of Johnny Truant vocalist Oliver Mitchell, which he used to contact a promoter requesting Bring Me the Horizon on their tour. Alcohol consumption fuelled their live performances in their early history when the band would get so drunk they vomited on stage and damaged their equipment.
Count Your Blessings (2006–2007)
The band released their debut album Count Your Blessings in October 2006 in the United Kingdom and in August 2007 in the United States. They rented a house in the country to write songs, but easily became distracted. They then recorded the album in inner-city Birmingham, a process which was infamous for their excessive and dangerous drinking. During this period drummer Nicholls summarised it saying "we were out every night, just being regular 18-year-olds". Critics panned the album adding to the strongly polarised responses the band were already seeing from the public.
They supported Count Your Blessings by going on a lengthy headline tour of the UK in November, and immediately followed this joining Lostprophets and The Blackout on a UK tour through late November and December 2006.
In January 2007, Bring Me the Horizon were able to set their sights beyond the UK, when they replaced Bury Your Dead on Killswitch Engage's European headline tour. The slot became available after Bury Your Dead were forced to withdraw by the departure from the band of their vocalist, Mat Bruso. Bring Me the Horizon's presence on the tour was poorly received by fans of Killswitch Engage, with concert attendees regularly throwing bottles at the band before they even started playing their set.
Suicide Season and Ward's departure (2008–2009)
Bring Me the Horizon recorded their second studio album, Suicide Season, in Sweden with producer Fredrik Nordström. He was unimpressed with their first album and was initially absent from the recording sessions unless he needed to be there. Nordström later heard the new sound they were experimenting with during a recording session and became very involved in the record. It was promoted virally in the weeks before its release with the promotional tag line "September is Suicide Season." To promote Suicide Season the band embarked on their first headline tour of the United States, as well as appearing at the 2008 Warped Tour. In May 2008, Bring Me the Horizon was the main supporting band on I Killed the Prom Queen's farewell Australian tour with The Ghost Inside and The Red Shore.
Suicide Season was released on 18 September 2008 in the United States on Epitaph and on 29 September in Europe through Visible Noise. In 2009, Bring Me the Horizon attended the 2009 Kerrang! Tour alongside Black Tide, Dir En Grey, In Case of Fire and Mindless Self Indulgence. They also joined Thursday, Cancer Bats, Four Year Strong and Pierce the Veil on the North American leg of the 2009 Taste of Chaos tour from February to April after the tour's organizer Kevin Lyman offered them the slot. The band were initially hesitant to join this tour, but were convinced after Lyman offered them a bus and $500 of fuel for the tour.
During the Taste of Chaos tour in March of that year, guitarist Curtis Ward left the band. His relationship with the band had deteriorated as his stage performances were poor. He was abusive to audiences during the Taste of Chaos tour, and had contributed little to the writing of Suicide Season. Another reason for his departure was the worsening tinnitus in his one functioning ear. Ward was born deaf in one ear and admitted playing in the band worsened the ringing in his other ear to such a degree that he was unable to sleep at night. Ward offered to perform the rest of the tour dates, which the band rejected and instead asked their guitar technician, Dean Rowbotham, to substitute for him for the remaining performances. Lee Malia noted that Ward's departure helped improve everyone's mood as he had been very negative. Within a week of the tour finishing, Sykes began talking to Jona Weinhofen, at the time the guitarist of Bleeding Through. The band knew of him from his work with his former band I Killed the Prom Queen, and he was asked to join them. Ward has since worked on the TV show Top Gear, and has occasionally performed on stage with Bring Me The Horizon, playing "Pray For Plagues", most notably at Wembley Arena in 2015. In 2016, it was announced that Ward had joined the band Counting Days.
In November 2009, Bring Me the Horizon released a remixed version of Suicide Season, titled Suicide Season: Cut Up! Musicians and producers featured on the album include: Ben Weinman, Skrillex, L'Amour La Morgue, Utah Saints and Shawn Crahan. Musically, the album incorporates many genres including: electronica, drum and bass, hip-hop and dubstep. The dubstep style of the record has been acknowledged in tracks by Tek-One and Skrillex while the hip-hop elements are found in Travis McCoy's remix of "Chelsea Smile".
There Is a Hell... (2010–2011)
The band's third album, and first with their new rhythm guitarist Jona Weinhofen, titled There Is a Hell Believe Me I've Seen It. There Is a Heaven Let's Keep It a Secret., was released on 4 October 2010 and debuted at number 17 on the Billboard 200 in the United States, number 13 on the UK Album Chart, and number one on the Australian Albums Chart, the UK Rock Chart and the UK Indie Chart. Despite reaching number one in Australia, the album's sales were the lowest for a number one album in the history of the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) charts.
Matt Nicholls describes the lyrical themes of There Is a Hell... as being "repercussions of everything we were singing about on our last CD [Suicide Season]," calling the music and lyrics a lot moodier and darker. Five singles were released from the album including: "It Never Ends", "Anthem", "Blessed with a Curse", "Visions", and "Alligator Blood", with music videos produced for each of the songs. The band embarked on a headline tour in intimate venues across the United Kingdom with support from Cancer Bats and Tek-One. In December 2010, Bring Me the Horizon joined Bullet for My Valentine as the main support band, alongside Atreyu, on a short five-date arena tour around the United Kingdom. To cope with high demand, Live Nation released extra standing tickets for all dates.
In April 2011, Bring Me the Horizon embarked on a European tour, starting in the United Kingdom. They toured with Parkway Drive and Architects as main support bands, with The Devil Wears Prada as the opening support for the UK and dubstep group Tek-One. The tour, however, was not without its hindrances. On 28 April, Nicholls broke his arm whilst playing football with members of Bring Me the Horizon, Parkway Drive and Architects. Instead of cancelling the tour, Architects' drummer Dan Searle filled in as drummer, but this meant that Bring Me the Horizon's setlist was halved in length. The tour was extended with a North American leg from 13 August to 4 October, retaining Parkway Drive and Architects and adding Deez Nuts to the line up. On 23 August they released the fourth music video and single, "Visions", and on 31 October the music video for the song "Alligator Blood" was released.
In December 2011, Machine Head completed an arena tour across Europe with Bring Me the Horizon as the main support band along with DevilDriver and Darkest Hour. Oliver Sykes said these would be the last European dates before they began writing and the recording their fourth album. 2011 ended with an announcement by the band on 29 December of a new extended play titled The Chill Out Sessions, a collaborative effort with British DJ Draper. Draper first released an "officially sanctioned" remix of the song "Blessed with a Curse" in May 2011. The EP was originally supposed to be released in time for New Year's Day, and made available for download and purchase though Bring Me the Horizon's website, but the EP's release was cancelled due to the band's "current management and label situation".
Sempiternal and Weinhofen's departure (2012–2014)
After an intense touring schedule, Bring Me the Horizon finally completed their third album's promotion at the end of 2011. They returned to the UK for an extended break and eventually starting work on their next album. Much like their previous two albums, they wrote their fourth album in seclusion and isolation to stay focused. This time, they retreated to a house in the Lake District. In July, the band started to publish images of themselves recording at a 'Top Secret Studio Location,' and revealed they were working with producer Terry Date for the recording and production of the album. On 30 July, the band announced they had left their label and signed with RCA, who would release their fourth album in 2013. The band played only three shows in all of 2012: Warped Tour 2012 on 10 November at the Alexandra Palace in London, which they headlined, (and was initially believed to be their only show), the BBC Radio 1's Radio 1 Rocks show on 22 October, where they played a six-song set supporting Bullet for My Valentine, and at a warm-up show for Warped Tour in Sheffield on 9 November. In late October it was announced that the fourth album would be called Sempiternal with a tentative release in early 2013. On 22 November the band released the Draper collaborative album The Chill Out Sessions free of charge.
On 4 January 2013, Bring Me the Horizon released the first single from Sempiternal, "Shadow Moses". It was first played by radio presenter Daniel P. Carter on BBC's Radio 1. Due to popular demand, Epitaph released the music video for the song a week earlier than planned. In January, the band also saw a change in their line up. This began early in the month when Jordan Fish, Worship keyboardist and session musician for the band during the writing of Sempiternal, was announced as a full member. Then later in the month, Jona Weinhofen left the band. Despite the band denying speculation that Fish replaced Weinhofen, reviewers said that replacing a guitarist with a keyboardist better fit their style.
The band was confirmed for several festival appearances in February. They played the Australian Soundwave festival, performing at all five dates in: Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth, and then at RAMFest in South Africa with Rise Against in March, Rock Am Ring and Rock im Park festivals in Germany in June, and from June until August they played Warped Tour 2013 in the U.S. and Canada. To coincide with 29 April release of Sempiternal the band made their first headline tour of the United Kingdom in 18 months with Crossfaith and Empress AD.
In support of Sempiternal, the band toured Australia with Of Mice & Men and Crossfaith, and played a British tour with Pierce The Veil and Sights & Sounds. They then completed the American Dream Tour in North America, supported by Of Mice & Men, Issues, letlive. and Northlane. The band was announced as the main supporter for American band A Day to Remember on their "Parks & Devastation Tour" across America throughout September and October, along with support acts Motionless in White and Chiodos. The band performed at Wembley Arena in London on 5 December with support acts Young Guns, Issues and Sleepwave, which was recorded and released as a live album/DVD.
Later in 2014, the band released two new tracks titled "Drown" on 21 October, as a stand-alone single, and "Don't Look Down" on 29 October, as part of the re-score of Drive.
That's the Spirit (2015–2017)
In late June, the band began to promote pictures of an umbrella symbol being used as a tattoo, and on stickers, and posters across England, the United States, Australia, and Europe; it was later used for a promotional cover for the band's first single. The band released a short video in early July where the words "that's the spirit" could be heard in reverse. On 13 July 2015, the promotional single "Happy Song" was released on the band's Vevo page, and on 21 July 2015, Sykes revealed the album's name was That's the Spirit. The band released the single and music video for "Throne" on 23 July 2015, and another promotional track from the album, titled "True Friends", was released on 24 August 2015. The album was released on 11 September 2015 to critical acclaim. It has led to several music videos including "Drown", "Throne", "True Friends", "Follow You", "Avalanche", and "Oh No".
The band embarked on a U.S. tour in October 2015 with support from metalcore band Issues and rock band PVRIS. The band also toured Europe in November 2015, and embarked on a second U.S. tour in April and May 2016. This was followed by an Australian tour in September 2016, and a second European tour in November 2016.
On 22 April 2016, the band performed a live concert with an orchestra conducted by Simon Dobson at the Royal Albert Hall in London. The concert marked the first time the band had performed with a live orchestra. It was recorded, and the live album, Live at the Royal Albert Hall, was released on 2 December 2016 through the crowdfunding platform PledgeMusic on CD, DVD, and vinyl, with all proceeds donated to Teenage Cancer Trust. Following the show, Fish hinted at the possibility of doing a full tour with an orchestra, saying: "It seems almost a bit of a shame to go to all this effort for months and months for just one night."
Amo (2018–2019)
In August 2018, cryptic posters appeared in major cities throughout the world with the message "do you wanna start a cult with me?". The posters were attributed by major media outlets to the band only by their use of the hexagram logo previously used by the band. During this time the band themselves have not acknowledged their involvement with the campaign publicly. Each poster provided a unique phone number and a website address. The website provided a brief message titled "An Invitation To Salvation" and shows the date of 21 August 2018. The phone lines placed fans on hold with lengthy, varied audio messages that changed frequently. Some of these messages reportedly end with a distorted audio clip of what was assumed to be new music from the band.
On 21 August, the band released the lead single "Mantra". The following day the band announced their album Amo, released on 11 January 2019, along with a set of tour dates called the First Love World Tour.
On 21 October, the band released their second single "Wonderful Life" featuring Dani Filth, along with the tracklist for Amo. That same day, the band announced that the album has been delayed and is now set for 25 January 2019.
On 1 December, it was reported that during a show at Ally Pally a fan died in the mosh pit and was escorted by paramedics and security. A day later, it was confirmed by the band with a statement: "Words cannot express how horrified we are feeling this evening after hearing about the death of a young man at our show last night. Our hearts and deepest condolences go out to his family and loved ones at this terrible time. We will comment further in due course."
On 3 January 2019, the band released their third single "Medicine" and its corresponding music video. On 22 January, three days before the album release, the band released the fourth single "Mother Tongue". On 24 January, the band released the fifth single "Nihilist Blues" featuring Grimes.
On 26 July, the band released the sixth single "Sugar Honey Ice & Tea" alongside an accompanying music video. On 21 October, the band released the seventh single "In the Dark" alongside an accompanying music video featuring Forest Whitaker. On 6 November, the band released the song "Ludens", which is part of Death Stranding: Timefall, along with the news that the band are planning on never releasing an album again and instead want to release EPs. On 27 December, the band released Music to Listen to~Dance to~Blaze to~Pray to~Feed to~Sleep to~Talk to~Grind to~Trip to~Breathe to~Help to~Hurt to~Scroll to~Roll to~Love to~Hate to~Learn Too~Plot to~Play to~Be to~Feel to~Breed to~Sweat to~Dream to~Hide to~Live to~Die to~Go To without any prior announcement.
Post Human: Survival Horror (2020–present)
On 20 March 2020, the band shared that they were in a home studio, writing and recording material for their eighth record, which is expected to be an EP, with part of it being co-produced by Mick Gordon. On 25 June, the band released the single "Parasite Eve" alongside an accompanying music video. On the same day, the band also announced a project that they have been working on titled Post Human, which they said to be four EPs released throughout the next year which when combined would make an album. On 2 September, the band released with English singer Yungblud a collaborative single titled "Obey" and its corresponding music video. On 14 October, the band officially announced through social media that Post Human: Survival Horror would be released on 30 October 2020. On 22 October, a week before the release date, the fourth single "Teardrops" was released alongside an accompanying music video.
In December 2020, Fish said that the band had been writing "on and off" and would be focusing on their next release in early 2021. He also updated the group's release plan, saying that they "planned to do four EPs in a year, but [Post Human: Survival Horror] was almost an album, so I think the spacing will be a bit longer than intended, just because they're probably going to turn out bigger than intended." Upon being released on physical formats on 22 January 2021, Post Human: Survival Horror would chart again and reach a new peak to gift Bring Me the Horizon their second UK number one on the UK Albums Chart. Two years after Amo would be the first to reach this feat. The band collaborated with singer Olivia O'Brien on a track titled "No More Friends". The song is from O'Brien's Episodes: Season 1' EP which was released on 11 June 2021.
On 2 September 2021, the band announced the release of an upcoming single, "Die4U", which was released on 16 September. On 8 December, the band was announced as the Saturday co-headliner alongside Arctic Monkeys at the 2022 iteration of the Reading and Leeds Festival, headlining the bill for the first time ever. Speaking to NME about the announcement, Sykes expressed his thoughts about headlining Reading and Leeds, as well as what to expect from their headline set:
In February 2022, it was reported that the band were set to contribute to the soundtrack and provide the main theme for Gran Turismo 7. A few days later, the band released their rendition of "Moon Over the Castle" as a single ahead of schedule due to the song being leaked early. At the 42nd Brit Awards, the band were brought out as a surprise act to perform "Bad Habits" alongside Ed Sheeran. On 17 February, the studio version of "Bad Habits" by Ed Sheeran featuring the band was released.
Artistry
Style and influences
Among Bring Me the Horizon's earliest influences were bands like At the Gates, Carcass, Pantera, Metallica, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Every Time I Die, Norma Jean, Skycamefalling and Poison the Well; and genres death metal, grindcore, and emo have been cited by AllMusic writer Steward Mason. However, as their sound developed, the band started to take influences from progressive rock, post-rock, dubstep and electronica. The band's musical style has been described mainly as metalcore and – though they have since moved on from the genre – their early material was considered deathcore. Across their career the band has also been said to play within the genres alternative metal, alternative rock, pop rock, electronic rock, hard rock, heavy metal, post-hardcore, pop, nu metal, electropop, hip hop, EDM, arena rock, melodic metalcore, electronicore, electronica, screamo, hardcore punk, technical metal, and emo.
Bring Me the Horizon have attempted to grow and change with each album, believing they should be different. Raziq Rauf, writing for Drowned in Sound, described Count Your Blessings as possessing "Norma Jean-style thunderous riffs mixed with some dastardly sludgy doom moments and more breakdowns than your dad's old Nissan Sunny." Metal Hammer described Suicide Season as a "creative, critical and commercial success" for the band as they started to adopt a more eclectic style, with its "crushingly heavy party deathcore". Leading up to its release, Oliver Sykes described it as "100% different to Count Your Blessings" and noted the album sounds "more rock than metal". As time went by, Bring Me the Horizon began rejecting their debut album Count Your Blessings and considered Suicide Season as their "Year Zero[...] [their] wipe-the-slate-clean time".
Bring Me the Horizon then moved even further away from deathcore with their third album There Is a Hell..., which incorporated electronica, classical music and pop music into their metalcore style. This required more ambitious production feats, such as using a full choir, a synthesised orchestra and glitched out vocals and breakdowns that were also toned down, favouring quiet atmospheric passages in song breaks. For the writing of Sempiternal, the band pooled far broader influences such as post-rock acts like This Will Destroy You and Explosions in the Sky and from pop music.
Bring Me the Horizon has experimented with its music in recent years, mixing pop with metal music, leading the band to be labelled a "pop metal" act. With the release of That's the Spirit, their sound shifted towards electronic rock, alternative metal and alternative rock, also incorporated other genres such as pop rock and nu metal, while completely abandoning the metalcore sound of their earlier albums.
Songwriting and recording process
In all the band's album notes, all of Bring Me the Horizon's lyrics are said to be written by lead vocalist Oliver Sykes while all five members—as a band—were credited with writing the music. With the exception of Count Your Blessings, the band has always written in a secluded location to avoid being distracted. Oliver Sykes' lyrics have a strong feeling of catharsis for him. He mainly draws from personal experience and has described the band's live performances as therapeutic. In 2006, when asked about the lyrics of Count Your Blessings, as they had been criticised for their content solely fixated on heartbreak and other themes that were called "shallow and meaningless", he responded "My life's never been that bad so I've not got that much to talk about."
Band members have described how the debut album was written in inner-city areas of Birmingham while being pressured to write and record songs to the deadlines given. This resulted in the band being unimpressed with the final product. However, for the writing process of Suicide Season, the band realised that they much preferred picking areas with less human contact in order to focus on the music; they wrote their second album in the Swedish countryside. During the writing of Suicide Season, former and founding rhythm guitarist Curtis Ward wrote only two riffs of his rhythm parts of the album, mostly relying on Lee Malia to write all of the guitar sections of the album.
Lee Malia has stated that the typical writing process involves Oliver Sykes writing the main structure of the songs, followed by Malia writing the main riff. From this they would collaborate with each other to structure their work better and then later include the rest of the band in writing the rest of the song. The writing dynamic of Sempiternal, typically featured Sykes, Malia and newly introduced member Jordan Fish. Malia felt that with Fish's influence on the record he was pushed to create more inspired guitar riffs. As they all took a break before writing their fourth album, they felt less of a need for an isolated writing environment.
Image and legacy
During the band's early years, they were praised for their business acumen for selling mail-order merchandise and not relying on sales at live shows. Bring Me the Horizon's image has been characterised by the dominating personality of singer and front-man Oliver Sykes, and he has often been seen as the band's "Poster boy", bearing the brunt of the band's controversial reputation. In their early years, Bring Me the Horizon's image was infamously characterised by its members fashion sense and use of skinny-fit jeans, T-shirts with death metal band logos on the front and coloured hair/straightened hair. The band's image fit into what was called scene fashion. The effect of their fashion aesthetics showed people, in show promoter Iain Scott's perspective, that "you don't have to look like a diabolical metalhead to be into metal or play in a metal band". However, their fashion conscious appearance earned them a "style over substance" label.
Many controversies that occurred in their early years greatly affected public perceptions of the band, particularly an incident in 2007 at Nottingham's Rock City venue, when a female fan claimed that Oliver Sykes had urinated on her. The charges were dropped due to a lack of evidence from CCTV footage in the area. There were several documented examples of violence against the band during their live shows, including Sykes being pepper sprayed on stage; and people getting onstage to assault the band.
Despite the controversy over their image, various journalists have credited the band as being one of the most forward-thinking heavy bands in the UK. In 2012, just four years after the release of Suicide Season, the album was inducted into Rock Sound's Hall of Fame, credited as a significant influence on the works of Asking Alexandria, The Ghost Inside and While She Sleeps. It was credited as an influence on metalcore contemporaries Architects on Hollow Crown with their incorporation of keyboards and programming, and The Devil Wears Prada's Dead Throne for its more experimental and opinion-dividing sound.
The band caused further controversy in February 2016 when Oliver Sykes trashed Coldplay's table at the 2016 NME Awards during a live performance of Bring Me the Horizon's track "Happy Song". Although some people thought the table trashing was because of a prior feud between the two bands relating to similar album artwork, Sykes later stated that the act was not an act of "dirty protest", and suggested that it was "pure coincidence" that Coldplay were sitting at the table he trampled. Coldplay frontman Chris Martin admitted that he had never even heard of Bring Me the Horizon before the incident and he laughed it off, stating that "it was great, very 'rock and roll'".
Band members
Current
Oliver Sykes – lead vocals ; keyboards, programming
Matt Kean – bass
Lee Malia – lead guitar ; rhythm guitar
Matt Nicholls – drums
Jordan Fish – keyboards, programming, percussion, backing vocals
Current touring musicians
John Jones – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
Former
Curtis Ward – rhythm guitar
Jona Weinhofen – rhythm guitar, keyboards, programming, backing vocals
Former touring musicians
Dean Rowbotham – rhythm guitar
Robin Urbino – rhythm guitar
Tim Hillier-Brook – rhythm guitar
Brendan MacDonald – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
Timeline
Discography
Count Your Blessings (2006)
Suicide Season (2008)
There Is a Hell Believe Me I've Seen It. There Is a Heaven Let's Keep It a Secret. (2010)
Sempiternal (2013)
That's the Spirit (2015)
Amo (2019)
Awards and nominations
Grammy Awards
|-
| 2019 || "Mantra" || Best Rock Song ||
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| 2020 || Amo || Best Rock Album ||
BRIT Awards
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| 2020 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best Group ||
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NME Awards|-
|rowspan="2"| 2017
|Bring Me the Horizon || Best Live Band ||
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| Bring Me the Horizon || Music Moment of the Year ||
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| 2020 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best Band in the World ||
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|rowspan="2"| 2022 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best Band in the World ||
|-
| Bring Me the Horizon || Best Live Act ||Kerrang! Awards|-
| 2006 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best British Newcomer ||
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| 2008 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best British Band ||
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| 2009 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best British Band ||
|-
|rowspan="3"| 2011 || "Blessed with a Curse" || Best Single ||
|-
| Bring Me the Horizon || Best British Band ||
|-
| There Is a Hell Believe Me I've Seen It. There Is a Heaven Let's Keep It a Secret. || Best Album ||
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| 2012 || "Alligator Blood" || Best Video ||
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| rowspan="4"| 2013 || "Shadow Moses" || Best Single ||
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| "Shadow Moses" || Best Video ||
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| Sempiternal || Best Album ||
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| Bring Me the Horizon || Best British Band ||
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| 2014 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best Live Band ||
|-
| 2014 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best British Band ||
|-
|rowspan="2"| 2015|| Bring Me the Horizon || Best British Band ||
|-
| "Drown" || Best Single ||
|-
| 2016 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best British Band ||
|-
|rowspan="2"|2019 || Amo || Best Album ||
|-
| Bring Me the Horizon || Best British Band || AIM Independent Music Awards|-
| 2011 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best Live Act ||
|-
| 2011 || Bring Me the Horizon || Hardest Working Band or Artist ||
|-
| 2011 || Bring Me the Horizon || Independent Breakthrough of Year || Alternative Press
|-
| 2014 || Sempiternal || Best Album ||
|-
| 2014 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best International Band ||
|-
| 2015 || "Drown" || Best Music Video ||
|-
UK Music Video Awards
|-
| 2016
| "True Friends"
| Best Rock/Indie Video – UK
|
Readers polls
In a 2009 Rock Sound readers' poll, Bring Me the Horizon achieved both Best British Band and Worst British Band.
In 2011 The Guardian ran a poll for "Who should win the Mercury prize?" and used 50 albums, Bring Me the Horizon's third album There Is a Hell... won with 37%.
In a 2013 Sirius XM published poll, Bring Me the Horizon won Best Song Discovery for "Go to Hell, for Heaven's Sake" with the Octane radio station.
In a 2013 Alternative Press readers poll, Bring Me the Horizon was nominated for four categories: Best Vocalist (Oliver Sykes; position 3), Best Keyboardist (Jordan Fish; position 1), Single Of The Year ("Shadow Moses"; position 2) and "Best Album Art" (Sempiternal; position 2).
In 2021, Kerrang! readers voted "Die4U" as the best song and music video of the year. Bring Me the Horizon was also voted as the best band and best live band of the year. They were also voted as the second-best cover story of the year by Kerrang Magazine.
Notes
References
Bibliography
External links
2004 establishments in England
British alternative metal musical groups
Columbia Records artists
English alternative rock groups
English deathcore musical groups
English metalcore musical groups
English pop rock music groups
Kerrang! Awards winners
Musical groups from Sheffield
Musical groups established in 2004
Musical quintets
RCA Records artists | true | [
"Homologies are \"structural 'resonances'...between the different elements making up a socio-cultural whole.\" (Middleton 1990, p. 9)\n\nExamples include Alan Lomax's cantometrics, which:\nDistinguishes ten musical styles, dealing most fully with Eurasian and Old European styles. These are correlated with sexual permissiveness, status of women, and treatment of children as the principal formative social influences. The musical styles are at the same time symbolic or expressive of such social influences, especially in the various musical communities of Spain and Italy, and are stable, persistent. Lomax states his expectation that further study and refinement of methods of measurement will increase our understanding of the relationships of musical style and culture in a way that Western European musical notation cannot adequately accomplish.\n\nRichard Middleton (1990, p. 9-10) argues that \"such theories always end up in some kind of reductionism – 'upwards', into an idealist cultural spirit, 'downwards', into economism, sociologism or technologism, or by 'circumnavigation', in a functionalist holism.\" However, he \"would like to hang on to the notion of homology in a qualified sense. For it seems likely that some signifying structures are more easily articulated to the interests of one group than are some others; similarly, that they are more easily articulated to the interests of one group than to those of another. This is because, owing to the existence of what Paul Willis calls the 'objective possibilities' (and limitations) of material and ideological structures, it is easier to find links and analogies between them in some cases than in others (Willis 1978: 198-201).\"\n\nSources\nMiddleton, Richard (1990/2002). Studying Popular Music. Philadelphia: Open University Press. .\nLomax, Alan (1959). \"Folk Song Style.\" American Anthropologist 61 (Dec. 1959): 927–54. \nLomax, Alan (1968). Folk Song Style and Culture. New Brunswick, U.S.A.: Transaction Publishers, 2000. \nWillis, Paul (1978). Profane Culture. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. \n\nSociological terminology",
"Les Jumo (a phonetic way of writing Les Jumeaux in French, , meaning The Twins) is a French singing and dancing duo with strong African influences formed in 2008 by the twin brothers known as Docta Lova La Friandiz and Linho de Gaucho L'International born 16 October 1985. They used the shortened Docta & Linho for some credits.\n\nWith Selesao\nIn 2005, Jessy Matador created a music and dance group called La Sélésao, which was composed of Matador, Docta Love, Linho and Benkoff.\n\nIn late 2007, they signed with Oyas Records before signing with Wagram Records in spring 2008. They released their début single \"Décalé Gwada\" in June 2008, thus becoming one of the hits of that summer. On 24 November 2008, the group released the album Afrikan New Style, a musical hybrid of African and Caribbean influences with more urban sounds. The style is influenced by zouk, dancehall, reggae, hip hop, coupé-décalé, ndombolo and kuduro. In December 2008, they released their second single \"Mini Kawoulé\".\n\nAs the duo Les Jumo\nAfter forming the duo Les Jumo (a phonetic way of writing Les Jumeaux in French, meaning The Twins), they found fame on the dancefloor in the summer of 2009, mixing lively zouk (coupé-décalé) with dancehall, hip hop, reggaeton and electro influences as well as a beat rhythm influenced by Culture Beat. Also known as Les Jumo Selesao, their greatest success was the single \"Zoomer\", produced by Junior Caldera and promoted further by a dance music video. They have had collaborations with many dance acts including Jessy Matador, Willy William, Mohombi and others.\n\nDiscography\n\nAlbums\n\nSingles \n\nOther songs and videos\n\nReferences\n\nTwin musical duos\nFrench musical duos\nTwin people from France\nMale musical duos"
]
|
[
"Bring Me the Horizon",
"Style and influences",
"What influenced their music style?",
"Among Bring Me the Horizon's earliest influences were bands like At the Gates, Carcass, Pantera, Metallica, The Dillinger Escape Plan,",
"Did they ever make a statement regarding this influence?",
"I don't know.",
"Who did they model their style after?",
"Every Time I Die, Norma Jean, Skycamefalling and Poison the Well;",
"How do they imitate these style makers?",
"I don't know.",
"Have they always had the same musical style and influences?",
"However, as their sound developed, the band started to take influences from progressive rock, post-rock, dubstep and electronica."
]
| C_50898b4862fb42f5b989ea579db6fb46_1 | Did they stick with any one genre? | 6 | Did Bring Me the Horizon stick with any one genre? | Bring Me the Horizon | Among Bring Me the Horizon's earliest influences were bands like At the Gates, Carcass, Pantera, Metallica, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Every Time I Die, Norma Jean, Skycamefalling and Poison the Well; and genres death metal, grindcore, and emo have been cited by AllMusic writer Steward Mason. However, as their sound developed, the band started to take influences from progressive rock, post-rock, dubstep and electronica. The band's musical style has been described mainly as metalcore and - though they have since moved on from the genre - their early material was considered deathcore. Across their career the band has also been said to play within the genres post-hardcore, hardcore punk, technical metal, heavy metal, and emo. Bring Me the Horizon have attempted to grow and change with each album, believing they should be different. Raziq Rauf, writing for Drowned In Sound, described Count Your Blessings as possessing "Norma Jean-style thunderous riffs mixed with some dastardly sludgy doom moments and more breakdowns than your dad's old Nissan Sunny." Metal Hammer described Suicide Season as a "creative, critical and commercial success" for the band as they started to adopt a more eclectic style, with its "crushingly heavy party deathcore". Leading up to its release Oliver Sykes described it as "100% different to Count Your Blessings" and noted the album sounds "more rock than metal". As time went by, Bring Me the Horizon began rejecting their debut album Count Your Blessings and considered Suicide Season as their "Year Zero[...] [their] wipe-the-slate-clean time". Bring Me the Horizon then moved even further away from deathcore with their third album There Is a Hell, which incorporated electronica, classical music and pop music into their metalcore style. This required more ambitious production feats, such as using a full choir, a synthesised orchestra and glitched out vocals and breakdowns that were also toned down, favouring quiet atmospheric passages in song breaks. For the writing of Sempiternal, the band pooled far broader influences such as post-rock acts like This Will Destroy You and Explosions In The Sky and from pop music. Bring Me the Horizon has experimented with its music in recent years, mixing pop with metal music, leading the band to be labeled a "pop metal" act. With the release of That's the Spirit, their sound shifted towards alternative metal and alternative rock, also incorporated other genres such as pop rock and nu metal, while completely abandoning the metalcore sound of their earlier albums. CANNOTANSWER | The band's musical style has been described mainly as metalcore and - though they have since moved on from the genre | Bring Me the Horizon (often abbreviated as BMTH) are a British rock band formed in Sheffield in 2004. The group consists of lead vocalist Oliver Sykes, guitarist Lee Malia, bassist Matt Kean, drummer Matt Nicholls and keyboardist Jordan Fish. They are signed to RCA Records globally and Columbia Records exclusively in the United States.
The band released their debut album Count Your Blessings in 2006. Upon release, the album's sound polarised listeners, and was met with critical disdain. The band began to break away from their controversial sound with Suicide Season (2008), which was a creative, critical and commercial turning point for the band. Bring Me the Horizon released their third album, There Is a Hell Believe Me I've Seen It. There Is a Heaven Let's Keep It a Secret., in 2010, propelling them to greater international fame, whilst incorporating influences from classical music, electronica and pop. Their major label debut, Sempiternal (2013) achieved Gold certification in Australia (35,000) and Silver in the United Kingdom (60,000). That's the Spirit (2015) debuted at number two in the UK Albums Chart and the US Billboard 200. Their sixth studio album Amo (2019) became their first UK chart topper. As well as these six studio albums, they have also released two extended plays and two live albums. They have received four Kerrang! Awards, including two for Best British Band and one for Best Live Band, and have been nominated for two Grammy Awards.
The style of their early work, including their debut album Count Your Blessings, has been described primarily as deathcore, but they started to adopt a more eclectic style of metalcore on later albums. Furthermore, That's the Spirit marked a shift in their sound to less aggressive rock music styles. Amo saw a shift into different genres, such as electronica, pop and hip hop.
History
Formation and early releases (2002–2006)
Bring Me the Horizon's founding members came from diverse musical backgrounds within metal and rock. Matt Nicholls and Oliver Sykes had a common interest in American metalcore such as Norma Jean and Skycamefalling, and used to attend local hardcore punk shows. They later met Lee Malia, who spoke with them about thrash metal and melodic death metal bands like Metallica and At the Gates; Malia had also been part of a Metallica tribute band before meeting the pair. Bring Me the Horizon officially formed in March 2004, when the members were aged 15 to 17. Curtis Ward, who also lived in the Rotherham area, joined Sykes, Malia and Nicholls on drums. Bassist Matt Kean, who was in other local bands, completed the line-up. Their name is paraphrased from a line of dialogue spoken by Captain Jack Sparrow in the 2003 film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, where Captain Jack Sparrow says: "Now, bring me that horizon."
In the months following their formation, Bring Me the Horizon created a demo album titled Bedroom Sessions. They followed this by releasing their first EP, This Is What the Edge of Your Seat Was Made For, in September 2004 through local UK label Thirty Days of Night Records. Bring Me the Horizon were the label's first signing. It was recorded at Pristine Studios in Nottingham over the course of two weekends, with drums and bass guitar laid down over the first weekend, and guitars and vocals completed a week later.
UK label Visible Noise noticed the band after the release of their EP, and signed them for a four-album deal, in addition to re-releasing the EP in January 2005. The re-release gained the band significant attention, eventually peaking at No. 41 on the UK album charts. The band was later awarded Best British Newcomer at the 2006 Kerrang! Awards ceremony.
The band's first tour was supporting The Red Chord across the United Kingdom. As with other early tours, they were able to get this slot by tricking venue promoters. Kean and Oliver's mother Carol Sykes were the de facto managers of the band at this time, a role they continued to occupy until 2008. For The Red Chord support, Kean emailed promoters and pretended they were opening on all the dates, when they were supposed to play only at their local show. This led them to being booked for the whole tour. In another case, Sykes created an e-mail account in the name of Johnny Truant vocalist Oliver Mitchell, which he used to contact a promoter requesting Bring Me the Horizon on their tour. Alcohol consumption fuelled their live performances in their early history when the band would get so drunk they vomited on stage and damaged their equipment.
Count Your Blessings (2006–2007)
The band released their debut album Count Your Blessings in October 2006 in the United Kingdom and in August 2007 in the United States. They rented a house in the country to write songs, but easily became distracted. They then recorded the album in inner-city Birmingham, a process which was infamous for their excessive and dangerous drinking. During this period drummer Nicholls summarised it saying "we were out every night, just being regular 18-year-olds". Critics panned the album adding to the strongly polarised responses the band were already seeing from the public.
They supported Count Your Blessings by going on a lengthy headline tour of the UK in November, and immediately followed this joining Lostprophets and The Blackout on a UK tour through late November and December 2006.
In January 2007, Bring Me the Horizon were able to set their sights beyond the UK, when they replaced Bury Your Dead on Killswitch Engage's European headline tour. The slot became available after Bury Your Dead were forced to withdraw by the departure from the band of their vocalist, Mat Bruso. Bring Me the Horizon's presence on the tour was poorly received by fans of Killswitch Engage, with concert attendees regularly throwing bottles at the band before they even started playing their set.
Suicide Season and Ward's departure (2008–2009)
Bring Me the Horizon recorded their second studio album, Suicide Season, in Sweden with producer Fredrik Nordström. He was unimpressed with their first album and was initially absent from the recording sessions unless he needed to be there. Nordström later heard the new sound they were experimenting with during a recording session and became very involved in the record. It was promoted virally in the weeks before its release with the promotional tag line "September is Suicide Season." To promote Suicide Season the band embarked on their first headline tour of the United States, as well as appearing at the 2008 Warped Tour. In May 2008, Bring Me the Horizon was the main supporting band on I Killed the Prom Queen's farewell Australian tour with The Ghost Inside and The Red Shore.
Suicide Season was released on 18 September 2008 in the United States on Epitaph and on 29 September in Europe through Visible Noise. In 2009, Bring Me the Horizon attended the 2009 Kerrang! Tour alongside Black Tide, Dir En Grey, In Case of Fire and Mindless Self Indulgence. They also joined Thursday, Cancer Bats, Four Year Strong and Pierce the Veil on the North American leg of the 2009 Taste of Chaos tour from February to April after the tour's organizer Kevin Lyman offered them the slot. The band were initially hesitant to join this tour, but were convinced after Lyman offered them a bus and $500 of fuel for the tour.
During the Taste of Chaos tour in March of that year, guitarist Curtis Ward left the band. His relationship with the band had deteriorated as his stage performances were poor. He was abusive to audiences during the Taste of Chaos tour, and had contributed little to the writing of Suicide Season. Another reason for his departure was the worsening tinnitus in his one functioning ear. Ward was born deaf in one ear and admitted playing in the band worsened the ringing in his other ear to such a degree that he was unable to sleep at night. Ward offered to perform the rest of the tour dates, which the band rejected and instead asked their guitar technician, Dean Rowbotham, to substitute for him for the remaining performances. Lee Malia noted that Ward's departure helped improve everyone's mood as he had been very negative. Within a week of the tour finishing, Sykes began talking to Jona Weinhofen, at the time the guitarist of Bleeding Through. The band knew of him from his work with his former band I Killed the Prom Queen, and he was asked to join them. Ward has since worked on the TV show Top Gear, and has occasionally performed on stage with Bring Me The Horizon, playing "Pray For Plagues", most notably at Wembley Arena in 2015. In 2016, it was announced that Ward had joined the band Counting Days.
In November 2009, Bring Me the Horizon released a remixed version of Suicide Season, titled Suicide Season: Cut Up! Musicians and producers featured on the album include: Ben Weinman, Skrillex, L'Amour La Morgue, Utah Saints and Shawn Crahan. Musically, the album incorporates many genres including: electronica, drum and bass, hip-hop and dubstep. The dubstep style of the record has been acknowledged in tracks by Tek-One and Skrillex while the hip-hop elements are found in Travis McCoy's remix of "Chelsea Smile".
There Is a Hell... (2010–2011)
The band's third album, and first with their new rhythm guitarist Jona Weinhofen, titled There Is a Hell Believe Me I've Seen It. There Is a Heaven Let's Keep It a Secret., was released on 4 October 2010 and debuted at number 17 on the Billboard 200 in the United States, number 13 on the UK Album Chart, and number one on the Australian Albums Chart, the UK Rock Chart and the UK Indie Chart. Despite reaching number one in Australia, the album's sales were the lowest for a number one album in the history of the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) charts.
Matt Nicholls describes the lyrical themes of There Is a Hell... as being "repercussions of everything we were singing about on our last CD [Suicide Season]," calling the music and lyrics a lot moodier and darker. Five singles were released from the album including: "It Never Ends", "Anthem", "Blessed with a Curse", "Visions", and "Alligator Blood", with music videos produced for each of the songs. The band embarked on a headline tour in intimate venues across the United Kingdom with support from Cancer Bats and Tek-One. In December 2010, Bring Me the Horizon joined Bullet for My Valentine as the main support band, alongside Atreyu, on a short five-date arena tour around the United Kingdom. To cope with high demand, Live Nation released extra standing tickets for all dates.
In April 2011, Bring Me the Horizon embarked on a European tour, starting in the United Kingdom. They toured with Parkway Drive and Architects as main support bands, with The Devil Wears Prada as the opening support for the UK and dubstep group Tek-One. The tour, however, was not without its hindrances. On 28 April, Nicholls broke his arm whilst playing football with members of Bring Me the Horizon, Parkway Drive and Architects. Instead of cancelling the tour, Architects' drummer Dan Searle filled in as drummer, but this meant that Bring Me the Horizon's setlist was halved in length. The tour was extended with a North American leg from 13 August to 4 October, retaining Parkway Drive and Architects and adding Deez Nuts to the line up. On 23 August they released the fourth music video and single, "Visions", and on 31 October the music video for the song "Alligator Blood" was released.
In December 2011, Machine Head completed an arena tour across Europe with Bring Me the Horizon as the main support band along with DevilDriver and Darkest Hour. Oliver Sykes said these would be the last European dates before they began writing and the recording their fourth album. 2011 ended with an announcement by the band on 29 December of a new extended play titled The Chill Out Sessions, a collaborative effort with British DJ Draper. Draper first released an "officially sanctioned" remix of the song "Blessed with a Curse" in May 2011. The EP was originally supposed to be released in time for New Year's Day, and made available for download and purchase though Bring Me the Horizon's website, but the EP's release was cancelled due to the band's "current management and label situation".
Sempiternal and Weinhofen's departure (2012–2014)
After an intense touring schedule, Bring Me the Horizon finally completed their third album's promotion at the end of 2011. They returned to the UK for an extended break and eventually starting work on their next album. Much like their previous two albums, they wrote their fourth album in seclusion and isolation to stay focused. This time, they retreated to a house in the Lake District. In July, the band started to publish images of themselves recording at a 'Top Secret Studio Location,' and revealed they were working with producer Terry Date for the recording and production of the album. On 30 July, the band announced they had left their label and signed with RCA, who would release their fourth album in 2013. The band played only three shows in all of 2012: Warped Tour 2012 on 10 November at the Alexandra Palace in London, which they headlined, (and was initially believed to be their only show), the BBC Radio 1's Radio 1 Rocks show on 22 October, where they played a six-song set supporting Bullet for My Valentine, and at a warm-up show for Warped Tour in Sheffield on 9 November. In late October it was announced that the fourth album would be called Sempiternal with a tentative release in early 2013. On 22 November the band released the Draper collaborative album The Chill Out Sessions free of charge.
On 4 January 2013, Bring Me the Horizon released the first single from Sempiternal, "Shadow Moses". It was first played by radio presenter Daniel P. Carter on BBC's Radio 1. Due to popular demand, Epitaph released the music video for the song a week earlier than planned. In January, the band also saw a change in their line up. This began early in the month when Jordan Fish, Worship keyboardist and session musician for the band during the writing of Sempiternal, was announced as a full member. Then later in the month, Jona Weinhofen left the band. Despite the band denying speculation that Fish replaced Weinhofen, reviewers said that replacing a guitarist with a keyboardist better fit their style.
The band was confirmed for several festival appearances in February. They played the Australian Soundwave festival, performing at all five dates in: Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth, and then at RAMFest in South Africa with Rise Against in March, Rock Am Ring and Rock im Park festivals in Germany in June, and from June until August they played Warped Tour 2013 in the U.S. and Canada. To coincide with 29 April release of Sempiternal the band made their first headline tour of the United Kingdom in 18 months with Crossfaith and Empress AD.
In support of Sempiternal, the band toured Australia with Of Mice & Men and Crossfaith, and played a British tour with Pierce The Veil and Sights & Sounds. They then completed the American Dream Tour in North America, supported by Of Mice & Men, Issues, letlive. and Northlane. The band was announced as the main supporter for American band A Day to Remember on their "Parks & Devastation Tour" across America throughout September and October, along with support acts Motionless in White and Chiodos. The band performed at Wembley Arena in London on 5 December with support acts Young Guns, Issues and Sleepwave, which was recorded and released as a live album/DVD.
Later in 2014, the band released two new tracks titled "Drown" on 21 October, as a stand-alone single, and "Don't Look Down" on 29 October, as part of the re-score of Drive.
That's the Spirit (2015–2017)
In late June, the band began to promote pictures of an umbrella symbol being used as a tattoo, and on stickers, and posters across England, the United States, Australia, and Europe; it was later used for a promotional cover for the band's first single. The band released a short video in early July where the words "that's the spirit" could be heard in reverse. On 13 July 2015, the promotional single "Happy Song" was released on the band's Vevo page, and on 21 July 2015, Sykes revealed the album's name was That's the Spirit. The band released the single and music video for "Throne" on 23 July 2015, and another promotional track from the album, titled "True Friends", was released on 24 August 2015. The album was released on 11 September 2015 to critical acclaim. It has led to several music videos including "Drown", "Throne", "True Friends", "Follow You", "Avalanche", and "Oh No".
The band embarked on a U.S. tour in October 2015 with support from metalcore band Issues and rock band PVRIS. The band also toured Europe in November 2015, and embarked on a second U.S. tour in April and May 2016. This was followed by an Australian tour in September 2016, and a second European tour in November 2016.
On 22 April 2016, the band performed a live concert with an orchestra conducted by Simon Dobson at the Royal Albert Hall in London. The concert marked the first time the band had performed with a live orchestra. It was recorded, and the live album, Live at the Royal Albert Hall, was released on 2 December 2016 through the crowdfunding platform PledgeMusic on CD, DVD, and vinyl, with all proceeds donated to Teenage Cancer Trust. Following the show, Fish hinted at the possibility of doing a full tour with an orchestra, saying: "It seems almost a bit of a shame to go to all this effort for months and months for just one night."
Amo (2018–2019)
In August 2018, cryptic posters appeared in major cities throughout the world with the message "do you wanna start a cult with me?". The posters were attributed by major media outlets to the band only by their use of the hexagram logo previously used by the band. During this time the band themselves have not acknowledged their involvement with the campaign publicly. Each poster provided a unique phone number and a website address. The website provided a brief message titled "An Invitation To Salvation" and shows the date of 21 August 2018. The phone lines placed fans on hold with lengthy, varied audio messages that changed frequently. Some of these messages reportedly end with a distorted audio clip of what was assumed to be new music from the band.
On 21 August, the band released the lead single "Mantra". The following day the band announced their album Amo, released on 11 January 2019, along with a set of tour dates called the First Love World Tour.
On 21 October, the band released their second single "Wonderful Life" featuring Dani Filth, along with the tracklist for Amo. That same day, the band announced that the album has been delayed and is now set for 25 January 2019.
On 1 December, it was reported that during a show at Ally Pally a fan died in the mosh pit and was escorted by paramedics and security. A day later, it was confirmed by the band with a statement: "Words cannot express how horrified we are feeling this evening after hearing about the death of a young man at our show last night. Our hearts and deepest condolences go out to his family and loved ones at this terrible time. We will comment further in due course."
On 3 January 2019, the band released their third single "Medicine" and its corresponding music video. On 22 January, three days before the album release, the band released the fourth single "Mother Tongue". On 24 January, the band released the fifth single "Nihilist Blues" featuring Grimes.
On 26 July, the band released the sixth single "Sugar Honey Ice & Tea" alongside an accompanying music video. On 21 October, the band released the seventh single "In the Dark" alongside an accompanying music video featuring Forest Whitaker. On 6 November, the band released the song "Ludens", which is part of Death Stranding: Timefall, along with the news that the band are planning on never releasing an album again and instead want to release EPs. On 27 December, the band released Music to Listen to~Dance to~Blaze to~Pray to~Feed to~Sleep to~Talk to~Grind to~Trip to~Breathe to~Help to~Hurt to~Scroll to~Roll to~Love to~Hate to~Learn Too~Plot to~Play to~Be to~Feel to~Breed to~Sweat to~Dream to~Hide to~Live to~Die to~Go To without any prior announcement.
Post Human: Survival Horror (2020–present)
On 20 March 2020, the band shared that they were in a home studio, writing and recording material for their eighth record, which is expected to be an EP, with part of it being co-produced by Mick Gordon. On 25 June, the band released the single "Parasite Eve" alongside an accompanying music video. On the same day, the band also announced a project that they have been working on titled Post Human, which they said to be four EPs released throughout the next year which when combined would make an album. On 2 September, the band released with English singer Yungblud a collaborative single titled "Obey" and its corresponding music video. On 14 October, the band officially announced through social media that Post Human: Survival Horror would be released on 30 October 2020. On 22 October, a week before the release date, the fourth single "Teardrops" was released alongside an accompanying music video.
In December 2020, Fish said that the band had been writing "on and off" and would be focusing on their next release in early 2021. He also updated the group's release plan, saying that they "planned to do four EPs in a year, but [Post Human: Survival Horror] was almost an album, so I think the spacing will be a bit longer than intended, just because they're probably going to turn out bigger than intended." Upon being released on physical formats on 22 January 2021, Post Human: Survival Horror would chart again and reach a new peak to gift Bring Me the Horizon their second UK number one on the UK Albums Chart. Two years after Amo would be the first to reach this feat. The band collaborated with singer Olivia O'Brien on a track titled "No More Friends". The song is from O'Brien's Episodes: Season 1' EP which was released on 11 June 2021.
On 2 September 2021, the band announced the release of an upcoming single, "Die4U", which was released on 16 September. On 8 December, the band was announced as the Saturday co-headliner alongside Arctic Monkeys at the 2022 iteration of the Reading and Leeds Festival, headlining the bill for the first time ever. Speaking to NME about the announcement, Sykes expressed his thoughts about headlining Reading and Leeds, as well as what to expect from their headline set:
In February 2022, it was reported that the band were set to contribute to the soundtrack and provide the main theme for Gran Turismo 7. A few days later, the band released their rendition of "Moon Over the Castle" as a single ahead of schedule due to the song being leaked early. At the 42nd Brit Awards, the band were brought out as a surprise act to perform "Bad Habits" alongside Ed Sheeran. On 17 February, the studio version of "Bad Habits" by Ed Sheeran featuring the band was released.
Artistry
Style and influences
Among Bring Me the Horizon's earliest influences were bands like At the Gates, Carcass, Pantera, Metallica, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Every Time I Die, Norma Jean, Skycamefalling and Poison the Well; and genres death metal, grindcore, and emo have been cited by AllMusic writer Steward Mason. However, as their sound developed, the band started to take influences from progressive rock, post-rock, dubstep and electronica. The band's musical style has been described mainly as metalcore and – though they have since moved on from the genre – their early material was considered deathcore. Across their career the band has also been said to play within the genres alternative metal, alternative rock, pop rock, electronic rock, hard rock, heavy metal, post-hardcore, pop, nu metal, electropop, hip hop, EDM, arena rock, melodic metalcore, electronicore, electronica, screamo, hardcore punk, technical metal, and emo.
Bring Me the Horizon have attempted to grow and change with each album, believing they should be different. Raziq Rauf, writing for Drowned in Sound, described Count Your Blessings as possessing "Norma Jean-style thunderous riffs mixed with some dastardly sludgy doom moments and more breakdowns than your dad's old Nissan Sunny." Metal Hammer described Suicide Season as a "creative, critical and commercial success" for the band as they started to adopt a more eclectic style, with its "crushingly heavy party deathcore". Leading up to its release, Oliver Sykes described it as "100% different to Count Your Blessings" and noted the album sounds "more rock than metal". As time went by, Bring Me the Horizon began rejecting their debut album Count Your Blessings and considered Suicide Season as their "Year Zero[...] [their] wipe-the-slate-clean time".
Bring Me the Horizon then moved even further away from deathcore with their third album There Is a Hell..., which incorporated electronica, classical music and pop music into their metalcore style. This required more ambitious production feats, such as using a full choir, a synthesised orchestra and glitched out vocals and breakdowns that were also toned down, favouring quiet atmospheric passages in song breaks. For the writing of Sempiternal, the band pooled far broader influences such as post-rock acts like This Will Destroy You and Explosions in the Sky and from pop music.
Bring Me the Horizon has experimented with its music in recent years, mixing pop with metal music, leading the band to be labelled a "pop metal" act. With the release of That's the Spirit, their sound shifted towards electronic rock, alternative metal and alternative rock, also incorporated other genres such as pop rock and nu metal, while completely abandoning the metalcore sound of their earlier albums.
Songwriting and recording process
In all the band's album notes, all of Bring Me the Horizon's lyrics are said to be written by lead vocalist Oliver Sykes while all five members—as a band—were credited with writing the music. With the exception of Count Your Blessings, the band has always written in a secluded location to avoid being distracted. Oliver Sykes' lyrics have a strong feeling of catharsis for him. He mainly draws from personal experience and has described the band's live performances as therapeutic. In 2006, when asked about the lyrics of Count Your Blessings, as they had been criticised for their content solely fixated on heartbreak and other themes that were called "shallow and meaningless", he responded "My life's never been that bad so I've not got that much to talk about."
Band members have described how the debut album was written in inner-city areas of Birmingham while being pressured to write and record songs to the deadlines given. This resulted in the band being unimpressed with the final product. However, for the writing process of Suicide Season, the band realised that they much preferred picking areas with less human contact in order to focus on the music; they wrote their second album in the Swedish countryside. During the writing of Suicide Season, former and founding rhythm guitarist Curtis Ward wrote only two riffs of his rhythm parts of the album, mostly relying on Lee Malia to write all of the guitar sections of the album.
Lee Malia has stated that the typical writing process involves Oliver Sykes writing the main structure of the songs, followed by Malia writing the main riff. From this they would collaborate with each other to structure their work better and then later include the rest of the band in writing the rest of the song. The writing dynamic of Sempiternal, typically featured Sykes, Malia and newly introduced member Jordan Fish. Malia felt that with Fish's influence on the record he was pushed to create more inspired guitar riffs. As they all took a break before writing their fourth album, they felt less of a need for an isolated writing environment.
Image and legacy
During the band's early years, they were praised for their business acumen for selling mail-order merchandise and not relying on sales at live shows. Bring Me the Horizon's image has been characterised by the dominating personality of singer and front-man Oliver Sykes, and he has often been seen as the band's "Poster boy", bearing the brunt of the band's controversial reputation. In their early years, Bring Me the Horizon's image was infamously characterised by its members fashion sense and use of skinny-fit jeans, T-shirts with death metal band logos on the front and coloured hair/straightened hair. The band's image fit into what was called scene fashion. The effect of their fashion aesthetics showed people, in show promoter Iain Scott's perspective, that "you don't have to look like a diabolical metalhead to be into metal or play in a metal band". However, their fashion conscious appearance earned them a "style over substance" label.
Many controversies that occurred in their early years greatly affected public perceptions of the band, particularly an incident in 2007 at Nottingham's Rock City venue, when a female fan claimed that Oliver Sykes had urinated on her. The charges were dropped due to a lack of evidence from CCTV footage in the area. There were several documented examples of violence against the band during their live shows, including Sykes being pepper sprayed on stage; and people getting onstage to assault the band.
Despite the controversy over their image, various journalists have credited the band as being one of the most forward-thinking heavy bands in the UK. In 2012, just four years after the release of Suicide Season, the album was inducted into Rock Sound's Hall of Fame, credited as a significant influence on the works of Asking Alexandria, The Ghost Inside and While She Sleeps. It was credited as an influence on metalcore contemporaries Architects on Hollow Crown with their incorporation of keyboards and programming, and The Devil Wears Prada's Dead Throne for its more experimental and opinion-dividing sound.
The band caused further controversy in February 2016 when Oliver Sykes trashed Coldplay's table at the 2016 NME Awards during a live performance of Bring Me the Horizon's track "Happy Song". Although some people thought the table trashing was because of a prior feud between the two bands relating to similar album artwork, Sykes later stated that the act was not an act of "dirty protest", and suggested that it was "pure coincidence" that Coldplay were sitting at the table he trampled. Coldplay frontman Chris Martin admitted that he had never even heard of Bring Me the Horizon before the incident and he laughed it off, stating that "it was great, very 'rock and roll'".
Band members
Current
Oliver Sykes – lead vocals ; keyboards, programming
Matt Kean – bass
Lee Malia – lead guitar ; rhythm guitar
Matt Nicholls – drums
Jordan Fish – keyboards, programming, percussion, backing vocals
Current touring musicians
John Jones – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
Former
Curtis Ward – rhythm guitar
Jona Weinhofen – rhythm guitar, keyboards, programming, backing vocals
Former touring musicians
Dean Rowbotham – rhythm guitar
Robin Urbino – rhythm guitar
Tim Hillier-Brook – rhythm guitar
Brendan MacDonald – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
Timeline
Discography
Count Your Blessings (2006)
Suicide Season (2008)
There Is a Hell Believe Me I've Seen It. There Is a Heaven Let's Keep It a Secret. (2010)
Sempiternal (2013)
That's the Spirit (2015)
Amo (2019)
Awards and nominations
Grammy Awards
|-
| 2019 || "Mantra" || Best Rock Song ||
|-
| 2020 || Amo || Best Rock Album ||
BRIT Awards
|-
| 2020 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best Group ||
|-
NME Awards|-
|rowspan="2"| 2017
|Bring Me the Horizon || Best Live Band ||
|-
| Bring Me the Horizon || Music Moment of the Year ||
|-
| 2020 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best Band in the World ||
|-
|rowspan="2"| 2022 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best Band in the World ||
|-
| Bring Me the Horizon || Best Live Act ||Kerrang! Awards|-
| 2006 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best British Newcomer ||
|-
| 2008 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best British Band ||
|-
| 2009 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best British Band ||
|-
|rowspan="3"| 2011 || "Blessed with a Curse" || Best Single ||
|-
| Bring Me the Horizon || Best British Band ||
|-
| There Is a Hell Believe Me I've Seen It. There Is a Heaven Let's Keep It a Secret. || Best Album ||
|-
| 2012 || "Alligator Blood" || Best Video ||
|-
| rowspan="4"| 2013 || "Shadow Moses" || Best Single ||
|-
| "Shadow Moses" || Best Video ||
|-
| Sempiternal || Best Album ||
|-
| Bring Me the Horizon || Best British Band ||
|-
| 2014 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best Live Band ||
|-
| 2014 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best British Band ||
|-
|rowspan="2"| 2015|| Bring Me the Horizon || Best British Band ||
|-
| "Drown" || Best Single ||
|-
| 2016 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best British Band ||
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|rowspan="2"|2019 || Amo || Best Album ||
|-
| Bring Me the Horizon || Best British Band || AIM Independent Music Awards|-
| 2011 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best Live Act ||
|-
| 2011 || Bring Me the Horizon || Hardest Working Band or Artist ||
|-
| 2011 || Bring Me the Horizon || Independent Breakthrough of Year || Alternative Press
|-
| 2014 || Sempiternal || Best Album ||
|-
| 2014 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best International Band ||
|-
| 2015 || "Drown" || Best Music Video ||
|-
UK Music Video Awards
|-
| 2016
| "True Friends"
| Best Rock/Indie Video – UK
|
Readers polls
In a 2009 Rock Sound readers' poll, Bring Me the Horizon achieved both Best British Band and Worst British Band.
In 2011 The Guardian ran a poll for "Who should win the Mercury prize?" and used 50 albums, Bring Me the Horizon's third album There Is a Hell... won with 37%.
In a 2013 Sirius XM published poll, Bring Me the Horizon won Best Song Discovery for "Go to Hell, for Heaven's Sake" with the Octane radio station.
In a 2013 Alternative Press readers poll, Bring Me the Horizon was nominated for four categories: Best Vocalist (Oliver Sykes; position 3), Best Keyboardist (Jordan Fish; position 1), Single Of The Year ("Shadow Moses"; position 2) and "Best Album Art" (Sempiternal; position 2).
In 2021, Kerrang! readers voted "Die4U" as the best song and music video of the year. Bring Me the Horizon was also voted as the best band and best live band of the year. They were also voted as the second-best cover story of the year by Kerrang Magazine.
Notes
References
Bibliography
External links
2004 establishments in England
British alternative metal musical groups
Columbia Records artists
English alternative rock groups
English deathcore musical groups
English metalcore musical groups
English pop rock music groups
Kerrang! Awards winners
Musical groups from Sheffield
Musical groups established in 2004
Musical quintets
RCA Records artists | false | [
"\"Stick to Me\" is a song by British rock musician Graham Parker, recorded with his backing band the Rumour. The song was released on his 1977 album, Stick to Me. Inspired by \"Tickets to Water Falls\" by Jack Bruce, the song features a string arrangement that Parker sought to \"use with power\". \n\nThe song was released as a single in some territories in 1978, but did not chart. It has since become a live favorite of Parker's.\n\nBackground\nParker said of writing the song, \"When I wrote 'Stick to Me' I wrote it in ... bits. I heard strings as soon as I wrote it. I was very keen on doing it, that was my idea\". Parker came up with the instrumental break to the song himself, communicating it to arranger David Bedford by humming.\n\nThe song's composition was based on \"Tickets to Water Falls\" by Jack Bruce. Parker explained, \"No one would ever know that Jack Bruce's 'Tickets for the Waterfall,' (sic) from his masterwork Songs for a Tailor, is the inspiration for 'Stick To Me' (the song), musically and to a large extent lyrically. People just think it's r and b! Because it had a horn section on it, they thought it was like Southside Johnny or something. Most listeners only see the surface and therefore do not see the 'masterful grasp' of other musical ideas, if not exactly genres\".\n\nOf the song's string-laden opening, Parker said, \"I've always been into strings. I've always thought they were magic. The Stones have used them great, ELO have used them great. I'd like to see the Sex Pistols use them. They can be used with power. Any instrument, bloody crumhorn. There aren't any rules so I'll break them\".\n\nRelease and reception\n\"Stick to Me\" was released as a single in New Zealand in 1978, with \"The Heat in Harlem\" on the B-side. The song was also in contention for single release in the United States; Parker explained in an 1978 interview, \"In America I'll just go on what the DJs say they're playing the most. ... 'Stick to Me' is getting played quite a lot\". Ultimately, the song was released as the B-side to \"The Heat in Harlem\" in the US, though \"Stick to Me\" was also released on a promo single for DJ play. No single release of the song charted.\n\nParker said of the song in 1978, Stick to Me', the song itself, I don't think there's another song like it written anywhere\".\n\nLive history\nParker has performed the song live since the tour for Stick to Me, during which the song served as Parker's opener. Parker also performed the song when he reunited the Rumour in the early 2010s. Parker explained of the decision to perform the song, \"On one rehearsal, someone mentioned 'Stick To Me' and without any of us studying it we just played it, and to our amazement got it almost right first time, so we threw that in on that particular tour\".\n\nReferences\n\n1978 singles\n1977 songs\nGraham Parker songs\nVertigo Records singles",
"A stick bomb is a (mechanical) spring-loaded device constructed out of flat sticks woven together under a bending moment. Other names for stick bombs include Chinese stick puzzles, Cobra wave, and frame bombs. Stick bombs are created for fun and as art, not for any practical use.\n\nHistory\n\nSimple stick bombs made out of four, five, or six sticks have been known to schoolchildren for ages. They were often known as \"Chinese stick puzzles\", which indicates a possible origin for the devices. Tarnai (1989) describes several designs, including those with indefinite size which he credits to Ruina. Ruina claims to have invented the \"infinite popsicle-stick bomb\" in 1971. In the early 1980s, Tim Fort, known professionally as the Kinetic King, independently invented the multi-celled stick bomb. He also invented all of the stick-bomb weaves currently used including the ortho weave, the diamond weave, and the slant weave; using tongue depressors instead of Popsicle sticks is also credited as one of his innovations. In early 2011 he debuted the cobra weave, the most popular weave, during the Minneapolis audition episode \"America's Got Talent\". Recently, Tim Fort has developed methods for making three-dimensional stick bombs as well.\n\nTechnical aspects\n\nStick bombs can be constructed out of most flat sticks of the appropriate dimensions. The usual material for construction is wood, but plastic can also be used. Ice pop sticks (craft sticks) and tongue depressors are popular because of availability, low cost, and because they are easily coloured. Tongue depressor sticks are strongly recommended for construction as they have lower tension than craft sticks and thus are easier to work with.\n\nThe sticks are woven together to form a reticulated grid with each stick held in place by a bending moment created by the elasticity of wood or other material. If constructed properly, the removal of a single stick causes the other sticks to fly apart with surprising force. The speed of the shock wave depends on the materials used.\n\nThe variety of configurations in which stick bombs can be constructed is virtually limitless, and there are several tricks (stunts) that can be incorporated into the design. For reasons of structural stability, each stick is touching at least three other sticks in a frame bomb.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n FrameBomb.com\n\nChildren's games\nMechanisms (engineering)"
]
|
[
"Bring Me the Horizon",
"Style and influences",
"What influenced their music style?",
"Among Bring Me the Horizon's earliest influences were bands like At the Gates, Carcass, Pantera, Metallica, The Dillinger Escape Plan,",
"Did they ever make a statement regarding this influence?",
"I don't know.",
"Who did they model their style after?",
"Every Time I Die, Norma Jean, Skycamefalling and Poison the Well;",
"How do they imitate these style makers?",
"I don't know.",
"Have they always had the same musical style and influences?",
"However, as their sound developed, the band started to take influences from progressive rock, post-rock, dubstep and electronica.",
"Did they stick with any one genre?",
"The band's musical style has been described mainly as metalcore and - though they have since moved on from the genre"
]
| C_50898b4862fb42f5b989ea579db6fb46_1 | What did they move on to? | 7 | What did Bring Me the Horizon move on to? | Bring Me the Horizon | Among Bring Me the Horizon's earliest influences were bands like At the Gates, Carcass, Pantera, Metallica, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Every Time I Die, Norma Jean, Skycamefalling and Poison the Well; and genres death metal, grindcore, and emo have been cited by AllMusic writer Steward Mason. However, as their sound developed, the band started to take influences from progressive rock, post-rock, dubstep and electronica. The band's musical style has been described mainly as metalcore and - though they have since moved on from the genre - their early material was considered deathcore. Across their career the band has also been said to play within the genres post-hardcore, hardcore punk, technical metal, heavy metal, and emo. Bring Me the Horizon have attempted to grow and change with each album, believing they should be different. Raziq Rauf, writing for Drowned In Sound, described Count Your Blessings as possessing "Norma Jean-style thunderous riffs mixed with some dastardly sludgy doom moments and more breakdowns than your dad's old Nissan Sunny." Metal Hammer described Suicide Season as a "creative, critical and commercial success" for the band as they started to adopt a more eclectic style, with its "crushingly heavy party deathcore". Leading up to its release Oliver Sykes described it as "100% different to Count Your Blessings" and noted the album sounds "more rock than metal". As time went by, Bring Me the Horizon began rejecting their debut album Count Your Blessings and considered Suicide Season as their "Year Zero[...] [their] wipe-the-slate-clean time". Bring Me the Horizon then moved even further away from deathcore with their third album There Is a Hell, which incorporated electronica, classical music and pop music into their metalcore style. This required more ambitious production feats, such as using a full choir, a synthesised orchestra and glitched out vocals and breakdowns that were also toned down, favouring quiet atmospheric passages in song breaks. For the writing of Sempiternal, the band pooled far broader influences such as post-rock acts like This Will Destroy You and Explosions In The Sky and from pop music. Bring Me the Horizon has experimented with its music in recent years, mixing pop with metal music, leading the band to be labeled a "pop metal" act. With the release of That's the Spirit, their sound shifted towards alternative metal and alternative rock, also incorporated other genres such as pop rock and nu metal, while completely abandoning the metalcore sound of their earlier albums. CANNOTANSWER | Across their career the band has also been said to play within the genres post-hardcore, hardcore punk, technical metal, heavy metal, and emo. | Bring Me the Horizon (often abbreviated as BMTH) are a British rock band formed in Sheffield in 2004. The group consists of lead vocalist Oliver Sykes, guitarist Lee Malia, bassist Matt Kean, drummer Matt Nicholls and keyboardist Jordan Fish. They are signed to RCA Records globally and Columbia Records exclusively in the United States.
The band released their debut album Count Your Blessings in 2006. Upon release, the album's sound polarised listeners, and was met with critical disdain. The band began to break away from their controversial sound with Suicide Season (2008), which was a creative, critical and commercial turning point for the band. Bring Me the Horizon released their third album, There Is a Hell Believe Me I've Seen It. There Is a Heaven Let's Keep It a Secret., in 2010, propelling them to greater international fame, whilst incorporating influences from classical music, electronica and pop. Their major label debut, Sempiternal (2013) achieved Gold certification in Australia (35,000) and Silver in the United Kingdom (60,000). That's the Spirit (2015) debuted at number two in the UK Albums Chart and the US Billboard 200. Their sixth studio album Amo (2019) became their first UK chart topper. As well as these six studio albums, they have also released two extended plays and two live albums. They have received four Kerrang! Awards, including two for Best British Band and one for Best Live Band, and have been nominated for two Grammy Awards.
The style of their early work, including their debut album Count Your Blessings, has been described primarily as deathcore, but they started to adopt a more eclectic style of metalcore on later albums. Furthermore, That's the Spirit marked a shift in their sound to less aggressive rock music styles. Amo saw a shift into different genres, such as electronica, pop and hip hop.
History
Formation and early releases (2002–2006)
Bring Me the Horizon's founding members came from diverse musical backgrounds within metal and rock. Matt Nicholls and Oliver Sykes had a common interest in American metalcore such as Norma Jean and Skycamefalling, and used to attend local hardcore punk shows. They later met Lee Malia, who spoke with them about thrash metal and melodic death metal bands like Metallica and At the Gates; Malia had also been part of a Metallica tribute band before meeting the pair. Bring Me the Horizon officially formed in March 2004, when the members were aged 15 to 17. Curtis Ward, who also lived in the Rotherham area, joined Sykes, Malia and Nicholls on drums. Bassist Matt Kean, who was in other local bands, completed the line-up. Their name is paraphrased from a line of dialogue spoken by Captain Jack Sparrow in the 2003 film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, where Captain Jack Sparrow says: "Now, bring me that horizon."
In the months following their formation, Bring Me the Horizon created a demo album titled Bedroom Sessions. They followed this by releasing their first EP, This Is What the Edge of Your Seat Was Made For, in September 2004 through local UK label Thirty Days of Night Records. Bring Me the Horizon were the label's first signing. It was recorded at Pristine Studios in Nottingham over the course of two weekends, with drums and bass guitar laid down over the first weekend, and guitars and vocals completed a week later.
UK label Visible Noise noticed the band after the release of their EP, and signed them for a four-album deal, in addition to re-releasing the EP in January 2005. The re-release gained the band significant attention, eventually peaking at No. 41 on the UK album charts. The band was later awarded Best British Newcomer at the 2006 Kerrang! Awards ceremony.
The band's first tour was supporting The Red Chord across the United Kingdom. As with other early tours, they were able to get this slot by tricking venue promoters. Kean and Oliver's mother Carol Sykes were the de facto managers of the band at this time, a role they continued to occupy until 2008. For The Red Chord support, Kean emailed promoters and pretended they were opening on all the dates, when they were supposed to play only at their local show. This led them to being booked for the whole tour. In another case, Sykes created an e-mail account in the name of Johnny Truant vocalist Oliver Mitchell, which he used to contact a promoter requesting Bring Me the Horizon on their tour. Alcohol consumption fuelled their live performances in their early history when the band would get so drunk they vomited on stage and damaged their equipment.
Count Your Blessings (2006–2007)
The band released their debut album Count Your Blessings in October 2006 in the United Kingdom and in August 2007 in the United States. They rented a house in the country to write songs, but easily became distracted. They then recorded the album in inner-city Birmingham, a process which was infamous for their excessive and dangerous drinking. During this period drummer Nicholls summarised it saying "we were out every night, just being regular 18-year-olds". Critics panned the album adding to the strongly polarised responses the band were already seeing from the public.
They supported Count Your Blessings by going on a lengthy headline tour of the UK in November, and immediately followed this joining Lostprophets and The Blackout on a UK tour through late November and December 2006.
In January 2007, Bring Me the Horizon were able to set their sights beyond the UK, when they replaced Bury Your Dead on Killswitch Engage's European headline tour. The slot became available after Bury Your Dead were forced to withdraw by the departure from the band of their vocalist, Mat Bruso. Bring Me the Horizon's presence on the tour was poorly received by fans of Killswitch Engage, with concert attendees regularly throwing bottles at the band before they even started playing their set.
Suicide Season and Ward's departure (2008–2009)
Bring Me the Horizon recorded their second studio album, Suicide Season, in Sweden with producer Fredrik Nordström. He was unimpressed with their first album and was initially absent from the recording sessions unless he needed to be there. Nordström later heard the new sound they were experimenting with during a recording session and became very involved in the record. It was promoted virally in the weeks before its release with the promotional tag line "September is Suicide Season." To promote Suicide Season the band embarked on their first headline tour of the United States, as well as appearing at the 2008 Warped Tour. In May 2008, Bring Me the Horizon was the main supporting band on I Killed the Prom Queen's farewell Australian tour with The Ghost Inside and The Red Shore.
Suicide Season was released on 18 September 2008 in the United States on Epitaph and on 29 September in Europe through Visible Noise. In 2009, Bring Me the Horizon attended the 2009 Kerrang! Tour alongside Black Tide, Dir En Grey, In Case of Fire and Mindless Self Indulgence. They also joined Thursday, Cancer Bats, Four Year Strong and Pierce the Veil on the North American leg of the 2009 Taste of Chaos tour from February to April after the tour's organizer Kevin Lyman offered them the slot. The band were initially hesitant to join this tour, but were convinced after Lyman offered them a bus and $500 of fuel for the tour.
During the Taste of Chaos tour in March of that year, guitarist Curtis Ward left the band. His relationship with the band had deteriorated as his stage performances were poor. He was abusive to audiences during the Taste of Chaos tour, and had contributed little to the writing of Suicide Season. Another reason for his departure was the worsening tinnitus in his one functioning ear. Ward was born deaf in one ear and admitted playing in the band worsened the ringing in his other ear to such a degree that he was unable to sleep at night. Ward offered to perform the rest of the tour dates, which the band rejected and instead asked their guitar technician, Dean Rowbotham, to substitute for him for the remaining performances. Lee Malia noted that Ward's departure helped improve everyone's mood as he had been very negative. Within a week of the tour finishing, Sykes began talking to Jona Weinhofen, at the time the guitarist of Bleeding Through. The band knew of him from his work with his former band I Killed the Prom Queen, and he was asked to join them. Ward has since worked on the TV show Top Gear, and has occasionally performed on stage with Bring Me The Horizon, playing "Pray For Plagues", most notably at Wembley Arena in 2015. In 2016, it was announced that Ward had joined the band Counting Days.
In November 2009, Bring Me the Horizon released a remixed version of Suicide Season, titled Suicide Season: Cut Up! Musicians and producers featured on the album include: Ben Weinman, Skrillex, L'Amour La Morgue, Utah Saints and Shawn Crahan. Musically, the album incorporates many genres including: electronica, drum and bass, hip-hop and dubstep. The dubstep style of the record has been acknowledged in tracks by Tek-One and Skrillex while the hip-hop elements are found in Travis McCoy's remix of "Chelsea Smile".
There Is a Hell... (2010–2011)
The band's third album, and first with their new rhythm guitarist Jona Weinhofen, titled There Is a Hell Believe Me I've Seen It. There Is a Heaven Let's Keep It a Secret., was released on 4 October 2010 and debuted at number 17 on the Billboard 200 in the United States, number 13 on the UK Album Chart, and number one on the Australian Albums Chart, the UK Rock Chart and the UK Indie Chart. Despite reaching number one in Australia, the album's sales were the lowest for a number one album in the history of the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) charts.
Matt Nicholls describes the lyrical themes of There Is a Hell... as being "repercussions of everything we were singing about on our last CD [Suicide Season]," calling the music and lyrics a lot moodier and darker. Five singles were released from the album including: "It Never Ends", "Anthem", "Blessed with a Curse", "Visions", and "Alligator Blood", with music videos produced for each of the songs. The band embarked on a headline tour in intimate venues across the United Kingdom with support from Cancer Bats and Tek-One. In December 2010, Bring Me the Horizon joined Bullet for My Valentine as the main support band, alongside Atreyu, on a short five-date arena tour around the United Kingdom. To cope with high demand, Live Nation released extra standing tickets for all dates.
In April 2011, Bring Me the Horizon embarked on a European tour, starting in the United Kingdom. They toured with Parkway Drive and Architects as main support bands, with The Devil Wears Prada as the opening support for the UK and dubstep group Tek-One. The tour, however, was not without its hindrances. On 28 April, Nicholls broke his arm whilst playing football with members of Bring Me the Horizon, Parkway Drive and Architects. Instead of cancelling the tour, Architects' drummer Dan Searle filled in as drummer, but this meant that Bring Me the Horizon's setlist was halved in length. The tour was extended with a North American leg from 13 August to 4 October, retaining Parkway Drive and Architects and adding Deez Nuts to the line up. On 23 August they released the fourth music video and single, "Visions", and on 31 October the music video for the song "Alligator Blood" was released.
In December 2011, Machine Head completed an arena tour across Europe with Bring Me the Horizon as the main support band along with DevilDriver and Darkest Hour. Oliver Sykes said these would be the last European dates before they began writing and the recording their fourth album. 2011 ended with an announcement by the band on 29 December of a new extended play titled The Chill Out Sessions, a collaborative effort with British DJ Draper. Draper first released an "officially sanctioned" remix of the song "Blessed with a Curse" in May 2011. The EP was originally supposed to be released in time for New Year's Day, and made available for download and purchase though Bring Me the Horizon's website, but the EP's release was cancelled due to the band's "current management and label situation".
Sempiternal and Weinhofen's departure (2012–2014)
After an intense touring schedule, Bring Me the Horizon finally completed their third album's promotion at the end of 2011. They returned to the UK for an extended break and eventually starting work on their next album. Much like their previous two albums, they wrote their fourth album in seclusion and isolation to stay focused. This time, they retreated to a house in the Lake District. In July, the band started to publish images of themselves recording at a 'Top Secret Studio Location,' and revealed they were working with producer Terry Date for the recording and production of the album. On 30 July, the band announced they had left their label and signed with RCA, who would release their fourth album in 2013. The band played only three shows in all of 2012: Warped Tour 2012 on 10 November at the Alexandra Palace in London, which they headlined, (and was initially believed to be their only show), the BBC Radio 1's Radio 1 Rocks show on 22 October, where they played a six-song set supporting Bullet for My Valentine, and at a warm-up show for Warped Tour in Sheffield on 9 November. In late October it was announced that the fourth album would be called Sempiternal with a tentative release in early 2013. On 22 November the band released the Draper collaborative album The Chill Out Sessions free of charge.
On 4 January 2013, Bring Me the Horizon released the first single from Sempiternal, "Shadow Moses". It was first played by radio presenter Daniel P. Carter on BBC's Radio 1. Due to popular demand, Epitaph released the music video for the song a week earlier than planned. In January, the band also saw a change in their line up. This began early in the month when Jordan Fish, Worship keyboardist and session musician for the band during the writing of Sempiternal, was announced as a full member. Then later in the month, Jona Weinhofen left the band. Despite the band denying speculation that Fish replaced Weinhofen, reviewers said that replacing a guitarist with a keyboardist better fit their style.
The band was confirmed for several festival appearances in February. They played the Australian Soundwave festival, performing at all five dates in: Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth, and then at RAMFest in South Africa with Rise Against in March, Rock Am Ring and Rock im Park festivals in Germany in June, and from June until August they played Warped Tour 2013 in the U.S. and Canada. To coincide with 29 April release of Sempiternal the band made their first headline tour of the United Kingdom in 18 months with Crossfaith and Empress AD.
In support of Sempiternal, the band toured Australia with Of Mice & Men and Crossfaith, and played a British tour with Pierce The Veil and Sights & Sounds. They then completed the American Dream Tour in North America, supported by Of Mice & Men, Issues, letlive. and Northlane. The band was announced as the main supporter for American band A Day to Remember on their "Parks & Devastation Tour" across America throughout September and October, along with support acts Motionless in White and Chiodos. The band performed at Wembley Arena in London on 5 December with support acts Young Guns, Issues and Sleepwave, which was recorded and released as a live album/DVD.
Later in 2014, the band released two new tracks titled "Drown" on 21 October, as a stand-alone single, and "Don't Look Down" on 29 October, as part of the re-score of Drive.
That's the Spirit (2015–2017)
In late June, the band began to promote pictures of an umbrella symbol being used as a tattoo, and on stickers, and posters across England, the United States, Australia, and Europe; it was later used for a promotional cover for the band's first single. The band released a short video in early July where the words "that's the spirit" could be heard in reverse. On 13 July 2015, the promotional single "Happy Song" was released on the band's Vevo page, and on 21 July 2015, Sykes revealed the album's name was That's the Spirit. The band released the single and music video for "Throne" on 23 July 2015, and another promotional track from the album, titled "True Friends", was released on 24 August 2015. The album was released on 11 September 2015 to critical acclaim. It has led to several music videos including "Drown", "Throne", "True Friends", "Follow You", "Avalanche", and "Oh No".
The band embarked on a U.S. tour in October 2015 with support from metalcore band Issues and rock band PVRIS. The band also toured Europe in November 2015, and embarked on a second U.S. tour in April and May 2016. This was followed by an Australian tour in September 2016, and a second European tour in November 2016.
On 22 April 2016, the band performed a live concert with an orchestra conducted by Simon Dobson at the Royal Albert Hall in London. The concert marked the first time the band had performed with a live orchestra. It was recorded, and the live album, Live at the Royal Albert Hall, was released on 2 December 2016 through the crowdfunding platform PledgeMusic on CD, DVD, and vinyl, with all proceeds donated to Teenage Cancer Trust. Following the show, Fish hinted at the possibility of doing a full tour with an orchestra, saying: "It seems almost a bit of a shame to go to all this effort for months and months for just one night."
Amo (2018–2019)
In August 2018, cryptic posters appeared in major cities throughout the world with the message "do you wanna start a cult with me?". The posters were attributed by major media outlets to the band only by their use of the hexagram logo previously used by the band. During this time the band themselves have not acknowledged their involvement with the campaign publicly. Each poster provided a unique phone number and a website address. The website provided a brief message titled "An Invitation To Salvation" and shows the date of 21 August 2018. The phone lines placed fans on hold with lengthy, varied audio messages that changed frequently. Some of these messages reportedly end with a distorted audio clip of what was assumed to be new music from the band.
On 21 August, the band released the lead single "Mantra". The following day the band announced their album Amo, released on 11 January 2019, along with a set of tour dates called the First Love World Tour.
On 21 October, the band released their second single "Wonderful Life" featuring Dani Filth, along with the tracklist for Amo. That same day, the band announced that the album has been delayed and is now set for 25 January 2019.
On 1 December, it was reported that during a show at Ally Pally a fan died in the mosh pit and was escorted by paramedics and security. A day later, it was confirmed by the band with a statement: "Words cannot express how horrified we are feeling this evening after hearing about the death of a young man at our show last night. Our hearts and deepest condolences go out to his family and loved ones at this terrible time. We will comment further in due course."
On 3 January 2019, the band released their third single "Medicine" and its corresponding music video. On 22 January, three days before the album release, the band released the fourth single "Mother Tongue". On 24 January, the band released the fifth single "Nihilist Blues" featuring Grimes.
On 26 July, the band released the sixth single "Sugar Honey Ice & Tea" alongside an accompanying music video. On 21 October, the band released the seventh single "In the Dark" alongside an accompanying music video featuring Forest Whitaker. On 6 November, the band released the song "Ludens", which is part of Death Stranding: Timefall, along with the news that the band are planning on never releasing an album again and instead want to release EPs. On 27 December, the band released Music to Listen to~Dance to~Blaze to~Pray to~Feed to~Sleep to~Talk to~Grind to~Trip to~Breathe to~Help to~Hurt to~Scroll to~Roll to~Love to~Hate to~Learn Too~Plot to~Play to~Be to~Feel to~Breed to~Sweat to~Dream to~Hide to~Live to~Die to~Go To without any prior announcement.
Post Human: Survival Horror (2020–present)
On 20 March 2020, the band shared that they were in a home studio, writing and recording material for their eighth record, which is expected to be an EP, with part of it being co-produced by Mick Gordon. On 25 June, the band released the single "Parasite Eve" alongside an accompanying music video. On the same day, the band also announced a project that they have been working on titled Post Human, which they said to be four EPs released throughout the next year which when combined would make an album. On 2 September, the band released with English singer Yungblud a collaborative single titled "Obey" and its corresponding music video. On 14 October, the band officially announced through social media that Post Human: Survival Horror would be released on 30 October 2020. On 22 October, a week before the release date, the fourth single "Teardrops" was released alongside an accompanying music video.
In December 2020, Fish said that the band had been writing "on and off" and would be focusing on their next release in early 2021. He also updated the group's release plan, saying that they "planned to do four EPs in a year, but [Post Human: Survival Horror] was almost an album, so I think the spacing will be a bit longer than intended, just because they're probably going to turn out bigger than intended." Upon being released on physical formats on 22 January 2021, Post Human: Survival Horror would chart again and reach a new peak to gift Bring Me the Horizon their second UK number one on the UK Albums Chart. Two years after Amo would be the first to reach this feat. The band collaborated with singer Olivia O'Brien on a track titled "No More Friends". The song is from O'Brien's Episodes: Season 1' EP which was released on 11 June 2021.
On 2 September 2021, the band announced the release of an upcoming single, "Die4U", which was released on 16 September. On 8 December, the band was announced as the Saturday co-headliner alongside Arctic Monkeys at the 2022 iteration of the Reading and Leeds Festival, headlining the bill for the first time ever. Speaking to NME about the announcement, Sykes expressed his thoughts about headlining Reading and Leeds, as well as what to expect from their headline set:
In February 2022, it was reported that the band were set to contribute to the soundtrack and provide the main theme for Gran Turismo 7. A few days later, the band released their rendition of "Moon Over the Castle" as a single ahead of schedule due to the song being leaked early. At the 42nd Brit Awards, the band were brought out as a surprise act to perform "Bad Habits" alongside Ed Sheeran. On 17 February, the studio version of "Bad Habits" by Ed Sheeran featuring the band was released.
Artistry
Style and influences
Among Bring Me the Horizon's earliest influences were bands like At the Gates, Carcass, Pantera, Metallica, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Every Time I Die, Norma Jean, Skycamefalling and Poison the Well; and genres death metal, grindcore, and emo have been cited by AllMusic writer Steward Mason. However, as their sound developed, the band started to take influences from progressive rock, post-rock, dubstep and electronica. The band's musical style has been described mainly as metalcore and – though they have since moved on from the genre – their early material was considered deathcore. Across their career the band has also been said to play within the genres alternative metal, alternative rock, pop rock, electronic rock, hard rock, heavy metal, post-hardcore, pop, nu metal, electropop, hip hop, EDM, arena rock, melodic metalcore, electronicore, electronica, screamo, hardcore punk, technical metal, and emo.
Bring Me the Horizon have attempted to grow and change with each album, believing they should be different. Raziq Rauf, writing for Drowned in Sound, described Count Your Blessings as possessing "Norma Jean-style thunderous riffs mixed with some dastardly sludgy doom moments and more breakdowns than your dad's old Nissan Sunny." Metal Hammer described Suicide Season as a "creative, critical and commercial success" for the band as they started to adopt a more eclectic style, with its "crushingly heavy party deathcore". Leading up to its release, Oliver Sykes described it as "100% different to Count Your Blessings" and noted the album sounds "more rock than metal". As time went by, Bring Me the Horizon began rejecting their debut album Count Your Blessings and considered Suicide Season as their "Year Zero[...] [their] wipe-the-slate-clean time".
Bring Me the Horizon then moved even further away from deathcore with their third album There Is a Hell..., which incorporated electronica, classical music and pop music into their metalcore style. This required more ambitious production feats, such as using a full choir, a synthesised orchestra and glitched out vocals and breakdowns that were also toned down, favouring quiet atmospheric passages in song breaks. For the writing of Sempiternal, the band pooled far broader influences such as post-rock acts like This Will Destroy You and Explosions in the Sky and from pop music.
Bring Me the Horizon has experimented with its music in recent years, mixing pop with metal music, leading the band to be labelled a "pop metal" act. With the release of That's the Spirit, their sound shifted towards electronic rock, alternative metal and alternative rock, also incorporated other genres such as pop rock and nu metal, while completely abandoning the metalcore sound of their earlier albums.
Songwriting and recording process
In all the band's album notes, all of Bring Me the Horizon's lyrics are said to be written by lead vocalist Oliver Sykes while all five members—as a band—were credited with writing the music. With the exception of Count Your Blessings, the band has always written in a secluded location to avoid being distracted. Oliver Sykes' lyrics have a strong feeling of catharsis for him. He mainly draws from personal experience and has described the band's live performances as therapeutic. In 2006, when asked about the lyrics of Count Your Blessings, as they had been criticised for their content solely fixated on heartbreak and other themes that were called "shallow and meaningless", he responded "My life's never been that bad so I've not got that much to talk about."
Band members have described how the debut album was written in inner-city areas of Birmingham while being pressured to write and record songs to the deadlines given. This resulted in the band being unimpressed with the final product. However, for the writing process of Suicide Season, the band realised that they much preferred picking areas with less human contact in order to focus on the music; they wrote their second album in the Swedish countryside. During the writing of Suicide Season, former and founding rhythm guitarist Curtis Ward wrote only two riffs of his rhythm parts of the album, mostly relying on Lee Malia to write all of the guitar sections of the album.
Lee Malia has stated that the typical writing process involves Oliver Sykes writing the main structure of the songs, followed by Malia writing the main riff. From this they would collaborate with each other to structure their work better and then later include the rest of the band in writing the rest of the song. The writing dynamic of Sempiternal, typically featured Sykes, Malia and newly introduced member Jordan Fish. Malia felt that with Fish's influence on the record he was pushed to create more inspired guitar riffs. As they all took a break before writing their fourth album, they felt less of a need for an isolated writing environment.
Image and legacy
During the band's early years, they were praised for their business acumen for selling mail-order merchandise and not relying on sales at live shows. Bring Me the Horizon's image has been characterised by the dominating personality of singer and front-man Oliver Sykes, and he has often been seen as the band's "Poster boy", bearing the brunt of the band's controversial reputation. In their early years, Bring Me the Horizon's image was infamously characterised by its members fashion sense and use of skinny-fit jeans, T-shirts with death metal band logos on the front and coloured hair/straightened hair. The band's image fit into what was called scene fashion. The effect of their fashion aesthetics showed people, in show promoter Iain Scott's perspective, that "you don't have to look like a diabolical metalhead to be into metal or play in a metal band". However, their fashion conscious appearance earned them a "style over substance" label.
Many controversies that occurred in their early years greatly affected public perceptions of the band, particularly an incident in 2007 at Nottingham's Rock City venue, when a female fan claimed that Oliver Sykes had urinated on her. The charges were dropped due to a lack of evidence from CCTV footage in the area. There were several documented examples of violence against the band during their live shows, including Sykes being pepper sprayed on stage; and people getting onstage to assault the band.
Despite the controversy over their image, various journalists have credited the band as being one of the most forward-thinking heavy bands in the UK. In 2012, just four years after the release of Suicide Season, the album was inducted into Rock Sound's Hall of Fame, credited as a significant influence on the works of Asking Alexandria, The Ghost Inside and While She Sleeps. It was credited as an influence on metalcore contemporaries Architects on Hollow Crown with their incorporation of keyboards and programming, and The Devil Wears Prada's Dead Throne for its more experimental and opinion-dividing sound.
The band caused further controversy in February 2016 when Oliver Sykes trashed Coldplay's table at the 2016 NME Awards during a live performance of Bring Me the Horizon's track "Happy Song". Although some people thought the table trashing was because of a prior feud between the two bands relating to similar album artwork, Sykes later stated that the act was not an act of "dirty protest", and suggested that it was "pure coincidence" that Coldplay were sitting at the table he trampled. Coldplay frontman Chris Martin admitted that he had never even heard of Bring Me the Horizon before the incident and he laughed it off, stating that "it was great, very 'rock and roll'".
Band members
Current
Oliver Sykes – lead vocals ; keyboards, programming
Matt Kean – bass
Lee Malia – lead guitar ; rhythm guitar
Matt Nicholls – drums
Jordan Fish – keyboards, programming, percussion, backing vocals
Current touring musicians
John Jones – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
Former
Curtis Ward – rhythm guitar
Jona Weinhofen – rhythm guitar, keyboards, programming, backing vocals
Former touring musicians
Dean Rowbotham – rhythm guitar
Robin Urbino – rhythm guitar
Tim Hillier-Brook – rhythm guitar
Brendan MacDonald – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
Timeline
Discography
Count Your Blessings (2006)
Suicide Season (2008)
There Is a Hell Believe Me I've Seen It. There Is a Heaven Let's Keep It a Secret. (2010)
Sempiternal (2013)
That's the Spirit (2015)
Amo (2019)
Awards and nominations
Grammy Awards
|-
| 2019 || "Mantra" || Best Rock Song ||
|-
| 2020 || Amo || Best Rock Album ||
BRIT Awards
|-
| 2020 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best Group ||
|-
NME Awards|-
|rowspan="2"| 2017
|Bring Me the Horizon || Best Live Band ||
|-
| Bring Me the Horizon || Music Moment of the Year ||
|-
| 2020 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best Band in the World ||
|-
|rowspan="2"| 2022 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best Band in the World ||
|-
| Bring Me the Horizon || Best Live Act ||Kerrang! Awards|-
| 2006 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best British Newcomer ||
|-
| 2008 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best British Band ||
|-
| 2009 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best British Band ||
|-
|rowspan="3"| 2011 || "Blessed with a Curse" || Best Single ||
|-
| Bring Me the Horizon || Best British Band ||
|-
| There Is a Hell Believe Me I've Seen It. There Is a Heaven Let's Keep It a Secret. || Best Album ||
|-
| 2012 || "Alligator Blood" || Best Video ||
|-
| rowspan="4"| 2013 || "Shadow Moses" || Best Single ||
|-
| "Shadow Moses" || Best Video ||
|-
| Sempiternal || Best Album ||
|-
| Bring Me the Horizon || Best British Band ||
|-
| 2014 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best Live Band ||
|-
| 2014 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best British Band ||
|-
|rowspan="2"| 2015|| Bring Me the Horizon || Best British Band ||
|-
| "Drown" || Best Single ||
|-
| 2016 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best British Band ||
|-
|rowspan="2"|2019 || Amo || Best Album ||
|-
| Bring Me the Horizon || Best British Band || AIM Independent Music Awards|-
| 2011 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best Live Act ||
|-
| 2011 || Bring Me the Horizon || Hardest Working Band or Artist ||
|-
| 2011 || Bring Me the Horizon || Independent Breakthrough of Year || Alternative Press
|-
| 2014 || Sempiternal || Best Album ||
|-
| 2014 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best International Band ||
|-
| 2015 || "Drown" || Best Music Video ||
|-
UK Music Video Awards
|-
| 2016
| "True Friends"
| Best Rock/Indie Video – UK
|
Readers polls
In a 2009 Rock Sound readers' poll, Bring Me the Horizon achieved both Best British Band and Worst British Band.
In 2011 The Guardian ran a poll for "Who should win the Mercury prize?" and used 50 albums, Bring Me the Horizon's third album There Is a Hell... won with 37%.
In a 2013 Sirius XM published poll, Bring Me the Horizon won Best Song Discovery for "Go to Hell, for Heaven's Sake" with the Octane radio station.
In a 2013 Alternative Press readers poll, Bring Me the Horizon was nominated for four categories: Best Vocalist (Oliver Sykes; position 3), Best Keyboardist (Jordan Fish; position 1), Single Of The Year ("Shadow Moses"; position 2) and "Best Album Art" (Sempiternal; position 2).
In 2021, Kerrang! readers voted "Die4U" as the best song and music video of the year. Bring Me the Horizon was also voted as the best band and best live band of the year. They were also voted as the second-best cover story of the year by Kerrang Magazine.
Notes
References
Bibliography
External links
2004 establishments in England
British alternative metal musical groups
Columbia Records artists
English alternative rock groups
English deathcore musical groups
English metalcore musical groups
English pop rock music groups
Kerrang! Awards winners
Musical groups from Sheffield
Musical groups established in 2004
Musical quintets
RCA Records artists | false | [
"The situation, task, action, result (STAR) format is a technique used by interviewers to gather all the relevant information about a specific capability that the job requires. \n\n Situation: The interviewer wants you to present a recent challenging situation in which you found yourself.\n Task: What were you required to achieve? The interviewer will be looking to see what you were trying to achieve from the situation. Some performance development methods use “Target” rather than “Task”. Job interview candidates who describe a “Target” they set themselves instead of an externally imposed “Task” emphasize their own intrinsic motivation to perform and to develop their performance.\n Action: What did you do? The interviewer will be looking for information on what you did, why you did it and what the alternatives were.\n Results: What was the outcome of your actions? What did you achieve through your actions? Did you meet your objectives? What did you learn from this experience? Have you used this learning since?\n\nThe STAR technique is similar to the SOARA technique.\n\nThe STAR technique is also often complemented with an additional R on the end STARR or STAR(R) with the last R resembling reflection. This R aims to gather insight and interviewee's ability to learn and iterate. Whereas the STAR reveals how and what kind of result on an objective was achieved, the STARR with the additional R helps the interviewer to understand what the interviewee learned from the experience and how they would assimilate experiences. The interviewee can define what they would do (differently, the same, or better) next time being posed with a situation.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nThe ‘STAR’ technique to answer behavioral interview questions\nThe STAR method explained\n\nJob interview",
"\"What Did I Do to You?\" is a song recorded by British singer Lisa Stansfield for her 1989 album, Affection. It was written by Stansfield, Ian Devaney and Andy Morris, and produced by Devaney and Morris. The song was released as the fourth European single on 30 April 1990. It included three previously unreleased songs written by Stansfield, Devaney and Morris: \"My Apple Heart,\" \"Lay Me Down\" and \"Something's Happenin'.\" \"What Did I Do to You?\" was remixed by Mark Saunders and by the Grammy Award-winning American house music DJ and producer, David Morales. The single became a top forty hit in the European countries reaching number eighteen in Finland, number twenty in Ireland and number twenty-five in the United Kingdom. \"What Did I Do to You?\" was also released in Japan.\n\nIn 2014, the remixes of \"What Did I Do to You?\" were included on the deluxe 2CD + DVD re-release of Affection and on People Hold On ... The Remix Anthology. They were also featured on The Collection 1989–2003 box set (2014), including previously unreleased Red Zone Mix by David Morales.\n\nCritical reception\nThe song received positive reviews from music critics. Matthew Hocter from Albumism viewed it as a \"upbeat offering\". David Giles from Music Week said it is \"beautifully performed\" by Stansfield. A reviewer from Reading Eagle wrote that \"What Did I Do to You?\" \"would be right at home on the \"Saturday Night Fever\" soundtrack.\"\n\nMusic video\nA music video was produced to promote the single, directed by Philip Richardson, who had previously directed the videos for \"All Around the World\" and \"Live Together\". It features Stansfield with her kiss curls, dressed in a white outfit and performing with her band on a stage in front of a jumping audience. The video was later published on Stansfield's official YouTube channel in November 2009. It has amassed more than 1,6 million views as of October 2021.\n\nTrack listings\n\n European/UK 7\" single\n\"What Did I Do to You?\" (Mark Saunders Remix Edit) – 4:20\n\"Something's Happenin'\" – 3:59\n\n European/UK/Japanese CD single\n\"What Did I Do to You?\" (Mark Saunders Remix Edit) – 4:20\n\"My Apple Heart\" – 5:19\n\"Lay Me Down\" – 4:17\n\"Something's Happenin'\" – 3:59\n\n UK 10\" single\n\"What Did I Do to You?\" (Mark Saunders Remix) – 5:52\n\"My Apple Heart\" – 5:19\n\"Lay Me Down\" – 4:17\n\"Something's Happenin'\" – 3:59\n\n European/UK 12\" single\n\"What Did I Do to You?\" (Morales Mix) – 7:59\n\"My Apple Heart\" – 4:22\n\"Lay Me Down\" – 3:19\n\"Something's Happenin'\" – 3:15\n\n UK 12\" promotional single\n\"What Did I Do to You?\" (Morales Mix) – 7:59\n\"What Did I Do to You?\" (Anti Poll Tax Dub) – 6:31\n\n Other remixes\n\"What Did I Do to You?\" (Red Zone Mix) – 7:45\n\nCharts\n\nReferences\n\nLisa Stansfield songs\n1990 singles\nSongs written by Lisa Stansfield\n1989 songs\nArista Records singles\nSongs written by Ian Devaney\nSongs written by Andy Morris (musician)"
]
|
[
"Bring Me the Horizon",
"Style and influences",
"What influenced their music style?",
"Among Bring Me the Horizon's earliest influences were bands like At the Gates, Carcass, Pantera, Metallica, The Dillinger Escape Plan,",
"Did they ever make a statement regarding this influence?",
"I don't know.",
"Who did they model their style after?",
"Every Time I Die, Norma Jean, Skycamefalling and Poison the Well;",
"How do they imitate these style makers?",
"I don't know.",
"Have they always had the same musical style and influences?",
"However, as their sound developed, the band started to take influences from progressive rock, post-rock, dubstep and electronica.",
"Did they stick with any one genre?",
"The band's musical style has been described mainly as metalcore and - though they have since moved on from the genre",
"What did they move on to?",
"Across their career the band has also been said to play within the genres post-hardcore, hardcore punk, technical metal, heavy metal, and emo."
]
| C_50898b4862fb42f5b989ea579db6fb46_1 | Has their clothing style ever changed to match their music style? | 8 | Has Bring Me the Horizon clothing style ever changed to match their music style? | Bring Me the Horizon | Among Bring Me the Horizon's earliest influences were bands like At the Gates, Carcass, Pantera, Metallica, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Every Time I Die, Norma Jean, Skycamefalling and Poison the Well; and genres death metal, grindcore, and emo have been cited by AllMusic writer Steward Mason. However, as their sound developed, the band started to take influences from progressive rock, post-rock, dubstep and electronica. The band's musical style has been described mainly as metalcore and - though they have since moved on from the genre - their early material was considered deathcore. Across their career the band has also been said to play within the genres post-hardcore, hardcore punk, technical metal, heavy metal, and emo. Bring Me the Horizon have attempted to grow and change with each album, believing they should be different. Raziq Rauf, writing for Drowned In Sound, described Count Your Blessings as possessing "Norma Jean-style thunderous riffs mixed with some dastardly sludgy doom moments and more breakdowns than your dad's old Nissan Sunny." Metal Hammer described Suicide Season as a "creative, critical and commercial success" for the band as they started to adopt a more eclectic style, with its "crushingly heavy party deathcore". Leading up to its release Oliver Sykes described it as "100% different to Count Your Blessings" and noted the album sounds "more rock than metal". As time went by, Bring Me the Horizon began rejecting their debut album Count Your Blessings and considered Suicide Season as their "Year Zero[...] [their] wipe-the-slate-clean time". Bring Me the Horizon then moved even further away from deathcore with their third album There Is a Hell, which incorporated electronica, classical music and pop music into their metalcore style. This required more ambitious production feats, such as using a full choir, a synthesised orchestra and glitched out vocals and breakdowns that were also toned down, favouring quiet atmospheric passages in song breaks. For the writing of Sempiternal, the band pooled far broader influences such as post-rock acts like This Will Destroy You and Explosions In The Sky and from pop music. Bring Me the Horizon has experimented with its music in recent years, mixing pop with metal music, leading the band to be labeled a "pop metal" act. With the release of That's the Spirit, their sound shifted towards alternative metal and alternative rock, also incorporated other genres such as pop rock and nu metal, while completely abandoning the metalcore sound of their earlier albums. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Bring Me the Horizon (often abbreviated as BMTH) are a British rock band formed in Sheffield in 2004. The group consists of lead vocalist Oliver Sykes, guitarist Lee Malia, bassist Matt Kean, drummer Matt Nicholls and keyboardist Jordan Fish. They are signed to RCA Records globally and Columbia Records exclusively in the United States.
The band released their debut album Count Your Blessings in 2006. Upon release, the album's sound polarised listeners, and was met with critical disdain. The band began to break away from their controversial sound with Suicide Season (2008), which was a creative, critical and commercial turning point for the band. Bring Me the Horizon released their third album, There Is a Hell Believe Me I've Seen It. There Is a Heaven Let's Keep It a Secret., in 2010, propelling them to greater international fame, whilst incorporating influences from classical music, electronica and pop. Their major label debut, Sempiternal (2013) achieved Gold certification in Australia (35,000) and Silver in the United Kingdom (60,000). That's the Spirit (2015) debuted at number two in the UK Albums Chart and the US Billboard 200. Their sixth studio album Amo (2019) became their first UK chart topper. As well as these six studio albums, they have also released two extended plays and two live albums. They have received four Kerrang! Awards, including two for Best British Band and one for Best Live Band, and have been nominated for two Grammy Awards.
The style of their early work, including their debut album Count Your Blessings, has been described primarily as deathcore, but they started to adopt a more eclectic style of metalcore on later albums. Furthermore, That's the Spirit marked a shift in their sound to less aggressive rock music styles. Amo saw a shift into different genres, such as electronica, pop and hip hop.
History
Formation and early releases (2002–2006)
Bring Me the Horizon's founding members came from diverse musical backgrounds within metal and rock. Matt Nicholls and Oliver Sykes had a common interest in American metalcore such as Norma Jean and Skycamefalling, and used to attend local hardcore punk shows. They later met Lee Malia, who spoke with them about thrash metal and melodic death metal bands like Metallica and At the Gates; Malia had also been part of a Metallica tribute band before meeting the pair. Bring Me the Horizon officially formed in March 2004, when the members were aged 15 to 17. Curtis Ward, who also lived in the Rotherham area, joined Sykes, Malia and Nicholls on drums. Bassist Matt Kean, who was in other local bands, completed the line-up. Their name is paraphrased from a line of dialogue spoken by Captain Jack Sparrow in the 2003 film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, where Captain Jack Sparrow says: "Now, bring me that horizon."
In the months following their formation, Bring Me the Horizon created a demo album titled Bedroom Sessions. They followed this by releasing their first EP, This Is What the Edge of Your Seat Was Made For, in September 2004 through local UK label Thirty Days of Night Records. Bring Me the Horizon were the label's first signing. It was recorded at Pristine Studios in Nottingham over the course of two weekends, with drums and bass guitar laid down over the first weekend, and guitars and vocals completed a week later.
UK label Visible Noise noticed the band after the release of their EP, and signed them for a four-album deal, in addition to re-releasing the EP in January 2005. The re-release gained the band significant attention, eventually peaking at No. 41 on the UK album charts. The band was later awarded Best British Newcomer at the 2006 Kerrang! Awards ceremony.
The band's first tour was supporting The Red Chord across the United Kingdom. As with other early tours, they were able to get this slot by tricking venue promoters. Kean and Oliver's mother Carol Sykes were the de facto managers of the band at this time, a role they continued to occupy until 2008. For The Red Chord support, Kean emailed promoters and pretended they were opening on all the dates, when they were supposed to play only at their local show. This led them to being booked for the whole tour. In another case, Sykes created an e-mail account in the name of Johnny Truant vocalist Oliver Mitchell, which he used to contact a promoter requesting Bring Me the Horizon on their tour. Alcohol consumption fuelled their live performances in their early history when the band would get so drunk they vomited on stage and damaged their equipment.
Count Your Blessings (2006–2007)
The band released their debut album Count Your Blessings in October 2006 in the United Kingdom and in August 2007 in the United States. They rented a house in the country to write songs, but easily became distracted. They then recorded the album in inner-city Birmingham, a process which was infamous for their excessive and dangerous drinking. During this period drummer Nicholls summarised it saying "we were out every night, just being regular 18-year-olds". Critics panned the album adding to the strongly polarised responses the band were already seeing from the public.
They supported Count Your Blessings by going on a lengthy headline tour of the UK in November, and immediately followed this joining Lostprophets and The Blackout on a UK tour through late November and December 2006.
In January 2007, Bring Me the Horizon were able to set their sights beyond the UK, when they replaced Bury Your Dead on Killswitch Engage's European headline tour. The slot became available after Bury Your Dead were forced to withdraw by the departure from the band of their vocalist, Mat Bruso. Bring Me the Horizon's presence on the tour was poorly received by fans of Killswitch Engage, with concert attendees regularly throwing bottles at the band before they even started playing their set.
Suicide Season and Ward's departure (2008–2009)
Bring Me the Horizon recorded their second studio album, Suicide Season, in Sweden with producer Fredrik Nordström. He was unimpressed with their first album and was initially absent from the recording sessions unless he needed to be there. Nordström later heard the new sound they were experimenting with during a recording session and became very involved in the record. It was promoted virally in the weeks before its release with the promotional tag line "September is Suicide Season." To promote Suicide Season the band embarked on their first headline tour of the United States, as well as appearing at the 2008 Warped Tour. In May 2008, Bring Me the Horizon was the main supporting band on I Killed the Prom Queen's farewell Australian tour with The Ghost Inside and The Red Shore.
Suicide Season was released on 18 September 2008 in the United States on Epitaph and on 29 September in Europe through Visible Noise. In 2009, Bring Me the Horizon attended the 2009 Kerrang! Tour alongside Black Tide, Dir En Grey, In Case of Fire and Mindless Self Indulgence. They also joined Thursday, Cancer Bats, Four Year Strong and Pierce the Veil on the North American leg of the 2009 Taste of Chaos tour from February to April after the tour's organizer Kevin Lyman offered them the slot. The band were initially hesitant to join this tour, but were convinced after Lyman offered them a bus and $500 of fuel for the tour.
During the Taste of Chaos tour in March of that year, guitarist Curtis Ward left the band. His relationship with the band had deteriorated as his stage performances were poor. He was abusive to audiences during the Taste of Chaos tour, and had contributed little to the writing of Suicide Season. Another reason for his departure was the worsening tinnitus in his one functioning ear. Ward was born deaf in one ear and admitted playing in the band worsened the ringing in his other ear to such a degree that he was unable to sleep at night. Ward offered to perform the rest of the tour dates, which the band rejected and instead asked their guitar technician, Dean Rowbotham, to substitute for him for the remaining performances. Lee Malia noted that Ward's departure helped improve everyone's mood as he had been very negative. Within a week of the tour finishing, Sykes began talking to Jona Weinhofen, at the time the guitarist of Bleeding Through. The band knew of him from his work with his former band I Killed the Prom Queen, and he was asked to join them. Ward has since worked on the TV show Top Gear, and has occasionally performed on stage with Bring Me The Horizon, playing "Pray For Plagues", most notably at Wembley Arena in 2015. In 2016, it was announced that Ward had joined the band Counting Days.
In November 2009, Bring Me the Horizon released a remixed version of Suicide Season, titled Suicide Season: Cut Up! Musicians and producers featured on the album include: Ben Weinman, Skrillex, L'Amour La Morgue, Utah Saints and Shawn Crahan. Musically, the album incorporates many genres including: electronica, drum and bass, hip-hop and dubstep. The dubstep style of the record has been acknowledged in tracks by Tek-One and Skrillex while the hip-hop elements are found in Travis McCoy's remix of "Chelsea Smile".
There Is a Hell... (2010–2011)
The band's third album, and first with their new rhythm guitarist Jona Weinhofen, titled There Is a Hell Believe Me I've Seen It. There Is a Heaven Let's Keep It a Secret., was released on 4 October 2010 and debuted at number 17 on the Billboard 200 in the United States, number 13 on the UK Album Chart, and number one on the Australian Albums Chart, the UK Rock Chart and the UK Indie Chart. Despite reaching number one in Australia, the album's sales were the lowest for a number one album in the history of the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) charts.
Matt Nicholls describes the lyrical themes of There Is a Hell... as being "repercussions of everything we were singing about on our last CD [Suicide Season]," calling the music and lyrics a lot moodier and darker. Five singles were released from the album including: "It Never Ends", "Anthem", "Blessed with a Curse", "Visions", and "Alligator Blood", with music videos produced for each of the songs. The band embarked on a headline tour in intimate venues across the United Kingdom with support from Cancer Bats and Tek-One. In December 2010, Bring Me the Horizon joined Bullet for My Valentine as the main support band, alongside Atreyu, on a short five-date arena tour around the United Kingdom. To cope with high demand, Live Nation released extra standing tickets for all dates.
In April 2011, Bring Me the Horizon embarked on a European tour, starting in the United Kingdom. They toured with Parkway Drive and Architects as main support bands, with The Devil Wears Prada as the opening support for the UK and dubstep group Tek-One. The tour, however, was not without its hindrances. On 28 April, Nicholls broke his arm whilst playing football with members of Bring Me the Horizon, Parkway Drive and Architects. Instead of cancelling the tour, Architects' drummer Dan Searle filled in as drummer, but this meant that Bring Me the Horizon's setlist was halved in length. The tour was extended with a North American leg from 13 August to 4 October, retaining Parkway Drive and Architects and adding Deez Nuts to the line up. On 23 August they released the fourth music video and single, "Visions", and on 31 October the music video for the song "Alligator Blood" was released.
In December 2011, Machine Head completed an arena tour across Europe with Bring Me the Horizon as the main support band along with DevilDriver and Darkest Hour. Oliver Sykes said these would be the last European dates before they began writing and the recording their fourth album. 2011 ended with an announcement by the band on 29 December of a new extended play titled The Chill Out Sessions, a collaborative effort with British DJ Draper. Draper first released an "officially sanctioned" remix of the song "Blessed with a Curse" in May 2011. The EP was originally supposed to be released in time for New Year's Day, and made available for download and purchase though Bring Me the Horizon's website, but the EP's release was cancelled due to the band's "current management and label situation".
Sempiternal and Weinhofen's departure (2012–2014)
After an intense touring schedule, Bring Me the Horizon finally completed their third album's promotion at the end of 2011. They returned to the UK for an extended break and eventually starting work on their next album. Much like their previous two albums, they wrote their fourth album in seclusion and isolation to stay focused. This time, they retreated to a house in the Lake District. In July, the band started to publish images of themselves recording at a 'Top Secret Studio Location,' and revealed they were working with producer Terry Date for the recording and production of the album. On 30 July, the band announced they had left their label and signed with RCA, who would release their fourth album in 2013. The band played only three shows in all of 2012: Warped Tour 2012 on 10 November at the Alexandra Palace in London, which they headlined, (and was initially believed to be their only show), the BBC Radio 1's Radio 1 Rocks show on 22 October, where they played a six-song set supporting Bullet for My Valentine, and at a warm-up show for Warped Tour in Sheffield on 9 November. In late October it was announced that the fourth album would be called Sempiternal with a tentative release in early 2013. On 22 November the band released the Draper collaborative album The Chill Out Sessions free of charge.
On 4 January 2013, Bring Me the Horizon released the first single from Sempiternal, "Shadow Moses". It was first played by radio presenter Daniel P. Carter on BBC's Radio 1. Due to popular demand, Epitaph released the music video for the song a week earlier than planned. In January, the band also saw a change in their line up. This began early in the month when Jordan Fish, Worship keyboardist and session musician for the band during the writing of Sempiternal, was announced as a full member. Then later in the month, Jona Weinhofen left the band. Despite the band denying speculation that Fish replaced Weinhofen, reviewers said that replacing a guitarist with a keyboardist better fit their style.
The band was confirmed for several festival appearances in February. They played the Australian Soundwave festival, performing at all five dates in: Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth, and then at RAMFest in South Africa with Rise Against in March, Rock Am Ring and Rock im Park festivals in Germany in June, and from June until August they played Warped Tour 2013 in the U.S. and Canada. To coincide with 29 April release of Sempiternal the band made their first headline tour of the United Kingdom in 18 months with Crossfaith and Empress AD.
In support of Sempiternal, the band toured Australia with Of Mice & Men and Crossfaith, and played a British tour with Pierce The Veil and Sights & Sounds. They then completed the American Dream Tour in North America, supported by Of Mice & Men, Issues, letlive. and Northlane. The band was announced as the main supporter for American band A Day to Remember on their "Parks & Devastation Tour" across America throughout September and October, along with support acts Motionless in White and Chiodos. The band performed at Wembley Arena in London on 5 December with support acts Young Guns, Issues and Sleepwave, which was recorded and released as a live album/DVD.
Later in 2014, the band released two new tracks titled "Drown" on 21 October, as a stand-alone single, and "Don't Look Down" on 29 October, as part of the re-score of Drive.
That's the Spirit (2015–2017)
In late June, the band began to promote pictures of an umbrella symbol being used as a tattoo, and on stickers, and posters across England, the United States, Australia, and Europe; it was later used for a promotional cover for the band's first single. The band released a short video in early July where the words "that's the spirit" could be heard in reverse. On 13 July 2015, the promotional single "Happy Song" was released on the band's Vevo page, and on 21 July 2015, Sykes revealed the album's name was That's the Spirit. The band released the single and music video for "Throne" on 23 July 2015, and another promotional track from the album, titled "True Friends", was released on 24 August 2015. The album was released on 11 September 2015 to critical acclaim. It has led to several music videos including "Drown", "Throne", "True Friends", "Follow You", "Avalanche", and "Oh No".
The band embarked on a U.S. tour in October 2015 with support from metalcore band Issues and rock band PVRIS. The band also toured Europe in November 2015, and embarked on a second U.S. tour in April and May 2016. This was followed by an Australian tour in September 2016, and a second European tour in November 2016.
On 22 April 2016, the band performed a live concert with an orchestra conducted by Simon Dobson at the Royal Albert Hall in London. The concert marked the first time the band had performed with a live orchestra. It was recorded, and the live album, Live at the Royal Albert Hall, was released on 2 December 2016 through the crowdfunding platform PledgeMusic on CD, DVD, and vinyl, with all proceeds donated to Teenage Cancer Trust. Following the show, Fish hinted at the possibility of doing a full tour with an orchestra, saying: "It seems almost a bit of a shame to go to all this effort for months and months for just one night."
Amo (2018–2019)
In August 2018, cryptic posters appeared in major cities throughout the world with the message "do you wanna start a cult with me?". The posters were attributed by major media outlets to the band only by their use of the hexagram logo previously used by the band. During this time the band themselves have not acknowledged their involvement with the campaign publicly. Each poster provided a unique phone number and a website address. The website provided a brief message titled "An Invitation To Salvation" and shows the date of 21 August 2018. The phone lines placed fans on hold with lengthy, varied audio messages that changed frequently. Some of these messages reportedly end with a distorted audio clip of what was assumed to be new music from the band.
On 21 August, the band released the lead single "Mantra". The following day the band announced their album Amo, released on 11 January 2019, along with a set of tour dates called the First Love World Tour.
On 21 October, the band released their second single "Wonderful Life" featuring Dani Filth, along with the tracklist for Amo. That same day, the band announced that the album has been delayed and is now set for 25 January 2019.
On 1 December, it was reported that during a show at Ally Pally a fan died in the mosh pit and was escorted by paramedics and security. A day later, it was confirmed by the band with a statement: "Words cannot express how horrified we are feeling this evening after hearing about the death of a young man at our show last night. Our hearts and deepest condolences go out to his family and loved ones at this terrible time. We will comment further in due course."
On 3 January 2019, the band released their third single "Medicine" and its corresponding music video. On 22 January, three days before the album release, the band released the fourth single "Mother Tongue". On 24 January, the band released the fifth single "Nihilist Blues" featuring Grimes.
On 26 July, the band released the sixth single "Sugar Honey Ice & Tea" alongside an accompanying music video. On 21 October, the band released the seventh single "In the Dark" alongside an accompanying music video featuring Forest Whitaker. On 6 November, the band released the song "Ludens", which is part of Death Stranding: Timefall, along with the news that the band are planning on never releasing an album again and instead want to release EPs. On 27 December, the band released Music to Listen to~Dance to~Blaze to~Pray to~Feed to~Sleep to~Talk to~Grind to~Trip to~Breathe to~Help to~Hurt to~Scroll to~Roll to~Love to~Hate to~Learn Too~Plot to~Play to~Be to~Feel to~Breed to~Sweat to~Dream to~Hide to~Live to~Die to~Go To without any prior announcement.
Post Human: Survival Horror (2020–present)
On 20 March 2020, the band shared that they were in a home studio, writing and recording material for their eighth record, which is expected to be an EP, with part of it being co-produced by Mick Gordon. On 25 June, the band released the single "Parasite Eve" alongside an accompanying music video. On the same day, the band also announced a project that they have been working on titled Post Human, which they said to be four EPs released throughout the next year which when combined would make an album. On 2 September, the band released with English singer Yungblud a collaborative single titled "Obey" and its corresponding music video. On 14 October, the band officially announced through social media that Post Human: Survival Horror would be released on 30 October 2020. On 22 October, a week before the release date, the fourth single "Teardrops" was released alongside an accompanying music video.
In December 2020, Fish said that the band had been writing "on and off" and would be focusing on their next release in early 2021. He also updated the group's release plan, saying that they "planned to do four EPs in a year, but [Post Human: Survival Horror] was almost an album, so I think the spacing will be a bit longer than intended, just because they're probably going to turn out bigger than intended." Upon being released on physical formats on 22 January 2021, Post Human: Survival Horror would chart again and reach a new peak to gift Bring Me the Horizon their second UK number one on the UK Albums Chart. Two years after Amo would be the first to reach this feat. The band collaborated with singer Olivia O'Brien on a track titled "No More Friends". The song is from O'Brien's Episodes: Season 1' EP which was released on 11 June 2021.
On 2 September 2021, the band announced the release of an upcoming single, "Die4U", which was released on 16 September. On 8 December, the band was announced as the Saturday co-headliner alongside Arctic Monkeys at the 2022 iteration of the Reading and Leeds Festival, headlining the bill for the first time ever. Speaking to NME about the announcement, Sykes expressed his thoughts about headlining Reading and Leeds, as well as what to expect from their headline set:
In February 2022, it was reported that the band were set to contribute to the soundtrack and provide the main theme for Gran Turismo 7. A few days later, the band released their rendition of "Moon Over the Castle" as a single ahead of schedule due to the song being leaked early. At the 42nd Brit Awards, the band were brought out as a surprise act to perform "Bad Habits" alongside Ed Sheeran. On 17 February, the studio version of "Bad Habits" by Ed Sheeran featuring the band was released.
Artistry
Style and influences
Among Bring Me the Horizon's earliest influences were bands like At the Gates, Carcass, Pantera, Metallica, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Every Time I Die, Norma Jean, Skycamefalling and Poison the Well; and genres death metal, grindcore, and emo have been cited by AllMusic writer Steward Mason. However, as their sound developed, the band started to take influences from progressive rock, post-rock, dubstep and electronica. The band's musical style has been described mainly as metalcore and – though they have since moved on from the genre – their early material was considered deathcore. Across their career the band has also been said to play within the genres alternative metal, alternative rock, pop rock, electronic rock, hard rock, heavy metal, post-hardcore, pop, nu metal, electropop, hip hop, EDM, arena rock, melodic metalcore, electronicore, electronica, screamo, hardcore punk, technical metal, and emo.
Bring Me the Horizon have attempted to grow and change with each album, believing they should be different. Raziq Rauf, writing for Drowned in Sound, described Count Your Blessings as possessing "Norma Jean-style thunderous riffs mixed with some dastardly sludgy doom moments and more breakdowns than your dad's old Nissan Sunny." Metal Hammer described Suicide Season as a "creative, critical and commercial success" for the band as they started to adopt a more eclectic style, with its "crushingly heavy party deathcore". Leading up to its release, Oliver Sykes described it as "100% different to Count Your Blessings" and noted the album sounds "more rock than metal". As time went by, Bring Me the Horizon began rejecting their debut album Count Your Blessings and considered Suicide Season as their "Year Zero[...] [their] wipe-the-slate-clean time".
Bring Me the Horizon then moved even further away from deathcore with their third album There Is a Hell..., which incorporated electronica, classical music and pop music into their metalcore style. This required more ambitious production feats, such as using a full choir, a synthesised orchestra and glitched out vocals and breakdowns that were also toned down, favouring quiet atmospheric passages in song breaks. For the writing of Sempiternal, the band pooled far broader influences such as post-rock acts like This Will Destroy You and Explosions in the Sky and from pop music.
Bring Me the Horizon has experimented with its music in recent years, mixing pop with metal music, leading the band to be labelled a "pop metal" act. With the release of That's the Spirit, their sound shifted towards electronic rock, alternative metal and alternative rock, also incorporated other genres such as pop rock and nu metal, while completely abandoning the metalcore sound of their earlier albums.
Songwriting and recording process
In all the band's album notes, all of Bring Me the Horizon's lyrics are said to be written by lead vocalist Oliver Sykes while all five members—as a band—were credited with writing the music. With the exception of Count Your Blessings, the band has always written in a secluded location to avoid being distracted. Oliver Sykes' lyrics have a strong feeling of catharsis for him. He mainly draws from personal experience and has described the band's live performances as therapeutic. In 2006, when asked about the lyrics of Count Your Blessings, as they had been criticised for their content solely fixated on heartbreak and other themes that were called "shallow and meaningless", he responded "My life's never been that bad so I've not got that much to talk about."
Band members have described how the debut album was written in inner-city areas of Birmingham while being pressured to write and record songs to the deadlines given. This resulted in the band being unimpressed with the final product. However, for the writing process of Suicide Season, the band realised that they much preferred picking areas with less human contact in order to focus on the music; they wrote their second album in the Swedish countryside. During the writing of Suicide Season, former and founding rhythm guitarist Curtis Ward wrote only two riffs of his rhythm parts of the album, mostly relying on Lee Malia to write all of the guitar sections of the album.
Lee Malia has stated that the typical writing process involves Oliver Sykes writing the main structure of the songs, followed by Malia writing the main riff. From this they would collaborate with each other to structure their work better and then later include the rest of the band in writing the rest of the song. The writing dynamic of Sempiternal, typically featured Sykes, Malia and newly introduced member Jordan Fish. Malia felt that with Fish's influence on the record he was pushed to create more inspired guitar riffs. As they all took a break before writing their fourth album, they felt less of a need for an isolated writing environment.
Image and legacy
During the band's early years, they were praised for their business acumen for selling mail-order merchandise and not relying on sales at live shows. Bring Me the Horizon's image has been characterised by the dominating personality of singer and front-man Oliver Sykes, and he has often been seen as the band's "Poster boy", bearing the brunt of the band's controversial reputation. In their early years, Bring Me the Horizon's image was infamously characterised by its members fashion sense and use of skinny-fit jeans, T-shirts with death metal band logos on the front and coloured hair/straightened hair. The band's image fit into what was called scene fashion. The effect of their fashion aesthetics showed people, in show promoter Iain Scott's perspective, that "you don't have to look like a diabolical metalhead to be into metal or play in a metal band". However, their fashion conscious appearance earned them a "style over substance" label.
Many controversies that occurred in their early years greatly affected public perceptions of the band, particularly an incident in 2007 at Nottingham's Rock City venue, when a female fan claimed that Oliver Sykes had urinated on her. The charges were dropped due to a lack of evidence from CCTV footage in the area. There were several documented examples of violence against the band during their live shows, including Sykes being pepper sprayed on stage; and people getting onstage to assault the band.
Despite the controversy over their image, various journalists have credited the band as being one of the most forward-thinking heavy bands in the UK. In 2012, just four years after the release of Suicide Season, the album was inducted into Rock Sound's Hall of Fame, credited as a significant influence on the works of Asking Alexandria, The Ghost Inside and While She Sleeps. It was credited as an influence on metalcore contemporaries Architects on Hollow Crown with their incorporation of keyboards and programming, and The Devil Wears Prada's Dead Throne for its more experimental and opinion-dividing sound.
The band caused further controversy in February 2016 when Oliver Sykes trashed Coldplay's table at the 2016 NME Awards during a live performance of Bring Me the Horizon's track "Happy Song". Although some people thought the table trashing was because of a prior feud between the two bands relating to similar album artwork, Sykes later stated that the act was not an act of "dirty protest", and suggested that it was "pure coincidence" that Coldplay were sitting at the table he trampled. Coldplay frontman Chris Martin admitted that he had never even heard of Bring Me the Horizon before the incident and he laughed it off, stating that "it was great, very 'rock and roll'".
Band members
Current
Oliver Sykes – lead vocals ; keyboards, programming
Matt Kean – bass
Lee Malia – lead guitar ; rhythm guitar
Matt Nicholls – drums
Jordan Fish – keyboards, programming, percussion, backing vocals
Current touring musicians
John Jones – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
Former
Curtis Ward – rhythm guitar
Jona Weinhofen – rhythm guitar, keyboards, programming, backing vocals
Former touring musicians
Dean Rowbotham – rhythm guitar
Robin Urbino – rhythm guitar
Tim Hillier-Brook – rhythm guitar
Brendan MacDonald – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
Timeline
Discography
Count Your Blessings (2006)
Suicide Season (2008)
There Is a Hell Believe Me I've Seen It. There Is a Heaven Let's Keep It a Secret. (2010)
Sempiternal (2013)
That's the Spirit (2015)
Amo (2019)
Awards and nominations
Grammy Awards
|-
| 2019 || "Mantra" || Best Rock Song ||
|-
| 2020 || Amo || Best Rock Album ||
BRIT Awards
|-
| 2020 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best Group ||
|-
NME Awards|-
|rowspan="2"| 2017
|Bring Me the Horizon || Best Live Band ||
|-
| Bring Me the Horizon || Music Moment of the Year ||
|-
| 2020 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best Band in the World ||
|-
|rowspan="2"| 2022 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best Band in the World ||
|-
| Bring Me the Horizon || Best Live Act ||Kerrang! Awards|-
| 2006 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best British Newcomer ||
|-
| 2008 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best British Band ||
|-
| 2009 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best British Band ||
|-
|rowspan="3"| 2011 || "Blessed with a Curse" || Best Single ||
|-
| Bring Me the Horizon || Best British Band ||
|-
| There Is a Hell Believe Me I've Seen It. There Is a Heaven Let's Keep It a Secret. || Best Album ||
|-
| 2012 || "Alligator Blood" || Best Video ||
|-
| rowspan="4"| 2013 || "Shadow Moses" || Best Single ||
|-
| "Shadow Moses" || Best Video ||
|-
| Sempiternal || Best Album ||
|-
| Bring Me the Horizon || Best British Band ||
|-
| 2014 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best Live Band ||
|-
| 2014 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best British Band ||
|-
|rowspan="2"| 2015|| Bring Me the Horizon || Best British Band ||
|-
| "Drown" || Best Single ||
|-
| 2016 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best British Band ||
|-
|rowspan="2"|2019 || Amo || Best Album ||
|-
| Bring Me the Horizon || Best British Band || AIM Independent Music Awards|-
| 2011 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best Live Act ||
|-
| 2011 || Bring Me the Horizon || Hardest Working Band or Artist ||
|-
| 2011 || Bring Me the Horizon || Independent Breakthrough of Year || Alternative Press
|-
| 2014 || Sempiternal || Best Album ||
|-
| 2014 || Bring Me the Horizon || Best International Band ||
|-
| 2015 || "Drown" || Best Music Video ||
|-
UK Music Video Awards
|-
| 2016
| "True Friends"
| Best Rock/Indie Video – UK
|
Readers polls
In a 2009 Rock Sound readers' poll, Bring Me the Horizon achieved both Best British Band and Worst British Band.
In 2011 The Guardian ran a poll for "Who should win the Mercury prize?" and used 50 albums, Bring Me the Horizon's third album There Is a Hell... won with 37%.
In a 2013 Sirius XM published poll, Bring Me the Horizon won Best Song Discovery for "Go to Hell, for Heaven's Sake" with the Octane radio station.
In a 2013 Alternative Press readers poll, Bring Me the Horizon was nominated for four categories: Best Vocalist (Oliver Sykes; position 3), Best Keyboardist (Jordan Fish; position 1), Single Of The Year ("Shadow Moses"; position 2) and "Best Album Art" (Sempiternal; position 2).
In 2021, Kerrang! readers voted "Die4U" as the best song and music video of the year. Bring Me the Horizon was also voted as the best band and best live band of the year. They were also voted as the second-best cover story of the year by Kerrang Magazine.
Notes
References
Bibliography
External links
2004 establishments in England
British alternative metal musical groups
Columbia Records artists
English alternative rock groups
English deathcore musical groups
English metalcore musical groups
English pop rock music groups
Kerrang! Awards winners
Musical groups from Sheffield
Musical groups established in 2004
Musical quintets
RCA Records artists | false | [
"The ragtime era helped to define not only new music but also new clothing.\n\nClothing style and class\nThe ragtime era began in the late 19th century and transitioned into the early 20th century (approximately 1897–1918), a period of class conflict in Western society. The difference between the upper and lower classes could clearly be seen. Much of this had to do with their clothing and how they carried themselves in public.\n\nUpper class\nThe upper class could afford to dress well. Women often appeared in long white gowns, which were in fashion at the time. On these dresses were white collars and usually a brooch that kept the collar closed. Women often wore large white hats and carried parasols as accessories. Bustles were commonplace for women as well. Men often wore light, form-fitting suits and wore bow ties as accessories. It was not rare to see men wearing handlebar mustaches.\n\nLower class and immigrant population\nWhereas the upper class was put together and proper, and everything was crisp, clean, and uniformed, the immigrant population was quite the opposite. This was the very beginning of immigrants being allowed to enter the United States via Ellis Island. Because they were able to carry very little over to the New World, they had little clothing and little money to buy more when their clothes started to wear out. They would, therefore, mismatch their clothing or reuse the fabric from an old article of clothing so that they could get multiple uses out of each garment.\n\nAfrican American population\nMany African Americans enjoyed popular music from the ragtime era. Their sense of style in clothing seemed to reflect this. Whereas the mostly Caucasian American upper class dressed in clean and light-colored fabric (often cream or white), the African Americans dressed in bright and vibrant clothing when they attended clubs that played ragtime music. Whereas the upper-class clothing was form-fitting, their clothes were loose, which allowed for free and easy movement. Women often adorned their hair with colorful flowers as accessories, and men often wore vests and bowler hats as their accessories.\n\nReferences\n\nRagtime\nAfrican-American cultural history\nRagtime\nRagtime",
"UNKL347 is an Indonesian clothing company based in Bandung, West Java, Indonesia.\n\nHistory\nThe brand that was started by a couple of college friends in Bandung, West Java, Indonesia in 1996. The founders/owners create clothes that represented their creative and fun-loving personalities and their interest in skateboarding, music and graphic design. In 1996, Dendy Darman, one of the founders, while studying design at Bandung Institute of Technology, started making T-shirts and dacron jackets under the name of 347boardriders. Before the owners renamed their label to UNKL347 in 2006, they have changed their label to 347/eat in 2003 from the original 347. 347 was also the name of their store at Jl. Ir. H. Djuanda No. 347, Bandung opened back in 1999. \n\nThe company pioneered and inspired indie clothing trend and indie clothing distribution outlets business, which called distros, in Bandung. The company published a design book in 2008, After Ten Years, Friends Call Us Unkle, containing 12 years of work in design including apparel design, print ads, catalogues, stickers, and postcards. The book also describes how the company has evolved from time to time since 1996.\n\nUNKL347's store is located at Jalan Trunojoyo 4 Bandung. UNKL347 which started as fashion retailer also offers lifestyle products such as surfboards and furnitures.\n\nStyle\nUNKL347 grew among independent communities in Indonesia, the founders developed a do it yourself attitude. Instead of putting \"Made in Indonesia\", the company puts \"This is not made in China\" labels on its products as a campaign to support Indonesian products competing with products made in China.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n\nClothing brands\nClothing companies of Indonesia\nCompanies based in Bandung\nClothing companies established in 1996\nIndonesian brands\nStreet fashion\nSurfwear_brands\nIndonesian companies established in 1996"
]
|
[
"Sanjay Gupta",
"Surgeon General candidate"
]
| C_bc260653ad1f4f4791e2ba7e3dee0f70_1 | how many canidates are there | 1 | how many canidates are there for Surgeon General? | Sanjay Gupta | On January 6, 2009, CNN announced that Gupta had been considered for the position of Surgeon General by President Barack Obama. Some doctors said that his communication skills and high profile would allow him to highlight medical issues and prioritize medical reform. However, others raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest with drug companies who have sponsored his broadcasts and his lack of skepticism in weighing the costs and benefits of medical treatments. Representative John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI), wrote a letter opposing Gupta's nomination. Conyers supports a single-payer health care system, the sort that Conyers' filmmaker friend Michael Moore advocated in his documentary Sicko; Gupta has criticized Moore and the film. Others, such as liberal commentator Jane Hamsher, defended the appointment, noting that Gupta's responsibilities as a surgeon general would be not that different from those of his CNN position, and that Gupta's media presence would make him ideal for the position. From the medical community, Donna Wright, of Creative Health Care Management, a regular commentator on medicine and politics, also defended the appointment on the grounds of his media presence, combined with his medical qualifications, which she viewed as an ideal combination for the post of surgeon general. Likewise, Fred Sanfilippo, executive vice president for health affairs at Emory University, supported Gupta's nomination by issuing a press release saying: "He has the character, training, intelligence and communications skills needed to help the United States improve its health and health care delivery systems in the next Administration." The American Council on Exercise, listed by PR Newswire as "America's leading authority on fitness and one of the largest fitness certification, education and training organizations in the world", endorsed the nomination of Gupta "because of his passion for inspiring Americans to lead healthier, more active lives". The ACE sent a letter of support to senator Edward M. Kennedy. Former surgeon general Joycelyn Elders also supported Gupta's nomination, saying: "He has enough well-trained, well-qualified public health people to teach him the things he needs to do the job." In March 2009 Gupta withdrew his name from consideration for the post, citing his family and his career. CANNOTANSWER | On January 6, 2009, CNN announced that Gupta had been considered for the position of Surgeon General by President Barack Obama. | Sanjay Gupta (born October 23, 1969) is an American neurosurgeon, medical reporter, and writer. He serves as associate chief of the neurosurgery service at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia, associate professor of neurosurgery at the Emory University School of Medicine, and chief medical correspondent for CNN.
Gupta is known for his many TV appearances on health-related issues. During the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, he has been a frequent contributor to numerous CNN shows covering the crisis, as well as hosting a weekly town hall with Anderson Cooper. Gupta was the host of the CNN show Sanjay Gupta MD for which he has won multiple Emmy Awards. Gupta also hosted the 6 part mini series Chasing Life. He is a frequent contributor to other CNN programs such as American Morning, Larry King Live, CNN Tonight, and Anderson Cooper 360°. His reports from Charity Hospital, New Orleans, Louisiana, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina led to him winning a 2006 Emmy Award for Outstanding Feature Story in a Regularly Scheduled Newscast. He is also a special correspondent for CBS News.
Sanjay Gupta also co-hosts the health conference Life Itself, along with Marc Hodosh (co-creator of TEDMED). Gupta published a column in Time magazine and has written four books: Chasing Life, Cheating Death, Monday Mornings: A Novel, and Keep Sharp (Jan 2021).
Early life and education
Gupta was born in Novi, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. In the 1960s, Gupta's parents, Subhash and Damyanti Gupta, moved from India prior to their marriage and met in Livonia, Michigan, where they worked as engineers for Ford Motor Company. His mother was born in the village of Tharushah in Sindh (now Pakistan), but at age 5 fled to India as a Hindu refugee during the Partition of India. Gupta and his younger brother Suneel graduated from Novi High School and Gupta went on to receive his Bachelor of Science degree in biomedical sciences at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and his M.D. degree from the University of Michigan Medical School in 1993. He was part of Inteflex, a since discontinued accelerated medical education program that accepted medical students directly from high school.
As an undergraduate, Gupta worked as an orientation leader for the freshman orientation program and was a member of the Men's Glee Club. He also served as president of the Indian American Students Association (IASA), which is now the second-largest student organization at the university.
Gupta completed his residency in neurological surgery within the University of Michigan Health System, in 2000, followed by a fellowship at the Semmes Murphy Clinic, in Memphis, Tennessee.
Gupta plays the accordion, having taken ten years of lessons, as he noted in an interview with David Hochman for Playboy.
Career
Medical practice
Gupta is an Emory Healthcare general neurosurgeon at Grady Memorial Hospital and has worked on spine, trauma and 3‑D‑image-guided operations. He has published medical journal articles on percutaneous pedicle screw placement, brain tumors, and spinal cord abnormalities. He is licensed to practice medicine in Georgia.
During his reporting in Haiti following the January 2010 earthquake, Gupta received a call from the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson that an earthquake victim, a 12-year-old girl, was aboard and needed a neurosurgeon. Gupta, a pediatric surgeon, Henri Ford, and two U.S. Navy doctors removed a piece of concrete from the girl's skull in an operation performed aboard the Vinson. Ford later wrote that Gupta "proved to be a competent neurosurgeon".
From 1997 to 1998, he served as one of fifteen White House Fellows, primarily as an advisor to Hillary Clinton. In January 2009, it was reported that Gupta was offered the position of Surgeon General of the United States in the Obama Administration, but he withdrew his name from consideration.
Broadcast journalism, television, film and events
Gupta joined CNN in the summer of 2001. He reported from New York following the attacks on the U.S. on September 11, 2001.
In 2003, Gupta traveled to Iraq to cover the medical aspects of the invasion of Iraq. While in Iraq, Gupta performed emergency surgery on both US soldiers and Iraqi civilians. Gupta was embedded with a Navy medical unit at the time, specifically a group of Corpsman called the "Devil Docs", who supported the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force. Marine Sergeant Jesus Vindaña suffered a rear gunshot wound, and the Marines asked for Gupta's assistance because of his background in neurosurgery. Vindaña survived and was sent back to the United States for rehabilitation.
In December 2006, CBS News president Sean McManus negotiated a deal with CNN that would have Gupta file up to ten reports a year for the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric and 60 Minutes while remaining CNN's chief medical correspondent and associate chief of neurosurgery at Grady Memorial Hospital.
On October 14, 2007, Gupta guest-hosted a health episode of CBS News Sunday Morning as its regular host Charles Osgood was on vacation. In February 2009, Gupta hosted AC360 covering the White House Health Summit. He also guest hosted Larry King Live in October 2009. In January 2010, Gupta and Cooper led CNN's coverage of the earthquake in Haiti. Gupta has regularly appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Real Time with Bill Maher and the Oprah Winfrey Show. Winfrey referred to Gupta as CNN's hero in January 2010.
In 2011, Gupta portrayed himself in the movie Contagion, which has received much renewed attention during the 2020 coronavirus pandemic.
His novel Monday Mornings became an instant New York Times bestseller on its release in March 2012. It was adapted as a 2013 television series with David E. Kelley and Gupta serving as executive producers.
In a 2013 editorial, Gupta announced that in the process of working on a documentary about marijuana he had changed his mind about the drug's risks and benefits. Gupta had previously criticized laws that allowed patient access to medical marijuana, but he reversed his stance, saying, "I am here to apologize," and, "We have been terribly and systematically misled for nearly 70 years in the United States, and I apologize for my own role in that." The third part of his 3-hour documentary, "Weed 3: The Marijuana Revolution", was released in April 2015.
Gupta served as a commentator on the University of Michigan TeamCast with former Wolverines kicker Jay Feely for the school's appearance in the 2018 NCAA Men's Final Four, which aired on CNN sibling TNT.
In April 2019, Chasing Life was adapted as a six-show TV miniseries on CNN that took him to Japan, India, Bolivia, Norway, Italy, and Turkey.
In September 2019, Gupta and Marc Hodosh (Co-Creator of TEDMED) announced a new event called Life Itself in partnership with CNN. Both Gupta and Hodosh will serve as hosts and organizers.
From June 28 to July 9, 2021, Gupta served as a guest host on Jeopardy!.
Surgeon General candidate
On January 6, 2009, CNN announced that Gupta had been considered for the position of Surgeon General by President-elect Barack Obama.
Some doctors said that his communication skills and high-profile would allow him to highlight medical issues and prioritize medical reform. Others raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest with drug companies who have sponsored his broadcasts and his lack of skepticism in weighing the costs and benefits of medical treatments.
Representative John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI), wrote a letter opposing Gupta's nomination. Conyers supported a single-payer health care system; Gupta has criticized Michael Moore and his film Sicko.
From the medical community, Donna Wright, of Creative Health Care Management, a regular commentator on medicine and politics, also defended the appointment on the grounds of his media presence, combined with his medical qualifications, which she viewed as an ideal combination for the post of surgeon general. Likewise, Fred Sanfilippo, executive vice president for health affairs at Emory University, supported Gupta's nomination by issuing a press release saying: "He has the character, training, intelligence and communications skills needed to help the United States improve its health and health care delivery systems in the next Administration." The American Council on Exercise, listed by PR Newswire as "America's leading authority on fitness and one of the largest fitness certification, education and training organizations in the world", endorsed the nomination of Gupta
"because of his passion for inspiring Americans to lead healthier, more active lives". The ACE sent a letter of support to senator Edward M. Kennedy. Former surgeon general Joycelyn Elders also supported Gupta's nomination, saying: "He has enough well-trained, well-qualified public health people to teach him the things he needs to do the job." In March 2009 Gupta withdrew his name from consideration for the post, citing his family and his career.
Criticisms
Some journalists and journalism professors specializing in health care have criticized the quality of Gupta's coverage. Trudy Lieberman, a regular Nation contributor on healthcare and director of the health and medicine reporting program at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, reviewed Gupta's "ineptitude" in reporting on the McCain health plan. Lieberman criticized Gupta for relying on insurance industry statistics, and a health expert quoted by Lieberman said that Gupta's reporting "gives a gross oversimplification".
Peter Aldhous criticized Gupta's "enthusiasm for many forms of medical screening – even when the scientific evidence indicates that it may not benefit patients". He and other medical journalists accuse him of a "pro-screening bias" in promoting widespread electrocardiogram and prostate cancer screening, even though medical authorities like the US Preventive Services Task Force recommend against it.
Gary Schwitzer, professor of health journalism at the University of Minnesota School of Journalism and now an editor at Health News Review, has also criticized Gupta's reporting.
Michael Moore dispute
A July 9, 2007, broadcast of CNN's The Situation Room aired a fact-check segment by Gupta on Michael Moore's 2007 film Sicko in which Gupta stated that Moore had "fudged facts".
Immediately following the segment, Moore was interviewed live on CNN by Wolf Blitzer. Moore said that Gupta's report was inaccurate and biased and Moore later posted a detailed response on his website. Moore accused CNN of being biased in favor of the drug industry because most of the sponsors for their medical coverage were drug companies.
On July 10, 2007, Gupta debated Moore on Larry King Live; on July 15, CNN released a statement in response to Michael Moore's rebuttal. In it, they apologized for an error in their on-air report, having stated that in the film Moore reported Cuba spends $25 per person for health care when the film actually gave that number as $251. CNN attributed this to a transcription error. CNN defended the rest of Gupta's report responding point-by-point to Moore's response, contending that comparison of data from different sources in different years was in effect cherry picking results, at the cost of statistical accuracy.
Honors
On April 28, 2012, Gupta was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree for his accomplishments in the medical field. He also gave the commencement address at the spring commencement ceremony held in the University of Michigan Stadium. On June 12, 2016, Gupta addressed the Oregon Health & Science University graduating class of 2016. On May 23, 2019, Gupta presented the commencement address to the Albert Einstein College of Medicine class of 2019.
In October 2019, Gupta was elected to the National Academy of Medicine, to join its 2019 class consisting of 100 members, one of the highest honors in medicine.
In 2003, Gupta was also named one of the sexiest men of the year by People magazine.
Gupta was elected as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2021.
Personal life
Gupta is married to Rebecca Olson, a family law attorney. They were married in 2004 in a Hindu wedding ceremony. They live in Atlanta and have three daughters.
Bibliography
Chasing Life: New Discoveries in the Search for Immortality to Help You Age Less Today (Warner Wellness, 2007, )
Cheating Death: The Doctors and Medical Miracles that Are Saving Lives Against All Odds (Wellness Central, 2009, )
Monday Mornings: A Novel (Grand Central Publishing, March 2012, )
Keep Sharp: Build a Better Brain at Any Age (Simon & Schuster, 2021, )
World War C: Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic and How to Prepare for the Next One (Simon & Schuster, 2021, )
See also
List of American novelists
List of American print journalists
List of surgeons
List of television reporters
References
External links
Sanjay Gupta CNN biography
1969 births
20th-century American educators
20th-century American male writers
20th-century American novelists
20th-century American physicians
21st-century American male writers
21st-century American educators
21st-century American non-fiction writers
21st-century American novelists
21st-century American physicians
60 Minutes correspondents
American columnists
American magazine writers
American male journalists
American writers of Indian descent
American male novelists
American medical journalists
American physicians of Indian descent
American neurosurgeons
American people of Sindhi descent
American television hosts
American television journalists
CBS News people
CNN people
Educators from Michigan
Emmy Award winners
Emory University School of Medicine faculty
Journalists from Georgia (U.S. state)
Journalists from Michigan
Living people
Novelists from Georgia (U.S. state)
Novelists from Michigan
People from Novi, Michigan
Physicians from Georgia (U.S. state)
Physicians from Michigan
Television personalities from Atlanta
Time (magazine) people
University of Michigan Medical School alumni
White House Fellows
Writers from Atlanta
20th-century surgeons
Celebrity doctors | false | [
"How is a hamlet in the English county of Cumbria.\n\nHow is located eight miles due east of the city of Carlisle, to the south of Hayton. There are many hotels in Cumbria with How in the name. The name How is derived from the Old Norse word haugr meaning hill or mound.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n\nHamlets in Cumbria\nHayton, Carlisle",
"Buddhism in Finland represents a very small percentage of that nation's religious practices. In 2015 there were estimated less than 10 000 followers of Buddhism in Finland. It's, however, hard to evaluate the exact amount of the Buddhists as many donations officially belong to a religious congregation and some of them are registered as associations rather than congregations. Furthermore, it's hard to say how many people are born into the religion and how many converts there are. \n\nThe world's northernmost stupa, and the only one in Finland, is located in Siikainen.\n\nThere are Buddhist centers and temples throughout the country. In total there are around 40 different organisations. For example Diamond Way Buddhism Finland has four centers in Helsinki, Lahti, Tampere and Turku. The very first Buddhist monastery, Liên Tâm Monastery, in Finland was inaugurated in Moisio in 2015. Another monastery was founded in Kuopio in 2019.\n\nFinnish Buddhist Union is loosely organized umbrella organisation of different Buddhist associations and congregations in Finland.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Buddhism and Nordland\n The Early History of Buddhism in Finland Parts I & II by Alpo Ratia\nBuddhalaisuus.fi\n\nFin \nBud\n\nBuddhism in Finland"
]
|
[
"Sanjay Gupta",
"Surgeon General candidate",
"how many canidates are there",
"On January 6, 2009, CNN announced that Gupta had been considered for the position of Surgeon General by President Barack Obama."
]
| C_bc260653ad1f4f4791e2ba7e3dee0f70_1 | how come he didnt get it | 2 | how come Sanjay Gupta didnt get Surgeon General in 2009? | Sanjay Gupta | On January 6, 2009, CNN announced that Gupta had been considered for the position of Surgeon General by President Barack Obama. Some doctors said that his communication skills and high profile would allow him to highlight medical issues and prioritize medical reform. However, others raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest with drug companies who have sponsored his broadcasts and his lack of skepticism in weighing the costs and benefits of medical treatments. Representative John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI), wrote a letter opposing Gupta's nomination. Conyers supports a single-payer health care system, the sort that Conyers' filmmaker friend Michael Moore advocated in his documentary Sicko; Gupta has criticized Moore and the film. Others, such as liberal commentator Jane Hamsher, defended the appointment, noting that Gupta's responsibilities as a surgeon general would be not that different from those of his CNN position, and that Gupta's media presence would make him ideal for the position. From the medical community, Donna Wright, of Creative Health Care Management, a regular commentator on medicine and politics, also defended the appointment on the grounds of his media presence, combined with his medical qualifications, which she viewed as an ideal combination for the post of surgeon general. Likewise, Fred Sanfilippo, executive vice president for health affairs at Emory University, supported Gupta's nomination by issuing a press release saying: "He has the character, training, intelligence and communications skills needed to help the United States improve its health and health care delivery systems in the next Administration." The American Council on Exercise, listed by PR Newswire as "America's leading authority on fitness and one of the largest fitness certification, education and training organizations in the world", endorsed the nomination of Gupta "because of his passion for inspiring Americans to lead healthier, more active lives". The ACE sent a letter of support to senator Edward M. Kennedy. Former surgeon general Joycelyn Elders also supported Gupta's nomination, saying: "He has enough well-trained, well-qualified public health people to teach him the things he needs to do the job." In March 2009 Gupta withdrew his name from consideration for the post, citing his family and his career. CANNOTANSWER | In March 2009 Gupta withdrew his name from consideration for the post, citing his family and his career. | Sanjay Gupta (born October 23, 1969) is an American neurosurgeon, medical reporter, and writer. He serves as associate chief of the neurosurgery service at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia, associate professor of neurosurgery at the Emory University School of Medicine, and chief medical correspondent for CNN.
Gupta is known for his many TV appearances on health-related issues. During the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, he has been a frequent contributor to numerous CNN shows covering the crisis, as well as hosting a weekly town hall with Anderson Cooper. Gupta was the host of the CNN show Sanjay Gupta MD for which he has won multiple Emmy Awards. Gupta also hosted the 6 part mini series Chasing Life. He is a frequent contributor to other CNN programs such as American Morning, Larry King Live, CNN Tonight, and Anderson Cooper 360°. His reports from Charity Hospital, New Orleans, Louisiana, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina led to him winning a 2006 Emmy Award for Outstanding Feature Story in a Regularly Scheduled Newscast. He is also a special correspondent for CBS News.
Sanjay Gupta also co-hosts the health conference Life Itself, along with Marc Hodosh (co-creator of TEDMED). Gupta published a column in Time magazine and has written four books: Chasing Life, Cheating Death, Monday Mornings: A Novel, and Keep Sharp (Jan 2021).
Early life and education
Gupta was born in Novi, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. In the 1960s, Gupta's parents, Subhash and Damyanti Gupta, moved from India prior to their marriage and met in Livonia, Michigan, where they worked as engineers for Ford Motor Company. His mother was born in the village of Tharushah in Sindh (now Pakistan), but at age 5 fled to India as a Hindu refugee during the Partition of India. Gupta and his younger brother Suneel graduated from Novi High School and Gupta went on to receive his Bachelor of Science degree in biomedical sciences at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and his M.D. degree from the University of Michigan Medical School in 1993. He was part of Inteflex, a since discontinued accelerated medical education program that accepted medical students directly from high school.
As an undergraduate, Gupta worked as an orientation leader for the freshman orientation program and was a member of the Men's Glee Club. He also served as president of the Indian American Students Association (IASA), which is now the second-largest student organization at the university.
Gupta completed his residency in neurological surgery within the University of Michigan Health System, in 2000, followed by a fellowship at the Semmes Murphy Clinic, in Memphis, Tennessee.
Gupta plays the accordion, having taken ten years of lessons, as he noted in an interview with David Hochman for Playboy.
Career
Medical practice
Gupta is an Emory Healthcare general neurosurgeon at Grady Memorial Hospital and has worked on spine, trauma and 3‑D‑image-guided operations. He has published medical journal articles on percutaneous pedicle screw placement, brain tumors, and spinal cord abnormalities. He is licensed to practice medicine in Georgia.
During his reporting in Haiti following the January 2010 earthquake, Gupta received a call from the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson that an earthquake victim, a 12-year-old girl, was aboard and needed a neurosurgeon. Gupta, a pediatric surgeon, Henri Ford, and two U.S. Navy doctors removed a piece of concrete from the girl's skull in an operation performed aboard the Vinson. Ford later wrote that Gupta "proved to be a competent neurosurgeon".
From 1997 to 1998, he served as one of fifteen White House Fellows, primarily as an advisor to Hillary Clinton. In January 2009, it was reported that Gupta was offered the position of Surgeon General of the United States in the Obama Administration, but he withdrew his name from consideration.
Broadcast journalism, television, film and events
Gupta joined CNN in the summer of 2001. He reported from New York following the attacks on the U.S. on September 11, 2001.
In 2003, Gupta traveled to Iraq to cover the medical aspects of the invasion of Iraq. While in Iraq, Gupta performed emergency surgery on both US soldiers and Iraqi civilians. Gupta was embedded with a Navy medical unit at the time, specifically a group of Corpsman called the "Devil Docs", who supported the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force. Marine Sergeant Jesus Vindaña suffered a rear gunshot wound, and the Marines asked for Gupta's assistance because of his background in neurosurgery. Vindaña survived and was sent back to the United States for rehabilitation.
In December 2006, CBS News president Sean McManus negotiated a deal with CNN that would have Gupta file up to ten reports a year for the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric and 60 Minutes while remaining CNN's chief medical correspondent and associate chief of neurosurgery at Grady Memorial Hospital.
On October 14, 2007, Gupta guest-hosted a health episode of CBS News Sunday Morning as its regular host Charles Osgood was on vacation. In February 2009, Gupta hosted AC360 covering the White House Health Summit. He also guest hosted Larry King Live in October 2009. In January 2010, Gupta and Cooper led CNN's coverage of the earthquake in Haiti. Gupta has regularly appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Real Time with Bill Maher and the Oprah Winfrey Show. Winfrey referred to Gupta as CNN's hero in January 2010.
In 2011, Gupta portrayed himself in the movie Contagion, which has received much renewed attention during the 2020 coronavirus pandemic.
His novel Monday Mornings became an instant New York Times bestseller on its release in March 2012. It was adapted as a 2013 television series with David E. Kelley and Gupta serving as executive producers.
In a 2013 editorial, Gupta announced that in the process of working on a documentary about marijuana he had changed his mind about the drug's risks and benefits. Gupta had previously criticized laws that allowed patient access to medical marijuana, but he reversed his stance, saying, "I am here to apologize," and, "We have been terribly and systematically misled for nearly 70 years in the United States, and I apologize for my own role in that." The third part of his 3-hour documentary, "Weed 3: The Marijuana Revolution", was released in April 2015.
Gupta served as a commentator on the University of Michigan TeamCast with former Wolverines kicker Jay Feely for the school's appearance in the 2018 NCAA Men's Final Four, which aired on CNN sibling TNT.
In April 2019, Chasing Life was adapted as a six-show TV miniseries on CNN that took him to Japan, India, Bolivia, Norway, Italy, and Turkey.
In September 2019, Gupta and Marc Hodosh (Co-Creator of TEDMED) announced a new event called Life Itself in partnership with CNN. Both Gupta and Hodosh will serve as hosts and organizers.
From June 28 to July 9, 2021, Gupta served as a guest host on Jeopardy!.
Surgeon General candidate
On January 6, 2009, CNN announced that Gupta had been considered for the position of Surgeon General by President-elect Barack Obama.
Some doctors said that his communication skills and high-profile would allow him to highlight medical issues and prioritize medical reform. Others raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest with drug companies who have sponsored his broadcasts and his lack of skepticism in weighing the costs and benefits of medical treatments.
Representative John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI), wrote a letter opposing Gupta's nomination. Conyers supported a single-payer health care system; Gupta has criticized Michael Moore and his film Sicko.
From the medical community, Donna Wright, of Creative Health Care Management, a regular commentator on medicine and politics, also defended the appointment on the grounds of his media presence, combined with his medical qualifications, which she viewed as an ideal combination for the post of surgeon general. Likewise, Fred Sanfilippo, executive vice president for health affairs at Emory University, supported Gupta's nomination by issuing a press release saying: "He has the character, training, intelligence and communications skills needed to help the United States improve its health and health care delivery systems in the next Administration." The American Council on Exercise, listed by PR Newswire as "America's leading authority on fitness and one of the largest fitness certification, education and training organizations in the world", endorsed the nomination of Gupta
"because of his passion for inspiring Americans to lead healthier, more active lives". The ACE sent a letter of support to senator Edward M. Kennedy. Former surgeon general Joycelyn Elders also supported Gupta's nomination, saying: "He has enough well-trained, well-qualified public health people to teach him the things he needs to do the job." In March 2009 Gupta withdrew his name from consideration for the post, citing his family and his career.
Criticisms
Some journalists and journalism professors specializing in health care have criticized the quality of Gupta's coverage. Trudy Lieberman, a regular Nation contributor on healthcare and director of the health and medicine reporting program at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, reviewed Gupta's "ineptitude" in reporting on the McCain health plan. Lieberman criticized Gupta for relying on insurance industry statistics, and a health expert quoted by Lieberman said that Gupta's reporting "gives a gross oversimplification".
Peter Aldhous criticized Gupta's "enthusiasm for many forms of medical screening – even when the scientific evidence indicates that it may not benefit patients". He and other medical journalists accuse him of a "pro-screening bias" in promoting widespread electrocardiogram and prostate cancer screening, even though medical authorities like the US Preventive Services Task Force recommend against it.
Gary Schwitzer, professor of health journalism at the University of Minnesota School of Journalism and now an editor at Health News Review, has also criticized Gupta's reporting.
Michael Moore dispute
A July 9, 2007, broadcast of CNN's The Situation Room aired a fact-check segment by Gupta on Michael Moore's 2007 film Sicko in which Gupta stated that Moore had "fudged facts".
Immediately following the segment, Moore was interviewed live on CNN by Wolf Blitzer. Moore said that Gupta's report was inaccurate and biased and Moore later posted a detailed response on his website. Moore accused CNN of being biased in favor of the drug industry because most of the sponsors for their medical coverage were drug companies.
On July 10, 2007, Gupta debated Moore on Larry King Live; on July 15, CNN released a statement in response to Michael Moore's rebuttal. In it, they apologized for an error in their on-air report, having stated that in the film Moore reported Cuba spends $25 per person for health care when the film actually gave that number as $251. CNN attributed this to a transcription error. CNN defended the rest of Gupta's report responding point-by-point to Moore's response, contending that comparison of data from different sources in different years was in effect cherry picking results, at the cost of statistical accuracy.
Honors
On April 28, 2012, Gupta was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree for his accomplishments in the medical field. He also gave the commencement address at the spring commencement ceremony held in the University of Michigan Stadium. On June 12, 2016, Gupta addressed the Oregon Health & Science University graduating class of 2016. On May 23, 2019, Gupta presented the commencement address to the Albert Einstein College of Medicine class of 2019.
In October 2019, Gupta was elected to the National Academy of Medicine, to join its 2019 class consisting of 100 members, one of the highest honors in medicine.
In 2003, Gupta was also named one of the sexiest men of the year by People magazine.
Gupta was elected as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2021.
Personal life
Gupta is married to Rebecca Olson, a family law attorney. They were married in 2004 in a Hindu wedding ceremony. They live in Atlanta and have three daughters.
Bibliography
Chasing Life: New Discoveries in the Search for Immortality to Help You Age Less Today (Warner Wellness, 2007, )
Cheating Death: The Doctors and Medical Miracles that Are Saving Lives Against All Odds (Wellness Central, 2009, )
Monday Mornings: A Novel (Grand Central Publishing, March 2012, )
Keep Sharp: Build a Better Brain at Any Age (Simon & Schuster, 2021, )
World War C: Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic and How to Prepare for the Next One (Simon & Schuster, 2021, )
See also
List of American novelists
List of American print journalists
List of surgeons
List of television reporters
References
External links
Sanjay Gupta CNN biography
1969 births
20th-century American educators
20th-century American male writers
20th-century American novelists
20th-century American physicians
21st-century American male writers
21st-century American educators
21st-century American non-fiction writers
21st-century American novelists
21st-century American physicians
60 Minutes correspondents
American columnists
American magazine writers
American male journalists
American writers of Indian descent
American male novelists
American medical journalists
American physicians of Indian descent
American neurosurgeons
American people of Sindhi descent
American television hosts
American television journalists
CBS News people
CNN people
Educators from Michigan
Emmy Award winners
Emory University School of Medicine faculty
Journalists from Georgia (U.S. state)
Journalists from Michigan
Living people
Novelists from Georgia (U.S. state)
Novelists from Michigan
People from Novi, Michigan
Physicians from Georgia (U.S. state)
Physicians from Michigan
Television personalities from Atlanta
Time (magazine) people
University of Michigan Medical School alumni
White House Fellows
Writers from Atlanta
20th-century surgeons
Celebrity doctors | true | [
"\"I'm Gonna Get Married\" is a 1959 R&B/pop hit written by Harold Logan and Lloyd Price and recorded by Lloyd Price. Lloyd's last known performance of \"I'm Gonna Get Married\" was on July 8, 1994.\n\nBackground\nThe lyrics are addressed to Lloyd as \"Johnny\" throughout the song. it's a lyrical battle between the chorus, who keep telling Johnny that he's too young to get married, despite how smart he is, and Johnny, who plans to marry the girl he loves, admitting that he's not smart enough to aid his aching heart. Johnny goes on to tell what happens when he's with his girl, which he cannot help it at all.\n\nLyrics\nJohnny, Johnny, Johnny)\n(Johnny, you're too young)\nBut I'm gonna get married\n(You're so young)\nMy name she'll carry\n(You're too young)\n(And Johnny you're so smart)\nBut not smart enough to hide\nAn aching heart\nHow come my heart deserts me\nBurning full of love and desire\nHow come every time she kisses me\nIt sets my soul on fire\nHow come every time she leaves me\nIt seems like I've lost a part\nI may be too young to marry\nBut not to hide an aching heart\n(Johnny, you're too young)\nBut I'm gonna get married\n(You're so young)\nMy name she'll carry\n(You're too young)\n(And Johnny you're so smart)\nBut not smart enough to hide\nAn aching heart\nHow come every time she kisses me\nIt thrills me from head to toe\nHow come every time I see her\nIt lifts me right off the floor\nHow come every time I'm with her\nShe whispers so soft and low\nIt makes me want to jump and holler\nAnd bump my head into a door\n(Johnny, you're too young)\nBut I'm gonna get married\n(You're so young)\nMy name she'll carry\n(You're too young)\n(And Johnny you're so smart)\nBut not smart enough to hide\nAn aching heart\n(Too young) but I'm gonna get married\n(You're so young) my name she'll carry\n(You're too young) but I'm gonna get married\n(You're so young) my name she'll carry\n(You're too young)\n\nCharts\nThe single was his follow-up to \"Personality\" and, like that entry, \"I'm Gonna Get Married\" went to number one on the Billboard R&B chart, where it stayed for three consecutive weeks. The single was the last of his four number ones, as well as his fifth Top 40 single, peaking at number three for two weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart.\n\nChart history\n\nReferences\n\n1959 singles\nLloyd Price songs\nSongs written by Lloyd Price\n1959 songs",
"A Different Me Tour was the first headlining concert tour by American singer Keyshia Cole in support to her third studio album A Different Me. The tour visited North America. Her supporting acts for the tour were The-Dream, Keri Hilson, and Bobby Valentino.\n\nBackground\nDuring an interview Cole stated: \"\"The most gratifying thing for me in show business is having the ability to be intimate with my fans. Singing directly to them is the most intimate thing I can do,\"\n\nSetlist\nBobby Valentino\n\"(Intro)\"\n\"Tell Me\"\n\"Anonymous\"\n\"Slow Down\"\n\"Hands On Me\"\n\"Those Jeans\"\n\"Beep (w/ Yung Joc at some shows)\"\n\nKeri Hilson\n\"(Intro)\"\n\"Knock You Down\"\n\"The Way I Are\"\n\"Slow Dance\"\n\"Intuition\"\n\"Energy\"\n\"(Songs Keri wrote & loves)\"\n\"Runaway Love/ Take Me As I Am/ Weak/ Baby, Baby, Baby/ Rock The Boat\"\n\"How Does It Feel\"\n\"Get Your Money Up\"\n\"Turnin Me On\"\n\nThe Dream\n\"(Intro)\"\n\"Fast Car\"\n\"Nikki/Dirty Diana (Michael Jackson cover)\"\n\"Ditch That.....\"\n\"Walkin On The Moon...\"\n\"Shawty Is The Sh...\"\n\"My Love\"\n\"Purple Kisses\"\n\"I Love Your Girl\"\n\"Love Vs. Money\"\n\"Falsetto\"\n\"Rockin That Sh...\"\n\nKeyshia Cole\nSet 1:\n\"(Photo Collage Video Introduction)\"\n\"I Changed My Mind\"\n\"Oh-Oh, Yea Yea\"\n\"I Should Have Cheated\"\n\"Give Me More\"\n\"I Remember\"\n\nSet 2:\n\"Let It Go\"\n\"Didnt I Tell You\"\n\"Gotta Get My Heart Back\"\n\"Shoulda Let You Go\"\n\"Get Money (Amina solo)\"\n\"Last Night\"\n\"Heaven Sent\"\n\"Love\"\n\"Background Singers Medley (Sweet Thing/Ain't Nobody)\"\n\nSet 3:\n(A Different Me Video Introduction)\n\"Please Dont Stop\"\n\"You Complete Me\"\n\"Trust (w/ Monica at select dates)\"\n\"Playa Cardz Right\"\n\"Make Me Over\"\n\nOpening acts\n The-Dream \n Keri Hilson \n Bobby Valentino\n Monica (special guest)\n Lil' Kim, Too Short, T-Boz & Chilli of TLC (special guests for Oakland show)\n\nTour dates\n\nReschedules and cancellations\nThe June 12 show was rescheduled to June 15 because of a storm in Southaven causing the DeSoto Civic Center to not have any power.\n\nReferences \n\n2009 concert tours"
]
|
[
"Sanjay Gupta",
"Surgeon General candidate",
"how many canidates are there",
"On January 6, 2009, CNN announced that Gupta had been considered for the position of Surgeon General by President Barack Obama.",
"how come he didnt get it",
"In March 2009 Gupta withdrew his name from consideration for the post, citing his family and his career."
]
| C_bc260653ad1f4f4791e2ba7e3dee0f70_1 | how long did he work for cnn | 3 | how long did Sanjay Gupta work for cnn? | Sanjay Gupta | On January 6, 2009, CNN announced that Gupta had been considered for the position of Surgeon General by President Barack Obama. Some doctors said that his communication skills and high profile would allow him to highlight medical issues and prioritize medical reform. However, others raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest with drug companies who have sponsored his broadcasts and his lack of skepticism in weighing the costs and benefits of medical treatments. Representative John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI), wrote a letter opposing Gupta's nomination. Conyers supports a single-payer health care system, the sort that Conyers' filmmaker friend Michael Moore advocated in his documentary Sicko; Gupta has criticized Moore and the film. Others, such as liberal commentator Jane Hamsher, defended the appointment, noting that Gupta's responsibilities as a surgeon general would be not that different from those of his CNN position, and that Gupta's media presence would make him ideal for the position. From the medical community, Donna Wright, of Creative Health Care Management, a regular commentator on medicine and politics, also defended the appointment on the grounds of his media presence, combined with his medical qualifications, which she viewed as an ideal combination for the post of surgeon general. Likewise, Fred Sanfilippo, executive vice president for health affairs at Emory University, supported Gupta's nomination by issuing a press release saying: "He has the character, training, intelligence and communications skills needed to help the United States improve its health and health care delivery systems in the next Administration." The American Council on Exercise, listed by PR Newswire as "America's leading authority on fitness and one of the largest fitness certification, education and training organizations in the world", endorsed the nomination of Gupta "because of his passion for inspiring Americans to lead healthier, more active lives". The ACE sent a letter of support to senator Edward M. Kennedy. Former surgeon general Joycelyn Elders also supported Gupta's nomination, saying: "He has enough well-trained, well-qualified public health people to teach him the things he needs to do the job." In March 2009 Gupta withdrew his name from consideration for the post, citing his family and his career. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Sanjay Gupta (born October 23, 1969) is an American neurosurgeon, medical reporter, and writer. He serves as associate chief of the neurosurgery service at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia, associate professor of neurosurgery at the Emory University School of Medicine, and chief medical correspondent for CNN.
Gupta is known for his many TV appearances on health-related issues. During the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, he has been a frequent contributor to numerous CNN shows covering the crisis, as well as hosting a weekly town hall with Anderson Cooper. Gupta was the host of the CNN show Sanjay Gupta MD for which he has won multiple Emmy Awards. Gupta also hosted the 6 part mini series Chasing Life. He is a frequent contributor to other CNN programs such as American Morning, Larry King Live, CNN Tonight, and Anderson Cooper 360°. His reports from Charity Hospital, New Orleans, Louisiana, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina led to him winning a 2006 Emmy Award for Outstanding Feature Story in a Regularly Scheduled Newscast. He is also a special correspondent for CBS News.
Sanjay Gupta also co-hosts the health conference Life Itself, along with Marc Hodosh (co-creator of TEDMED). Gupta published a column in Time magazine and has written four books: Chasing Life, Cheating Death, Monday Mornings: A Novel, and Keep Sharp (Jan 2021).
Early life and education
Gupta was born in Novi, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. In the 1960s, Gupta's parents, Subhash and Damyanti Gupta, moved from India prior to their marriage and met in Livonia, Michigan, where they worked as engineers for Ford Motor Company. His mother was born in the village of Tharushah in Sindh (now Pakistan), but at age 5 fled to India as a Hindu refugee during the Partition of India. Gupta and his younger brother Suneel graduated from Novi High School and Gupta went on to receive his Bachelor of Science degree in biomedical sciences at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and his M.D. degree from the University of Michigan Medical School in 1993. He was part of Inteflex, a since discontinued accelerated medical education program that accepted medical students directly from high school.
As an undergraduate, Gupta worked as an orientation leader for the freshman orientation program and was a member of the Men's Glee Club. He also served as president of the Indian American Students Association (IASA), which is now the second-largest student organization at the university.
Gupta completed his residency in neurological surgery within the University of Michigan Health System, in 2000, followed by a fellowship at the Semmes Murphy Clinic, in Memphis, Tennessee.
Gupta plays the accordion, having taken ten years of lessons, as he noted in an interview with David Hochman for Playboy.
Career
Medical practice
Gupta is an Emory Healthcare general neurosurgeon at Grady Memorial Hospital and has worked on spine, trauma and 3‑D‑image-guided operations. He has published medical journal articles on percutaneous pedicle screw placement, brain tumors, and spinal cord abnormalities. He is licensed to practice medicine in Georgia.
During his reporting in Haiti following the January 2010 earthquake, Gupta received a call from the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson that an earthquake victim, a 12-year-old girl, was aboard and needed a neurosurgeon. Gupta, a pediatric surgeon, Henri Ford, and two U.S. Navy doctors removed a piece of concrete from the girl's skull in an operation performed aboard the Vinson. Ford later wrote that Gupta "proved to be a competent neurosurgeon".
From 1997 to 1998, he served as one of fifteen White House Fellows, primarily as an advisor to Hillary Clinton. In January 2009, it was reported that Gupta was offered the position of Surgeon General of the United States in the Obama Administration, but he withdrew his name from consideration.
Broadcast journalism, television, film and events
Gupta joined CNN in the summer of 2001. He reported from New York following the attacks on the U.S. on September 11, 2001.
In 2003, Gupta traveled to Iraq to cover the medical aspects of the invasion of Iraq. While in Iraq, Gupta performed emergency surgery on both US soldiers and Iraqi civilians. Gupta was embedded with a Navy medical unit at the time, specifically a group of Corpsman called the "Devil Docs", who supported the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force. Marine Sergeant Jesus Vindaña suffered a rear gunshot wound, and the Marines asked for Gupta's assistance because of his background in neurosurgery. Vindaña survived and was sent back to the United States for rehabilitation.
In December 2006, CBS News president Sean McManus negotiated a deal with CNN that would have Gupta file up to ten reports a year for the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric and 60 Minutes while remaining CNN's chief medical correspondent and associate chief of neurosurgery at Grady Memorial Hospital.
On October 14, 2007, Gupta guest-hosted a health episode of CBS News Sunday Morning as its regular host Charles Osgood was on vacation. In February 2009, Gupta hosted AC360 covering the White House Health Summit. He also guest hosted Larry King Live in October 2009. In January 2010, Gupta and Cooper led CNN's coverage of the earthquake in Haiti. Gupta has regularly appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Real Time with Bill Maher and the Oprah Winfrey Show. Winfrey referred to Gupta as CNN's hero in January 2010.
In 2011, Gupta portrayed himself in the movie Contagion, which has received much renewed attention during the 2020 coronavirus pandemic.
His novel Monday Mornings became an instant New York Times bestseller on its release in March 2012. It was adapted as a 2013 television series with David E. Kelley and Gupta serving as executive producers.
In a 2013 editorial, Gupta announced that in the process of working on a documentary about marijuana he had changed his mind about the drug's risks and benefits. Gupta had previously criticized laws that allowed patient access to medical marijuana, but he reversed his stance, saying, "I am here to apologize," and, "We have been terribly and systematically misled for nearly 70 years in the United States, and I apologize for my own role in that." The third part of his 3-hour documentary, "Weed 3: The Marijuana Revolution", was released in April 2015.
Gupta served as a commentator on the University of Michigan TeamCast with former Wolverines kicker Jay Feely for the school's appearance in the 2018 NCAA Men's Final Four, which aired on CNN sibling TNT.
In April 2019, Chasing Life was adapted as a six-show TV miniseries on CNN that took him to Japan, India, Bolivia, Norway, Italy, and Turkey.
In September 2019, Gupta and Marc Hodosh (Co-Creator of TEDMED) announced a new event called Life Itself in partnership with CNN. Both Gupta and Hodosh will serve as hosts and organizers.
From June 28 to July 9, 2021, Gupta served as a guest host on Jeopardy!.
Surgeon General candidate
On January 6, 2009, CNN announced that Gupta had been considered for the position of Surgeon General by President-elect Barack Obama.
Some doctors said that his communication skills and high-profile would allow him to highlight medical issues and prioritize medical reform. Others raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest with drug companies who have sponsored his broadcasts and his lack of skepticism in weighing the costs and benefits of medical treatments.
Representative John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI), wrote a letter opposing Gupta's nomination. Conyers supported a single-payer health care system; Gupta has criticized Michael Moore and his film Sicko.
From the medical community, Donna Wright, of Creative Health Care Management, a regular commentator on medicine and politics, also defended the appointment on the grounds of his media presence, combined with his medical qualifications, which she viewed as an ideal combination for the post of surgeon general. Likewise, Fred Sanfilippo, executive vice president for health affairs at Emory University, supported Gupta's nomination by issuing a press release saying: "He has the character, training, intelligence and communications skills needed to help the United States improve its health and health care delivery systems in the next Administration." The American Council on Exercise, listed by PR Newswire as "America's leading authority on fitness and one of the largest fitness certification, education and training organizations in the world", endorsed the nomination of Gupta
"because of his passion for inspiring Americans to lead healthier, more active lives". The ACE sent a letter of support to senator Edward M. Kennedy. Former surgeon general Joycelyn Elders also supported Gupta's nomination, saying: "He has enough well-trained, well-qualified public health people to teach him the things he needs to do the job." In March 2009 Gupta withdrew his name from consideration for the post, citing his family and his career.
Criticisms
Some journalists and journalism professors specializing in health care have criticized the quality of Gupta's coverage. Trudy Lieberman, a regular Nation contributor on healthcare and director of the health and medicine reporting program at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, reviewed Gupta's "ineptitude" in reporting on the McCain health plan. Lieberman criticized Gupta for relying on insurance industry statistics, and a health expert quoted by Lieberman said that Gupta's reporting "gives a gross oversimplification".
Peter Aldhous criticized Gupta's "enthusiasm for many forms of medical screening – even when the scientific evidence indicates that it may not benefit patients". He and other medical journalists accuse him of a "pro-screening bias" in promoting widespread electrocardiogram and prostate cancer screening, even though medical authorities like the US Preventive Services Task Force recommend against it.
Gary Schwitzer, professor of health journalism at the University of Minnesota School of Journalism and now an editor at Health News Review, has also criticized Gupta's reporting.
Michael Moore dispute
A July 9, 2007, broadcast of CNN's The Situation Room aired a fact-check segment by Gupta on Michael Moore's 2007 film Sicko in which Gupta stated that Moore had "fudged facts".
Immediately following the segment, Moore was interviewed live on CNN by Wolf Blitzer. Moore said that Gupta's report was inaccurate and biased and Moore later posted a detailed response on his website. Moore accused CNN of being biased in favor of the drug industry because most of the sponsors for their medical coverage were drug companies.
On July 10, 2007, Gupta debated Moore on Larry King Live; on July 15, CNN released a statement in response to Michael Moore's rebuttal. In it, they apologized for an error in their on-air report, having stated that in the film Moore reported Cuba spends $25 per person for health care when the film actually gave that number as $251. CNN attributed this to a transcription error. CNN defended the rest of Gupta's report responding point-by-point to Moore's response, contending that comparison of data from different sources in different years was in effect cherry picking results, at the cost of statistical accuracy.
Honors
On April 28, 2012, Gupta was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree for his accomplishments in the medical field. He also gave the commencement address at the spring commencement ceremony held in the University of Michigan Stadium. On June 12, 2016, Gupta addressed the Oregon Health & Science University graduating class of 2016. On May 23, 2019, Gupta presented the commencement address to the Albert Einstein College of Medicine class of 2019.
In October 2019, Gupta was elected to the National Academy of Medicine, to join its 2019 class consisting of 100 members, one of the highest honors in medicine.
In 2003, Gupta was also named one of the sexiest men of the year by People magazine.
Gupta was elected as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2021.
Personal life
Gupta is married to Rebecca Olson, a family law attorney. They were married in 2004 in a Hindu wedding ceremony. They live in Atlanta and have three daughters.
Bibliography
Chasing Life: New Discoveries in the Search for Immortality to Help You Age Less Today (Warner Wellness, 2007, )
Cheating Death: The Doctors and Medical Miracles that Are Saving Lives Against All Odds (Wellness Central, 2009, )
Monday Mornings: A Novel (Grand Central Publishing, March 2012, )
Keep Sharp: Build a Better Brain at Any Age (Simon & Schuster, 2021, )
World War C: Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic and How to Prepare for the Next One (Simon & Schuster, 2021, )
See also
List of American novelists
List of American print journalists
List of surgeons
List of television reporters
References
External links
Sanjay Gupta CNN biography
1969 births
20th-century American educators
20th-century American male writers
20th-century American novelists
20th-century American physicians
21st-century American male writers
21st-century American educators
21st-century American non-fiction writers
21st-century American novelists
21st-century American physicians
60 Minutes correspondents
American columnists
American magazine writers
American male journalists
American writers of Indian descent
American male novelists
American medical journalists
American physicians of Indian descent
American neurosurgeons
American people of Sindhi descent
American television hosts
American television journalists
CBS News people
CNN people
Educators from Michigan
Emmy Award winners
Emory University School of Medicine faculty
Journalists from Georgia (U.S. state)
Journalists from Michigan
Living people
Novelists from Georgia (U.S. state)
Novelists from Michigan
People from Novi, Michigan
Physicians from Georgia (U.S. state)
Physicians from Michigan
Television personalities from Atlanta
Time (magazine) people
University of Michigan Medical School alumni
White House Fellows
Writers from Atlanta
20th-century surgeons
Celebrity doctors | false | [
"Armie Jarin-Bennett is a Filipina journalist based in Manila, Philippines. She is the current President of Nine Media Corporation, owner of CNN Philippines, the country's very own local franchise of Cable News Network, since October 9, 2016. She is also the Executive Vice President for News and Current Affairs and Managing Director of the network since November 4, 2015, replacing Jing Magsaysay who resigned in September 2015. \n\nBefore going back home to work for CNN Philippines, she worked for CNN for 17 years.\n\nBackground\nShe did a BA in Mass Communications at De La Salle University between 1984-1988, and started her media career as a news writer and top-of-the-hour radio newscaster of stations 99.5 RT (now 99.5 Play FM), Kiss FM 101.1 (now 101.1 Yes The Best) and Citylite 88.3 (now Jam 88.3) (the first radio affiliate of CNN in the country), under Francis Lumen, from 1989 to 1996, at the same time, she did voice-over for radio commercials. She unsuccessfully auditioned to succeed Tina Monzon-Palma as anchor of GMA Headline News.\n\nShe moved to Atlanta to work as an intern of CNN Radio, doing multi-tasking as floor director, teleprompter operator, and video journalist in 1996. She was hired by CNN Headline News as a producer and writer in 1997, then moved to CNN International in 2000, started as a news producer, and rose through the ranks into supervising producer in 2004 and executive producer in 2008, overseeing the 24/7 daily news operations of the news network.\n\nShe was appointed by the network as the Executive Director for Content Sales & Partnerships based in Hong Kong, supervising the work of all CNN local affiliates in the Asia Pacific, including CNN Philippines. In 2012, she was awarded for the Outstanding Live Coverage of a Current News Story – Long Format by the Emmy Awards for the coverage of the Egypt Revolution. In the following year, she was Emmy nominated again for coverage of Typhoon Haiyan.\n\nShe resigned from her CNN position in 2020 for unknown reasons.\n\nPersonal \nShe is married to Headline News director, John Bennett.\n\nSee also\nCNN Philippines\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n Armie Jarin-Bennett on Twitter\n\nBennett\nLiving people\nRadio Philippines Network people\nCNN people\nFilipino women writers\nDe La Salle University alumni\nWomen television journalists\nYear of birth missing (living people)",
"Joshua Levs, commonly known as Josh Levs, is an American broadcast journalist. Born in Albany, New York, he reports for the CNN news television network.\n\nBiography\nLevs was raised in a Conservative Jewish family in Albany, New York and received his undergraduate degree from Yale University. He worked for NPR in Atlanta before moving to CNN.\n\nLevs has spent more than 10 years at CNN, reporting across all platforms and networks.\n\nWhen Levs requested extended paid parental leave from CNN's parent company Time Warner in August 2013, he was denied anything more than the two weeks of paid leave for biological fathers—much less than 10 weeks paid leave that were provided for women and for men who had babies through adoption or surrogacy. Levs used his two paid weeks, and additionally vacation and sick days as he cared for his three children and wife, who had developed severe preeclampsia. Levs filed a charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against Time Warner demanding equitable paid paternity leave, essentially winning the claim a year later.\n\nLevs is married to Melanie Lasoff; they have three children.\n\nParenting book\nAccording to the Today Show, Levs turned his paternity leave experience into a 2015 book, All In: How Our Work-First Culture Fails Dads, Families, and Businesses--And How We Can Fix It Together, asserting the need for more paternity leave in view of changes in family dynamics that have occurred over the last fifty years.\n\nSee also\nThornton, Terri, \"CNN's Joshua Levs Uses Social Media Savvy in Hard, Soft News\", PBS, December 16, 2010. (WebCite archive)\n\"TEDxEmory - Josh Levs - Breaking the system to achieve the impossible\", TED talks video, posted August 12, 2011. (WebCite archive)\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Josh Levs Blog at CNN\n \n \n\nAmerican radio reporters and correspondents\nAmerican male journalists\nJewish American journalists\nAmerican television reporters and correspondents\nPeabody Award winners\nYale University alumni\nLiving people\nCNN people\nYear of birth missing (living people)\n21st-century American Jews"
]
|
[
"Sanjay Gupta",
"Surgeon General candidate",
"how many canidates are there",
"On January 6, 2009, CNN announced that Gupta had been considered for the position of Surgeon General by President Barack Obama.",
"how come he didnt get it",
"In March 2009 Gupta withdrew his name from consideration for the post, citing his family and his career.",
"how long did he work for cnn",
"I don't know."
]
| C_bc260653ad1f4f4791e2ba7e3dee0f70_1 | why did Obama nominate him | 4 | why did Obama nominate Sanjay Gupta for Surgeon General? | Sanjay Gupta | On January 6, 2009, CNN announced that Gupta had been considered for the position of Surgeon General by President Barack Obama. Some doctors said that his communication skills and high profile would allow him to highlight medical issues and prioritize medical reform. However, others raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest with drug companies who have sponsored his broadcasts and his lack of skepticism in weighing the costs and benefits of medical treatments. Representative John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI), wrote a letter opposing Gupta's nomination. Conyers supports a single-payer health care system, the sort that Conyers' filmmaker friend Michael Moore advocated in his documentary Sicko; Gupta has criticized Moore and the film. Others, such as liberal commentator Jane Hamsher, defended the appointment, noting that Gupta's responsibilities as a surgeon general would be not that different from those of his CNN position, and that Gupta's media presence would make him ideal for the position. From the medical community, Donna Wright, of Creative Health Care Management, a regular commentator on medicine and politics, also defended the appointment on the grounds of his media presence, combined with his medical qualifications, which she viewed as an ideal combination for the post of surgeon general. Likewise, Fred Sanfilippo, executive vice president for health affairs at Emory University, supported Gupta's nomination by issuing a press release saying: "He has the character, training, intelligence and communications skills needed to help the United States improve its health and health care delivery systems in the next Administration." The American Council on Exercise, listed by PR Newswire as "America's leading authority on fitness and one of the largest fitness certification, education and training organizations in the world", endorsed the nomination of Gupta "because of his passion for inspiring Americans to lead healthier, more active lives". The ACE sent a letter of support to senator Edward M. Kennedy. Former surgeon general Joycelyn Elders also supported Gupta's nomination, saying: "He has enough well-trained, well-qualified public health people to teach him the things he needs to do the job." In March 2009 Gupta withdrew his name from consideration for the post, citing his family and his career. CANNOTANSWER | communication skills and high profile would allow him to highlight medical issues and prioritize medical reform. | Sanjay Gupta (born October 23, 1969) is an American neurosurgeon, medical reporter, and writer. He serves as associate chief of the neurosurgery service at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia, associate professor of neurosurgery at the Emory University School of Medicine, and chief medical correspondent for CNN.
Gupta is known for his many TV appearances on health-related issues. During the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, he has been a frequent contributor to numerous CNN shows covering the crisis, as well as hosting a weekly town hall with Anderson Cooper. Gupta was the host of the CNN show Sanjay Gupta MD for which he has won multiple Emmy Awards. Gupta also hosted the 6 part mini series Chasing Life. He is a frequent contributor to other CNN programs such as American Morning, Larry King Live, CNN Tonight, and Anderson Cooper 360°. His reports from Charity Hospital, New Orleans, Louisiana, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina led to him winning a 2006 Emmy Award for Outstanding Feature Story in a Regularly Scheduled Newscast. He is also a special correspondent for CBS News.
Sanjay Gupta also co-hosts the health conference Life Itself, along with Marc Hodosh (co-creator of TEDMED). Gupta published a column in Time magazine and has written four books: Chasing Life, Cheating Death, Monday Mornings: A Novel, and Keep Sharp (Jan 2021).
Early life and education
Gupta was born in Novi, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. In the 1960s, Gupta's parents, Subhash and Damyanti Gupta, moved from India prior to their marriage and met in Livonia, Michigan, where they worked as engineers for Ford Motor Company. His mother was born in the village of Tharushah in Sindh (now Pakistan), but at age 5 fled to India as a Hindu refugee during the Partition of India. Gupta and his younger brother Suneel graduated from Novi High School and Gupta went on to receive his Bachelor of Science degree in biomedical sciences at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and his M.D. degree from the University of Michigan Medical School in 1993. He was part of Inteflex, a since discontinued accelerated medical education program that accepted medical students directly from high school.
As an undergraduate, Gupta worked as an orientation leader for the freshman orientation program and was a member of the Men's Glee Club. He also served as president of the Indian American Students Association (IASA), which is now the second-largest student organization at the university.
Gupta completed his residency in neurological surgery within the University of Michigan Health System, in 2000, followed by a fellowship at the Semmes Murphy Clinic, in Memphis, Tennessee.
Gupta plays the accordion, having taken ten years of lessons, as he noted in an interview with David Hochman for Playboy.
Career
Medical practice
Gupta is an Emory Healthcare general neurosurgeon at Grady Memorial Hospital and has worked on spine, trauma and 3‑D‑image-guided operations. He has published medical journal articles on percutaneous pedicle screw placement, brain tumors, and spinal cord abnormalities. He is licensed to practice medicine in Georgia.
During his reporting in Haiti following the January 2010 earthquake, Gupta received a call from the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson that an earthquake victim, a 12-year-old girl, was aboard and needed a neurosurgeon. Gupta, a pediatric surgeon, Henri Ford, and two U.S. Navy doctors removed a piece of concrete from the girl's skull in an operation performed aboard the Vinson. Ford later wrote that Gupta "proved to be a competent neurosurgeon".
From 1997 to 1998, he served as one of fifteen White House Fellows, primarily as an advisor to Hillary Clinton. In January 2009, it was reported that Gupta was offered the position of Surgeon General of the United States in the Obama Administration, but he withdrew his name from consideration.
Broadcast journalism, television, film and events
Gupta joined CNN in the summer of 2001. He reported from New York following the attacks on the U.S. on September 11, 2001.
In 2003, Gupta traveled to Iraq to cover the medical aspects of the invasion of Iraq. While in Iraq, Gupta performed emergency surgery on both US soldiers and Iraqi civilians. Gupta was embedded with a Navy medical unit at the time, specifically a group of Corpsman called the "Devil Docs", who supported the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force. Marine Sergeant Jesus Vindaña suffered a rear gunshot wound, and the Marines asked for Gupta's assistance because of his background in neurosurgery. Vindaña survived and was sent back to the United States for rehabilitation.
In December 2006, CBS News president Sean McManus negotiated a deal with CNN that would have Gupta file up to ten reports a year for the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric and 60 Minutes while remaining CNN's chief medical correspondent and associate chief of neurosurgery at Grady Memorial Hospital.
On October 14, 2007, Gupta guest-hosted a health episode of CBS News Sunday Morning as its regular host Charles Osgood was on vacation. In February 2009, Gupta hosted AC360 covering the White House Health Summit. He also guest hosted Larry King Live in October 2009. In January 2010, Gupta and Cooper led CNN's coverage of the earthquake in Haiti. Gupta has regularly appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Real Time with Bill Maher and the Oprah Winfrey Show. Winfrey referred to Gupta as CNN's hero in January 2010.
In 2011, Gupta portrayed himself in the movie Contagion, which has received much renewed attention during the 2020 coronavirus pandemic.
His novel Monday Mornings became an instant New York Times bestseller on its release in March 2012. It was adapted as a 2013 television series with David E. Kelley and Gupta serving as executive producers.
In a 2013 editorial, Gupta announced that in the process of working on a documentary about marijuana he had changed his mind about the drug's risks and benefits. Gupta had previously criticized laws that allowed patient access to medical marijuana, but he reversed his stance, saying, "I am here to apologize," and, "We have been terribly and systematically misled for nearly 70 years in the United States, and I apologize for my own role in that." The third part of his 3-hour documentary, "Weed 3: The Marijuana Revolution", was released in April 2015.
Gupta served as a commentator on the University of Michigan TeamCast with former Wolverines kicker Jay Feely for the school's appearance in the 2018 NCAA Men's Final Four, which aired on CNN sibling TNT.
In April 2019, Chasing Life was adapted as a six-show TV miniseries on CNN that took him to Japan, India, Bolivia, Norway, Italy, and Turkey.
In September 2019, Gupta and Marc Hodosh (Co-Creator of TEDMED) announced a new event called Life Itself in partnership with CNN. Both Gupta and Hodosh will serve as hosts and organizers.
From June 28 to July 9, 2021, Gupta served as a guest host on Jeopardy!.
Surgeon General candidate
On January 6, 2009, CNN announced that Gupta had been considered for the position of Surgeon General by President-elect Barack Obama.
Some doctors said that his communication skills and high-profile would allow him to highlight medical issues and prioritize medical reform. Others raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest with drug companies who have sponsored his broadcasts and his lack of skepticism in weighing the costs and benefits of medical treatments.
Representative John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI), wrote a letter opposing Gupta's nomination. Conyers supported a single-payer health care system; Gupta has criticized Michael Moore and his film Sicko.
From the medical community, Donna Wright, of Creative Health Care Management, a regular commentator on medicine and politics, also defended the appointment on the grounds of his media presence, combined with his medical qualifications, which she viewed as an ideal combination for the post of surgeon general. Likewise, Fred Sanfilippo, executive vice president for health affairs at Emory University, supported Gupta's nomination by issuing a press release saying: "He has the character, training, intelligence and communications skills needed to help the United States improve its health and health care delivery systems in the next Administration." The American Council on Exercise, listed by PR Newswire as "America's leading authority on fitness and one of the largest fitness certification, education and training organizations in the world", endorsed the nomination of Gupta
"because of his passion for inspiring Americans to lead healthier, more active lives". The ACE sent a letter of support to senator Edward M. Kennedy. Former surgeon general Joycelyn Elders also supported Gupta's nomination, saying: "He has enough well-trained, well-qualified public health people to teach him the things he needs to do the job." In March 2009 Gupta withdrew his name from consideration for the post, citing his family and his career.
Criticisms
Some journalists and journalism professors specializing in health care have criticized the quality of Gupta's coverage. Trudy Lieberman, a regular Nation contributor on healthcare and director of the health and medicine reporting program at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, reviewed Gupta's "ineptitude" in reporting on the McCain health plan. Lieberman criticized Gupta for relying on insurance industry statistics, and a health expert quoted by Lieberman said that Gupta's reporting "gives a gross oversimplification".
Peter Aldhous criticized Gupta's "enthusiasm for many forms of medical screening – even when the scientific evidence indicates that it may not benefit patients". He and other medical journalists accuse him of a "pro-screening bias" in promoting widespread electrocardiogram and prostate cancer screening, even though medical authorities like the US Preventive Services Task Force recommend against it.
Gary Schwitzer, professor of health journalism at the University of Minnesota School of Journalism and now an editor at Health News Review, has also criticized Gupta's reporting.
Michael Moore dispute
A July 9, 2007, broadcast of CNN's The Situation Room aired a fact-check segment by Gupta on Michael Moore's 2007 film Sicko in which Gupta stated that Moore had "fudged facts".
Immediately following the segment, Moore was interviewed live on CNN by Wolf Blitzer. Moore said that Gupta's report was inaccurate and biased and Moore later posted a detailed response on his website. Moore accused CNN of being biased in favor of the drug industry because most of the sponsors for their medical coverage were drug companies.
On July 10, 2007, Gupta debated Moore on Larry King Live; on July 15, CNN released a statement in response to Michael Moore's rebuttal. In it, they apologized for an error in their on-air report, having stated that in the film Moore reported Cuba spends $25 per person for health care when the film actually gave that number as $251. CNN attributed this to a transcription error. CNN defended the rest of Gupta's report responding point-by-point to Moore's response, contending that comparison of data from different sources in different years was in effect cherry picking results, at the cost of statistical accuracy.
Honors
On April 28, 2012, Gupta was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree for his accomplishments in the medical field. He also gave the commencement address at the spring commencement ceremony held in the University of Michigan Stadium. On June 12, 2016, Gupta addressed the Oregon Health & Science University graduating class of 2016. On May 23, 2019, Gupta presented the commencement address to the Albert Einstein College of Medicine class of 2019.
In October 2019, Gupta was elected to the National Academy of Medicine, to join its 2019 class consisting of 100 members, one of the highest honors in medicine.
In 2003, Gupta was also named one of the sexiest men of the year by People magazine.
Gupta was elected as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2021.
Personal life
Gupta is married to Rebecca Olson, a family law attorney. They were married in 2004 in a Hindu wedding ceremony. They live in Atlanta and have three daughters.
Bibliography
Chasing Life: New Discoveries in the Search for Immortality to Help You Age Less Today (Warner Wellness, 2007, )
Cheating Death: The Doctors and Medical Miracles that Are Saving Lives Against All Odds (Wellness Central, 2009, )
Monday Mornings: A Novel (Grand Central Publishing, March 2012, )
Keep Sharp: Build a Better Brain at Any Age (Simon & Schuster, 2021, )
World War C: Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic and How to Prepare for the Next One (Simon & Schuster, 2021, )
See also
List of American novelists
List of American print journalists
List of surgeons
List of television reporters
References
External links
Sanjay Gupta CNN biography
1969 births
20th-century American educators
20th-century American male writers
20th-century American novelists
20th-century American physicians
21st-century American male writers
21st-century American educators
21st-century American non-fiction writers
21st-century American novelists
21st-century American physicians
60 Minutes correspondents
American columnists
American magazine writers
American male journalists
American writers of Indian descent
American male novelists
American medical journalists
American physicians of Indian descent
American neurosurgeons
American people of Sindhi descent
American television hosts
American television journalists
CBS News people
CNN people
Educators from Michigan
Emmy Award winners
Emory University School of Medicine faculty
Journalists from Georgia (U.S. state)
Journalists from Michigan
Living people
Novelists from Georgia (U.S. state)
Novelists from Michigan
People from Novi, Michigan
Physicians from Georgia (U.S. state)
Physicians from Michigan
Television personalities from Atlanta
Time (magazine) people
University of Michigan Medical School alumni
White House Fellows
Writers from Atlanta
20th-century surgeons
Celebrity doctors | false | [
"Buyer's Remorse: How Obama Let Progressives Down is a 2016 political book authored by Bill Press. Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders wrote a blurb for it.\n\nPre-publication\nA jacket blurb by Bernie Sanders reading: “Bill Press makes the case why, long after taking the oath of office, the next president of the United States must keep rallying the people who elected him or her on behalf of progressive causes. That is the only way real change will happen. Read this book,” ignited a press and social media conversation about whether Sanders was better off to separate himself from or associate himself with Obama administration policies in his campaign for the Presidency.\n\nReferences\n\n2016 non-fiction books\nAmerican political books\nBooks about Barack Obama",
"The inspector general of the Department of State heads the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of State and is responsible for detecting and investigating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in the United States Department of State. In the department, the inspector general has a rank equivalent to assistant secretary.\n\nList of inspectors general of the Department of State\n\nObama and Trump administrations\nHarold W. Geisel served as acting inspector general during Hillary Clinton's service as Secretary of State., which lasted until February 1, 2013. There was no permanent inspector general at the State Department while Clinton was Secretary, nor did President Barack Obama nominate anyone for that position. Later in 2013, Obama nominated Steve A. Linick, and the Senate confirmed Linick to the role. \n\nLinick served as inspector general for the balance of Obama's term, continuing into the presidency of Donald Trump. On Friday, May 15, 2020 at 10 p.m., the White House announced that Linick had been removed. The White House said Trump had dismissed Linick at the request of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Linick had been conducting several investigations into actions by Pompeo. Trump appointed Stephen Akard, who was concurrently serving as the director of the State Department's Office of Foreign Missions, as acting inspector general. Akard served as acting inspector general less than three months before resigning. Deputy Inspector General Diana Shaw then became acting inspector general.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nState Department Historian on the Inspector General of the Department of State\nInspector General's Website\n\nUnited States Department of State agencies\n \nUnited States Inspectors General"
]
|
[
"Sanjay Gupta",
"Surgeon General candidate",
"how many canidates are there",
"On January 6, 2009, CNN announced that Gupta had been considered for the position of Surgeon General by President Barack Obama.",
"how come he didnt get it",
"In March 2009 Gupta withdrew his name from consideration for the post, citing his family and his career.",
"how long did he work for cnn",
"I don't know.",
"why did Obama nominate him",
"communication skills and high profile would allow him to highlight medical issues and prioritize medical reform."
]
| C_bc260653ad1f4f4791e2ba7e3dee0f70_1 | where is his practice at | 5 | where is Sanjay Gupta's practice at | Sanjay Gupta | On January 6, 2009, CNN announced that Gupta had been considered for the position of Surgeon General by President Barack Obama. Some doctors said that his communication skills and high profile would allow him to highlight medical issues and prioritize medical reform. However, others raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest with drug companies who have sponsored his broadcasts and his lack of skepticism in weighing the costs and benefits of medical treatments. Representative John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI), wrote a letter opposing Gupta's nomination. Conyers supports a single-payer health care system, the sort that Conyers' filmmaker friend Michael Moore advocated in his documentary Sicko; Gupta has criticized Moore and the film. Others, such as liberal commentator Jane Hamsher, defended the appointment, noting that Gupta's responsibilities as a surgeon general would be not that different from those of his CNN position, and that Gupta's media presence would make him ideal for the position. From the medical community, Donna Wright, of Creative Health Care Management, a regular commentator on medicine and politics, also defended the appointment on the grounds of his media presence, combined with his medical qualifications, which she viewed as an ideal combination for the post of surgeon general. Likewise, Fred Sanfilippo, executive vice president for health affairs at Emory University, supported Gupta's nomination by issuing a press release saying: "He has the character, training, intelligence and communications skills needed to help the United States improve its health and health care delivery systems in the next Administration." The American Council on Exercise, listed by PR Newswire as "America's leading authority on fitness and one of the largest fitness certification, education and training organizations in the world", endorsed the nomination of Gupta "because of his passion for inspiring Americans to lead healthier, more active lives". The ACE sent a letter of support to senator Edward M. Kennedy. Former surgeon general Joycelyn Elders also supported Gupta's nomination, saying: "He has enough well-trained, well-qualified public health people to teach him the things he needs to do the job." In March 2009 Gupta withdrew his name from consideration for the post, citing his family and his career. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Sanjay Gupta (born October 23, 1969) is an American neurosurgeon, medical reporter, and writer. He serves as associate chief of the neurosurgery service at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia, associate professor of neurosurgery at the Emory University School of Medicine, and chief medical correspondent for CNN.
Gupta is known for his many TV appearances on health-related issues. During the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, he has been a frequent contributor to numerous CNN shows covering the crisis, as well as hosting a weekly town hall with Anderson Cooper. Gupta was the host of the CNN show Sanjay Gupta MD for which he has won multiple Emmy Awards. Gupta also hosted the 6 part mini series Chasing Life. He is a frequent contributor to other CNN programs such as American Morning, Larry King Live, CNN Tonight, and Anderson Cooper 360°. His reports from Charity Hospital, New Orleans, Louisiana, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina led to him winning a 2006 Emmy Award for Outstanding Feature Story in a Regularly Scheduled Newscast. He is also a special correspondent for CBS News.
Sanjay Gupta also co-hosts the health conference Life Itself, along with Marc Hodosh (co-creator of TEDMED). Gupta published a column in Time magazine and has written four books: Chasing Life, Cheating Death, Monday Mornings: A Novel, and Keep Sharp (Jan 2021).
Early life and education
Gupta was born in Novi, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. In the 1960s, Gupta's parents, Subhash and Damyanti Gupta, moved from India prior to their marriage and met in Livonia, Michigan, where they worked as engineers for Ford Motor Company. His mother was born in the village of Tharushah in Sindh (now Pakistan), but at age 5 fled to India as a Hindu refugee during the Partition of India. Gupta and his younger brother Suneel graduated from Novi High School and Gupta went on to receive his Bachelor of Science degree in biomedical sciences at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and his M.D. degree from the University of Michigan Medical School in 1993. He was part of Inteflex, a since discontinued accelerated medical education program that accepted medical students directly from high school.
As an undergraduate, Gupta worked as an orientation leader for the freshman orientation program and was a member of the Men's Glee Club. He also served as president of the Indian American Students Association (IASA), which is now the second-largest student organization at the university.
Gupta completed his residency in neurological surgery within the University of Michigan Health System, in 2000, followed by a fellowship at the Semmes Murphy Clinic, in Memphis, Tennessee.
Gupta plays the accordion, having taken ten years of lessons, as he noted in an interview with David Hochman for Playboy.
Career
Medical practice
Gupta is an Emory Healthcare general neurosurgeon at Grady Memorial Hospital and has worked on spine, trauma and 3‑D‑image-guided operations. He has published medical journal articles on percutaneous pedicle screw placement, brain tumors, and spinal cord abnormalities. He is licensed to practice medicine in Georgia.
During his reporting in Haiti following the January 2010 earthquake, Gupta received a call from the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson that an earthquake victim, a 12-year-old girl, was aboard and needed a neurosurgeon. Gupta, a pediatric surgeon, Henri Ford, and two U.S. Navy doctors removed a piece of concrete from the girl's skull in an operation performed aboard the Vinson. Ford later wrote that Gupta "proved to be a competent neurosurgeon".
From 1997 to 1998, he served as one of fifteen White House Fellows, primarily as an advisor to Hillary Clinton. In January 2009, it was reported that Gupta was offered the position of Surgeon General of the United States in the Obama Administration, but he withdrew his name from consideration.
Broadcast journalism, television, film and events
Gupta joined CNN in the summer of 2001. He reported from New York following the attacks on the U.S. on September 11, 2001.
In 2003, Gupta traveled to Iraq to cover the medical aspects of the invasion of Iraq. While in Iraq, Gupta performed emergency surgery on both US soldiers and Iraqi civilians. Gupta was embedded with a Navy medical unit at the time, specifically a group of Corpsman called the "Devil Docs", who supported the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force. Marine Sergeant Jesus Vindaña suffered a rear gunshot wound, and the Marines asked for Gupta's assistance because of his background in neurosurgery. Vindaña survived and was sent back to the United States for rehabilitation.
In December 2006, CBS News president Sean McManus negotiated a deal with CNN that would have Gupta file up to ten reports a year for the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric and 60 Minutes while remaining CNN's chief medical correspondent and associate chief of neurosurgery at Grady Memorial Hospital.
On October 14, 2007, Gupta guest-hosted a health episode of CBS News Sunday Morning as its regular host Charles Osgood was on vacation. In February 2009, Gupta hosted AC360 covering the White House Health Summit. He also guest hosted Larry King Live in October 2009. In January 2010, Gupta and Cooper led CNN's coverage of the earthquake in Haiti. Gupta has regularly appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Real Time with Bill Maher and the Oprah Winfrey Show. Winfrey referred to Gupta as CNN's hero in January 2010.
In 2011, Gupta portrayed himself in the movie Contagion, which has received much renewed attention during the 2020 coronavirus pandemic.
His novel Monday Mornings became an instant New York Times bestseller on its release in March 2012. It was adapted as a 2013 television series with David E. Kelley and Gupta serving as executive producers.
In a 2013 editorial, Gupta announced that in the process of working on a documentary about marijuana he had changed his mind about the drug's risks and benefits. Gupta had previously criticized laws that allowed patient access to medical marijuana, but he reversed his stance, saying, "I am here to apologize," and, "We have been terribly and systematically misled for nearly 70 years in the United States, and I apologize for my own role in that." The third part of his 3-hour documentary, "Weed 3: The Marijuana Revolution", was released in April 2015.
Gupta served as a commentator on the University of Michigan TeamCast with former Wolverines kicker Jay Feely for the school's appearance in the 2018 NCAA Men's Final Four, which aired on CNN sibling TNT.
In April 2019, Chasing Life was adapted as a six-show TV miniseries on CNN that took him to Japan, India, Bolivia, Norway, Italy, and Turkey.
In September 2019, Gupta and Marc Hodosh (Co-Creator of TEDMED) announced a new event called Life Itself in partnership with CNN. Both Gupta and Hodosh will serve as hosts and organizers.
From June 28 to July 9, 2021, Gupta served as a guest host on Jeopardy!.
Surgeon General candidate
On January 6, 2009, CNN announced that Gupta had been considered for the position of Surgeon General by President-elect Barack Obama.
Some doctors said that his communication skills and high-profile would allow him to highlight medical issues and prioritize medical reform. Others raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest with drug companies who have sponsored his broadcasts and his lack of skepticism in weighing the costs and benefits of medical treatments.
Representative John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI), wrote a letter opposing Gupta's nomination. Conyers supported a single-payer health care system; Gupta has criticized Michael Moore and his film Sicko.
From the medical community, Donna Wright, of Creative Health Care Management, a regular commentator on medicine and politics, also defended the appointment on the grounds of his media presence, combined with his medical qualifications, which she viewed as an ideal combination for the post of surgeon general. Likewise, Fred Sanfilippo, executive vice president for health affairs at Emory University, supported Gupta's nomination by issuing a press release saying: "He has the character, training, intelligence and communications skills needed to help the United States improve its health and health care delivery systems in the next Administration." The American Council on Exercise, listed by PR Newswire as "America's leading authority on fitness and one of the largest fitness certification, education and training organizations in the world", endorsed the nomination of Gupta
"because of his passion for inspiring Americans to lead healthier, more active lives". The ACE sent a letter of support to senator Edward M. Kennedy. Former surgeon general Joycelyn Elders also supported Gupta's nomination, saying: "He has enough well-trained, well-qualified public health people to teach him the things he needs to do the job." In March 2009 Gupta withdrew his name from consideration for the post, citing his family and his career.
Criticisms
Some journalists and journalism professors specializing in health care have criticized the quality of Gupta's coverage. Trudy Lieberman, a regular Nation contributor on healthcare and director of the health and medicine reporting program at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, reviewed Gupta's "ineptitude" in reporting on the McCain health plan. Lieberman criticized Gupta for relying on insurance industry statistics, and a health expert quoted by Lieberman said that Gupta's reporting "gives a gross oversimplification".
Peter Aldhous criticized Gupta's "enthusiasm for many forms of medical screening – even when the scientific evidence indicates that it may not benefit patients". He and other medical journalists accuse him of a "pro-screening bias" in promoting widespread electrocardiogram and prostate cancer screening, even though medical authorities like the US Preventive Services Task Force recommend against it.
Gary Schwitzer, professor of health journalism at the University of Minnesota School of Journalism and now an editor at Health News Review, has also criticized Gupta's reporting.
Michael Moore dispute
A July 9, 2007, broadcast of CNN's The Situation Room aired a fact-check segment by Gupta on Michael Moore's 2007 film Sicko in which Gupta stated that Moore had "fudged facts".
Immediately following the segment, Moore was interviewed live on CNN by Wolf Blitzer. Moore said that Gupta's report was inaccurate and biased and Moore later posted a detailed response on his website. Moore accused CNN of being biased in favor of the drug industry because most of the sponsors for their medical coverage were drug companies.
On July 10, 2007, Gupta debated Moore on Larry King Live; on July 15, CNN released a statement in response to Michael Moore's rebuttal. In it, they apologized for an error in their on-air report, having stated that in the film Moore reported Cuba spends $25 per person for health care when the film actually gave that number as $251. CNN attributed this to a transcription error. CNN defended the rest of Gupta's report responding point-by-point to Moore's response, contending that comparison of data from different sources in different years was in effect cherry picking results, at the cost of statistical accuracy.
Honors
On April 28, 2012, Gupta was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree for his accomplishments in the medical field. He also gave the commencement address at the spring commencement ceremony held in the University of Michigan Stadium. On June 12, 2016, Gupta addressed the Oregon Health & Science University graduating class of 2016. On May 23, 2019, Gupta presented the commencement address to the Albert Einstein College of Medicine class of 2019.
In October 2019, Gupta was elected to the National Academy of Medicine, to join its 2019 class consisting of 100 members, one of the highest honors in medicine.
In 2003, Gupta was also named one of the sexiest men of the year by People magazine.
Gupta was elected as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2021.
Personal life
Gupta is married to Rebecca Olson, a family law attorney. They were married in 2004 in a Hindu wedding ceremony. They live in Atlanta and have three daughters.
Bibliography
Chasing Life: New Discoveries in the Search for Immortality to Help You Age Less Today (Warner Wellness, 2007, )
Cheating Death: The Doctors and Medical Miracles that Are Saving Lives Against All Odds (Wellness Central, 2009, )
Monday Mornings: A Novel (Grand Central Publishing, March 2012, )
Keep Sharp: Build a Better Brain at Any Age (Simon & Schuster, 2021, )
World War C: Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic and How to Prepare for the Next One (Simon & Schuster, 2021, )
See also
List of American novelists
List of American print journalists
List of surgeons
List of television reporters
References
External links
Sanjay Gupta CNN biography
1969 births
20th-century American educators
20th-century American male writers
20th-century American novelists
20th-century American physicians
21st-century American male writers
21st-century American educators
21st-century American non-fiction writers
21st-century American novelists
21st-century American physicians
60 Minutes correspondents
American columnists
American magazine writers
American male journalists
American writers of Indian descent
American male novelists
American medical journalists
American physicians of Indian descent
American neurosurgeons
American people of Sindhi descent
American television hosts
American television journalists
CBS News people
CNN people
Educators from Michigan
Emmy Award winners
Emory University School of Medicine faculty
Journalists from Georgia (U.S. state)
Journalists from Michigan
Living people
Novelists from Georgia (U.S. state)
Novelists from Michigan
People from Novi, Michigan
Physicians from Georgia (U.S. state)
Physicians from Michigan
Television personalities from Atlanta
Time (magazine) people
University of Michigan Medical School alumni
White House Fellows
Writers from Atlanta
20th-century surgeons
Celebrity doctors | false | [
"Thenumgal Poulose Jacob is an Indian surgeon specializing in vascular surgery, and the founder Head of the Department of Vascular Surgery at Madras Medical College. Born in Aluva, in the south Indian state of Kerala, to Thenumgal Poulose and Mariam in a Malayali family, he did his under-graduate studies at UC College before graduating in medicine from Stanley Medical College, Chennai, and secured his MS degree from the same institution. He started his practice under government service at Madras Medical College where he helped establish the department of vascular surgery in 1978 and served as its founder head until his superannuation in 1993. The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri, in 2014, for his contributions to medical science. He is married to Esther and the couple has a daughter, Siji Jacob, an academic and a son, Hasum Jacob Thenumgal, an engineer at TCS. He is in private practice at T. P. Jacob Clinic in Royapuram, Chennai and is also a consultant vascular surgeon at MV Hospitals for Diabetes, Royapuram.\n\nSee also \n Vascular surgery\n Madras Medical College\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n \n\nRecipients of the Padma Shri in medicine\nYear of birth missing (living people)\nPeople from Aluva\nScientists from Kochi\nMalayali people\nIndian vascular surgeons\nIndian medical academics\nIndian medical administrators\nLiving people",
"Toilet talk is a form of telephony where parties communicate through toilets connected to the same plumbing line. Parties at either end speak into their toilet bowls, and the bowls and plumbing line serve as a speaking tube.\n\nDue to hygienic issues, toilet talking is only prevalent among inmates. \n\nThe practice has been documented at multi-story jails in the United States including Multnomah County Detention Center in Oregon and San Quentin State Prison in California.\n\nThe practice was highlighted by the Netflix series Jailbirds, at the Sacramento County Jail.\n\nReferences\n\nOral communication\nTelephony\nToilets"
]
|
[
"Taylor Swift",
"Influences"
]
| C_e101b306eedc41bd937aff1f1a3b54de_0 | What artists influenced Taylor Swift the most? | 1 | What artists influenced Taylor Swift the most? | Taylor Swift | One of Swift's earliest musical memories is listening to her maternal grandmother, Marjorie Finlay, sing in church. As a child, she enjoyed Disney film soundtracks: "My parents noticed that, once I had run out of words, I would just make up my own". Swift has said she owes her confidence to her mother, who helped her prepare for class presentations as a child. She also attributes her "fascination with writing and storytelling" to her mother. Swift was drawn to the storytelling of country music, and was introduced to the genre by "the great female country artists of the '90s"--Shania Twain, Faith Hill and the Dixie Chicks. Twain, both as a songwriter and performer, was her biggest musical influence. Hill was Swift's childhood role model: "Everything she said, did, wore, I tried to copy it". She admired the Dixie Chicks' defiant attitude and their ability to play their own instruments. The band's "Cowboy Take Me Away" was the first song Swift learned to play on the guitar. Swift also explored the music of older country stars, including Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton and Tammy Wynette. She believes Parton is "an amazing example to every female songwriter out there". Alt-country artists such as Ryan Adams, Patty Griffin and Lori McKenna have inspired Swift. Swift lists Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, Emmylou Harris, Kris Kristofferson, and Carly Simon as her career role models: "They've taken chances, but they've also been the same artist for their entire careers". McCartney, both as a Beatle and a solo artist, makes Swift feel "as if I've been let into his heart and his mind ... Any musician could only dream of a legacy like that". She admires Springsteen for being "so musically relevant after such a long period of time". She aspires to be like Harris as she grows older: "It's not about fame for her, it's about music". "[Kristofferson] shines in songwriting ... He's just one of those people who has been in this business for years but you can tell it hasn't chewed him up and spat him out", Swift says. She admires Simon's "songwriting and honesty ... She's known as an emotional person but a strong person". Swift has also been influenced by many artists outside the country genre. As a pre-teen, she enjoyed bubblegum pop acts including Hanson and Britney Spears; Swift has said she has "unwavering devotion" for Spears. In her high school years, Swift listened to rock bands such as Dashboard Confessional, Fall Out Boy, and Jimmy Eat World. She has also spoken fondly of singers and songwriters like Michelle Branch, Alanis Morissette, Ashlee Simpson, Fefe Dobson and Justin Timberlake; and the 1960s acts The Shirelles, Doris Troy, and The Beach Boys. Swift's fifth album, the pop-focused 1989, was influenced by some of her favorite 1980s pop acts, including Annie Lennox, Phil Collins and "Like a Prayer-era Madonna". CANNOTANSWER | Shania Twain, | Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Her discography spans multiple genres, and her narrative songwriting, which is often inspired by her personal life, has received widespread media coverage and critical praise. Born in West Reading, Pennsylvania, Swift relocated to Nashville, Tennessee, at the age of 14 to pursue a career in country music. She signed a songwriting deal with Sony/ATV Music Publishing in 2004 and a recording deal with Big Machine Records in 2005, and released her eponymous debut studio album in 2006.
Swift explored country pop on the albums Fearless (2008) and Speak Now (2010); the success of "Love Story" and "You Belong with Me" as singles on both country and pop radio established her as a leading crossover artist. She experimented with pop, rock, and electronic genres on her fourth studio album, Red (2012), supported by the singles "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" and "I Knew You Were Trouble". With her synth-pop fifth studio album 1989 (2014) and its chart-topping songs "Shake It Off", "Blank Space", and "Bad Blood", Swift shed her country image and transitioned to pop completely. The subsequent media scrutiny on Swift's personal life influenced her sixth album Reputation (2017), which delved into urban sounds, led by the single "Look What You Made Me Do".
Parting ways with Big Machine to sign with Republic Records in 2018, Swift released her next studio album, Lover (2019). Inspired by escapism during the COVID-19 pandemic, Swift ventured into indie folk and alternative rock styles on her 2020 studio albums, Folklore and Evermore, receiving acclaim for their nuanced storytelling. To gain ownership over the masters of her back catalog, she released the re-recordings Fearless (Taylor's Version) and Red (Taylor's Version) in 2021. Besides music, Swift has played supporting roles in films such as Valentine's Day (2010) and Cats (2019), has released the autobiographical documentary Miss Americana (2020), and directed the musical films Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions (2020) and All Too Well: The Short Film (2021).
Having sold over 200 million records worldwide, Swift is one of the best-selling musicians of all time.Her concert tours are some of the highest-grossing in history. She has scored eight Billboard Hot 100 number-one songs, and received 11 Grammy Awards (including three Album of the Year wins), an Emmy Award, 34 American Music Awards (the most for an artist) and 56 Guinness World Records, among other accolades. She featured on Rolling Stones 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time (2015) and Billboard Greatest of All Time Artists (2019) lists, and rankings such as the Time 100 and Forbes Celebrity 100. Named the Woman of the 2010s Decade by Billboard and the Artist of the 2010s Decade by the American Music Awards, Swift has been recognized for her influential career and philanthropy, as well as advocacy of artists' rights and women's empowerment in the music industry.
Life and career
1989–2003: Early life and education
Taylor Alison Swift was born on December 13, 1989, at the Reading Hospital in West Reading, Pennsylvania. Her father, Scott Kingsley Swift, is a former stockbroker for Merrill Lynch; her mother, Andrea Gardner Swift (née Finlay), is a former homemaker who previously worked as a mutual fund marketing executive. Her younger brother, Austin, is an actor. She was named after singer-songwriter James Taylor, and has Scottish and German heritage. Her maternal grandmother, Marjorie Finlay, was an opera singer. Swift's paternal great-great-grandfather was an Italian immigrant entrepreneur and community leader who opened several businesses in Philadelphia in the 1800s. Swift spent her early years on a Christmas tree farm that her father purchased from one of his clients. Swift identifies as a Christian. She attended preschool and kindergarten at the Alvernia Montessori School, run by the Bernadine Franciscan sisters, before transferring to The Wyndcroft School. The family moved to a rented house in the suburban town of Wyomissing, Pennsylvania, where she attended Wyomissing Area Junior/Senior High School.
At age nine, Swift became interested in musical theater and performed in four Berks Youth Theatre Academy productions. She also traveled regularly to New York City for vocal and acting lessons. Swift later shifted her focus toward country music, inspired by Shania Twain's songs, which made her "want to just run around the block four times and daydream about everything." She spent weekends performing at local festivals and events. After watching a documentary about Faith Hill, Swift felt sure she needed to move to Nashville, Tennessee, to pursue a career in music. She traveled with her mother at age eleven to visit Nashville record labels and submitted demo tapes of Dolly Parton and The Chicks karaoke covers. She was rejected, however, because "everyone in that town wanted to do what I wanted to do. So, I kept thinking to myself, I need to figure out a way to be different."
When Swift was around 12 years old, computer repairman and local musician Ronnie Cremer taught her to play guitar. He helped with her first efforts as a songwriter, leading her to write "Lucky You". In 2003, Swift and her parents started working with New York-based talent manager Dan Dymtrow. With his help, Swift modeled for Abercrombie & Fitch as part of their "Rising Stars" campaign, had an original song included on a Maybelline compilation CD, and attended meetings with major record labels. After performing original songs at an RCA Records showcase, Swift, then 13 years old, was given an artist development deal and began making frequent trips to Nashville with her mother.
To help Swift break into country music, her father transferred to Merrill Lynch's Nashville office when she was 14 years old, and the family relocated to Hendersonville, Tennessee. Swift initially attended Hendersonville High School before transferring to the Aaron Academy after two years, which could better accommodate her touring schedule through homeschooling. She graduated a year early.
2004–2008: Career beginnings and first album
In Nashville, Swift worked with experienced Music Row songwriters such as Troy Verges, Brett Beavers, Brett James, Mac McAnally, and the Warren Brothers, and formed a lasting working relationship with Liz Rose. They began meeting for two-hour writing sessions every Tuesday afternoon after school. Rose thought the sessions were "some of the easiest I've ever done. Basically, I was just her editor. She'd write about what happened in school that day. She had such a clear vision of what she was trying to say. And she'd come in with the most incredible hooks." Swift became the youngest artist signed by the Sony/ATV Tree publishing house, but left the Sony-owned RCA Records at the age of 14, citing the label's lack of care and them "cut[ting] other people’s stuff" as reasons; she was also concerned that development deals may shelve artists. She recalled: "I genuinely felt that I was running out of time. I wanted to capture these years of my life on an album while they still represented what I was going through."
At an industry showcase at Nashville's Bluebird Cafe in 2005, Swift caught the attention of Scott Borchetta, a DreamWorks Records executive who was preparing to form an independent record label, Big Machine Records. She had first met Borchetta in 2004. Becoming one of the first signings Big Machine, she wanted "the kind of attention that a little [new] label will give," and her father purchased a three-percent stake in the company for an estimated $120,000. She began working on her eponymous debut album shortly after. Swift persuaded Big Machine to hire her demo producer Nathan Chapman, with whom she felt she had the right "chemistry". She wrote three of the album's songs alone, and co-wrote the remaining eight with Rose, Robert Ellis Orrall, Brian Maher, and Angelo Petraglia. Taylor Swift was released on October 24, 2006. Jon Caramanica of The New York Times described it as "a small masterpiece of pop-minded country, both wide-eyed and cynical, held together by Ms. Swift's firm, pleading voice." Taylor Swift peaked at number five on the U.S. Billboard 200, where it spent 157 weeks—the longest stay on the chart by any release in the U.S. in the 2000s decade.
Big Machine Records was still in its infancy during the June 2006 release of the lead single, "Tim McGraw". Swift and her mother helped "stuff the CD singles into envelopes to send to radio." As there were not enough furniture at the label yet, they would sit on the floor to do so. She spent much of 2006 promoting Taylor Swift with a radio tour, television appearances, and opening for Rascal Flatts on select dates during their 2006 tour after they fired their previous opening act, Eric Church, for playing longer than his allotted time. Borchetta said that although record industry peers initially disapproved of his signing a 15-year-old singer-songwriter, Swift tapped into a previously unknown market—teenage girls who listen to country music. Following "Tim McGraw", four more singles were released throughout 2007 and 2008: "Teardrops on My Guitar", "Our Song", "Picture to Burn" and "Should've Said No". All appeared on Billboards Hot Country Songs, with "Our Song", and "Should've Said No" reaching number one. With "Our Song", Swift became the youngest person to single-handedly write and sing a number-one song on the chart. "Teardrops on My Guitar" reached number thirteen on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. Swift also released two EPs; The Taylor Swift Holiday Collection in October 2007 and Beautiful Eyes in July 2008. She promoted her debut album extensively as the opening act for other country musicians' tours throughout 2006 and 2007, including George Strait, Brad Paisley, and Tim McGraw and Faith Hill.
Swift won accolades for Taylor Swift. She was one of the recipients of the Nashville Songwriters Association's Songwriter/Artist of the Year in 2007, becoming the youngest person to be honored with the title. She also won the Country Music Association's Horizon Award for Best New Artist, the Academy of Country Music Awards' Top New Female Vocalist, and the American Music Awards' Favorite Country Female Artist honor. She was also nominated for Best New Artist at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards. She opened for the Rascal Flatts on their 2008 summer and fall tour. In July of that year, Swift began a romance with singer Joe Jonas that ended three months later.
2008–2010: Fearless and acting debut
Swift's second studio album, Fearless, was released on November 11, 2008. Five singles were released in 2008 through 2009: "Love Story", "White Horse", "You Belong with Me", "Fifteen", and "Fearless". "Love Story", the lead single, peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one in Australia. "You Belong with Me" was the album's highest-charting single on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number two. All five singles were Billboard Hot Country Songs top-10 entries, with "Love Story" and "You Belong with Me" peaking at number one. Fearless debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and was the top-selling album of 2009 in the U.S. The Fearless Tour, Swift's first headlining concert tour, grossed over $63 million. Journey to Fearless, a three-part documentary miniseries, was aired on television and later released on DVD and Blu-ray. Swift also performed as a supporting act for Keith Urban's Escape Together World Tour in 2009.
In 2009, the music video for "You Belong with Me" was named Best Female Video at the MTV Video Music Awards. Her acceptance speech was interrupted by rapper Kanye West, an incident that became the subject of controversy, widespread media attention, and many Internet memes. James Montgomery of MTV argued that the incident and subsequent media attention turned Swift into "a bona-fide mainstream celebrity". That year she won five American Music Awards, including Artist of the Year and Favorite Country Album. Billboard named her 2009's Artist of the Year. The album ranked number 99 on NPR's 2017 list of the 150 Greatest Albums Made By Women. She won Video of the Year and Female Video of the Year for "Love Story" at the 2009 CMT Music Awards, where she made a parody video of the song with rapper T-Pain called "Thug Story". At the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards, Fearless was named Album of the Year and Best Country Album, and "White Horse" won Best Country Song and Best Female Country Vocal Performance. Swift was the youngest artist to win Album of the Year. At the 2009 Country Music Association Awards, Swift won Album of the Year for Fearless and was named Entertainer of the Year, the youngest person to win the honor.
Swift featured on John Mayer's single "Half of My Heart" and Boys Like Girls' single "Two Is Better Than One", both of which she co-wrote. She co-wrote and recorded "Best Days of Your Life" with Kellie Pickler, and co-wrote two songs for the Hannah Montana: The Movie soundtrack—"You'll Always Find Your Way Back Home" and "Crazier". She contributed two songs to the Valentine's Day soundtrack, including the single "Today Was a Fairytale", which was her first number one on the Canadian Hot 100, and peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100. While filming her cinematic debut Valentine's Day in October 2009, Swift began a romantic relationship with co-star Taylor Lautner; they broke up later that year. Swift's role of the ditzy girlfriend of Lautner's character received mixed reviews. In 2009, she made her television acting debut as a rebellious teenager in an CSI: Crime Scene Investigation episode. She also hosted and performed as the musical guest on an episode of Saturday Night Live; she was the first host to write her own opening monologue.
2010–2014: Speak Now and Red
In August 2010, Swift released "Mine", the lead single from her third studio album, Speak Now. It entered the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 at number three. Swift wrote the album alone and co-produced every track. Speak Now, released on October 25, 2010, debuted atop the Billboard 200 with first-week sales of a million copies. It became the fastest-selling digital album by a female artist, with 278,000 downloads in a week, earning Swift an entry in the 2010 Guinness World Records. The songs "Mine", "Back to December", "Mean", "The Story of Us", "Sparks Fly", and "Ours" were released as singles. All except "The Story of Us" were Hot Country Songs top-three entries, with "Sparks Fly" and "Ours" reaching number one. "Back to December" and "Mean" peaked in the top ten in Canada. Later in 2010, she briefly dated actor Jake Gyllenhaal.
During her tour dates for 2011, she wrote the lyrics of various songs written by other people on her left arm. At the 54th Annual Grammy Awards in 2012, Swift won Best Country Song and Best Country Solo Performance for "Mean", which she performed during the ceremony. Media publications noted the performance as an improvement from her much criticized 2010 Grammy performance, which served as a testament to her abilities as a musician. Swift won other awards for Speak Now, including Songwriter/Artist of the Year by the Nashville Songwriters Association (2010 and 2011), Woman of the Year by Billboard (2011), and Entertainer of the Year by the Academy of Country Music (2011 and 2012) and the Country Music Association in 2011. At the American Music Awards of 2011, Swift won Artist of the Year and Favorite Country Album. Rolling Stone placed Speak Now at number 45 in its 2012 list of the "50 Best Female Albums of All Time", writing: "She might get played on the country station, but she's one of the few genuine rock stars we've got these days, with a flawless ear for what makes a song click."
The Speak Now World Tour ran from February 2011 to March 2012 and grossed over $123 million. In November 2011, Swift released a live album, Speak Now World Tour: Live. She contributed two original songs to The Hunger Games soundtrack album: "Safe & Sound", co-written and recorded with the Civil Wars and T-Bone Burnett, and "Eyes Open". "Safe & Sound" won the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media and was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song. Swift featured on B.o.B's single "Both of Us", released in May 2012. From July to September 2012, Swift dated Conor Kennedy, son of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Mary Richardson Kennedy.
In August 2012, Swift released "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together", the lead single from her fourth studio album, Red. It became her first number one in the U.S. and New Zealand, and reached the top slot on iTunes' digital song sales chart 50 minutes after its release, earning the Fastest Selling Single in Digital History Guinness World Record. Other singles released from the album include "Begin Again", "I Knew You Were Trouble", "22", "Everything Has Changed", "The Last Time", and "Red". "I Knew You Were Trouble" reached the top five on charts in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Ireland, New Zealand, the U.K. and the U.S. Three singles, "Begin Again", "22", and "Red", reached the top 20 in the U.S.
Red was released on October 22, 2012. On Red, Swift worked with longtime collaborators Nathan Chapman and Liz Rose, as well as new producers, including Max Martin and Shellback. The album incorporates new genres for Swift, such as heartland rock, dubstep and dance-pop. It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 1.21 million copies, making Swift the first female to have two million-selling album openings, a record recognized by the Guinness World Records. Red was Swift's first number-one album in the U.K. The Red Tour ran from March 2013 to June 2014 and grossed over $150 million, becoming the highest-grossing country tour when it completed.
Red had sold eight million copies by 2014. The album earned several accolades, including four nominations at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards in 2014. Its single "I Knew You Were Trouble" won Best Female Video at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards. Swift received American Music Awards for Best Female Country Artist in 2012, and Artist of the Year in 2013. She received the Nashville Songwriters Association's Songwriter/Artist Award for the fifth and sixth consecutive years in 2012 and 2013. Swift was honored by the Association with a special Pinnacle Award, making her the second recipient of the accolade after Garth Brooks. During this time, she had a short-term relationship with English singer Harry Styles.
In 2013, Swift recorded "Sweeter than Fiction", a song she wrote and produced with Jack Antonoff for the One Chance film soundtrack. The song received a Best Original Song nomination at the 71st Golden Globe Awards. She provided guest vocals for Tim McGraw's song "Highway Don't Care", featuring guitar work by Keith Urban. Swift performed "As Tears Go By" with the Rolling Stones in Chicago, Illinois as part of the band's 50 & Counting tour. She joined Florida Georgia Line on stage during their set at the 2013 Country Radio Seminar to sing "Cruise". Swift voiced Audrey, a tree lover, in the animated film The Lorax (2012), made a cameo in the sitcom New Girl (2013), and had a supporting role in the film adaptation of The Giver (2014).
2014–2018: 1989 and Reputation
In March 2014, Swift lived in New York City. Around this time, she was working on her fifth studio album, 1989, with producers Jack Antonoff, Max Martin, Shellback, Imogen Heap, Ryan Tedder, and Ali Payami. She promoted the album through various campaigns, including inviting fans to secret album-listening sessions. Influenced by 1980s synth-pop, Swift severed ties with the country sound of her previous albums, and marketed 1989 as her "first documented, official pop album". The album was released on October 27, 2014, and debuted atop the US Billboard 200 with sales of 1.28 million copies in its first week. This made Swift the first act to have three albums sell more than one million copies in their opening week, for which she earned a Guinness World Record. By June 2017, 1989 had sold over 10 million copies worldwide. Three of its singles—"Shake It Off", "Blank Space", and "Bad Blood" featuring rapper Kendrick Lamar—reached number one in Australia, Canada, and the U.S. The singles "Style" and "Wildest Dreams" reached the top 10 in the U.S. Other singles were "Out of the Woods" and "New Romantics". The 1989 World Tour ran from May to December 2015 and was the highest-grossing tour of the year with $250 million in total revenue.
Prior to 1989s release, Swift stressed the importance of albums to artists and fans. In November 2014, she removed her entire catalog from Spotify, arguing that the streaming company's ad-supported, free service undermined the premium service, which provides higher royalties for songwriters. In a June 2015 open letter, Swift criticized Apple Music for not offering royalties to artists during the streaming service's free three-month trial period and stated that she would pull 1989 from the catalog. The following day, Apple announced that it would pay artists during the free trial period, and Swift agreed to stream 1989 on the streaming service. Swift's intellectual property rights management and holding company, TAS Rights Management, filed for 73 trademarks related to Swift and the 1989 era memes. She re-added her entire catalog plus 1989 to Spotify, Amazon Music and Google Play and other digital streaming platforms in June 2017.
Swift was named Billboards Woman of the Year in 2014, becoming the first artist to win the award twice. At the 2014 American Music Awards, Swift received the inaugural Dick Clark Award for Excellence. In 2015, Swift won the Brit Award for International Female Solo Artist. The video for "Bad Blood" won Video of the Year and Best Collaboration at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards. Swift was one of eight artists to receive a 50th Anniversary Milestone Award at the 2015 Academy of Country Music Awards. At the 58th Grammy Awards in 2016, 1989 won Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album, and "Bad Blood" won Best Music Video. Swift was the first woman and fifth act overall to win Album of the Year twice as a lead artist.
Swift dated Scottish DJ and record producer Calvin Harris from March 2015 to June 2016. Prior to their breakup, they co-wrote the song "This Is What You Came For", which features vocals from Barbadian singer Rihanna; Swift was initially credited under the pseudonym Nils Sjöberg. After briefly dating English actor Tom Hiddleston for a few months, Swift began dating English actor Joe Alwyn in September 2016. She wrote the song "Better Man" for Little Big Town's seventh album, The Breaker, which was released in November. The song earned Swift an award for Song of the Year at the 51st CMA Awards. Swift and English singer Zayn Malik released a single together, "I Don't Wanna Live Forever", for the soundtrack of the film Fifty Shades Darker (2017). The song reached number two in the U.S. and won Best Collaboration at the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards.
In August 2017, Swift successfully sued David Mueller, a former morning show personality for Denver's KYGO-FM. Four years earlier, Swift had informed Mueller's bosses that he had sexually assaulted her by groping her at an event. After being fired, Mueller accused Swift of lying and sued her for damages from his loss of employment. Shortly after, Swift counter-sued for sexual assault for nominal damages of only a dollar. The jury rejected Mueller's claims and ruled in favor of Swift. After a year of hiatus from public spotlight, Swift cleared her social media accounts and released "Look What You Made Me Do" as the lead single from her sixth album, Reputation. The single was Swift's first number-one U.K. single. It topped charts in Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, and the U.S.
Reputation was released on November 10, 2017. The album incorporates a heavy electropop sound, with hip hop, R&B and EDM influences. It debuted atop the Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 1.21 million copies. With this achievement, Swift became the first act to have four albums sell one million copies within one week in the U.S. The album topped the charts in the UK, Australia, and Canada. First-week worldwide sales amounted to two million copies. The album had sold over 4.5 million copies worldwide as of 2018. It spawned three other international singles, including the U.S. top-five entry "...Ready for It?", and two U.S. top-20 singles—"End Game" (featuring Ed Sheeran and rapper Future) and "Delicate". Other singles include "New Year's Day", which was exclusively released to U.S. country radio, and "Getaway Car", which was released in Australia only.
In April 2018, Swift featured on Sugarland's "Babe" from their album Bigger. In support of Reputation, she embarked on her Reputation Stadium Tour, which ran from May to November 2018. In the U.S., the tour grossed $266.1 million in box office and sold over two million tickets, breaking Swift's own record for the highest-grossing U.S. tour by a woman, which was previously held by her 1989 World Tour in 2015 ($181.5 million). It also broke the record for the highest-grossing North American concert tour in history. Worldwide, the tour grossed $345.7 million, making it the second highest-grossing concert tour of the year. On December 31, Swift released her Reputation Stadium Tour's accompanying concert film on Netflix.
Reputation was nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards in 2019. At the American Music Awards of 2018, Swift won four awards, including Artist of the Year and Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist. After the 2018 AMAs, Swift garnered a total of 23 awards, becoming the most awarded female musician in AMA history, a record previously held by Whitney Houston.
2018–2020: Lover and masters dispute
Reputation was Swift's last album under her 12-year contract with Big Machine Records. In November 2018, she signed a new multi-album deal with Big Machine's distributor Universal Music Group; in the U.S. her subsequent releases were promoted under the Republic Records imprint. Swift said the contract included a provision for her to maintain ownership of her master recordings. In addition, in the event that Universal sells any part of its stake in Spotify, which agreed to distribute a non-recoupable portion of the proceeds among their artists. Vox called it is a huge commitment from Universal, which was "far from assured" until Swift intervened.
Swift released her seventh studio album, Lover, on August 23, 2019. Besides longtime collaborator Jack Antonoff, Swift worked with new producers Louis Bell, Frank Dukes, and Joel Little. Lover made Swift the first female artist to have sixth consecutive album sell more than 500,000 copies in one week in the U.S. All 18 songs from the album charted on the Billboard Hot 100 the same week, setting a record for the most simultaneous entries by a woman. The lead single, "Me!", debuted at number 100 on the Billboard Hot 100 and rose to number two a week later, scoring the biggest single-week jump in chart history. Other singles from Lover were the U.S. top-10 singles "You Need to Calm Down" and "Lover", and U.S. top-40 single "The Man".
Lover was the world's best-selling studio album of 2019, selling 3.2 million copies. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) honored Swift as the global best-selling artist of 2019. Swift became first woman to win the honor twice, having previously won in 2014. The album earned accolades, including three nominations at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards in 2020. At the 2019 MTV Video Music Awards, "Me!" won Best Visual Effects, and "You Need to Calm Down" won Video of the Year and Video for Good. Swift was the first female and second artist overall to win Video of the Year for a video that they directed.
Swift played Bombalurina in the movie adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Cats (2019). For the film's soundtrack, she co-wrote and recorded the Golden Globe-nominated original song "Beautiful Ghosts". Although critics reviewed the film negatively, Swift received positive feedback for her role and musical performance. The documentary Miss Americana, which chronicles part of Swift's life and career, premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival and was released on Netflix that January. Miss Americana features the song "Only the Young", which Swift wrote after the 2018 United States elections. In February 2020, Swift signed an exclusive global publishing deal with Universal Music Publishing Group, after her 16-year-old contract with Sony/ATV Music Publishing expired.
In 2019, Swift became embroiled in a publicized dispute with talent manager Scooter Braun and her former label Big Machine, regarding the acquisition of the masters of her back catalog. Swift stated on her Tumblr blog that she had been trying to buy the masters for years, but Big Machine only allowed her to do so if she exchanged a new album for an older one under another contract, which she refused to do. Against Swift's authorization, Big Machine, in April 2020, released Live from Clear Channel Stripped 2008, a live album of Swift's performances at a radio show. In October, Braun sold Swift's masters, videos and artworks, to Shamrock Holdings for a reported $300 million. Swift began re-recording her back catalog in November 2020. Rolling Stone highlighted this decision, along with her opposition to low royalties for artists from streaming services such as Spotify and Apple Music as two of the music industry's most defining moments in the 2010s decade. In April 2020, Swift was scheduled to embark on Lover Fest, the supporting concert tour for Lover, which was canceled after the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.
2020–present: Folklore, Evermore, and re-recordings
In 2020, Swift released two surprise albums with little promotion, to critical acclaim. The first, her eighth studio album Folklore, was released on July 24. The second, her ninth studio album Evermore, was released on December 11. Described by Swift and Dessner as "sister records", both albums incorporate indie folk and alternative rock, departing from the previous upbeat pop releases. Swift wrote and recorded the albums while in isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic, working with producers Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner from the National. Both albums feature collaborations with Bon Iver, and Evermore features collaborations with the National and Haim. Swift's boyfriend Joe Alwyn co-wrote and co-produced select songs under the pseudonym William Bowery. The making of Folklore was discussed in the concert documentary Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions, directed by Swift and released on November 25.
In the U.S., Folklore and Evermore were each supported by three singles—one to mainstream radio, one to country radio, and one to triple A radio. The singles in that order were "Cardigan", "Betty", "Exile" (featuring Bon Iver); and "Willow", "No Body, No Crime" (featuring Haim), "Coney Island" (featuring the National); respectively. The lead singles from each album, "Cardigan" and "Willow", opened at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 the same week their parent albums debuted atop the Billboard 200. This made Swift the first artist to debut atop both the U.S. singles and albums charts simultaneously twice. Each album sold over one million units worldwide in its first week, with Folklore selling two million. Folklore broke the Guinness World Record for the highest first-day album streams by a female artist on Spotify, and was the best-selling album of 2020 in the U.S., having sold 1.2 million copies. Swift was 2020's highest-paid musician in the U.S., and highest-paid solo musician worldwide. At the 2020 American Music Awards, Swift won three awards, including Artist of the Year for a record third consecutive time. Folklore won Album of the Year at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards, making Swift the first woman in history to win the award three times.
Following the masters controversy, Swift released two re-recordings in 2021, adding "Taylor's Version" to their titles. The first, Fearless (Taylor's Version), peaked atop the Billboard 200, becoming the first re-recorded album to do so. It was preceded by the three tracks: "Love Story (Taylor's Version)", "You All Over Me" with Maren Morris, and "Mr. Perfectly Fine", the first of which made Swift the second artist after Dolly Parton to have both the original and the re-recording of a single at number one on the Hot Country Songs. Swift released "Wildest Dreams (Taylors Version)" on September 17, after the original song gained traction on the online-video sharing app TikTok. The second re-recording Red (Taylor's Version) was released on November 12. Its final track, "All Too Well (10 Minute Version)"—accompanied by All Too Well: The Short Film directed by Swift—debuted at number one on the Hot 100, becoming the longest song in history to top the chart. She was the highest-paid female musician of 2021, whereas both her 2020 albums and the re-recordings were ranked among the 10 best-selling albums of the year. In May 2021, Swift was awarded the Global Icon Award by the Brit Awards and the Songwriter Icon Award by the National Music Publishers' Association.
Outside her albums, Swift featured on four songs in 2021–2022: "Renegade" and "Birch" by Big Red Machine, a remix of Haim's "Gasoline" and Ed Sheeran's "The Joker and the Queen". She has been cast in David O. Russell's untitled film slated for release in November 2022.
Artistry
Influences
One of Swift's earliest musical memories is listening to her grandmother, Marjorie Finlay, sing in church. As a child, she enjoyed Disney film soundtracks: "My parents noticed that, once I had run out of words, I would just make up my own". Swift has said she owes her confidence to her mother, who helped her prepare for class presentations as a child. She also attributes her "fascination with writing and storytelling" to her mother. Swift was drawn to the storytelling aspect of country music, and was introduced to the genre listening to "the great female country artists" of the 1990s—Shania Twain, Faith Hill, and the Dixie Chicks. Twain, both as a songwriter and performer, was her biggest musical influence. Hill was Swift's childhood role model: "Everything she said, did, wore, I tried to copy it". She admired the Dixie Chicks' defiant attitude and their ability to play their own instruments. "Kiss Me" by Sixpence None the Richer was the first song Swift learned to play on the guitar. Swift also explored the music of older country stars such as Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, Tammy Wynette, and Dolly Parton, the latter of whom she believes is "an amazing example to every female songwriter out there", and alt-country artists like Patty Griffin and Lori McKenna. She has also cited Keith Urban's musical style as an influence.
Swift has also been influenced by various pop and rock artists. She lists Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen, Bryan Adams, Emmylou Harris, Kris Kristofferson, and Carly Simon as her career role models. Discussing McCartney and Harris, Swift has said, "They've taken chances, but they've also been the same artist for their entire careers". McCartney, both as a Beatle and a solo artist, makes Swift feel "as if I've been let into his heart and his mind [...] He's out there continuing to make his fans so happy. Any musician could only dream of a legacy like that." She likes Springsteen for being "so musically relevant after such a long period of time". She aspires to be like Harris as she grows older because of prioritizing music over fame. Swift says of Kristofferson that he "shines in songwriting", and admires Simon for being "an emotional" but "a strong person". Her synth-pop album 1989 was influenced by some of her favorite 1980s pop acts, including Peter Gabriel, Annie Lennox, Phil Collins and Madonna. As a songwriter, Swift was influenced by Joni Mitchell for her autobiographical lyrics conveying the deepest emotions: "She wrote it about her deepest pains and most haunting demons ... I think [Blue] is my favorite because it explores somebody's soul so deeply".
Musical styles
Swift's discography spans country, pop, folk, and alternative genres. Her first three studio albums, Taylor Swift, Fearless and Speak Now are categorized as country; her eclectic fourth studio album, Red, is dubbed both country and pop; her next three albums 1989, Reputation and Lover are labeled pop; and Folklore and Evermore are considered alternative. Music critics have described her songs as synth-pop, country pop, rock, electropop, and indie, amongst others; some songs, especially those on Reputation, incorporate elements of R&B, EDM, hip hop, and trap. The music instruments Swift plays include the piano, banjo, ukulele and various types of guitar. Swift described herself as a country artist until the release of 1989, which she characterized as her first "sonically cohesive pop album".
Rolling Stone wrote, "[Swift] might get played on the country station, but she's one of the few genuine rock stars we've got these days." According to The New York Times, "There isn't much in Ms. Swift's music to indicate country—a few banjo strums, a pair of cowboy boots worn onstage, a bedazzled guitar—but there's something in her winsome, vulnerable delivery that's unique to Nashville." The Guardian wrote that Swift "cranks melodies out with the pitiless efficiency of a Scandinavian pop factory." Consequence pinpointed her "capacity to continually reinvent while remaining herself", while Time dubbed Swift a "musical chameleon" for the constantly evolving sound of her discography. Clash said her career "has always been one of transcendence and covert boundary-pushing", reaching a point at which "Taylor Swift is just Taylor Swift", not defined by any genre.
Voice
Swift possesses a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Her singing voice is "sweet but soft" according to Sophie Schillaci of The Hollywood Reporter. Pitchfork's Sam Sodomsky called it "versatile and expressive". Music theory professor Alyssa Barna described the timbre of Swift's upper register as "breathy and bright", and her lower register "full and dark". The Los Angeles Times identified Swift's "defining" vocal gesture in studio recordings as "the line that slides down like a contented sigh or up like a raised eyebrow, giving her beloved girl-time hits their air of easy intimacy." In 2010, a writer from The Tennessean conceded that Swift was "not the best technical singer", but described her as the "best communicator that we've got". According to Swift, her vocal ability often concerned her in her early career, and she worked hard to improve it. She said she only feels nervous performing live "if I'm not sure what the audience thinks of me, like at award shows". The Hollywood Reporter wrote that her live vocals were "fine", but did not match those of her peers.
Though Swift's singing ability received mixed reviews early in her career, she was praised for refusing to correct her pitch with Auto-Tune. Rolling Stone found her voice "unaffected enough to mask how masterful she has become as a singer", while The Village Voice noted the improvement from her previously "bland and muddled" phrasing to her learning "how to make words sound like what they mean". In 2014, NPR Music described her singing as personal and conversational thanks to her "exceptional gift for inflection", but also suffered from a "wobbly pitch and tight, nasal delivery". Beginning with Folklore, she received better reviews for her vocals; Variety critic Andrew Barker noted the "remarkable" control she developed over her vocals, never allowing a "flourish or a tricky run to compromise the clarity of a lyric", while doing "wonders within her register" and "exploring its further reaches". Reviewing Fearless (Taylor's Version), The New York Times critic Lindsay Zoladz described her voice as stronger, more controlled, and deeper over time, discarding the nasal tone of her early vocals. Lucy Harbron of Clash opined that Swift's vocals have evolved "into her own unique blend of country, pop and indie".
Songwriting
Swift has been referred to as one of the greatest songwriters of all time and the best of her generation by various publications and organizations. She told The New Yorker in 2011 that she identifies as a songwriter first: "I write songs, and my voice is just a way to get those lyrics across." Swift's personal experiences were a common inspiration for her early songs, which helped her navigate the complexities of life. Her "diaristic" technique began with identifying an emotion, followed by a corresponding melody. On her first three studio albums, recurring themes were love, heartbreak, and insecurities, from an adolescent perspective. She delved into the tumult of toxic relationships on Red, and embraced nostalgia and positivity after failed relationships on 1989. Reputation was inspired by the downsides of Swift's fame, and Lover detailed her realization of the "full spectrum of love". Besides romance, other themes in Swift's music include parent-child relationships, friendships, alienation, and self-awareness.
Music critics often praise her self-written discography, especially her confessional narratives; they compliment her writing for its vivid details and emotional engagement, which were rare among pop artists. New York magazine argued that Swift was the first teenage artist who explicitly portrayed teenage experiences in her music. Rolling Stone described Swift as "a songwriting savant with an intuitive gift for verse-chorus-bridge architecture". Although reviews of Swift are generally positive, The New Yorker stated she was generally portrayed "more as a skilled technician than as a Dylanesque visionary". Because of her confessional narratives, tabloid media often speculated and linked the subjects of the songs with ex-lovers of Swift, a practice which New York magazine considered "sexist, inasmuch as it's not asked of her male peers". Aside from clues provided in album liner notes, Swift avoided talking about song subjects specifically. In a 2013 interview with Vanity Fair, Swift stated that the criticism on her songwriting—critics interpreted her persona as a "clingy, insane, desperate girlfriend in need of making you marry her and have kids with her"—was "a little sexist".
On her 2020 albums Folklore and Evermore, Swift was inspired by escapism and romanticism to explore fictional narratives. Without referencing her personal life, she imposed her emotions onto imagined characters and story arcs, which liberated her from the mental stress caused by tabloid attention and suggested new paths for her artistry. In a feature for Rolling Stone, Swift explained that she welcomed the new songwriting direction after she stopped worrying about commercial success: "I always thought, 'That'll never track on pop radio,' but when I was making Folklore, I thought, 'If you take away all the parameters, what do you make?" With the release of Evermore, Spin found Swift exploring "exceedingly complex human emotions with precision and devastation". Consequence stated her 2020 albums "offered a chance for doubters to see Swift's songwriting power on full display, but the truth is that her pen has always been her sword" and that her writing prowess took "different forms" as she transformed from "teenage wunderkind to a confident and careful adult."
Swift's bridges have been underscored as one of the best aspects of her songs and earned her the title "Queen of Bridges" from media outlets. Awarding her with the Songwriter Icon Award in 2021, the National Music Publishers' Association remarked that "no one is more influential when it comes to writing music today" than Swift. The Week deemed her the foremost female songwriter of modern times. Swift has also published two original poems: "Why She Disappeared" and "If You're Anything Like Me".
Music videos
Swift has collaborated with many different directors to produce her music videos, and over time she has become more involved with writing and directing. She has her own production house, Taylor Swift Productions, Inc., which is credited with producing music videos for singles such as "Me!". Swift developed the concept and treatment for "Mean", and co-directed the music video for "Mine" with Roman White. In an interview, White elaborated that Swift "was keenly involved in writing the treatment, casting and wardrobe. And she stayed for both the 15-hour shooting days, even when she wasn't in the scenes."
From 2014 to 2018, Swift collaborated with director Joseph Kahn on eight music videos—four each from her albums 1989 and Reputation. Kahn has praised Swift's involvement in the craft. She worked with American Express for the "Blank Space" music video (which Kahn directed), and served as an executive producer for the interactive app AMEX Unstaged: Taylor Swift Experience, for which she won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Interactive Program in 2015. She produced the music video for "Bad Blood" and won a Grammy Award for Best Music Video in 2016. While she continued to co-direct music videos with the Lover singles—"Me!" with Dave Meyers, "You Need to Calm Down" (also serving as a co-executive producer) and "Lover" with Drew Kirsch—she ventured into sole direction with the videos for "The Man" (which won her the MTV Video Music Award for Best Direction), "Cardigan" and "Willow".
Public image
Swift became a teen idol with her debut, and a pop icon following global fame. Journalists have written about her polite, "open" personality, "willing to play along" during the course of an interview. J. Freedom du Lac of The Washington Post called Swift a "media darling" and "a reporter's dream". The Guardian attributed her disposition to her formative years in country music. The Hollywood Reporter described Swift as "the Best People Person since Bill Clinton". While presenting her with an award for her humanitarian endeavors in 2012, former First Lady Michelle Obama described Swift as an artist who "has rocketed to the top of the music industry but still keeps her feet on the ground, someone who has shattered every expectation of what a 22-year-old can accomplish"; Swift considers Obama to be a role model.
In 2015, Vanity Fair referred to Swift as "the most famous and influential entertainer on Earth". According to YouGov surveys, she ranked as the world's most admired female musician from 2019 to 2021. One of the most followed people on social media, Swift is known for her frequent and friendly interactions with her fans, delivering holiday gifts to them by mail and in person. She considers it her "responsibility" to be conscious of her influence on young fans, praising her relationship with her fans as "the longest and best" she has ever had. Swift regularly incorporates easter eggs into her works and social media posts for fans to figure out clues about a forthcoming release. Fawzia Khan of Elle attributes Swift's "perennial" success partly to her intimacy with fans.
Media outlets describe Swift as a savvy businessperson. According to marketing executive Matt B. Britton, her business acumen has helped her "excel as an authentic personality who establishes direct connections with her audience", "touch as many people as possible", and "generate a kind of advocacy and excitement that no level of advertising could." Describing her omnipresence, The Ringer writer Kate Knibbs said Swift is not just a pop act but "a musical biosphere unto herself", having achieved the kind of success "that turns a person into an institution, into an inevitability."
Though Swift is reluctant to publicly discuss her personal life—believing it to be "a career weakness"—it is a topic of widespread media attention and tabloid speculation. Clash described her as a lightning rod for both praise and criticism. While The New York Times asserted in 2013 that Swift's "dating history has begun to stir what feels like the beginning of a backlash" and questioned whether she was in the midst of a "quarter-life crisis", certain critics have highlighted the misogyny and slut-shaming Swift's life and career have been subject to. She parodied this scrutiny in "Blank Space". Rolling Stone said, after the release of 1989, "everything she did was a story", with a non-stop news cycle about her, leaving her overexposed. Much of Reputation was conceived under the "intense" media scrutiny she experienced in 2015 and 2016, causing her to adopt a dark, defensive alter ego on the album. She criticized sexist double standards and gaslighting in "The Man" (2019) and "Mad Woman" (2020), respectively. When asked "why sing to the haters?" by CBS journalist Tracy Smith, Swift replied, "well, when they stop coming for me, I will stop singing to them." Glamour opined Swift is an easy target for male derision and triggers "fragile male egos" to take "pot-shots" at her career. The Daily Telegraph said her antennae for sexism is crucial for the industry and that she "must continue holding people to account".
Fashion
Swift's fashion is often covered by media outlets, with her street style receiving acclaim. Her fashion appeal has been picked up by several media publications, such as People, Elle, Vogue, and Maxim. Vogue regards Swift as one of the world's most influential figures in sustainable fashion. Elle highlighted the various styles she has adopted throughout her career, including the "curly-haired teenager" of her early days to "red-lipped pop bombshell" with "platinum blonde hair and sultry makeup looks" later on. Swift is known for reinventing her image often, corresponding each one of her albums to a specific aesthetic. Swift also popularized cottagecore with Folklore and Evermore. Consequence opined that Swift's looks evolved from "girl-next-door country act to pop star to woodsy poet over a decade."
Though labeled by the media as "America's Sweetheart", a sobriquet based on her down-to-earth personality and girl-next-door image, Swift insists she does not "live by all these rigid, weird rules that make me feel all fenced in. I just like the way that I feel like, and that makes me feel very free". Although she refused to take part in "sexy" photoshoots in 2012, she stated "it's nice to be glamorous" in 2015. Bloomberg views Swift as a sex symbol, albeit of a subtle and sophisticated variety unlike many of her female contemporaries.
Impact
Swift's career helped shape the modern country music scene. According to music journalist Jody Rosen, Swift is the first country artist whose fame reached the world beyond the U.S. Her chart success extended to Asia and the U.K., where country music had previously not been popular. She is recognized as one of the first country artists to use technology and viral marketing techniques, such as MySpace, to promote their work. According to Chris Willman of Entertainment Weekly, the commercial success of her debut album helped the infant Big Machine Records go on to sign Garth Brooks and Jewel. Following Swift's rise to fame, country labels became more interested in signing young singers who write their own music. With her autobiographical narratives revolving around romance and heartbreak, she introduced the genre to a younger generation that could relate to her personally. Critics have since noted the impact of Swift's sound on various albums released by female country singers such as Kacey Musgraves, Maren Morris and Kelsea Ballerini. Rolling Stone listed her country music as one of the biggest influences on 2010s pop music and ranked her 80th in their list of 100 Greatest Country Artists of All Time.Her onstage performance with guitars contributed to the "Taylor Swift factor", a phenomenon to which the rise in guitar sales to women, a previously ignored demographic, is attributed. Pitchfork opined that Swift changed the contemporary music landscape forever with her "unprecedented path from teenage country prodigy to global pop sensation" and a "singularly perceptive" discography that consistently accommodates both musical and cultural shifts. Clash stated Swift's genre-spanning career encouraged her peers to experiment with diverse sounds. Billboard credited her with influencing artists to take creative ownership of their music and remarked she "has the power to pull any sound she wants into mainstream orbit." Music journalist Nick Catucci wrote that, in being personal and vulnerable in her lyrics, Swift helped make space for later pop stars like Billie Eilish, Ariana Grande, and Halsey to do the same. According to The Guardian, Swift leads the rebirth of poptimism in the 21st-century with her ambitious artistic vision.
Publications consider Swift's million-selling albums an anomaly in the streaming-dominated music industry following the decline of the album era in the 2010s. For this reason, musicologists Mary Fogarty and Gina Arnold regard her as "the last great rock star". Swift is the only artist to have four albums sell over one million copies in one week since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking sales for the Billboard 200 in 1991. To New York magazine, her million sales figures prove that she is "the one bending the music industry to her will". The Atlantic notes that Swift's "reign" defies the convention that the successful phase of an artist's career rarely lasts more than a few years. She is a champion of independent record shops, having contributed to the 21st-century vinyl revival. Journalists note how her actions have fostered debate over reforms to on-demand music streaming and prompted awareness of intellectual property rights among younger musicians, praising her ability to bring change in the music industry.
She was named Woman of the Decade for the 2010s by Billboard, became the first woman to earn the title Artist of the Decade (2010s) at the American Music Awards, and received the Brit Global Icon Award "in recognition of her immense impact on music across the world". Swift has influenced various mainstream and indie recording artists. Various sources deem her music to be representative and paradigmatic of the millennial generation, owing to her success, musical versatility, social media presence, live shows, and corporate sponsorship. Vox called Swift the "millennial Bruce Springsteen" for telling the stories of a generation through her songs. Student societies focusing on her were established in various universities around the world, such as Oxford, York, and Cambridge. New York University Tisch School of the Arts offers a course on Swift's career. Some of her popular songs like "Love Story" are studied by evolutionary psychologists to understand the relationship between popular music and human mating strategies.
Accolades and achievements
Swift has won 11 Grammy Awards (including three Album of the Year wins—tied for most by an artist), an Emmy Award, 34 American Music Awards (most wins by an artist), 25 Billboard Music Awards (most wins by a woman), 56 Guinness World Records, 12 Country Music Association Awards (including the Pinnacle Award), eight Academy of Country Music Awards, and two Brit Awards. As a songwriter, she has been honored by the Nashville Songwriters Association, the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and the National Music Publishers' Association and was the youngest person on Rolling Stone list of the 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time in 2015. At the 64th BMI Awards in 2016, Swift was the first woman to be honored with an award named after its recipient. Her albums Red and 1989 appeared on Rolling Stone's 2020 revision of their 500 Greatest Albums of All Time; in 2021, her "Blank Space" music video named one of Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Music Videos of All Time, while the songs "All Too Well" and "Blank Space" were on its 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
From available data, Swift has amassed over 50 million album sales, 150 million singles sales, and 114 million units in album consumption worldwide, including 78 billion streams. Swift has the most number-one albums in the United Kingdom and Ireland for a female artist in this millennium, and is the best-selling artist of all time on Chinese digital music platforms with in income. She is the only female artist to have received more than 100 million global streams on Spotify in a day, with over 122 million streams on November 11, 2021. Swift broke the record for the highest-grossing North American tour of all time with her Reputation Stadium Tour (2018) and is the world's highest-grossing female touring act of the 2010s. She has the most entries and the most simultaneous entries for an artist on the Billboard Global 200, with 69 and 31 songs, respectively.
In the US, Swift has sold over 37.3 million albums as of 2019, when Billboard placed her eighth on its Greatest of All Time Artists Chart. She is the longest-reigning act of Billboard Artist 100 (50 weeks at number one), the solo act with the most cumulative weeks (55) atop the Billboard 200, the woman with the most weeks atop the Top Country Albums (98) and the most Billboard Hot 100 entries in history (165), and the artist with the most Digital Songs number-ones (23). She is the second highest-certified female digital singles artist (and third overall) in the US, with 134 million total units certified by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and the first female artist to have both an album (Fearless) and a song ("Shake It Off") certified Diamond. In 2021, one of every 50 albums sold in the US was Swift's, who became the first woman to have five albums—1989, Taylor Swift, Fearless, Red and Reputation—chart for 150 weeks each on the Billboard 200.
Swift has appeared in various power listings. Time included her on its annual list of the 100 most influential people in 2010, 2015, and 2019. She was one of the "Silence Breakers" honored as Time Person of the Year in 2017 for speaking up about sexual assault. From 2011 to 2020, Swift appeared in the top three on the Forbes Top-Earning Women in Music list, placing first in 2016 and 2019. In 2014, she was named to Forbes' 30 Under 30 list in the music category and again in 2017 in its "All-Star Alumni" category. In 2015, Swift became the youngest woman to be included on Forbes list of the 100 most powerful women, ranked at number 64. She was the most googled female musician of 2019.
Other activities
Wealth and properties
In 2021, Forbes estimated Swift's net worth at US$550 million, coming from her music, merchandise, promotions, and concerts. She topped the magazine's list of the 100 highest-paid celebrities in 2016 with $170 million—a feat recognized by the Guinness World Records as the highest annual earnings ever for a female musician, which she herself surpassed in 2019 with $185 million. Swift was the highest-paid female musician of the 2010s, with $825 million earned.
Swift has invested in a real estate portfolio worth $84 million. For example, she purchased the Samuel Goldwyn Estate, a Georgian-revival house in Beverly Hills, for $25 million in 2015, which she has since restored to its original condition and contains Swift's home studio, Kitty Committee, where she recorded songs for Folklore. In 2013, she purchased the Holiday House, a seafront mansion in Watch Hill, Rhode Island. Gina Raimondo, then-Governor of Rhode Island, proposed in 2015 a statewide property tax for second homes worth more than $1 million, dubbed the "Taylor Swift tax". In New York City, her $47 million worth of property on a single block in Tribeca includes a $19.95 million duplex penthouse, an $18 million four-story townhouse, and a $9.75 million apartment purchased in 2014, 2017 and 2018, respectively.
Philanthropy
Swift is well known for her philanthropic efforts. She was ranked at number one on DoSomething's "Gone Good" list, and has received the "Star of Compassion" accolade from the Tennessee Disaster Services, The Big Help Award from the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards for her "dedication to helping others" as well as "inspiring others through action", and the Ripple of Hope Award for her "dedication to advocacy at such a young age". In 2008, she donated $100,000 to the Red Cross to help the victims of the Iowa flood. Swift has performed at charity relief events, including Sydney's Sound Relief concert. In response to the May 2010 Tennessee floods, Swift donated $500,000 during a telethon hosted by WSMV. In 2011, Swift used a dress rehearsal of her Speak Now tour as a benefit concert for victims of recent tornadoes in the U.S., raising more than $750,000. In 2016, she donated $1 million to Louisiana flood relief efforts and $100,000 to the Dolly Parton Fire Fund. Swift donated to the Houston Food Bank after Hurricane Harvey struck the city in 2017. In 2020, she donated $1 million for Tennessee tornado relief.
Swift is a supporter of the arts. She is a benefactor of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. She has donated $75,000 to Nashville's Hendersonville High School to help refurbish the school auditorium, $4 million to fund the building of a new education center at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, $60,000 to the music departments of six U.S. colleges, and $100,000 to the Nashville Symphony. Also a promoter of children's literacy, she has donated money and books to various schools around the country to improve education. In 2007, Swift partnered with the Tennessee Association of Chiefs of Police to launch a campaign to protect children from online predators. She has donated items to several charities for auction, including the Elton John AIDS Foundation, the UNICEF Tap Project, MusiCares, and Feeding America. As recipient of the Academy of Country Music's Entertainer of the Year in 2011, Swift donated $25,000 to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Tennessee. In 2012, Swift participated in the Stand Up to Cancer telethon, performing the charity single "Ronan", which she wrote in memory of a four-year-old boy who died of neuroblastoma. She has also donated $100,000 to the V Foundation for Cancer Research and $50,000 to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Swift has encouraged young people to volunteer in their local communities as part of Global Youth Service Day.
Swift donated to fellow singer-songwriter Kesha to help with her legal battles against Dr. Luke and to actress Mariska Hargitay's Joyful Heart Foundation organization. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Swift donated to the World Health Organization and Feeding America and offered one of her signed guitars as part of an auction to raise money for the National Health Service. Swift performed "Soon You'll Get Better" during One World: Together At Home television special, a benefit concert curated by Lady Gaga for Global Citizen to raise funds for the World Health Organization's COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund. In 2018 and 2021, Swift donated to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network in honor of Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month. In addition to charitable causes, she has made donations to her fans several times for their medical or academic expenses.
Politics and activism
Swift is pro-choice, and has been regarded as a feminist icon by various publications. During the 2008 United States presidential election, she promoted the Every Woman Counts campaign, aimed at engaging women in the political process. She was one of the founding signatories of the Time's Up movement against sexual harassment. Swift has also spoken out against LGBT discrimination, which was the theme of the music video for "Mean". On multiple occasions, she encouraged support for the Equality Act, which prohibits discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation and gender identity, among others. In 2019, she donated to the LGBT organizations Tennessee Equality Project and GLAAD.
Swift avoided discussing politics in her early career because country record label executives insisted "Don't be like the Dixie Chicks!", and first became active during the 2018 United States elections. She declared her support for Democrats Jim Cooper and Phil Bredesen to represent Tennessee in the House of Representatives and Senate, respectively, and expressed her desire for greater LGBT rights, gender equality and racial equality, condemned systemic racism. In August 2020, Swift urged her fans to check their voter registration ahead of elections, which resulted in 65,000 people registering to vote within a day after her post. She endorsed Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in the 2020 United States presidential election, and was found to be one of the most influential celebrities in the polls.
Swift has supported the March for Our Lives movement and gun control reform in the U.S, and is a vocal critic of white supremacy, racism, and police brutality in the country. Following the murders of African-American men Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd, she donated to the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and the Black Lives Matter movement. After then-president Donald Trump posted a controversial tweet on the unrest in Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Swift accused him of promoting white supremacy and racism in his term. She called for the removal of Confederate monuments of "racist historical figures" in Tennessee, and advocated for Juneteenth to become a national holiday.
Endorsements
During the Fearless era, Swift supported campaigns by Verizon Wireless and "Got Milk?". She launched a l.e.i. sundress range at Walmart, and designed American Greetings cards and Jakks Pacific dolls. She became a spokesperson for the National Hockey League's (NHL) Nashville Predators and Sony Cyber-shot digital cameras. She launched two Elizabeth Arden fragrances—Wonderstruck and Wonderstruck Enchanted. In 2013, she released the fragrances Taylor by Taylor Swift and Taylor by Taylor Swift: Made of Starlight, followed by her fifth fragrance, Incredible Things, in 2014.
Swift signed a multi-year deal with AT&T in 2016. She later headlined DirecTV's Super Saturday Night event on the eve of the 2017 Super Bowl. In 2019, Swift signed a multi-year partnership with Capital One, and released a sustainable clothing line with Stella McCartney. In 2022, in light of her philanthropic support for independent record stores during the COVID-19 pandemic, Record Store Day named Swift their first-ever global ambassador.
Discography
Studio albums
Taylor Swift (2006)
Fearless (2008)
Speak Now (2010)
Red (2012)
1989 (2014)
Reputation (2017)
Lover (2019)
Folklore (2020)
Evermore (2020)
Re-recordings
Fearless (Taylor's Version) (2021)
Red (Taylor's Version) (2021)
Filmography
Hannah Montana: The Movie (2009)
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2009)
Valentine's Day (2010)
Journey to Fearless (2010)
The Lorax (2012)
The Giver (2014)
The 1989 World Tour Live (2015)
Taylor Swift: Reputation Stadium Tour (2018)
Cats (2019)
Miss Americana (2020)
City of Lover (2020)
Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions (2020)
All Too Well: The Short Film (2021)
Tours
Fearless Tour (2009–2010)
Speak Now World Tour (2011–2012)
The Red Tour (2013–2014)
The 1989 World Tour (2015)
Reputation Stadium Tour (2018)
See also
List of best-selling albums by year in the United States
List of best-selling singles in the United States
List of highest-certified music artists in the United States
Grammy Award records – Youngest artists to win Album of the Year
Grammy Award records – Most Grammys won by a female artist
List of American Grammy Award winners and nominees
List of Grammy Award winners and nominees by country
List of most-followed Instagram accounts
List of most-followed Twitter accounts
List of most-subscribed YouTube channels
Best-selling female artists of all time
Footnotes
References
External links
Taylor Swift
1989 births
Living people
21st-century American actresses
21st-century American guitarists
21st-century American pianists
21st-century American singers
21st-century American women guitarists
21st-century American women pianists
21st-century American women singers
Actresses from Nashville, Tennessee
Alternative rock singers
American acoustic guitarists
American country banjoists
American country guitarists
American country pianists
American country record producers
American country singer-songwriters
American country songwriters
American women country singers
American women pop singers
American women rock singers
American women singer-songwriters
American women songwriters
American women record producers
American feminists
American film actresses
American folk guitarists
American folk musicians
American folk singers
American mezzo-sopranos
American multi-instrumentalists
American music video directors
American people of German descent
American people of Italian descent
American people of Scottish descent
American pop guitarists
American pop pianists
American synth-pop musicians
American television actresses
American voice actresses
American women guitarists
American women pianists
Big Machine Records artists
Brit Award winners
Christians from Tennessee
Country musicians from Tennessee
Emmy Award winners
Female music video directors
Feminist musicians
Forbes 30 Under 30 multi-time recipients
Grammy Award winners
Guitarists from Pennsylvania
Guitarists from Tennessee
MTV Europe Music Award winners
Musicians from Nashville, Tennessee
NME Awards winners
RCA Records artists
Record producers from Tennessee
Republic Records artists
Singer-songwriters from Tennessee
Sony Music Publishing artists
Synth-pop singers
Universal Music Group artists
Featured articles
Singer-songwriters from Pennsylvania | true | [
"The ARIA Urban Album Chart ranks the highest selling Country albums within Australia and is provided by the Australian Recording Industry Association.\n\nHistory\nThe Urban Album Chart was established in 2001 and first published on 1 January. The chart still runs weekly .\nThe Current Number One is Red (Taylor's version) by Taylor Swift\n\nTrivia\n\nAlbums with the most weeks at number one\n69 Weeks \nTaylor Swift - Fearless (2009-2010)\n39 Weeks \nKeith Urban - Ripcord (2016-2017)\n35 Weeks\nDixie Chicks - Taking the Long Way (2006-2007)\n34 Weeks\nKasey Chambers - Barricades & Brickwalls (2002-2003)\nLuke Combs - What You See Is What You Get (2019-2020)\n32 Weeks\nLuke Combs - What You See Is What You Get (2020-2021)\n30 Weeks\nDixie Chicks - Home (2003-2004)\nLuke Combs - This One's for You (2018-2019)\n29 Weeks\nKasey Chambers - Wayward Angel (2004-2005)\n28 Weeks\nFaith Hill - Breathe (2001)\n27 Weeks\nLady Antebellum - Need You Now (Lady Antebellum album) (2010-2011)\n26 Weeks\nTaylor Swift - Red (2012–2015)\n\nArtists with the most number ones\n Lee Kernaghan (9)\n Keith Urban (8)\n Kasey Chambers (7)\n Taylor Swift (6)\n\nSee also\n\nARIA Digital Album Chart\n\nReferences\n\nAustralian record charts",
"The People's Choice Award for Best Female Artist was first presented in 2000. Taylor Swift and Katy Perry won this award three times making them the most awarded artists. Swift is also the most nominated artist in the category with nine nominations.\n\nWinners and nominees\n\nCategory facts\n\nMost wins\n\nMost nominations\n\nReferences\n\nFemale Artist"
]
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"Taylor Swift",
"Influences",
"What artists influenced Taylor Swift the most?",
"Shania Twain,"
]
| C_e101b306eedc41bd937aff1f1a3b54de_0 | What other artist influenced Taylor's sound? | 2 | What other artist influenced Taylor's sound in addition to Shania Twain? | Taylor Swift | One of Swift's earliest musical memories is listening to her maternal grandmother, Marjorie Finlay, sing in church. As a child, she enjoyed Disney film soundtracks: "My parents noticed that, once I had run out of words, I would just make up my own". Swift has said she owes her confidence to her mother, who helped her prepare for class presentations as a child. She also attributes her "fascination with writing and storytelling" to her mother. Swift was drawn to the storytelling of country music, and was introduced to the genre by "the great female country artists of the '90s"--Shania Twain, Faith Hill and the Dixie Chicks. Twain, both as a songwriter and performer, was her biggest musical influence. Hill was Swift's childhood role model: "Everything she said, did, wore, I tried to copy it". She admired the Dixie Chicks' defiant attitude and their ability to play their own instruments. The band's "Cowboy Take Me Away" was the first song Swift learned to play on the guitar. Swift also explored the music of older country stars, including Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton and Tammy Wynette. She believes Parton is "an amazing example to every female songwriter out there". Alt-country artists such as Ryan Adams, Patty Griffin and Lori McKenna have inspired Swift. Swift lists Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, Emmylou Harris, Kris Kristofferson, and Carly Simon as her career role models: "They've taken chances, but they've also been the same artist for their entire careers". McCartney, both as a Beatle and a solo artist, makes Swift feel "as if I've been let into his heart and his mind ... Any musician could only dream of a legacy like that". She admires Springsteen for being "so musically relevant after such a long period of time". She aspires to be like Harris as she grows older: "It's not about fame for her, it's about music". "[Kristofferson] shines in songwriting ... He's just one of those people who has been in this business for years but you can tell it hasn't chewed him up and spat him out", Swift says. She admires Simon's "songwriting and honesty ... She's known as an emotional person but a strong person". Swift has also been influenced by many artists outside the country genre. As a pre-teen, she enjoyed bubblegum pop acts including Hanson and Britney Spears; Swift has said she has "unwavering devotion" for Spears. In her high school years, Swift listened to rock bands such as Dashboard Confessional, Fall Out Boy, and Jimmy Eat World. She has also spoken fondly of singers and songwriters like Michelle Branch, Alanis Morissette, Ashlee Simpson, Fefe Dobson and Justin Timberlake; and the 1960s acts The Shirelles, Doris Troy, and The Beach Boys. Swift's fifth album, the pop-focused 1989, was influenced by some of her favorite 1980s pop acts, including Annie Lennox, Phil Collins and "Like a Prayer-era Madonna". CANNOTANSWER | She has also spoken fondly of singers and songwriters like Michelle Branch, Alanis Morissette, Ashlee Simpson, Fefe Dobson and Justin Timberlake; | Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Her discography spans multiple genres, and her narrative songwriting, which is often inspired by her personal life, has received widespread media coverage and critical praise. Born in West Reading, Pennsylvania, Swift relocated to Nashville, Tennessee, at the age of 14 to pursue a career in country music. She signed a songwriting deal with Sony/ATV Music Publishing in 2004 and a recording deal with Big Machine Records in 2005, and released her eponymous debut studio album in 2006.
Swift explored country pop on the albums Fearless (2008) and Speak Now (2010); the success of "Love Story" and "You Belong with Me" as singles on both country and pop radio established her as a leading crossover artist. She experimented with pop, rock, and electronic genres on her fourth studio album, Red (2012), supported by the singles "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" and "I Knew You Were Trouble". With her synth-pop fifth studio album 1989 (2014) and its chart-topping songs "Shake It Off", "Blank Space", and "Bad Blood", Swift shed her country image and transitioned to pop completely. The subsequent media scrutiny on Swift's personal life influenced her sixth album Reputation (2017), which delved into urban sounds, led by the single "Look What You Made Me Do".
Parting ways with Big Machine to sign with Republic Records in 2018, Swift released her next studio album, Lover (2019). Inspired by escapism during the COVID-19 pandemic, Swift ventured into indie folk and alternative rock styles on her 2020 studio albums, Folklore and Evermore, receiving acclaim for their nuanced storytelling. To gain ownership over the masters of her back catalog, she released the re-recordings Fearless (Taylor's Version) and Red (Taylor's Version) in 2021. Besides music, Swift has played supporting roles in films such as Valentine's Day (2010) and Cats (2019), has released the autobiographical documentary Miss Americana (2020), and directed the musical films Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions (2020) and All Too Well: The Short Film (2021).
Having sold over 200 million records worldwide, Swift is one of the best-selling musicians of all time.Her concert tours are some of the highest-grossing in history. She has scored eight Billboard Hot 100 number-one songs, and received 11 Grammy Awards (including three Album of the Year wins), an Emmy Award, 34 American Music Awards (the most for an artist) and 56 Guinness World Records, among other accolades. She featured on Rolling Stones 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time (2015) and Billboard Greatest of All Time Artists (2019) lists, and rankings such as the Time 100 and Forbes Celebrity 100. Named the Woman of the 2010s Decade by Billboard and the Artist of the 2010s Decade by the American Music Awards, Swift has been recognized for her influential career and philanthropy, as well as advocacy of artists' rights and women's empowerment in the music industry.
Life and career
1989–2003: Early life and education
Taylor Alison Swift was born on December 13, 1989, at the Reading Hospital in West Reading, Pennsylvania. Her father, Scott Kingsley Swift, is a former stockbroker for Merrill Lynch; her mother, Andrea Gardner Swift (née Finlay), is a former homemaker who previously worked as a mutual fund marketing executive. Her younger brother, Austin, is an actor. She was named after singer-songwriter James Taylor, and has Scottish and German heritage. Her maternal grandmother, Marjorie Finlay, was an opera singer. Swift's paternal great-great-grandfather was an Italian immigrant entrepreneur and community leader who opened several businesses in Philadelphia in the 1800s. Swift spent her early years on a Christmas tree farm that her father purchased from one of his clients. Swift identifies as a Christian. She attended preschool and kindergarten at the Alvernia Montessori School, run by the Bernadine Franciscan sisters, before transferring to The Wyndcroft School. The family moved to a rented house in the suburban town of Wyomissing, Pennsylvania, where she attended Wyomissing Area Junior/Senior High School.
At age nine, Swift became interested in musical theater and performed in four Berks Youth Theatre Academy productions. She also traveled regularly to New York City for vocal and acting lessons. Swift later shifted her focus toward country music, inspired by Shania Twain's songs, which made her "want to just run around the block four times and daydream about everything." She spent weekends performing at local festivals and events. After watching a documentary about Faith Hill, Swift felt sure she needed to move to Nashville, Tennessee, to pursue a career in music. She traveled with her mother at age eleven to visit Nashville record labels and submitted demo tapes of Dolly Parton and The Chicks karaoke covers. She was rejected, however, because "everyone in that town wanted to do what I wanted to do. So, I kept thinking to myself, I need to figure out a way to be different."
When Swift was around 12 years old, computer repairman and local musician Ronnie Cremer taught her to play guitar. He helped with her first efforts as a songwriter, leading her to write "Lucky You". In 2003, Swift and her parents started working with New York-based talent manager Dan Dymtrow. With his help, Swift modeled for Abercrombie & Fitch as part of their "Rising Stars" campaign, had an original song included on a Maybelline compilation CD, and attended meetings with major record labels. After performing original songs at an RCA Records showcase, Swift, then 13 years old, was given an artist development deal and began making frequent trips to Nashville with her mother.
To help Swift break into country music, her father transferred to Merrill Lynch's Nashville office when she was 14 years old, and the family relocated to Hendersonville, Tennessee. Swift initially attended Hendersonville High School before transferring to the Aaron Academy after two years, which could better accommodate her touring schedule through homeschooling. She graduated a year early.
2004–2008: Career beginnings and first album
In Nashville, Swift worked with experienced Music Row songwriters such as Troy Verges, Brett Beavers, Brett James, Mac McAnally, and the Warren Brothers, and formed a lasting working relationship with Liz Rose. They began meeting for two-hour writing sessions every Tuesday afternoon after school. Rose thought the sessions were "some of the easiest I've ever done. Basically, I was just her editor. She'd write about what happened in school that day. She had such a clear vision of what she was trying to say. And she'd come in with the most incredible hooks." Swift became the youngest artist signed by the Sony/ATV Tree publishing house, but left the Sony-owned RCA Records at the age of 14, citing the label's lack of care and them "cut[ting] other people’s stuff" as reasons; she was also concerned that development deals may shelve artists. She recalled: "I genuinely felt that I was running out of time. I wanted to capture these years of my life on an album while they still represented what I was going through."
At an industry showcase at Nashville's Bluebird Cafe in 2005, Swift caught the attention of Scott Borchetta, a DreamWorks Records executive who was preparing to form an independent record label, Big Machine Records. She had first met Borchetta in 2004. Becoming one of the first signings Big Machine, she wanted "the kind of attention that a little [new] label will give," and her father purchased a three-percent stake in the company for an estimated $120,000. She began working on her eponymous debut album shortly after. Swift persuaded Big Machine to hire her demo producer Nathan Chapman, with whom she felt she had the right "chemistry". She wrote three of the album's songs alone, and co-wrote the remaining eight with Rose, Robert Ellis Orrall, Brian Maher, and Angelo Petraglia. Taylor Swift was released on October 24, 2006. Jon Caramanica of The New York Times described it as "a small masterpiece of pop-minded country, both wide-eyed and cynical, held together by Ms. Swift's firm, pleading voice." Taylor Swift peaked at number five on the U.S. Billboard 200, where it spent 157 weeks—the longest stay on the chart by any release in the U.S. in the 2000s decade.
Big Machine Records was still in its infancy during the June 2006 release of the lead single, "Tim McGraw". Swift and her mother helped "stuff the CD singles into envelopes to send to radio." As there were not enough furniture at the label yet, they would sit on the floor to do so. She spent much of 2006 promoting Taylor Swift with a radio tour, television appearances, and opening for Rascal Flatts on select dates during their 2006 tour after they fired their previous opening act, Eric Church, for playing longer than his allotted time. Borchetta said that although record industry peers initially disapproved of his signing a 15-year-old singer-songwriter, Swift tapped into a previously unknown market—teenage girls who listen to country music. Following "Tim McGraw", four more singles were released throughout 2007 and 2008: "Teardrops on My Guitar", "Our Song", "Picture to Burn" and "Should've Said No". All appeared on Billboards Hot Country Songs, with "Our Song", and "Should've Said No" reaching number one. With "Our Song", Swift became the youngest person to single-handedly write and sing a number-one song on the chart. "Teardrops on My Guitar" reached number thirteen on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. Swift also released two EPs; The Taylor Swift Holiday Collection in October 2007 and Beautiful Eyes in July 2008. She promoted her debut album extensively as the opening act for other country musicians' tours throughout 2006 and 2007, including George Strait, Brad Paisley, and Tim McGraw and Faith Hill.
Swift won accolades for Taylor Swift. She was one of the recipients of the Nashville Songwriters Association's Songwriter/Artist of the Year in 2007, becoming the youngest person to be honored with the title. She also won the Country Music Association's Horizon Award for Best New Artist, the Academy of Country Music Awards' Top New Female Vocalist, and the American Music Awards' Favorite Country Female Artist honor. She was also nominated for Best New Artist at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards. She opened for the Rascal Flatts on their 2008 summer and fall tour. In July of that year, Swift began a romance with singer Joe Jonas that ended three months later.
2008–2010: Fearless and acting debut
Swift's second studio album, Fearless, was released on November 11, 2008. Five singles were released in 2008 through 2009: "Love Story", "White Horse", "You Belong with Me", "Fifteen", and "Fearless". "Love Story", the lead single, peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one in Australia. "You Belong with Me" was the album's highest-charting single on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number two. All five singles were Billboard Hot Country Songs top-10 entries, with "Love Story" and "You Belong with Me" peaking at number one. Fearless debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and was the top-selling album of 2009 in the U.S. The Fearless Tour, Swift's first headlining concert tour, grossed over $63 million. Journey to Fearless, a three-part documentary miniseries, was aired on television and later released on DVD and Blu-ray. Swift also performed as a supporting act for Keith Urban's Escape Together World Tour in 2009.
In 2009, the music video for "You Belong with Me" was named Best Female Video at the MTV Video Music Awards. Her acceptance speech was interrupted by rapper Kanye West, an incident that became the subject of controversy, widespread media attention, and many Internet memes. James Montgomery of MTV argued that the incident and subsequent media attention turned Swift into "a bona-fide mainstream celebrity". That year she won five American Music Awards, including Artist of the Year and Favorite Country Album. Billboard named her 2009's Artist of the Year. The album ranked number 99 on NPR's 2017 list of the 150 Greatest Albums Made By Women. She won Video of the Year and Female Video of the Year for "Love Story" at the 2009 CMT Music Awards, where she made a parody video of the song with rapper T-Pain called "Thug Story". At the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards, Fearless was named Album of the Year and Best Country Album, and "White Horse" won Best Country Song and Best Female Country Vocal Performance. Swift was the youngest artist to win Album of the Year. At the 2009 Country Music Association Awards, Swift won Album of the Year for Fearless and was named Entertainer of the Year, the youngest person to win the honor.
Swift featured on John Mayer's single "Half of My Heart" and Boys Like Girls' single "Two Is Better Than One", both of which she co-wrote. She co-wrote and recorded "Best Days of Your Life" with Kellie Pickler, and co-wrote two songs for the Hannah Montana: The Movie soundtrack—"You'll Always Find Your Way Back Home" and "Crazier". She contributed two songs to the Valentine's Day soundtrack, including the single "Today Was a Fairytale", which was her first number one on the Canadian Hot 100, and peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100. While filming her cinematic debut Valentine's Day in October 2009, Swift began a romantic relationship with co-star Taylor Lautner; they broke up later that year. Swift's role of the ditzy girlfriend of Lautner's character received mixed reviews. In 2009, she made her television acting debut as a rebellious teenager in an CSI: Crime Scene Investigation episode. She also hosted and performed as the musical guest on an episode of Saturday Night Live; she was the first host to write her own opening monologue.
2010–2014: Speak Now and Red
In August 2010, Swift released "Mine", the lead single from her third studio album, Speak Now. It entered the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 at number three. Swift wrote the album alone and co-produced every track. Speak Now, released on October 25, 2010, debuted atop the Billboard 200 with first-week sales of a million copies. It became the fastest-selling digital album by a female artist, with 278,000 downloads in a week, earning Swift an entry in the 2010 Guinness World Records. The songs "Mine", "Back to December", "Mean", "The Story of Us", "Sparks Fly", and "Ours" were released as singles. All except "The Story of Us" were Hot Country Songs top-three entries, with "Sparks Fly" and "Ours" reaching number one. "Back to December" and "Mean" peaked in the top ten in Canada. Later in 2010, she briefly dated actor Jake Gyllenhaal.
During her tour dates for 2011, she wrote the lyrics of various songs written by other people on her left arm. At the 54th Annual Grammy Awards in 2012, Swift won Best Country Song and Best Country Solo Performance for "Mean", which she performed during the ceremony. Media publications noted the performance as an improvement from her much criticized 2010 Grammy performance, which served as a testament to her abilities as a musician. Swift won other awards for Speak Now, including Songwriter/Artist of the Year by the Nashville Songwriters Association (2010 and 2011), Woman of the Year by Billboard (2011), and Entertainer of the Year by the Academy of Country Music (2011 and 2012) and the Country Music Association in 2011. At the American Music Awards of 2011, Swift won Artist of the Year and Favorite Country Album. Rolling Stone placed Speak Now at number 45 in its 2012 list of the "50 Best Female Albums of All Time", writing: "She might get played on the country station, but she's one of the few genuine rock stars we've got these days, with a flawless ear for what makes a song click."
The Speak Now World Tour ran from February 2011 to March 2012 and grossed over $123 million. In November 2011, Swift released a live album, Speak Now World Tour: Live. She contributed two original songs to The Hunger Games soundtrack album: "Safe & Sound", co-written and recorded with the Civil Wars and T-Bone Burnett, and "Eyes Open". "Safe & Sound" won the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media and was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song. Swift featured on B.o.B's single "Both of Us", released in May 2012. From July to September 2012, Swift dated Conor Kennedy, son of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Mary Richardson Kennedy.
In August 2012, Swift released "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together", the lead single from her fourth studio album, Red. It became her first number one in the U.S. and New Zealand, and reached the top slot on iTunes' digital song sales chart 50 minutes after its release, earning the Fastest Selling Single in Digital History Guinness World Record. Other singles released from the album include "Begin Again", "I Knew You Were Trouble", "22", "Everything Has Changed", "The Last Time", and "Red". "I Knew You Were Trouble" reached the top five on charts in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Ireland, New Zealand, the U.K. and the U.S. Three singles, "Begin Again", "22", and "Red", reached the top 20 in the U.S.
Red was released on October 22, 2012. On Red, Swift worked with longtime collaborators Nathan Chapman and Liz Rose, as well as new producers, including Max Martin and Shellback. The album incorporates new genres for Swift, such as heartland rock, dubstep and dance-pop. It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 1.21 million copies, making Swift the first female to have two million-selling album openings, a record recognized by the Guinness World Records. Red was Swift's first number-one album in the U.K. The Red Tour ran from March 2013 to June 2014 and grossed over $150 million, becoming the highest-grossing country tour when it completed.
Red had sold eight million copies by 2014. The album earned several accolades, including four nominations at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards in 2014. Its single "I Knew You Were Trouble" won Best Female Video at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards. Swift received American Music Awards for Best Female Country Artist in 2012, and Artist of the Year in 2013. She received the Nashville Songwriters Association's Songwriter/Artist Award for the fifth and sixth consecutive years in 2012 and 2013. Swift was honored by the Association with a special Pinnacle Award, making her the second recipient of the accolade after Garth Brooks. During this time, she had a short-term relationship with English singer Harry Styles.
In 2013, Swift recorded "Sweeter than Fiction", a song she wrote and produced with Jack Antonoff for the One Chance film soundtrack. The song received a Best Original Song nomination at the 71st Golden Globe Awards. She provided guest vocals for Tim McGraw's song "Highway Don't Care", featuring guitar work by Keith Urban. Swift performed "As Tears Go By" with the Rolling Stones in Chicago, Illinois as part of the band's 50 & Counting tour. She joined Florida Georgia Line on stage during their set at the 2013 Country Radio Seminar to sing "Cruise". Swift voiced Audrey, a tree lover, in the animated film The Lorax (2012), made a cameo in the sitcom New Girl (2013), and had a supporting role in the film adaptation of The Giver (2014).
2014–2018: 1989 and Reputation
In March 2014, Swift lived in New York City. Around this time, she was working on her fifth studio album, 1989, with producers Jack Antonoff, Max Martin, Shellback, Imogen Heap, Ryan Tedder, and Ali Payami. She promoted the album through various campaigns, including inviting fans to secret album-listening sessions. Influenced by 1980s synth-pop, Swift severed ties with the country sound of her previous albums, and marketed 1989 as her "first documented, official pop album". The album was released on October 27, 2014, and debuted atop the US Billboard 200 with sales of 1.28 million copies in its first week. This made Swift the first act to have three albums sell more than one million copies in their opening week, for which she earned a Guinness World Record. By June 2017, 1989 had sold over 10 million copies worldwide. Three of its singles—"Shake It Off", "Blank Space", and "Bad Blood" featuring rapper Kendrick Lamar—reached number one in Australia, Canada, and the U.S. The singles "Style" and "Wildest Dreams" reached the top 10 in the U.S. Other singles were "Out of the Woods" and "New Romantics". The 1989 World Tour ran from May to December 2015 and was the highest-grossing tour of the year with $250 million in total revenue.
Prior to 1989s release, Swift stressed the importance of albums to artists and fans. In November 2014, she removed her entire catalog from Spotify, arguing that the streaming company's ad-supported, free service undermined the premium service, which provides higher royalties for songwriters. In a June 2015 open letter, Swift criticized Apple Music for not offering royalties to artists during the streaming service's free three-month trial period and stated that she would pull 1989 from the catalog. The following day, Apple announced that it would pay artists during the free trial period, and Swift agreed to stream 1989 on the streaming service. Swift's intellectual property rights management and holding company, TAS Rights Management, filed for 73 trademarks related to Swift and the 1989 era memes. She re-added her entire catalog plus 1989 to Spotify, Amazon Music and Google Play and other digital streaming platforms in June 2017.
Swift was named Billboards Woman of the Year in 2014, becoming the first artist to win the award twice. At the 2014 American Music Awards, Swift received the inaugural Dick Clark Award for Excellence. In 2015, Swift won the Brit Award for International Female Solo Artist. The video for "Bad Blood" won Video of the Year and Best Collaboration at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards. Swift was one of eight artists to receive a 50th Anniversary Milestone Award at the 2015 Academy of Country Music Awards. At the 58th Grammy Awards in 2016, 1989 won Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album, and "Bad Blood" won Best Music Video. Swift was the first woman and fifth act overall to win Album of the Year twice as a lead artist.
Swift dated Scottish DJ and record producer Calvin Harris from March 2015 to June 2016. Prior to their breakup, they co-wrote the song "This Is What You Came For", which features vocals from Barbadian singer Rihanna; Swift was initially credited under the pseudonym Nils Sjöberg. After briefly dating English actor Tom Hiddleston for a few months, Swift began dating English actor Joe Alwyn in September 2016. She wrote the song "Better Man" for Little Big Town's seventh album, The Breaker, which was released in November. The song earned Swift an award for Song of the Year at the 51st CMA Awards. Swift and English singer Zayn Malik released a single together, "I Don't Wanna Live Forever", for the soundtrack of the film Fifty Shades Darker (2017). The song reached number two in the U.S. and won Best Collaboration at the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards.
In August 2017, Swift successfully sued David Mueller, a former morning show personality for Denver's KYGO-FM. Four years earlier, Swift had informed Mueller's bosses that he had sexually assaulted her by groping her at an event. After being fired, Mueller accused Swift of lying and sued her for damages from his loss of employment. Shortly after, Swift counter-sued for sexual assault for nominal damages of only a dollar. The jury rejected Mueller's claims and ruled in favor of Swift. After a year of hiatus from public spotlight, Swift cleared her social media accounts and released "Look What You Made Me Do" as the lead single from her sixth album, Reputation. The single was Swift's first number-one U.K. single. It topped charts in Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, and the U.S.
Reputation was released on November 10, 2017. The album incorporates a heavy electropop sound, with hip hop, R&B and EDM influences. It debuted atop the Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 1.21 million copies. With this achievement, Swift became the first act to have four albums sell one million copies within one week in the U.S. The album topped the charts in the UK, Australia, and Canada. First-week worldwide sales amounted to two million copies. The album had sold over 4.5 million copies worldwide as of 2018. It spawned three other international singles, including the U.S. top-five entry "...Ready for It?", and two U.S. top-20 singles—"End Game" (featuring Ed Sheeran and rapper Future) and "Delicate". Other singles include "New Year's Day", which was exclusively released to U.S. country radio, and "Getaway Car", which was released in Australia only.
In April 2018, Swift featured on Sugarland's "Babe" from their album Bigger. In support of Reputation, she embarked on her Reputation Stadium Tour, which ran from May to November 2018. In the U.S., the tour grossed $266.1 million in box office and sold over two million tickets, breaking Swift's own record for the highest-grossing U.S. tour by a woman, which was previously held by her 1989 World Tour in 2015 ($181.5 million). It also broke the record for the highest-grossing North American concert tour in history. Worldwide, the tour grossed $345.7 million, making it the second highest-grossing concert tour of the year. On December 31, Swift released her Reputation Stadium Tour's accompanying concert film on Netflix.
Reputation was nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards in 2019. At the American Music Awards of 2018, Swift won four awards, including Artist of the Year and Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist. After the 2018 AMAs, Swift garnered a total of 23 awards, becoming the most awarded female musician in AMA history, a record previously held by Whitney Houston.
2018–2020: Lover and masters dispute
Reputation was Swift's last album under her 12-year contract with Big Machine Records. In November 2018, she signed a new multi-album deal with Big Machine's distributor Universal Music Group; in the U.S. her subsequent releases were promoted under the Republic Records imprint. Swift said the contract included a provision for her to maintain ownership of her master recordings. In addition, in the event that Universal sells any part of its stake in Spotify, which agreed to distribute a non-recoupable portion of the proceeds among their artists. Vox called it is a huge commitment from Universal, which was "far from assured" until Swift intervened.
Swift released her seventh studio album, Lover, on August 23, 2019. Besides longtime collaborator Jack Antonoff, Swift worked with new producers Louis Bell, Frank Dukes, and Joel Little. Lover made Swift the first female artist to have sixth consecutive album sell more than 500,000 copies in one week in the U.S. All 18 songs from the album charted on the Billboard Hot 100 the same week, setting a record for the most simultaneous entries by a woman. The lead single, "Me!", debuted at number 100 on the Billboard Hot 100 and rose to number two a week later, scoring the biggest single-week jump in chart history. Other singles from Lover were the U.S. top-10 singles "You Need to Calm Down" and "Lover", and U.S. top-40 single "The Man".
Lover was the world's best-selling studio album of 2019, selling 3.2 million copies. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) honored Swift as the global best-selling artist of 2019. Swift became first woman to win the honor twice, having previously won in 2014. The album earned accolades, including three nominations at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards in 2020. At the 2019 MTV Video Music Awards, "Me!" won Best Visual Effects, and "You Need to Calm Down" won Video of the Year and Video for Good. Swift was the first female and second artist overall to win Video of the Year for a video that they directed.
Swift played Bombalurina in the movie adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Cats (2019). For the film's soundtrack, she co-wrote and recorded the Golden Globe-nominated original song "Beautiful Ghosts". Although critics reviewed the film negatively, Swift received positive feedback for her role and musical performance. The documentary Miss Americana, which chronicles part of Swift's life and career, premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival and was released on Netflix that January. Miss Americana features the song "Only the Young", which Swift wrote after the 2018 United States elections. In February 2020, Swift signed an exclusive global publishing deal with Universal Music Publishing Group, after her 16-year-old contract with Sony/ATV Music Publishing expired.
In 2019, Swift became embroiled in a publicized dispute with talent manager Scooter Braun and her former label Big Machine, regarding the acquisition of the masters of her back catalog. Swift stated on her Tumblr blog that she had been trying to buy the masters for years, but Big Machine only allowed her to do so if she exchanged a new album for an older one under another contract, which she refused to do. Against Swift's authorization, Big Machine, in April 2020, released Live from Clear Channel Stripped 2008, a live album of Swift's performances at a radio show. In October, Braun sold Swift's masters, videos and artworks, to Shamrock Holdings for a reported $300 million. Swift began re-recording her back catalog in November 2020. Rolling Stone highlighted this decision, along with her opposition to low royalties for artists from streaming services such as Spotify and Apple Music as two of the music industry's most defining moments in the 2010s decade. In April 2020, Swift was scheduled to embark on Lover Fest, the supporting concert tour for Lover, which was canceled after the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.
2020–present: Folklore, Evermore, and re-recordings
In 2020, Swift released two surprise albums with little promotion, to critical acclaim. The first, her eighth studio album Folklore, was released on July 24. The second, her ninth studio album Evermore, was released on December 11. Described by Swift and Dessner as "sister records", both albums incorporate indie folk and alternative rock, departing from the previous upbeat pop releases. Swift wrote and recorded the albums while in isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic, working with producers Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner from the National. Both albums feature collaborations with Bon Iver, and Evermore features collaborations with the National and Haim. Swift's boyfriend Joe Alwyn co-wrote and co-produced select songs under the pseudonym William Bowery. The making of Folklore was discussed in the concert documentary Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions, directed by Swift and released on November 25.
In the U.S., Folklore and Evermore were each supported by three singles—one to mainstream radio, one to country radio, and one to triple A radio. The singles in that order were "Cardigan", "Betty", "Exile" (featuring Bon Iver); and "Willow", "No Body, No Crime" (featuring Haim), "Coney Island" (featuring the National); respectively. The lead singles from each album, "Cardigan" and "Willow", opened at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 the same week their parent albums debuted atop the Billboard 200. This made Swift the first artist to debut atop both the U.S. singles and albums charts simultaneously twice. Each album sold over one million units worldwide in its first week, with Folklore selling two million. Folklore broke the Guinness World Record for the highest first-day album streams by a female artist on Spotify, and was the best-selling album of 2020 in the U.S., having sold 1.2 million copies. Swift was 2020's highest-paid musician in the U.S., and highest-paid solo musician worldwide. At the 2020 American Music Awards, Swift won three awards, including Artist of the Year for a record third consecutive time. Folklore won Album of the Year at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards, making Swift the first woman in history to win the award three times.
Following the masters controversy, Swift released two re-recordings in 2021, adding "Taylor's Version" to their titles. The first, Fearless (Taylor's Version), peaked atop the Billboard 200, becoming the first re-recorded album to do so. It was preceded by the three tracks: "Love Story (Taylor's Version)", "You All Over Me" with Maren Morris, and "Mr. Perfectly Fine", the first of which made Swift the second artist after Dolly Parton to have both the original and the re-recording of a single at number one on the Hot Country Songs. Swift released "Wildest Dreams (Taylors Version)" on September 17, after the original song gained traction on the online-video sharing app TikTok. The second re-recording Red (Taylor's Version) was released on November 12. Its final track, "All Too Well (10 Minute Version)"—accompanied by All Too Well: The Short Film directed by Swift—debuted at number one on the Hot 100, becoming the longest song in history to top the chart. She was the highest-paid female musician of 2021, whereas both her 2020 albums and the re-recordings were ranked among the 10 best-selling albums of the year. In May 2021, Swift was awarded the Global Icon Award by the Brit Awards and the Songwriter Icon Award by the National Music Publishers' Association.
Outside her albums, Swift featured on four songs in 2021–2022: "Renegade" and "Birch" by Big Red Machine, a remix of Haim's "Gasoline" and Ed Sheeran's "The Joker and the Queen". She has been cast in David O. Russell's untitled film slated for release in November 2022.
Artistry
Influences
One of Swift's earliest musical memories is listening to her grandmother, Marjorie Finlay, sing in church. As a child, she enjoyed Disney film soundtracks: "My parents noticed that, once I had run out of words, I would just make up my own". Swift has said she owes her confidence to her mother, who helped her prepare for class presentations as a child. She also attributes her "fascination with writing and storytelling" to her mother. Swift was drawn to the storytelling aspect of country music, and was introduced to the genre listening to "the great female country artists" of the 1990s—Shania Twain, Faith Hill, and the Dixie Chicks. Twain, both as a songwriter and performer, was her biggest musical influence. Hill was Swift's childhood role model: "Everything she said, did, wore, I tried to copy it". She admired the Dixie Chicks' defiant attitude and their ability to play their own instruments. "Kiss Me" by Sixpence None the Richer was the first song Swift learned to play on the guitar. Swift also explored the music of older country stars such as Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, Tammy Wynette, and Dolly Parton, the latter of whom she believes is "an amazing example to every female songwriter out there", and alt-country artists like Patty Griffin and Lori McKenna. She has also cited Keith Urban's musical style as an influence.
Swift has also been influenced by various pop and rock artists. She lists Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen, Bryan Adams, Emmylou Harris, Kris Kristofferson, and Carly Simon as her career role models. Discussing McCartney and Harris, Swift has said, "They've taken chances, but they've also been the same artist for their entire careers". McCartney, both as a Beatle and a solo artist, makes Swift feel "as if I've been let into his heart and his mind [...] He's out there continuing to make his fans so happy. Any musician could only dream of a legacy like that." She likes Springsteen for being "so musically relevant after such a long period of time". She aspires to be like Harris as she grows older because of prioritizing music over fame. Swift says of Kristofferson that he "shines in songwriting", and admires Simon for being "an emotional" but "a strong person". Her synth-pop album 1989 was influenced by some of her favorite 1980s pop acts, including Peter Gabriel, Annie Lennox, Phil Collins and Madonna. As a songwriter, Swift was influenced by Joni Mitchell for her autobiographical lyrics conveying the deepest emotions: "She wrote it about her deepest pains and most haunting demons ... I think [Blue] is my favorite because it explores somebody's soul so deeply".
Musical styles
Swift's discography spans country, pop, folk, and alternative genres. Her first three studio albums, Taylor Swift, Fearless and Speak Now are categorized as country; her eclectic fourth studio album, Red, is dubbed both country and pop; her next three albums 1989, Reputation and Lover are labeled pop; and Folklore and Evermore are considered alternative. Music critics have described her songs as synth-pop, country pop, rock, electropop, and indie, amongst others; some songs, especially those on Reputation, incorporate elements of R&B, EDM, hip hop, and trap. The music instruments Swift plays include the piano, banjo, ukulele and various types of guitar. Swift described herself as a country artist until the release of 1989, which she characterized as her first "sonically cohesive pop album".
Rolling Stone wrote, "[Swift] might get played on the country station, but she's one of the few genuine rock stars we've got these days." According to The New York Times, "There isn't much in Ms. Swift's music to indicate country—a few banjo strums, a pair of cowboy boots worn onstage, a bedazzled guitar—but there's something in her winsome, vulnerable delivery that's unique to Nashville." The Guardian wrote that Swift "cranks melodies out with the pitiless efficiency of a Scandinavian pop factory." Consequence pinpointed her "capacity to continually reinvent while remaining herself", while Time dubbed Swift a "musical chameleon" for the constantly evolving sound of her discography. Clash said her career "has always been one of transcendence and covert boundary-pushing", reaching a point at which "Taylor Swift is just Taylor Swift", not defined by any genre.
Voice
Swift possesses a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Her singing voice is "sweet but soft" according to Sophie Schillaci of The Hollywood Reporter. Pitchfork's Sam Sodomsky called it "versatile and expressive". Music theory professor Alyssa Barna described the timbre of Swift's upper register as "breathy and bright", and her lower register "full and dark". The Los Angeles Times identified Swift's "defining" vocal gesture in studio recordings as "the line that slides down like a contented sigh or up like a raised eyebrow, giving her beloved girl-time hits their air of easy intimacy." In 2010, a writer from The Tennessean conceded that Swift was "not the best technical singer", but described her as the "best communicator that we've got". According to Swift, her vocal ability often concerned her in her early career, and she worked hard to improve it. She said she only feels nervous performing live "if I'm not sure what the audience thinks of me, like at award shows". The Hollywood Reporter wrote that her live vocals were "fine", but did not match those of her peers.
Though Swift's singing ability received mixed reviews early in her career, she was praised for refusing to correct her pitch with Auto-Tune. Rolling Stone found her voice "unaffected enough to mask how masterful she has become as a singer", while The Village Voice noted the improvement from her previously "bland and muddled" phrasing to her learning "how to make words sound like what they mean". In 2014, NPR Music described her singing as personal and conversational thanks to her "exceptional gift for inflection", but also suffered from a "wobbly pitch and tight, nasal delivery". Beginning with Folklore, she received better reviews for her vocals; Variety critic Andrew Barker noted the "remarkable" control she developed over her vocals, never allowing a "flourish or a tricky run to compromise the clarity of a lyric", while doing "wonders within her register" and "exploring its further reaches". Reviewing Fearless (Taylor's Version), The New York Times critic Lindsay Zoladz described her voice as stronger, more controlled, and deeper over time, discarding the nasal tone of her early vocals. Lucy Harbron of Clash opined that Swift's vocals have evolved "into her own unique blend of country, pop and indie".
Songwriting
Swift has been referred to as one of the greatest songwriters of all time and the best of her generation by various publications and organizations. She told The New Yorker in 2011 that she identifies as a songwriter first: "I write songs, and my voice is just a way to get those lyrics across." Swift's personal experiences were a common inspiration for her early songs, which helped her navigate the complexities of life. Her "diaristic" technique began with identifying an emotion, followed by a corresponding melody. On her first three studio albums, recurring themes were love, heartbreak, and insecurities, from an adolescent perspective. She delved into the tumult of toxic relationships on Red, and embraced nostalgia and positivity after failed relationships on 1989. Reputation was inspired by the downsides of Swift's fame, and Lover detailed her realization of the "full spectrum of love". Besides romance, other themes in Swift's music include parent-child relationships, friendships, alienation, and self-awareness.
Music critics often praise her self-written discography, especially her confessional narratives; they compliment her writing for its vivid details and emotional engagement, which were rare among pop artists. New York magazine argued that Swift was the first teenage artist who explicitly portrayed teenage experiences in her music. Rolling Stone described Swift as "a songwriting savant with an intuitive gift for verse-chorus-bridge architecture". Although reviews of Swift are generally positive, The New Yorker stated she was generally portrayed "more as a skilled technician than as a Dylanesque visionary". Because of her confessional narratives, tabloid media often speculated and linked the subjects of the songs with ex-lovers of Swift, a practice which New York magazine considered "sexist, inasmuch as it's not asked of her male peers". Aside from clues provided in album liner notes, Swift avoided talking about song subjects specifically. In a 2013 interview with Vanity Fair, Swift stated that the criticism on her songwriting—critics interpreted her persona as a "clingy, insane, desperate girlfriend in need of making you marry her and have kids with her"—was "a little sexist".
On her 2020 albums Folklore and Evermore, Swift was inspired by escapism and romanticism to explore fictional narratives. Without referencing her personal life, she imposed her emotions onto imagined characters and story arcs, which liberated her from the mental stress caused by tabloid attention and suggested new paths for her artistry. In a feature for Rolling Stone, Swift explained that she welcomed the new songwriting direction after she stopped worrying about commercial success: "I always thought, 'That'll never track on pop radio,' but when I was making Folklore, I thought, 'If you take away all the parameters, what do you make?" With the release of Evermore, Spin found Swift exploring "exceedingly complex human emotions with precision and devastation". Consequence stated her 2020 albums "offered a chance for doubters to see Swift's songwriting power on full display, but the truth is that her pen has always been her sword" and that her writing prowess took "different forms" as she transformed from "teenage wunderkind to a confident and careful adult."
Swift's bridges have been underscored as one of the best aspects of her songs and earned her the title "Queen of Bridges" from media outlets. Awarding her with the Songwriter Icon Award in 2021, the National Music Publishers' Association remarked that "no one is more influential when it comes to writing music today" than Swift. The Week deemed her the foremost female songwriter of modern times. Swift has also published two original poems: "Why She Disappeared" and "If You're Anything Like Me".
Music videos
Swift has collaborated with many different directors to produce her music videos, and over time she has become more involved with writing and directing. She has her own production house, Taylor Swift Productions, Inc., which is credited with producing music videos for singles such as "Me!". Swift developed the concept and treatment for "Mean", and co-directed the music video for "Mine" with Roman White. In an interview, White elaborated that Swift "was keenly involved in writing the treatment, casting and wardrobe. And she stayed for both the 15-hour shooting days, even when she wasn't in the scenes."
From 2014 to 2018, Swift collaborated with director Joseph Kahn on eight music videos—four each from her albums 1989 and Reputation. Kahn has praised Swift's involvement in the craft. She worked with American Express for the "Blank Space" music video (which Kahn directed), and served as an executive producer for the interactive app AMEX Unstaged: Taylor Swift Experience, for which she won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Interactive Program in 2015. She produced the music video for "Bad Blood" and won a Grammy Award for Best Music Video in 2016. While she continued to co-direct music videos with the Lover singles—"Me!" with Dave Meyers, "You Need to Calm Down" (also serving as a co-executive producer) and "Lover" with Drew Kirsch—she ventured into sole direction with the videos for "The Man" (which won her the MTV Video Music Award for Best Direction), "Cardigan" and "Willow".
Public image
Swift became a teen idol with her debut, and a pop icon following global fame. Journalists have written about her polite, "open" personality, "willing to play along" during the course of an interview. J. Freedom du Lac of The Washington Post called Swift a "media darling" and "a reporter's dream". The Guardian attributed her disposition to her formative years in country music. The Hollywood Reporter described Swift as "the Best People Person since Bill Clinton". While presenting her with an award for her humanitarian endeavors in 2012, former First Lady Michelle Obama described Swift as an artist who "has rocketed to the top of the music industry but still keeps her feet on the ground, someone who has shattered every expectation of what a 22-year-old can accomplish"; Swift considers Obama to be a role model.
In 2015, Vanity Fair referred to Swift as "the most famous and influential entertainer on Earth". According to YouGov surveys, she ranked as the world's most admired female musician from 2019 to 2021. One of the most followed people on social media, Swift is known for her frequent and friendly interactions with her fans, delivering holiday gifts to them by mail and in person. She considers it her "responsibility" to be conscious of her influence on young fans, praising her relationship with her fans as "the longest and best" she has ever had. Swift regularly incorporates easter eggs into her works and social media posts for fans to figure out clues about a forthcoming release. Fawzia Khan of Elle attributes Swift's "perennial" success partly to her intimacy with fans.
Media outlets describe Swift as a savvy businessperson. According to marketing executive Matt B. Britton, her business acumen has helped her "excel as an authentic personality who establishes direct connections with her audience", "touch as many people as possible", and "generate a kind of advocacy and excitement that no level of advertising could." Describing her omnipresence, The Ringer writer Kate Knibbs said Swift is not just a pop act but "a musical biosphere unto herself", having achieved the kind of success "that turns a person into an institution, into an inevitability."
Though Swift is reluctant to publicly discuss her personal life—believing it to be "a career weakness"—it is a topic of widespread media attention and tabloid speculation. Clash described her as a lightning rod for both praise and criticism. While The New York Times asserted in 2013 that Swift's "dating history has begun to stir what feels like the beginning of a backlash" and questioned whether she was in the midst of a "quarter-life crisis", certain critics have highlighted the misogyny and slut-shaming Swift's life and career have been subject to. She parodied this scrutiny in "Blank Space". Rolling Stone said, after the release of 1989, "everything she did was a story", with a non-stop news cycle about her, leaving her overexposed. Much of Reputation was conceived under the "intense" media scrutiny she experienced in 2015 and 2016, causing her to adopt a dark, defensive alter ego on the album. She criticized sexist double standards and gaslighting in "The Man" (2019) and "Mad Woman" (2020), respectively. When asked "why sing to the haters?" by CBS journalist Tracy Smith, Swift replied, "well, when they stop coming for me, I will stop singing to them." Glamour opined Swift is an easy target for male derision and triggers "fragile male egos" to take "pot-shots" at her career. The Daily Telegraph said her antennae for sexism is crucial for the industry and that she "must continue holding people to account".
Fashion
Swift's fashion is often covered by media outlets, with her street style receiving acclaim. Her fashion appeal has been picked up by several media publications, such as People, Elle, Vogue, and Maxim. Vogue regards Swift as one of the world's most influential figures in sustainable fashion. Elle highlighted the various styles she has adopted throughout her career, including the "curly-haired teenager" of her early days to "red-lipped pop bombshell" with "platinum blonde hair and sultry makeup looks" later on. Swift is known for reinventing her image often, corresponding each one of her albums to a specific aesthetic. Swift also popularized cottagecore with Folklore and Evermore. Consequence opined that Swift's looks evolved from "girl-next-door country act to pop star to woodsy poet over a decade."
Though labeled by the media as "America's Sweetheart", a sobriquet based on her down-to-earth personality and girl-next-door image, Swift insists she does not "live by all these rigid, weird rules that make me feel all fenced in. I just like the way that I feel like, and that makes me feel very free". Although she refused to take part in "sexy" photoshoots in 2012, she stated "it's nice to be glamorous" in 2015. Bloomberg views Swift as a sex symbol, albeit of a subtle and sophisticated variety unlike many of her female contemporaries.
Impact
Swift's career helped shape the modern country music scene. According to music journalist Jody Rosen, Swift is the first country artist whose fame reached the world beyond the U.S. Her chart success extended to Asia and the U.K., where country music had previously not been popular. She is recognized as one of the first country artists to use technology and viral marketing techniques, such as MySpace, to promote their work. According to Chris Willman of Entertainment Weekly, the commercial success of her debut album helped the infant Big Machine Records go on to sign Garth Brooks and Jewel. Following Swift's rise to fame, country labels became more interested in signing young singers who write their own music. With her autobiographical narratives revolving around romance and heartbreak, she introduced the genre to a younger generation that could relate to her personally. Critics have since noted the impact of Swift's sound on various albums released by female country singers such as Kacey Musgraves, Maren Morris and Kelsea Ballerini. Rolling Stone listed her country music as one of the biggest influences on 2010s pop music and ranked her 80th in their list of 100 Greatest Country Artists of All Time.Her onstage performance with guitars contributed to the "Taylor Swift factor", a phenomenon to which the rise in guitar sales to women, a previously ignored demographic, is attributed. Pitchfork opined that Swift changed the contemporary music landscape forever with her "unprecedented path from teenage country prodigy to global pop sensation" and a "singularly perceptive" discography that consistently accommodates both musical and cultural shifts. Clash stated Swift's genre-spanning career encouraged her peers to experiment with diverse sounds. Billboard credited her with influencing artists to take creative ownership of their music and remarked she "has the power to pull any sound she wants into mainstream orbit." Music journalist Nick Catucci wrote that, in being personal and vulnerable in her lyrics, Swift helped make space for later pop stars like Billie Eilish, Ariana Grande, and Halsey to do the same. According to The Guardian, Swift leads the rebirth of poptimism in the 21st-century with her ambitious artistic vision.
Publications consider Swift's million-selling albums an anomaly in the streaming-dominated music industry following the decline of the album era in the 2010s. For this reason, musicologists Mary Fogarty and Gina Arnold regard her as "the last great rock star". Swift is the only artist to have four albums sell over one million copies in one week since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking sales for the Billboard 200 in 1991. To New York magazine, her million sales figures prove that she is "the one bending the music industry to her will". The Atlantic notes that Swift's "reign" defies the convention that the successful phase of an artist's career rarely lasts more than a few years. She is a champion of independent record shops, having contributed to the 21st-century vinyl revival. Journalists note how her actions have fostered debate over reforms to on-demand music streaming and prompted awareness of intellectual property rights among younger musicians, praising her ability to bring change in the music industry.
She was named Woman of the Decade for the 2010s by Billboard, became the first woman to earn the title Artist of the Decade (2010s) at the American Music Awards, and received the Brit Global Icon Award "in recognition of her immense impact on music across the world". Swift has influenced various mainstream and indie recording artists. Various sources deem her music to be representative and paradigmatic of the millennial generation, owing to her success, musical versatility, social media presence, live shows, and corporate sponsorship. Vox called Swift the "millennial Bruce Springsteen" for telling the stories of a generation through her songs. Student societies focusing on her were established in various universities around the world, such as Oxford, York, and Cambridge. New York University Tisch School of the Arts offers a course on Swift's career. Some of her popular songs like "Love Story" are studied by evolutionary psychologists to understand the relationship between popular music and human mating strategies.
Accolades and achievements
Swift has won 11 Grammy Awards (including three Album of the Year wins—tied for most by an artist), an Emmy Award, 34 American Music Awards (most wins by an artist), 25 Billboard Music Awards (most wins by a woman), 56 Guinness World Records, 12 Country Music Association Awards (including the Pinnacle Award), eight Academy of Country Music Awards, and two Brit Awards. As a songwriter, she has been honored by the Nashville Songwriters Association, the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and the National Music Publishers' Association and was the youngest person on Rolling Stone list of the 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time in 2015. At the 64th BMI Awards in 2016, Swift was the first woman to be honored with an award named after its recipient. Her albums Red and 1989 appeared on Rolling Stone's 2020 revision of their 500 Greatest Albums of All Time; in 2021, her "Blank Space" music video named one of Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Music Videos of All Time, while the songs "All Too Well" and "Blank Space" were on its 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
From available data, Swift has amassed over 50 million album sales, 150 million singles sales, and 114 million units in album consumption worldwide, including 78 billion streams. Swift has the most number-one albums in the United Kingdom and Ireland for a female artist in this millennium, and is the best-selling artist of all time on Chinese digital music platforms with in income. She is the only female artist to have received more than 100 million global streams on Spotify in a day, with over 122 million streams on November 11, 2021. Swift broke the record for the highest-grossing North American tour of all time with her Reputation Stadium Tour (2018) and is the world's highest-grossing female touring act of the 2010s. She has the most entries and the most simultaneous entries for an artist on the Billboard Global 200, with 69 and 31 songs, respectively.
In the US, Swift has sold over 37.3 million albums as of 2019, when Billboard placed her eighth on its Greatest of All Time Artists Chart. She is the longest-reigning act of Billboard Artist 100 (50 weeks at number one), the solo act with the most cumulative weeks (55) atop the Billboard 200, the woman with the most weeks atop the Top Country Albums (98) and the most Billboard Hot 100 entries in history (165), and the artist with the most Digital Songs number-ones (23). She is the second highest-certified female digital singles artist (and third overall) in the US, with 134 million total units certified by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and the first female artist to have both an album (Fearless) and a song ("Shake It Off") certified Diamond. In 2021, one of every 50 albums sold in the US was Swift's, who became the first woman to have five albums—1989, Taylor Swift, Fearless, Red and Reputation—chart for 150 weeks each on the Billboard 200.
Swift has appeared in various power listings. Time included her on its annual list of the 100 most influential people in 2010, 2015, and 2019. She was one of the "Silence Breakers" honored as Time Person of the Year in 2017 for speaking up about sexual assault. From 2011 to 2020, Swift appeared in the top three on the Forbes Top-Earning Women in Music list, placing first in 2016 and 2019. In 2014, she was named to Forbes' 30 Under 30 list in the music category and again in 2017 in its "All-Star Alumni" category. In 2015, Swift became the youngest woman to be included on Forbes list of the 100 most powerful women, ranked at number 64. She was the most googled female musician of 2019.
Other activities
Wealth and properties
In 2021, Forbes estimated Swift's net worth at US$550 million, coming from her music, merchandise, promotions, and concerts. She topped the magazine's list of the 100 highest-paid celebrities in 2016 with $170 million—a feat recognized by the Guinness World Records as the highest annual earnings ever for a female musician, which she herself surpassed in 2019 with $185 million. Swift was the highest-paid female musician of the 2010s, with $825 million earned.
Swift has invested in a real estate portfolio worth $84 million. For example, she purchased the Samuel Goldwyn Estate, a Georgian-revival house in Beverly Hills, for $25 million in 2015, which she has since restored to its original condition and contains Swift's home studio, Kitty Committee, where she recorded songs for Folklore. In 2013, she purchased the Holiday House, a seafront mansion in Watch Hill, Rhode Island. Gina Raimondo, then-Governor of Rhode Island, proposed in 2015 a statewide property tax for second homes worth more than $1 million, dubbed the "Taylor Swift tax". In New York City, her $47 million worth of property on a single block in Tribeca includes a $19.95 million duplex penthouse, an $18 million four-story townhouse, and a $9.75 million apartment purchased in 2014, 2017 and 2018, respectively.
Philanthropy
Swift is well known for her philanthropic efforts. She was ranked at number one on DoSomething's "Gone Good" list, and has received the "Star of Compassion" accolade from the Tennessee Disaster Services, The Big Help Award from the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards for her "dedication to helping others" as well as "inspiring others through action", and the Ripple of Hope Award for her "dedication to advocacy at such a young age". In 2008, she donated $100,000 to the Red Cross to help the victims of the Iowa flood. Swift has performed at charity relief events, including Sydney's Sound Relief concert. In response to the May 2010 Tennessee floods, Swift donated $500,000 during a telethon hosted by WSMV. In 2011, Swift used a dress rehearsal of her Speak Now tour as a benefit concert for victims of recent tornadoes in the U.S., raising more than $750,000. In 2016, she donated $1 million to Louisiana flood relief efforts and $100,000 to the Dolly Parton Fire Fund. Swift donated to the Houston Food Bank after Hurricane Harvey struck the city in 2017. In 2020, she donated $1 million for Tennessee tornado relief.
Swift is a supporter of the arts. She is a benefactor of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. She has donated $75,000 to Nashville's Hendersonville High School to help refurbish the school auditorium, $4 million to fund the building of a new education center at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, $60,000 to the music departments of six U.S. colleges, and $100,000 to the Nashville Symphony. Also a promoter of children's literacy, she has donated money and books to various schools around the country to improve education. In 2007, Swift partnered with the Tennessee Association of Chiefs of Police to launch a campaign to protect children from online predators. She has donated items to several charities for auction, including the Elton John AIDS Foundation, the UNICEF Tap Project, MusiCares, and Feeding America. As recipient of the Academy of Country Music's Entertainer of the Year in 2011, Swift donated $25,000 to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Tennessee. In 2012, Swift participated in the Stand Up to Cancer telethon, performing the charity single "Ronan", which she wrote in memory of a four-year-old boy who died of neuroblastoma. She has also donated $100,000 to the V Foundation for Cancer Research and $50,000 to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Swift has encouraged young people to volunteer in their local communities as part of Global Youth Service Day.
Swift donated to fellow singer-songwriter Kesha to help with her legal battles against Dr. Luke and to actress Mariska Hargitay's Joyful Heart Foundation organization. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Swift donated to the World Health Organization and Feeding America and offered one of her signed guitars as part of an auction to raise money for the National Health Service. Swift performed "Soon You'll Get Better" during One World: Together At Home television special, a benefit concert curated by Lady Gaga for Global Citizen to raise funds for the World Health Organization's COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund. In 2018 and 2021, Swift donated to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network in honor of Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month. In addition to charitable causes, she has made donations to her fans several times for their medical or academic expenses.
Politics and activism
Swift is pro-choice, and has been regarded as a feminist icon by various publications. During the 2008 United States presidential election, she promoted the Every Woman Counts campaign, aimed at engaging women in the political process. She was one of the founding signatories of the Time's Up movement against sexual harassment. Swift has also spoken out against LGBT discrimination, which was the theme of the music video for "Mean". On multiple occasions, she encouraged support for the Equality Act, which prohibits discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation and gender identity, among others. In 2019, she donated to the LGBT organizations Tennessee Equality Project and GLAAD.
Swift avoided discussing politics in her early career because country record label executives insisted "Don't be like the Dixie Chicks!", and first became active during the 2018 United States elections. She declared her support for Democrats Jim Cooper and Phil Bredesen to represent Tennessee in the House of Representatives and Senate, respectively, and expressed her desire for greater LGBT rights, gender equality and racial equality, condemned systemic racism. In August 2020, Swift urged her fans to check their voter registration ahead of elections, which resulted in 65,000 people registering to vote within a day after her post. She endorsed Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in the 2020 United States presidential election, and was found to be one of the most influential celebrities in the polls.
Swift has supported the March for Our Lives movement and gun control reform in the U.S, and is a vocal critic of white supremacy, racism, and police brutality in the country. Following the murders of African-American men Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd, she donated to the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and the Black Lives Matter movement. After then-president Donald Trump posted a controversial tweet on the unrest in Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Swift accused him of promoting white supremacy and racism in his term. She called for the removal of Confederate monuments of "racist historical figures" in Tennessee, and advocated for Juneteenth to become a national holiday.
Endorsements
During the Fearless era, Swift supported campaigns by Verizon Wireless and "Got Milk?". She launched a l.e.i. sundress range at Walmart, and designed American Greetings cards and Jakks Pacific dolls. She became a spokesperson for the National Hockey League's (NHL) Nashville Predators and Sony Cyber-shot digital cameras. She launched two Elizabeth Arden fragrances—Wonderstruck and Wonderstruck Enchanted. In 2013, she released the fragrances Taylor by Taylor Swift and Taylor by Taylor Swift: Made of Starlight, followed by her fifth fragrance, Incredible Things, in 2014.
Swift signed a multi-year deal with AT&T in 2016. She later headlined DirecTV's Super Saturday Night event on the eve of the 2017 Super Bowl. In 2019, Swift signed a multi-year partnership with Capital One, and released a sustainable clothing line with Stella McCartney. In 2022, in light of her philanthropic support for independent record stores during the COVID-19 pandemic, Record Store Day named Swift their first-ever global ambassador.
Discography
Studio albums
Taylor Swift (2006)
Fearless (2008)
Speak Now (2010)
Red (2012)
1989 (2014)
Reputation (2017)
Lover (2019)
Folklore (2020)
Evermore (2020)
Re-recordings
Fearless (Taylor's Version) (2021)
Red (Taylor's Version) (2021)
Filmography
Hannah Montana: The Movie (2009)
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2009)
Valentine's Day (2010)
Journey to Fearless (2010)
The Lorax (2012)
The Giver (2014)
The 1989 World Tour Live (2015)
Taylor Swift: Reputation Stadium Tour (2018)
Cats (2019)
Miss Americana (2020)
City of Lover (2020)
Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions (2020)
All Too Well: The Short Film (2021)
Tours
Fearless Tour (2009–2010)
Speak Now World Tour (2011–2012)
The Red Tour (2013–2014)
The 1989 World Tour (2015)
Reputation Stadium Tour (2018)
See also
List of best-selling albums by year in the United States
List of best-selling singles in the United States
List of highest-certified music artists in the United States
Grammy Award records – Youngest artists to win Album of the Year
Grammy Award records – Most Grammys won by a female artist
List of American Grammy Award winners and nominees
List of Grammy Award winners and nominees by country
List of most-followed Instagram accounts
List of most-followed Twitter accounts
List of most-subscribed YouTube channels
Best-selling female artists of all time
Footnotes
References
External links
Taylor Swift
1989 births
Living people
21st-century American actresses
21st-century American guitarists
21st-century American pianists
21st-century American singers
21st-century American women guitarists
21st-century American women pianists
21st-century American women singers
Actresses from Nashville, Tennessee
Alternative rock singers
American acoustic guitarists
American country banjoists
American country guitarists
American country pianists
American country record producers
American country singer-songwriters
American country songwriters
American women country singers
American women pop singers
American women rock singers
American women singer-songwriters
American women songwriters
American women record producers
American feminists
American film actresses
American folk guitarists
American folk musicians
American folk singers
American mezzo-sopranos
American multi-instrumentalists
American music video directors
American people of German descent
American people of Italian descent
American people of Scottish descent
American pop guitarists
American pop pianists
American synth-pop musicians
American television actresses
American voice actresses
American women guitarists
American women pianists
Big Machine Records artists
Brit Award winners
Christians from Tennessee
Country musicians from Tennessee
Emmy Award winners
Female music video directors
Feminist musicians
Forbes 30 Under 30 multi-time recipients
Grammy Award winners
Guitarists from Pennsylvania
Guitarists from Tennessee
MTV Europe Music Award winners
Musicians from Nashville, Tennessee
NME Awards winners
RCA Records artists
Record producers from Tennessee
Republic Records artists
Singer-songwriters from Tennessee
Sony Music Publishing artists
Synth-pop singers
Universal Music Group artists
Featured articles
Singer-songwriters from Pennsylvania | false | [
"Bad for You Baby is the seventeenth and final solo album by Northern Irish blues guitarist and singer-songwriter Gary Moore.\n\nBackground\nThe album features a hard rock-influenced sound similar to the sound of the artist's releases over the previous several years. It includes covers of two songs best known for their versions done by Muddy Waters. The release also includes notable collaborative work with musicians Cassie Taylor and Otis Taylor. It is the last studio album released by Moore during his lifetime; he died on 6 February 2011.\n\nCritical reception\nThe album has received positive critical reviews from publications such as Allmusic, with critic Hal Horowitz stating that Moore's \"under-appreciated voice is strong and convincing on originals and covers\" while the artist's \"tough guitar lines\" also have a \"biting yet classy\" sound.\n\nTrack listing\n\nBonus track\n\nPersonnel\nGary Moore – vocals, guitar, harmonica\nVic Martin – keyboards\nPete Rees – bass\nSam Kelly – drums\nSpecial guest appearance: Otis Taylor (banjo on \"Preacher Man Blues\") and daughter Cassie Taylor (backing vocals on \"Holding On\" and \"Preacher Man Blues\")\n\nReferences\n\n2008 albums\nGary Moore albums\nEagle Records albums",
"Stephanie Taylor (born 1971) is a United States artist based in Los Angeles.\n\nTaylor was born in Port Jefferson, New York. She works in sculpture, illustration, sound and performance. All her work is based on sound, around which she builds narratives through other media. She is interested in the relationships between words, art and sound and often makes soundtracks to accompany her exhibitions.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nStephanie Taylor at artist homepage\nFurther information from the Saatchi Gallery\n\nAmerican artists\nLiving people\n1971 births"
]
|
[
"Taylor Swift",
"Influences",
"What artists influenced Taylor Swift the most?",
"Shania Twain,",
"What other artist influenced Taylor's sound?",
"She has also spoken fondly of singers and songwriters like Michelle Branch, Alanis Morissette, Ashlee Simpson, Fefe Dobson and Justin Timberlake;"
]
| C_e101b306eedc41bd937aff1f1a3b54de_0 | What type of music does Taylor like? | 3 | What type of music does Taylor like? | Taylor Swift | One of Swift's earliest musical memories is listening to her maternal grandmother, Marjorie Finlay, sing in church. As a child, she enjoyed Disney film soundtracks: "My parents noticed that, once I had run out of words, I would just make up my own". Swift has said she owes her confidence to her mother, who helped her prepare for class presentations as a child. She also attributes her "fascination with writing and storytelling" to her mother. Swift was drawn to the storytelling of country music, and was introduced to the genre by "the great female country artists of the '90s"--Shania Twain, Faith Hill and the Dixie Chicks. Twain, both as a songwriter and performer, was her biggest musical influence. Hill was Swift's childhood role model: "Everything she said, did, wore, I tried to copy it". She admired the Dixie Chicks' defiant attitude and their ability to play their own instruments. The band's "Cowboy Take Me Away" was the first song Swift learned to play on the guitar. Swift also explored the music of older country stars, including Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton and Tammy Wynette. She believes Parton is "an amazing example to every female songwriter out there". Alt-country artists such as Ryan Adams, Patty Griffin and Lori McKenna have inspired Swift. Swift lists Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, Emmylou Harris, Kris Kristofferson, and Carly Simon as her career role models: "They've taken chances, but they've also been the same artist for their entire careers". McCartney, both as a Beatle and a solo artist, makes Swift feel "as if I've been let into his heart and his mind ... Any musician could only dream of a legacy like that". She admires Springsteen for being "so musically relevant after such a long period of time". She aspires to be like Harris as she grows older: "It's not about fame for her, it's about music". "[Kristofferson] shines in songwriting ... He's just one of those people who has been in this business for years but you can tell it hasn't chewed him up and spat him out", Swift says. She admires Simon's "songwriting and honesty ... She's known as an emotional person but a strong person". Swift has also been influenced by many artists outside the country genre. As a pre-teen, she enjoyed bubblegum pop acts including Hanson and Britney Spears; Swift has said she has "unwavering devotion" for Spears. In her high school years, Swift listened to rock bands such as Dashboard Confessional, Fall Out Boy, and Jimmy Eat World. She has also spoken fondly of singers and songwriters like Michelle Branch, Alanis Morissette, Ashlee Simpson, Fefe Dobson and Justin Timberlake; and the 1960s acts The Shirelles, Doris Troy, and The Beach Boys. Swift's fifth album, the pop-focused 1989, was influenced by some of her favorite 1980s pop acts, including Annie Lennox, Phil Collins and "Like a Prayer-era Madonna". CANNOTANSWER | Swift listened to rock bands such as Dashboard Confessional, Fall Out Boy, and Jimmy Eat World. | Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Her discography spans multiple genres, and her narrative songwriting, which is often inspired by her personal life, has received widespread media coverage and critical praise. Born in West Reading, Pennsylvania, Swift relocated to Nashville, Tennessee, at the age of 14 to pursue a career in country music. She signed a songwriting deal with Sony/ATV Music Publishing in 2004 and a recording deal with Big Machine Records in 2005, and released her eponymous debut studio album in 2006.
Swift explored country pop on the albums Fearless (2008) and Speak Now (2010); the success of "Love Story" and "You Belong with Me" as singles on both country and pop radio established her as a leading crossover artist. She experimented with pop, rock, and electronic genres on her fourth studio album, Red (2012), supported by the singles "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" and "I Knew You Were Trouble". With her synth-pop fifth studio album 1989 (2014) and its chart-topping songs "Shake It Off", "Blank Space", and "Bad Blood", Swift shed her country image and transitioned to pop completely. The subsequent media scrutiny on Swift's personal life influenced her sixth album Reputation (2017), which delved into urban sounds, led by the single "Look What You Made Me Do".
Parting ways with Big Machine to sign with Republic Records in 2018, Swift released her next studio album, Lover (2019). Inspired by escapism during the COVID-19 pandemic, Swift ventured into indie folk and alternative rock styles on her 2020 studio albums, Folklore and Evermore, receiving acclaim for their nuanced storytelling. To gain ownership over the masters of her back catalog, she released the re-recordings Fearless (Taylor's Version) and Red (Taylor's Version) in 2021. Besides music, Swift has played supporting roles in films such as Valentine's Day (2010) and Cats (2019), has released the autobiographical documentary Miss Americana (2020), and directed the musical films Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions (2020) and All Too Well: The Short Film (2021).
Having sold over 200 million records worldwide, Swift is one of the best-selling musicians of all time.Her concert tours are some of the highest-grossing in history. She has scored eight Billboard Hot 100 number-one songs, and received 11 Grammy Awards (including three Album of the Year wins), an Emmy Award, 34 American Music Awards (the most for an artist) and 56 Guinness World Records, among other accolades. She featured on Rolling Stones 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time (2015) and Billboard Greatest of All Time Artists (2019) lists, and rankings such as the Time 100 and Forbes Celebrity 100. Named the Woman of the 2010s Decade by Billboard and the Artist of the 2010s Decade by the American Music Awards, Swift has been recognized for her influential career and philanthropy, as well as advocacy of artists' rights and women's empowerment in the music industry.
Life and career
1989–2003: Early life and education
Taylor Alison Swift was born on December 13, 1989, at the Reading Hospital in West Reading, Pennsylvania. Her father, Scott Kingsley Swift, is a former stockbroker for Merrill Lynch; her mother, Andrea Gardner Swift (née Finlay), is a former homemaker who previously worked as a mutual fund marketing executive. Her younger brother, Austin, is an actor. She was named after singer-songwriter James Taylor, and has Scottish and German heritage. Her maternal grandmother, Marjorie Finlay, was an opera singer. Swift's paternal great-great-grandfather was an Italian immigrant entrepreneur and community leader who opened several businesses in Philadelphia in the 1800s. Swift spent her early years on a Christmas tree farm that her father purchased from one of his clients. Swift identifies as a Christian. She attended preschool and kindergarten at the Alvernia Montessori School, run by the Bernadine Franciscan sisters, before transferring to The Wyndcroft School. The family moved to a rented house in the suburban town of Wyomissing, Pennsylvania, where she attended Wyomissing Area Junior/Senior High School.
At age nine, Swift became interested in musical theater and performed in four Berks Youth Theatre Academy productions. She also traveled regularly to New York City for vocal and acting lessons. Swift later shifted her focus toward country music, inspired by Shania Twain's songs, which made her "want to just run around the block four times and daydream about everything." She spent weekends performing at local festivals and events. After watching a documentary about Faith Hill, Swift felt sure she needed to move to Nashville, Tennessee, to pursue a career in music. She traveled with her mother at age eleven to visit Nashville record labels and submitted demo tapes of Dolly Parton and The Chicks karaoke covers. She was rejected, however, because "everyone in that town wanted to do what I wanted to do. So, I kept thinking to myself, I need to figure out a way to be different."
When Swift was around 12 years old, computer repairman and local musician Ronnie Cremer taught her to play guitar. He helped with her first efforts as a songwriter, leading her to write "Lucky You". In 2003, Swift and her parents started working with New York-based talent manager Dan Dymtrow. With his help, Swift modeled for Abercrombie & Fitch as part of their "Rising Stars" campaign, had an original song included on a Maybelline compilation CD, and attended meetings with major record labels. After performing original songs at an RCA Records showcase, Swift, then 13 years old, was given an artist development deal and began making frequent trips to Nashville with her mother.
To help Swift break into country music, her father transferred to Merrill Lynch's Nashville office when she was 14 years old, and the family relocated to Hendersonville, Tennessee. Swift initially attended Hendersonville High School before transferring to the Aaron Academy after two years, which could better accommodate her touring schedule through homeschooling. She graduated a year early.
2004–2008: Career beginnings and first album
In Nashville, Swift worked with experienced Music Row songwriters such as Troy Verges, Brett Beavers, Brett James, Mac McAnally, and the Warren Brothers, and formed a lasting working relationship with Liz Rose. They began meeting for two-hour writing sessions every Tuesday afternoon after school. Rose thought the sessions were "some of the easiest I've ever done. Basically, I was just her editor. She'd write about what happened in school that day. She had such a clear vision of what she was trying to say. And she'd come in with the most incredible hooks." Swift became the youngest artist signed by the Sony/ATV Tree publishing house, but left the Sony-owned RCA Records at the age of 14, citing the label's lack of care and them "cut[ting] other people’s stuff" as reasons; she was also concerned that development deals may shelve artists. She recalled: "I genuinely felt that I was running out of time. I wanted to capture these years of my life on an album while they still represented what I was going through."
At an industry showcase at Nashville's Bluebird Cafe in 2005, Swift caught the attention of Scott Borchetta, a DreamWorks Records executive who was preparing to form an independent record label, Big Machine Records. She had first met Borchetta in 2004. Becoming one of the first signings Big Machine, she wanted "the kind of attention that a little [new] label will give," and her father purchased a three-percent stake in the company for an estimated $120,000. She began working on her eponymous debut album shortly after. Swift persuaded Big Machine to hire her demo producer Nathan Chapman, with whom she felt she had the right "chemistry". She wrote three of the album's songs alone, and co-wrote the remaining eight with Rose, Robert Ellis Orrall, Brian Maher, and Angelo Petraglia. Taylor Swift was released on October 24, 2006. Jon Caramanica of The New York Times described it as "a small masterpiece of pop-minded country, both wide-eyed and cynical, held together by Ms. Swift's firm, pleading voice." Taylor Swift peaked at number five on the U.S. Billboard 200, where it spent 157 weeks—the longest stay on the chart by any release in the U.S. in the 2000s decade.
Big Machine Records was still in its infancy during the June 2006 release of the lead single, "Tim McGraw". Swift and her mother helped "stuff the CD singles into envelopes to send to radio." As there were not enough furniture at the label yet, they would sit on the floor to do so. She spent much of 2006 promoting Taylor Swift with a radio tour, television appearances, and opening for Rascal Flatts on select dates during their 2006 tour after they fired their previous opening act, Eric Church, for playing longer than his allotted time. Borchetta said that although record industry peers initially disapproved of his signing a 15-year-old singer-songwriter, Swift tapped into a previously unknown market—teenage girls who listen to country music. Following "Tim McGraw", four more singles were released throughout 2007 and 2008: "Teardrops on My Guitar", "Our Song", "Picture to Burn" and "Should've Said No". All appeared on Billboards Hot Country Songs, with "Our Song", and "Should've Said No" reaching number one. With "Our Song", Swift became the youngest person to single-handedly write and sing a number-one song on the chart. "Teardrops on My Guitar" reached number thirteen on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. Swift also released two EPs; The Taylor Swift Holiday Collection in October 2007 and Beautiful Eyes in July 2008. She promoted her debut album extensively as the opening act for other country musicians' tours throughout 2006 and 2007, including George Strait, Brad Paisley, and Tim McGraw and Faith Hill.
Swift won accolades for Taylor Swift. She was one of the recipients of the Nashville Songwriters Association's Songwriter/Artist of the Year in 2007, becoming the youngest person to be honored with the title. She also won the Country Music Association's Horizon Award for Best New Artist, the Academy of Country Music Awards' Top New Female Vocalist, and the American Music Awards' Favorite Country Female Artist honor. She was also nominated for Best New Artist at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards. She opened for the Rascal Flatts on their 2008 summer and fall tour. In July of that year, Swift began a romance with singer Joe Jonas that ended three months later.
2008–2010: Fearless and acting debut
Swift's second studio album, Fearless, was released on November 11, 2008. Five singles were released in 2008 through 2009: "Love Story", "White Horse", "You Belong with Me", "Fifteen", and "Fearless". "Love Story", the lead single, peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one in Australia. "You Belong with Me" was the album's highest-charting single on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number two. All five singles were Billboard Hot Country Songs top-10 entries, with "Love Story" and "You Belong with Me" peaking at number one. Fearless debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and was the top-selling album of 2009 in the U.S. The Fearless Tour, Swift's first headlining concert tour, grossed over $63 million. Journey to Fearless, a three-part documentary miniseries, was aired on television and later released on DVD and Blu-ray. Swift also performed as a supporting act for Keith Urban's Escape Together World Tour in 2009.
In 2009, the music video for "You Belong with Me" was named Best Female Video at the MTV Video Music Awards. Her acceptance speech was interrupted by rapper Kanye West, an incident that became the subject of controversy, widespread media attention, and many Internet memes. James Montgomery of MTV argued that the incident and subsequent media attention turned Swift into "a bona-fide mainstream celebrity". That year she won five American Music Awards, including Artist of the Year and Favorite Country Album. Billboard named her 2009's Artist of the Year. The album ranked number 99 on NPR's 2017 list of the 150 Greatest Albums Made By Women. She won Video of the Year and Female Video of the Year for "Love Story" at the 2009 CMT Music Awards, where she made a parody video of the song with rapper T-Pain called "Thug Story". At the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards, Fearless was named Album of the Year and Best Country Album, and "White Horse" won Best Country Song and Best Female Country Vocal Performance. Swift was the youngest artist to win Album of the Year. At the 2009 Country Music Association Awards, Swift won Album of the Year for Fearless and was named Entertainer of the Year, the youngest person to win the honor.
Swift featured on John Mayer's single "Half of My Heart" and Boys Like Girls' single "Two Is Better Than One", both of which she co-wrote. She co-wrote and recorded "Best Days of Your Life" with Kellie Pickler, and co-wrote two songs for the Hannah Montana: The Movie soundtrack—"You'll Always Find Your Way Back Home" and "Crazier". She contributed two songs to the Valentine's Day soundtrack, including the single "Today Was a Fairytale", which was her first number one on the Canadian Hot 100, and peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100. While filming her cinematic debut Valentine's Day in October 2009, Swift began a romantic relationship with co-star Taylor Lautner; they broke up later that year. Swift's role of the ditzy girlfriend of Lautner's character received mixed reviews. In 2009, she made her television acting debut as a rebellious teenager in an CSI: Crime Scene Investigation episode. She also hosted and performed as the musical guest on an episode of Saturday Night Live; she was the first host to write her own opening monologue.
2010–2014: Speak Now and Red
In August 2010, Swift released "Mine", the lead single from her third studio album, Speak Now. It entered the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 at number three. Swift wrote the album alone and co-produced every track. Speak Now, released on October 25, 2010, debuted atop the Billboard 200 with first-week sales of a million copies. It became the fastest-selling digital album by a female artist, with 278,000 downloads in a week, earning Swift an entry in the 2010 Guinness World Records. The songs "Mine", "Back to December", "Mean", "The Story of Us", "Sparks Fly", and "Ours" were released as singles. All except "The Story of Us" were Hot Country Songs top-three entries, with "Sparks Fly" and "Ours" reaching number one. "Back to December" and "Mean" peaked in the top ten in Canada. Later in 2010, she briefly dated actor Jake Gyllenhaal.
During her tour dates for 2011, she wrote the lyrics of various songs written by other people on her left arm. At the 54th Annual Grammy Awards in 2012, Swift won Best Country Song and Best Country Solo Performance for "Mean", which she performed during the ceremony. Media publications noted the performance as an improvement from her much criticized 2010 Grammy performance, which served as a testament to her abilities as a musician. Swift won other awards for Speak Now, including Songwriter/Artist of the Year by the Nashville Songwriters Association (2010 and 2011), Woman of the Year by Billboard (2011), and Entertainer of the Year by the Academy of Country Music (2011 and 2012) and the Country Music Association in 2011. At the American Music Awards of 2011, Swift won Artist of the Year and Favorite Country Album. Rolling Stone placed Speak Now at number 45 in its 2012 list of the "50 Best Female Albums of All Time", writing: "She might get played on the country station, but she's one of the few genuine rock stars we've got these days, with a flawless ear for what makes a song click."
The Speak Now World Tour ran from February 2011 to March 2012 and grossed over $123 million. In November 2011, Swift released a live album, Speak Now World Tour: Live. She contributed two original songs to The Hunger Games soundtrack album: "Safe & Sound", co-written and recorded with the Civil Wars and T-Bone Burnett, and "Eyes Open". "Safe & Sound" won the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media and was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song. Swift featured on B.o.B's single "Both of Us", released in May 2012. From July to September 2012, Swift dated Conor Kennedy, son of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Mary Richardson Kennedy.
In August 2012, Swift released "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together", the lead single from her fourth studio album, Red. It became her first number one in the U.S. and New Zealand, and reached the top slot on iTunes' digital song sales chart 50 minutes after its release, earning the Fastest Selling Single in Digital History Guinness World Record. Other singles released from the album include "Begin Again", "I Knew You Were Trouble", "22", "Everything Has Changed", "The Last Time", and "Red". "I Knew You Were Trouble" reached the top five on charts in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Ireland, New Zealand, the U.K. and the U.S. Three singles, "Begin Again", "22", and "Red", reached the top 20 in the U.S.
Red was released on October 22, 2012. On Red, Swift worked with longtime collaborators Nathan Chapman and Liz Rose, as well as new producers, including Max Martin and Shellback. The album incorporates new genres for Swift, such as heartland rock, dubstep and dance-pop. It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 1.21 million copies, making Swift the first female to have two million-selling album openings, a record recognized by the Guinness World Records. Red was Swift's first number-one album in the U.K. The Red Tour ran from March 2013 to June 2014 and grossed over $150 million, becoming the highest-grossing country tour when it completed.
Red had sold eight million copies by 2014. The album earned several accolades, including four nominations at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards in 2014. Its single "I Knew You Were Trouble" won Best Female Video at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards. Swift received American Music Awards for Best Female Country Artist in 2012, and Artist of the Year in 2013. She received the Nashville Songwriters Association's Songwriter/Artist Award for the fifth and sixth consecutive years in 2012 and 2013. Swift was honored by the Association with a special Pinnacle Award, making her the second recipient of the accolade after Garth Brooks. During this time, she had a short-term relationship with English singer Harry Styles.
In 2013, Swift recorded "Sweeter than Fiction", a song she wrote and produced with Jack Antonoff for the One Chance film soundtrack. The song received a Best Original Song nomination at the 71st Golden Globe Awards. She provided guest vocals for Tim McGraw's song "Highway Don't Care", featuring guitar work by Keith Urban. Swift performed "As Tears Go By" with the Rolling Stones in Chicago, Illinois as part of the band's 50 & Counting tour. She joined Florida Georgia Line on stage during their set at the 2013 Country Radio Seminar to sing "Cruise". Swift voiced Audrey, a tree lover, in the animated film The Lorax (2012), made a cameo in the sitcom New Girl (2013), and had a supporting role in the film adaptation of The Giver (2014).
2014–2018: 1989 and Reputation
In March 2014, Swift lived in New York City. Around this time, she was working on her fifth studio album, 1989, with producers Jack Antonoff, Max Martin, Shellback, Imogen Heap, Ryan Tedder, and Ali Payami. She promoted the album through various campaigns, including inviting fans to secret album-listening sessions. Influenced by 1980s synth-pop, Swift severed ties with the country sound of her previous albums, and marketed 1989 as her "first documented, official pop album". The album was released on October 27, 2014, and debuted atop the US Billboard 200 with sales of 1.28 million copies in its first week. This made Swift the first act to have three albums sell more than one million copies in their opening week, for which she earned a Guinness World Record. By June 2017, 1989 had sold over 10 million copies worldwide. Three of its singles—"Shake It Off", "Blank Space", and "Bad Blood" featuring rapper Kendrick Lamar—reached number one in Australia, Canada, and the U.S. The singles "Style" and "Wildest Dreams" reached the top 10 in the U.S. Other singles were "Out of the Woods" and "New Romantics". The 1989 World Tour ran from May to December 2015 and was the highest-grossing tour of the year with $250 million in total revenue.
Prior to 1989s release, Swift stressed the importance of albums to artists and fans. In November 2014, she removed her entire catalog from Spotify, arguing that the streaming company's ad-supported, free service undermined the premium service, which provides higher royalties for songwriters. In a June 2015 open letter, Swift criticized Apple Music for not offering royalties to artists during the streaming service's free three-month trial period and stated that she would pull 1989 from the catalog. The following day, Apple announced that it would pay artists during the free trial period, and Swift agreed to stream 1989 on the streaming service. Swift's intellectual property rights management and holding company, TAS Rights Management, filed for 73 trademarks related to Swift and the 1989 era memes. She re-added her entire catalog plus 1989 to Spotify, Amazon Music and Google Play and other digital streaming platforms in June 2017.
Swift was named Billboards Woman of the Year in 2014, becoming the first artist to win the award twice. At the 2014 American Music Awards, Swift received the inaugural Dick Clark Award for Excellence. In 2015, Swift won the Brit Award for International Female Solo Artist. The video for "Bad Blood" won Video of the Year and Best Collaboration at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards. Swift was one of eight artists to receive a 50th Anniversary Milestone Award at the 2015 Academy of Country Music Awards. At the 58th Grammy Awards in 2016, 1989 won Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album, and "Bad Blood" won Best Music Video. Swift was the first woman and fifth act overall to win Album of the Year twice as a lead artist.
Swift dated Scottish DJ and record producer Calvin Harris from March 2015 to June 2016. Prior to their breakup, they co-wrote the song "This Is What You Came For", which features vocals from Barbadian singer Rihanna; Swift was initially credited under the pseudonym Nils Sjöberg. After briefly dating English actor Tom Hiddleston for a few months, Swift began dating English actor Joe Alwyn in September 2016. She wrote the song "Better Man" for Little Big Town's seventh album, The Breaker, which was released in November. The song earned Swift an award for Song of the Year at the 51st CMA Awards. Swift and English singer Zayn Malik released a single together, "I Don't Wanna Live Forever", for the soundtrack of the film Fifty Shades Darker (2017). The song reached number two in the U.S. and won Best Collaboration at the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards.
In August 2017, Swift successfully sued David Mueller, a former morning show personality for Denver's KYGO-FM. Four years earlier, Swift had informed Mueller's bosses that he had sexually assaulted her by groping her at an event. After being fired, Mueller accused Swift of lying and sued her for damages from his loss of employment. Shortly after, Swift counter-sued for sexual assault for nominal damages of only a dollar. The jury rejected Mueller's claims and ruled in favor of Swift. After a year of hiatus from public spotlight, Swift cleared her social media accounts and released "Look What You Made Me Do" as the lead single from her sixth album, Reputation. The single was Swift's first number-one U.K. single. It topped charts in Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, and the U.S.
Reputation was released on November 10, 2017. The album incorporates a heavy electropop sound, with hip hop, R&B and EDM influences. It debuted atop the Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 1.21 million copies. With this achievement, Swift became the first act to have four albums sell one million copies within one week in the U.S. The album topped the charts in the UK, Australia, and Canada. First-week worldwide sales amounted to two million copies. The album had sold over 4.5 million copies worldwide as of 2018. It spawned three other international singles, including the U.S. top-five entry "...Ready for It?", and two U.S. top-20 singles—"End Game" (featuring Ed Sheeran and rapper Future) and "Delicate". Other singles include "New Year's Day", which was exclusively released to U.S. country radio, and "Getaway Car", which was released in Australia only.
In April 2018, Swift featured on Sugarland's "Babe" from their album Bigger. In support of Reputation, she embarked on her Reputation Stadium Tour, which ran from May to November 2018. In the U.S., the tour grossed $266.1 million in box office and sold over two million tickets, breaking Swift's own record for the highest-grossing U.S. tour by a woman, which was previously held by her 1989 World Tour in 2015 ($181.5 million). It also broke the record for the highest-grossing North American concert tour in history. Worldwide, the tour grossed $345.7 million, making it the second highest-grossing concert tour of the year. On December 31, Swift released her Reputation Stadium Tour's accompanying concert film on Netflix.
Reputation was nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards in 2019. At the American Music Awards of 2018, Swift won four awards, including Artist of the Year and Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist. After the 2018 AMAs, Swift garnered a total of 23 awards, becoming the most awarded female musician in AMA history, a record previously held by Whitney Houston.
2018–2020: Lover and masters dispute
Reputation was Swift's last album under her 12-year contract with Big Machine Records. In November 2018, she signed a new multi-album deal with Big Machine's distributor Universal Music Group; in the U.S. her subsequent releases were promoted under the Republic Records imprint. Swift said the contract included a provision for her to maintain ownership of her master recordings. In addition, in the event that Universal sells any part of its stake in Spotify, which agreed to distribute a non-recoupable portion of the proceeds among their artists. Vox called it is a huge commitment from Universal, which was "far from assured" until Swift intervened.
Swift released her seventh studio album, Lover, on August 23, 2019. Besides longtime collaborator Jack Antonoff, Swift worked with new producers Louis Bell, Frank Dukes, and Joel Little. Lover made Swift the first female artist to have sixth consecutive album sell more than 500,000 copies in one week in the U.S. All 18 songs from the album charted on the Billboard Hot 100 the same week, setting a record for the most simultaneous entries by a woman. The lead single, "Me!", debuted at number 100 on the Billboard Hot 100 and rose to number two a week later, scoring the biggest single-week jump in chart history. Other singles from Lover were the U.S. top-10 singles "You Need to Calm Down" and "Lover", and U.S. top-40 single "The Man".
Lover was the world's best-selling studio album of 2019, selling 3.2 million copies. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) honored Swift as the global best-selling artist of 2019. Swift became first woman to win the honor twice, having previously won in 2014. The album earned accolades, including three nominations at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards in 2020. At the 2019 MTV Video Music Awards, "Me!" won Best Visual Effects, and "You Need to Calm Down" won Video of the Year and Video for Good. Swift was the first female and second artist overall to win Video of the Year for a video that they directed.
Swift played Bombalurina in the movie adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Cats (2019). For the film's soundtrack, she co-wrote and recorded the Golden Globe-nominated original song "Beautiful Ghosts". Although critics reviewed the film negatively, Swift received positive feedback for her role and musical performance. The documentary Miss Americana, which chronicles part of Swift's life and career, premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival and was released on Netflix that January. Miss Americana features the song "Only the Young", which Swift wrote after the 2018 United States elections. In February 2020, Swift signed an exclusive global publishing deal with Universal Music Publishing Group, after her 16-year-old contract with Sony/ATV Music Publishing expired.
In 2019, Swift became embroiled in a publicized dispute with talent manager Scooter Braun and her former label Big Machine, regarding the acquisition of the masters of her back catalog. Swift stated on her Tumblr blog that she had been trying to buy the masters for years, but Big Machine only allowed her to do so if she exchanged a new album for an older one under another contract, which she refused to do. Against Swift's authorization, Big Machine, in April 2020, released Live from Clear Channel Stripped 2008, a live album of Swift's performances at a radio show. In October, Braun sold Swift's masters, videos and artworks, to Shamrock Holdings for a reported $300 million. Swift began re-recording her back catalog in November 2020. Rolling Stone highlighted this decision, along with her opposition to low royalties for artists from streaming services such as Spotify and Apple Music as two of the music industry's most defining moments in the 2010s decade. In April 2020, Swift was scheduled to embark on Lover Fest, the supporting concert tour for Lover, which was canceled after the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.
2020–present: Folklore, Evermore, and re-recordings
In 2020, Swift released two surprise albums with little promotion, to critical acclaim. The first, her eighth studio album Folklore, was released on July 24. The second, her ninth studio album Evermore, was released on December 11. Described by Swift and Dessner as "sister records", both albums incorporate indie folk and alternative rock, departing from the previous upbeat pop releases. Swift wrote and recorded the albums while in isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic, working with producers Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner from the National. Both albums feature collaborations with Bon Iver, and Evermore features collaborations with the National and Haim. Swift's boyfriend Joe Alwyn co-wrote and co-produced select songs under the pseudonym William Bowery. The making of Folklore was discussed in the concert documentary Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions, directed by Swift and released on November 25.
In the U.S., Folklore and Evermore were each supported by three singles—one to mainstream radio, one to country radio, and one to triple A radio. The singles in that order were "Cardigan", "Betty", "Exile" (featuring Bon Iver); and "Willow", "No Body, No Crime" (featuring Haim), "Coney Island" (featuring the National); respectively. The lead singles from each album, "Cardigan" and "Willow", opened at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 the same week their parent albums debuted atop the Billboard 200. This made Swift the first artist to debut atop both the U.S. singles and albums charts simultaneously twice. Each album sold over one million units worldwide in its first week, with Folklore selling two million. Folklore broke the Guinness World Record for the highest first-day album streams by a female artist on Spotify, and was the best-selling album of 2020 in the U.S., having sold 1.2 million copies. Swift was 2020's highest-paid musician in the U.S., and highest-paid solo musician worldwide. At the 2020 American Music Awards, Swift won three awards, including Artist of the Year for a record third consecutive time. Folklore won Album of the Year at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards, making Swift the first woman in history to win the award three times.
Following the masters controversy, Swift released two re-recordings in 2021, adding "Taylor's Version" to their titles. The first, Fearless (Taylor's Version), peaked atop the Billboard 200, becoming the first re-recorded album to do so. It was preceded by the three tracks: "Love Story (Taylor's Version)", "You All Over Me" with Maren Morris, and "Mr. Perfectly Fine", the first of which made Swift the second artist after Dolly Parton to have both the original and the re-recording of a single at number one on the Hot Country Songs. Swift released "Wildest Dreams (Taylors Version)" on September 17, after the original song gained traction on the online-video sharing app TikTok. The second re-recording Red (Taylor's Version) was released on November 12. Its final track, "All Too Well (10 Minute Version)"—accompanied by All Too Well: The Short Film directed by Swift—debuted at number one on the Hot 100, becoming the longest song in history to top the chart. She was the highest-paid female musician of 2021, whereas both her 2020 albums and the re-recordings were ranked among the 10 best-selling albums of the year. In May 2021, Swift was awarded the Global Icon Award by the Brit Awards and the Songwriter Icon Award by the National Music Publishers' Association.
Outside her albums, Swift featured on four songs in 2021–2022: "Renegade" and "Birch" by Big Red Machine, a remix of Haim's "Gasoline" and Ed Sheeran's "The Joker and the Queen". She has been cast in David O. Russell's untitled film slated for release in November 2022.
Artistry
Influences
One of Swift's earliest musical memories is listening to her grandmother, Marjorie Finlay, sing in church. As a child, she enjoyed Disney film soundtracks: "My parents noticed that, once I had run out of words, I would just make up my own". Swift has said she owes her confidence to her mother, who helped her prepare for class presentations as a child. She also attributes her "fascination with writing and storytelling" to her mother. Swift was drawn to the storytelling aspect of country music, and was introduced to the genre listening to "the great female country artists" of the 1990s—Shania Twain, Faith Hill, and the Dixie Chicks. Twain, both as a songwriter and performer, was her biggest musical influence. Hill was Swift's childhood role model: "Everything she said, did, wore, I tried to copy it". She admired the Dixie Chicks' defiant attitude and their ability to play their own instruments. "Kiss Me" by Sixpence None the Richer was the first song Swift learned to play on the guitar. Swift also explored the music of older country stars such as Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, Tammy Wynette, and Dolly Parton, the latter of whom she believes is "an amazing example to every female songwriter out there", and alt-country artists like Patty Griffin and Lori McKenna. She has also cited Keith Urban's musical style as an influence.
Swift has also been influenced by various pop and rock artists. She lists Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen, Bryan Adams, Emmylou Harris, Kris Kristofferson, and Carly Simon as her career role models. Discussing McCartney and Harris, Swift has said, "They've taken chances, but they've also been the same artist for their entire careers". McCartney, both as a Beatle and a solo artist, makes Swift feel "as if I've been let into his heart and his mind [...] He's out there continuing to make his fans so happy. Any musician could only dream of a legacy like that." She likes Springsteen for being "so musically relevant after such a long period of time". She aspires to be like Harris as she grows older because of prioritizing music over fame. Swift says of Kristofferson that he "shines in songwriting", and admires Simon for being "an emotional" but "a strong person". Her synth-pop album 1989 was influenced by some of her favorite 1980s pop acts, including Peter Gabriel, Annie Lennox, Phil Collins and Madonna. As a songwriter, Swift was influenced by Joni Mitchell for her autobiographical lyrics conveying the deepest emotions: "She wrote it about her deepest pains and most haunting demons ... I think [Blue] is my favorite because it explores somebody's soul so deeply".
Musical styles
Swift's discography spans country, pop, folk, and alternative genres. Her first three studio albums, Taylor Swift, Fearless and Speak Now are categorized as country; her eclectic fourth studio album, Red, is dubbed both country and pop; her next three albums 1989, Reputation and Lover are labeled pop; and Folklore and Evermore are considered alternative. Music critics have described her songs as synth-pop, country pop, rock, electropop, and indie, amongst others; some songs, especially those on Reputation, incorporate elements of R&B, EDM, hip hop, and trap. The music instruments Swift plays include the piano, banjo, ukulele and various types of guitar. Swift described herself as a country artist until the release of 1989, which she characterized as her first "sonically cohesive pop album".
Rolling Stone wrote, "[Swift] might get played on the country station, but she's one of the few genuine rock stars we've got these days." According to The New York Times, "There isn't much in Ms. Swift's music to indicate country—a few banjo strums, a pair of cowboy boots worn onstage, a bedazzled guitar—but there's something in her winsome, vulnerable delivery that's unique to Nashville." The Guardian wrote that Swift "cranks melodies out with the pitiless efficiency of a Scandinavian pop factory." Consequence pinpointed her "capacity to continually reinvent while remaining herself", while Time dubbed Swift a "musical chameleon" for the constantly evolving sound of her discography. Clash said her career "has always been one of transcendence and covert boundary-pushing", reaching a point at which "Taylor Swift is just Taylor Swift", not defined by any genre.
Voice
Swift possesses a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Her singing voice is "sweet but soft" according to Sophie Schillaci of The Hollywood Reporter. Pitchfork's Sam Sodomsky called it "versatile and expressive". Music theory professor Alyssa Barna described the timbre of Swift's upper register as "breathy and bright", and her lower register "full and dark". The Los Angeles Times identified Swift's "defining" vocal gesture in studio recordings as "the line that slides down like a contented sigh or up like a raised eyebrow, giving her beloved girl-time hits their air of easy intimacy." In 2010, a writer from The Tennessean conceded that Swift was "not the best technical singer", but described her as the "best communicator that we've got". According to Swift, her vocal ability often concerned her in her early career, and she worked hard to improve it. She said she only feels nervous performing live "if I'm not sure what the audience thinks of me, like at award shows". The Hollywood Reporter wrote that her live vocals were "fine", but did not match those of her peers.
Though Swift's singing ability received mixed reviews early in her career, she was praised for refusing to correct her pitch with Auto-Tune. Rolling Stone found her voice "unaffected enough to mask how masterful she has become as a singer", while The Village Voice noted the improvement from her previously "bland and muddled" phrasing to her learning "how to make words sound like what they mean". In 2014, NPR Music described her singing as personal and conversational thanks to her "exceptional gift for inflection", but also suffered from a "wobbly pitch and tight, nasal delivery". Beginning with Folklore, she received better reviews for her vocals; Variety critic Andrew Barker noted the "remarkable" control she developed over her vocals, never allowing a "flourish or a tricky run to compromise the clarity of a lyric", while doing "wonders within her register" and "exploring its further reaches". Reviewing Fearless (Taylor's Version), The New York Times critic Lindsay Zoladz described her voice as stronger, more controlled, and deeper over time, discarding the nasal tone of her early vocals. Lucy Harbron of Clash opined that Swift's vocals have evolved "into her own unique blend of country, pop and indie".
Songwriting
Swift has been referred to as one of the greatest songwriters of all time and the best of her generation by various publications and organizations. She told The New Yorker in 2011 that she identifies as a songwriter first: "I write songs, and my voice is just a way to get those lyrics across." Swift's personal experiences were a common inspiration for her early songs, which helped her navigate the complexities of life. Her "diaristic" technique began with identifying an emotion, followed by a corresponding melody. On her first three studio albums, recurring themes were love, heartbreak, and insecurities, from an adolescent perspective. She delved into the tumult of toxic relationships on Red, and embraced nostalgia and positivity after failed relationships on 1989. Reputation was inspired by the downsides of Swift's fame, and Lover detailed her realization of the "full spectrum of love". Besides romance, other themes in Swift's music include parent-child relationships, friendships, alienation, and self-awareness.
Music critics often praise her self-written discography, especially her confessional narratives; they compliment her writing for its vivid details and emotional engagement, which were rare among pop artists. New York magazine argued that Swift was the first teenage artist who explicitly portrayed teenage experiences in her music. Rolling Stone described Swift as "a songwriting savant with an intuitive gift for verse-chorus-bridge architecture". Although reviews of Swift are generally positive, The New Yorker stated she was generally portrayed "more as a skilled technician than as a Dylanesque visionary". Because of her confessional narratives, tabloid media often speculated and linked the subjects of the songs with ex-lovers of Swift, a practice which New York magazine considered "sexist, inasmuch as it's not asked of her male peers". Aside from clues provided in album liner notes, Swift avoided talking about song subjects specifically. In a 2013 interview with Vanity Fair, Swift stated that the criticism on her songwriting—critics interpreted her persona as a "clingy, insane, desperate girlfriend in need of making you marry her and have kids with her"—was "a little sexist".
On her 2020 albums Folklore and Evermore, Swift was inspired by escapism and romanticism to explore fictional narratives. Without referencing her personal life, she imposed her emotions onto imagined characters and story arcs, which liberated her from the mental stress caused by tabloid attention and suggested new paths for her artistry. In a feature for Rolling Stone, Swift explained that she welcomed the new songwriting direction after she stopped worrying about commercial success: "I always thought, 'That'll never track on pop radio,' but when I was making Folklore, I thought, 'If you take away all the parameters, what do you make?" With the release of Evermore, Spin found Swift exploring "exceedingly complex human emotions with precision and devastation". Consequence stated her 2020 albums "offered a chance for doubters to see Swift's songwriting power on full display, but the truth is that her pen has always been her sword" and that her writing prowess took "different forms" as she transformed from "teenage wunderkind to a confident and careful adult."
Swift's bridges have been underscored as one of the best aspects of her songs and earned her the title "Queen of Bridges" from media outlets. Awarding her with the Songwriter Icon Award in 2021, the National Music Publishers' Association remarked that "no one is more influential when it comes to writing music today" than Swift. The Week deemed her the foremost female songwriter of modern times. Swift has also published two original poems: "Why She Disappeared" and "If You're Anything Like Me".
Music videos
Swift has collaborated with many different directors to produce her music videos, and over time she has become more involved with writing and directing. She has her own production house, Taylor Swift Productions, Inc., which is credited with producing music videos for singles such as "Me!". Swift developed the concept and treatment for "Mean", and co-directed the music video for "Mine" with Roman White. In an interview, White elaborated that Swift "was keenly involved in writing the treatment, casting and wardrobe. And she stayed for both the 15-hour shooting days, even when she wasn't in the scenes."
From 2014 to 2018, Swift collaborated with director Joseph Kahn on eight music videos—four each from her albums 1989 and Reputation. Kahn has praised Swift's involvement in the craft. She worked with American Express for the "Blank Space" music video (which Kahn directed), and served as an executive producer for the interactive app AMEX Unstaged: Taylor Swift Experience, for which she won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Interactive Program in 2015. She produced the music video for "Bad Blood" and won a Grammy Award for Best Music Video in 2016. While she continued to co-direct music videos with the Lover singles—"Me!" with Dave Meyers, "You Need to Calm Down" (also serving as a co-executive producer) and "Lover" with Drew Kirsch—she ventured into sole direction with the videos for "The Man" (which won her the MTV Video Music Award for Best Direction), "Cardigan" and "Willow".
Public image
Swift became a teen idol with her debut, and a pop icon following global fame. Journalists have written about her polite, "open" personality, "willing to play along" during the course of an interview. J. Freedom du Lac of The Washington Post called Swift a "media darling" and "a reporter's dream". The Guardian attributed her disposition to her formative years in country music. The Hollywood Reporter described Swift as "the Best People Person since Bill Clinton". While presenting her with an award for her humanitarian endeavors in 2012, former First Lady Michelle Obama described Swift as an artist who "has rocketed to the top of the music industry but still keeps her feet on the ground, someone who has shattered every expectation of what a 22-year-old can accomplish"; Swift considers Obama to be a role model.
In 2015, Vanity Fair referred to Swift as "the most famous and influential entertainer on Earth". According to YouGov surveys, she ranked as the world's most admired female musician from 2019 to 2021. One of the most followed people on social media, Swift is known for her frequent and friendly interactions with her fans, delivering holiday gifts to them by mail and in person. She considers it her "responsibility" to be conscious of her influence on young fans, praising her relationship with her fans as "the longest and best" she has ever had. Swift regularly incorporates easter eggs into her works and social media posts for fans to figure out clues about a forthcoming release. Fawzia Khan of Elle attributes Swift's "perennial" success partly to her intimacy with fans.
Media outlets describe Swift as a savvy businessperson. According to marketing executive Matt B. Britton, her business acumen has helped her "excel as an authentic personality who establishes direct connections with her audience", "touch as many people as possible", and "generate a kind of advocacy and excitement that no level of advertising could." Describing her omnipresence, The Ringer writer Kate Knibbs said Swift is not just a pop act but "a musical biosphere unto herself", having achieved the kind of success "that turns a person into an institution, into an inevitability."
Though Swift is reluctant to publicly discuss her personal life—believing it to be "a career weakness"—it is a topic of widespread media attention and tabloid speculation. Clash described her as a lightning rod for both praise and criticism. While The New York Times asserted in 2013 that Swift's "dating history has begun to stir what feels like the beginning of a backlash" and questioned whether she was in the midst of a "quarter-life crisis", certain critics have highlighted the misogyny and slut-shaming Swift's life and career have been subject to. She parodied this scrutiny in "Blank Space". Rolling Stone said, after the release of 1989, "everything she did was a story", with a non-stop news cycle about her, leaving her overexposed. Much of Reputation was conceived under the "intense" media scrutiny she experienced in 2015 and 2016, causing her to adopt a dark, defensive alter ego on the album. She criticized sexist double standards and gaslighting in "The Man" (2019) and "Mad Woman" (2020), respectively. When asked "why sing to the haters?" by CBS journalist Tracy Smith, Swift replied, "well, when they stop coming for me, I will stop singing to them." Glamour opined Swift is an easy target for male derision and triggers "fragile male egos" to take "pot-shots" at her career. The Daily Telegraph said her antennae for sexism is crucial for the industry and that she "must continue holding people to account".
Fashion
Swift's fashion is often covered by media outlets, with her street style receiving acclaim. Her fashion appeal has been picked up by several media publications, such as People, Elle, Vogue, and Maxim. Vogue regards Swift as one of the world's most influential figures in sustainable fashion. Elle highlighted the various styles she has adopted throughout her career, including the "curly-haired teenager" of her early days to "red-lipped pop bombshell" with "platinum blonde hair and sultry makeup looks" later on. Swift is known for reinventing her image often, corresponding each one of her albums to a specific aesthetic. Swift also popularized cottagecore with Folklore and Evermore. Consequence opined that Swift's looks evolved from "girl-next-door country act to pop star to woodsy poet over a decade."
Though labeled by the media as "America's Sweetheart", a sobriquet based on her down-to-earth personality and girl-next-door image, Swift insists she does not "live by all these rigid, weird rules that make me feel all fenced in. I just like the way that I feel like, and that makes me feel very free". Although she refused to take part in "sexy" photoshoots in 2012, she stated "it's nice to be glamorous" in 2015. Bloomberg views Swift as a sex symbol, albeit of a subtle and sophisticated variety unlike many of her female contemporaries.
Impact
Swift's career helped shape the modern country music scene. According to music journalist Jody Rosen, Swift is the first country artist whose fame reached the world beyond the U.S. Her chart success extended to Asia and the U.K., where country music had previously not been popular. She is recognized as one of the first country artists to use technology and viral marketing techniques, such as MySpace, to promote their work. According to Chris Willman of Entertainment Weekly, the commercial success of her debut album helped the infant Big Machine Records go on to sign Garth Brooks and Jewel. Following Swift's rise to fame, country labels became more interested in signing young singers who write their own music. With her autobiographical narratives revolving around romance and heartbreak, she introduced the genre to a younger generation that could relate to her personally. Critics have since noted the impact of Swift's sound on various albums released by female country singers such as Kacey Musgraves, Maren Morris and Kelsea Ballerini. Rolling Stone listed her country music as one of the biggest influences on 2010s pop music and ranked her 80th in their list of 100 Greatest Country Artists of All Time.Her onstage performance with guitars contributed to the "Taylor Swift factor", a phenomenon to which the rise in guitar sales to women, a previously ignored demographic, is attributed. Pitchfork opined that Swift changed the contemporary music landscape forever with her "unprecedented path from teenage country prodigy to global pop sensation" and a "singularly perceptive" discography that consistently accommodates both musical and cultural shifts. Clash stated Swift's genre-spanning career encouraged her peers to experiment with diverse sounds. Billboard credited her with influencing artists to take creative ownership of their music and remarked she "has the power to pull any sound she wants into mainstream orbit." Music journalist Nick Catucci wrote that, in being personal and vulnerable in her lyrics, Swift helped make space for later pop stars like Billie Eilish, Ariana Grande, and Halsey to do the same. According to The Guardian, Swift leads the rebirth of poptimism in the 21st-century with her ambitious artistic vision.
Publications consider Swift's million-selling albums an anomaly in the streaming-dominated music industry following the decline of the album era in the 2010s. For this reason, musicologists Mary Fogarty and Gina Arnold regard her as "the last great rock star". Swift is the only artist to have four albums sell over one million copies in one week since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking sales for the Billboard 200 in 1991. To New York magazine, her million sales figures prove that she is "the one bending the music industry to her will". The Atlantic notes that Swift's "reign" defies the convention that the successful phase of an artist's career rarely lasts more than a few years. She is a champion of independent record shops, having contributed to the 21st-century vinyl revival. Journalists note how her actions have fostered debate over reforms to on-demand music streaming and prompted awareness of intellectual property rights among younger musicians, praising her ability to bring change in the music industry.
She was named Woman of the Decade for the 2010s by Billboard, became the first woman to earn the title Artist of the Decade (2010s) at the American Music Awards, and received the Brit Global Icon Award "in recognition of her immense impact on music across the world". Swift has influenced various mainstream and indie recording artists. Various sources deem her music to be representative and paradigmatic of the millennial generation, owing to her success, musical versatility, social media presence, live shows, and corporate sponsorship. Vox called Swift the "millennial Bruce Springsteen" for telling the stories of a generation through her songs. Student societies focusing on her were established in various universities around the world, such as Oxford, York, and Cambridge. New York University Tisch School of the Arts offers a course on Swift's career. Some of her popular songs like "Love Story" are studied by evolutionary psychologists to understand the relationship between popular music and human mating strategies.
Accolades and achievements
Swift has won 11 Grammy Awards (including three Album of the Year wins—tied for most by an artist), an Emmy Award, 34 American Music Awards (most wins by an artist), 25 Billboard Music Awards (most wins by a woman), 56 Guinness World Records, 12 Country Music Association Awards (including the Pinnacle Award), eight Academy of Country Music Awards, and two Brit Awards. As a songwriter, she has been honored by the Nashville Songwriters Association, the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and the National Music Publishers' Association and was the youngest person on Rolling Stone list of the 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time in 2015. At the 64th BMI Awards in 2016, Swift was the first woman to be honored with an award named after its recipient. Her albums Red and 1989 appeared on Rolling Stone's 2020 revision of their 500 Greatest Albums of All Time; in 2021, her "Blank Space" music video named one of Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Music Videos of All Time, while the songs "All Too Well" and "Blank Space" were on its 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
From available data, Swift has amassed over 50 million album sales, 150 million singles sales, and 114 million units in album consumption worldwide, including 78 billion streams. Swift has the most number-one albums in the United Kingdom and Ireland for a female artist in this millennium, and is the best-selling artist of all time on Chinese digital music platforms with in income. She is the only female artist to have received more than 100 million global streams on Spotify in a day, with over 122 million streams on November 11, 2021. Swift broke the record for the highest-grossing North American tour of all time with her Reputation Stadium Tour (2018) and is the world's highest-grossing female touring act of the 2010s. She has the most entries and the most simultaneous entries for an artist on the Billboard Global 200, with 69 and 31 songs, respectively.
In the US, Swift has sold over 37.3 million albums as of 2019, when Billboard placed her eighth on its Greatest of All Time Artists Chart. She is the longest-reigning act of Billboard Artist 100 (50 weeks at number one), the solo act with the most cumulative weeks (55) atop the Billboard 200, the woman with the most weeks atop the Top Country Albums (98) and the most Billboard Hot 100 entries in history (165), and the artist with the most Digital Songs number-ones (23). She is the second highest-certified female digital singles artist (and third overall) in the US, with 134 million total units certified by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and the first female artist to have both an album (Fearless) and a song ("Shake It Off") certified Diamond. In 2021, one of every 50 albums sold in the US was Swift's, who became the first woman to have five albums—1989, Taylor Swift, Fearless, Red and Reputation—chart for 150 weeks each on the Billboard 200.
Swift has appeared in various power listings. Time included her on its annual list of the 100 most influential people in 2010, 2015, and 2019. She was one of the "Silence Breakers" honored as Time Person of the Year in 2017 for speaking up about sexual assault. From 2011 to 2020, Swift appeared in the top three on the Forbes Top-Earning Women in Music list, placing first in 2016 and 2019. In 2014, she was named to Forbes' 30 Under 30 list in the music category and again in 2017 in its "All-Star Alumni" category. In 2015, Swift became the youngest woman to be included on Forbes list of the 100 most powerful women, ranked at number 64. She was the most googled female musician of 2019.
Other activities
Wealth and properties
In 2021, Forbes estimated Swift's net worth at US$550 million, coming from her music, merchandise, promotions, and concerts. She topped the magazine's list of the 100 highest-paid celebrities in 2016 with $170 million—a feat recognized by the Guinness World Records as the highest annual earnings ever for a female musician, which she herself surpassed in 2019 with $185 million. Swift was the highest-paid female musician of the 2010s, with $825 million earned.
Swift has invested in a real estate portfolio worth $84 million. For example, she purchased the Samuel Goldwyn Estate, a Georgian-revival house in Beverly Hills, for $25 million in 2015, which she has since restored to its original condition and contains Swift's home studio, Kitty Committee, where she recorded songs for Folklore. In 2013, she purchased the Holiday House, a seafront mansion in Watch Hill, Rhode Island. Gina Raimondo, then-Governor of Rhode Island, proposed in 2015 a statewide property tax for second homes worth more than $1 million, dubbed the "Taylor Swift tax". In New York City, her $47 million worth of property on a single block in Tribeca includes a $19.95 million duplex penthouse, an $18 million four-story townhouse, and a $9.75 million apartment purchased in 2014, 2017 and 2018, respectively.
Philanthropy
Swift is well known for her philanthropic efforts. She was ranked at number one on DoSomething's "Gone Good" list, and has received the "Star of Compassion" accolade from the Tennessee Disaster Services, The Big Help Award from the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards for her "dedication to helping others" as well as "inspiring others through action", and the Ripple of Hope Award for her "dedication to advocacy at such a young age". In 2008, she donated $100,000 to the Red Cross to help the victims of the Iowa flood. Swift has performed at charity relief events, including Sydney's Sound Relief concert. In response to the May 2010 Tennessee floods, Swift donated $500,000 during a telethon hosted by WSMV. In 2011, Swift used a dress rehearsal of her Speak Now tour as a benefit concert for victims of recent tornadoes in the U.S., raising more than $750,000. In 2016, she donated $1 million to Louisiana flood relief efforts and $100,000 to the Dolly Parton Fire Fund. Swift donated to the Houston Food Bank after Hurricane Harvey struck the city in 2017. In 2020, she donated $1 million for Tennessee tornado relief.
Swift is a supporter of the arts. She is a benefactor of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. She has donated $75,000 to Nashville's Hendersonville High School to help refurbish the school auditorium, $4 million to fund the building of a new education center at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, $60,000 to the music departments of six U.S. colleges, and $100,000 to the Nashville Symphony. Also a promoter of children's literacy, she has donated money and books to various schools around the country to improve education. In 2007, Swift partnered with the Tennessee Association of Chiefs of Police to launch a campaign to protect children from online predators. She has donated items to several charities for auction, including the Elton John AIDS Foundation, the UNICEF Tap Project, MusiCares, and Feeding America. As recipient of the Academy of Country Music's Entertainer of the Year in 2011, Swift donated $25,000 to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Tennessee. In 2012, Swift participated in the Stand Up to Cancer telethon, performing the charity single "Ronan", which she wrote in memory of a four-year-old boy who died of neuroblastoma. She has also donated $100,000 to the V Foundation for Cancer Research and $50,000 to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Swift has encouraged young people to volunteer in their local communities as part of Global Youth Service Day.
Swift donated to fellow singer-songwriter Kesha to help with her legal battles against Dr. Luke and to actress Mariska Hargitay's Joyful Heart Foundation organization. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Swift donated to the World Health Organization and Feeding America and offered one of her signed guitars as part of an auction to raise money for the National Health Service. Swift performed "Soon You'll Get Better" during One World: Together At Home television special, a benefit concert curated by Lady Gaga for Global Citizen to raise funds for the World Health Organization's COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund. In 2018 and 2021, Swift donated to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network in honor of Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month. In addition to charitable causes, she has made donations to her fans several times for their medical or academic expenses.
Politics and activism
Swift is pro-choice, and has been regarded as a feminist icon by various publications. During the 2008 United States presidential election, she promoted the Every Woman Counts campaign, aimed at engaging women in the political process. She was one of the founding signatories of the Time's Up movement against sexual harassment. Swift has also spoken out against LGBT discrimination, which was the theme of the music video for "Mean". On multiple occasions, she encouraged support for the Equality Act, which prohibits discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation and gender identity, among others. In 2019, she donated to the LGBT organizations Tennessee Equality Project and GLAAD.
Swift avoided discussing politics in her early career because country record label executives insisted "Don't be like the Dixie Chicks!", and first became active during the 2018 United States elections. She declared her support for Democrats Jim Cooper and Phil Bredesen to represent Tennessee in the House of Representatives and Senate, respectively, and expressed her desire for greater LGBT rights, gender equality and racial equality, condemned systemic racism. In August 2020, Swift urged her fans to check their voter registration ahead of elections, which resulted in 65,000 people registering to vote within a day after her post. She endorsed Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in the 2020 United States presidential election, and was found to be one of the most influential celebrities in the polls.
Swift has supported the March for Our Lives movement and gun control reform in the U.S, and is a vocal critic of white supremacy, racism, and police brutality in the country. Following the murders of African-American men Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd, she donated to the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and the Black Lives Matter movement. After then-president Donald Trump posted a controversial tweet on the unrest in Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Swift accused him of promoting white supremacy and racism in his term. She called for the removal of Confederate monuments of "racist historical figures" in Tennessee, and advocated for Juneteenth to become a national holiday.
Endorsements
During the Fearless era, Swift supported campaigns by Verizon Wireless and "Got Milk?". She launched a l.e.i. sundress range at Walmart, and designed American Greetings cards and Jakks Pacific dolls. She became a spokesperson for the National Hockey League's (NHL) Nashville Predators and Sony Cyber-shot digital cameras. She launched two Elizabeth Arden fragrances—Wonderstruck and Wonderstruck Enchanted. In 2013, she released the fragrances Taylor by Taylor Swift and Taylor by Taylor Swift: Made of Starlight, followed by her fifth fragrance, Incredible Things, in 2014.
Swift signed a multi-year deal with AT&T in 2016. She later headlined DirecTV's Super Saturday Night event on the eve of the 2017 Super Bowl. In 2019, Swift signed a multi-year partnership with Capital One, and released a sustainable clothing line with Stella McCartney. In 2022, in light of her philanthropic support for independent record stores during the COVID-19 pandemic, Record Store Day named Swift their first-ever global ambassador.
Discography
Studio albums
Taylor Swift (2006)
Fearless (2008)
Speak Now (2010)
Red (2012)
1989 (2014)
Reputation (2017)
Lover (2019)
Folklore (2020)
Evermore (2020)
Re-recordings
Fearless (Taylor's Version) (2021)
Red (Taylor's Version) (2021)
Filmography
Hannah Montana: The Movie (2009)
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2009)
Valentine's Day (2010)
Journey to Fearless (2010)
The Lorax (2012)
The Giver (2014)
The 1989 World Tour Live (2015)
Taylor Swift: Reputation Stadium Tour (2018)
Cats (2019)
Miss Americana (2020)
City of Lover (2020)
Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions (2020)
All Too Well: The Short Film (2021)
Tours
Fearless Tour (2009–2010)
Speak Now World Tour (2011–2012)
The Red Tour (2013–2014)
The 1989 World Tour (2015)
Reputation Stadium Tour (2018)
See also
List of best-selling albums by year in the United States
List of best-selling singles in the United States
List of highest-certified music artists in the United States
Grammy Award records – Youngest artists to win Album of the Year
Grammy Award records – Most Grammys won by a female artist
List of American Grammy Award winners and nominees
List of Grammy Award winners and nominees by country
List of most-followed Instagram accounts
List of most-followed Twitter accounts
List of most-subscribed YouTube channels
Best-selling female artists of all time
Footnotes
References
External links
Taylor Swift
1989 births
Living people
21st-century American actresses
21st-century American guitarists
21st-century American pianists
21st-century American singers
21st-century American women guitarists
21st-century American women pianists
21st-century American women singers
Actresses from Nashville, Tennessee
Alternative rock singers
American acoustic guitarists
American country banjoists
American country guitarists
American country pianists
American country record producers
American country singer-songwriters
American country songwriters
American women country singers
American women pop singers
American women rock singers
American women singer-songwriters
American women songwriters
American women record producers
American feminists
American film actresses
American folk guitarists
American folk musicians
American folk singers
American mezzo-sopranos
American multi-instrumentalists
American music video directors
American people of German descent
American people of Italian descent
American people of Scottish descent
American pop guitarists
American pop pianists
American synth-pop musicians
American television actresses
American voice actresses
American women guitarists
American women pianists
Big Machine Records artists
Brit Award winners
Christians from Tennessee
Country musicians from Tennessee
Emmy Award winners
Female music video directors
Feminist musicians
Forbes 30 Under 30 multi-time recipients
Grammy Award winners
Guitarists from Pennsylvania
Guitarists from Tennessee
MTV Europe Music Award winners
Musicians from Nashville, Tennessee
NME Awards winners
RCA Records artists
Record producers from Tennessee
Republic Records artists
Singer-songwriters from Tennessee
Sony Music Publishing artists
Synth-pop singers
Universal Music Group artists
Featured articles
Singer-songwriters from Pennsylvania | false | [
"Chinampas is a spoken word album by avant-garde jazz pianist Cecil Taylor on which he reads his poetry accompanied by the sound of bells, tympani, and small percussion. Taylor performed all of the vocal and instrumental parts, which are overdubbed. A note on the album jacket states: \"Chinampa – an Aztec word meaning 'floating garden'.\"\n\nBrief background\nChinampas was recorded at Doodlehums Studio in London on November 16 and 17, 1987, in sessions that overlapped with the recording of the spoken sections of Tzotzil/Mummers/Tzotzil, which also feature Taylor's poetry. According to Taylor, Chinampas is \"about those extraordinary Aztecs\", whom he referred to as his \"distant relatives\". Unlike other Taylor albums, on Chinampas the title of each track is simply its duration in minutes and seconds.\n\nWhen asked how much of Chinampas was improvised, Taylor replied: \"None of it. What was improvised were the instruments. What is also improvised is how the voice is used.\" In response to a series of questions regarding the overdubbing process, including \"Do you hear all the voices at once, all the sounds? How do you go about layering sounds?\", Taylor traced his influences back to his youth: \"when I was like ten or eleven years old, mother... took me to hear all the bands. So that when I would come home, and I'd go into my room, I would imitate with my voice. I would make orchestral sounds, I would hear all of this in my head. I could make certain sounds that would be the trumpet, certain sounds would be the saxophone.\"\n\nReaction\nDavid Grubbs wrote: \"On Chinampas, the individual pieces move in beautifully modulated long arcs of sometimes frenetic activity not unlike his solo piano concerts and recordings; they travel from the lowest register of speaking voice to the highest range of squeaking voice... the artist... less signaling through the flames than forcing air through an increasingly constricted windpipe, pitch ascending all the while... the voice leaping sufficiently and uncannily high so as to sound at a handful of especially chilling moments like a panicked child... Occasionally a word is hammered into the ground through repetition, an obsessive handling or worrying or hectoring interrogation of a single note on the piano, a tremolo, that mocking tone, that perhaps self-mocking tone that ironizes, defamiliarizes — a technique for a favored subject: transformations that occur through natural physical processes, in one of Chinampas'''s resonant phrases, 'one mineral crystallizing into another.'\"\n\nAllMusic reviewer Thom Jurek wrote: \"To address what these poems are about is a meaningless endeavor. It would be the same as trying to explain what his piano playing is about. It's all language; it's all music. In fact, these poems... tell the story of Taylor's approach to making music, creating solid matter from thin air, and then -- like the true shaman that he is -- transforming it into sand and blowing it away to make room for something else.\" He continued: \"Taylor is making a new history in his poetics: one that comes from pre-Babylonian Egypt and extends into the centuries beyond this one, one that insists in communicating in a language that is only dotted with references to Western culture and its ideologies as a jumping-off point in both directions simultaneously. And to hear the moans, groans, giggles, squeaks, and peeps that come from a master of the trained voice is to hear these sounds -- interspersed as they are with words and phrases and percussive meanderings -- as part of the language we speak (even if we've never heard it before).\" He concluded: \"As an artist Mr. Taylor has gone where few have gone before him, let alone succeeded; this is what he is used to. But he may have surprised even himself in the sheer musicality of his mystical universal tome.\"\n\nPoet and author Fred Moten, whose collection The Feel Trio is named after Taylor's trio with William Parker and Tony Oxley, wrote about the first section of Chinampas in his essay \"Sound in Florescence (Cecil Taylor Floating Garden)\". He describes the work as \"A poetry... that is of the music; a poetry that would articulate the music's construction; a poetry that would mark and question the idiomatic difference that is the space-time of performance, ritual, and event; a poetry, finally, that becomes music in that it iconically presents those organizational principles that are the essence of music.\" Moten suggests that the listener \"Let Taylor’s 'musicked' speech and illegible words resonate and give some attention to their broken grammar, the aural rewriting of grammatical rule that is not simply arbitrary but a function of the elusive content he would convey,\" and states that \"the spoken words, the speaking of the words, are not an arbitrary feature but are instead constitutive of that which is not but nothing other than (the improvisation of) ritual, writing, ritual as a form of writing.\" Moten asks: \"What kind of writing is Chinampas? Taylor presents no graphic system — if Chinampas is writing, it is so in the absence of visuality. Under what conditions, then, could Chinampas'' be called 'writing'? Perhaps within an understanding of writing more broadly conceived as nonverbal, as well as verbal, systems of graphic communication... It's not that Taylor creates visible speech; rather his is an aural writing given an understanding of writing that includes nonverbal graphic resources.\" He writes that Taylor \"works the anarchic irruption and interruption of grammar, enacting a phrasal improvisation through the distinction between poetry and music in the poetry of music, the programmatic manifesto that accompanies the music, that becomes music and turns music into poetry.\"\n\nTrack listing \nAll compositions by Cecil Taylor\n – 5.04 \n – 3.43 \n – 5.46 \n – 5.07 \n – 12.30 \n – 9.20 \n – 5.46 \n – 6.56 \n – 3.36\n\nPersonnel \n Cecil Taylor – poetry, voice, tympani, bells, percussion\n\nReferences \n\n1988 albums\nCecil Taylor albums\nLeo Records albums\nSpoken word albums by American artists",
"Dreams Come True is the debut studio album by American experimental rock project CANT, released on September 13, 2011 on Terrible Records and Warp. Recorded and produced by Grizzly Bear bass guitarist Chris Taylor, the album is primarily a solo album with contributions from Twin Shadow's George Lewis Jr.\n\nRegarding the decision to record a solo album, Taylor noted, \"Between producing records for other bands and writing records with my band, I think I started to feel this need to pursue something that was just something that I was interested in, that I didn’t have to discuss with other people. I just didn’t want to deal with compromising.\"\n\nBackground and recording\nAfter extensive touring in support of Grizzly Bear's third studio album, Veckatimest (2009), the band undertook a hiatus from band-related activities. During this time, bassist and producer Chris Taylor began working on solo material, stating, \"I felt like doing something where I could pursue my own angle on things. [Dreams Come True]'s a fairly different-sounding record from Grizzly Bear.\"\n\nDuring the writing and recording of Dreams Come True, Taylor collaborated with Twin Shadow's George Lewis Jr., with Taylor noting, \"I had absolutely no idea what the record would end up sounding like. [...] I just kind of threw myself into this thing: I wrote three-quarters of the record in a week-and-a-half with George Twin Shadow.\" Regarding his contributions, Taylor stated, \"I love the way George makes his things. His take on pop music is really impressive, really 'up my alley'. I just really enjoy how he approaches music, and it seemed like it was really in line with what kind of music I was into at the time, and what I was hoping to do myself.\"\n\nThe resulting recordings differed from Taylor's work with Grizzly Bear, with Taylor noting, \"It's just such different music. Which is what I wanted to do, of course, but it still shocked me when I came out with it. I felt very new to me. I didn't know how to make sense of it, at first. It was challenging. But I like a good challenge.\"\n\nWriting and composition\nRegarding the album's lyrical content, Chris Taylor noted, \"I just wanted to do something different: exploring different types of making music, different ways of writing lyrics. With each song I decided I would try and tell a specific story. I really like lyricist who can tell stories: Neil Young, Otis Redding, The-Dream. [...] I was dealing with some tough stuff. So, the fact that it came out sounding on the dark and dissonant wasn't something that was surprising to me; but I wasn't trying to make a dark record as much as I was trying to make something that felt like a release.\"\n\nReception\n\nAllmusic's Gregory Heaney gave the album a positive review, stating, \"What’s really special here is that Taylor is always able to keep things from getting abrasive, allowing the album to swirl around listeners without pushing them away. This focus on approachability over impenetrability makes Dreams Come True not only a welcoming debut, but a fantastic entry point into the more experimental side of electronic music.\" Drowned in Sound issued the album with a positive review, stating, \"At its heart CANT feels more like a bedroom pop project, trading grandiosity for the introverted, and the collective for the personal. Having heard Taylor’s fingerprints over a dozen fine records, it’s great to finally hear one that he can call his own.\"\n\nPitchfork Media gave the album a mixed review, stating, \"There's a nagging feeling that the aesthetic compositions here are like bubbles - they float by with solid-looking, effervescent charm, but burst upon closer inspection.\" However, they praised the album's final two tracks, noting \"The record is most gripping at its last breath: The end of \"Rises Silent\" and \"Bericht\" find Taylor alone with a piano, shorn of the stylistic trickery. The result is disarmingly tender, adding a few heartfelt minutes of warmth and personal connection, something lacking in the rest of Dreams' gloss.\"\n\nTrack listing\n\"Too Late, Too Far\"\n\"Believe\"\n\"The Edge\"\n\"BANG\"\n\"(brokencollar)\"\n\"She Found a Way Out\"\n\"Answer\"\n\"Dreams Come True\"\n\"Rises Silent\"\n\"Bericht\"\n\nPersonnel\n\nCANT\nChris Taylor - all vocals, various instruments\nGeorge Lewis Jr. - various instruments\n\nAdditional musicians\nThomas Hedlund - additional drums and percussion (1, 2 and 9)\nGuillermo E. Brown - additional percussion (9)\nDave Treut - additional drums (9)\nAaron Parks - piano (9 and 10)\n\nRecording personnel\nChris Taylor - producer, recording, mixing\nJake Aron - assistant mixing engineer\n\nArtwork\nNick Kapros - photography\nSamantha West - photography\nDrew Heffron - design\n\nReferences\n\n2011 albums\nAlbums produced by Chris Taylor (Grizzly Bear musician)\nWarp (record label) albums"
]
|
[
"Taylor Swift",
"Influences",
"What artists influenced Taylor Swift the most?",
"Shania Twain,",
"What other artist influenced Taylor's sound?",
"She has also spoken fondly of singers and songwriters like Michelle Branch, Alanis Morissette, Ashlee Simpson, Fefe Dobson and Justin Timberlake;",
"What type of music does Taylor like?",
"Swift listened to rock bands such as Dashboard Confessional, Fall Out Boy, and Jimmy Eat World."
]
| C_e101b306eedc41bd937aff1f1a3b54de_0 | Did Taylor have a favorite rock band? | 4 | Did Taylor Swift have a favorite rock band? | Taylor Swift | One of Swift's earliest musical memories is listening to her maternal grandmother, Marjorie Finlay, sing in church. As a child, she enjoyed Disney film soundtracks: "My parents noticed that, once I had run out of words, I would just make up my own". Swift has said she owes her confidence to her mother, who helped her prepare for class presentations as a child. She also attributes her "fascination with writing and storytelling" to her mother. Swift was drawn to the storytelling of country music, and was introduced to the genre by "the great female country artists of the '90s"--Shania Twain, Faith Hill and the Dixie Chicks. Twain, both as a songwriter and performer, was her biggest musical influence. Hill was Swift's childhood role model: "Everything she said, did, wore, I tried to copy it". She admired the Dixie Chicks' defiant attitude and their ability to play their own instruments. The band's "Cowboy Take Me Away" was the first song Swift learned to play on the guitar. Swift also explored the music of older country stars, including Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton and Tammy Wynette. She believes Parton is "an amazing example to every female songwriter out there". Alt-country artists such as Ryan Adams, Patty Griffin and Lori McKenna have inspired Swift. Swift lists Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, Emmylou Harris, Kris Kristofferson, and Carly Simon as her career role models: "They've taken chances, but they've also been the same artist for their entire careers". McCartney, both as a Beatle and a solo artist, makes Swift feel "as if I've been let into his heart and his mind ... Any musician could only dream of a legacy like that". She admires Springsteen for being "so musically relevant after such a long period of time". She aspires to be like Harris as she grows older: "It's not about fame for her, it's about music". "[Kristofferson] shines in songwriting ... He's just one of those people who has been in this business for years but you can tell it hasn't chewed him up and spat him out", Swift says. She admires Simon's "songwriting and honesty ... She's known as an emotional person but a strong person". Swift has also been influenced by many artists outside the country genre. As a pre-teen, she enjoyed bubblegum pop acts including Hanson and Britney Spears; Swift has said she has "unwavering devotion" for Spears. In her high school years, Swift listened to rock bands such as Dashboard Confessional, Fall Out Boy, and Jimmy Eat World. She has also spoken fondly of singers and songwriters like Michelle Branch, Alanis Morissette, Ashlee Simpson, Fefe Dobson and Justin Timberlake; and the 1960s acts The Shirelles, Doris Troy, and The Beach Boys. Swift's fifth album, the pop-focused 1989, was influenced by some of her favorite 1980s pop acts, including Annie Lennox, Phil Collins and "Like a Prayer-era Madonna". CANNOTANSWER | Dashboard Confessional, Fall Out Boy, and Jimmy Eat World. | Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Her discography spans multiple genres, and her narrative songwriting, which is often inspired by her personal life, has received widespread media coverage and critical praise. Born in West Reading, Pennsylvania, Swift relocated to Nashville, Tennessee, at the age of 14 to pursue a career in country music. She signed a songwriting deal with Sony/ATV Music Publishing in 2004 and a recording deal with Big Machine Records in 2005, and released her eponymous debut studio album in 2006.
Swift explored country pop on the albums Fearless (2008) and Speak Now (2010); the success of "Love Story" and "You Belong with Me" as singles on both country and pop radio established her as a leading crossover artist. She experimented with pop, rock, and electronic genres on her fourth studio album, Red (2012), supported by the singles "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" and "I Knew You Were Trouble". With her synth-pop fifth studio album 1989 (2014) and its chart-topping songs "Shake It Off", "Blank Space", and "Bad Blood", Swift shed her country image and transitioned to pop completely. The subsequent media scrutiny on Swift's personal life influenced her sixth album Reputation (2017), which delved into urban sounds, led by the single "Look What You Made Me Do".
Parting ways with Big Machine to sign with Republic Records in 2018, Swift released her next studio album, Lover (2019). Inspired by escapism during the COVID-19 pandemic, Swift ventured into indie folk and alternative rock styles on her 2020 studio albums, Folklore and Evermore, receiving acclaim for their nuanced storytelling. To gain ownership over the masters of her back catalog, she released the re-recordings Fearless (Taylor's Version) and Red (Taylor's Version) in 2021. Besides music, Swift has played supporting roles in films such as Valentine's Day (2010) and Cats (2019), has released the autobiographical documentary Miss Americana (2020), and directed the musical films Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions (2020) and All Too Well: The Short Film (2021).
Having sold over 200 million records worldwide, Swift is one of the best-selling musicians of all time.Her concert tours are some of the highest-grossing in history. She has scored eight Billboard Hot 100 number-one songs, and received 11 Grammy Awards (including three Album of the Year wins), an Emmy Award, 34 American Music Awards (the most for an artist) and 56 Guinness World Records, among other accolades. She featured on Rolling Stones 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time (2015) and Billboard Greatest of All Time Artists (2019) lists, and rankings such as the Time 100 and Forbes Celebrity 100. Named the Woman of the 2010s Decade by Billboard and the Artist of the 2010s Decade by the American Music Awards, Swift has been recognized for her influential career and philanthropy, as well as advocacy of artists' rights and women's empowerment in the music industry.
Life and career
1989–2003: Early life and education
Taylor Alison Swift was born on December 13, 1989, at the Reading Hospital in West Reading, Pennsylvania. Her father, Scott Kingsley Swift, is a former stockbroker for Merrill Lynch; her mother, Andrea Gardner Swift (née Finlay), is a former homemaker who previously worked as a mutual fund marketing executive. Her younger brother, Austin, is an actor. She was named after singer-songwriter James Taylor, and has Scottish and German heritage. Her maternal grandmother, Marjorie Finlay, was an opera singer. Swift's paternal great-great-grandfather was an Italian immigrant entrepreneur and community leader who opened several businesses in Philadelphia in the 1800s. Swift spent her early years on a Christmas tree farm that her father purchased from one of his clients. Swift identifies as a Christian. She attended preschool and kindergarten at the Alvernia Montessori School, run by the Bernadine Franciscan sisters, before transferring to The Wyndcroft School. The family moved to a rented house in the suburban town of Wyomissing, Pennsylvania, where she attended Wyomissing Area Junior/Senior High School.
At age nine, Swift became interested in musical theater and performed in four Berks Youth Theatre Academy productions. She also traveled regularly to New York City for vocal and acting lessons. Swift later shifted her focus toward country music, inspired by Shania Twain's songs, which made her "want to just run around the block four times and daydream about everything." She spent weekends performing at local festivals and events. After watching a documentary about Faith Hill, Swift felt sure she needed to move to Nashville, Tennessee, to pursue a career in music. She traveled with her mother at age eleven to visit Nashville record labels and submitted demo tapes of Dolly Parton and The Chicks karaoke covers. She was rejected, however, because "everyone in that town wanted to do what I wanted to do. So, I kept thinking to myself, I need to figure out a way to be different."
When Swift was around 12 years old, computer repairman and local musician Ronnie Cremer taught her to play guitar. He helped with her first efforts as a songwriter, leading her to write "Lucky You". In 2003, Swift and her parents started working with New York-based talent manager Dan Dymtrow. With his help, Swift modeled for Abercrombie & Fitch as part of their "Rising Stars" campaign, had an original song included on a Maybelline compilation CD, and attended meetings with major record labels. After performing original songs at an RCA Records showcase, Swift, then 13 years old, was given an artist development deal and began making frequent trips to Nashville with her mother.
To help Swift break into country music, her father transferred to Merrill Lynch's Nashville office when she was 14 years old, and the family relocated to Hendersonville, Tennessee. Swift initially attended Hendersonville High School before transferring to the Aaron Academy after two years, which could better accommodate her touring schedule through homeschooling. She graduated a year early.
2004–2008: Career beginnings and first album
In Nashville, Swift worked with experienced Music Row songwriters such as Troy Verges, Brett Beavers, Brett James, Mac McAnally, and the Warren Brothers, and formed a lasting working relationship with Liz Rose. They began meeting for two-hour writing sessions every Tuesday afternoon after school. Rose thought the sessions were "some of the easiest I've ever done. Basically, I was just her editor. She'd write about what happened in school that day. She had such a clear vision of what she was trying to say. And she'd come in with the most incredible hooks." Swift became the youngest artist signed by the Sony/ATV Tree publishing house, but left the Sony-owned RCA Records at the age of 14, citing the label's lack of care and them "cut[ting] other people’s stuff" as reasons; she was also concerned that development deals may shelve artists. She recalled: "I genuinely felt that I was running out of time. I wanted to capture these years of my life on an album while they still represented what I was going through."
At an industry showcase at Nashville's Bluebird Cafe in 2005, Swift caught the attention of Scott Borchetta, a DreamWorks Records executive who was preparing to form an independent record label, Big Machine Records. She had first met Borchetta in 2004. Becoming one of the first signings Big Machine, she wanted "the kind of attention that a little [new] label will give," and her father purchased a three-percent stake in the company for an estimated $120,000. She began working on her eponymous debut album shortly after. Swift persuaded Big Machine to hire her demo producer Nathan Chapman, with whom she felt she had the right "chemistry". She wrote three of the album's songs alone, and co-wrote the remaining eight with Rose, Robert Ellis Orrall, Brian Maher, and Angelo Petraglia. Taylor Swift was released on October 24, 2006. Jon Caramanica of The New York Times described it as "a small masterpiece of pop-minded country, both wide-eyed and cynical, held together by Ms. Swift's firm, pleading voice." Taylor Swift peaked at number five on the U.S. Billboard 200, where it spent 157 weeks—the longest stay on the chart by any release in the U.S. in the 2000s decade.
Big Machine Records was still in its infancy during the June 2006 release of the lead single, "Tim McGraw". Swift and her mother helped "stuff the CD singles into envelopes to send to radio." As there were not enough furniture at the label yet, they would sit on the floor to do so. She spent much of 2006 promoting Taylor Swift with a radio tour, television appearances, and opening for Rascal Flatts on select dates during their 2006 tour after they fired their previous opening act, Eric Church, for playing longer than his allotted time. Borchetta said that although record industry peers initially disapproved of his signing a 15-year-old singer-songwriter, Swift tapped into a previously unknown market—teenage girls who listen to country music. Following "Tim McGraw", four more singles were released throughout 2007 and 2008: "Teardrops on My Guitar", "Our Song", "Picture to Burn" and "Should've Said No". All appeared on Billboards Hot Country Songs, with "Our Song", and "Should've Said No" reaching number one. With "Our Song", Swift became the youngest person to single-handedly write and sing a number-one song on the chart. "Teardrops on My Guitar" reached number thirteen on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. Swift also released two EPs; The Taylor Swift Holiday Collection in October 2007 and Beautiful Eyes in July 2008. She promoted her debut album extensively as the opening act for other country musicians' tours throughout 2006 and 2007, including George Strait, Brad Paisley, and Tim McGraw and Faith Hill.
Swift won accolades for Taylor Swift. She was one of the recipients of the Nashville Songwriters Association's Songwriter/Artist of the Year in 2007, becoming the youngest person to be honored with the title. She also won the Country Music Association's Horizon Award for Best New Artist, the Academy of Country Music Awards' Top New Female Vocalist, and the American Music Awards' Favorite Country Female Artist honor. She was also nominated for Best New Artist at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards. She opened for the Rascal Flatts on their 2008 summer and fall tour. In July of that year, Swift began a romance with singer Joe Jonas that ended three months later.
2008–2010: Fearless and acting debut
Swift's second studio album, Fearless, was released on November 11, 2008. Five singles were released in 2008 through 2009: "Love Story", "White Horse", "You Belong with Me", "Fifteen", and "Fearless". "Love Story", the lead single, peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one in Australia. "You Belong with Me" was the album's highest-charting single on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number two. All five singles were Billboard Hot Country Songs top-10 entries, with "Love Story" and "You Belong with Me" peaking at number one. Fearless debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and was the top-selling album of 2009 in the U.S. The Fearless Tour, Swift's first headlining concert tour, grossed over $63 million. Journey to Fearless, a three-part documentary miniseries, was aired on television and later released on DVD and Blu-ray. Swift also performed as a supporting act for Keith Urban's Escape Together World Tour in 2009.
In 2009, the music video for "You Belong with Me" was named Best Female Video at the MTV Video Music Awards. Her acceptance speech was interrupted by rapper Kanye West, an incident that became the subject of controversy, widespread media attention, and many Internet memes. James Montgomery of MTV argued that the incident and subsequent media attention turned Swift into "a bona-fide mainstream celebrity". That year she won five American Music Awards, including Artist of the Year and Favorite Country Album. Billboard named her 2009's Artist of the Year. The album ranked number 99 on NPR's 2017 list of the 150 Greatest Albums Made By Women. She won Video of the Year and Female Video of the Year for "Love Story" at the 2009 CMT Music Awards, where she made a parody video of the song with rapper T-Pain called "Thug Story". At the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards, Fearless was named Album of the Year and Best Country Album, and "White Horse" won Best Country Song and Best Female Country Vocal Performance. Swift was the youngest artist to win Album of the Year. At the 2009 Country Music Association Awards, Swift won Album of the Year for Fearless and was named Entertainer of the Year, the youngest person to win the honor.
Swift featured on John Mayer's single "Half of My Heart" and Boys Like Girls' single "Two Is Better Than One", both of which she co-wrote. She co-wrote and recorded "Best Days of Your Life" with Kellie Pickler, and co-wrote two songs for the Hannah Montana: The Movie soundtrack—"You'll Always Find Your Way Back Home" and "Crazier". She contributed two songs to the Valentine's Day soundtrack, including the single "Today Was a Fairytale", which was her first number one on the Canadian Hot 100, and peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100. While filming her cinematic debut Valentine's Day in October 2009, Swift began a romantic relationship with co-star Taylor Lautner; they broke up later that year. Swift's role of the ditzy girlfriend of Lautner's character received mixed reviews. In 2009, she made her television acting debut as a rebellious teenager in an CSI: Crime Scene Investigation episode. She also hosted and performed as the musical guest on an episode of Saturday Night Live; she was the first host to write her own opening monologue.
2010–2014: Speak Now and Red
In August 2010, Swift released "Mine", the lead single from her third studio album, Speak Now. It entered the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 at number three. Swift wrote the album alone and co-produced every track. Speak Now, released on October 25, 2010, debuted atop the Billboard 200 with first-week sales of a million copies. It became the fastest-selling digital album by a female artist, with 278,000 downloads in a week, earning Swift an entry in the 2010 Guinness World Records. The songs "Mine", "Back to December", "Mean", "The Story of Us", "Sparks Fly", and "Ours" were released as singles. All except "The Story of Us" were Hot Country Songs top-three entries, with "Sparks Fly" and "Ours" reaching number one. "Back to December" and "Mean" peaked in the top ten in Canada. Later in 2010, she briefly dated actor Jake Gyllenhaal.
During her tour dates for 2011, she wrote the lyrics of various songs written by other people on her left arm. At the 54th Annual Grammy Awards in 2012, Swift won Best Country Song and Best Country Solo Performance for "Mean", which she performed during the ceremony. Media publications noted the performance as an improvement from her much criticized 2010 Grammy performance, which served as a testament to her abilities as a musician. Swift won other awards for Speak Now, including Songwriter/Artist of the Year by the Nashville Songwriters Association (2010 and 2011), Woman of the Year by Billboard (2011), and Entertainer of the Year by the Academy of Country Music (2011 and 2012) and the Country Music Association in 2011. At the American Music Awards of 2011, Swift won Artist of the Year and Favorite Country Album. Rolling Stone placed Speak Now at number 45 in its 2012 list of the "50 Best Female Albums of All Time", writing: "She might get played on the country station, but she's one of the few genuine rock stars we've got these days, with a flawless ear for what makes a song click."
The Speak Now World Tour ran from February 2011 to March 2012 and grossed over $123 million. In November 2011, Swift released a live album, Speak Now World Tour: Live. She contributed two original songs to The Hunger Games soundtrack album: "Safe & Sound", co-written and recorded with the Civil Wars and T-Bone Burnett, and "Eyes Open". "Safe & Sound" won the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media and was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song. Swift featured on B.o.B's single "Both of Us", released in May 2012. From July to September 2012, Swift dated Conor Kennedy, son of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Mary Richardson Kennedy.
In August 2012, Swift released "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together", the lead single from her fourth studio album, Red. It became her first number one in the U.S. and New Zealand, and reached the top slot on iTunes' digital song sales chart 50 minutes after its release, earning the Fastest Selling Single in Digital History Guinness World Record. Other singles released from the album include "Begin Again", "I Knew You Were Trouble", "22", "Everything Has Changed", "The Last Time", and "Red". "I Knew You Were Trouble" reached the top five on charts in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Ireland, New Zealand, the U.K. and the U.S. Three singles, "Begin Again", "22", and "Red", reached the top 20 in the U.S.
Red was released on October 22, 2012. On Red, Swift worked with longtime collaborators Nathan Chapman and Liz Rose, as well as new producers, including Max Martin and Shellback. The album incorporates new genres for Swift, such as heartland rock, dubstep and dance-pop. It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 1.21 million copies, making Swift the first female to have two million-selling album openings, a record recognized by the Guinness World Records. Red was Swift's first number-one album in the U.K. The Red Tour ran from March 2013 to June 2014 and grossed over $150 million, becoming the highest-grossing country tour when it completed.
Red had sold eight million copies by 2014. The album earned several accolades, including four nominations at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards in 2014. Its single "I Knew You Were Trouble" won Best Female Video at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards. Swift received American Music Awards for Best Female Country Artist in 2012, and Artist of the Year in 2013. She received the Nashville Songwriters Association's Songwriter/Artist Award for the fifth and sixth consecutive years in 2012 and 2013. Swift was honored by the Association with a special Pinnacle Award, making her the second recipient of the accolade after Garth Brooks. During this time, she had a short-term relationship with English singer Harry Styles.
In 2013, Swift recorded "Sweeter than Fiction", a song she wrote and produced with Jack Antonoff for the One Chance film soundtrack. The song received a Best Original Song nomination at the 71st Golden Globe Awards. She provided guest vocals for Tim McGraw's song "Highway Don't Care", featuring guitar work by Keith Urban. Swift performed "As Tears Go By" with the Rolling Stones in Chicago, Illinois as part of the band's 50 & Counting tour. She joined Florida Georgia Line on stage during their set at the 2013 Country Radio Seminar to sing "Cruise". Swift voiced Audrey, a tree lover, in the animated film The Lorax (2012), made a cameo in the sitcom New Girl (2013), and had a supporting role in the film adaptation of The Giver (2014).
2014–2018: 1989 and Reputation
In March 2014, Swift lived in New York City. Around this time, she was working on her fifth studio album, 1989, with producers Jack Antonoff, Max Martin, Shellback, Imogen Heap, Ryan Tedder, and Ali Payami. She promoted the album through various campaigns, including inviting fans to secret album-listening sessions. Influenced by 1980s synth-pop, Swift severed ties with the country sound of her previous albums, and marketed 1989 as her "first documented, official pop album". The album was released on October 27, 2014, and debuted atop the US Billboard 200 with sales of 1.28 million copies in its first week. This made Swift the first act to have three albums sell more than one million copies in their opening week, for which she earned a Guinness World Record. By June 2017, 1989 had sold over 10 million copies worldwide. Three of its singles—"Shake It Off", "Blank Space", and "Bad Blood" featuring rapper Kendrick Lamar—reached number one in Australia, Canada, and the U.S. The singles "Style" and "Wildest Dreams" reached the top 10 in the U.S. Other singles were "Out of the Woods" and "New Romantics". The 1989 World Tour ran from May to December 2015 and was the highest-grossing tour of the year with $250 million in total revenue.
Prior to 1989s release, Swift stressed the importance of albums to artists and fans. In November 2014, she removed her entire catalog from Spotify, arguing that the streaming company's ad-supported, free service undermined the premium service, which provides higher royalties for songwriters. In a June 2015 open letter, Swift criticized Apple Music for not offering royalties to artists during the streaming service's free three-month trial period and stated that she would pull 1989 from the catalog. The following day, Apple announced that it would pay artists during the free trial period, and Swift agreed to stream 1989 on the streaming service. Swift's intellectual property rights management and holding company, TAS Rights Management, filed for 73 trademarks related to Swift and the 1989 era memes. She re-added her entire catalog plus 1989 to Spotify, Amazon Music and Google Play and other digital streaming platforms in June 2017.
Swift was named Billboards Woman of the Year in 2014, becoming the first artist to win the award twice. At the 2014 American Music Awards, Swift received the inaugural Dick Clark Award for Excellence. In 2015, Swift won the Brit Award for International Female Solo Artist. The video for "Bad Blood" won Video of the Year and Best Collaboration at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards. Swift was one of eight artists to receive a 50th Anniversary Milestone Award at the 2015 Academy of Country Music Awards. At the 58th Grammy Awards in 2016, 1989 won Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album, and "Bad Blood" won Best Music Video. Swift was the first woman and fifth act overall to win Album of the Year twice as a lead artist.
Swift dated Scottish DJ and record producer Calvin Harris from March 2015 to June 2016. Prior to their breakup, they co-wrote the song "This Is What You Came For", which features vocals from Barbadian singer Rihanna; Swift was initially credited under the pseudonym Nils Sjöberg. After briefly dating English actor Tom Hiddleston for a few months, Swift began dating English actor Joe Alwyn in September 2016. She wrote the song "Better Man" for Little Big Town's seventh album, The Breaker, which was released in November. The song earned Swift an award for Song of the Year at the 51st CMA Awards. Swift and English singer Zayn Malik released a single together, "I Don't Wanna Live Forever", for the soundtrack of the film Fifty Shades Darker (2017). The song reached number two in the U.S. and won Best Collaboration at the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards.
In August 2017, Swift successfully sued David Mueller, a former morning show personality for Denver's KYGO-FM. Four years earlier, Swift had informed Mueller's bosses that he had sexually assaulted her by groping her at an event. After being fired, Mueller accused Swift of lying and sued her for damages from his loss of employment. Shortly after, Swift counter-sued for sexual assault for nominal damages of only a dollar. The jury rejected Mueller's claims and ruled in favor of Swift. After a year of hiatus from public spotlight, Swift cleared her social media accounts and released "Look What You Made Me Do" as the lead single from her sixth album, Reputation. The single was Swift's first number-one U.K. single. It topped charts in Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, and the U.S.
Reputation was released on November 10, 2017. The album incorporates a heavy electropop sound, with hip hop, R&B and EDM influences. It debuted atop the Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 1.21 million copies. With this achievement, Swift became the first act to have four albums sell one million copies within one week in the U.S. The album topped the charts in the UK, Australia, and Canada. First-week worldwide sales amounted to two million copies. The album had sold over 4.5 million copies worldwide as of 2018. It spawned three other international singles, including the U.S. top-five entry "...Ready for It?", and two U.S. top-20 singles—"End Game" (featuring Ed Sheeran and rapper Future) and "Delicate". Other singles include "New Year's Day", which was exclusively released to U.S. country radio, and "Getaway Car", which was released in Australia only.
In April 2018, Swift featured on Sugarland's "Babe" from their album Bigger. In support of Reputation, she embarked on her Reputation Stadium Tour, which ran from May to November 2018. In the U.S., the tour grossed $266.1 million in box office and sold over two million tickets, breaking Swift's own record for the highest-grossing U.S. tour by a woman, which was previously held by her 1989 World Tour in 2015 ($181.5 million). It also broke the record for the highest-grossing North American concert tour in history. Worldwide, the tour grossed $345.7 million, making it the second highest-grossing concert tour of the year. On December 31, Swift released her Reputation Stadium Tour's accompanying concert film on Netflix.
Reputation was nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards in 2019. At the American Music Awards of 2018, Swift won four awards, including Artist of the Year and Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist. After the 2018 AMAs, Swift garnered a total of 23 awards, becoming the most awarded female musician in AMA history, a record previously held by Whitney Houston.
2018–2020: Lover and masters dispute
Reputation was Swift's last album under her 12-year contract with Big Machine Records. In November 2018, she signed a new multi-album deal with Big Machine's distributor Universal Music Group; in the U.S. her subsequent releases were promoted under the Republic Records imprint. Swift said the contract included a provision for her to maintain ownership of her master recordings. In addition, in the event that Universal sells any part of its stake in Spotify, which agreed to distribute a non-recoupable portion of the proceeds among their artists. Vox called it is a huge commitment from Universal, which was "far from assured" until Swift intervened.
Swift released her seventh studio album, Lover, on August 23, 2019. Besides longtime collaborator Jack Antonoff, Swift worked with new producers Louis Bell, Frank Dukes, and Joel Little. Lover made Swift the first female artist to have sixth consecutive album sell more than 500,000 copies in one week in the U.S. All 18 songs from the album charted on the Billboard Hot 100 the same week, setting a record for the most simultaneous entries by a woman. The lead single, "Me!", debuted at number 100 on the Billboard Hot 100 and rose to number two a week later, scoring the biggest single-week jump in chart history. Other singles from Lover were the U.S. top-10 singles "You Need to Calm Down" and "Lover", and U.S. top-40 single "The Man".
Lover was the world's best-selling studio album of 2019, selling 3.2 million copies. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) honored Swift as the global best-selling artist of 2019. Swift became first woman to win the honor twice, having previously won in 2014. The album earned accolades, including three nominations at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards in 2020. At the 2019 MTV Video Music Awards, "Me!" won Best Visual Effects, and "You Need to Calm Down" won Video of the Year and Video for Good. Swift was the first female and second artist overall to win Video of the Year for a video that they directed.
Swift played Bombalurina in the movie adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Cats (2019). For the film's soundtrack, she co-wrote and recorded the Golden Globe-nominated original song "Beautiful Ghosts". Although critics reviewed the film negatively, Swift received positive feedback for her role and musical performance. The documentary Miss Americana, which chronicles part of Swift's life and career, premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival and was released on Netflix that January. Miss Americana features the song "Only the Young", which Swift wrote after the 2018 United States elections. In February 2020, Swift signed an exclusive global publishing deal with Universal Music Publishing Group, after her 16-year-old contract with Sony/ATV Music Publishing expired.
In 2019, Swift became embroiled in a publicized dispute with talent manager Scooter Braun and her former label Big Machine, regarding the acquisition of the masters of her back catalog. Swift stated on her Tumblr blog that she had been trying to buy the masters for years, but Big Machine only allowed her to do so if she exchanged a new album for an older one under another contract, which she refused to do. Against Swift's authorization, Big Machine, in April 2020, released Live from Clear Channel Stripped 2008, a live album of Swift's performances at a radio show. In October, Braun sold Swift's masters, videos and artworks, to Shamrock Holdings for a reported $300 million. Swift began re-recording her back catalog in November 2020. Rolling Stone highlighted this decision, along with her opposition to low royalties for artists from streaming services such as Spotify and Apple Music as two of the music industry's most defining moments in the 2010s decade. In April 2020, Swift was scheduled to embark on Lover Fest, the supporting concert tour for Lover, which was canceled after the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.
2020–present: Folklore, Evermore, and re-recordings
In 2020, Swift released two surprise albums with little promotion, to critical acclaim. The first, her eighth studio album Folklore, was released on July 24. The second, her ninth studio album Evermore, was released on December 11. Described by Swift and Dessner as "sister records", both albums incorporate indie folk and alternative rock, departing from the previous upbeat pop releases. Swift wrote and recorded the albums while in isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic, working with producers Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner from the National. Both albums feature collaborations with Bon Iver, and Evermore features collaborations with the National and Haim. Swift's boyfriend Joe Alwyn co-wrote and co-produced select songs under the pseudonym William Bowery. The making of Folklore was discussed in the concert documentary Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions, directed by Swift and released on November 25.
In the U.S., Folklore and Evermore were each supported by three singles—one to mainstream radio, one to country radio, and one to triple A radio. The singles in that order were "Cardigan", "Betty", "Exile" (featuring Bon Iver); and "Willow", "No Body, No Crime" (featuring Haim), "Coney Island" (featuring the National); respectively. The lead singles from each album, "Cardigan" and "Willow", opened at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 the same week their parent albums debuted atop the Billboard 200. This made Swift the first artist to debut atop both the U.S. singles and albums charts simultaneously twice. Each album sold over one million units worldwide in its first week, with Folklore selling two million. Folklore broke the Guinness World Record for the highest first-day album streams by a female artist on Spotify, and was the best-selling album of 2020 in the U.S., having sold 1.2 million copies. Swift was 2020's highest-paid musician in the U.S., and highest-paid solo musician worldwide. At the 2020 American Music Awards, Swift won three awards, including Artist of the Year for a record third consecutive time. Folklore won Album of the Year at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards, making Swift the first woman in history to win the award three times.
Following the masters controversy, Swift released two re-recordings in 2021, adding "Taylor's Version" to their titles. The first, Fearless (Taylor's Version), peaked atop the Billboard 200, becoming the first re-recorded album to do so. It was preceded by the three tracks: "Love Story (Taylor's Version)", "You All Over Me" with Maren Morris, and "Mr. Perfectly Fine", the first of which made Swift the second artist after Dolly Parton to have both the original and the re-recording of a single at number one on the Hot Country Songs. Swift released "Wildest Dreams (Taylors Version)" on September 17, after the original song gained traction on the online-video sharing app TikTok. The second re-recording Red (Taylor's Version) was released on November 12. Its final track, "All Too Well (10 Minute Version)"—accompanied by All Too Well: The Short Film directed by Swift—debuted at number one on the Hot 100, becoming the longest song in history to top the chart. She was the highest-paid female musician of 2021, whereas both her 2020 albums and the re-recordings were ranked among the 10 best-selling albums of the year. In May 2021, Swift was awarded the Global Icon Award by the Brit Awards and the Songwriter Icon Award by the National Music Publishers' Association.
Outside her albums, Swift featured on four songs in 2021–2022: "Renegade" and "Birch" by Big Red Machine, a remix of Haim's "Gasoline" and Ed Sheeran's "The Joker and the Queen". She has been cast in David O. Russell's untitled film slated for release in November 2022.
Artistry
Influences
One of Swift's earliest musical memories is listening to her grandmother, Marjorie Finlay, sing in church. As a child, she enjoyed Disney film soundtracks: "My parents noticed that, once I had run out of words, I would just make up my own". Swift has said she owes her confidence to her mother, who helped her prepare for class presentations as a child. She also attributes her "fascination with writing and storytelling" to her mother. Swift was drawn to the storytelling aspect of country music, and was introduced to the genre listening to "the great female country artists" of the 1990s—Shania Twain, Faith Hill, and the Dixie Chicks. Twain, both as a songwriter and performer, was her biggest musical influence. Hill was Swift's childhood role model: "Everything she said, did, wore, I tried to copy it". She admired the Dixie Chicks' defiant attitude and their ability to play their own instruments. "Kiss Me" by Sixpence None the Richer was the first song Swift learned to play on the guitar. Swift also explored the music of older country stars such as Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, Tammy Wynette, and Dolly Parton, the latter of whom she believes is "an amazing example to every female songwriter out there", and alt-country artists like Patty Griffin and Lori McKenna. She has also cited Keith Urban's musical style as an influence.
Swift has also been influenced by various pop and rock artists. She lists Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen, Bryan Adams, Emmylou Harris, Kris Kristofferson, and Carly Simon as her career role models. Discussing McCartney and Harris, Swift has said, "They've taken chances, but they've also been the same artist for their entire careers". McCartney, both as a Beatle and a solo artist, makes Swift feel "as if I've been let into his heart and his mind [...] He's out there continuing to make his fans so happy. Any musician could only dream of a legacy like that." She likes Springsteen for being "so musically relevant after such a long period of time". She aspires to be like Harris as she grows older because of prioritizing music over fame. Swift says of Kristofferson that he "shines in songwriting", and admires Simon for being "an emotional" but "a strong person". Her synth-pop album 1989 was influenced by some of her favorite 1980s pop acts, including Peter Gabriel, Annie Lennox, Phil Collins and Madonna. As a songwriter, Swift was influenced by Joni Mitchell for her autobiographical lyrics conveying the deepest emotions: "She wrote it about her deepest pains and most haunting demons ... I think [Blue] is my favorite because it explores somebody's soul so deeply".
Musical styles
Swift's discography spans country, pop, folk, and alternative genres. Her first three studio albums, Taylor Swift, Fearless and Speak Now are categorized as country; her eclectic fourth studio album, Red, is dubbed both country and pop; her next three albums 1989, Reputation and Lover are labeled pop; and Folklore and Evermore are considered alternative. Music critics have described her songs as synth-pop, country pop, rock, electropop, and indie, amongst others; some songs, especially those on Reputation, incorporate elements of R&B, EDM, hip hop, and trap. The music instruments Swift plays include the piano, banjo, ukulele and various types of guitar. Swift described herself as a country artist until the release of 1989, which she characterized as her first "sonically cohesive pop album".
Rolling Stone wrote, "[Swift] might get played on the country station, but she's one of the few genuine rock stars we've got these days." According to The New York Times, "There isn't much in Ms. Swift's music to indicate country—a few banjo strums, a pair of cowboy boots worn onstage, a bedazzled guitar—but there's something in her winsome, vulnerable delivery that's unique to Nashville." The Guardian wrote that Swift "cranks melodies out with the pitiless efficiency of a Scandinavian pop factory." Consequence pinpointed her "capacity to continually reinvent while remaining herself", while Time dubbed Swift a "musical chameleon" for the constantly evolving sound of her discography. Clash said her career "has always been one of transcendence and covert boundary-pushing", reaching a point at which "Taylor Swift is just Taylor Swift", not defined by any genre.
Voice
Swift possesses a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Her singing voice is "sweet but soft" according to Sophie Schillaci of The Hollywood Reporter. Pitchfork's Sam Sodomsky called it "versatile and expressive". Music theory professor Alyssa Barna described the timbre of Swift's upper register as "breathy and bright", and her lower register "full and dark". The Los Angeles Times identified Swift's "defining" vocal gesture in studio recordings as "the line that slides down like a contented sigh or up like a raised eyebrow, giving her beloved girl-time hits their air of easy intimacy." In 2010, a writer from The Tennessean conceded that Swift was "not the best technical singer", but described her as the "best communicator that we've got". According to Swift, her vocal ability often concerned her in her early career, and she worked hard to improve it. She said she only feels nervous performing live "if I'm not sure what the audience thinks of me, like at award shows". The Hollywood Reporter wrote that her live vocals were "fine", but did not match those of her peers.
Though Swift's singing ability received mixed reviews early in her career, she was praised for refusing to correct her pitch with Auto-Tune. Rolling Stone found her voice "unaffected enough to mask how masterful she has become as a singer", while The Village Voice noted the improvement from her previously "bland and muddled" phrasing to her learning "how to make words sound like what they mean". In 2014, NPR Music described her singing as personal and conversational thanks to her "exceptional gift for inflection", but also suffered from a "wobbly pitch and tight, nasal delivery". Beginning with Folklore, she received better reviews for her vocals; Variety critic Andrew Barker noted the "remarkable" control she developed over her vocals, never allowing a "flourish or a tricky run to compromise the clarity of a lyric", while doing "wonders within her register" and "exploring its further reaches". Reviewing Fearless (Taylor's Version), The New York Times critic Lindsay Zoladz described her voice as stronger, more controlled, and deeper over time, discarding the nasal tone of her early vocals. Lucy Harbron of Clash opined that Swift's vocals have evolved "into her own unique blend of country, pop and indie".
Songwriting
Swift has been referred to as one of the greatest songwriters of all time and the best of her generation by various publications and organizations. She told The New Yorker in 2011 that she identifies as a songwriter first: "I write songs, and my voice is just a way to get those lyrics across." Swift's personal experiences were a common inspiration for her early songs, which helped her navigate the complexities of life. Her "diaristic" technique began with identifying an emotion, followed by a corresponding melody. On her first three studio albums, recurring themes were love, heartbreak, and insecurities, from an adolescent perspective. She delved into the tumult of toxic relationships on Red, and embraced nostalgia and positivity after failed relationships on 1989. Reputation was inspired by the downsides of Swift's fame, and Lover detailed her realization of the "full spectrum of love". Besides romance, other themes in Swift's music include parent-child relationships, friendships, alienation, and self-awareness.
Music critics often praise her self-written discography, especially her confessional narratives; they compliment her writing for its vivid details and emotional engagement, which were rare among pop artists. New York magazine argued that Swift was the first teenage artist who explicitly portrayed teenage experiences in her music. Rolling Stone described Swift as "a songwriting savant with an intuitive gift for verse-chorus-bridge architecture". Although reviews of Swift are generally positive, The New Yorker stated she was generally portrayed "more as a skilled technician than as a Dylanesque visionary". Because of her confessional narratives, tabloid media often speculated and linked the subjects of the songs with ex-lovers of Swift, a practice which New York magazine considered "sexist, inasmuch as it's not asked of her male peers". Aside from clues provided in album liner notes, Swift avoided talking about song subjects specifically. In a 2013 interview with Vanity Fair, Swift stated that the criticism on her songwriting—critics interpreted her persona as a "clingy, insane, desperate girlfriend in need of making you marry her and have kids with her"—was "a little sexist".
On her 2020 albums Folklore and Evermore, Swift was inspired by escapism and romanticism to explore fictional narratives. Without referencing her personal life, she imposed her emotions onto imagined characters and story arcs, which liberated her from the mental stress caused by tabloid attention and suggested new paths for her artistry. In a feature for Rolling Stone, Swift explained that she welcomed the new songwriting direction after she stopped worrying about commercial success: "I always thought, 'That'll never track on pop radio,' but when I was making Folklore, I thought, 'If you take away all the parameters, what do you make?" With the release of Evermore, Spin found Swift exploring "exceedingly complex human emotions with precision and devastation". Consequence stated her 2020 albums "offered a chance for doubters to see Swift's songwriting power on full display, but the truth is that her pen has always been her sword" and that her writing prowess took "different forms" as she transformed from "teenage wunderkind to a confident and careful adult."
Swift's bridges have been underscored as one of the best aspects of her songs and earned her the title "Queen of Bridges" from media outlets. Awarding her with the Songwriter Icon Award in 2021, the National Music Publishers' Association remarked that "no one is more influential when it comes to writing music today" than Swift. The Week deemed her the foremost female songwriter of modern times. Swift has also published two original poems: "Why She Disappeared" and "If You're Anything Like Me".
Music videos
Swift has collaborated with many different directors to produce her music videos, and over time she has become more involved with writing and directing. She has her own production house, Taylor Swift Productions, Inc., which is credited with producing music videos for singles such as "Me!". Swift developed the concept and treatment for "Mean", and co-directed the music video for "Mine" with Roman White. In an interview, White elaborated that Swift "was keenly involved in writing the treatment, casting and wardrobe. And she stayed for both the 15-hour shooting days, even when she wasn't in the scenes."
From 2014 to 2018, Swift collaborated with director Joseph Kahn on eight music videos—four each from her albums 1989 and Reputation. Kahn has praised Swift's involvement in the craft. She worked with American Express for the "Blank Space" music video (which Kahn directed), and served as an executive producer for the interactive app AMEX Unstaged: Taylor Swift Experience, for which she won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Interactive Program in 2015. She produced the music video for "Bad Blood" and won a Grammy Award for Best Music Video in 2016. While she continued to co-direct music videos with the Lover singles—"Me!" with Dave Meyers, "You Need to Calm Down" (also serving as a co-executive producer) and "Lover" with Drew Kirsch—she ventured into sole direction with the videos for "The Man" (which won her the MTV Video Music Award for Best Direction), "Cardigan" and "Willow".
Public image
Swift became a teen idol with her debut, and a pop icon following global fame. Journalists have written about her polite, "open" personality, "willing to play along" during the course of an interview. J. Freedom du Lac of The Washington Post called Swift a "media darling" and "a reporter's dream". The Guardian attributed her disposition to her formative years in country music. The Hollywood Reporter described Swift as "the Best People Person since Bill Clinton". While presenting her with an award for her humanitarian endeavors in 2012, former First Lady Michelle Obama described Swift as an artist who "has rocketed to the top of the music industry but still keeps her feet on the ground, someone who has shattered every expectation of what a 22-year-old can accomplish"; Swift considers Obama to be a role model.
In 2015, Vanity Fair referred to Swift as "the most famous and influential entertainer on Earth". According to YouGov surveys, she ranked as the world's most admired female musician from 2019 to 2021. One of the most followed people on social media, Swift is known for her frequent and friendly interactions with her fans, delivering holiday gifts to them by mail and in person. She considers it her "responsibility" to be conscious of her influence on young fans, praising her relationship with her fans as "the longest and best" she has ever had. Swift regularly incorporates easter eggs into her works and social media posts for fans to figure out clues about a forthcoming release. Fawzia Khan of Elle attributes Swift's "perennial" success partly to her intimacy with fans.
Media outlets describe Swift as a savvy businessperson. According to marketing executive Matt B. Britton, her business acumen has helped her "excel as an authentic personality who establishes direct connections with her audience", "touch as many people as possible", and "generate a kind of advocacy and excitement that no level of advertising could." Describing her omnipresence, The Ringer writer Kate Knibbs said Swift is not just a pop act but "a musical biosphere unto herself", having achieved the kind of success "that turns a person into an institution, into an inevitability."
Though Swift is reluctant to publicly discuss her personal life—believing it to be "a career weakness"—it is a topic of widespread media attention and tabloid speculation. Clash described her as a lightning rod for both praise and criticism. While The New York Times asserted in 2013 that Swift's "dating history has begun to stir what feels like the beginning of a backlash" and questioned whether she was in the midst of a "quarter-life crisis", certain critics have highlighted the misogyny and slut-shaming Swift's life and career have been subject to. She parodied this scrutiny in "Blank Space". Rolling Stone said, after the release of 1989, "everything she did was a story", with a non-stop news cycle about her, leaving her overexposed. Much of Reputation was conceived under the "intense" media scrutiny she experienced in 2015 and 2016, causing her to adopt a dark, defensive alter ego on the album. She criticized sexist double standards and gaslighting in "The Man" (2019) and "Mad Woman" (2020), respectively. When asked "why sing to the haters?" by CBS journalist Tracy Smith, Swift replied, "well, when they stop coming for me, I will stop singing to them." Glamour opined Swift is an easy target for male derision and triggers "fragile male egos" to take "pot-shots" at her career. The Daily Telegraph said her antennae for sexism is crucial for the industry and that she "must continue holding people to account".
Fashion
Swift's fashion is often covered by media outlets, with her street style receiving acclaim. Her fashion appeal has been picked up by several media publications, such as People, Elle, Vogue, and Maxim. Vogue regards Swift as one of the world's most influential figures in sustainable fashion. Elle highlighted the various styles she has adopted throughout her career, including the "curly-haired teenager" of her early days to "red-lipped pop bombshell" with "platinum blonde hair and sultry makeup looks" later on. Swift is known for reinventing her image often, corresponding each one of her albums to a specific aesthetic. Swift also popularized cottagecore with Folklore and Evermore. Consequence opined that Swift's looks evolved from "girl-next-door country act to pop star to woodsy poet over a decade."
Though labeled by the media as "America's Sweetheart", a sobriquet based on her down-to-earth personality and girl-next-door image, Swift insists she does not "live by all these rigid, weird rules that make me feel all fenced in. I just like the way that I feel like, and that makes me feel very free". Although she refused to take part in "sexy" photoshoots in 2012, she stated "it's nice to be glamorous" in 2015. Bloomberg views Swift as a sex symbol, albeit of a subtle and sophisticated variety unlike many of her female contemporaries.
Impact
Swift's career helped shape the modern country music scene. According to music journalist Jody Rosen, Swift is the first country artist whose fame reached the world beyond the U.S. Her chart success extended to Asia and the U.K., where country music had previously not been popular. She is recognized as one of the first country artists to use technology and viral marketing techniques, such as MySpace, to promote their work. According to Chris Willman of Entertainment Weekly, the commercial success of her debut album helped the infant Big Machine Records go on to sign Garth Brooks and Jewel. Following Swift's rise to fame, country labels became more interested in signing young singers who write their own music. With her autobiographical narratives revolving around romance and heartbreak, she introduced the genre to a younger generation that could relate to her personally. Critics have since noted the impact of Swift's sound on various albums released by female country singers such as Kacey Musgraves, Maren Morris and Kelsea Ballerini. Rolling Stone listed her country music as one of the biggest influences on 2010s pop music and ranked her 80th in their list of 100 Greatest Country Artists of All Time.Her onstage performance with guitars contributed to the "Taylor Swift factor", a phenomenon to which the rise in guitar sales to women, a previously ignored demographic, is attributed. Pitchfork opined that Swift changed the contemporary music landscape forever with her "unprecedented path from teenage country prodigy to global pop sensation" and a "singularly perceptive" discography that consistently accommodates both musical and cultural shifts. Clash stated Swift's genre-spanning career encouraged her peers to experiment with diverse sounds. Billboard credited her with influencing artists to take creative ownership of their music and remarked she "has the power to pull any sound she wants into mainstream orbit." Music journalist Nick Catucci wrote that, in being personal and vulnerable in her lyrics, Swift helped make space for later pop stars like Billie Eilish, Ariana Grande, and Halsey to do the same. According to The Guardian, Swift leads the rebirth of poptimism in the 21st-century with her ambitious artistic vision.
Publications consider Swift's million-selling albums an anomaly in the streaming-dominated music industry following the decline of the album era in the 2010s. For this reason, musicologists Mary Fogarty and Gina Arnold regard her as "the last great rock star". Swift is the only artist to have four albums sell over one million copies in one week since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking sales for the Billboard 200 in 1991. To New York magazine, her million sales figures prove that she is "the one bending the music industry to her will". The Atlantic notes that Swift's "reign" defies the convention that the successful phase of an artist's career rarely lasts more than a few years. She is a champion of independent record shops, having contributed to the 21st-century vinyl revival. Journalists note how her actions have fostered debate over reforms to on-demand music streaming and prompted awareness of intellectual property rights among younger musicians, praising her ability to bring change in the music industry.
She was named Woman of the Decade for the 2010s by Billboard, became the first woman to earn the title Artist of the Decade (2010s) at the American Music Awards, and received the Brit Global Icon Award "in recognition of her immense impact on music across the world". Swift has influenced various mainstream and indie recording artists. Various sources deem her music to be representative and paradigmatic of the millennial generation, owing to her success, musical versatility, social media presence, live shows, and corporate sponsorship. Vox called Swift the "millennial Bruce Springsteen" for telling the stories of a generation through her songs. Student societies focusing on her were established in various universities around the world, such as Oxford, York, and Cambridge. New York University Tisch School of the Arts offers a course on Swift's career. Some of her popular songs like "Love Story" are studied by evolutionary psychologists to understand the relationship between popular music and human mating strategies.
Accolades and achievements
Swift has won 11 Grammy Awards (including three Album of the Year wins—tied for most by an artist), an Emmy Award, 34 American Music Awards (most wins by an artist), 25 Billboard Music Awards (most wins by a woman), 56 Guinness World Records, 12 Country Music Association Awards (including the Pinnacle Award), eight Academy of Country Music Awards, and two Brit Awards. As a songwriter, she has been honored by the Nashville Songwriters Association, the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and the National Music Publishers' Association and was the youngest person on Rolling Stone list of the 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time in 2015. At the 64th BMI Awards in 2016, Swift was the first woman to be honored with an award named after its recipient. Her albums Red and 1989 appeared on Rolling Stone's 2020 revision of their 500 Greatest Albums of All Time; in 2021, her "Blank Space" music video named one of Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Music Videos of All Time, while the songs "All Too Well" and "Blank Space" were on its 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
From available data, Swift has amassed over 50 million album sales, 150 million singles sales, and 114 million units in album consumption worldwide, including 78 billion streams. Swift has the most number-one albums in the United Kingdom and Ireland for a female artist in this millennium, and is the best-selling artist of all time on Chinese digital music platforms with in income. She is the only female artist to have received more than 100 million global streams on Spotify in a day, with over 122 million streams on November 11, 2021. Swift broke the record for the highest-grossing North American tour of all time with her Reputation Stadium Tour (2018) and is the world's highest-grossing female touring act of the 2010s. She has the most entries and the most simultaneous entries for an artist on the Billboard Global 200, with 69 and 31 songs, respectively.
In the US, Swift has sold over 37.3 million albums as of 2019, when Billboard placed her eighth on its Greatest of All Time Artists Chart. She is the longest-reigning act of Billboard Artist 100 (50 weeks at number one), the solo act with the most cumulative weeks (55) atop the Billboard 200, the woman with the most weeks atop the Top Country Albums (98) and the most Billboard Hot 100 entries in history (165), and the artist with the most Digital Songs number-ones (23). She is the second highest-certified female digital singles artist (and third overall) in the US, with 134 million total units certified by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and the first female artist to have both an album (Fearless) and a song ("Shake It Off") certified Diamond. In 2021, one of every 50 albums sold in the US was Swift's, who became the first woman to have five albums—1989, Taylor Swift, Fearless, Red and Reputation—chart for 150 weeks each on the Billboard 200.
Swift has appeared in various power listings. Time included her on its annual list of the 100 most influential people in 2010, 2015, and 2019. She was one of the "Silence Breakers" honored as Time Person of the Year in 2017 for speaking up about sexual assault. From 2011 to 2020, Swift appeared in the top three on the Forbes Top-Earning Women in Music list, placing first in 2016 and 2019. In 2014, she was named to Forbes' 30 Under 30 list in the music category and again in 2017 in its "All-Star Alumni" category. In 2015, Swift became the youngest woman to be included on Forbes list of the 100 most powerful women, ranked at number 64. She was the most googled female musician of 2019.
Other activities
Wealth and properties
In 2021, Forbes estimated Swift's net worth at US$550 million, coming from her music, merchandise, promotions, and concerts. She topped the magazine's list of the 100 highest-paid celebrities in 2016 with $170 million—a feat recognized by the Guinness World Records as the highest annual earnings ever for a female musician, which she herself surpassed in 2019 with $185 million. Swift was the highest-paid female musician of the 2010s, with $825 million earned.
Swift has invested in a real estate portfolio worth $84 million. For example, she purchased the Samuel Goldwyn Estate, a Georgian-revival house in Beverly Hills, for $25 million in 2015, which she has since restored to its original condition and contains Swift's home studio, Kitty Committee, where she recorded songs for Folklore. In 2013, she purchased the Holiday House, a seafront mansion in Watch Hill, Rhode Island. Gina Raimondo, then-Governor of Rhode Island, proposed in 2015 a statewide property tax for second homes worth more than $1 million, dubbed the "Taylor Swift tax". In New York City, her $47 million worth of property on a single block in Tribeca includes a $19.95 million duplex penthouse, an $18 million four-story townhouse, and a $9.75 million apartment purchased in 2014, 2017 and 2018, respectively.
Philanthropy
Swift is well known for her philanthropic efforts. She was ranked at number one on DoSomething's "Gone Good" list, and has received the "Star of Compassion" accolade from the Tennessee Disaster Services, The Big Help Award from the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards for her "dedication to helping others" as well as "inspiring others through action", and the Ripple of Hope Award for her "dedication to advocacy at such a young age". In 2008, she donated $100,000 to the Red Cross to help the victims of the Iowa flood. Swift has performed at charity relief events, including Sydney's Sound Relief concert. In response to the May 2010 Tennessee floods, Swift donated $500,000 during a telethon hosted by WSMV. In 2011, Swift used a dress rehearsal of her Speak Now tour as a benefit concert for victims of recent tornadoes in the U.S., raising more than $750,000. In 2016, she donated $1 million to Louisiana flood relief efforts and $100,000 to the Dolly Parton Fire Fund. Swift donated to the Houston Food Bank after Hurricane Harvey struck the city in 2017. In 2020, she donated $1 million for Tennessee tornado relief.
Swift is a supporter of the arts. She is a benefactor of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. She has donated $75,000 to Nashville's Hendersonville High School to help refurbish the school auditorium, $4 million to fund the building of a new education center at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, $60,000 to the music departments of six U.S. colleges, and $100,000 to the Nashville Symphony. Also a promoter of children's literacy, she has donated money and books to various schools around the country to improve education. In 2007, Swift partnered with the Tennessee Association of Chiefs of Police to launch a campaign to protect children from online predators. She has donated items to several charities for auction, including the Elton John AIDS Foundation, the UNICEF Tap Project, MusiCares, and Feeding America. As recipient of the Academy of Country Music's Entertainer of the Year in 2011, Swift donated $25,000 to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Tennessee. In 2012, Swift participated in the Stand Up to Cancer telethon, performing the charity single "Ronan", which she wrote in memory of a four-year-old boy who died of neuroblastoma. She has also donated $100,000 to the V Foundation for Cancer Research and $50,000 to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Swift has encouraged young people to volunteer in their local communities as part of Global Youth Service Day.
Swift donated to fellow singer-songwriter Kesha to help with her legal battles against Dr. Luke and to actress Mariska Hargitay's Joyful Heart Foundation organization. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Swift donated to the World Health Organization and Feeding America and offered one of her signed guitars as part of an auction to raise money for the National Health Service. Swift performed "Soon You'll Get Better" during One World: Together At Home television special, a benefit concert curated by Lady Gaga for Global Citizen to raise funds for the World Health Organization's COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund. In 2018 and 2021, Swift donated to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network in honor of Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month. In addition to charitable causes, she has made donations to her fans several times for their medical or academic expenses.
Politics and activism
Swift is pro-choice, and has been regarded as a feminist icon by various publications. During the 2008 United States presidential election, she promoted the Every Woman Counts campaign, aimed at engaging women in the political process. She was one of the founding signatories of the Time's Up movement against sexual harassment. Swift has also spoken out against LGBT discrimination, which was the theme of the music video for "Mean". On multiple occasions, she encouraged support for the Equality Act, which prohibits discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation and gender identity, among others. In 2019, she donated to the LGBT organizations Tennessee Equality Project and GLAAD.
Swift avoided discussing politics in her early career because country record label executives insisted "Don't be like the Dixie Chicks!", and first became active during the 2018 United States elections. She declared her support for Democrats Jim Cooper and Phil Bredesen to represent Tennessee in the House of Representatives and Senate, respectively, and expressed her desire for greater LGBT rights, gender equality and racial equality, condemned systemic racism. In August 2020, Swift urged her fans to check their voter registration ahead of elections, which resulted in 65,000 people registering to vote within a day after her post. She endorsed Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in the 2020 United States presidential election, and was found to be one of the most influential celebrities in the polls.
Swift has supported the March for Our Lives movement and gun control reform in the U.S, and is a vocal critic of white supremacy, racism, and police brutality in the country. Following the murders of African-American men Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd, she donated to the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and the Black Lives Matter movement. After then-president Donald Trump posted a controversial tweet on the unrest in Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Swift accused him of promoting white supremacy and racism in his term. She called for the removal of Confederate monuments of "racist historical figures" in Tennessee, and advocated for Juneteenth to become a national holiday.
Endorsements
During the Fearless era, Swift supported campaigns by Verizon Wireless and "Got Milk?". She launched a l.e.i. sundress range at Walmart, and designed American Greetings cards and Jakks Pacific dolls. She became a spokesperson for the National Hockey League's (NHL) Nashville Predators and Sony Cyber-shot digital cameras. She launched two Elizabeth Arden fragrances—Wonderstruck and Wonderstruck Enchanted. In 2013, she released the fragrances Taylor by Taylor Swift and Taylor by Taylor Swift: Made of Starlight, followed by her fifth fragrance, Incredible Things, in 2014.
Swift signed a multi-year deal with AT&T in 2016. She later headlined DirecTV's Super Saturday Night event on the eve of the 2017 Super Bowl. In 2019, Swift signed a multi-year partnership with Capital One, and released a sustainable clothing line with Stella McCartney. In 2022, in light of her philanthropic support for independent record stores during the COVID-19 pandemic, Record Store Day named Swift their first-ever global ambassador.
Discography
Studio albums
Taylor Swift (2006)
Fearless (2008)
Speak Now (2010)
Red (2012)
1989 (2014)
Reputation (2017)
Lover (2019)
Folklore (2020)
Evermore (2020)
Re-recordings
Fearless (Taylor's Version) (2021)
Red (Taylor's Version) (2021)
Filmography
Hannah Montana: The Movie (2009)
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2009)
Valentine's Day (2010)
Journey to Fearless (2010)
The Lorax (2012)
The Giver (2014)
The 1989 World Tour Live (2015)
Taylor Swift: Reputation Stadium Tour (2018)
Cats (2019)
Miss Americana (2020)
City of Lover (2020)
Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions (2020)
All Too Well: The Short Film (2021)
Tours
Fearless Tour (2009–2010)
Speak Now World Tour (2011–2012)
The Red Tour (2013–2014)
The 1989 World Tour (2015)
Reputation Stadium Tour (2018)
See also
List of best-selling albums by year in the United States
List of best-selling singles in the United States
List of highest-certified music artists in the United States
Grammy Award records – Youngest artists to win Album of the Year
Grammy Award records – Most Grammys won by a female artist
List of American Grammy Award winners and nominees
List of Grammy Award winners and nominees by country
List of most-followed Instagram accounts
List of most-followed Twitter accounts
List of most-subscribed YouTube channels
Best-selling female artists of all time
Footnotes
References
External links
Taylor Swift
1989 births
Living people
21st-century American actresses
21st-century American guitarists
21st-century American pianists
21st-century American singers
21st-century American women guitarists
21st-century American women pianists
21st-century American women singers
Actresses from Nashville, Tennessee
Alternative rock singers
American acoustic guitarists
American country banjoists
American country guitarists
American country pianists
American country record producers
American country singer-songwriters
American country songwriters
American women country singers
American women pop singers
American women rock singers
American women singer-songwriters
American women songwriters
American women record producers
American feminists
American film actresses
American folk guitarists
American folk musicians
American folk singers
American mezzo-sopranos
American multi-instrumentalists
American music video directors
American people of German descent
American people of Italian descent
American people of Scottish descent
American pop guitarists
American pop pianists
American synth-pop musicians
American television actresses
American voice actresses
American women guitarists
American women pianists
Big Machine Records artists
Brit Award winners
Christians from Tennessee
Country musicians from Tennessee
Emmy Award winners
Female music video directors
Feminist musicians
Forbes 30 Under 30 multi-time recipients
Grammy Award winners
Guitarists from Pennsylvania
Guitarists from Tennessee
MTV Europe Music Award winners
Musicians from Nashville, Tennessee
NME Awards winners
RCA Records artists
Record producers from Tennessee
Republic Records artists
Singer-songwriters from Tennessee
Sony Music Publishing artists
Synth-pop singers
Universal Music Group artists
Featured articles
Singer-songwriters from Pennsylvania | false | [
"The American Music Awards for Video of the Year has been awarded since 2016. Years reflect the year in which the awards were presented, for works released in the previous year (until 2003 onward when awards were handed out in November of the same year). In 2019, the award's name became Favorite Music Video.\n\nWinners and nominees\n\n2010s\n\n2020s\n\nCategory facts\n\nMultiple wins\n 2 wins\n Taylor Swift\n\nMultiple nominations\n 3 nominations\n Drake\n\n 2 nominations\n Ariana Grande\n Cardi B\n Lil Nas X\n Bruno Mars\n Taylor Swift\n The Weeknd\n\nSee also\n American Music Award for Favorite Pop/Rock Video (1984-1988)\n American Music Award for Favorite Pop/Rock Male Video Artist (1985-1987)\n American Music Award for Favorite Pop/Rock Female Video Artist (1985-1987)\n American Music Award for Favorite Pop/Rock Band/Duo/Group Video Artist (1985-1987)\n American Music Award for Favorite Soul/R&B Video (1984-1988)\n American Music Award for Favorite Soul/R&B Male Video Artist (1985-1987)\n American Music Award for Favorite Soul/R&B Female Video Artist (1985-1987)\n American Music Award for Favorite Soul/R&B Band/Duo/Group Video Artist (1985-1987)\n American Music Award for Favorite Country Video (1984-1988)\n American Music Award for Favorite Country Male Video Artist (1985-1987)\n American Music Award for Favorite Country Female Video Artist (1985-1987)\n American Music Award for Favorite Country Band/Duo/Group Video Artist (1985-1987)\n\nReferences\n\nAmerican Music Awards\nAmerican music video awards\nAwards established in 2016",
"This is a list of awards and nominations received by Def Leppard. The English rock band Def Leppard formed in 1977 as part of the new wave of British heavy metal movement.\n\nAmerican Music Awards\nThe American Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony created by Dick Clark in 1973. Def Leppard has been nominated seven times overall due to the band's large popularity in the United States.\n\n|-\n| rowspan=2 align=\"center\"| ||Def Leppard|| Favorite Pop/Rock Band/Duo/Group || \n|-\n|-\n|Pyromania ||Favorite Pop/Rock Album || \n|-\n|-\n| rowspan=4 align=\"center\"| |||Def Leppard||Favorite Pop/Rock Band/Duo/Group || \n|-\n|-\n|Hysteria|| Favorite Pop/Rock Album || \n|-\n|-\n|Def Leppard|| Favorite Heavy Metal/Hard Rock Artist || \n|-\n|-\n|Hysteria|| Favorite Heavy Metal/Hard Rock Album || \n|-\n|-\n| align=\"center\"| ||Def Leppard|| Favorite Heavy Metal/Hard Rock Artist || \n|-\n\nClassic Rock Roll of Honour Awards\n\n!Ref.\n|-\n| align=\"center\" |2006 || Hysteria || Classic Album || || \n|-\n| align=\"center\" |2016 || Def Leppard || Album of the Year || ||\n|-\n\nCMT Music Awards\nThe CMT Music Awards is an awards show for country music videos. Def Leppard had 2 nominations in 2009 for a collaboration with Taylor Swift.\n\n|-\n| rowspan=2 align=\"center\"| 2009 ||rowspan=2|\"Photograph\" (with Taylor Swift) || Wide Open Country Video of the Year|| \n|-\n|-\n| CMT Performance of the Year|| \n|-\n\nMetal Hammer Golden Gods Awards\n\n!Ref.\n|-\n| align=\"center\"| 2009 || Def Leppard || Legends Award || || \n|-\n\nMTV Video Music Awards\nThe MTV Video Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony established in 1984 by MTV. have Def Leppard received six nomination overall.\n\n|-\n| rowspan=2 align=\"center\"| ||rowspan=2|\"Pour Some Sugar On Me\" || Best Heavy Metal Video || \n|-\n|-\n| Best Stage Performance in a Video || \n|-\n|-\n| rowspan=4 align=\"center\"| ||rowspan=4|\"Let's Get Rocked\" || Viewer's Choice || \n|-\n|-\n| Best Metal/Hard Rock Video || \n|-\n|-\n| Best Special Effects || \n|-\n|-\n| Video of the Year || \n|-\n\nPlanet Rock Awards\n\n! Ref.\n|-\n| align=\"center\"| 2017 || Def Leppard || The Brick Wall Award || || \n|-\n\nRock and Roll Hall of Fame\nThe Rock and Roll Hall of Fame honors artists, producers, engineers, and other notable figures who have influenced the development of rock music. They were inducted into the 2019 Performer Category alongside The Cure, Janet Jackson, Stevie Nicks, Radiohead, Roxy Music and the Zombies on March 29, 2019.\n\n! Ref.\n|-\n| align=\"center\"| 2019 || Def Leppard || Rock and Roll Hall of Fame || || \n|-\n\nReferences\n\nDef Leppard\nAwards\nDef Leppard"
]
|
[
"Taylor Swift",
"Influences",
"What artists influenced Taylor Swift the most?",
"Shania Twain,",
"What other artist influenced Taylor's sound?",
"She has also spoken fondly of singers and songwriters like Michelle Branch, Alanis Morissette, Ashlee Simpson, Fefe Dobson and Justin Timberlake;",
"What type of music does Taylor like?",
"Swift listened to rock bands such as Dashboard Confessional, Fall Out Boy, and Jimmy Eat World.",
"Did Taylor have a favorite rock band?",
"Dashboard Confessional, Fall Out Boy, and Jimmy Eat World."
]
| C_e101b306eedc41bd937aff1f1a3b54de_0 | Did Taylor like other music as well? | 5 | Did Taylor Swift like other music as well besides rock? | Taylor Swift | One of Swift's earliest musical memories is listening to her maternal grandmother, Marjorie Finlay, sing in church. As a child, she enjoyed Disney film soundtracks: "My parents noticed that, once I had run out of words, I would just make up my own". Swift has said she owes her confidence to her mother, who helped her prepare for class presentations as a child. She also attributes her "fascination with writing and storytelling" to her mother. Swift was drawn to the storytelling of country music, and was introduced to the genre by "the great female country artists of the '90s"--Shania Twain, Faith Hill and the Dixie Chicks. Twain, both as a songwriter and performer, was her biggest musical influence. Hill was Swift's childhood role model: "Everything she said, did, wore, I tried to copy it". She admired the Dixie Chicks' defiant attitude and their ability to play their own instruments. The band's "Cowboy Take Me Away" was the first song Swift learned to play on the guitar. Swift also explored the music of older country stars, including Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton and Tammy Wynette. She believes Parton is "an amazing example to every female songwriter out there". Alt-country artists such as Ryan Adams, Patty Griffin and Lori McKenna have inspired Swift. Swift lists Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, Emmylou Harris, Kris Kristofferson, and Carly Simon as her career role models: "They've taken chances, but they've also been the same artist for their entire careers". McCartney, both as a Beatle and a solo artist, makes Swift feel "as if I've been let into his heart and his mind ... Any musician could only dream of a legacy like that". She admires Springsteen for being "so musically relevant after such a long period of time". She aspires to be like Harris as she grows older: "It's not about fame for her, it's about music". "[Kristofferson] shines in songwriting ... He's just one of those people who has been in this business for years but you can tell it hasn't chewed him up and spat him out", Swift says. She admires Simon's "songwriting and honesty ... She's known as an emotional person but a strong person". Swift has also been influenced by many artists outside the country genre. As a pre-teen, she enjoyed bubblegum pop acts including Hanson and Britney Spears; Swift has said she has "unwavering devotion" for Spears. In her high school years, Swift listened to rock bands such as Dashboard Confessional, Fall Out Boy, and Jimmy Eat World. She has also spoken fondly of singers and songwriters like Michelle Branch, Alanis Morissette, Ashlee Simpson, Fefe Dobson and Justin Timberlake; and the 1960s acts The Shirelles, Doris Troy, and The Beach Boys. Swift's fifth album, the pop-focused 1989, was influenced by some of her favorite 1980s pop acts, including Annie Lennox, Phil Collins and "Like a Prayer-era Madonna". CANNOTANSWER | The Shirelles, Doris Troy, and The Beach Boys. | Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Her discography spans multiple genres, and her narrative songwriting, which is often inspired by her personal life, has received widespread media coverage and critical praise. Born in West Reading, Pennsylvania, Swift relocated to Nashville, Tennessee, at the age of 14 to pursue a career in country music. She signed a songwriting deal with Sony/ATV Music Publishing in 2004 and a recording deal with Big Machine Records in 2005, and released her eponymous debut studio album in 2006.
Swift explored country pop on the albums Fearless (2008) and Speak Now (2010); the success of "Love Story" and "You Belong with Me" as singles on both country and pop radio established her as a leading crossover artist. She experimented with pop, rock, and electronic genres on her fourth studio album, Red (2012), supported by the singles "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" and "I Knew You Were Trouble". With her synth-pop fifth studio album 1989 (2014) and its chart-topping songs "Shake It Off", "Blank Space", and "Bad Blood", Swift shed her country image and transitioned to pop completely. The subsequent media scrutiny on Swift's personal life influenced her sixth album Reputation (2017), which delved into urban sounds, led by the single "Look What You Made Me Do".
Parting ways with Big Machine to sign with Republic Records in 2018, Swift released her next studio album, Lover (2019). Inspired by escapism during the COVID-19 pandemic, Swift ventured into indie folk and alternative rock styles on her 2020 studio albums, Folklore and Evermore, receiving acclaim for their nuanced storytelling. To gain ownership over the masters of her back catalog, she released the re-recordings Fearless (Taylor's Version) and Red (Taylor's Version) in 2021. Besides music, Swift has played supporting roles in films such as Valentine's Day (2010) and Cats (2019), has released the autobiographical documentary Miss Americana (2020), and directed the musical films Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions (2020) and All Too Well: The Short Film (2021).
Having sold over 200 million records worldwide, Swift is one of the best-selling musicians of all time.Her concert tours are some of the highest-grossing in history. She has scored eight Billboard Hot 100 number-one songs, and received 11 Grammy Awards (including three Album of the Year wins), an Emmy Award, 34 American Music Awards (the most for an artist) and 56 Guinness World Records, among other accolades. She featured on Rolling Stones 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time (2015) and Billboard Greatest of All Time Artists (2019) lists, and rankings such as the Time 100 and Forbes Celebrity 100. Named the Woman of the 2010s Decade by Billboard and the Artist of the 2010s Decade by the American Music Awards, Swift has been recognized for her influential career and philanthropy, as well as advocacy of artists' rights and women's empowerment in the music industry.
Life and career
1989–2003: Early life and education
Taylor Alison Swift was born on December 13, 1989, at the Reading Hospital in West Reading, Pennsylvania. Her father, Scott Kingsley Swift, is a former stockbroker for Merrill Lynch; her mother, Andrea Gardner Swift (née Finlay), is a former homemaker who previously worked as a mutual fund marketing executive. Her younger brother, Austin, is an actor. She was named after singer-songwriter James Taylor, and has Scottish and German heritage. Her maternal grandmother, Marjorie Finlay, was an opera singer. Swift's paternal great-great-grandfather was an Italian immigrant entrepreneur and community leader who opened several businesses in Philadelphia in the 1800s. Swift spent her early years on a Christmas tree farm that her father purchased from one of his clients. Swift identifies as a Christian. She attended preschool and kindergarten at the Alvernia Montessori School, run by the Bernadine Franciscan sisters, before transferring to The Wyndcroft School. The family moved to a rented house in the suburban town of Wyomissing, Pennsylvania, where she attended Wyomissing Area Junior/Senior High School.
At age nine, Swift became interested in musical theater and performed in four Berks Youth Theatre Academy productions. She also traveled regularly to New York City for vocal and acting lessons. Swift later shifted her focus toward country music, inspired by Shania Twain's songs, which made her "want to just run around the block four times and daydream about everything." She spent weekends performing at local festivals and events. After watching a documentary about Faith Hill, Swift felt sure she needed to move to Nashville, Tennessee, to pursue a career in music. She traveled with her mother at age eleven to visit Nashville record labels and submitted demo tapes of Dolly Parton and The Chicks karaoke covers. She was rejected, however, because "everyone in that town wanted to do what I wanted to do. So, I kept thinking to myself, I need to figure out a way to be different."
When Swift was around 12 years old, computer repairman and local musician Ronnie Cremer taught her to play guitar. He helped with her first efforts as a songwriter, leading her to write "Lucky You". In 2003, Swift and her parents started working with New York-based talent manager Dan Dymtrow. With his help, Swift modeled for Abercrombie & Fitch as part of their "Rising Stars" campaign, had an original song included on a Maybelline compilation CD, and attended meetings with major record labels. After performing original songs at an RCA Records showcase, Swift, then 13 years old, was given an artist development deal and began making frequent trips to Nashville with her mother.
To help Swift break into country music, her father transferred to Merrill Lynch's Nashville office when she was 14 years old, and the family relocated to Hendersonville, Tennessee. Swift initially attended Hendersonville High School before transferring to the Aaron Academy after two years, which could better accommodate her touring schedule through homeschooling. She graduated a year early.
2004–2008: Career beginnings and first album
In Nashville, Swift worked with experienced Music Row songwriters such as Troy Verges, Brett Beavers, Brett James, Mac McAnally, and the Warren Brothers, and formed a lasting working relationship with Liz Rose. They began meeting for two-hour writing sessions every Tuesday afternoon after school. Rose thought the sessions were "some of the easiest I've ever done. Basically, I was just her editor. She'd write about what happened in school that day. She had such a clear vision of what she was trying to say. And she'd come in with the most incredible hooks." Swift became the youngest artist signed by the Sony/ATV Tree publishing house, but left the Sony-owned RCA Records at the age of 14, citing the label's lack of care and them "cut[ting] other people’s stuff" as reasons; she was also concerned that development deals may shelve artists. She recalled: "I genuinely felt that I was running out of time. I wanted to capture these years of my life on an album while they still represented what I was going through."
At an industry showcase at Nashville's Bluebird Cafe in 2005, Swift caught the attention of Scott Borchetta, a DreamWorks Records executive who was preparing to form an independent record label, Big Machine Records. She had first met Borchetta in 2004. Becoming one of the first signings Big Machine, she wanted "the kind of attention that a little [new] label will give," and her father purchased a three-percent stake in the company for an estimated $120,000. She began working on her eponymous debut album shortly after. Swift persuaded Big Machine to hire her demo producer Nathan Chapman, with whom she felt she had the right "chemistry". She wrote three of the album's songs alone, and co-wrote the remaining eight with Rose, Robert Ellis Orrall, Brian Maher, and Angelo Petraglia. Taylor Swift was released on October 24, 2006. Jon Caramanica of The New York Times described it as "a small masterpiece of pop-minded country, both wide-eyed and cynical, held together by Ms. Swift's firm, pleading voice." Taylor Swift peaked at number five on the U.S. Billboard 200, where it spent 157 weeks—the longest stay on the chart by any release in the U.S. in the 2000s decade.
Big Machine Records was still in its infancy during the June 2006 release of the lead single, "Tim McGraw". Swift and her mother helped "stuff the CD singles into envelopes to send to radio." As there were not enough furniture at the label yet, they would sit on the floor to do so. She spent much of 2006 promoting Taylor Swift with a radio tour, television appearances, and opening for Rascal Flatts on select dates during their 2006 tour after they fired their previous opening act, Eric Church, for playing longer than his allotted time. Borchetta said that although record industry peers initially disapproved of his signing a 15-year-old singer-songwriter, Swift tapped into a previously unknown market—teenage girls who listen to country music. Following "Tim McGraw", four more singles were released throughout 2007 and 2008: "Teardrops on My Guitar", "Our Song", "Picture to Burn" and "Should've Said No". All appeared on Billboards Hot Country Songs, with "Our Song", and "Should've Said No" reaching number one. With "Our Song", Swift became the youngest person to single-handedly write and sing a number-one song on the chart. "Teardrops on My Guitar" reached number thirteen on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. Swift also released two EPs; The Taylor Swift Holiday Collection in October 2007 and Beautiful Eyes in July 2008. She promoted her debut album extensively as the opening act for other country musicians' tours throughout 2006 and 2007, including George Strait, Brad Paisley, and Tim McGraw and Faith Hill.
Swift won accolades for Taylor Swift. She was one of the recipients of the Nashville Songwriters Association's Songwriter/Artist of the Year in 2007, becoming the youngest person to be honored with the title. She also won the Country Music Association's Horizon Award for Best New Artist, the Academy of Country Music Awards' Top New Female Vocalist, and the American Music Awards' Favorite Country Female Artist honor. She was also nominated for Best New Artist at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards. She opened for the Rascal Flatts on their 2008 summer and fall tour. In July of that year, Swift began a romance with singer Joe Jonas that ended three months later.
2008–2010: Fearless and acting debut
Swift's second studio album, Fearless, was released on November 11, 2008. Five singles were released in 2008 through 2009: "Love Story", "White Horse", "You Belong with Me", "Fifteen", and "Fearless". "Love Story", the lead single, peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one in Australia. "You Belong with Me" was the album's highest-charting single on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number two. All five singles were Billboard Hot Country Songs top-10 entries, with "Love Story" and "You Belong with Me" peaking at number one. Fearless debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and was the top-selling album of 2009 in the U.S. The Fearless Tour, Swift's first headlining concert tour, grossed over $63 million. Journey to Fearless, a three-part documentary miniseries, was aired on television and later released on DVD and Blu-ray. Swift also performed as a supporting act for Keith Urban's Escape Together World Tour in 2009.
In 2009, the music video for "You Belong with Me" was named Best Female Video at the MTV Video Music Awards. Her acceptance speech was interrupted by rapper Kanye West, an incident that became the subject of controversy, widespread media attention, and many Internet memes. James Montgomery of MTV argued that the incident and subsequent media attention turned Swift into "a bona-fide mainstream celebrity". That year she won five American Music Awards, including Artist of the Year and Favorite Country Album. Billboard named her 2009's Artist of the Year. The album ranked number 99 on NPR's 2017 list of the 150 Greatest Albums Made By Women. She won Video of the Year and Female Video of the Year for "Love Story" at the 2009 CMT Music Awards, where she made a parody video of the song with rapper T-Pain called "Thug Story". At the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards, Fearless was named Album of the Year and Best Country Album, and "White Horse" won Best Country Song and Best Female Country Vocal Performance. Swift was the youngest artist to win Album of the Year. At the 2009 Country Music Association Awards, Swift won Album of the Year for Fearless and was named Entertainer of the Year, the youngest person to win the honor.
Swift featured on John Mayer's single "Half of My Heart" and Boys Like Girls' single "Two Is Better Than One", both of which she co-wrote. She co-wrote and recorded "Best Days of Your Life" with Kellie Pickler, and co-wrote two songs for the Hannah Montana: The Movie soundtrack—"You'll Always Find Your Way Back Home" and "Crazier". She contributed two songs to the Valentine's Day soundtrack, including the single "Today Was a Fairytale", which was her first number one on the Canadian Hot 100, and peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100. While filming her cinematic debut Valentine's Day in October 2009, Swift began a romantic relationship with co-star Taylor Lautner; they broke up later that year. Swift's role of the ditzy girlfriend of Lautner's character received mixed reviews. In 2009, she made her television acting debut as a rebellious teenager in an CSI: Crime Scene Investigation episode. She also hosted and performed as the musical guest on an episode of Saturday Night Live; she was the first host to write her own opening monologue.
2010–2014: Speak Now and Red
In August 2010, Swift released "Mine", the lead single from her third studio album, Speak Now. It entered the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 at number three. Swift wrote the album alone and co-produced every track. Speak Now, released on October 25, 2010, debuted atop the Billboard 200 with first-week sales of a million copies. It became the fastest-selling digital album by a female artist, with 278,000 downloads in a week, earning Swift an entry in the 2010 Guinness World Records. The songs "Mine", "Back to December", "Mean", "The Story of Us", "Sparks Fly", and "Ours" were released as singles. All except "The Story of Us" were Hot Country Songs top-three entries, with "Sparks Fly" and "Ours" reaching number one. "Back to December" and "Mean" peaked in the top ten in Canada. Later in 2010, she briefly dated actor Jake Gyllenhaal.
During her tour dates for 2011, she wrote the lyrics of various songs written by other people on her left arm. At the 54th Annual Grammy Awards in 2012, Swift won Best Country Song and Best Country Solo Performance for "Mean", which she performed during the ceremony. Media publications noted the performance as an improvement from her much criticized 2010 Grammy performance, which served as a testament to her abilities as a musician. Swift won other awards for Speak Now, including Songwriter/Artist of the Year by the Nashville Songwriters Association (2010 and 2011), Woman of the Year by Billboard (2011), and Entertainer of the Year by the Academy of Country Music (2011 and 2012) and the Country Music Association in 2011. At the American Music Awards of 2011, Swift won Artist of the Year and Favorite Country Album. Rolling Stone placed Speak Now at number 45 in its 2012 list of the "50 Best Female Albums of All Time", writing: "She might get played on the country station, but she's one of the few genuine rock stars we've got these days, with a flawless ear for what makes a song click."
The Speak Now World Tour ran from February 2011 to March 2012 and grossed over $123 million. In November 2011, Swift released a live album, Speak Now World Tour: Live. She contributed two original songs to The Hunger Games soundtrack album: "Safe & Sound", co-written and recorded with the Civil Wars and T-Bone Burnett, and "Eyes Open". "Safe & Sound" won the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media and was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song. Swift featured on B.o.B's single "Both of Us", released in May 2012. From July to September 2012, Swift dated Conor Kennedy, son of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Mary Richardson Kennedy.
In August 2012, Swift released "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together", the lead single from her fourth studio album, Red. It became her first number one in the U.S. and New Zealand, and reached the top slot on iTunes' digital song sales chart 50 minutes after its release, earning the Fastest Selling Single in Digital History Guinness World Record. Other singles released from the album include "Begin Again", "I Knew You Were Trouble", "22", "Everything Has Changed", "The Last Time", and "Red". "I Knew You Were Trouble" reached the top five on charts in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Ireland, New Zealand, the U.K. and the U.S. Three singles, "Begin Again", "22", and "Red", reached the top 20 in the U.S.
Red was released on October 22, 2012. On Red, Swift worked with longtime collaborators Nathan Chapman and Liz Rose, as well as new producers, including Max Martin and Shellback. The album incorporates new genres for Swift, such as heartland rock, dubstep and dance-pop. It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 1.21 million copies, making Swift the first female to have two million-selling album openings, a record recognized by the Guinness World Records. Red was Swift's first number-one album in the U.K. The Red Tour ran from March 2013 to June 2014 and grossed over $150 million, becoming the highest-grossing country tour when it completed.
Red had sold eight million copies by 2014. The album earned several accolades, including four nominations at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards in 2014. Its single "I Knew You Were Trouble" won Best Female Video at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards. Swift received American Music Awards for Best Female Country Artist in 2012, and Artist of the Year in 2013. She received the Nashville Songwriters Association's Songwriter/Artist Award for the fifth and sixth consecutive years in 2012 and 2013. Swift was honored by the Association with a special Pinnacle Award, making her the second recipient of the accolade after Garth Brooks. During this time, she had a short-term relationship with English singer Harry Styles.
In 2013, Swift recorded "Sweeter than Fiction", a song she wrote and produced with Jack Antonoff for the One Chance film soundtrack. The song received a Best Original Song nomination at the 71st Golden Globe Awards. She provided guest vocals for Tim McGraw's song "Highway Don't Care", featuring guitar work by Keith Urban. Swift performed "As Tears Go By" with the Rolling Stones in Chicago, Illinois as part of the band's 50 & Counting tour. She joined Florida Georgia Line on stage during their set at the 2013 Country Radio Seminar to sing "Cruise". Swift voiced Audrey, a tree lover, in the animated film The Lorax (2012), made a cameo in the sitcom New Girl (2013), and had a supporting role in the film adaptation of The Giver (2014).
2014–2018: 1989 and Reputation
In March 2014, Swift lived in New York City. Around this time, she was working on her fifth studio album, 1989, with producers Jack Antonoff, Max Martin, Shellback, Imogen Heap, Ryan Tedder, and Ali Payami. She promoted the album through various campaigns, including inviting fans to secret album-listening sessions. Influenced by 1980s synth-pop, Swift severed ties with the country sound of her previous albums, and marketed 1989 as her "first documented, official pop album". The album was released on October 27, 2014, and debuted atop the US Billboard 200 with sales of 1.28 million copies in its first week. This made Swift the first act to have three albums sell more than one million copies in their opening week, for which she earned a Guinness World Record. By June 2017, 1989 had sold over 10 million copies worldwide. Three of its singles—"Shake It Off", "Blank Space", and "Bad Blood" featuring rapper Kendrick Lamar—reached number one in Australia, Canada, and the U.S. The singles "Style" and "Wildest Dreams" reached the top 10 in the U.S. Other singles were "Out of the Woods" and "New Romantics". The 1989 World Tour ran from May to December 2015 and was the highest-grossing tour of the year with $250 million in total revenue.
Prior to 1989s release, Swift stressed the importance of albums to artists and fans. In November 2014, she removed her entire catalog from Spotify, arguing that the streaming company's ad-supported, free service undermined the premium service, which provides higher royalties for songwriters. In a June 2015 open letter, Swift criticized Apple Music for not offering royalties to artists during the streaming service's free three-month trial period and stated that she would pull 1989 from the catalog. The following day, Apple announced that it would pay artists during the free trial period, and Swift agreed to stream 1989 on the streaming service. Swift's intellectual property rights management and holding company, TAS Rights Management, filed for 73 trademarks related to Swift and the 1989 era memes. She re-added her entire catalog plus 1989 to Spotify, Amazon Music and Google Play and other digital streaming platforms in June 2017.
Swift was named Billboards Woman of the Year in 2014, becoming the first artist to win the award twice. At the 2014 American Music Awards, Swift received the inaugural Dick Clark Award for Excellence. In 2015, Swift won the Brit Award for International Female Solo Artist. The video for "Bad Blood" won Video of the Year and Best Collaboration at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards. Swift was one of eight artists to receive a 50th Anniversary Milestone Award at the 2015 Academy of Country Music Awards. At the 58th Grammy Awards in 2016, 1989 won Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album, and "Bad Blood" won Best Music Video. Swift was the first woman and fifth act overall to win Album of the Year twice as a lead artist.
Swift dated Scottish DJ and record producer Calvin Harris from March 2015 to June 2016. Prior to their breakup, they co-wrote the song "This Is What You Came For", which features vocals from Barbadian singer Rihanna; Swift was initially credited under the pseudonym Nils Sjöberg. After briefly dating English actor Tom Hiddleston for a few months, Swift began dating English actor Joe Alwyn in September 2016. She wrote the song "Better Man" for Little Big Town's seventh album, The Breaker, which was released in November. The song earned Swift an award for Song of the Year at the 51st CMA Awards. Swift and English singer Zayn Malik released a single together, "I Don't Wanna Live Forever", for the soundtrack of the film Fifty Shades Darker (2017). The song reached number two in the U.S. and won Best Collaboration at the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards.
In August 2017, Swift successfully sued David Mueller, a former morning show personality for Denver's KYGO-FM. Four years earlier, Swift had informed Mueller's bosses that he had sexually assaulted her by groping her at an event. After being fired, Mueller accused Swift of lying and sued her for damages from his loss of employment. Shortly after, Swift counter-sued for sexual assault for nominal damages of only a dollar. The jury rejected Mueller's claims and ruled in favor of Swift. After a year of hiatus from public spotlight, Swift cleared her social media accounts and released "Look What You Made Me Do" as the lead single from her sixth album, Reputation. The single was Swift's first number-one U.K. single. It topped charts in Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, and the U.S.
Reputation was released on November 10, 2017. The album incorporates a heavy electropop sound, with hip hop, R&B and EDM influences. It debuted atop the Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 1.21 million copies. With this achievement, Swift became the first act to have four albums sell one million copies within one week in the U.S. The album topped the charts in the UK, Australia, and Canada. First-week worldwide sales amounted to two million copies. The album had sold over 4.5 million copies worldwide as of 2018. It spawned three other international singles, including the U.S. top-five entry "...Ready for It?", and two U.S. top-20 singles—"End Game" (featuring Ed Sheeran and rapper Future) and "Delicate". Other singles include "New Year's Day", which was exclusively released to U.S. country radio, and "Getaway Car", which was released in Australia only.
In April 2018, Swift featured on Sugarland's "Babe" from their album Bigger. In support of Reputation, she embarked on her Reputation Stadium Tour, which ran from May to November 2018. In the U.S., the tour grossed $266.1 million in box office and sold over two million tickets, breaking Swift's own record for the highest-grossing U.S. tour by a woman, which was previously held by her 1989 World Tour in 2015 ($181.5 million). It also broke the record for the highest-grossing North American concert tour in history. Worldwide, the tour grossed $345.7 million, making it the second highest-grossing concert tour of the year. On December 31, Swift released her Reputation Stadium Tour's accompanying concert film on Netflix.
Reputation was nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards in 2019. At the American Music Awards of 2018, Swift won four awards, including Artist of the Year and Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist. After the 2018 AMAs, Swift garnered a total of 23 awards, becoming the most awarded female musician in AMA history, a record previously held by Whitney Houston.
2018–2020: Lover and masters dispute
Reputation was Swift's last album under her 12-year contract with Big Machine Records. In November 2018, she signed a new multi-album deal with Big Machine's distributor Universal Music Group; in the U.S. her subsequent releases were promoted under the Republic Records imprint. Swift said the contract included a provision for her to maintain ownership of her master recordings. In addition, in the event that Universal sells any part of its stake in Spotify, which agreed to distribute a non-recoupable portion of the proceeds among their artists. Vox called it is a huge commitment from Universal, which was "far from assured" until Swift intervened.
Swift released her seventh studio album, Lover, on August 23, 2019. Besides longtime collaborator Jack Antonoff, Swift worked with new producers Louis Bell, Frank Dukes, and Joel Little. Lover made Swift the first female artist to have sixth consecutive album sell more than 500,000 copies in one week in the U.S. All 18 songs from the album charted on the Billboard Hot 100 the same week, setting a record for the most simultaneous entries by a woman. The lead single, "Me!", debuted at number 100 on the Billboard Hot 100 and rose to number two a week later, scoring the biggest single-week jump in chart history. Other singles from Lover were the U.S. top-10 singles "You Need to Calm Down" and "Lover", and U.S. top-40 single "The Man".
Lover was the world's best-selling studio album of 2019, selling 3.2 million copies. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) honored Swift as the global best-selling artist of 2019. Swift became first woman to win the honor twice, having previously won in 2014. The album earned accolades, including three nominations at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards in 2020. At the 2019 MTV Video Music Awards, "Me!" won Best Visual Effects, and "You Need to Calm Down" won Video of the Year and Video for Good. Swift was the first female and second artist overall to win Video of the Year for a video that they directed.
Swift played Bombalurina in the movie adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Cats (2019). For the film's soundtrack, she co-wrote and recorded the Golden Globe-nominated original song "Beautiful Ghosts". Although critics reviewed the film negatively, Swift received positive feedback for her role and musical performance. The documentary Miss Americana, which chronicles part of Swift's life and career, premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival and was released on Netflix that January. Miss Americana features the song "Only the Young", which Swift wrote after the 2018 United States elections. In February 2020, Swift signed an exclusive global publishing deal with Universal Music Publishing Group, after her 16-year-old contract with Sony/ATV Music Publishing expired.
In 2019, Swift became embroiled in a publicized dispute with talent manager Scooter Braun and her former label Big Machine, regarding the acquisition of the masters of her back catalog. Swift stated on her Tumblr blog that she had been trying to buy the masters for years, but Big Machine only allowed her to do so if she exchanged a new album for an older one under another contract, which she refused to do. Against Swift's authorization, Big Machine, in April 2020, released Live from Clear Channel Stripped 2008, a live album of Swift's performances at a radio show. In October, Braun sold Swift's masters, videos and artworks, to Shamrock Holdings for a reported $300 million. Swift began re-recording her back catalog in November 2020. Rolling Stone highlighted this decision, along with her opposition to low royalties for artists from streaming services such as Spotify and Apple Music as two of the music industry's most defining moments in the 2010s decade. In April 2020, Swift was scheduled to embark on Lover Fest, the supporting concert tour for Lover, which was canceled after the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.
2020–present: Folklore, Evermore, and re-recordings
In 2020, Swift released two surprise albums with little promotion, to critical acclaim. The first, her eighth studio album Folklore, was released on July 24. The second, her ninth studio album Evermore, was released on December 11. Described by Swift and Dessner as "sister records", both albums incorporate indie folk and alternative rock, departing from the previous upbeat pop releases. Swift wrote and recorded the albums while in isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic, working with producers Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner from the National. Both albums feature collaborations with Bon Iver, and Evermore features collaborations with the National and Haim. Swift's boyfriend Joe Alwyn co-wrote and co-produced select songs under the pseudonym William Bowery. The making of Folklore was discussed in the concert documentary Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions, directed by Swift and released on November 25.
In the U.S., Folklore and Evermore were each supported by three singles—one to mainstream radio, one to country radio, and one to triple A radio. The singles in that order were "Cardigan", "Betty", "Exile" (featuring Bon Iver); and "Willow", "No Body, No Crime" (featuring Haim), "Coney Island" (featuring the National); respectively. The lead singles from each album, "Cardigan" and "Willow", opened at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 the same week their parent albums debuted atop the Billboard 200. This made Swift the first artist to debut atop both the U.S. singles and albums charts simultaneously twice. Each album sold over one million units worldwide in its first week, with Folklore selling two million. Folklore broke the Guinness World Record for the highest first-day album streams by a female artist on Spotify, and was the best-selling album of 2020 in the U.S., having sold 1.2 million copies. Swift was 2020's highest-paid musician in the U.S., and highest-paid solo musician worldwide. At the 2020 American Music Awards, Swift won three awards, including Artist of the Year for a record third consecutive time. Folklore won Album of the Year at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards, making Swift the first woman in history to win the award three times.
Following the masters controversy, Swift released two re-recordings in 2021, adding "Taylor's Version" to their titles. The first, Fearless (Taylor's Version), peaked atop the Billboard 200, becoming the first re-recorded album to do so. It was preceded by the three tracks: "Love Story (Taylor's Version)", "You All Over Me" with Maren Morris, and "Mr. Perfectly Fine", the first of which made Swift the second artist after Dolly Parton to have both the original and the re-recording of a single at number one on the Hot Country Songs. Swift released "Wildest Dreams (Taylors Version)" on September 17, after the original song gained traction on the online-video sharing app TikTok. The second re-recording Red (Taylor's Version) was released on November 12. Its final track, "All Too Well (10 Minute Version)"—accompanied by All Too Well: The Short Film directed by Swift—debuted at number one on the Hot 100, becoming the longest song in history to top the chart. She was the highest-paid female musician of 2021, whereas both her 2020 albums and the re-recordings were ranked among the 10 best-selling albums of the year. In May 2021, Swift was awarded the Global Icon Award by the Brit Awards and the Songwriter Icon Award by the National Music Publishers' Association.
Outside her albums, Swift featured on four songs in 2021–2022: "Renegade" and "Birch" by Big Red Machine, a remix of Haim's "Gasoline" and Ed Sheeran's "The Joker and the Queen". She has been cast in David O. Russell's untitled film slated for release in November 2022.
Artistry
Influences
One of Swift's earliest musical memories is listening to her grandmother, Marjorie Finlay, sing in church. As a child, she enjoyed Disney film soundtracks: "My parents noticed that, once I had run out of words, I would just make up my own". Swift has said she owes her confidence to her mother, who helped her prepare for class presentations as a child. She also attributes her "fascination with writing and storytelling" to her mother. Swift was drawn to the storytelling aspect of country music, and was introduced to the genre listening to "the great female country artists" of the 1990s—Shania Twain, Faith Hill, and the Dixie Chicks. Twain, both as a songwriter and performer, was her biggest musical influence. Hill was Swift's childhood role model: "Everything she said, did, wore, I tried to copy it". She admired the Dixie Chicks' defiant attitude and their ability to play their own instruments. "Kiss Me" by Sixpence None the Richer was the first song Swift learned to play on the guitar. Swift also explored the music of older country stars such as Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, Tammy Wynette, and Dolly Parton, the latter of whom she believes is "an amazing example to every female songwriter out there", and alt-country artists like Patty Griffin and Lori McKenna. She has also cited Keith Urban's musical style as an influence.
Swift has also been influenced by various pop and rock artists. She lists Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen, Bryan Adams, Emmylou Harris, Kris Kristofferson, and Carly Simon as her career role models. Discussing McCartney and Harris, Swift has said, "They've taken chances, but they've also been the same artist for their entire careers". McCartney, both as a Beatle and a solo artist, makes Swift feel "as if I've been let into his heart and his mind [...] He's out there continuing to make his fans so happy. Any musician could only dream of a legacy like that." She likes Springsteen for being "so musically relevant after such a long period of time". She aspires to be like Harris as she grows older because of prioritizing music over fame. Swift says of Kristofferson that he "shines in songwriting", and admires Simon for being "an emotional" but "a strong person". Her synth-pop album 1989 was influenced by some of her favorite 1980s pop acts, including Peter Gabriel, Annie Lennox, Phil Collins and Madonna. As a songwriter, Swift was influenced by Joni Mitchell for her autobiographical lyrics conveying the deepest emotions: "She wrote it about her deepest pains and most haunting demons ... I think [Blue] is my favorite because it explores somebody's soul so deeply".
Musical styles
Swift's discography spans country, pop, folk, and alternative genres. Her first three studio albums, Taylor Swift, Fearless and Speak Now are categorized as country; her eclectic fourth studio album, Red, is dubbed both country and pop; her next three albums 1989, Reputation and Lover are labeled pop; and Folklore and Evermore are considered alternative. Music critics have described her songs as synth-pop, country pop, rock, electropop, and indie, amongst others; some songs, especially those on Reputation, incorporate elements of R&B, EDM, hip hop, and trap. The music instruments Swift plays include the piano, banjo, ukulele and various types of guitar. Swift described herself as a country artist until the release of 1989, which she characterized as her first "sonically cohesive pop album".
Rolling Stone wrote, "[Swift] might get played on the country station, but she's one of the few genuine rock stars we've got these days." According to The New York Times, "There isn't much in Ms. Swift's music to indicate country—a few banjo strums, a pair of cowboy boots worn onstage, a bedazzled guitar—but there's something in her winsome, vulnerable delivery that's unique to Nashville." The Guardian wrote that Swift "cranks melodies out with the pitiless efficiency of a Scandinavian pop factory." Consequence pinpointed her "capacity to continually reinvent while remaining herself", while Time dubbed Swift a "musical chameleon" for the constantly evolving sound of her discography. Clash said her career "has always been one of transcendence and covert boundary-pushing", reaching a point at which "Taylor Swift is just Taylor Swift", not defined by any genre.
Voice
Swift possesses a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Her singing voice is "sweet but soft" according to Sophie Schillaci of The Hollywood Reporter. Pitchfork's Sam Sodomsky called it "versatile and expressive". Music theory professor Alyssa Barna described the timbre of Swift's upper register as "breathy and bright", and her lower register "full and dark". The Los Angeles Times identified Swift's "defining" vocal gesture in studio recordings as "the line that slides down like a contented sigh or up like a raised eyebrow, giving her beloved girl-time hits their air of easy intimacy." In 2010, a writer from The Tennessean conceded that Swift was "not the best technical singer", but described her as the "best communicator that we've got". According to Swift, her vocal ability often concerned her in her early career, and she worked hard to improve it. She said she only feels nervous performing live "if I'm not sure what the audience thinks of me, like at award shows". The Hollywood Reporter wrote that her live vocals were "fine", but did not match those of her peers.
Though Swift's singing ability received mixed reviews early in her career, she was praised for refusing to correct her pitch with Auto-Tune. Rolling Stone found her voice "unaffected enough to mask how masterful she has become as a singer", while The Village Voice noted the improvement from her previously "bland and muddled" phrasing to her learning "how to make words sound like what they mean". In 2014, NPR Music described her singing as personal and conversational thanks to her "exceptional gift for inflection", but also suffered from a "wobbly pitch and tight, nasal delivery". Beginning with Folklore, she received better reviews for her vocals; Variety critic Andrew Barker noted the "remarkable" control she developed over her vocals, never allowing a "flourish or a tricky run to compromise the clarity of a lyric", while doing "wonders within her register" and "exploring its further reaches". Reviewing Fearless (Taylor's Version), The New York Times critic Lindsay Zoladz described her voice as stronger, more controlled, and deeper over time, discarding the nasal tone of her early vocals. Lucy Harbron of Clash opined that Swift's vocals have evolved "into her own unique blend of country, pop and indie".
Songwriting
Swift has been referred to as one of the greatest songwriters of all time and the best of her generation by various publications and organizations. She told The New Yorker in 2011 that she identifies as a songwriter first: "I write songs, and my voice is just a way to get those lyrics across." Swift's personal experiences were a common inspiration for her early songs, which helped her navigate the complexities of life. Her "diaristic" technique began with identifying an emotion, followed by a corresponding melody. On her first three studio albums, recurring themes were love, heartbreak, and insecurities, from an adolescent perspective. She delved into the tumult of toxic relationships on Red, and embraced nostalgia and positivity after failed relationships on 1989. Reputation was inspired by the downsides of Swift's fame, and Lover detailed her realization of the "full spectrum of love". Besides romance, other themes in Swift's music include parent-child relationships, friendships, alienation, and self-awareness.
Music critics often praise her self-written discography, especially her confessional narratives; they compliment her writing for its vivid details and emotional engagement, which were rare among pop artists. New York magazine argued that Swift was the first teenage artist who explicitly portrayed teenage experiences in her music. Rolling Stone described Swift as "a songwriting savant with an intuitive gift for verse-chorus-bridge architecture". Although reviews of Swift are generally positive, The New Yorker stated she was generally portrayed "more as a skilled technician than as a Dylanesque visionary". Because of her confessional narratives, tabloid media often speculated and linked the subjects of the songs with ex-lovers of Swift, a practice which New York magazine considered "sexist, inasmuch as it's not asked of her male peers". Aside from clues provided in album liner notes, Swift avoided talking about song subjects specifically. In a 2013 interview with Vanity Fair, Swift stated that the criticism on her songwriting—critics interpreted her persona as a "clingy, insane, desperate girlfriend in need of making you marry her and have kids with her"—was "a little sexist".
On her 2020 albums Folklore and Evermore, Swift was inspired by escapism and romanticism to explore fictional narratives. Without referencing her personal life, she imposed her emotions onto imagined characters and story arcs, which liberated her from the mental stress caused by tabloid attention and suggested new paths for her artistry. In a feature for Rolling Stone, Swift explained that she welcomed the new songwriting direction after she stopped worrying about commercial success: "I always thought, 'That'll never track on pop radio,' but when I was making Folklore, I thought, 'If you take away all the parameters, what do you make?" With the release of Evermore, Spin found Swift exploring "exceedingly complex human emotions with precision and devastation". Consequence stated her 2020 albums "offered a chance for doubters to see Swift's songwriting power on full display, but the truth is that her pen has always been her sword" and that her writing prowess took "different forms" as she transformed from "teenage wunderkind to a confident and careful adult."
Swift's bridges have been underscored as one of the best aspects of her songs and earned her the title "Queen of Bridges" from media outlets. Awarding her with the Songwriter Icon Award in 2021, the National Music Publishers' Association remarked that "no one is more influential when it comes to writing music today" than Swift. The Week deemed her the foremost female songwriter of modern times. Swift has also published two original poems: "Why She Disappeared" and "If You're Anything Like Me".
Music videos
Swift has collaborated with many different directors to produce her music videos, and over time she has become more involved with writing and directing. She has her own production house, Taylor Swift Productions, Inc., which is credited with producing music videos for singles such as "Me!". Swift developed the concept and treatment for "Mean", and co-directed the music video for "Mine" with Roman White. In an interview, White elaborated that Swift "was keenly involved in writing the treatment, casting and wardrobe. And she stayed for both the 15-hour shooting days, even when she wasn't in the scenes."
From 2014 to 2018, Swift collaborated with director Joseph Kahn on eight music videos—four each from her albums 1989 and Reputation. Kahn has praised Swift's involvement in the craft. She worked with American Express for the "Blank Space" music video (which Kahn directed), and served as an executive producer for the interactive app AMEX Unstaged: Taylor Swift Experience, for which she won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Interactive Program in 2015. She produced the music video for "Bad Blood" and won a Grammy Award for Best Music Video in 2016. While she continued to co-direct music videos with the Lover singles—"Me!" with Dave Meyers, "You Need to Calm Down" (also serving as a co-executive producer) and "Lover" with Drew Kirsch—she ventured into sole direction with the videos for "The Man" (which won her the MTV Video Music Award for Best Direction), "Cardigan" and "Willow".
Public image
Swift became a teen idol with her debut, and a pop icon following global fame. Journalists have written about her polite, "open" personality, "willing to play along" during the course of an interview. J. Freedom du Lac of The Washington Post called Swift a "media darling" and "a reporter's dream". The Guardian attributed her disposition to her formative years in country music. The Hollywood Reporter described Swift as "the Best People Person since Bill Clinton". While presenting her with an award for her humanitarian endeavors in 2012, former First Lady Michelle Obama described Swift as an artist who "has rocketed to the top of the music industry but still keeps her feet on the ground, someone who has shattered every expectation of what a 22-year-old can accomplish"; Swift considers Obama to be a role model.
In 2015, Vanity Fair referred to Swift as "the most famous and influential entertainer on Earth". According to YouGov surveys, she ranked as the world's most admired female musician from 2019 to 2021. One of the most followed people on social media, Swift is known for her frequent and friendly interactions with her fans, delivering holiday gifts to them by mail and in person. She considers it her "responsibility" to be conscious of her influence on young fans, praising her relationship with her fans as "the longest and best" she has ever had. Swift regularly incorporates easter eggs into her works and social media posts for fans to figure out clues about a forthcoming release. Fawzia Khan of Elle attributes Swift's "perennial" success partly to her intimacy with fans.
Media outlets describe Swift as a savvy businessperson. According to marketing executive Matt B. Britton, her business acumen has helped her "excel as an authentic personality who establishes direct connections with her audience", "touch as many people as possible", and "generate a kind of advocacy and excitement that no level of advertising could." Describing her omnipresence, The Ringer writer Kate Knibbs said Swift is not just a pop act but "a musical biosphere unto herself", having achieved the kind of success "that turns a person into an institution, into an inevitability."
Though Swift is reluctant to publicly discuss her personal life—believing it to be "a career weakness"—it is a topic of widespread media attention and tabloid speculation. Clash described her as a lightning rod for both praise and criticism. While The New York Times asserted in 2013 that Swift's "dating history has begun to stir what feels like the beginning of a backlash" and questioned whether she was in the midst of a "quarter-life crisis", certain critics have highlighted the misogyny and slut-shaming Swift's life and career have been subject to. She parodied this scrutiny in "Blank Space". Rolling Stone said, after the release of 1989, "everything she did was a story", with a non-stop news cycle about her, leaving her overexposed. Much of Reputation was conceived under the "intense" media scrutiny she experienced in 2015 and 2016, causing her to adopt a dark, defensive alter ego on the album. She criticized sexist double standards and gaslighting in "The Man" (2019) and "Mad Woman" (2020), respectively. When asked "why sing to the haters?" by CBS journalist Tracy Smith, Swift replied, "well, when they stop coming for me, I will stop singing to them." Glamour opined Swift is an easy target for male derision and triggers "fragile male egos" to take "pot-shots" at her career. The Daily Telegraph said her antennae for sexism is crucial for the industry and that she "must continue holding people to account".
Fashion
Swift's fashion is often covered by media outlets, with her street style receiving acclaim. Her fashion appeal has been picked up by several media publications, such as People, Elle, Vogue, and Maxim. Vogue regards Swift as one of the world's most influential figures in sustainable fashion. Elle highlighted the various styles she has adopted throughout her career, including the "curly-haired teenager" of her early days to "red-lipped pop bombshell" with "platinum blonde hair and sultry makeup looks" later on. Swift is known for reinventing her image often, corresponding each one of her albums to a specific aesthetic. Swift also popularized cottagecore with Folklore and Evermore. Consequence opined that Swift's looks evolved from "girl-next-door country act to pop star to woodsy poet over a decade."
Though labeled by the media as "America's Sweetheart", a sobriquet based on her down-to-earth personality and girl-next-door image, Swift insists she does not "live by all these rigid, weird rules that make me feel all fenced in. I just like the way that I feel like, and that makes me feel very free". Although she refused to take part in "sexy" photoshoots in 2012, she stated "it's nice to be glamorous" in 2015. Bloomberg views Swift as a sex symbol, albeit of a subtle and sophisticated variety unlike many of her female contemporaries.
Impact
Swift's career helped shape the modern country music scene. According to music journalist Jody Rosen, Swift is the first country artist whose fame reached the world beyond the U.S. Her chart success extended to Asia and the U.K., where country music had previously not been popular. She is recognized as one of the first country artists to use technology and viral marketing techniques, such as MySpace, to promote their work. According to Chris Willman of Entertainment Weekly, the commercial success of her debut album helped the infant Big Machine Records go on to sign Garth Brooks and Jewel. Following Swift's rise to fame, country labels became more interested in signing young singers who write their own music. With her autobiographical narratives revolving around romance and heartbreak, she introduced the genre to a younger generation that could relate to her personally. Critics have since noted the impact of Swift's sound on various albums released by female country singers such as Kacey Musgraves, Maren Morris and Kelsea Ballerini. Rolling Stone listed her country music as one of the biggest influences on 2010s pop music and ranked her 80th in their list of 100 Greatest Country Artists of All Time.Her onstage performance with guitars contributed to the "Taylor Swift factor", a phenomenon to which the rise in guitar sales to women, a previously ignored demographic, is attributed. Pitchfork opined that Swift changed the contemporary music landscape forever with her "unprecedented path from teenage country prodigy to global pop sensation" and a "singularly perceptive" discography that consistently accommodates both musical and cultural shifts. Clash stated Swift's genre-spanning career encouraged her peers to experiment with diverse sounds. Billboard credited her with influencing artists to take creative ownership of their music and remarked she "has the power to pull any sound she wants into mainstream orbit." Music journalist Nick Catucci wrote that, in being personal and vulnerable in her lyrics, Swift helped make space for later pop stars like Billie Eilish, Ariana Grande, and Halsey to do the same. According to The Guardian, Swift leads the rebirth of poptimism in the 21st-century with her ambitious artistic vision.
Publications consider Swift's million-selling albums an anomaly in the streaming-dominated music industry following the decline of the album era in the 2010s. For this reason, musicologists Mary Fogarty and Gina Arnold regard her as "the last great rock star". Swift is the only artist to have four albums sell over one million copies in one week since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking sales for the Billboard 200 in 1991. To New York magazine, her million sales figures prove that she is "the one bending the music industry to her will". The Atlantic notes that Swift's "reign" defies the convention that the successful phase of an artist's career rarely lasts more than a few years. She is a champion of independent record shops, having contributed to the 21st-century vinyl revival. Journalists note how her actions have fostered debate over reforms to on-demand music streaming and prompted awareness of intellectual property rights among younger musicians, praising her ability to bring change in the music industry.
She was named Woman of the Decade for the 2010s by Billboard, became the first woman to earn the title Artist of the Decade (2010s) at the American Music Awards, and received the Brit Global Icon Award "in recognition of her immense impact on music across the world". Swift has influenced various mainstream and indie recording artists. Various sources deem her music to be representative and paradigmatic of the millennial generation, owing to her success, musical versatility, social media presence, live shows, and corporate sponsorship. Vox called Swift the "millennial Bruce Springsteen" for telling the stories of a generation through her songs. Student societies focusing on her were established in various universities around the world, such as Oxford, York, and Cambridge. New York University Tisch School of the Arts offers a course on Swift's career. Some of her popular songs like "Love Story" are studied by evolutionary psychologists to understand the relationship between popular music and human mating strategies.
Accolades and achievements
Swift has won 11 Grammy Awards (including three Album of the Year wins—tied for most by an artist), an Emmy Award, 34 American Music Awards (most wins by an artist), 25 Billboard Music Awards (most wins by a woman), 56 Guinness World Records, 12 Country Music Association Awards (including the Pinnacle Award), eight Academy of Country Music Awards, and two Brit Awards. As a songwriter, she has been honored by the Nashville Songwriters Association, the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and the National Music Publishers' Association and was the youngest person on Rolling Stone list of the 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time in 2015. At the 64th BMI Awards in 2016, Swift was the first woman to be honored with an award named after its recipient. Her albums Red and 1989 appeared on Rolling Stone's 2020 revision of their 500 Greatest Albums of All Time; in 2021, her "Blank Space" music video named one of Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Music Videos of All Time, while the songs "All Too Well" and "Blank Space" were on its 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
From available data, Swift has amassed over 50 million album sales, 150 million singles sales, and 114 million units in album consumption worldwide, including 78 billion streams. Swift has the most number-one albums in the United Kingdom and Ireland for a female artist in this millennium, and is the best-selling artist of all time on Chinese digital music platforms with in income. She is the only female artist to have received more than 100 million global streams on Spotify in a day, with over 122 million streams on November 11, 2021. Swift broke the record for the highest-grossing North American tour of all time with her Reputation Stadium Tour (2018) and is the world's highest-grossing female touring act of the 2010s. She has the most entries and the most simultaneous entries for an artist on the Billboard Global 200, with 69 and 31 songs, respectively.
In the US, Swift has sold over 37.3 million albums as of 2019, when Billboard placed her eighth on its Greatest of All Time Artists Chart. She is the longest-reigning act of Billboard Artist 100 (50 weeks at number one), the solo act with the most cumulative weeks (55) atop the Billboard 200, the woman with the most weeks atop the Top Country Albums (98) and the most Billboard Hot 100 entries in history (165), and the artist with the most Digital Songs number-ones (23). She is the second highest-certified female digital singles artist (and third overall) in the US, with 134 million total units certified by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and the first female artist to have both an album (Fearless) and a song ("Shake It Off") certified Diamond. In 2021, one of every 50 albums sold in the US was Swift's, who became the first woman to have five albums—1989, Taylor Swift, Fearless, Red and Reputation—chart for 150 weeks each on the Billboard 200.
Swift has appeared in various power listings. Time included her on its annual list of the 100 most influential people in 2010, 2015, and 2019. She was one of the "Silence Breakers" honored as Time Person of the Year in 2017 for speaking up about sexual assault. From 2011 to 2020, Swift appeared in the top three on the Forbes Top-Earning Women in Music list, placing first in 2016 and 2019. In 2014, she was named to Forbes' 30 Under 30 list in the music category and again in 2017 in its "All-Star Alumni" category. In 2015, Swift became the youngest woman to be included on Forbes list of the 100 most powerful women, ranked at number 64. She was the most googled female musician of 2019.
Other activities
Wealth and properties
In 2021, Forbes estimated Swift's net worth at US$550 million, coming from her music, merchandise, promotions, and concerts. She topped the magazine's list of the 100 highest-paid celebrities in 2016 with $170 million—a feat recognized by the Guinness World Records as the highest annual earnings ever for a female musician, which she herself surpassed in 2019 with $185 million. Swift was the highest-paid female musician of the 2010s, with $825 million earned.
Swift has invested in a real estate portfolio worth $84 million. For example, she purchased the Samuel Goldwyn Estate, a Georgian-revival house in Beverly Hills, for $25 million in 2015, which she has since restored to its original condition and contains Swift's home studio, Kitty Committee, where she recorded songs for Folklore. In 2013, she purchased the Holiday House, a seafront mansion in Watch Hill, Rhode Island. Gina Raimondo, then-Governor of Rhode Island, proposed in 2015 a statewide property tax for second homes worth more than $1 million, dubbed the "Taylor Swift tax". In New York City, her $47 million worth of property on a single block in Tribeca includes a $19.95 million duplex penthouse, an $18 million four-story townhouse, and a $9.75 million apartment purchased in 2014, 2017 and 2018, respectively.
Philanthropy
Swift is well known for her philanthropic efforts. She was ranked at number one on DoSomething's "Gone Good" list, and has received the "Star of Compassion" accolade from the Tennessee Disaster Services, The Big Help Award from the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards for her "dedication to helping others" as well as "inspiring others through action", and the Ripple of Hope Award for her "dedication to advocacy at such a young age". In 2008, she donated $100,000 to the Red Cross to help the victims of the Iowa flood. Swift has performed at charity relief events, including Sydney's Sound Relief concert. In response to the May 2010 Tennessee floods, Swift donated $500,000 during a telethon hosted by WSMV. In 2011, Swift used a dress rehearsal of her Speak Now tour as a benefit concert for victims of recent tornadoes in the U.S., raising more than $750,000. In 2016, she donated $1 million to Louisiana flood relief efforts and $100,000 to the Dolly Parton Fire Fund. Swift donated to the Houston Food Bank after Hurricane Harvey struck the city in 2017. In 2020, she donated $1 million for Tennessee tornado relief.
Swift is a supporter of the arts. She is a benefactor of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. She has donated $75,000 to Nashville's Hendersonville High School to help refurbish the school auditorium, $4 million to fund the building of a new education center at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, $60,000 to the music departments of six U.S. colleges, and $100,000 to the Nashville Symphony. Also a promoter of children's literacy, she has donated money and books to various schools around the country to improve education. In 2007, Swift partnered with the Tennessee Association of Chiefs of Police to launch a campaign to protect children from online predators. She has donated items to several charities for auction, including the Elton John AIDS Foundation, the UNICEF Tap Project, MusiCares, and Feeding America. As recipient of the Academy of Country Music's Entertainer of the Year in 2011, Swift donated $25,000 to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Tennessee. In 2012, Swift participated in the Stand Up to Cancer telethon, performing the charity single "Ronan", which she wrote in memory of a four-year-old boy who died of neuroblastoma. She has also donated $100,000 to the V Foundation for Cancer Research and $50,000 to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Swift has encouraged young people to volunteer in their local communities as part of Global Youth Service Day.
Swift donated to fellow singer-songwriter Kesha to help with her legal battles against Dr. Luke and to actress Mariska Hargitay's Joyful Heart Foundation organization. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Swift donated to the World Health Organization and Feeding America and offered one of her signed guitars as part of an auction to raise money for the National Health Service. Swift performed "Soon You'll Get Better" during One World: Together At Home television special, a benefit concert curated by Lady Gaga for Global Citizen to raise funds for the World Health Organization's COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund. In 2018 and 2021, Swift donated to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network in honor of Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month. In addition to charitable causes, she has made donations to her fans several times for their medical or academic expenses.
Politics and activism
Swift is pro-choice, and has been regarded as a feminist icon by various publications. During the 2008 United States presidential election, she promoted the Every Woman Counts campaign, aimed at engaging women in the political process. She was one of the founding signatories of the Time's Up movement against sexual harassment. Swift has also spoken out against LGBT discrimination, which was the theme of the music video for "Mean". On multiple occasions, she encouraged support for the Equality Act, which prohibits discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation and gender identity, among others. In 2019, she donated to the LGBT organizations Tennessee Equality Project and GLAAD.
Swift avoided discussing politics in her early career because country record label executives insisted "Don't be like the Dixie Chicks!", and first became active during the 2018 United States elections. She declared her support for Democrats Jim Cooper and Phil Bredesen to represent Tennessee in the House of Representatives and Senate, respectively, and expressed her desire for greater LGBT rights, gender equality and racial equality, condemned systemic racism. In August 2020, Swift urged her fans to check their voter registration ahead of elections, which resulted in 65,000 people registering to vote within a day after her post. She endorsed Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in the 2020 United States presidential election, and was found to be one of the most influential celebrities in the polls.
Swift has supported the March for Our Lives movement and gun control reform in the U.S, and is a vocal critic of white supremacy, racism, and police brutality in the country. Following the murders of African-American men Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd, she donated to the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and the Black Lives Matter movement. After then-president Donald Trump posted a controversial tweet on the unrest in Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Swift accused him of promoting white supremacy and racism in his term. She called for the removal of Confederate monuments of "racist historical figures" in Tennessee, and advocated for Juneteenth to become a national holiday.
Endorsements
During the Fearless era, Swift supported campaigns by Verizon Wireless and "Got Milk?". She launched a l.e.i. sundress range at Walmart, and designed American Greetings cards and Jakks Pacific dolls. She became a spokesperson for the National Hockey League's (NHL) Nashville Predators and Sony Cyber-shot digital cameras. She launched two Elizabeth Arden fragrances—Wonderstruck and Wonderstruck Enchanted. In 2013, she released the fragrances Taylor by Taylor Swift and Taylor by Taylor Swift: Made of Starlight, followed by her fifth fragrance, Incredible Things, in 2014.
Swift signed a multi-year deal with AT&T in 2016. She later headlined DirecTV's Super Saturday Night event on the eve of the 2017 Super Bowl. In 2019, Swift signed a multi-year partnership with Capital One, and released a sustainable clothing line with Stella McCartney. In 2022, in light of her philanthropic support for independent record stores during the COVID-19 pandemic, Record Store Day named Swift their first-ever global ambassador.
Discography
Studio albums
Taylor Swift (2006)
Fearless (2008)
Speak Now (2010)
Red (2012)
1989 (2014)
Reputation (2017)
Lover (2019)
Folklore (2020)
Evermore (2020)
Re-recordings
Fearless (Taylor's Version) (2021)
Red (Taylor's Version) (2021)
Filmography
Hannah Montana: The Movie (2009)
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2009)
Valentine's Day (2010)
Journey to Fearless (2010)
The Lorax (2012)
The Giver (2014)
The 1989 World Tour Live (2015)
Taylor Swift: Reputation Stadium Tour (2018)
Cats (2019)
Miss Americana (2020)
City of Lover (2020)
Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions (2020)
All Too Well: The Short Film (2021)
Tours
Fearless Tour (2009–2010)
Speak Now World Tour (2011–2012)
The Red Tour (2013–2014)
The 1989 World Tour (2015)
Reputation Stadium Tour (2018)
See also
List of best-selling albums by year in the United States
List of best-selling singles in the United States
List of highest-certified music artists in the United States
Grammy Award records – Youngest artists to win Album of the Year
Grammy Award records – Most Grammys won by a female artist
List of American Grammy Award winners and nominees
List of Grammy Award winners and nominees by country
List of most-followed Instagram accounts
List of most-followed Twitter accounts
List of most-subscribed YouTube channels
Best-selling female artists of all time
Footnotes
References
External links
Taylor Swift
1989 births
Living people
21st-century American actresses
21st-century American guitarists
21st-century American pianists
21st-century American singers
21st-century American women guitarists
21st-century American women pianists
21st-century American women singers
Actresses from Nashville, Tennessee
Alternative rock singers
American acoustic guitarists
American country banjoists
American country guitarists
American country pianists
American country record producers
American country singer-songwriters
American country songwriters
American women country singers
American women pop singers
American women rock singers
American women singer-songwriters
American women songwriters
American women record producers
American feminists
American film actresses
American folk guitarists
American folk musicians
American folk singers
American mezzo-sopranos
American multi-instrumentalists
American music video directors
American people of German descent
American people of Italian descent
American people of Scottish descent
American pop guitarists
American pop pianists
American synth-pop musicians
American television actresses
American voice actresses
American women guitarists
American women pianists
Big Machine Records artists
Brit Award winners
Christians from Tennessee
Country musicians from Tennessee
Emmy Award winners
Female music video directors
Feminist musicians
Forbes 30 Under 30 multi-time recipients
Grammy Award winners
Guitarists from Pennsylvania
Guitarists from Tennessee
MTV Europe Music Award winners
Musicians from Nashville, Tennessee
NME Awards winners
RCA Records artists
Record producers from Tennessee
Republic Records artists
Singer-songwriters from Tennessee
Sony Music Publishing artists
Synth-pop singers
Universal Music Group artists
Featured articles
Singer-songwriters from Pennsylvania | false | [
"\"Hard Times\" is a song written by James Taylor. It first appeared on his 1981 album Dad Loves His Work. It was also released as a single, as the follow up to the Top-20 hit \"Her Town Too.\" It did not perform as well as its predecessor, reaching #72 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #23 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. The single's b-side, \"Summer's Here,\" performed similarly on the Adult Contemporary chart, peaking at #25.\n\nLyrics and music\nLike several other songs from Dad Loves His Work, \"Hard Times\" was influenced by the impending breakup of Taylor's marriage to Carly Simon. Fans heard the song as a message that the marriage was about to end. According to Rolling Stone critic Don Shewey, it \"explores marriage on the rocks.\" The lyrics describe the difficulty for an \"angry man\" and a \"hungry woman\" to stay together, and hope that the couple can stop \"driving each other crazy.\" They lament the way the pair hurt each other. The singer acknowledges that he can challenging to love. Taylor biographer Mark Robowsky describes the song's groove as \"easygoing.\" But he also claims that the song's refrain of \"We've got to hold on, got to hold on\" was a good hook, those lyrics were also false as by that time Taylor had already decided he did not want to hold on to his marriage with Simon. The song has an R&B feel, which musicologist James Perone partially attributes to backing singers David Lasley and Arnold McCuller.\n\nReception\nAllmusic critic William Ruhlmann regarded both \"Hard Times\" and \"Summer's Here\" among the better songs on Dad Loves His Work, helping Taylor bounce back from his previous \"spotty\" album Flag. Musician, Player, and Listener described it as sounding \"more personal - especially as regards marital problems - than anything [Taylor] committed to wax in years.\" Michigan Daily critic Ari Roth stated that \"Hard Times\" \"assert[s] a dependency and will to achievement that Taylor has never previously articulated.\" Michael Hochandel of Schenectady Gazette reported that \"Hard Times\" received as much applause in 1981 live performances as Taylor's classics.\n\n\"Hard Times\" was chosen for inclusion in the soundtrack to the 2002 PBS documentary Freedom: A History of Us. Allmusic reviewer William Ruhlmann lamented the song's exclusion from the 2000 compilation album Greatest Hits Volume 2.\n\nPersonnel\nJames Taylor – lead vocals\nWaddy Wachtel – electric guitar, guitar solo\nDan Dugmore - electric guitar\nLeland Sklar – bass guitar\nDon Grolnick – piano, organ\nRick Marotta – drums congas\nBill Cuomo – synthesizers\nDavid Lasley, Arnold McCuller – background vocals\n\n\"Summer's Here\"\nThe b-side of the \"Hard Times\" single, \"Summer's Here\" also performed well on the Adult Contemporary chart, peaking at #25. \"Summer's Here\" entered the Adult Contemporary chart on August 1, 1981, while \"Hard Times\" was still in the Top 50. \"Summer's Here\" performed even better on the Canadian Adult Contemporary chart, reaching #12.\n\nPerone describes the theme of \"Summer's Here\" as simply being a celebration of summer. Montreal Gazette critic John Griffin similarly described the song as \"simply a goofy ode to 'my favorite time of year.'\" Although the character in the song states that summer is his favorite season, Taylor has claimed that this is just that character speaking, and that Taylor's own favorite season is the Fall and his favorite month is October. The lyrics to \"Summer's Here\" incorporate a common trope in Taylor's songs, that of the open sea.\n\nPerone describes the music as being Caribbean-style, while Schenectady Gazette critic Michael Hochandel described the music as reggae. Musician, Player, and Listener similarly described it as having Caribbean influence, calling it a \"momentary ray of sunshine.\" Taylor biographer Timothy White called the song \"infectious.\" Terry Hazlet of the Observer-Reporter rated \"Summer's Here\" as the best song on Dad Loves His Work and \"the closest Taylor came to his real roots,\" albeit because he considered it \"simplistic\" and because the focus on objects such as sandals, beer and hats \"make the human element,\" which he found lacking on other songs on the album, \"unnecessary.\" Perone rates it as \"not one of Taylor's more lyrically or musically substantial works\" but states that it \"serves as a break from some of the darker and more serious lyrics on ''Dad Loves His Work.\"\n\nPersonnel\nJames Taylor – lead vocals, acoustic guitar\nWaddy Wachtel, Dan Dugmore\nLeland Sklar – bass guitar \nRick Marotta – drums, timbales\nDon Grolnick – electric piano, organ\nGreg \"Fingers\" Taylor harmonia\nPeter Asher – shaker\nGreg \"Fingers\" Taylor harmonica\n\nReferences\n\n1981 songs\n1981 singles\nJames Taylor songs\nSongs written by James Taylor\nSong recordings produced by Peter Asher\nColumbia Records singles",
"Courtney A. Taylor (born July 20, 1967), known as Courtney Taylor-Taylor, is an American singer-songwriter from Portland, Oregon. He is the lead singer and guitarist of alternative rock band The Dandy Warhols, a band he co-founded. Taylor-Taylor has written the majority of the band's songs.\n\nTaylor-Taylor has co-written a graphic novel entitled One Model Nation, about a fictional 1970s German krautrock band. It was released in 2009. This was accompanied by a studio album titled Totalwerks, Vol. 1 (1969–1977), a fake greatest hits album by the fictional band, released in 2012.\n\nEarly life and education \nTaylor-Taylor attended Sunset High School in Beaverton, a suburb of Portland, and studied sociology, psychology and music at Cascade College, also in Portland. He recalls sticking out as a teenager: \"You don't fit in if you're a make-up-wearing weirdo, surrounded by large, clumsy guys and cheerleaders.\" He found refuge in the work of Friedrich Nietzsche and Kurt Vonnegut. It was there that he met future bandmate Peter Holmström.\n\nAfter graduating, Taylor-Taylor worked as a mechanic while playing drums for local band Nero's Rome. He was also the drummer in the Portland-based glam rock/pop band The Beauty Stab.\n\nCareer\n\nMusic career \n\nTaylor-Taylor appears in and narrates the film Dig!, a documentary chronicling the early years of the relationship between his band, The Dandy Warhols, and The Brian Jonestown Massacre.\n\nNon-music career \n\nTaylor-Taylor appeared in an episode of the second season of the TV show Veronica Mars, \"Cheatty Cheatty Bang Bang\", performing the song \"Love Hurts\". He appeared in the 2009 music documentary film The Heart Is a Drum Machine, as well as a 2011 episode of the Australian music quiz television show Spicks and Specks.\n\nTaylor-Taylor was one of the contributors to the book Sex Tips from Rock Stars by Paul Miles, published by Omnibus Press in July 2010.\n\nPersonal life \n\nLike his cousin and bandmate Brent DeBoer, Taylor-Taylor is of Dutch ancestry.\n\nAs the chief songwriter for \"Bohemian Like You\", Taylor-Taylor earned approximately 1.5 million US dollars in royalties for Vodafone's use of the song in television commercials in the telecommunications company's native United Kingdom (and other territories Vodafone operate in, including Australia and Greece) in late-2001. With part of these earnings, he purchased a quarter-of-a-city block and turned it into a complex with space for recording, film editing, and web design.\n\nOn December 22, 2007, Taylor-Taylor married long-time girlfriend Lockett Allbritton at the Columbia Gorge Hotel in Hood River, Oregon. Lockett Taylor is a yoga practitioner and instructor. On February 1, 2010, she gave birth to their first child, a son, Ajax.\n\nTaylor-Taylor has left wing politics. When British conservative politician Theresa May used the song \"Bohemian Like You\" as she walked away from a conference stage, Taylor-Taylor wrote \"Why don't these assholes have right-wing bands make them some right-wing music for their right-wing jerkoff politics? Oh, because right-wing people aren't creative, visionary, or any fun to be around.\"\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n \n \n One Model Nation website\n\n1967 births\nAmerican rock guitarists\nAmerican male guitarists\nAmerican rock songwriters\nAmerican rock singers\nMusicians from Portland, Oregon\nLiving people\nAmerican people of Dutch descent\nPeople from Beaverton, Oregon\nAmerican alternative rock musicians\nThe Dandy Warhols members\nAlternative rock guitarists\nSunset High School (Beaverton, Oregon) alumni\nSinger-songwriters from Oregon\nGuitarists from Oregon\n20th-century American guitarists\n20th-century American male musicians\nAmerican male singer-songwriters"
]
|
[
"Taylor Swift",
"Influences",
"What artists influenced Taylor Swift the most?",
"Shania Twain,",
"What other artist influenced Taylor's sound?",
"She has also spoken fondly of singers and songwriters like Michelle Branch, Alanis Morissette, Ashlee Simpson, Fefe Dobson and Justin Timberlake;",
"What type of music does Taylor like?",
"Swift listened to rock bands such as Dashboard Confessional, Fall Out Boy, and Jimmy Eat World.",
"Did Taylor have a favorite rock band?",
"Dashboard Confessional, Fall Out Boy, and Jimmy Eat World.",
"Did Taylor like other music as well?",
"The Shirelles, Doris Troy, and The Beach Boys."
]
| C_e101b306eedc41bd937aff1f1a3b54de_0 | Did her mother influence her? | 6 | Did Taylor Swift's mother influence her? | Taylor Swift | One of Swift's earliest musical memories is listening to her maternal grandmother, Marjorie Finlay, sing in church. As a child, she enjoyed Disney film soundtracks: "My parents noticed that, once I had run out of words, I would just make up my own". Swift has said she owes her confidence to her mother, who helped her prepare for class presentations as a child. She also attributes her "fascination with writing and storytelling" to her mother. Swift was drawn to the storytelling of country music, and was introduced to the genre by "the great female country artists of the '90s"--Shania Twain, Faith Hill and the Dixie Chicks. Twain, both as a songwriter and performer, was her biggest musical influence. Hill was Swift's childhood role model: "Everything she said, did, wore, I tried to copy it". She admired the Dixie Chicks' defiant attitude and their ability to play their own instruments. The band's "Cowboy Take Me Away" was the first song Swift learned to play on the guitar. Swift also explored the music of older country stars, including Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton and Tammy Wynette. She believes Parton is "an amazing example to every female songwriter out there". Alt-country artists such as Ryan Adams, Patty Griffin and Lori McKenna have inspired Swift. Swift lists Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, Emmylou Harris, Kris Kristofferson, and Carly Simon as her career role models: "They've taken chances, but they've also been the same artist for their entire careers". McCartney, both as a Beatle and a solo artist, makes Swift feel "as if I've been let into his heart and his mind ... Any musician could only dream of a legacy like that". She admires Springsteen for being "so musically relevant after such a long period of time". She aspires to be like Harris as she grows older: "It's not about fame for her, it's about music". "[Kristofferson] shines in songwriting ... He's just one of those people who has been in this business for years but you can tell it hasn't chewed him up and spat him out", Swift says. She admires Simon's "songwriting and honesty ... She's known as an emotional person but a strong person". Swift has also been influenced by many artists outside the country genre. As a pre-teen, she enjoyed bubblegum pop acts including Hanson and Britney Spears; Swift has said she has "unwavering devotion" for Spears. In her high school years, Swift listened to rock bands such as Dashboard Confessional, Fall Out Boy, and Jimmy Eat World. She has also spoken fondly of singers and songwriters like Michelle Branch, Alanis Morissette, Ashlee Simpson, Fefe Dobson and Justin Timberlake; and the 1960s acts The Shirelles, Doris Troy, and The Beach Boys. Swift's fifth album, the pop-focused 1989, was influenced by some of her favorite 1980s pop acts, including Annie Lennox, Phil Collins and "Like a Prayer-era Madonna". CANNOTANSWER | She also attributes her "fascination with writing and storytelling" to her mother. | Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Her discography spans multiple genres, and her narrative songwriting, which is often inspired by her personal life, has received widespread media coverage and critical praise. Born in West Reading, Pennsylvania, Swift relocated to Nashville, Tennessee, at the age of 14 to pursue a career in country music. She signed a songwriting deal with Sony/ATV Music Publishing in 2004 and a recording deal with Big Machine Records in 2005, and released her eponymous debut studio album in 2006.
Swift explored country pop on the albums Fearless (2008) and Speak Now (2010); the success of "Love Story" and "You Belong with Me" as singles on both country and pop radio established her as a leading crossover artist. She experimented with pop, rock, and electronic genres on her fourth studio album, Red (2012), supported by the singles "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" and "I Knew You Were Trouble". With her synth-pop fifth studio album 1989 (2014) and its chart-topping songs "Shake It Off", "Blank Space", and "Bad Blood", Swift shed her country image and transitioned to pop completely. The subsequent media scrutiny on Swift's personal life influenced her sixth album Reputation (2017), which delved into urban sounds, led by the single "Look What You Made Me Do".
Parting ways with Big Machine to sign with Republic Records in 2018, Swift released her next studio album, Lover (2019). Inspired by escapism during the COVID-19 pandemic, Swift ventured into indie folk and alternative rock styles on her 2020 studio albums, Folklore and Evermore, receiving acclaim for their nuanced storytelling. To gain ownership over the masters of her back catalog, she released the re-recordings Fearless (Taylor's Version) and Red (Taylor's Version) in 2021. Besides music, Swift has played supporting roles in films such as Valentine's Day (2010) and Cats (2019), has released the autobiographical documentary Miss Americana (2020), and directed the musical films Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions (2020) and All Too Well: The Short Film (2021).
Having sold over 200 million records worldwide, Swift is one of the best-selling musicians of all time.Her concert tours are some of the highest-grossing in history. She has scored eight Billboard Hot 100 number-one songs, and received 11 Grammy Awards (including three Album of the Year wins), an Emmy Award, 34 American Music Awards (the most for an artist) and 56 Guinness World Records, among other accolades. She featured on Rolling Stones 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time (2015) and Billboard Greatest of All Time Artists (2019) lists, and rankings such as the Time 100 and Forbes Celebrity 100. Named the Woman of the 2010s Decade by Billboard and the Artist of the 2010s Decade by the American Music Awards, Swift has been recognized for her influential career and philanthropy, as well as advocacy of artists' rights and women's empowerment in the music industry.
Life and career
1989–2003: Early life and education
Taylor Alison Swift was born on December 13, 1989, at the Reading Hospital in West Reading, Pennsylvania. Her father, Scott Kingsley Swift, is a former stockbroker for Merrill Lynch; her mother, Andrea Gardner Swift (née Finlay), is a former homemaker who previously worked as a mutual fund marketing executive. Her younger brother, Austin, is an actor. She was named after singer-songwriter James Taylor, and has Scottish and German heritage. Her maternal grandmother, Marjorie Finlay, was an opera singer. Swift's paternal great-great-grandfather was an Italian immigrant entrepreneur and community leader who opened several businesses in Philadelphia in the 1800s. Swift spent her early years on a Christmas tree farm that her father purchased from one of his clients. Swift identifies as a Christian. She attended preschool and kindergarten at the Alvernia Montessori School, run by the Bernadine Franciscan sisters, before transferring to The Wyndcroft School. The family moved to a rented house in the suburban town of Wyomissing, Pennsylvania, where she attended Wyomissing Area Junior/Senior High School.
At age nine, Swift became interested in musical theater and performed in four Berks Youth Theatre Academy productions. She also traveled regularly to New York City for vocal and acting lessons. Swift later shifted her focus toward country music, inspired by Shania Twain's songs, which made her "want to just run around the block four times and daydream about everything." She spent weekends performing at local festivals and events. After watching a documentary about Faith Hill, Swift felt sure she needed to move to Nashville, Tennessee, to pursue a career in music. She traveled with her mother at age eleven to visit Nashville record labels and submitted demo tapes of Dolly Parton and The Chicks karaoke covers. She was rejected, however, because "everyone in that town wanted to do what I wanted to do. So, I kept thinking to myself, I need to figure out a way to be different."
When Swift was around 12 years old, computer repairman and local musician Ronnie Cremer taught her to play guitar. He helped with her first efforts as a songwriter, leading her to write "Lucky You". In 2003, Swift and her parents started working with New York-based talent manager Dan Dymtrow. With his help, Swift modeled for Abercrombie & Fitch as part of their "Rising Stars" campaign, had an original song included on a Maybelline compilation CD, and attended meetings with major record labels. After performing original songs at an RCA Records showcase, Swift, then 13 years old, was given an artist development deal and began making frequent trips to Nashville with her mother.
To help Swift break into country music, her father transferred to Merrill Lynch's Nashville office when she was 14 years old, and the family relocated to Hendersonville, Tennessee. Swift initially attended Hendersonville High School before transferring to the Aaron Academy after two years, which could better accommodate her touring schedule through homeschooling. She graduated a year early.
2004–2008: Career beginnings and first album
In Nashville, Swift worked with experienced Music Row songwriters such as Troy Verges, Brett Beavers, Brett James, Mac McAnally, and the Warren Brothers, and formed a lasting working relationship with Liz Rose. They began meeting for two-hour writing sessions every Tuesday afternoon after school. Rose thought the sessions were "some of the easiest I've ever done. Basically, I was just her editor. She'd write about what happened in school that day. She had such a clear vision of what she was trying to say. And she'd come in with the most incredible hooks." Swift became the youngest artist signed by the Sony/ATV Tree publishing house, but left the Sony-owned RCA Records at the age of 14, citing the label's lack of care and them "cut[ting] other people’s stuff" as reasons; she was also concerned that development deals may shelve artists. She recalled: "I genuinely felt that I was running out of time. I wanted to capture these years of my life on an album while they still represented what I was going through."
At an industry showcase at Nashville's Bluebird Cafe in 2005, Swift caught the attention of Scott Borchetta, a DreamWorks Records executive who was preparing to form an independent record label, Big Machine Records. She had first met Borchetta in 2004. Becoming one of the first signings Big Machine, she wanted "the kind of attention that a little [new] label will give," and her father purchased a three-percent stake in the company for an estimated $120,000. She began working on her eponymous debut album shortly after. Swift persuaded Big Machine to hire her demo producer Nathan Chapman, with whom she felt she had the right "chemistry". She wrote three of the album's songs alone, and co-wrote the remaining eight with Rose, Robert Ellis Orrall, Brian Maher, and Angelo Petraglia. Taylor Swift was released on October 24, 2006. Jon Caramanica of The New York Times described it as "a small masterpiece of pop-minded country, both wide-eyed and cynical, held together by Ms. Swift's firm, pleading voice." Taylor Swift peaked at number five on the U.S. Billboard 200, where it spent 157 weeks—the longest stay on the chart by any release in the U.S. in the 2000s decade.
Big Machine Records was still in its infancy during the June 2006 release of the lead single, "Tim McGraw". Swift and her mother helped "stuff the CD singles into envelopes to send to radio." As there were not enough furniture at the label yet, they would sit on the floor to do so. She spent much of 2006 promoting Taylor Swift with a radio tour, television appearances, and opening for Rascal Flatts on select dates during their 2006 tour after they fired their previous opening act, Eric Church, for playing longer than his allotted time. Borchetta said that although record industry peers initially disapproved of his signing a 15-year-old singer-songwriter, Swift tapped into a previously unknown market—teenage girls who listen to country music. Following "Tim McGraw", four more singles were released throughout 2007 and 2008: "Teardrops on My Guitar", "Our Song", "Picture to Burn" and "Should've Said No". All appeared on Billboards Hot Country Songs, with "Our Song", and "Should've Said No" reaching number one. With "Our Song", Swift became the youngest person to single-handedly write and sing a number-one song on the chart. "Teardrops on My Guitar" reached number thirteen on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. Swift also released two EPs; The Taylor Swift Holiday Collection in October 2007 and Beautiful Eyes in July 2008. She promoted her debut album extensively as the opening act for other country musicians' tours throughout 2006 and 2007, including George Strait, Brad Paisley, and Tim McGraw and Faith Hill.
Swift won accolades for Taylor Swift. She was one of the recipients of the Nashville Songwriters Association's Songwriter/Artist of the Year in 2007, becoming the youngest person to be honored with the title. She also won the Country Music Association's Horizon Award for Best New Artist, the Academy of Country Music Awards' Top New Female Vocalist, and the American Music Awards' Favorite Country Female Artist honor. She was also nominated for Best New Artist at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards. She opened for the Rascal Flatts on their 2008 summer and fall tour. In July of that year, Swift began a romance with singer Joe Jonas that ended three months later.
2008–2010: Fearless and acting debut
Swift's second studio album, Fearless, was released on November 11, 2008. Five singles were released in 2008 through 2009: "Love Story", "White Horse", "You Belong with Me", "Fifteen", and "Fearless". "Love Story", the lead single, peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one in Australia. "You Belong with Me" was the album's highest-charting single on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number two. All five singles were Billboard Hot Country Songs top-10 entries, with "Love Story" and "You Belong with Me" peaking at number one. Fearless debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and was the top-selling album of 2009 in the U.S. The Fearless Tour, Swift's first headlining concert tour, grossed over $63 million. Journey to Fearless, a three-part documentary miniseries, was aired on television and later released on DVD and Blu-ray. Swift also performed as a supporting act for Keith Urban's Escape Together World Tour in 2009.
In 2009, the music video for "You Belong with Me" was named Best Female Video at the MTV Video Music Awards. Her acceptance speech was interrupted by rapper Kanye West, an incident that became the subject of controversy, widespread media attention, and many Internet memes. James Montgomery of MTV argued that the incident and subsequent media attention turned Swift into "a bona-fide mainstream celebrity". That year she won five American Music Awards, including Artist of the Year and Favorite Country Album. Billboard named her 2009's Artist of the Year. The album ranked number 99 on NPR's 2017 list of the 150 Greatest Albums Made By Women. She won Video of the Year and Female Video of the Year for "Love Story" at the 2009 CMT Music Awards, where she made a parody video of the song with rapper T-Pain called "Thug Story". At the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards, Fearless was named Album of the Year and Best Country Album, and "White Horse" won Best Country Song and Best Female Country Vocal Performance. Swift was the youngest artist to win Album of the Year. At the 2009 Country Music Association Awards, Swift won Album of the Year for Fearless and was named Entertainer of the Year, the youngest person to win the honor.
Swift featured on John Mayer's single "Half of My Heart" and Boys Like Girls' single "Two Is Better Than One", both of which she co-wrote. She co-wrote and recorded "Best Days of Your Life" with Kellie Pickler, and co-wrote two songs for the Hannah Montana: The Movie soundtrack—"You'll Always Find Your Way Back Home" and "Crazier". She contributed two songs to the Valentine's Day soundtrack, including the single "Today Was a Fairytale", which was her first number one on the Canadian Hot 100, and peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100. While filming her cinematic debut Valentine's Day in October 2009, Swift began a romantic relationship with co-star Taylor Lautner; they broke up later that year. Swift's role of the ditzy girlfriend of Lautner's character received mixed reviews. In 2009, she made her television acting debut as a rebellious teenager in an CSI: Crime Scene Investigation episode. She also hosted and performed as the musical guest on an episode of Saturday Night Live; she was the first host to write her own opening monologue.
2010–2014: Speak Now and Red
In August 2010, Swift released "Mine", the lead single from her third studio album, Speak Now. It entered the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 at number three. Swift wrote the album alone and co-produced every track. Speak Now, released on October 25, 2010, debuted atop the Billboard 200 with first-week sales of a million copies. It became the fastest-selling digital album by a female artist, with 278,000 downloads in a week, earning Swift an entry in the 2010 Guinness World Records. The songs "Mine", "Back to December", "Mean", "The Story of Us", "Sparks Fly", and "Ours" were released as singles. All except "The Story of Us" were Hot Country Songs top-three entries, with "Sparks Fly" and "Ours" reaching number one. "Back to December" and "Mean" peaked in the top ten in Canada. Later in 2010, she briefly dated actor Jake Gyllenhaal.
During her tour dates for 2011, she wrote the lyrics of various songs written by other people on her left arm. At the 54th Annual Grammy Awards in 2012, Swift won Best Country Song and Best Country Solo Performance for "Mean", which she performed during the ceremony. Media publications noted the performance as an improvement from her much criticized 2010 Grammy performance, which served as a testament to her abilities as a musician. Swift won other awards for Speak Now, including Songwriter/Artist of the Year by the Nashville Songwriters Association (2010 and 2011), Woman of the Year by Billboard (2011), and Entertainer of the Year by the Academy of Country Music (2011 and 2012) and the Country Music Association in 2011. At the American Music Awards of 2011, Swift won Artist of the Year and Favorite Country Album. Rolling Stone placed Speak Now at number 45 in its 2012 list of the "50 Best Female Albums of All Time", writing: "She might get played on the country station, but she's one of the few genuine rock stars we've got these days, with a flawless ear for what makes a song click."
The Speak Now World Tour ran from February 2011 to March 2012 and grossed over $123 million. In November 2011, Swift released a live album, Speak Now World Tour: Live. She contributed two original songs to The Hunger Games soundtrack album: "Safe & Sound", co-written and recorded with the Civil Wars and T-Bone Burnett, and "Eyes Open". "Safe & Sound" won the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media and was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song. Swift featured on B.o.B's single "Both of Us", released in May 2012. From July to September 2012, Swift dated Conor Kennedy, son of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Mary Richardson Kennedy.
In August 2012, Swift released "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together", the lead single from her fourth studio album, Red. It became her first number one in the U.S. and New Zealand, and reached the top slot on iTunes' digital song sales chart 50 minutes after its release, earning the Fastest Selling Single in Digital History Guinness World Record. Other singles released from the album include "Begin Again", "I Knew You Were Trouble", "22", "Everything Has Changed", "The Last Time", and "Red". "I Knew You Were Trouble" reached the top five on charts in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Ireland, New Zealand, the U.K. and the U.S. Three singles, "Begin Again", "22", and "Red", reached the top 20 in the U.S.
Red was released on October 22, 2012. On Red, Swift worked with longtime collaborators Nathan Chapman and Liz Rose, as well as new producers, including Max Martin and Shellback. The album incorporates new genres for Swift, such as heartland rock, dubstep and dance-pop. It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 1.21 million copies, making Swift the first female to have two million-selling album openings, a record recognized by the Guinness World Records. Red was Swift's first number-one album in the U.K. The Red Tour ran from March 2013 to June 2014 and grossed over $150 million, becoming the highest-grossing country tour when it completed.
Red had sold eight million copies by 2014. The album earned several accolades, including four nominations at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards in 2014. Its single "I Knew You Were Trouble" won Best Female Video at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards. Swift received American Music Awards for Best Female Country Artist in 2012, and Artist of the Year in 2013. She received the Nashville Songwriters Association's Songwriter/Artist Award for the fifth and sixth consecutive years in 2012 and 2013. Swift was honored by the Association with a special Pinnacle Award, making her the second recipient of the accolade after Garth Brooks. During this time, she had a short-term relationship with English singer Harry Styles.
In 2013, Swift recorded "Sweeter than Fiction", a song she wrote and produced with Jack Antonoff for the One Chance film soundtrack. The song received a Best Original Song nomination at the 71st Golden Globe Awards. She provided guest vocals for Tim McGraw's song "Highway Don't Care", featuring guitar work by Keith Urban. Swift performed "As Tears Go By" with the Rolling Stones in Chicago, Illinois as part of the band's 50 & Counting tour. She joined Florida Georgia Line on stage during their set at the 2013 Country Radio Seminar to sing "Cruise". Swift voiced Audrey, a tree lover, in the animated film The Lorax (2012), made a cameo in the sitcom New Girl (2013), and had a supporting role in the film adaptation of The Giver (2014).
2014–2018: 1989 and Reputation
In March 2014, Swift lived in New York City. Around this time, she was working on her fifth studio album, 1989, with producers Jack Antonoff, Max Martin, Shellback, Imogen Heap, Ryan Tedder, and Ali Payami. She promoted the album through various campaigns, including inviting fans to secret album-listening sessions. Influenced by 1980s synth-pop, Swift severed ties with the country sound of her previous albums, and marketed 1989 as her "first documented, official pop album". The album was released on October 27, 2014, and debuted atop the US Billboard 200 with sales of 1.28 million copies in its first week. This made Swift the first act to have three albums sell more than one million copies in their opening week, for which she earned a Guinness World Record. By June 2017, 1989 had sold over 10 million copies worldwide. Three of its singles—"Shake It Off", "Blank Space", and "Bad Blood" featuring rapper Kendrick Lamar—reached number one in Australia, Canada, and the U.S. The singles "Style" and "Wildest Dreams" reached the top 10 in the U.S. Other singles were "Out of the Woods" and "New Romantics". The 1989 World Tour ran from May to December 2015 and was the highest-grossing tour of the year with $250 million in total revenue.
Prior to 1989s release, Swift stressed the importance of albums to artists and fans. In November 2014, she removed her entire catalog from Spotify, arguing that the streaming company's ad-supported, free service undermined the premium service, which provides higher royalties for songwriters. In a June 2015 open letter, Swift criticized Apple Music for not offering royalties to artists during the streaming service's free three-month trial period and stated that she would pull 1989 from the catalog. The following day, Apple announced that it would pay artists during the free trial period, and Swift agreed to stream 1989 on the streaming service. Swift's intellectual property rights management and holding company, TAS Rights Management, filed for 73 trademarks related to Swift and the 1989 era memes. She re-added her entire catalog plus 1989 to Spotify, Amazon Music and Google Play and other digital streaming platforms in June 2017.
Swift was named Billboards Woman of the Year in 2014, becoming the first artist to win the award twice. At the 2014 American Music Awards, Swift received the inaugural Dick Clark Award for Excellence. In 2015, Swift won the Brit Award for International Female Solo Artist. The video for "Bad Blood" won Video of the Year and Best Collaboration at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards. Swift was one of eight artists to receive a 50th Anniversary Milestone Award at the 2015 Academy of Country Music Awards. At the 58th Grammy Awards in 2016, 1989 won Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album, and "Bad Blood" won Best Music Video. Swift was the first woman and fifth act overall to win Album of the Year twice as a lead artist.
Swift dated Scottish DJ and record producer Calvin Harris from March 2015 to June 2016. Prior to their breakup, they co-wrote the song "This Is What You Came For", which features vocals from Barbadian singer Rihanna; Swift was initially credited under the pseudonym Nils Sjöberg. After briefly dating English actor Tom Hiddleston for a few months, Swift began dating English actor Joe Alwyn in September 2016. She wrote the song "Better Man" for Little Big Town's seventh album, The Breaker, which was released in November. The song earned Swift an award for Song of the Year at the 51st CMA Awards. Swift and English singer Zayn Malik released a single together, "I Don't Wanna Live Forever", for the soundtrack of the film Fifty Shades Darker (2017). The song reached number two in the U.S. and won Best Collaboration at the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards.
In August 2017, Swift successfully sued David Mueller, a former morning show personality for Denver's KYGO-FM. Four years earlier, Swift had informed Mueller's bosses that he had sexually assaulted her by groping her at an event. After being fired, Mueller accused Swift of lying and sued her for damages from his loss of employment. Shortly after, Swift counter-sued for sexual assault for nominal damages of only a dollar. The jury rejected Mueller's claims and ruled in favor of Swift. After a year of hiatus from public spotlight, Swift cleared her social media accounts and released "Look What You Made Me Do" as the lead single from her sixth album, Reputation. The single was Swift's first number-one U.K. single. It topped charts in Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, and the U.S.
Reputation was released on November 10, 2017. The album incorporates a heavy electropop sound, with hip hop, R&B and EDM influences. It debuted atop the Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 1.21 million copies. With this achievement, Swift became the first act to have four albums sell one million copies within one week in the U.S. The album topped the charts in the UK, Australia, and Canada. First-week worldwide sales amounted to two million copies. The album had sold over 4.5 million copies worldwide as of 2018. It spawned three other international singles, including the U.S. top-five entry "...Ready for It?", and two U.S. top-20 singles—"End Game" (featuring Ed Sheeran and rapper Future) and "Delicate". Other singles include "New Year's Day", which was exclusively released to U.S. country radio, and "Getaway Car", which was released in Australia only.
In April 2018, Swift featured on Sugarland's "Babe" from their album Bigger. In support of Reputation, she embarked on her Reputation Stadium Tour, which ran from May to November 2018. In the U.S., the tour grossed $266.1 million in box office and sold over two million tickets, breaking Swift's own record for the highest-grossing U.S. tour by a woman, which was previously held by her 1989 World Tour in 2015 ($181.5 million). It also broke the record for the highest-grossing North American concert tour in history. Worldwide, the tour grossed $345.7 million, making it the second highest-grossing concert tour of the year. On December 31, Swift released her Reputation Stadium Tour's accompanying concert film on Netflix.
Reputation was nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards in 2019. At the American Music Awards of 2018, Swift won four awards, including Artist of the Year and Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist. After the 2018 AMAs, Swift garnered a total of 23 awards, becoming the most awarded female musician in AMA history, a record previously held by Whitney Houston.
2018–2020: Lover and masters dispute
Reputation was Swift's last album under her 12-year contract with Big Machine Records. In November 2018, she signed a new multi-album deal with Big Machine's distributor Universal Music Group; in the U.S. her subsequent releases were promoted under the Republic Records imprint. Swift said the contract included a provision for her to maintain ownership of her master recordings. In addition, in the event that Universal sells any part of its stake in Spotify, which agreed to distribute a non-recoupable portion of the proceeds among their artists. Vox called it is a huge commitment from Universal, which was "far from assured" until Swift intervened.
Swift released her seventh studio album, Lover, on August 23, 2019. Besides longtime collaborator Jack Antonoff, Swift worked with new producers Louis Bell, Frank Dukes, and Joel Little. Lover made Swift the first female artist to have sixth consecutive album sell more than 500,000 copies in one week in the U.S. All 18 songs from the album charted on the Billboard Hot 100 the same week, setting a record for the most simultaneous entries by a woman. The lead single, "Me!", debuted at number 100 on the Billboard Hot 100 and rose to number two a week later, scoring the biggest single-week jump in chart history. Other singles from Lover were the U.S. top-10 singles "You Need to Calm Down" and "Lover", and U.S. top-40 single "The Man".
Lover was the world's best-selling studio album of 2019, selling 3.2 million copies. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) honored Swift as the global best-selling artist of 2019. Swift became first woman to win the honor twice, having previously won in 2014. The album earned accolades, including three nominations at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards in 2020. At the 2019 MTV Video Music Awards, "Me!" won Best Visual Effects, and "You Need to Calm Down" won Video of the Year and Video for Good. Swift was the first female and second artist overall to win Video of the Year for a video that they directed.
Swift played Bombalurina in the movie adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Cats (2019). For the film's soundtrack, she co-wrote and recorded the Golden Globe-nominated original song "Beautiful Ghosts". Although critics reviewed the film negatively, Swift received positive feedback for her role and musical performance. The documentary Miss Americana, which chronicles part of Swift's life and career, premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival and was released on Netflix that January. Miss Americana features the song "Only the Young", which Swift wrote after the 2018 United States elections. In February 2020, Swift signed an exclusive global publishing deal with Universal Music Publishing Group, after her 16-year-old contract with Sony/ATV Music Publishing expired.
In 2019, Swift became embroiled in a publicized dispute with talent manager Scooter Braun and her former label Big Machine, regarding the acquisition of the masters of her back catalog. Swift stated on her Tumblr blog that she had been trying to buy the masters for years, but Big Machine only allowed her to do so if she exchanged a new album for an older one under another contract, which she refused to do. Against Swift's authorization, Big Machine, in April 2020, released Live from Clear Channel Stripped 2008, a live album of Swift's performances at a radio show. In October, Braun sold Swift's masters, videos and artworks, to Shamrock Holdings for a reported $300 million. Swift began re-recording her back catalog in November 2020. Rolling Stone highlighted this decision, along with her opposition to low royalties for artists from streaming services such as Spotify and Apple Music as two of the music industry's most defining moments in the 2010s decade. In April 2020, Swift was scheduled to embark on Lover Fest, the supporting concert tour for Lover, which was canceled after the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.
2020–present: Folklore, Evermore, and re-recordings
In 2020, Swift released two surprise albums with little promotion, to critical acclaim. The first, her eighth studio album Folklore, was released on July 24. The second, her ninth studio album Evermore, was released on December 11. Described by Swift and Dessner as "sister records", both albums incorporate indie folk and alternative rock, departing from the previous upbeat pop releases. Swift wrote and recorded the albums while in isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic, working with producers Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner from the National. Both albums feature collaborations with Bon Iver, and Evermore features collaborations with the National and Haim. Swift's boyfriend Joe Alwyn co-wrote and co-produced select songs under the pseudonym William Bowery. The making of Folklore was discussed in the concert documentary Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions, directed by Swift and released on November 25.
In the U.S., Folklore and Evermore were each supported by three singles—one to mainstream radio, one to country radio, and one to triple A radio. The singles in that order were "Cardigan", "Betty", "Exile" (featuring Bon Iver); and "Willow", "No Body, No Crime" (featuring Haim), "Coney Island" (featuring the National); respectively. The lead singles from each album, "Cardigan" and "Willow", opened at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 the same week their parent albums debuted atop the Billboard 200. This made Swift the first artist to debut atop both the U.S. singles and albums charts simultaneously twice. Each album sold over one million units worldwide in its first week, with Folklore selling two million. Folklore broke the Guinness World Record for the highest first-day album streams by a female artist on Spotify, and was the best-selling album of 2020 in the U.S., having sold 1.2 million copies. Swift was 2020's highest-paid musician in the U.S., and highest-paid solo musician worldwide. At the 2020 American Music Awards, Swift won three awards, including Artist of the Year for a record third consecutive time. Folklore won Album of the Year at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards, making Swift the first woman in history to win the award three times.
Following the masters controversy, Swift released two re-recordings in 2021, adding "Taylor's Version" to their titles. The first, Fearless (Taylor's Version), peaked atop the Billboard 200, becoming the first re-recorded album to do so. It was preceded by the three tracks: "Love Story (Taylor's Version)", "You All Over Me" with Maren Morris, and "Mr. Perfectly Fine", the first of which made Swift the second artist after Dolly Parton to have both the original and the re-recording of a single at number one on the Hot Country Songs. Swift released "Wildest Dreams (Taylors Version)" on September 17, after the original song gained traction on the online-video sharing app TikTok. The second re-recording Red (Taylor's Version) was released on November 12. Its final track, "All Too Well (10 Minute Version)"—accompanied by All Too Well: The Short Film directed by Swift—debuted at number one on the Hot 100, becoming the longest song in history to top the chart. She was the highest-paid female musician of 2021, whereas both her 2020 albums and the re-recordings were ranked among the 10 best-selling albums of the year. In May 2021, Swift was awarded the Global Icon Award by the Brit Awards and the Songwriter Icon Award by the National Music Publishers' Association.
Outside her albums, Swift featured on four songs in 2021–2022: "Renegade" and "Birch" by Big Red Machine, a remix of Haim's "Gasoline" and Ed Sheeran's "The Joker and the Queen". She has been cast in David O. Russell's untitled film slated for release in November 2022.
Artistry
Influences
One of Swift's earliest musical memories is listening to her grandmother, Marjorie Finlay, sing in church. As a child, she enjoyed Disney film soundtracks: "My parents noticed that, once I had run out of words, I would just make up my own". Swift has said she owes her confidence to her mother, who helped her prepare for class presentations as a child. She also attributes her "fascination with writing and storytelling" to her mother. Swift was drawn to the storytelling aspect of country music, and was introduced to the genre listening to "the great female country artists" of the 1990s—Shania Twain, Faith Hill, and the Dixie Chicks. Twain, both as a songwriter and performer, was her biggest musical influence. Hill was Swift's childhood role model: "Everything she said, did, wore, I tried to copy it". She admired the Dixie Chicks' defiant attitude and their ability to play their own instruments. "Kiss Me" by Sixpence None the Richer was the first song Swift learned to play on the guitar. Swift also explored the music of older country stars such as Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, Tammy Wynette, and Dolly Parton, the latter of whom she believes is "an amazing example to every female songwriter out there", and alt-country artists like Patty Griffin and Lori McKenna. She has also cited Keith Urban's musical style as an influence.
Swift has also been influenced by various pop and rock artists. She lists Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen, Bryan Adams, Emmylou Harris, Kris Kristofferson, and Carly Simon as her career role models. Discussing McCartney and Harris, Swift has said, "They've taken chances, but they've also been the same artist for their entire careers". McCartney, both as a Beatle and a solo artist, makes Swift feel "as if I've been let into his heart and his mind [...] He's out there continuing to make his fans so happy. Any musician could only dream of a legacy like that." She likes Springsteen for being "so musically relevant after such a long period of time". She aspires to be like Harris as she grows older because of prioritizing music over fame. Swift says of Kristofferson that he "shines in songwriting", and admires Simon for being "an emotional" but "a strong person". Her synth-pop album 1989 was influenced by some of her favorite 1980s pop acts, including Peter Gabriel, Annie Lennox, Phil Collins and Madonna. As a songwriter, Swift was influenced by Joni Mitchell for her autobiographical lyrics conveying the deepest emotions: "She wrote it about her deepest pains and most haunting demons ... I think [Blue] is my favorite because it explores somebody's soul so deeply".
Musical styles
Swift's discography spans country, pop, folk, and alternative genres. Her first three studio albums, Taylor Swift, Fearless and Speak Now are categorized as country; her eclectic fourth studio album, Red, is dubbed both country and pop; her next three albums 1989, Reputation and Lover are labeled pop; and Folklore and Evermore are considered alternative. Music critics have described her songs as synth-pop, country pop, rock, electropop, and indie, amongst others; some songs, especially those on Reputation, incorporate elements of R&B, EDM, hip hop, and trap. The music instruments Swift plays include the piano, banjo, ukulele and various types of guitar. Swift described herself as a country artist until the release of 1989, which she characterized as her first "sonically cohesive pop album".
Rolling Stone wrote, "[Swift] might get played on the country station, but she's one of the few genuine rock stars we've got these days." According to The New York Times, "There isn't much in Ms. Swift's music to indicate country—a few banjo strums, a pair of cowboy boots worn onstage, a bedazzled guitar—but there's something in her winsome, vulnerable delivery that's unique to Nashville." The Guardian wrote that Swift "cranks melodies out with the pitiless efficiency of a Scandinavian pop factory." Consequence pinpointed her "capacity to continually reinvent while remaining herself", while Time dubbed Swift a "musical chameleon" for the constantly evolving sound of her discography. Clash said her career "has always been one of transcendence and covert boundary-pushing", reaching a point at which "Taylor Swift is just Taylor Swift", not defined by any genre.
Voice
Swift possesses a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Her singing voice is "sweet but soft" according to Sophie Schillaci of The Hollywood Reporter. Pitchfork's Sam Sodomsky called it "versatile and expressive". Music theory professor Alyssa Barna described the timbre of Swift's upper register as "breathy and bright", and her lower register "full and dark". The Los Angeles Times identified Swift's "defining" vocal gesture in studio recordings as "the line that slides down like a contented sigh or up like a raised eyebrow, giving her beloved girl-time hits their air of easy intimacy." In 2010, a writer from The Tennessean conceded that Swift was "not the best technical singer", but described her as the "best communicator that we've got". According to Swift, her vocal ability often concerned her in her early career, and she worked hard to improve it. She said she only feels nervous performing live "if I'm not sure what the audience thinks of me, like at award shows". The Hollywood Reporter wrote that her live vocals were "fine", but did not match those of her peers.
Though Swift's singing ability received mixed reviews early in her career, she was praised for refusing to correct her pitch with Auto-Tune. Rolling Stone found her voice "unaffected enough to mask how masterful she has become as a singer", while The Village Voice noted the improvement from her previously "bland and muddled" phrasing to her learning "how to make words sound like what they mean". In 2014, NPR Music described her singing as personal and conversational thanks to her "exceptional gift for inflection", but also suffered from a "wobbly pitch and tight, nasal delivery". Beginning with Folklore, she received better reviews for her vocals; Variety critic Andrew Barker noted the "remarkable" control she developed over her vocals, never allowing a "flourish or a tricky run to compromise the clarity of a lyric", while doing "wonders within her register" and "exploring its further reaches". Reviewing Fearless (Taylor's Version), The New York Times critic Lindsay Zoladz described her voice as stronger, more controlled, and deeper over time, discarding the nasal tone of her early vocals. Lucy Harbron of Clash opined that Swift's vocals have evolved "into her own unique blend of country, pop and indie".
Songwriting
Swift has been referred to as one of the greatest songwriters of all time and the best of her generation by various publications and organizations. She told The New Yorker in 2011 that she identifies as a songwriter first: "I write songs, and my voice is just a way to get those lyrics across." Swift's personal experiences were a common inspiration for her early songs, which helped her navigate the complexities of life. Her "diaristic" technique began with identifying an emotion, followed by a corresponding melody. On her first three studio albums, recurring themes were love, heartbreak, and insecurities, from an adolescent perspective. She delved into the tumult of toxic relationships on Red, and embraced nostalgia and positivity after failed relationships on 1989. Reputation was inspired by the downsides of Swift's fame, and Lover detailed her realization of the "full spectrum of love". Besides romance, other themes in Swift's music include parent-child relationships, friendships, alienation, and self-awareness.
Music critics often praise her self-written discography, especially her confessional narratives; they compliment her writing for its vivid details and emotional engagement, which were rare among pop artists. New York magazine argued that Swift was the first teenage artist who explicitly portrayed teenage experiences in her music. Rolling Stone described Swift as "a songwriting savant with an intuitive gift for verse-chorus-bridge architecture". Although reviews of Swift are generally positive, The New Yorker stated she was generally portrayed "more as a skilled technician than as a Dylanesque visionary". Because of her confessional narratives, tabloid media often speculated and linked the subjects of the songs with ex-lovers of Swift, a practice which New York magazine considered "sexist, inasmuch as it's not asked of her male peers". Aside from clues provided in album liner notes, Swift avoided talking about song subjects specifically. In a 2013 interview with Vanity Fair, Swift stated that the criticism on her songwriting—critics interpreted her persona as a "clingy, insane, desperate girlfriend in need of making you marry her and have kids with her"—was "a little sexist".
On her 2020 albums Folklore and Evermore, Swift was inspired by escapism and romanticism to explore fictional narratives. Without referencing her personal life, she imposed her emotions onto imagined characters and story arcs, which liberated her from the mental stress caused by tabloid attention and suggested new paths for her artistry. In a feature for Rolling Stone, Swift explained that she welcomed the new songwriting direction after she stopped worrying about commercial success: "I always thought, 'That'll never track on pop radio,' but when I was making Folklore, I thought, 'If you take away all the parameters, what do you make?" With the release of Evermore, Spin found Swift exploring "exceedingly complex human emotions with precision and devastation". Consequence stated her 2020 albums "offered a chance for doubters to see Swift's songwriting power on full display, but the truth is that her pen has always been her sword" and that her writing prowess took "different forms" as she transformed from "teenage wunderkind to a confident and careful adult."
Swift's bridges have been underscored as one of the best aspects of her songs and earned her the title "Queen of Bridges" from media outlets. Awarding her with the Songwriter Icon Award in 2021, the National Music Publishers' Association remarked that "no one is more influential when it comes to writing music today" than Swift. The Week deemed her the foremost female songwriter of modern times. Swift has also published two original poems: "Why She Disappeared" and "If You're Anything Like Me".
Music videos
Swift has collaborated with many different directors to produce her music videos, and over time she has become more involved with writing and directing. She has her own production house, Taylor Swift Productions, Inc., which is credited with producing music videos for singles such as "Me!". Swift developed the concept and treatment for "Mean", and co-directed the music video for "Mine" with Roman White. In an interview, White elaborated that Swift "was keenly involved in writing the treatment, casting and wardrobe. And she stayed for both the 15-hour shooting days, even when she wasn't in the scenes."
From 2014 to 2018, Swift collaborated with director Joseph Kahn on eight music videos—four each from her albums 1989 and Reputation. Kahn has praised Swift's involvement in the craft. She worked with American Express for the "Blank Space" music video (which Kahn directed), and served as an executive producer for the interactive app AMEX Unstaged: Taylor Swift Experience, for which she won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Interactive Program in 2015. She produced the music video for "Bad Blood" and won a Grammy Award for Best Music Video in 2016. While she continued to co-direct music videos with the Lover singles—"Me!" with Dave Meyers, "You Need to Calm Down" (also serving as a co-executive producer) and "Lover" with Drew Kirsch—she ventured into sole direction with the videos for "The Man" (which won her the MTV Video Music Award for Best Direction), "Cardigan" and "Willow".
Public image
Swift became a teen idol with her debut, and a pop icon following global fame. Journalists have written about her polite, "open" personality, "willing to play along" during the course of an interview. J. Freedom du Lac of The Washington Post called Swift a "media darling" and "a reporter's dream". The Guardian attributed her disposition to her formative years in country music. The Hollywood Reporter described Swift as "the Best People Person since Bill Clinton". While presenting her with an award for her humanitarian endeavors in 2012, former First Lady Michelle Obama described Swift as an artist who "has rocketed to the top of the music industry but still keeps her feet on the ground, someone who has shattered every expectation of what a 22-year-old can accomplish"; Swift considers Obama to be a role model.
In 2015, Vanity Fair referred to Swift as "the most famous and influential entertainer on Earth". According to YouGov surveys, she ranked as the world's most admired female musician from 2019 to 2021. One of the most followed people on social media, Swift is known for her frequent and friendly interactions with her fans, delivering holiday gifts to them by mail and in person. She considers it her "responsibility" to be conscious of her influence on young fans, praising her relationship with her fans as "the longest and best" she has ever had. Swift regularly incorporates easter eggs into her works and social media posts for fans to figure out clues about a forthcoming release. Fawzia Khan of Elle attributes Swift's "perennial" success partly to her intimacy with fans.
Media outlets describe Swift as a savvy businessperson. According to marketing executive Matt B. Britton, her business acumen has helped her "excel as an authentic personality who establishes direct connections with her audience", "touch as many people as possible", and "generate a kind of advocacy and excitement that no level of advertising could." Describing her omnipresence, The Ringer writer Kate Knibbs said Swift is not just a pop act but "a musical biosphere unto herself", having achieved the kind of success "that turns a person into an institution, into an inevitability."
Though Swift is reluctant to publicly discuss her personal life—believing it to be "a career weakness"—it is a topic of widespread media attention and tabloid speculation. Clash described her as a lightning rod for both praise and criticism. While The New York Times asserted in 2013 that Swift's "dating history has begun to stir what feels like the beginning of a backlash" and questioned whether she was in the midst of a "quarter-life crisis", certain critics have highlighted the misogyny and slut-shaming Swift's life and career have been subject to. She parodied this scrutiny in "Blank Space". Rolling Stone said, after the release of 1989, "everything she did was a story", with a non-stop news cycle about her, leaving her overexposed. Much of Reputation was conceived under the "intense" media scrutiny she experienced in 2015 and 2016, causing her to adopt a dark, defensive alter ego on the album. She criticized sexist double standards and gaslighting in "The Man" (2019) and "Mad Woman" (2020), respectively. When asked "why sing to the haters?" by CBS journalist Tracy Smith, Swift replied, "well, when they stop coming for me, I will stop singing to them." Glamour opined Swift is an easy target for male derision and triggers "fragile male egos" to take "pot-shots" at her career. The Daily Telegraph said her antennae for sexism is crucial for the industry and that she "must continue holding people to account".
Fashion
Swift's fashion is often covered by media outlets, with her street style receiving acclaim. Her fashion appeal has been picked up by several media publications, such as People, Elle, Vogue, and Maxim. Vogue regards Swift as one of the world's most influential figures in sustainable fashion. Elle highlighted the various styles she has adopted throughout her career, including the "curly-haired teenager" of her early days to "red-lipped pop bombshell" with "platinum blonde hair and sultry makeup looks" later on. Swift is known for reinventing her image often, corresponding each one of her albums to a specific aesthetic. Swift also popularized cottagecore with Folklore and Evermore. Consequence opined that Swift's looks evolved from "girl-next-door country act to pop star to woodsy poet over a decade."
Though labeled by the media as "America's Sweetheart", a sobriquet based on her down-to-earth personality and girl-next-door image, Swift insists she does not "live by all these rigid, weird rules that make me feel all fenced in. I just like the way that I feel like, and that makes me feel very free". Although she refused to take part in "sexy" photoshoots in 2012, she stated "it's nice to be glamorous" in 2015. Bloomberg views Swift as a sex symbol, albeit of a subtle and sophisticated variety unlike many of her female contemporaries.
Impact
Swift's career helped shape the modern country music scene. According to music journalist Jody Rosen, Swift is the first country artist whose fame reached the world beyond the U.S. Her chart success extended to Asia and the U.K., where country music had previously not been popular. She is recognized as one of the first country artists to use technology and viral marketing techniques, such as MySpace, to promote their work. According to Chris Willman of Entertainment Weekly, the commercial success of her debut album helped the infant Big Machine Records go on to sign Garth Brooks and Jewel. Following Swift's rise to fame, country labels became more interested in signing young singers who write their own music. With her autobiographical narratives revolving around romance and heartbreak, she introduced the genre to a younger generation that could relate to her personally. Critics have since noted the impact of Swift's sound on various albums released by female country singers such as Kacey Musgraves, Maren Morris and Kelsea Ballerini. Rolling Stone listed her country music as one of the biggest influences on 2010s pop music and ranked her 80th in their list of 100 Greatest Country Artists of All Time.Her onstage performance with guitars contributed to the "Taylor Swift factor", a phenomenon to which the rise in guitar sales to women, a previously ignored demographic, is attributed. Pitchfork opined that Swift changed the contemporary music landscape forever with her "unprecedented path from teenage country prodigy to global pop sensation" and a "singularly perceptive" discography that consistently accommodates both musical and cultural shifts. Clash stated Swift's genre-spanning career encouraged her peers to experiment with diverse sounds. Billboard credited her with influencing artists to take creative ownership of their music and remarked she "has the power to pull any sound she wants into mainstream orbit." Music journalist Nick Catucci wrote that, in being personal and vulnerable in her lyrics, Swift helped make space for later pop stars like Billie Eilish, Ariana Grande, and Halsey to do the same. According to The Guardian, Swift leads the rebirth of poptimism in the 21st-century with her ambitious artistic vision.
Publications consider Swift's million-selling albums an anomaly in the streaming-dominated music industry following the decline of the album era in the 2010s. For this reason, musicologists Mary Fogarty and Gina Arnold regard her as "the last great rock star". Swift is the only artist to have four albums sell over one million copies in one week since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking sales for the Billboard 200 in 1991. To New York magazine, her million sales figures prove that she is "the one bending the music industry to her will". The Atlantic notes that Swift's "reign" defies the convention that the successful phase of an artist's career rarely lasts more than a few years. She is a champion of independent record shops, having contributed to the 21st-century vinyl revival. Journalists note how her actions have fostered debate over reforms to on-demand music streaming and prompted awareness of intellectual property rights among younger musicians, praising her ability to bring change in the music industry.
She was named Woman of the Decade for the 2010s by Billboard, became the first woman to earn the title Artist of the Decade (2010s) at the American Music Awards, and received the Brit Global Icon Award "in recognition of her immense impact on music across the world". Swift has influenced various mainstream and indie recording artists. Various sources deem her music to be representative and paradigmatic of the millennial generation, owing to her success, musical versatility, social media presence, live shows, and corporate sponsorship. Vox called Swift the "millennial Bruce Springsteen" for telling the stories of a generation through her songs. Student societies focusing on her were established in various universities around the world, such as Oxford, York, and Cambridge. New York University Tisch School of the Arts offers a course on Swift's career. Some of her popular songs like "Love Story" are studied by evolutionary psychologists to understand the relationship between popular music and human mating strategies.
Accolades and achievements
Swift has won 11 Grammy Awards (including three Album of the Year wins—tied for most by an artist), an Emmy Award, 34 American Music Awards (most wins by an artist), 25 Billboard Music Awards (most wins by a woman), 56 Guinness World Records, 12 Country Music Association Awards (including the Pinnacle Award), eight Academy of Country Music Awards, and two Brit Awards. As a songwriter, she has been honored by the Nashville Songwriters Association, the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and the National Music Publishers' Association and was the youngest person on Rolling Stone list of the 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time in 2015. At the 64th BMI Awards in 2016, Swift was the first woman to be honored with an award named after its recipient. Her albums Red and 1989 appeared on Rolling Stone's 2020 revision of their 500 Greatest Albums of All Time; in 2021, her "Blank Space" music video named one of Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Music Videos of All Time, while the songs "All Too Well" and "Blank Space" were on its 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
From available data, Swift has amassed over 50 million album sales, 150 million singles sales, and 114 million units in album consumption worldwide, including 78 billion streams. Swift has the most number-one albums in the United Kingdom and Ireland for a female artist in this millennium, and is the best-selling artist of all time on Chinese digital music platforms with in income. She is the only female artist to have received more than 100 million global streams on Spotify in a day, with over 122 million streams on November 11, 2021. Swift broke the record for the highest-grossing North American tour of all time with her Reputation Stadium Tour (2018) and is the world's highest-grossing female touring act of the 2010s. She has the most entries and the most simultaneous entries for an artist on the Billboard Global 200, with 69 and 31 songs, respectively.
In the US, Swift has sold over 37.3 million albums as of 2019, when Billboard placed her eighth on its Greatest of All Time Artists Chart. She is the longest-reigning act of Billboard Artist 100 (50 weeks at number one), the solo act with the most cumulative weeks (55) atop the Billboard 200, the woman with the most weeks atop the Top Country Albums (98) and the most Billboard Hot 100 entries in history (165), and the artist with the most Digital Songs number-ones (23). She is the second highest-certified female digital singles artist (and third overall) in the US, with 134 million total units certified by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and the first female artist to have both an album (Fearless) and a song ("Shake It Off") certified Diamond. In 2021, one of every 50 albums sold in the US was Swift's, who became the first woman to have five albums—1989, Taylor Swift, Fearless, Red and Reputation—chart for 150 weeks each on the Billboard 200.
Swift has appeared in various power listings. Time included her on its annual list of the 100 most influential people in 2010, 2015, and 2019. She was one of the "Silence Breakers" honored as Time Person of the Year in 2017 for speaking up about sexual assault. From 2011 to 2020, Swift appeared in the top three on the Forbes Top-Earning Women in Music list, placing first in 2016 and 2019. In 2014, she was named to Forbes' 30 Under 30 list in the music category and again in 2017 in its "All-Star Alumni" category. In 2015, Swift became the youngest woman to be included on Forbes list of the 100 most powerful women, ranked at number 64. She was the most googled female musician of 2019.
Other activities
Wealth and properties
In 2021, Forbes estimated Swift's net worth at US$550 million, coming from her music, merchandise, promotions, and concerts. She topped the magazine's list of the 100 highest-paid celebrities in 2016 with $170 million—a feat recognized by the Guinness World Records as the highest annual earnings ever for a female musician, which she herself surpassed in 2019 with $185 million. Swift was the highest-paid female musician of the 2010s, with $825 million earned.
Swift has invested in a real estate portfolio worth $84 million. For example, she purchased the Samuel Goldwyn Estate, a Georgian-revival house in Beverly Hills, for $25 million in 2015, which she has since restored to its original condition and contains Swift's home studio, Kitty Committee, where she recorded songs for Folklore. In 2013, she purchased the Holiday House, a seafront mansion in Watch Hill, Rhode Island. Gina Raimondo, then-Governor of Rhode Island, proposed in 2015 a statewide property tax for second homes worth more than $1 million, dubbed the "Taylor Swift tax". In New York City, her $47 million worth of property on a single block in Tribeca includes a $19.95 million duplex penthouse, an $18 million four-story townhouse, and a $9.75 million apartment purchased in 2014, 2017 and 2018, respectively.
Philanthropy
Swift is well known for her philanthropic efforts. She was ranked at number one on DoSomething's "Gone Good" list, and has received the "Star of Compassion" accolade from the Tennessee Disaster Services, The Big Help Award from the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards for her "dedication to helping others" as well as "inspiring others through action", and the Ripple of Hope Award for her "dedication to advocacy at such a young age". In 2008, she donated $100,000 to the Red Cross to help the victims of the Iowa flood. Swift has performed at charity relief events, including Sydney's Sound Relief concert. In response to the May 2010 Tennessee floods, Swift donated $500,000 during a telethon hosted by WSMV. In 2011, Swift used a dress rehearsal of her Speak Now tour as a benefit concert for victims of recent tornadoes in the U.S., raising more than $750,000. In 2016, she donated $1 million to Louisiana flood relief efforts and $100,000 to the Dolly Parton Fire Fund. Swift donated to the Houston Food Bank after Hurricane Harvey struck the city in 2017. In 2020, she donated $1 million for Tennessee tornado relief.
Swift is a supporter of the arts. She is a benefactor of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. She has donated $75,000 to Nashville's Hendersonville High School to help refurbish the school auditorium, $4 million to fund the building of a new education center at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, $60,000 to the music departments of six U.S. colleges, and $100,000 to the Nashville Symphony. Also a promoter of children's literacy, she has donated money and books to various schools around the country to improve education. In 2007, Swift partnered with the Tennessee Association of Chiefs of Police to launch a campaign to protect children from online predators. She has donated items to several charities for auction, including the Elton John AIDS Foundation, the UNICEF Tap Project, MusiCares, and Feeding America. As recipient of the Academy of Country Music's Entertainer of the Year in 2011, Swift donated $25,000 to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Tennessee. In 2012, Swift participated in the Stand Up to Cancer telethon, performing the charity single "Ronan", which she wrote in memory of a four-year-old boy who died of neuroblastoma. She has also donated $100,000 to the V Foundation for Cancer Research and $50,000 to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Swift has encouraged young people to volunteer in their local communities as part of Global Youth Service Day.
Swift donated to fellow singer-songwriter Kesha to help with her legal battles against Dr. Luke and to actress Mariska Hargitay's Joyful Heart Foundation organization. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Swift donated to the World Health Organization and Feeding America and offered one of her signed guitars as part of an auction to raise money for the National Health Service. Swift performed "Soon You'll Get Better" during One World: Together At Home television special, a benefit concert curated by Lady Gaga for Global Citizen to raise funds for the World Health Organization's COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund. In 2018 and 2021, Swift donated to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network in honor of Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month. In addition to charitable causes, she has made donations to her fans several times for their medical or academic expenses.
Politics and activism
Swift is pro-choice, and has been regarded as a feminist icon by various publications. During the 2008 United States presidential election, she promoted the Every Woman Counts campaign, aimed at engaging women in the political process. She was one of the founding signatories of the Time's Up movement against sexual harassment. Swift has also spoken out against LGBT discrimination, which was the theme of the music video for "Mean". On multiple occasions, she encouraged support for the Equality Act, which prohibits discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation and gender identity, among others. In 2019, she donated to the LGBT organizations Tennessee Equality Project and GLAAD.
Swift avoided discussing politics in her early career because country record label executives insisted "Don't be like the Dixie Chicks!", and first became active during the 2018 United States elections. She declared her support for Democrats Jim Cooper and Phil Bredesen to represent Tennessee in the House of Representatives and Senate, respectively, and expressed her desire for greater LGBT rights, gender equality and racial equality, condemned systemic racism. In August 2020, Swift urged her fans to check their voter registration ahead of elections, which resulted in 65,000 people registering to vote within a day after her post. She endorsed Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in the 2020 United States presidential election, and was found to be one of the most influential celebrities in the polls.
Swift has supported the March for Our Lives movement and gun control reform in the U.S, and is a vocal critic of white supremacy, racism, and police brutality in the country. Following the murders of African-American men Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd, she donated to the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and the Black Lives Matter movement. After then-president Donald Trump posted a controversial tweet on the unrest in Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Swift accused him of promoting white supremacy and racism in his term. She called for the removal of Confederate monuments of "racist historical figures" in Tennessee, and advocated for Juneteenth to become a national holiday.
Endorsements
During the Fearless era, Swift supported campaigns by Verizon Wireless and "Got Milk?". She launched a l.e.i. sundress range at Walmart, and designed American Greetings cards and Jakks Pacific dolls. She became a spokesperson for the National Hockey League's (NHL) Nashville Predators and Sony Cyber-shot digital cameras. She launched two Elizabeth Arden fragrances—Wonderstruck and Wonderstruck Enchanted. In 2013, she released the fragrances Taylor by Taylor Swift and Taylor by Taylor Swift: Made of Starlight, followed by her fifth fragrance, Incredible Things, in 2014.
Swift signed a multi-year deal with AT&T in 2016. She later headlined DirecTV's Super Saturday Night event on the eve of the 2017 Super Bowl. In 2019, Swift signed a multi-year partnership with Capital One, and released a sustainable clothing line with Stella McCartney. In 2022, in light of her philanthropic support for independent record stores during the COVID-19 pandemic, Record Store Day named Swift their first-ever global ambassador.
Discography
Studio albums
Taylor Swift (2006)
Fearless (2008)
Speak Now (2010)
Red (2012)
1989 (2014)
Reputation (2017)
Lover (2019)
Folklore (2020)
Evermore (2020)
Re-recordings
Fearless (Taylor's Version) (2021)
Red (Taylor's Version) (2021)
Filmography
Hannah Montana: The Movie (2009)
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2009)
Valentine's Day (2010)
Journey to Fearless (2010)
The Lorax (2012)
The Giver (2014)
The 1989 World Tour Live (2015)
Taylor Swift: Reputation Stadium Tour (2018)
Cats (2019)
Miss Americana (2020)
City of Lover (2020)
Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions (2020)
All Too Well: The Short Film (2021)
Tours
Fearless Tour (2009–2010)
Speak Now World Tour (2011–2012)
The Red Tour (2013–2014)
The 1989 World Tour (2015)
Reputation Stadium Tour (2018)
See also
List of best-selling albums by year in the United States
List of best-selling singles in the United States
List of highest-certified music artists in the United States
Grammy Award records – Youngest artists to win Album of the Year
Grammy Award records – Most Grammys won by a female artist
List of American Grammy Award winners and nominees
List of Grammy Award winners and nominees by country
List of most-followed Instagram accounts
List of most-followed Twitter accounts
List of most-subscribed YouTube channels
Best-selling female artists of all time
Footnotes
References
External links
Taylor Swift
1989 births
Living people
21st-century American actresses
21st-century American guitarists
21st-century American pianists
21st-century American singers
21st-century American women guitarists
21st-century American women pianists
21st-century American women singers
Actresses from Nashville, Tennessee
Alternative rock singers
American acoustic guitarists
American country banjoists
American country guitarists
American country pianists
American country record producers
American country singer-songwriters
American country songwriters
American women country singers
American women pop singers
American women rock singers
American women singer-songwriters
American women songwriters
American women record producers
American feminists
American film actresses
American folk guitarists
American folk musicians
American folk singers
American mezzo-sopranos
American multi-instrumentalists
American music video directors
American people of German descent
American people of Italian descent
American people of Scottish descent
American pop guitarists
American pop pianists
American synth-pop musicians
American television actresses
American voice actresses
American women guitarists
American women pianists
Big Machine Records artists
Brit Award winners
Christians from Tennessee
Country musicians from Tennessee
Emmy Award winners
Female music video directors
Feminist musicians
Forbes 30 Under 30 multi-time recipients
Grammy Award winners
Guitarists from Pennsylvania
Guitarists from Tennessee
MTV Europe Music Award winners
Musicians from Nashville, Tennessee
NME Awards winners
RCA Records artists
Record producers from Tennessee
Republic Records artists
Singer-songwriters from Tennessee
Sony Music Publishing artists
Synth-pop singers
Universal Music Group artists
Featured articles
Singer-songwriters from Pennsylvania | true | [
"is an English land law case concerning the right of a person with an overriding interest in a home and deals with a family arrangement for a house to be a gift transferring from a mother to a daughter and the trust between the two parties that the daughter would pay the mother her sum to buy out her share of the property.\n\nSummary \n\"A claim to set aside a deed of family arrangement and deed of gift transferring a property from a mother to her daughter based on undue influence failed where the kind of trust in play between the parties was no more than a trust that a daughter would keep her promise to her mother to pay her a sum to buy out her share, and there had been no actual undue influence and the mother had accepted that she was taking a risk.\"\n\nAbstract \n\n\"In conjoined actions, the court was required to determine issues concerning ownership and beneficial interest in a property, and priority over a registered charge. In the first action, the claimant (T) was the mother of the defendant (F). T, who was a widow, had shared her property with F and her family, and allowed them to build a substantial self-contained extension to live in, paid for by F. T acknowledged that the extension belonged to F. F and her family subsequently expressed an interest in moving to Spain, taking T with them.\n\nAt that time, F did not have the money to fund the purchase of a Spanish property unless her part of the value of the property was realised. It was agreed that F would buy out T's share of the property for £200,000 and then mortgage the property and rent it out to cover the mortgage. T would then receive the £200,000 and F would use the excess to purchase a Spanish home. T lent F £20,000 to put a deposit on a Spanish property. F then applied for a buy-to-let mortgage from a company (X) which was the claimant in the second action, wrongly stating that she owned the property at that time. Following repeated requests for reassurance from F, T subsequently transferred the property to F via a deed of family arrangement and deed of gift.\n\nShe then decided that she no longer wanted to move to Spain, and began searching instead for her own bungalow. When the mortgage moneys were released to F by X, F informed T that she could not pay her the £200,000 because she had been advised that if T were to die within seven years she would have to pay inheritance tax on her part of the money. F offered T £60,000, with the remainder to be paid in seven years. A dispute then arose between T and F, as a result of which the property was not let out. In consequence, the mortgage was not paid and arrears amounted. X repossessed the property and obtained a money judgment against F.\n\nT claimed to be entitled to set aside the documents by which F came to be registered as proprietor of the property and that her right to do so had priority over the registered charge because it was an overriding interest. It fell to be determined whether (i) F was entitled to any beneficial interest in the property, and the extent of any such interest; (ii) T was entitled to set aside the deed of family arrangements and deed of gift to F on the ground of undue influence; (iii) if T was so entitled, her right to do so was binding on X; (iv) F had repaid to T the sum lent to pay for the deposit on the Spanish property.\"\n\nJudgment\n\nF was entitled to a beneficial interest in the property based on proprietary estoppel. There had been a mutual understanding between T and F that if F built an extension it would belong to her. T had failed to establish that F had not acted in reliance on that representation, and F established her claim to ownership of the extension.\n\n(2) Unacceptable conduct amounting to undue influence might arise out of a relationship between two persons where one had acquired over the other a measure of influence or ascendancy, of which the ascendant person took unfair advantage. Whether a transaction had been brought about by undue influence was a question of fact, applied. On the evidence, there had not been a complete relationship of trust and confidence between T and F, as T had appreciated that she was taking a risk, although F had promised to pay T the £200,000. The kind of trust in play was no more than a trust that a daughter would keep her promise to her mother.\n\nNo presumption of undue influence arose, therefore, and the burden was on T to prove that F had actually used undue influence to procure that the transaction went ahead. The fact that F's promise had been repeatedly and sincerely given did not amount to undue influence. Accordingly, the claim to set aside the deed of family arrangement and the gift of the legal title had to fail.\n\n(3) Even if, contrary to that finding, T had been entitled to set aside the transaction on the ground of undue influence, that would not have affected the registered estate at the date of the charge in favour of X because the claim based on undue influence would not crystallise until F's misappropriation of the mortgage moneys and the equity would not arise until that time. (4) F had not repaid the £20,000 that T had lent to her and it was still owing.\n\nLewison J said the following\n\nSee also\nLand Registration Act 2002\nLeasehold estate\nEquitable interest\nEnglish land law\n\nReferences\n\nS Gardner, Introduction to Land Law (2007)\n\nExternal links\n UK Land Registry\nOverreaching Interest\n\nEnglish property case law\nHigh Court of Justice cases\n2009 in case law\n2009 in British law",
"Irina Alekseevna Zabiyaka (, born 20 December 1982) is a Russian singer and lead vocalist, songwriter in the popular Russian group Chi-li (). She is known for her deep contralto voice.\n\nHer height is .\n\nBackground\nIrina was born and brought up in the Ukrainian town of Kirovohrad (present day Kropyvnytskyi), by her Ukrainian mother. As an adult, she left there to live in the Russian city of Kaliningrad.\n\nIrina's mother did not want to tell her daughter that her father had died, so made up a story that he was a Chilean revolutionary. The young Ira believed the story and was proud of who she believed her father to be, with this influence going onto later see her band named 'Chi-li'.\n\nPrivate life\nIn January 2013 she gave birth to a son.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n\n Official Website\n\n1982 births\nLiving people\n21st-century Russian singers\nPeople from Kropyvnytskyi\nUkrainian emigrants to Russia\nRussian contraltos\n21st-century Russian women singers"
]
|
[
"Taylor Swift",
"Influences",
"What artists influenced Taylor Swift the most?",
"Shania Twain,",
"What other artist influenced Taylor's sound?",
"She has also spoken fondly of singers and songwriters like Michelle Branch, Alanis Morissette, Ashlee Simpson, Fefe Dobson and Justin Timberlake;",
"What type of music does Taylor like?",
"Swift listened to rock bands such as Dashboard Confessional, Fall Out Boy, and Jimmy Eat World.",
"Did Taylor have a favorite rock band?",
"Dashboard Confessional, Fall Out Boy, and Jimmy Eat World.",
"Did Taylor like other music as well?",
"The Shirelles, Doris Troy, and The Beach Boys.",
"Did her mother influence her?",
"She also attributes her \"fascination with writing and storytelling\" to her mother."
]
| C_e101b306eedc41bd937aff1f1a3b54de_0 | Did her father influence her sound? | 7 | Did Taylor Swift's father influence her sound? | Taylor Swift | One of Swift's earliest musical memories is listening to her maternal grandmother, Marjorie Finlay, sing in church. As a child, she enjoyed Disney film soundtracks: "My parents noticed that, once I had run out of words, I would just make up my own". Swift has said she owes her confidence to her mother, who helped her prepare for class presentations as a child. She also attributes her "fascination with writing and storytelling" to her mother. Swift was drawn to the storytelling of country music, and was introduced to the genre by "the great female country artists of the '90s"--Shania Twain, Faith Hill and the Dixie Chicks. Twain, both as a songwriter and performer, was her biggest musical influence. Hill was Swift's childhood role model: "Everything she said, did, wore, I tried to copy it". She admired the Dixie Chicks' defiant attitude and their ability to play their own instruments. The band's "Cowboy Take Me Away" was the first song Swift learned to play on the guitar. Swift also explored the music of older country stars, including Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton and Tammy Wynette. She believes Parton is "an amazing example to every female songwriter out there". Alt-country artists such as Ryan Adams, Patty Griffin and Lori McKenna have inspired Swift. Swift lists Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, Emmylou Harris, Kris Kristofferson, and Carly Simon as her career role models: "They've taken chances, but they've also been the same artist for their entire careers". McCartney, both as a Beatle and a solo artist, makes Swift feel "as if I've been let into his heart and his mind ... Any musician could only dream of a legacy like that". She admires Springsteen for being "so musically relevant after such a long period of time". She aspires to be like Harris as she grows older: "It's not about fame for her, it's about music". "[Kristofferson] shines in songwriting ... He's just one of those people who has been in this business for years but you can tell it hasn't chewed him up and spat him out", Swift says. She admires Simon's "songwriting and honesty ... She's known as an emotional person but a strong person". Swift has also been influenced by many artists outside the country genre. As a pre-teen, she enjoyed bubblegum pop acts including Hanson and Britney Spears; Swift has said she has "unwavering devotion" for Spears. In her high school years, Swift listened to rock bands such as Dashboard Confessional, Fall Out Boy, and Jimmy Eat World. She has also spoken fondly of singers and songwriters like Michelle Branch, Alanis Morissette, Ashlee Simpson, Fefe Dobson and Justin Timberlake; and the 1960s acts The Shirelles, Doris Troy, and The Beach Boys. Swift's fifth album, the pop-focused 1989, was influenced by some of her favorite 1980s pop acts, including Annie Lennox, Phil Collins and "Like a Prayer-era Madonna". CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Her discography spans multiple genres, and her narrative songwriting, which is often inspired by her personal life, has received widespread media coverage and critical praise. Born in West Reading, Pennsylvania, Swift relocated to Nashville, Tennessee, at the age of 14 to pursue a career in country music. She signed a songwriting deal with Sony/ATV Music Publishing in 2004 and a recording deal with Big Machine Records in 2005, and released her eponymous debut studio album in 2006.
Swift explored country pop on the albums Fearless (2008) and Speak Now (2010); the success of "Love Story" and "You Belong with Me" as singles on both country and pop radio established her as a leading crossover artist. She experimented with pop, rock, and electronic genres on her fourth studio album, Red (2012), supported by the singles "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" and "I Knew You Were Trouble". With her synth-pop fifth studio album 1989 (2014) and its chart-topping songs "Shake It Off", "Blank Space", and "Bad Blood", Swift shed her country image and transitioned to pop completely. The subsequent media scrutiny on Swift's personal life influenced her sixth album Reputation (2017), which delved into urban sounds, led by the single "Look What You Made Me Do".
Parting ways with Big Machine to sign with Republic Records in 2018, Swift released her next studio album, Lover (2019). Inspired by escapism during the COVID-19 pandemic, Swift ventured into indie folk and alternative rock styles on her 2020 studio albums, Folklore and Evermore, receiving acclaim for their nuanced storytelling. To gain ownership over the masters of her back catalog, she released the re-recordings Fearless (Taylor's Version) and Red (Taylor's Version) in 2021. Besides music, Swift has played supporting roles in films such as Valentine's Day (2010) and Cats (2019), has released the autobiographical documentary Miss Americana (2020), and directed the musical films Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions (2020) and All Too Well: The Short Film (2021).
Having sold over 200 million records worldwide, Swift is one of the best-selling musicians of all time.Her concert tours are some of the highest-grossing in history. She has scored eight Billboard Hot 100 number-one songs, and received 11 Grammy Awards (including three Album of the Year wins), an Emmy Award, 34 American Music Awards (the most for an artist) and 56 Guinness World Records, among other accolades. She featured on Rolling Stones 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time (2015) and Billboard Greatest of All Time Artists (2019) lists, and rankings such as the Time 100 and Forbes Celebrity 100. Named the Woman of the 2010s Decade by Billboard and the Artist of the 2010s Decade by the American Music Awards, Swift has been recognized for her influential career and philanthropy, as well as advocacy of artists' rights and women's empowerment in the music industry.
Life and career
1989–2003: Early life and education
Taylor Alison Swift was born on December 13, 1989, at the Reading Hospital in West Reading, Pennsylvania. Her father, Scott Kingsley Swift, is a former stockbroker for Merrill Lynch; her mother, Andrea Gardner Swift (née Finlay), is a former homemaker who previously worked as a mutual fund marketing executive. Her younger brother, Austin, is an actor. She was named after singer-songwriter James Taylor, and has Scottish and German heritage. Her maternal grandmother, Marjorie Finlay, was an opera singer. Swift's paternal great-great-grandfather was an Italian immigrant entrepreneur and community leader who opened several businesses in Philadelphia in the 1800s. Swift spent her early years on a Christmas tree farm that her father purchased from one of his clients. Swift identifies as a Christian. She attended preschool and kindergarten at the Alvernia Montessori School, run by the Bernadine Franciscan sisters, before transferring to The Wyndcroft School. The family moved to a rented house in the suburban town of Wyomissing, Pennsylvania, where she attended Wyomissing Area Junior/Senior High School.
At age nine, Swift became interested in musical theater and performed in four Berks Youth Theatre Academy productions. She also traveled regularly to New York City for vocal and acting lessons. Swift later shifted her focus toward country music, inspired by Shania Twain's songs, which made her "want to just run around the block four times and daydream about everything." She spent weekends performing at local festivals and events. After watching a documentary about Faith Hill, Swift felt sure she needed to move to Nashville, Tennessee, to pursue a career in music. She traveled with her mother at age eleven to visit Nashville record labels and submitted demo tapes of Dolly Parton and The Chicks karaoke covers. She was rejected, however, because "everyone in that town wanted to do what I wanted to do. So, I kept thinking to myself, I need to figure out a way to be different."
When Swift was around 12 years old, computer repairman and local musician Ronnie Cremer taught her to play guitar. He helped with her first efforts as a songwriter, leading her to write "Lucky You". In 2003, Swift and her parents started working with New York-based talent manager Dan Dymtrow. With his help, Swift modeled for Abercrombie & Fitch as part of their "Rising Stars" campaign, had an original song included on a Maybelline compilation CD, and attended meetings with major record labels. After performing original songs at an RCA Records showcase, Swift, then 13 years old, was given an artist development deal and began making frequent trips to Nashville with her mother.
To help Swift break into country music, her father transferred to Merrill Lynch's Nashville office when she was 14 years old, and the family relocated to Hendersonville, Tennessee. Swift initially attended Hendersonville High School before transferring to the Aaron Academy after two years, which could better accommodate her touring schedule through homeschooling. She graduated a year early.
2004–2008: Career beginnings and first album
In Nashville, Swift worked with experienced Music Row songwriters such as Troy Verges, Brett Beavers, Brett James, Mac McAnally, and the Warren Brothers, and formed a lasting working relationship with Liz Rose. They began meeting for two-hour writing sessions every Tuesday afternoon after school. Rose thought the sessions were "some of the easiest I've ever done. Basically, I was just her editor. She'd write about what happened in school that day. She had such a clear vision of what she was trying to say. And she'd come in with the most incredible hooks." Swift became the youngest artist signed by the Sony/ATV Tree publishing house, but left the Sony-owned RCA Records at the age of 14, citing the label's lack of care and them "cut[ting] other people’s stuff" as reasons; she was also concerned that development deals may shelve artists. She recalled: "I genuinely felt that I was running out of time. I wanted to capture these years of my life on an album while they still represented what I was going through."
At an industry showcase at Nashville's Bluebird Cafe in 2005, Swift caught the attention of Scott Borchetta, a DreamWorks Records executive who was preparing to form an independent record label, Big Machine Records. She had first met Borchetta in 2004. Becoming one of the first signings Big Machine, she wanted "the kind of attention that a little [new] label will give," and her father purchased a three-percent stake in the company for an estimated $120,000. She began working on her eponymous debut album shortly after. Swift persuaded Big Machine to hire her demo producer Nathan Chapman, with whom she felt she had the right "chemistry". She wrote three of the album's songs alone, and co-wrote the remaining eight with Rose, Robert Ellis Orrall, Brian Maher, and Angelo Petraglia. Taylor Swift was released on October 24, 2006. Jon Caramanica of The New York Times described it as "a small masterpiece of pop-minded country, both wide-eyed and cynical, held together by Ms. Swift's firm, pleading voice." Taylor Swift peaked at number five on the U.S. Billboard 200, where it spent 157 weeks—the longest stay on the chart by any release in the U.S. in the 2000s decade.
Big Machine Records was still in its infancy during the June 2006 release of the lead single, "Tim McGraw". Swift and her mother helped "stuff the CD singles into envelopes to send to radio." As there were not enough furniture at the label yet, they would sit on the floor to do so. She spent much of 2006 promoting Taylor Swift with a radio tour, television appearances, and opening for Rascal Flatts on select dates during their 2006 tour after they fired their previous opening act, Eric Church, for playing longer than his allotted time. Borchetta said that although record industry peers initially disapproved of his signing a 15-year-old singer-songwriter, Swift tapped into a previously unknown market—teenage girls who listen to country music. Following "Tim McGraw", four more singles were released throughout 2007 and 2008: "Teardrops on My Guitar", "Our Song", "Picture to Burn" and "Should've Said No". All appeared on Billboards Hot Country Songs, with "Our Song", and "Should've Said No" reaching number one. With "Our Song", Swift became the youngest person to single-handedly write and sing a number-one song on the chart. "Teardrops on My Guitar" reached number thirteen on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. Swift also released two EPs; The Taylor Swift Holiday Collection in October 2007 and Beautiful Eyes in July 2008. She promoted her debut album extensively as the opening act for other country musicians' tours throughout 2006 and 2007, including George Strait, Brad Paisley, and Tim McGraw and Faith Hill.
Swift won accolades for Taylor Swift. She was one of the recipients of the Nashville Songwriters Association's Songwriter/Artist of the Year in 2007, becoming the youngest person to be honored with the title. She also won the Country Music Association's Horizon Award for Best New Artist, the Academy of Country Music Awards' Top New Female Vocalist, and the American Music Awards' Favorite Country Female Artist honor. She was also nominated for Best New Artist at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards. She opened for the Rascal Flatts on their 2008 summer and fall tour. In July of that year, Swift began a romance with singer Joe Jonas that ended three months later.
2008–2010: Fearless and acting debut
Swift's second studio album, Fearless, was released on November 11, 2008. Five singles were released in 2008 through 2009: "Love Story", "White Horse", "You Belong with Me", "Fifteen", and "Fearless". "Love Story", the lead single, peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one in Australia. "You Belong with Me" was the album's highest-charting single on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number two. All five singles were Billboard Hot Country Songs top-10 entries, with "Love Story" and "You Belong with Me" peaking at number one. Fearless debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and was the top-selling album of 2009 in the U.S. The Fearless Tour, Swift's first headlining concert tour, grossed over $63 million. Journey to Fearless, a three-part documentary miniseries, was aired on television and later released on DVD and Blu-ray. Swift also performed as a supporting act for Keith Urban's Escape Together World Tour in 2009.
In 2009, the music video for "You Belong with Me" was named Best Female Video at the MTV Video Music Awards. Her acceptance speech was interrupted by rapper Kanye West, an incident that became the subject of controversy, widespread media attention, and many Internet memes. James Montgomery of MTV argued that the incident and subsequent media attention turned Swift into "a bona-fide mainstream celebrity". That year she won five American Music Awards, including Artist of the Year and Favorite Country Album. Billboard named her 2009's Artist of the Year. The album ranked number 99 on NPR's 2017 list of the 150 Greatest Albums Made By Women. She won Video of the Year and Female Video of the Year for "Love Story" at the 2009 CMT Music Awards, where she made a parody video of the song with rapper T-Pain called "Thug Story". At the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards, Fearless was named Album of the Year and Best Country Album, and "White Horse" won Best Country Song and Best Female Country Vocal Performance. Swift was the youngest artist to win Album of the Year. At the 2009 Country Music Association Awards, Swift won Album of the Year for Fearless and was named Entertainer of the Year, the youngest person to win the honor.
Swift featured on John Mayer's single "Half of My Heart" and Boys Like Girls' single "Two Is Better Than One", both of which she co-wrote. She co-wrote and recorded "Best Days of Your Life" with Kellie Pickler, and co-wrote two songs for the Hannah Montana: The Movie soundtrack—"You'll Always Find Your Way Back Home" and "Crazier". She contributed two songs to the Valentine's Day soundtrack, including the single "Today Was a Fairytale", which was her first number one on the Canadian Hot 100, and peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100. While filming her cinematic debut Valentine's Day in October 2009, Swift began a romantic relationship with co-star Taylor Lautner; they broke up later that year. Swift's role of the ditzy girlfriend of Lautner's character received mixed reviews. In 2009, she made her television acting debut as a rebellious teenager in an CSI: Crime Scene Investigation episode. She also hosted and performed as the musical guest on an episode of Saturday Night Live; she was the first host to write her own opening monologue.
2010–2014: Speak Now and Red
In August 2010, Swift released "Mine", the lead single from her third studio album, Speak Now. It entered the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 at number three. Swift wrote the album alone and co-produced every track. Speak Now, released on October 25, 2010, debuted atop the Billboard 200 with first-week sales of a million copies. It became the fastest-selling digital album by a female artist, with 278,000 downloads in a week, earning Swift an entry in the 2010 Guinness World Records. The songs "Mine", "Back to December", "Mean", "The Story of Us", "Sparks Fly", and "Ours" were released as singles. All except "The Story of Us" were Hot Country Songs top-three entries, with "Sparks Fly" and "Ours" reaching number one. "Back to December" and "Mean" peaked in the top ten in Canada. Later in 2010, she briefly dated actor Jake Gyllenhaal.
During her tour dates for 2011, she wrote the lyrics of various songs written by other people on her left arm. At the 54th Annual Grammy Awards in 2012, Swift won Best Country Song and Best Country Solo Performance for "Mean", which she performed during the ceremony. Media publications noted the performance as an improvement from her much criticized 2010 Grammy performance, which served as a testament to her abilities as a musician. Swift won other awards for Speak Now, including Songwriter/Artist of the Year by the Nashville Songwriters Association (2010 and 2011), Woman of the Year by Billboard (2011), and Entertainer of the Year by the Academy of Country Music (2011 and 2012) and the Country Music Association in 2011. At the American Music Awards of 2011, Swift won Artist of the Year and Favorite Country Album. Rolling Stone placed Speak Now at number 45 in its 2012 list of the "50 Best Female Albums of All Time", writing: "She might get played on the country station, but she's one of the few genuine rock stars we've got these days, with a flawless ear for what makes a song click."
The Speak Now World Tour ran from February 2011 to March 2012 and grossed over $123 million. In November 2011, Swift released a live album, Speak Now World Tour: Live. She contributed two original songs to The Hunger Games soundtrack album: "Safe & Sound", co-written and recorded with the Civil Wars and T-Bone Burnett, and "Eyes Open". "Safe & Sound" won the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media and was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song. Swift featured on B.o.B's single "Both of Us", released in May 2012. From July to September 2012, Swift dated Conor Kennedy, son of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Mary Richardson Kennedy.
In August 2012, Swift released "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together", the lead single from her fourth studio album, Red. It became her first number one in the U.S. and New Zealand, and reached the top slot on iTunes' digital song sales chart 50 minutes after its release, earning the Fastest Selling Single in Digital History Guinness World Record. Other singles released from the album include "Begin Again", "I Knew You Were Trouble", "22", "Everything Has Changed", "The Last Time", and "Red". "I Knew You Were Trouble" reached the top five on charts in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Ireland, New Zealand, the U.K. and the U.S. Three singles, "Begin Again", "22", and "Red", reached the top 20 in the U.S.
Red was released on October 22, 2012. On Red, Swift worked with longtime collaborators Nathan Chapman and Liz Rose, as well as new producers, including Max Martin and Shellback. The album incorporates new genres for Swift, such as heartland rock, dubstep and dance-pop. It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 1.21 million copies, making Swift the first female to have two million-selling album openings, a record recognized by the Guinness World Records. Red was Swift's first number-one album in the U.K. The Red Tour ran from March 2013 to June 2014 and grossed over $150 million, becoming the highest-grossing country tour when it completed.
Red had sold eight million copies by 2014. The album earned several accolades, including four nominations at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards in 2014. Its single "I Knew You Were Trouble" won Best Female Video at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards. Swift received American Music Awards for Best Female Country Artist in 2012, and Artist of the Year in 2013. She received the Nashville Songwriters Association's Songwriter/Artist Award for the fifth and sixth consecutive years in 2012 and 2013. Swift was honored by the Association with a special Pinnacle Award, making her the second recipient of the accolade after Garth Brooks. During this time, she had a short-term relationship with English singer Harry Styles.
In 2013, Swift recorded "Sweeter than Fiction", a song she wrote and produced with Jack Antonoff for the One Chance film soundtrack. The song received a Best Original Song nomination at the 71st Golden Globe Awards. She provided guest vocals for Tim McGraw's song "Highway Don't Care", featuring guitar work by Keith Urban. Swift performed "As Tears Go By" with the Rolling Stones in Chicago, Illinois as part of the band's 50 & Counting tour. She joined Florida Georgia Line on stage during their set at the 2013 Country Radio Seminar to sing "Cruise". Swift voiced Audrey, a tree lover, in the animated film The Lorax (2012), made a cameo in the sitcom New Girl (2013), and had a supporting role in the film adaptation of The Giver (2014).
2014–2018: 1989 and Reputation
In March 2014, Swift lived in New York City. Around this time, she was working on her fifth studio album, 1989, with producers Jack Antonoff, Max Martin, Shellback, Imogen Heap, Ryan Tedder, and Ali Payami. She promoted the album through various campaigns, including inviting fans to secret album-listening sessions. Influenced by 1980s synth-pop, Swift severed ties with the country sound of her previous albums, and marketed 1989 as her "first documented, official pop album". The album was released on October 27, 2014, and debuted atop the US Billboard 200 with sales of 1.28 million copies in its first week. This made Swift the first act to have three albums sell more than one million copies in their opening week, for which she earned a Guinness World Record. By June 2017, 1989 had sold over 10 million copies worldwide. Three of its singles—"Shake It Off", "Blank Space", and "Bad Blood" featuring rapper Kendrick Lamar—reached number one in Australia, Canada, and the U.S. The singles "Style" and "Wildest Dreams" reached the top 10 in the U.S. Other singles were "Out of the Woods" and "New Romantics". The 1989 World Tour ran from May to December 2015 and was the highest-grossing tour of the year with $250 million in total revenue.
Prior to 1989s release, Swift stressed the importance of albums to artists and fans. In November 2014, she removed her entire catalog from Spotify, arguing that the streaming company's ad-supported, free service undermined the premium service, which provides higher royalties for songwriters. In a June 2015 open letter, Swift criticized Apple Music for not offering royalties to artists during the streaming service's free three-month trial period and stated that she would pull 1989 from the catalog. The following day, Apple announced that it would pay artists during the free trial period, and Swift agreed to stream 1989 on the streaming service. Swift's intellectual property rights management and holding company, TAS Rights Management, filed for 73 trademarks related to Swift and the 1989 era memes. She re-added her entire catalog plus 1989 to Spotify, Amazon Music and Google Play and other digital streaming platforms in June 2017.
Swift was named Billboards Woman of the Year in 2014, becoming the first artist to win the award twice. At the 2014 American Music Awards, Swift received the inaugural Dick Clark Award for Excellence. In 2015, Swift won the Brit Award for International Female Solo Artist. The video for "Bad Blood" won Video of the Year and Best Collaboration at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards. Swift was one of eight artists to receive a 50th Anniversary Milestone Award at the 2015 Academy of Country Music Awards. At the 58th Grammy Awards in 2016, 1989 won Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album, and "Bad Blood" won Best Music Video. Swift was the first woman and fifth act overall to win Album of the Year twice as a lead artist.
Swift dated Scottish DJ and record producer Calvin Harris from March 2015 to June 2016. Prior to their breakup, they co-wrote the song "This Is What You Came For", which features vocals from Barbadian singer Rihanna; Swift was initially credited under the pseudonym Nils Sjöberg. After briefly dating English actor Tom Hiddleston for a few months, Swift began dating English actor Joe Alwyn in September 2016. She wrote the song "Better Man" for Little Big Town's seventh album, The Breaker, which was released in November. The song earned Swift an award for Song of the Year at the 51st CMA Awards. Swift and English singer Zayn Malik released a single together, "I Don't Wanna Live Forever", for the soundtrack of the film Fifty Shades Darker (2017). The song reached number two in the U.S. and won Best Collaboration at the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards.
In August 2017, Swift successfully sued David Mueller, a former morning show personality for Denver's KYGO-FM. Four years earlier, Swift had informed Mueller's bosses that he had sexually assaulted her by groping her at an event. After being fired, Mueller accused Swift of lying and sued her for damages from his loss of employment. Shortly after, Swift counter-sued for sexual assault for nominal damages of only a dollar. The jury rejected Mueller's claims and ruled in favor of Swift. After a year of hiatus from public spotlight, Swift cleared her social media accounts and released "Look What You Made Me Do" as the lead single from her sixth album, Reputation. The single was Swift's first number-one U.K. single. It topped charts in Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, and the U.S.
Reputation was released on November 10, 2017. The album incorporates a heavy electropop sound, with hip hop, R&B and EDM influences. It debuted atop the Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 1.21 million copies. With this achievement, Swift became the first act to have four albums sell one million copies within one week in the U.S. The album topped the charts in the UK, Australia, and Canada. First-week worldwide sales amounted to two million copies. The album had sold over 4.5 million copies worldwide as of 2018. It spawned three other international singles, including the U.S. top-five entry "...Ready for It?", and two U.S. top-20 singles—"End Game" (featuring Ed Sheeran and rapper Future) and "Delicate". Other singles include "New Year's Day", which was exclusively released to U.S. country radio, and "Getaway Car", which was released in Australia only.
In April 2018, Swift featured on Sugarland's "Babe" from their album Bigger. In support of Reputation, she embarked on her Reputation Stadium Tour, which ran from May to November 2018. In the U.S., the tour grossed $266.1 million in box office and sold over two million tickets, breaking Swift's own record for the highest-grossing U.S. tour by a woman, which was previously held by her 1989 World Tour in 2015 ($181.5 million). It also broke the record for the highest-grossing North American concert tour in history. Worldwide, the tour grossed $345.7 million, making it the second highest-grossing concert tour of the year. On December 31, Swift released her Reputation Stadium Tour's accompanying concert film on Netflix.
Reputation was nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards in 2019. At the American Music Awards of 2018, Swift won four awards, including Artist of the Year and Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist. After the 2018 AMAs, Swift garnered a total of 23 awards, becoming the most awarded female musician in AMA history, a record previously held by Whitney Houston.
2018–2020: Lover and masters dispute
Reputation was Swift's last album under her 12-year contract with Big Machine Records. In November 2018, she signed a new multi-album deal with Big Machine's distributor Universal Music Group; in the U.S. her subsequent releases were promoted under the Republic Records imprint. Swift said the contract included a provision for her to maintain ownership of her master recordings. In addition, in the event that Universal sells any part of its stake in Spotify, which agreed to distribute a non-recoupable portion of the proceeds among their artists. Vox called it is a huge commitment from Universal, which was "far from assured" until Swift intervened.
Swift released her seventh studio album, Lover, on August 23, 2019. Besides longtime collaborator Jack Antonoff, Swift worked with new producers Louis Bell, Frank Dukes, and Joel Little. Lover made Swift the first female artist to have sixth consecutive album sell more than 500,000 copies in one week in the U.S. All 18 songs from the album charted on the Billboard Hot 100 the same week, setting a record for the most simultaneous entries by a woman. The lead single, "Me!", debuted at number 100 on the Billboard Hot 100 and rose to number two a week later, scoring the biggest single-week jump in chart history. Other singles from Lover were the U.S. top-10 singles "You Need to Calm Down" and "Lover", and U.S. top-40 single "The Man".
Lover was the world's best-selling studio album of 2019, selling 3.2 million copies. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) honored Swift as the global best-selling artist of 2019. Swift became first woman to win the honor twice, having previously won in 2014. The album earned accolades, including three nominations at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards in 2020. At the 2019 MTV Video Music Awards, "Me!" won Best Visual Effects, and "You Need to Calm Down" won Video of the Year and Video for Good. Swift was the first female and second artist overall to win Video of the Year for a video that they directed.
Swift played Bombalurina in the movie adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Cats (2019). For the film's soundtrack, she co-wrote and recorded the Golden Globe-nominated original song "Beautiful Ghosts". Although critics reviewed the film negatively, Swift received positive feedback for her role and musical performance. The documentary Miss Americana, which chronicles part of Swift's life and career, premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival and was released on Netflix that January. Miss Americana features the song "Only the Young", which Swift wrote after the 2018 United States elections. In February 2020, Swift signed an exclusive global publishing deal with Universal Music Publishing Group, after her 16-year-old contract with Sony/ATV Music Publishing expired.
In 2019, Swift became embroiled in a publicized dispute with talent manager Scooter Braun and her former label Big Machine, regarding the acquisition of the masters of her back catalog. Swift stated on her Tumblr blog that she had been trying to buy the masters for years, but Big Machine only allowed her to do so if she exchanged a new album for an older one under another contract, which she refused to do. Against Swift's authorization, Big Machine, in April 2020, released Live from Clear Channel Stripped 2008, a live album of Swift's performances at a radio show. In October, Braun sold Swift's masters, videos and artworks, to Shamrock Holdings for a reported $300 million. Swift began re-recording her back catalog in November 2020. Rolling Stone highlighted this decision, along with her opposition to low royalties for artists from streaming services such as Spotify and Apple Music as two of the music industry's most defining moments in the 2010s decade. In April 2020, Swift was scheduled to embark on Lover Fest, the supporting concert tour for Lover, which was canceled after the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.
2020–present: Folklore, Evermore, and re-recordings
In 2020, Swift released two surprise albums with little promotion, to critical acclaim. The first, her eighth studio album Folklore, was released on July 24. The second, her ninth studio album Evermore, was released on December 11. Described by Swift and Dessner as "sister records", both albums incorporate indie folk and alternative rock, departing from the previous upbeat pop releases. Swift wrote and recorded the albums while in isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic, working with producers Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner from the National. Both albums feature collaborations with Bon Iver, and Evermore features collaborations with the National and Haim. Swift's boyfriend Joe Alwyn co-wrote and co-produced select songs under the pseudonym William Bowery. The making of Folklore was discussed in the concert documentary Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions, directed by Swift and released on November 25.
In the U.S., Folklore and Evermore were each supported by three singles—one to mainstream radio, one to country radio, and one to triple A radio. The singles in that order were "Cardigan", "Betty", "Exile" (featuring Bon Iver); and "Willow", "No Body, No Crime" (featuring Haim), "Coney Island" (featuring the National); respectively. The lead singles from each album, "Cardigan" and "Willow", opened at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 the same week their parent albums debuted atop the Billboard 200. This made Swift the first artist to debut atop both the U.S. singles and albums charts simultaneously twice. Each album sold over one million units worldwide in its first week, with Folklore selling two million. Folklore broke the Guinness World Record for the highest first-day album streams by a female artist on Spotify, and was the best-selling album of 2020 in the U.S., having sold 1.2 million copies. Swift was 2020's highest-paid musician in the U.S., and highest-paid solo musician worldwide. At the 2020 American Music Awards, Swift won three awards, including Artist of the Year for a record third consecutive time. Folklore won Album of the Year at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards, making Swift the first woman in history to win the award three times.
Following the masters controversy, Swift released two re-recordings in 2021, adding "Taylor's Version" to their titles. The first, Fearless (Taylor's Version), peaked atop the Billboard 200, becoming the first re-recorded album to do so. It was preceded by the three tracks: "Love Story (Taylor's Version)", "You All Over Me" with Maren Morris, and "Mr. Perfectly Fine", the first of which made Swift the second artist after Dolly Parton to have both the original and the re-recording of a single at number one on the Hot Country Songs. Swift released "Wildest Dreams (Taylors Version)" on September 17, after the original song gained traction on the online-video sharing app TikTok. The second re-recording Red (Taylor's Version) was released on November 12. Its final track, "All Too Well (10 Minute Version)"—accompanied by All Too Well: The Short Film directed by Swift—debuted at number one on the Hot 100, becoming the longest song in history to top the chart. She was the highest-paid female musician of 2021, whereas both her 2020 albums and the re-recordings were ranked among the 10 best-selling albums of the year. In May 2021, Swift was awarded the Global Icon Award by the Brit Awards and the Songwriter Icon Award by the National Music Publishers' Association.
Outside her albums, Swift featured on four songs in 2021–2022: "Renegade" and "Birch" by Big Red Machine, a remix of Haim's "Gasoline" and Ed Sheeran's "The Joker and the Queen". She has been cast in David O. Russell's untitled film slated for release in November 2022.
Artistry
Influences
One of Swift's earliest musical memories is listening to her grandmother, Marjorie Finlay, sing in church. As a child, she enjoyed Disney film soundtracks: "My parents noticed that, once I had run out of words, I would just make up my own". Swift has said she owes her confidence to her mother, who helped her prepare for class presentations as a child. She also attributes her "fascination with writing and storytelling" to her mother. Swift was drawn to the storytelling aspect of country music, and was introduced to the genre listening to "the great female country artists" of the 1990s—Shania Twain, Faith Hill, and the Dixie Chicks. Twain, both as a songwriter and performer, was her biggest musical influence. Hill was Swift's childhood role model: "Everything she said, did, wore, I tried to copy it". She admired the Dixie Chicks' defiant attitude and their ability to play their own instruments. "Kiss Me" by Sixpence None the Richer was the first song Swift learned to play on the guitar. Swift also explored the music of older country stars such as Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, Tammy Wynette, and Dolly Parton, the latter of whom she believes is "an amazing example to every female songwriter out there", and alt-country artists like Patty Griffin and Lori McKenna. She has also cited Keith Urban's musical style as an influence.
Swift has also been influenced by various pop and rock artists. She lists Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen, Bryan Adams, Emmylou Harris, Kris Kristofferson, and Carly Simon as her career role models. Discussing McCartney and Harris, Swift has said, "They've taken chances, but they've also been the same artist for their entire careers". McCartney, both as a Beatle and a solo artist, makes Swift feel "as if I've been let into his heart and his mind [...] He's out there continuing to make his fans so happy. Any musician could only dream of a legacy like that." She likes Springsteen for being "so musically relevant after such a long period of time". She aspires to be like Harris as she grows older because of prioritizing music over fame. Swift says of Kristofferson that he "shines in songwriting", and admires Simon for being "an emotional" but "a strong person". Her synth-pop album 1989 was influenced by some of her favorite 1980s pop acts, including Peter Gabriel, Annie Lennox, Phil Collins and Madonna. As a songwriter, Swift was influenced by Joni Mitchell for her autobiographical lyrics conveying the deepest emotions: "She wrote it about her deepest pains and most haunting demons ... I think [Blue] is my favorite because it explores somebody's soul so deeply".
Musical styles
Swift's discography spans country, pop, folk, and alternative genres. Her first three studio albums, Taylor Swift, Fearless and Speak Now are categorized as country; her eclectic fourth studio album, Red, is dubbed both country and pop; her next three albums 1989, Reputation and Lover are labeled pop; and Folklore and Evermore are considered alternative. Music critics have described her songs as synth-pop, country pop, rock, electropop, and indie, amongst others; some songs, especially those on Reputation, incorporate elements of R&B, EDM, hip hop, and trap. The music instruments Swift plays include the piano, banjo, ukulele and various types of guitar. Swift described herself as a country artist until the release of 1989, which she characterized as her first "sonically cohesive pop album".
Rolling Stone wrote, "[Swift] might get played on the country station, but she's one of the few genuine rock stars we've got these days." According to The New York Times, "There isn't much in Ms. Swift's music to indicate country—a few banjo strums, a pair of cowboy boots worn onstage, a bedazzled guitar—but there's something in her winsome, vulnerable delivery that's unique to Nashville." The Guardian wrote that Swift "cranks melodies out with the pitiless efficiency of a Scandinavian pop factory." Consequence pinpointed her "capacity to continually reinvent while remaining herself", while Time dubbed Swift a "musical chameleon" for the constantly evolving sound of her discography. Clash said her career "has always been one of transcendence and covert boundary-pushing", reaching a point at which "Taylor Swift is just Taylor Swift", not defined by any genre.
Voice
Swift possesses a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Her singing voice is "sweet but soft" according to Sophie Schillaci of The Hollywood Reporter. Pitchfork's Sam Sodomsky called it "versatile and expressive". Music theory professor Alyssa Barna described the timbre of Swift's upper register as "breathy and bright", and her lower register "full and dark". The Los Angeles Times identified Swift's "defining" vocal gesture in studio recordings as "the line that slides down like a contented sigh or up like a raised eyebrow, giving her beloved girl-time hits their air of easy intimacy." In 2010, a writer from The Tennessean conceded that Swift was "not the best technical singer", but described her as the "best communicator that we've got". According to Swift, her vocal ability often concerned her in her early career, and she worked hard to improve it. She said she only feels nervous performing live "if I'm not sure what the audience thinks of me, like at award shows". The Hollywood Reporter wrote that her live vocals were "fine", but did not match those of her peers.
Though Swift's singing ability received mixed reviews early in her career, she was praised for refusing to correct her pitch with Auto-Tune. Rolling Stone found her voice "unaffected enough to mask how masterful she has become as a singer", while The Village Voice noted the improvement from her previously "bland and muddled" phrasing to her learning "how to make words sound like what they mean". In 2014, NPR Music described her singing as personal and conversational thanks to her "exceptional gift for inflection", but also suffered from a "wobbly pitch and tight, nasal delivery". Beginning with Folklore, she received better reviews for her vocals; Variety critic Andrew Barker noted the "remarkable" control she developed over her vocals, never allowing a "flourish or a tricky run to compromise the clarity of a lyric", while doing "wonders within her register" and "exploring its further reaches". Reviewing Fearless (Taylor's Version), The New York Times critic Lindsay Zoladz described her voice as stronger, more controlled, and deeper over time, discarding the nasal tone of her early vocals. Lucy Harbron of Clash opined that Swift's vocals have evolved "into her own unique blend of country, pop and indie".
Songwriting
Swift has been referred to as one of the greatest songwriters of all time and the best of her generation by various publications and organizations. She told The New Yorker in 2011 that she identifies as a songwriter first: "I write songs, and my voice is just a way to get those lyrics across." Swift's personal experiences were a common inspiration for her early songs, which helped her navigate the complexities of life. Her "diaristic" technique began with identifying an emotion, followed by a corresponding melody. On her first three studio albums, recurring themes were love, heartbreak, and insecurities, from an adolescent perspective. She delved into the tumult of toxic relationships on Red, and embraced nostalgia and positivity after failed relationships on 1989. Reputation was inspired by the downsides of Swift's fame, and Lover detailed her realization of the "full spectrum of love". Besides romance, other themes in Swift's music include parent-child relationships, friendships, alienation, and self-awareness.
Music critics often praise her self-written discography, especially her confessional narratives; they compliment her writing for its vivid details and emotional engagement, which were rare among pop artists. New York magazine argued that Swift was the first teenage artist who explicitly portrayed teenage experiences in her music. Rolling Stone described Swift as "a songwriting savant with an intuitive gift for verse-chorus-bridge architecture". Although reviews of Swift are generally positive, The New Yorker stated she was generally portrayed "more as a skilled technician than as a Dylanesque visionary". Because of her confessional narratives, tabloid media often speculated and linked the subjects of the songs with ex-lovers of Swift, a practice which New York magazine considered "sexist, inasmuch as it's not asked of her male peers". Aside from clues provided in album liner notes, Swift avoided talking about song subjects specifically. In a 2013 interview with Vanity Fair, Swift stated that the criticism on her songwriting—critics interpreted her persona as a "clingy, insane, desperate girlfriend in need of making you marry her and have kids with her"—was "a little sexist".
On her 2020 albums Folklore and Evermore, Swift was inspired by escapism and romanticism to explore fictional narratives. Without referencing her personal life, she imposed her emotions onto imagined characters and story arcs, which liberated her from the mental stress caused by tabloid attention and suggested new paths for her artistry. In a feature for Rolling Stone, Swift explained that she welcomed the new songwriting direction after she stopped worrying about commercial success: "I always thought, 'That'll never track on pop radio,' but when I was making Folklore, I thought, 'If you take away all the parameters, what do you make?" With the release of Evermore, Spin found Swift exploring "exceedingly complex human emotions with precision and devastation". Consequence stated her 2020 albums "offered a chance for doubters to see Swift's songwriting power on full display, but the truth is that her pen has always been her sword" and that her writing prowess took "different forms" as she transformed from "teenage wunderkind to a confident and careful adult."
Swift's bridges have been underscored as one of the best aspects of her songs and earned her the title "Queen of Bridges" from media outlets. Awarding her with the Songwriter Icon Award in 2021, the National Music Publishers' Association remarked that "no one is more influential when it comes to writing music today" than Swift. The Week deemed her the foremost female songwriter of modern times. Swift has also published two original poems: "Why She Disappeared" and "If You're Anything Like Me".
Music videos
Swift has collaborated with many different directors to produce her music videos, and over time she has become more involved with writing and directing. She has her own production house, Taylor Swift Productions, Inc., which is credited with producing music videos for singles such as "Me!". Swift developed the concept and treatment for "Mean", and co-directed the music video for "Mine" with Roman White. In an interview, White elaborated that Swift "was keenly involved in writing the treatment, casting and wardrobe. And she stayed for both the 15-hour shooting days, even when she wasn't in the scenes."
From 2014 to 2018, Swift collaborated with director Joseph Kahn on eight music videos—four each from her albums 1989 and Reputation. Kahn has praised Swift's involvement in the craft. She worked with American Express for the "Blank Space" music video (which Kahn directed), and served as an executive producer for the interactive app AMEX Unstaged: Taylor Swift Experience, for which she won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Interactive Program in 2015. She produced the music video for "Bad Blood" and won a Grammy Award for Best Music Video in 2016. While she continued to co-direct music videos with the Lover singles—"Me!" with Dave Meyers, "You Need to Calm Down" (also serving as a co-executive producer) and "Lover" with Drew Kirsch—she ventured into sole direction with the videos for "The Man" (which won her the MTV Video Music Award for Best Direction), "Cardigan" and "Willow".
Public image
Swift became a teen idol with her debut, and a pop icon following global fame. Journalists have written about her polite, "open" personality, "willing to play along" during the course of an interview. J. Freedom du Lac of The Washington Post called Swift a "media darling" and "a reporter's dream". The Guardian attributed her disposition to her formative years in country music. The Hollywood Reporter described Swift as "the Best People Person since Bill Clinton". While presenting her with an award for her humanitarian endeavors in 2012, former First Lady Michelle Obama described Swift as an artist who "has rocketed to the top of the music industry but still keeps her feet on the ground, someone who has shattered every expectation of what a 22-year-old can accomplish"; Swift considers Obama to be a role model.
In 2015, Vanity Fair referred to Swift as "the most famous and influential entertainer on Earth". According to YouGov surveys, she ranked as the world's most admired female musician from 2019 to 2021. One of the most followed people on social media, Swift is known for her frequent and friendly interactions with her fans, delivering holiday gifts to them by mail and in person. She considers it her "responsibility" to be conscious of her influence on young fans, praising her relationship with her fans as "the longest and best" she has ever had. Swift regularly incorporates easter eggs into her works and social media posts for fans to figure out clues about a forthcoming release. Fawzia Khan of Elle attributes Swift's "perennial" success partly to her intimacy with fans.
Media outlets describe Swift as a savvy businessperson. According to marketing executive Matt B. Britton, her business acumen has helped her "excel as an authentic personality who establishes direct connections with her audience", "touch as many people as possible", and "generate a kind of advocacy and excitement that no level of advertising could." Describing her omnipresence, The Ringer writer Kate Knibbs said Swift is not just a pop act but "a musical biosphere unto herself", having achieved the kind of success "that turns a person into an institution, into an inevitability."
Though Swift is reluctant to publicly discuss her personal life—believing it to be "a career weakness"—it is a topic of widespread media attention and tabloid speculation. Clash described her as a lightning rod for both praise and criticism. While The New York Times asserted in 2013 that Swift's "dating history has begun to stir what feels like the beginning of a backlash" and questioned whether she was in the midst of a "quarter-life crisis", certain critics have highlighted the misogyny and slut-shaming Swift's life and career have been subject to. She parodied this scrutiny in "Blank Space". Rolling Stone said, after the release of 1989, "everything she did was a story", with a non-stop news cycle about her, leaving her overexposed. Much of Reputation was conceived under the "intense" media scrutiny she experienced in 2015 and 2016, causing her to adopt a dark, defensive alter ego on the album. She criticized sexist double standards and gaslighting in "The Man" (2019) and "Mad Woman" (2020), respectively. When asked "why sing to the haters?" by CBS journalist Tracy Smith, Swift replied, "well, when they stop coming for me, I will stop singing to them." Glamour opined Swift is an easy target for male derision and triggers "fragile male egos" to take "pot-shots" at her career. The Daily Telegraph said her antennae for sexism is crucial for the industry and that she "must continue holding people to account".
Fashion
Swift's fashion is often covered by media outlets, with her street style receiving acclaim. Her fashion appeal has been picked up by several media publications, such as People, Elle, Vogue, and Maxim. Vogue regards Swift as one of the world's most influential figures in sustainable fashion. Elle highlighted the various styles she has adopted throughout her career, including the "curly-haired teenager" of her early days to "red-lipped pop bombshell" with "platinum blonde hair and sultry makeup looks" later on. Swift is known for reinventing her image often, corresponding each one of her albums to a specific aesthetic. Swift also popularized cottagecore with Folklore and Evermore. Consequence opined that Swift's looks evolved from "girl-next-door country act to pop star to woodsy poet over a decade."
Though labeled by the media as "America's Sweetheart", a sobriquet based on her down-to-earth personality and girl-next-door image, Swift insists she does not "live by all these rigid, weird rules that make me feel all fenced in. I just like the way that I feel like, and that makes me feel very free". Although she refused to take part in "sexy" photoshoots in 2012, she stated "it's nice to be glamorous" in 2015. Bloomberg views Swift as a sex symbol, albeit of a subtle and sophisticated variety unlike many of her female contemporaries.
Impact
Swift's career helped shape the modern country music scene. According to music journalist Jody Rosen, Swift is the first country artist whose fame reached the world beyond the U.S. Her chart success extended to Asia and the U.K., where country music had previously not been popular. She is recognized as one of the first country artists to use technology and viral marketing techniques, such as MySpace, to promote their work. According to Chris Willman of Entertainment Weekly, the commercial success of her debut album helped the infant Big Machine Records go on to sign Garth Brooks and Jewel. Following Swift's rise to fame, country labels became more interested in signing young singers who write their own music. With her autobiographical narratives revolving around romance and heartbreak, she introduced the genre to a younger generation that could relate to her personally. Critics have since noted the impact of Swift's sound on various albums released by female country singers such as Kacey Musgraves, Maren Morris and Kelsea Ballerini. Rolling Stone listed her country music as one of the biggest influences on 2010s pop music and ranked her 80th in their list of 100 Greatest Country Artists of All Time.Her onstage performance with guitars contributed to the "Taylor Swift factor", a phenomenon to which the rise in guitar sales to women, a previously ignored demographic, is attributed. Pitchfork opined that Swift changed the contemporary music landscape forever with her "unprecedented path from teenage country prodigy to global pop sensation" and a "singularly perceptive" discography that consistently accommodates both musical and cultural shifts. Clash stated Swift's genre-spanning career encouraged her peers to experiment with diverse sounds. Billboard credited her with influencing artists to take creative ownership of their music and remarked she "has the power to pull any sound she wants into mainstream orbit." Music journalist Nick Catucci wrote that, in being personal and vulnerable in her lyrics, Swift helped make space for later pop stars like Billie Eilish, Ariana Grande, and Halsey to do the same. According to The Guardian, Swift leads the rebirth of poptimism in the 21st-century with her ambitious artistic vision.
Publications consider Swift's million-selling albums an anomaly in the streaming-dominated music industry following the decline of the album era in the 2010s. For this reason, musicologists Mary Fogarty and Gina Arnold regard her as "the last great rock star". Swift is the only artist to have four albums sell over one million copies in one week since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking sales for the Billboard 200 in 1991. To New York magazine, her million sales figures prove that she is "the one bending the music industry to her will". The Atlantic notes that Swift's "reign" defies the convention that the successful phase of an artist's career rarely lasts more than a few years. She is a champion of independent record shops, having contributed to the 21st-century vinyl revival. Journalists note how her actions have fostered debate over reforms to on-demand music streaming and prompted awareness of intellectual property rights among younger musicians, praising her ability to bring change in the music industry.
She was named Woman of the Decade for the 2010s by Billboard, became the first woman to earn the title Artist of the Decade (2010s) at the American Music Awards, and received the Brit Global Icon Award "in recognition of her immense impact on music across the world". Swift has influenced various mainstream and indie recording artists. Various sources deem her music to be representative and paradigmatic of the millennial generation, owing to her success, musical versatility, social media presence, live shows, and corporate sponsorship. Vox called Swift the "millennial Bruce Springsteen" for telling the stories of a generation through her songs. Student societies focusing on her were established in various universities around the world, such as Oxford, York, and Cambridge. New York University Tisch School of the Arts offers a course on Swift's career. Some of her popular songs like "Love Story" are studied by evolutionary psychologists to understand the relationship between popular music and human mating strategies.
Accolades and achievements
Swift has won 11 Grammy Awards (including three Album of the Year wins—tied for most by an artist), an Emmy Award, 34 American Music Awards (most wins by an artist), 25 Billboard Music Awards (most wins by a woman), 56 Guinness World Records, 12 Country Music Association Awards (including the Pinnacle Award), eight Academy of Country Music Awards, and two Brit Awards. As a songwriter, she has been honored by the Nashville Songwriters Association, the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and the National Music Publishers' Association and was the youngest person on Rolling Stone list of the 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time in 2015. At the 64th BMI Awards in 2016, Swift was the first woman to be honored with an award named after its recipient. Her albums Red and 1989 appeared on Rolling Stone's 2020 revision of their 500 Greatest Albums of All Time; in 2021, her "Blank Space" music video named one of Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Music Videos of All Time, while the songs "All Too Well" and "Blank Space" were on its 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
From available data, Swift has amassed over 50 million album sales, 150 million singles sales, and 114 million units in album consumption worldwide, including 78 billion streams. Swift has the most number-one albums in the United Kingdom and Ireland for a female artist in this millennium, and is the best-selling artist of all time on Chinese digital music platforms with in income. She is the only female artist to have received more than 100 million global streams on Spotify in a day, with over 122 million streams on November 11, 2021. Swift broke the record for the highest-grossing North American tour of all time with her Reputation Stadium Tour (2018) and is the world's highest-grossing female touring act of the 2010s. She has the most entries and the most simultaneous entries for an artist on the Billboard Global 200, with 69 and 31 songs, respectively.
In the US, Swift has sold over 37.3 million albums as of 2019, when Billboard placed her eighth on its Greatest of All Time Artists Chart. She is the longest-reigning act of Billboard Artist 100 (50 weeks at number one), the solo act with the most cumulative weeks (55) atop the Billboard 200, the woman with the most weeks atop the Top Country Albums (98) and the most Billboard Hot 100 entries in history (165), and the artist with the most Digital Songs number-ones (23). She is the second highest-certified female digital singles artist (and third overall) in the US, with 134 million total units certified by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and the first female artist to have both an album (Fearless) and a song ("Shake It Off") certified Diamond. In 2021, one of every 50 albums sold in the US was Swift's, who became the first woman to have five albums—1989, Taylor Swift, Fearless, Red and Reputation—chart for 150 weeks each on the Billboard 200.
Swift has appeared in various power listings. Time included her on its annual list of the 100 most influential people in 2010, 2015, and 2019. She was one of the "Silence Breakers" honored as Time Person of the Year in 2017 for speaking up about sexual assault. From 2011 to 2020, Swift appeared in the top three on the Forbes Top-Earning Women in Music list, placing first in 2016 and 2019. In 2014, she was named to Forbes' 30 Under 30 list in the music category and again in 2017 in its "All-Star Alumni" category. In 2015, Swift became the youngest woman to be included on Forbes list of the 100 most powerful women, ranked at number 64. She was the most googled female musician of 2019.
Other activities
Wealth and properties
In 2021, Forbes estimated Swift's net worth at US$550 million, coming from her music, merchandise, promotions, and concerts. She topped the magazine's list of the 100 highest-paid celebrities in 2016 with $170 million—a feat recognized by the Guinness World Records as the highest annual earnings ever for a female musician, which she herself surpassed in 2019 with $185 million. Swift was the highest-paid female musician of the 2010s, with $825 million earned.
Swift has invested in a real estate portfolio worth $84 million. For example, she purchased the Samuel Goldwyn Estate, a Georgian-revival house in Beverly Hills, for $25 million in 2015, which she has since restored to its original condition and contains Swift's home studio, Kitty Committee, where she recorded songs for Folklore. In 2013, she purchased the Holiday House, a seafront mansion in Watch Hill, Rhode Island. Gina Raimondo, then-Governor of Rhode Island, proposed in 2015 a statewide property tax for second homes worth more than $1 million, dubbed the "Taylor Swift tax". In New York City, her $47 million worth of property on a single block in Tribeca includes a $19.95 million duplex penthouse, an $18 million four-story townhouse, and a $9.75 million apartment purchased in 2014, 2017 and 2018, respectively.
Philanthropy
Swift is well known for her philanthropic efforts. She was ranked at number one on DoSomething's "Gone Good" list, and has received the "Star of Compassion" accolade from the Tennessee Disaster Services, The Big Help Award from the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards for her "dedication to helping others" as well as "inspiring others through action", and the Ripple of Hope Award for her "dedication to advocacy at such a young age". In 2008, she donated $100,000 to the Red Cross to help the victims of the Iowa flood. Swift has performed at charity relief events, including Sydney's Sound Relief concert. In response to the May 2010 Tennessee floods, Swift donated $500,000 during a telethon hosted by WSMV. In 2011, Swift used a dress rehearsal of her Speak Now tour as a benefit concert for victims of recent tornadoes in the U.S., raising more than $750,000. In 2016, she donated $1 million to Louisiana flood relief efforts and $100,000 to the Dolly Parton Fire Fund. Swift donated to the Houston Food Bank after Hurricane Harvey struck the city in 2017. In 2020, she donated $1 million for Tennessee tornado relief.
Swift is a supporter of the arts. She is a benefactor of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. She has donated $75,000 to Nashville's Hendersonville High School to help refurbish the school auditorium, $4 million to fund the building of a new education center at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, $60,000 to the music departments of six U.S. colleges, and $100,000 to the Nashville Symphony. Also a promoter of children's literacy, she has donated money and books to various schools around the country to improve education. In 2007, Swift partnered with the Tennessee Association of Chiefs of Police to launch a campaign to protect children from online predators. She has donated items to several charities for auction, including the Elton John AIDS Foundation, the UNICEF Tap Project, MusiCares, and Feeding America. As recipient of the Academy of Country Music's Entertainer of the Year in 2011, Swift donated $25,000 to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Tennessee. In 2012, Swift participated in the Stand Up to Cancer telethon, performing the charity single "Ronan", which she wrote in memory of a four-year-old boy who died of neuroblastoma. She has also donated $100,000 to the V Foundation for Cancer Research and $50,000 to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Swift has encouraged young people to volunteer in their local communities as part of Global Youth Service Day.
Swift donated to fellow singer-songwriter Kesha to help with her legal battles against Dr. Luke and to actress Mariska Hargitay's Joyful Heart Foundation organization. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Swift donated to the World Health Organization and Feeding America and offered one of her signed guitars as part of an auction to raise money for the National Health Service. Swift performed "Soon You'll Get Better" during One World: Together At Home television special, a benefit concert curated by Lady Gaga for Global Citizen to raise funds for the World Health Organization's COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund. In 2018 and 2021, Swift donated to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network in honor of Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month. In addition to charitable causes, she has made donations to her fans several times for their medical or academic expenses.
Politics and activism
Swift is pro-choice, and has been regarded as a feminist icon by various publications. During the 2008 United States presidential election, she promoted the Every Woman Counts campaign, aimed at engaging women in the political process. She was one of the founding signatories of the Time's Up movement against sexual harassment. Swift has also spoken out against LGBT discrimination, which was the theme of the music video for "Mean". On multiple occasions, she encouraged support for the Equality Act, which prohibits discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation and gender identity, among others. In 2019, she donated to the LGBT organizations Tennessee Equality Project and GLAAD.
Swift avoided discussing politics in her early career because country record label executives insisted "Don't be like the Dixie Chicks!", and first became active during the 2018 United States elections. She declared her support for Democrats Jim Cooper and Phil Bredesen to represent Tennessee in the House of Representatives and Senate, respectively, and expressed her desire for greater LGBT rights, gender equality and racial equality, condemned systemic racism. In August 2020, Swift urged her fans to check their voter registration ahead of elections, which resulted in 65,000 people registering to vote within a day after her post. She endorsed Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in the 2020 United States presidential election, and was found to be one of the most influential celebrities in the polls.
Swift has supported the March for Our Lives movement and gun control reform in the U.S, and is a vocal critic of white supremacy, racism, and police brutality in the country. Following the murders of African-American men Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd, she donated to the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and the Black Lives Matter movement. After then-president Donald Trump posted a controversial tweet on the unrest in Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Swift accused him of promoting white supremacy and racism in his term. She called for the removal of Confederate monuments of "racist historical figures" in Tennessee, and advocated for Juneteenth to become a national holiday.
Endorsements
During the Fearless era, Swift supported campaigns by Verizon Wireless and "Got Milk?". She launched a l.e.i. sundress range at Walmart, and designed American Greetings cards and Jakks Pacific dolls. She became a spokesperson for the National Hockey League's (NHL) Nashville Predators and Sony Cyber-shot digital cameras. She launched two Elizabeth Arden fragrances—Wonderstruck and Wonderstruck Enchanted. In 2013, she released the fragrances Taylor by Taylor Swift and Taylor by Taylor Swift: Made of Starlight, followed by her fifth fragrance, Incredible Things, in 2014.
Swift signed a multi-year deal with AT&T in 2016. She later headlined DirecTV's Super Saturday Night event on the eve of the 2017 Super Bowl. In 2019, Swift signed a multi-year partnership with Capital One, and released a sustainable clothing line with Stella McCartney. In 2022, in light of her philanthropic support for independent record stores during the COVID-19 pandemic, Record Store Day named Swift their first-ever global ambassador.
Discography
Studio albums
Taylor Swift (2006)
Fearless (2008)
Speak Now (2010)
Red (2012)
1989 (2014)
Reputation (2017)
Lover (2019)
Folklore (2020)
Evermore (2020)
Re-recordings
Fearless (Taylor's Version) (2021)
Red (Taylor's Version) (2021)
Filmography
Hannah Montana: The Movie (2009)
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2009)
Valentine's Day (2010)
Journey to Fearless (2010)
The Lorax (2012)
The Giver (2014)
The 1989 World Tour Live (2015)
Taylor Swift: Reputation Stadium Tour (2018)
Cats (2019)
Miss Americana (2020)
City of Lover (2020)
Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions (2020)
All Too Well: The Short Film (2021)
Tours
Fearless Tour (2009–2010)
Speak Now World Tour (2011–2012)
The Red Tour (2013–2014)
The 1989 World Tour (2015)
Reputation Stadium Tour (2018)
See also
List of best-selling albums by year in the United States
List of best-selling singles in the United States
List of highest-certified music artists in the United States
Grammy Award records – Youngest artists to win Album of the Year
Grammy Award records – Most Grammys won by a female artist
List of American Grammy Award winners and nominees
List of Grammy Award winners and nominees by country
List of most-followed Instagram accounts
List of most-followed Twitter accounts
List of most-subscribed YouTube channels
Best-selling female artists of all time
Footnotes
References
External links
Taylor Swift
1989 births
Living people
21st-century American actresses
21st-century American guitarists
21st-century American pianists
21st-century American singers
21st-century American women guitarists
21st-century American women pianists
21st-century American women singers
Actresses from Nashville, Tennessee
Alternative rock singers
American acoustic guitarists
American country banjoists
American country guitarists
American country pianists
American country record producers
American country singer-songwriters
American country songwriters
American women country singers
American women pop singers
American women rock singers
American women singer-songwriters
American women songwriters
American women record producers
American feminists
American film actresses
American folk guitarists
American folk musicians
American folk singers
American mezzo-sopranos
American multi-instrumentalists
American music video directors
American people of German descent
American people of Italian descent
American people of Scottish descent
American pop guitarists
American pop pianists
American synth-pop musicians
American television actresses
American voice actresses
American women guitarists
American women pianists
Big Machine Records artists
Brit Award winners
Christians from Tennessee
Country musicians from Tennessee
Emmy Award winners
Female music video directors
Feminist musicians
Forbes 30 Under 30 multi-time recipients
Grammy Award winners
Guitarists from Pennsylvania
Guitarists from Tennessee
MTV Europe Music Award winners
Musicians from Nashville, Tennessee
NME Awards winners
RCA Records artists
Record producers from Tennessee
Republic Records artists
Singer-songwriters from Tennessee
Sony Music Publishing artists
Synth-pop singers
Universal Music Group artists
Featured articles
Singer-songwriters from Pennsylvania | false | [
"Irina Alekseevna Zabiyaka (, born 20 December 1982) is a Russian singer and lead vocalist, songwriter in the popular Russian group Chi-li (). She is known for her deep contralto voice.\n\nHer height is .\n\nBackground\nIrina was born and brought up in the Ukrainian town of Kirovohrad (present day Kropyvnytskyi), by her Ukrainian mother. As an adult, she left there to live in the Russian city of Kaliningrad.\n\nIrina's mother did not want to tell her daughter that her father had died, so made up a story that he was a Chilean revolutionary. The young Ira believed the story and was proud of who she believed her father to be, with this influence going onto later see her band named 'Chi-li'.\n\nPrivate life\nIn January 2013 she gave birth to a son.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n\n Official Website\n\n1982 births\nLiving people\n21st-century Russian singers\nPeople from Kropyvnytskyi\nUkrainian emigrants to Russia\nRussian contraltos\n21st-century Russian women singers",
"\"Big Four Poster Bed\" is a song written by Shel Silverstein and performed by Brenda Lee featuring the Nashville Sound. The song reached #4 on the U.S. country chart and #2 on the Canadian country chart in 1974. It was featured on her 1974 album, Now.\n\nSong story\nA sentimental tale, the song—as told through the eyes of a young woman—tells the story of a bed her father built with his own hands; the bed's frame and headboard are made of rough-cut pine, and on it lay a patchwork quilt and feather-downed pillows her mother made shortly before their wedding. The song recalls the future the newly married couple made for their future and their future family, as well as the stories of the girl's relationship with her father.\n\nLater, her father falls ill and, in his last days, recalls many fond memories with his family as they keep a bedside vigil. After he dies, the woman remarks how at peace her father appeared to be lying in the bed he (literally) made.\n\nIn the final verse, the woman (now an adult) is about to take her wedding vows and ask her husband to uphold the same values of fidelity and trust her parents did, before spending their first night together in the same four-poster bed her father built years ago.\n\nReferences\n\n1974 songs\n1974 singles\nSongs written by Shel Silverstein\nBrenda Lee songs\nMCA Records singles"
]
|
[
"Taylor Swift",
"Influences",
"What artists influenced Taylor Swift the most?",
"Shania Twain,",
"What other artist influenced Taylor's sound?",
"She has also spoken fondly of singers and songwriters like Michelle Branch, Alanis Morissette, Ashlee Simpson, Fefe Dobson and Justin Timberlake;",
"What type of music does Taylor like?",
"Swift listened to rock bands such as Dashboard Confessional, Fall Out Boy, and Jimmy Eat World.",
"Did Taylor have a favorite rock band?",
"Dashboard Confessional, Fall Out Boy, and Jimmy Eat World.",
"Did Taylor like other music as well?",
"The Shirelles, Doris Troy, and The Beach Boys.",
"Did her mother influence her?",
"She also attributes her \"fascination with writing and storytelling\" to her mother.",
"Did her father influence her sound?",
"I don't know."
]
| C_e101b306eedc41bd937aff1f1a3b54de_0 | Did she travel often? | 8 | Did Taylor Swift travel often? | Taylor Swift | One of Swift's earliest musical memories is listening to her maternal grandmother, Marjorie Finlay, sing in church. As a child, she enjoyed Disney film soundtracks: "My parents noticed that, once I had run out of words, I would just make up my own". Swift has said she owes her confidence to her mother, who helped her prepare for class presentations as a child. She also attributes her "fascination with writing and storytelling" to her mother. Swift was drawn to the storytelling of country music, and was introduced to the genre by "the great female country artists of the '90s"--Shania Twain, Faith Hill and the Dixie Chicks. Twain, both as a songwriter and performer, was her biggest musical influence. Hill was Swift's childhood role model: "Everything she said, did, wore, I tried to copy it". She admired the Dixie Chicks' defiant attitude and their ability to play their own instruments. The band's "Cowboy Take Me Away" was the first song Swift learned to play on the guitar. Swift also explored the music of older country stars, including Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton and Tammy Wynette. She believes Parton is "an amazing example to every female songwriter out there". Alt-country artists such as Ryan Adams, Patty Griffin and Lori McKenna have inspired Swift. Swift lists Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, Emmylou Harris, Kris Kristofferson, and Carly Simon as her career role models: "They've taken chances, but they've also been the same artist for their entire careers". McCartney, both as a Beatle and a solo artist, makes Swift feel "as if I've been let into his heart and his mind ... Any musician could only dream of a legacy like that". She admires Springsteen for being "so musically relevant after such a long period of time". She aspires to be like Harris as she grows older: "It's not about fame for her, it's about music". "[Kristofferson] shines in songwriting ... He's just one of those people who has been in this business for years but you can tell it hasn't chewed him up and spat him out", Swift says. She admires Simon's "songwriting and honesty ... She's known as an emotional person but a strong person". Swift has also been influenced by many artists outside the country genre. As a pre-teen, she enjoyed bubblegum pop acts including Hanson and Britney Spears; Swift has said she has "unwavering devotion" for Spears. In her high school years, Swift listened to rock bands such as Dashboard Confessional, Fall Out Boy, and Jimmy Eat World. She has also spoken fondly of singers and songwriters like Michelle Branch, Alanis Morissette, Ashlee Simpson, Fefe Dobson and Justin Timberlake; and the 1960s acts The Shirelles, Doris Troy, and The Beach Boys. Swift's fifth album, the pop-focused 1989, was influenced by some of her favorite 1980s pop acts, including Annie Lennox, Phil Collins and "Like a Prayer-era Madonna". CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Her discography spans multiple genres, and her narrative songwriting, which is often inspired by her personal life, has received widespread media coverage and critical praise. Born in West Reading, Pennsylvania, Swift relocated to Nashville, Tennessee, at the age of 14 to pursue a career in country music. She signed a songwriting deal with Sony/ATV Music Publishing in 2004 and a recording deal with Big Machine Records in 2005, and released her eponymous debut studio album in 2006.
Swift explored country pop on the albums Fearless (2008) and Speak Now (2010); the success of "Love Story" and "You Belong with Me" as singles on both country and pop radio established her as a leading crossover artist. She experimented with pop, rock, and electronic genres on her fourth studio album, Red (2012), supported by the singles "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" and "I Knew You Were Trouble". With her synth-pop fifth studio album 1989 (2014) and its chart-topping songs "Shake It Off", "Blank Space", and "Bad Blood", Swift shed her country image and transitioned to pop completely. The subsequent media scrutiny on Swift's personal life influenced her sixth album Reputation (2017), which delved into urban sounds, led by the single "Look What You Made Me Do".
Parting ways with Big Machine to sign with Republic Records in 2018, Swift released her next studio album, Lover (2019). Inspired by escapism during the COVID-19 pandemic, Swift ventured into indie folk and alternative rock styles on her 2020 studio albums, Folklore and Evermore, receiving acclaim for their nuanced storytelling. To gain ownership over the masters of her back catalog, she released the re-recordings Fearless (Taylor's Version) and Red (Taylor's Version) in 2021. Besides music, Swift has played supporting roles in films such as Valentine's Day (2010) and Cats (2019), has released the autobiographical documentary Miss Americana (2020), and directed the musical films Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions (2020) and All Too Well: The Short Film (2021).
Having sold over 200 million records worldwide, Swift is one of the best-selling musicians of all time.Her concert tours are some of the highest-grossing in history. She has scored eight Billboard Hot 100 number-one songs, and received 11 Grammy Awards (including three Album of the Year wins), an Emmy Award, 34 American Music Awards (the most for an artist) and 56 Guinness World Records, among other accolades. She featured on Rolling Stones 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time (2015) and Billboard Greatest of All Time Artists (2019) lists, and rankings such as the Time 100 and Forbes Celebrity 100. Named the Woman of the 2010s Decade by Billboard and the Artist of the 2010s Decade by the American Music Awards, Swift has been recognized for her influential career and philanthropy, as well as advocacy of artists' rights and women's empowerment in the music industry.
Life and career
1989–2003: Early life and education
Taylor Alison Swift was born on December 13, 1989, at the Reading Hospital in West Reading, Pennsylvania. Her father, Scott Kingsley Swift, is a former stockbroker for Merrill Lynch; her mother, Andrea Gardner Swift (née Finlay), is a former homemaker who previously worked as a mutual fund marketing executive. Her younger brother, Austin, is an actor. She was named after singer-songwriter James Taylor, and has Scottish and German heritage. Her maternal grandmother, Marjorie Finlay, was an opera singer. Swift's paternal great-great-grandfather was an Italian immigrant entrepreneur and community leader who opened several businesses in Philadelphia in the 1800s. Swift spent her early years on a Christmas tree farm that her father purchased from one of his clients. Swift identifies as a Christian. She attended preschool and kindergarten at the Alvernia Montessori School, run by the Bernadine Franciscan sisters, before transferring to The Wyndcroft School. The family moved to a rented house in the suburban town of Wyomissing, Pennsylvania, where she attended Wyomissing Area Junior/Senior High School.
At age nine, Swift became interested in musical theater and performed in four Berks Youth Theatre Academy productions. She also traveled regularly to New York City for vocal and acting lessons. Swift later shifted her focus toward country music, inspired by Shania Twain's songs, which made her "want to just run around the block four times and daydream about everything." She spent weekends performing at local festivals and events. After watching a documentary about Faith Hill, Swift felt sure she needed to move to Nashville, Tennessee, to pursue a career in music. She traveled with her mother at age eleven to visit Nashville record labels and submitted demo tapes of Dolly Parton and The Chicks karaoke covers. She was rejected, however, because "everyone in that town wanted to do what I wanted to do. So, I kept thinking to myself, I need to figure out a way to be different."
When Swift was around 12 years old, computer repairman and local musician Ronnie Cremer taught her to play guitar. He helped with her first efforts as a songwriter, leading her to write "Lucky You". In 2003, Swift and her parents started working with New York-based talent manager Dan Dymtrow. With his help, Swift modeled for Abercrombie & Fitch as part of their "Rising Stars" campaign, had an original song included on a Maybelline compilation CD, and attended meetings with major record labels. After performing original songs at an RCA Records showcase, Swift, then 13 years old, was given an artist development deal and began making frequent trips to Nashville with her mother.
To help Swift break into country music, her father transferred to Merrill Lynch's Nashville office when she was 14 years old, and the family relocated to Hendersonville, Tennessee. Swift initially attended Hendersonville High School before transferring to the Aaron Academy after two years, which could better accommodate her touring schedule through homeschooling. She graduated a year early.
2004–2008: Career beginnings and first album
In Nashville, Swift worked with experienced Music Row songwriters such as Troy Verges, Brett Beavers, Brett James, Mac McAnally, and the Warren Brothers, and formed a lasting working relationship with Liz Rose. They began meeting for two-hour writing sessions every Tuesday afternoon after school. Rose thought the sessions were "some of the easiest I've ever done. Basically, I was just her editor. She'd write about what happened in school that day. She had such a clear vision of what she was trying to say. And she'd come in with the most incredible hooks." Swift became the youngest artist signed by the Sony/ATV Tree publishing house, but left the Sony-owned RCA Records at the age of 14, citing the label's lack of care and them "cut[ting] other people’s stuff" as reasons; she was also concerned that development deals may shelve artists. She recalled: "I genuinely felt that I was running out of time. I wanted to capture these years of my life on an album while they still represented what I was going through."
At an industry showcase at Nashville's Bluebird Cafe in 2005, Swift caught the attention of Scott Borchetta, a DreamWorks Records executive who was preparing to form an independent record label, Big Machine Records. She had first met Borchetta in 2004. Becoming one of the first signings Big Machine, she wanted "the kind of attention that a little [new] label will give," and her father purchased a three-percent stake in the company for an estimated $120,000. She began working on her eponymous debut album shortly after. Swift persuaded Big Machine to hire her demo producer Nathan Chapman, with whom she felt she had the right "chemistry". She wrote three of the album's songs alone, and co-wrote the remaining eight with Rose, Robert Ellis Orrall, Brian Maher, and Angelo Petraglia. Taylor Swift was released on October 24, 2006. Jon Caramanica of The New York Times described it as "a small masterpiece of pop-minded country, both wide-eyed and cynical, held together by Ms. Swift's firm, pleading voice." Taylor Swift peaked at number five on the U.S. Billboard 200, where it spent 157 weeks—the longest stay on the chart by any release in the U.S. in the 2000s decade.
Big Machine Records was still in its infancy during the June 2006 release of the lead single, "Tim McGraw". Swift and her mother helped "stuff the CD singles into envelopes to send to radio." As there were not enough furniture at the label yet, they would sit on the floor to do so. She spent much of 2006 promoting Taylor Swift with a radio tour, television appearances, and opening for Rascal Flatts on select dates during their 2006 tour after they fired their previous opening act, Eric Church, for playing longer than his allotted time. Borchetta said that although record industry peers initially disapproved of his signing a 15-year-old singer-songwriter, Swift tapped into a previously unknown market—teenage girls who listen to country music. Following "Tim McGraw", four more singles were released throughout 2007 and 2008: "Teardrops on My Guitar", "Our Song", "Picture to Burn" and "Should've Said No". All appeared on Billboards Hot Country Songs, with "Our Song", and "Should've Said No" reaching number one. With "Our Song", Swift became the youngest person to single-handedly write and sing a number-one song on the chart. "Teardrops on My Guitar" reached number thirteen on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. Swift also released two EPs; The Taylor Swift Holiday Collection in October 2007 and Beautiful Eyes in July 2008. She promoted her debut album extensively as the opening act for other country musicians' tours throughout 2006 and 2007, including George Strait, Brad Paisley, and Tim McGraw and Faith Hill.
Swift won accolades for Taylor Swift. She was one of the recipients of the Nashville Songwriters Association's Songwriter/Artist of the Year in 2007, becoming the youngest person to be honored with the title. She also won the Country Music Association's Horizon Award for Best New Artist, the Academy of Country Music Awards' Top New Female Vocalist, and the American Music Awards' Favorite Country Female Artist honor. She was also nominated for Best New Artist at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards. She opened for the Rascal Flatts on their 2008 summer and fall tour. In July of that year, Swift began a romance with singer Joe Jonas that ended three months later.
2008–2010: Fearless and acting debut
Swift's second studio album, Fearless, was released on November 11, 2008. Five singles were released in 2008 through 2009: "Love Story", "White Horse", "You Belong with Me", "Fifteen", and "Fearless". "Love Story", the lead single, peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one in Australia. "You Belong with Me" was the album's highest-charting single on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number two. All five singles were Billboard Hot Country Songs top-10 entries, with "Love Story" and "You Belong with Me" peaking at number one. Fearless debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and was the top-selling album of 2009 in the U.S. The Fearless Tour, Swift's first headlining concert tour, grossed over $63 million. Journey to Fearless, a three-part documentary miniseries, was aired on television and later released on DVD and Blu-ray. Swift also performed as a supporting act for Keith Urban's Escape Together World Tour in 2009.
In 2009, the music video for "You Belong with Me" was named Best Female Video at the MTV Video Music Awards. Her acceptance speech was interrupted by rapper Kanye West, an incident that became the subject of controversy, widespread media attention, and many Internet memes. James Montgomery of MTV argued that the incident and subsequent media attention turned Swift into "a bona-fide mainstream celebrity". That year she won five American Music Awards, including Artist of the Year and Favorite Country Album. Billboard named her 2009's Artist of the Year. The album ranked number 99 on NPR's 2017 list of the 150 Greatest Albums Made By Women. She won Video of the Year and Female Video of the Year for "Love Story" at the 2009 CMT Music Awards, where she made a parody video of the song with rapper T-Pain called "Thug Story". At the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards, Fearless was named Album of the Year and Best Country Album, and "White Horse" won Best Country Song and Best Female Country Vocal Performance. Swift was the youngest artist to win Album of the Year. At the 2009 Country Music Association Awards, Swift won Album of the Year for Fearless and was named Entertainer of the Year, the youngest person to win the honor.
Swift featured on John Mayer's single "Half of My Heart" and Boys Like Girls' single "Two Is Better Than One", both of which she co-wrote. She co-wrote and recorded "Best Days of Your Life" with Kellie Pickler, and co-wrote two songs for the Hannah Montana: The Movie soundtrack—"You'll Always Find Your Way Back Home" and "Crazier". She contributed two songs to the Valentine's Day soundtrack, including the single "Today Was a Fairytale", which was her first number one on the Canadian Hot 100, and peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100. While filming her cinematic debut Valentine's Day in October 2009, Swift began a romantic relationship with co-star Taylor Lautner; they broke up later that year. Swift's role of the ditzy girlfriend of Lautner's character received mixed reviews. In 2009, she made her television acting debut as a rebellious teenager in an CSI: Crime Scene Investigation episode. She also hosted and performed as the musical guest on an episode of Saturday Night Live; she was the first host to write her own opening monologue.
2010–2014: Speak Now and Red
In August 2010, Swift released "Mine", the lead single from her third studio album, Speak Now. It entered the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 at number three. Swift wrote the album alone and co-produced every track. Speak Now, released on October 25, 2010, debuted atop the Billboard 200 with first-week sales of a million copies. It became the fastest-selling digital album by a female artist, with 278,000 downloads in a week, earning Swift an entry in the 2010 Guinness World Records. The songs "Mine", "Back to December", "Mean", "The Story of Us", "Sparks Fly", and "Ours" were released as singles. All except "The Story of Us" were Hot Country Songs top-three entries, with "Sparks Fly" and "Ours" reaching number one. "Back to December" and "Mean" peaked in the top ten in Canada. Later in 2010, she briefly dated actor Jake Gyllenhaal.
During her tour dates for 2011, she wrote the lyrics of various songs written by other people on her left arm. At the 54th Annual Grammy Awards in 2012, Swift won Best Country Song and Best Country Solo Performance for "Mean", which she performed during the ceremony. Media publications noted the performance as an improvement from her much criticized 2010 Grammy performance, which served as a testament to her abilities as a musician. Swift won other awards for Speak Now, including Songwriter/Artist of the Year by the Nashville Songwriters Association (2010 and 2011), Woman of the Year by Billboard (2011), and Entertainer of the Year by the Academy of Country Music (2011 and 2012) and the Country Music Association in 2011. At the American Music Awards of 2011, Swift won Artist of the Year and Favorite Country Album. Rolling Stone placed Speak Now at number 45 in its 2012 list of the "50 Best Female Albums of All Time", writing: "She might get played on the country station, but she's one of the few genuine rock stars we've got these days, with a flawless ear for what makes a song click."
The Speak Now World Tour ran from February 2011 to March 2012 and grossed over $123 million. In November 2011, Swift released a live album, Speak Now World Tour: Live. She contributed two original songs to The Hunger Games soundtrack album: "Safe & Sound", co-written and recorded with the Civil Wars and T-Bone Burnett, and "Eyes Open". "Safe & Sound" won the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media and was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song. Swift featured on B.o.B's single "Both of Us", released in May 2012. From July to September 2012, Swift dated Conor Kennedy, son of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Mary Richardson Kennedy.
In August 2012, Swift released "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together", the lead single from her fourth studio album, Red. It became her first number one in the U.S. and New Zealand, and reached the top slot on iTunes' digital song sales chart 50 minutes after its release, earning the Fastest Selling Single in Digital History Guinness World Record. Other singles released from the album include "Begin Again", "I Knew You Were Trouble", "22", "Everything Has Changed", "The Last Time", and "Red". "I Knew You Were Trouble" reached the top five on charts in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Ireland, New Zealand, the U.K. and the U.S. Three singles, "Begin Again", "22", and "Red", reached the top 20 in the U.S.
Red was released on October 22, 2012. On Red, Swift worked with longtime collaborators Nathan Chapman and Liz Rose, as well as new producers, including Max Martin and Shellback. The album incorporates new genres for Swift, such as heartland rock, dubstep and dance-pop. It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 1.21 million copies, making Swift the first female to have two million-selling album openings, a record recognized by the Guinness World Records. Red was Swift's first number-one album in the U.K. The Red Tour ran from March 2013 to June 2014 and grossed over $150 million, becoming the highest-grossing country tour when it completed.
Red had sold eight million copies by 2014. The album earned several accolades, including four nominations at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards in 2014. Its single "I Knew You Were Trouble" won Best Female Video at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards. Swift received American Music Awards for Best Female Country Artist in 2012, and Artist of the Year in 2013. She received the Nashville Songwriters Association's Songwriter/Artist Award for the fifth and sixth consecutive years in 2012 and 2013. Swift was honored by the Association with a special Pinnacle Award, making her the second recipient of the accolade after Garth Brooks. During this time, she had a short-term relationship with English singer Harry Styles.
In 2013, Swift recorded "Sweeter than Fiction", a song she wrote and produced with Jack Antonoff for the One Chance film soundtrack. The song received a Best Original Song nomination at the 71st Golden Globe Awards. She provided guest vocals for Tim McGraw's song "Highway Don't Care", featuring guitar work by Keith Urban. Swift performed "As Tears Go By" with the Rolling Stones in Chicago, Illinois as part of the band's 50 & Counting tour. She joined Florida Georgia Line on stage during their set at the 2013 Country Radio Seminar to sing "Cruise". Swift voiced Audrey, a tree lover, in the animated film The Lorax (2012), made a cameo in the sitcom New Girl (2013), and had a supporting role in the film adaptation of The Giver (2014).
2014–2018: 1989 and Reputation
In March 2014, Swift lived in New York City. Around this time, she was working on her fifth studio album, 1989, with producers Jack Antonoff, Max Martin, Shellback, Imogen Heap, Ryan Tedder, and Ali Payami. She promoted the album through various campaigns, including inviting fans to secret album-listening sessions. Influenced by 1980s synth-pop, Swift severed ties with the country sound of her previous albums, and marketed 1989 as her "first documented, official pop album". The album was released on October 27, 2014, and debuted atop the US Billboard 200 with sales of 1.28 million copies in its first week. This made Swift the first act to have three albums sell more than one million copies in their opening week, for which she earned a Guinness World Record. By June 2017, 1989 had sold over 10 million copies worldwide. Three of its singles—"Shake It Off", "Blank Space", and "Bad Blood" featuring rapper Kendrick Lamar—reached number one in Australia, Canada, and the U.S. The singles "Style" and "Wildest Dreams" reached the top 10 in the U.S. Other singles were "Out of the Woods" and "New Romantics". The 1989 World Tour ran from May to December 2015 and was the highest-grossing tour of the year with $250 million in total revenue.
Prior to 1989s release, Swift stressed the importance of albums to artists and fans. In November 2014, she removed her entire catalog from Spotify, arguing that the streaming company's ad-supported, free service undermined the premium service, which provides higher royalties for songwriters. In a June 2015 open letter, Swift criticized Apple Music for not offering royalties to artists during the streaming service's free three-month trial period and stated that she would pull 1989 from the catalog. The following day, Apple announced that it would pay artists during the free trial period, and Swift agreed to stream 1989 on the streaming service. Swift's intellectual property rights management and holding company, TAS Rights Management, filed for 73 trademarks related to Swift and the 1989 era memes. She re-added her entire catalog plus 1989 to Spotify, Amazon Music and Google Play and other digital streaming platforms in June 2017.
Swift was named Billboards Woman of the Year in 2014, becoming the first artist to win the award twice. At the 2014 American Music Awards, Swift received the inaugural Dick Clark Award for Excellence. In 2015, Swift won the Brit Award for International Female Solo Artist. The video for "Bad Blood" won Video of the Year and Best Collaboration at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards. Swift was one of eight artists to receive a 50th Anniversary Milestone Award at the 2015 Academy of Country Music Awards. At the 58th Grammy Awards in 2016, 1989 won Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album, and "Bad Blood" won Best Music Video. Swift was the first woman and fifth act overall to win Album of the Year twice as a lead artist.
Swift dated Scottish DJ and record producer Calvin Harris from March 2015 to June 2016. Prior to their breakup, they co-wrote the song "This Is What You Came For", which features vocals from Barbadian singer Rihanna; Swift was initially credited under the pseudonym Nils Sjöberg. After briefly dating English actor Tom Hiddleston for a few months, Swift began dating English actor Joe Alwyn in September 2016. She wrote the song "Better Man" for Little Big Town's seventh album, The Breaker, which was released in November. The song earned Swift an award for Song of the Year at the 51st CMA Awards. Swift and English singer Zayn Malik released a single together, "I Don't Wanna Live Forever", for the soundtrack of the film Fifty Shades Darker (2017). The song reached number two in the U.S. and won Best Collaboration at the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards.
In August 2017, Swift successfully sued David Mueller, a former morning show personality for Denver's KYGO-FM. Four years earlier, Swift had informed Mueller's bosses that he had sexually assaulted her by groping her at an event. After being fired, Mueller accused Swift of lying and sued her for damages from his loss of employment. Shortly after, Swift counter-sued for sexual assault for nominal damages of only a dollar. The jury rejected Mueller's claims and ruled in favor of Swift. After a year of hiatus from public spotlight, Swift cleared her social media accounts and released "Look What You Made Me Do" as the lead single from her sixth album, Reputation. The single was Swift's first number-one U.K. single. It topped charts in Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, and the U.S.
Reputation was released on November 10, 2017. The album incorporates a heavy electropop sound, with hip hop, R&B and EDM influences. It debuted atop the Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 1.21 million copies. With this achievement, Swift became the first act to have four albums sell one million copies within one week in the U.S. The album topped the charts in the UK, Australia, and Canada. First-week worldwide sales amounted to two million copies. The album had sold over 4.5 million copies worldwide as of 2018. It spawned three other international singles, including the U.S. top-five entry "...Ready for It?", and two U.S. top-20 singles—"End Game" (featuring Ed Sheeran and rapper Future) and "Delicate". Other singles include "New Year's Day", which was exclusively released to U.S. country radio, and "Getaway Car", which was released in Australia only.
In April 2018, Swift featured on Sugarland's "Babe" from their album Bigger. In support of Reputation, she embarked on her Reputation Stadium Tour, which ran from May to November 2018. In the U.S., the tour grossed $266.1 million in box office and sold over two million tickets, breaking Swift's own record for the highest-grossing U.S. tour by a woman, which was previously held by her 1989 World Tour in 2015 ($181.5 million). It also broke the record for the highest-grossing North American concert tour in history. Worldwide, the tour grossed $345.7 million, making it the second highest-grossing concert tour of the year. On December 31, Swift released her Reputation Stadium Tour's accompanying concert film on Netflix.
Reputation was nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards in 2019. At the American Music Awards of 2018, Swift won four awards, including Artist of the Year and Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist. After the 2018 AMAs, Swift garnered a total of 23 awards, becoming the most awarded female musician in AMA history, a record previously held by Whitney Houston.
2018–2020: Lover and masters dispute
Reputation was Swift's last album under her 12-year contract with Big Machine Records. In November 2018, she signed a new multi-album deal with Big Machine's distributor Universal Music Group; in the U.S. her subsequent releases were promoted under the Republic Records imprint. Swift said the contract included a provision for her to maintain ownership of her master recordings. In addition, in the event that Universal sells any part of its stake in Spotify, which agreed to distribute a non-recoupable portion of the proceeds among their artists. Vox called it is a huge commitment from Universal, which was "far from assured" until Swift intervened.
Swift released her seventh studio album, Lover, on August 23, 2019. Besides longtime collaborator Jack Antonoff, Swift worked with new producers Louis Bell, Frank Dukes, and Joel Little. Lover made Swift the first female artist to have sixth consecutive album sell more than 500,000 copies in one week in the U.S. All 18 songs from the album charted on the Billboard Hot 100 the same week, setting a record for the most simultaneous entries by a woman. The lead single, "Me!", debuted at number 100 on the Billboard Hot 100 and rose to number two a week later, scoring the biggest single-week jump in chart history. Other singles from Lover were the U.S. top-10 singles "You Need to Calm Down" and "Lover", and U.S. top-40 single "The Man".
Lover was the world's best-selling studio album of 2019, selling 3.2 million copies. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) honored Swift as the global best-selling artist of 2019. Swift became first woman to win the honor twice, having previously won in 2014. The album earned accolades, including three nominations at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards in 2020. At the 2019 MTV Video Music Awards, "Me!" won Best Visual Effects, and "You Need to Calm Down" won Video of the Year and Video for Good. Swift was the first female and second artist overall to win Video of the Year for a video that they directed.
Swift played Bombalurina in the movie adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Cats (2019). For the film's soundtrack, she co-wrote and recorded the Golden Globe-nominated original song "Beautiful Ghosts". Although critics reviewed the film negatively, Swift received positive feedback for her role and musical performance. The documentary Miss Americana, which chronicles part of Swift's life and career, premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival and was released on Netflix that January. Miss Americana features the song "Only the Young", which Swift wrote after the 2018 United States elections. In February 2020, Swift signed an exclusive global publishing deal with Universal Music Publishing Group, after her 16-year-old contract with Sony/ATV Music Publishing expired.
In 2019, Swift became embroiled in a publicized dispute with talent manager Scooter Braun and her former label Big Machine, regarding the acquisition of the masters of her back catalog. Swift stated on her Tumblr blog that she had been trying to buy the masters for years, but Big Machine only allowed her to do so if she exchanged a new album for an older one under another contract, which she refused to do. Against Swift's authorization, Big Machine, in April 2020, released Live from Clear Channel Stripped 2008, a live album of Swift's performances at a radio show. In October, Braun sold Swift's masters, videos and artworks, to Shamrock Holdings for a reported $300 million. Swift began re-recording her back catalog in November 2020. Rolling Stone highlighted this decision, along with her opposition to low royalties for artists from streaming services such as Spotify and Apple Music as two of the music industry's most defining moments in the 2010s decade. In April 2020, Swift was scheduled to embark on Lover Fest, the supporting concert tour for Lover, which was canceled after the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.
2020–present: Folklore, Evermore, and re-recordings
In 2020, Swift released two surprise albums with little promotion, to critical acclaim. The first, her eighth studio album Folklore, was released on July 24. The second, her ninth studio album Evermore, was released on December 11. Described by Swift and Dessner as "sister records", both albums incorporate indie folk and alternative rock, departing from the previous upbeat pop releases. Swift wrote and recorded the albums while in isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic, working with producers Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner from the National. Both albums feature collaborations with Bon Iver, and Evermore features collaborations with the National and Haim. Swift's boyfriend Joe Alwyn co-wrote and co-produced select songs under the pseudonym William Bowery. The making of Folklore was discussed in the concert documentary Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions, directed by Swift and released on November 25.
In the U.S., Folklore and Evermore were each supported by three singles—one to mainstream radio, one to country radio, and one to triple A radio. The singles in that order were "Cardigan", "Betty", "Exile" (featuring Bon Iver); and "Willow", "No Body, No Crime" (featuring Haim), "Coney Island" (featuring the National); respectively. The lead singles from each album, "Cardigan" and "Willow", opened at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 the same week their parent albums debuted atop the Billboard 200. This made Swift the first artist to debut atop both the U.S. singles and albums charts simultaneously twice. Each album sold over one million units worldwide in its first week, with Folklore selling two million. Folklore broke the Guinness World Record for the highest first-day album streams by a female artist on Spotify, and was the best-selling album of 2020 in the U.S., having sold 1.2 million copies. Swift was 2020's highest-paid musician in the U.S., and highest-paid solo musician worldwide. At the 2020 American Music Awards, Swift won three awards, including Artist of the Year for a record third consecutive time. Folklore won Album of the Year at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards, making Swift the first woman in history to win the award three times.
Following the masters controversy, Swift released two re-recordings in 2021, adding "Taylor's Version" to their titles. The first, Fearless (Taylor's Version), peaked atop the Billboard 200, becoming the first re-recorded album to do so. It was preceded by the three tracks: "Love Story (Taylor's Version)", "You All Over Me" with Maren Morris, and "Mr. Perfectly Fine", the first of which made Swift the second artist after Dolly Parton to have both the original and the re-recording of a single at number one on the Hot Country Songs. Swift released "Wildest Dreams (Taylors Version)" on September 17, after the original song gained traction on the online-video sharing app TikTok. The second re-recording Red (Taylor's Version) was released on November 12. Its final track, "All Too Well (10 Minute Version)"—accompanied by All Too Well: The Short Film directed by Swift—debuted at number one on the Hot 100, becoming the longest song in history to top the chart. She was the highest-paid female musician of 2021, whereas both her 2020 albums and the re-recordings were ranked among the 10 best-selling albums of the year. In May 2021, Swift was awarded the Global Icon Award by the Brit Awards and the Songwriter Icon Award by the National Music Publishers' Association.
Outside her albums, Swift featured on four songs in 2021–2022: "Renegade" and "Birch" by Big Red Machine, a remix of Haim's "Gasoline" and Ed Sheeran's "The Joker and the Queen". She has been cast in David O. Russell's untitled film slated for release in November 2022.
Artistry
Influences
One of Swift's earliest musical memories is listening to her grandmother, Marjorie Finlay, sing in church. As a child, she enjoyed Disney film soundtracks: "My parents noticed that, once I had run out of words, I would just make up my own". Swift has said she owes her confidence to her mother, who helped her prepare for class presentations as a child. She also attributes her "fascination with writing and storytelling" to her mother. Swift was drawn to the storytelling aspect of country music, and was introduced to the genre listening to "the great female country artists" of the 1990s—Shania Twain, Faith Hill, and the Dixie Chicks. Twain, both as a songwriter and performer, was her biggest musical influence. Hill was Swift's childhood role model: "Everything she said, did, wore, I tried to copy it". She admired the Dixie Chicks' defiant attitude and their ability to play their own instruments. "Kiss Me" by Sixpence None the Richer was the first song Swift learned to play on the guitar. Swift also explored the music of older country stars such as Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, Tammy Wynette, and Dolly Parton, the latter of whom she believes is "an amazing example to every female songwriter out there", and alt-country artists like Patty Griffin and Lori McKenna. She has also cited Keith Urban's musical style as an influence.
Swift has also been influenced by various pop and rock artists. She lists Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen, Bryan Adams, Emmylou Harris, Kris Kristofferson, and Carly Simon as her career role models. Discussing McCartney and Harris, Swift has said, "They've taken chances, but they've also been the same artist for their entire careers". McCartney, both as a Beatle and a solo artist, makes Swift feel "as if I've been let into his heart and his mind [...] He's out there continuing to make his fans so happy. Any musician could only dream of a legacy like that." She likes Springsteen for being "so musically relevant after such a long period of time". She aspires to be like Harris as she grows older because of prioritizing music over fame. Swift says of Kristofferson that he "shines in songwriting", and admires Simon for being "an emotional" but "a strong person". Her synth-pop album 1989 was influenced by some of her favorite 1980s pop acts, including Peter Gabriel, Annie Lennox, Phil Collins and Madonna. As a songwriter, Swift was influenced by Joni Mitchell for her autobiographical lyrics conveying the deepest emotions: "She wrote it about her deepest pains and most haunting demons ... I think [Blue] is my favorite because it explores somebody's soul so deeply".
Musical styles
Swift's discography spans country, pop, folk, and alternative genres. Her first three studio albums, Taylor Swift, Fearless and Speak Now are categorized as country; her eclectic fourth studio album, Red, is dubbed both country and pop; her next three albums 1989, Reputation and Lover are labeled pop; and Folklore and Evermore are considered alternative. Music critics have described her songs as synth-pop, country pop, rock, electropop, and indie, amongst others; some songs, especially those on Reputation, incorporate elements of R&B, EDM, hip hop, and trap. The music instruments Swift plays include the piano, banjo, ukulele and various types of guitar. Swift described herself as a country artist until the release of 1989, which she characterized as her first "sonically cohesive pop album".
Rolling Stone wrote, "[Swift] might get played on the country station, but she's one of the few genuine rock stars we've got these days." According to The New York Times, "There isn't much in Ms. Swift's music to indicate country—a few banjo strums, a pair of cowboy boots worn onstage, a bedazzled guitar—but there's something in her winsome, vulnerable delivery that's unique to Nashville." The Guardian wrote that Swift "cranks melodies out with the pitiless efficiency of a Scandinavian pop factory." Consequence pinpointed her "capacity to continually reinvent while remaining herself", while Time dubbed Swift a "musical chameleon" for the constantly evolving sound of her discography. Clash said her career "has always been one of transcendence and covert boundary-pushing", reaching a point at which "Taylor Swift is just Taylor Swift", not defined by any genre.
Voice
Swift possesses a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Her singing voice is "sweet but soft" according to Sophie Schillaci of The Hollywood Reporter. Pitchfork's Sam Sodomsky called it "versatile and expressive". Music theory professor Alyssa Barna described the timbre of Swift's upper register as "breathy and bright", and her lower register "full and dark". The Los Angeles Times identified Swift's "defining" vocal gesture in studio recordings as "the line that slides down like a contented sigh or up like a raised eyebrow, giving her beloved girl-time hits their air of easy intimacy." In 2010, a writer from The Tennessean conceded that Swift was "not the best technical singer", but described her as the "best communicator that we've got". According to Swift, her vocal ability often concerned her in her early career, and she worked hard to improve it. She said she only feels nervous performing live "if I'm not sure what the audience thinks of me, like at award shows". The Hollywood Reporter wrote that her live vocals were "fine", but did not match those of her peers.
Though Swift's singing ability received mixed reviews early in her career, she was praised for refusing to correct her pitch with Auto-Tune. Rolling Stone found her voice "unaffected enough to mask how masterful she has become as a singer", while The Village Voice noted the improvement from her previously "bland and muddled" phrasing to her learning "how to make words sound like what they mean". In 2014, NPR Music described her singing as personal and conversational thanks to her "exceptional gift for inflection", but also suffered from a "wobbly pitch and tight, nasal delivery". Beginning with Folklore, she received better reviews for her vocals; Variety critic Andrew Barker noted the "remarkable" control she developed over her vocals, never allowing a "flourish or a tricky run to compromise the clarity of a lyric", while doing "wonders within her register" and "exploring its further reaches". Reviewing Fearless (Taylor's Version), The New York Times critic Lindsay Zoladz described her voice as stronger, more controlled, and deeper over time, discarding the nasal tone of her early vocals. Lucy Harbron of Clash opined that Swift's vocals have evolved "into her own unique blend of country, pop and indie".
Songwriting
Swift has been referred to as one of the greatest songwriters of all time and the best of her generation by various publications and organizations. She told The New Yorker in 2011 that she identifies as a songwriter first: "I write songs, and my voice is just a way to get those lyrics across." Swift's personal experiences were a common inspiration for her early songs, which helped her navigate the complexities of life. Her "diaristic" technique began with identifying an emotion, followed by a corresponding melody. On her first three studio albums, recurring themes were love, heartbreak, and insecurities, from an adolescent perspective. She delved into the tumult of toxic relationships on Red, and embraced nostalgia and positivity after failed relationships on 1989. Reputation was inspired by the downsides of Swift's fame, and Lover detailed her realization of the "full spectrum of love". Besides romance, other themes in Swift's music include parent-child relationships, friendships, alienation, and self-awareness.
Music critics often praise her self-written discography, especially her confessional narratives; they compliment her writing for its vivid details and emotional engagement, which were rare among pop artists. New York magazine argued that Swift was the first teenage artist who explicitly portrayed teenage experiences in her music. Rolling Stone described Swift as "a songwriting savant with an intuitive gift for verse-chorus-bridge architecture". Although reviews of Swift are generally positive, The New Yorker stated she was generally portrayed "more as a skilled technician than as a Dylanesque visionary". Because of her confessional narratives, tabloid media often speculated and linked the subjects of the songs with ex-lovers of Swift, a practice which New York magazine considered "sexist, inasmuch as it's not asked of her male peers". Aside from clues provided in album liner notes, Swift avoided talking about song subjects specifically. In a 2013 interview with Vanity Fair, Swift stated that the criticism on her songwriting—critics interpreted her persona as a "clingy, insane, desperate girlfriend in need of making you marry her and have kids with her"—was "a little sexist".
On her 2020 albums Folklore and Evermore, Swift was inspired by escapism and romanticism to explore fictional narratives. Without referencing her personal life, she imposed her emotions onto imagined characters and story arcs, which liberated her from the mental stress caused by tabloid attention and suggested new paths for her artistry. In a feature for Rolling Stone, Swift explained that she welcomed the new songwriting direction after she stopped worrying about commercial success: "I always thought, 'That'll never track on pop radio,' but when I was making Folklore, I thought, 'If you take away all the parameters, what do you make?" With the release of Evermore, Spin found Swift exploring "exceedingly complex human emotions with precision and devastation". Consequence stated her 2020 albums "offered a chance for doubters to see Swift's songwriting power on full display, but the truth is that her pen has always been her sword" and that her writing prowess took "different forms" as she transformed from "teenage wunderkind to a confident and careful adult."
Swift's bridges have been underscored as one of the best aspects of her songs and earned her the title "Queen of Bridges" from media outlets. Awarding her with the Songwriter Icon Award in 2021, the National Music Publishers' Association remarked that "no one is more influential when it comes to writing music today" than Swift. The Week deemed her the foremost female songwriter of modern times. Swift has also published two original poems: "Why She Disappeared" and "If You're Anything Like Me".
Music videos
Swift has collaborated with many different directors to produce her music videos, and over time she has become more involved with writing and directing. She has her own production house, Taylor Swift Productions, Inc., which is credited with producing music videos for singles such as "Me!". Swift developed the concept and treatment for "Mean", and co-directed the music video for "Mine" with Roman White. In an interview, White elaborated that Swift "was keenly involved in writing the treatment, casting and wardrobe. And she stayed for both the 15-hour shooting days, even when she wasn't in the scenes."
From 2014 to 2018, Swift collaborated with director Joseph Kahn on eight music videos—four each from her albums 1989 and Reputation. Kahn has praised Swift's involvement in the craft. She worked with American Express for the "Blank Space" music video (which Kahn directed), and served as an executive producer for the interactive app AMEX Unstaged: Taylor Swift Experience, for which she won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Interactive Program in 2015. She produced the music video for "Bad Blood" and won a Grammy Award for Best Music Video in 2016. While she continued to co-direct music videos with the Lover singles—"Me!" with Dave Meyers, "You Need to Calm Down" (also serving as a co-executive producer) and "Lover" with Drew Kirsch—she ventured into sole direction with the videos for "The Man" (which won her the MTV Video Music Award for Best Direction), "Cardigan" and "Willow".
Public image
Swift became a teen idol with her debut, and a pop icon following global fame. Journalists have written about her polite, "open" personality, "willing to play along" during the course of an interview. J. Freedom du Lac of The Washington Post called Swift a "media darling" and "a reporter's dream". The Guardian attributed her disposition to her formative years in country music. The Hollywood Reporter described Swift as "the Best People Person since Bill Clinton". While presenting her with an award for her humanitarian endeavors in 2012, former First Lady Michelle Obama described Swift as an artist who "has rocketed to the top of the music industry but still keeps her feet on the ground, someone who has shattered every expectation of what a 22-year-old can accomplish"; Swift considers Obama to be a role model.
In 2015, Vanity Fair referred to Swift as "the most famous and influential entertainer on Earth". According to YouGov surveys, she ranked as the world's most admired female musician from 2019 to 2021. One of the most followed people on social media, Swift is known for her frequent and friendly interactions with her fans, delivering holiday gifts to them by mail and in person. She considers it her "responsibility" to be conscious of her influence on young fans, praising her relationship with her fans as "the longest and best" she has ever had. Swift regularly incorporates easter eggs into her works and social media posts for fans to figure out clues about a forthcoming release. Fawzia Khan of Elle attributes Swift's "perennial" success partly to her intimacy with fans.
Media outlets describe Swift as a savvy businessperson. According to marketing executive Matt B. Britton, her business acumen has helped her "excel as an authentic personality who establishes direct connections with her audience", "touch as many people as possible", and "generate a kind of advocacy and excitement that no level of advertising could." Describing her omnipresence, The Ringer writer Kate Knibbs said Swift is not just a pop act but "a musical biosphere unto herself", having achieved the kind of success "that turns a person into an institution, into an inevitability."
Though Swift is reluctant to publicly discuss her personal life—believing it to be "a career weakness"—it is a topic of widespread media attention and tabloid speculation. Clash described her as a lightning rod for both praise and criticism. While The New York Times asserted in 2013 that Swift's "dating history has begun to stir what feels like the beginning of a backlash" and questioned whether she was in the midst of a "quarter-life crisis", certain critics have highlighted the misogyny and slut-shaming Swift's life and career have been subject to. She parodied this scrutiny in "Blank Space". Rolling Stone said, after the release of 1989, "everything she did was a story", with a non-stop news cycle about her, leaving her overexposed. Much of Reputation was conceived under the "intense" media scrutiny she experienced in 2015 and 2016, causing her to adopt a dark, defensive alter ego on the album. She criticized sexist double standards and gaslighting in "The Man" (2019) and "Mad Woman" (2020), respectively. When asked "why sing to the haters?" by CBS journalist Tracy Smith, Swift replied, "well, when they stop coming for me, I will stop singing to them." Glamour opined Swift is an easy target for male derision and triggers "fragile male egos" to take "pot-shots" at her career. The Daily Telegraph said her antennae for sexism is crucial for the industry and that she "must continue holding people to account".
Fashion
Swift's fashion is often covered by media outlets, with her street style receiving acclaim. Her fashion appeal has been picked up by several media publications, such as People, Elle, Vogue, and Maxim. Vogue regards Swift as one of the world's most influential figures in sustainable fashion. Elle highlighted the various styles she has adopted throughout her career, including the "curly-haired teenager" of her early days to "red-lipped pop bombshell" with "platinum blonde hair and sultry makeup looks" later on. Swift is known for reinventing her image often, corresponding each one of her albums to a specific aesthetic. Swift also popularized cottagecore with Folklore and Evermore. Consequence opined that Swift's looks evolved from "girl-next-door country act to pop star to woodsy poet over a decade."
Though labeled by the media as "America's Sweetheart", a sobriquet based on her down-to-earth personality and girl-next-door image, Swift insists she does not "live by all these rigid, weird rules that make me feel all fenced in. I just like the way that I feel like, and that makes me feel very free". Although she refused to take part in "sexy" photoshoots in 2012, she stated "it's nice to be glamorous" in 2015. Bloomberg views Swift as a sex symbol, albeit of a subtle and sophisticated variety unlike many of her female contemporaries.
Impact
Swift's career helped shape the modern country music scene. According to music journalist Jody Rosen, Swift is the first country artist whose fame reached the world beyond the U.S. Her chart success extended to Asia and the U.K., where country music had previously not been popular. She is recognized as one of the first country artists to use technology and viral marketing techniques, such as MySpace, to promote their work. According to Chris Willman of Entertainment Weekly, the commercial success of her debut album helped the infant Big Machine Records go on to sign Garth Brooks and Jewel. Following Swift's rise to fame, country labels became more interested in signing young singers who write their own music. With her autobiographical narratives revolving around romance and heartbreak, she introduced the genre to a younger generation that could relate to her personally. Critics have since noted the impact of Swift's sound on various albums released by female country singers such as Kacey Musgraves, Maren Morris and Kelsea Ballerini. Rolling Stone listed her country music as one of the biggest influences on 2010s pop music and ranked her 80th in their list of 100 Greatest Country Artists of All Time.Her onstage performance with guitars contributed to the "Taylor Swift factor", a phenomenon to which the rise in guitar sales to women, a previously ignored demographic, is attributed. Pitchfork opined that Swift changed the contemporary music landscape forever with her "unprecedented path from teenage country prodigy to global pop sensation" and a "singularly perceptive" discography that consistently accommodates both musical and cultural shifts. Clash stated Swift's genre-spanning career encouraged her peers to experiment with diverse sounds. Billboard credited her with influencing artists to take creative ownership of their music and remarked she "has the power to pull any sound she wants into mainstream orbit." Music journalist Nick Catucci wrote that, in being personal and vulnerable in her lyrics, Swift helped make space for later pop stars like Billie Eilish, Ariana Grande, and Halsey to do the same. According to The Guardian, Swift leads the rebirth of poptimism in the 21st-century with her ambitious artistic vision.
Publications consider Swift's million-selling albums an anomaly in the streaming-dominated music industry following the decline of the album era in the 2010s. For this reason, musicologists Mary Fogarty and Gina Arnold regard her as "the last great rock star". Swift is the only artist to have four albums sell over one million copies in one week since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking sales for the Billboard 200 in 1991. To New York magazine, her million sales figures prove that she is "the one bending the music industry to her will". The Atlantic notes that Swift's "reign" defies the convention that the successful phase of an artist's career rarely lasts more than a few years. She is a champion of independent record shops, having contributed to the 21st-century vinyl revival. Journalists note how her actions have fostered debate over reforms to on-demand music streaming and prompted awareness of intellectual property rights among younger musicians, praising her ability to bring change in the music industry.
She was named Woman of the Decade for the 2010s by Billboard, became the first woman to earn the title Artist of the Decade (2010s) at the American Music Awards, and received the Brit Global Icon Award "in recognition of her immense impact on music across the world". Swift has influenced various mainstream and indie recording artists. Various sources deem her music to be representative and paradigmatic of the millennial generation, owing to her success, musical versatility, social media presence, live shows, and corporate sponsorship. Vox called Swift the "millennial Bruce Springsteen" for telling the stories of a generation through her songs. Student societies focusing on her were established in various universities around the world, such as Oxford, York, and Cambridge. New York University Tisch School of the Arts offers a course on Swift's career. Some of her popular songs like "Love Story" are studied by evolutionary psychologists to understand the relationship between popular music and human mating strategies.
Accolades and achievements
Swift has won 11 Grammy Awards (including three Album of the Year wins—tied for most by an artist), an Emmy Award, 34 American Music Awards (most wins by an artist), 25 Billboard Music Awards (most wins by a woman), 56 Guinness World Records, 12 Country Music Association Awards (including the Pinnacle Award), eight Academy of Country Music Awards, and two Brit Awards. As a songwriter, she has been honored by the Nashville Songwriters Association, the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and the National Music Publishers' Association and was the youngest person on Rolling Stone list of the 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time in 2015. At the 64th BMI Awards in 2016, Swift was the first woman to be honored with an award named after its recipient. Her albums Red and 1989 appeared on Rolling Stone's 2020 revision of their 500 Greatest Albums of All Time; in 2021, her "Blank Space" music video named one of Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Music Videos of All Time, while the songs "All Too Well" and "Blank Space" were on its 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
From available data, Swift has amassed over 50 million album sales, 150 million singles sales, and 114 million units in album consumption worldwide, including 78 billion streams. Swift has the most number-one albums in the United Kingdom and Ireland for a female artist in this millennium, and is the best-selling artist of all time on Chinese digital music platforms with in income. She is the only female artist to have received more than 100 million global streams on Spotify in a day, with over 122 million streams on November 11, 2021. Swift broke the record for the highest-grossing North American tour of all time with her Reputation Stadium Tour (2018) and is the world's highest-grossing female touring act of the 2010s. She has the most entries and the most simultaneous entries for an artist on the Billboard Global 200, with 69 and 31 songs, respectively.
In the US, Swift has sold over 37.3 million albums as of 2019, when Billboard placed her eighth on its Greatest of All Time Artists Chart. She is the longest-reigning act of Billboard Artist 100 (50 weeks at number one), the solo act with the most cumulative weeks (55) atop the Billboard 200, the woman with the most weeks atop the Top Country Albums (98) and the most Billboard Hot 100 entries in history (165), and the artist with the most Digital Songs number-ones (23). She is the second highest-certified female digital singles artist (and third overall) in the US, with 134 million total units certified by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and the first female artist to have both an album (Fearless) and a song ("Shake It Off") certified Diamond. In 2021, one of every 50 albums sold in the US was Swift's, who became the first woman to have five albums—1989, Taylor Swift, Fearless, Red and Reputation—chart for 150 weeks each on the Billboard 200.
Swift has appeared in various power listings. Time included her on its annual list of the 100 most influential people in 2010, 2015, and 2019. She was one of the "Silence Breakers" honored as Time Person of the Year in 2017 for speaking up about sexual assault. From 2011 to 2020, Swift appeared in the top three on the Forbes Top-Earning Women in Music list, placing first in 2016 and 2019. In 2014, she was named to Forbes' 30 Under 30 list in the music category and again in 2017 in its "All-Star Alumni" category. In 2015, Swift became the youngest woman to be included on Forbes list of the 100 most powerful women, ranked at number 64. She was the most googled female musician of 2019.
Other activities
Wealth and properties
In 2021, Forbes estimated Swift's net worth at US$550 million, coming from her music, merchandise, promotions, and concerts. She topped the magazine's list of the 100 highest-paid celebrities in 2016 with $170 million—a feat recognized by the Guinness World Records as the highest annual earnings ever for a female musician, which she herself surpassed in 2019 with $185 million. Swift was the highest-paid female musician of the 2010s, with $825 million earned.
Swift has invested in a real estate portfolio worth $84 million. For example, she purchased the Samuel Goldwyn Estate, a Georgian-revival house in Beverly Hills, for $25 million in 2015, which she has since restored to its original condition and contains Swift's home studio, Kitty Committee, where she recorded songs for Folklore. In 2013, she purchased the Holiday House, a seafront mansion in Watch Hill, Rhode Island. Gina Raimondo, then-Governor of Rhode Island, proposed in 2015 a statewide property tax for second homes worth more than $1 million, dubbed the "Taylor Swift tax". In New York City, her $47 million worth of property on a single block in Tribeca includes a $19.95 million duplex penthouse, an $18 million four-story townhouse, and a $9.75 million apartment purchased in 2014, 2017 and 2018, respectively.
Philanthropy
Swift is well known for her philanthropic efforts. She was ranked at number one on DoSomething's "Gone Good" list, and has received the "Star of Compassion" accolade from the Tennessee Disaster Services, The Big Help Award from the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards for her "dedication to helping others" as well as "inspiring others through action", and the Ripple of Hope Award for her "dedication to advocacy at such a young age". In 2008, she donated $100,000 to the Red Cross to help the victims of the Iowa flood. Swift has performed at charity relief events, including Sydney's Sound Relief concert. In response to the May 2010 Tennessee floods, Swift donated $500,000 during a telethon hosted by WSMV. In 2011, Swift used a dress rehearsal of her Speak Now tour as a benefit concert for victims of recent tornadoes in the U.S., raising more than $750,000. In 2016, she donated $1 million to Louisiana flood relief efforts and $100,000 to the Dolly Parton Fire Fund. Swift donated to the Houston Food Bank after Hurricane Harvey struck the city in 2017. In 2020, she donated $1 million for Tennessee tornado relief.
Swift is a supporter of the arts. She is a benefactor of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. She has donated $75,000 to Nashville's Hendersonville High School to help refurbish the school auditorium, $4 million to fund the building of a new education center at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, $60,000 to the music departments of six U.S. colleges, and $100,000 to the Nashville Symphony. Also a promoter of children's literacy, she has donated money and books to various schools around the country to improve education. In 2007, Swift partnered with the Tennessee Association of Chiefs of Police to launch a campaign to protect children from online predators. She has donated items to several charities for auction, including the Elton John AIDS Foundation, the UNICEF Tap Project, MusiCares, and Feeding America. As recipient of the Academy of Country Music's Entertainer of the Year in 2011, Swift donated $25,000 to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Tennessee. In 2012, Swift participated in the Stand Up to Cancer telethon, performing the charity single "Ronan", which she wrote in memory of a four-year-old boy who died of neuroblastoma. She has also donated $100,000 to the V Foundation for Cancer Research and $50,000 to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Swift has encouraged young people to volunteer in their local communities as part of Global Youth Service Day.
Swift donated to fellow singer-songwriter Kesha to help with her legal battles against Dr. Luke and to actress Mariska Hargitay's Joyful Heart Foundation organization. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Swift donated to the World Health Organization and Feeding America and offered one of her signed guitars as part of an auction to raise money for the National Health Service. Swift performed "Soon You'll Get Better" during One World: Together At Home television special, a benefit concert curated by Lady Gaga for Global Citizen to raise funds for the World Health Organization's COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund. In 2018 and 2021, Swift donated to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network in honor of Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month. In addition to charitable causes, she has made donations to her fans several times for their medical or academic expenses.
Politics and activism
Swift is pro-choice, and has been regarded as a feminist icon by various publications. During the 2008 United States presidential election, she promoted the Every Woman Counts campaign, aimed at engaging women in the political process. She was one of the founding signatories of the Time's Up movement against sexual harassment. Swift has also spoken out against LGBT discrimination, which was the theme of the music video for "Mean". On multiple occasions, she encouraged support for the Equality Act, which prohibits discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation and gender identity, among others. In 2019, she donated to the LGBT organizations Tennessee Equality Project and GLAAD.
Swift avoided discussing politics in her early career because country record label executives insisted "Don't be like the Dixie Chicks!", and first became active during the 2018 United States elections. She declared her support for Democrats Jim Cooper and Phil Bredesen to represent Tennessee in the House of Representatives and Senate, respectively, and expressed her desire for greater LGBT rights, gender equality and racial equality, condemned systemic racism. In August 2020, Swift urged her fans to check their voter registration ahead of elections, which resulted in 65,000 people registering to vote within a day after her post. She endorsed Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in the 2020 United States presidential election, and was found to be one of the most influential celebrities in the polls.
Swift has supported the March for Our Lives movement and gun control reform in the U.S, and is a vocal critic of white supremacy, racism, and police brutality in the country. Following the murders of African-American men Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd, she donated to the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and the Black Lives Matter movement. After then-president Donald Trump posted a controversial tweet on the unrest in Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Swift accused him of promoting white supremacy and racism in his term. She called for the removal of Confederate monuments of "racist historical figures" in Tennessee, and advocated for Juneteenth to become a national holiday.
Endorsements
During the Fearless era, Swift supported campaigns by Verizon Wireless and "Got Milk?". She launched a l.e.i. sundress range at Walmart, and designed American Greetings cards and Jakks Pacific dolls. She became a spokesperson for the National Hockey League's (NHL) Nashville Predators and Sony Cyber-shot digital cameras. She launched two Elizabeth Arden fragrances—Wonderstruck and Wonderstruck Enchanted. In 2013, she released the fragrances Taylor by Taylor Swift and Taylor by Taylor Swift: Made of Starlight, followed by her fifth fragrance, Incredible Things, in 2014.
Swift signed a multi-year deal with AT&T in 2016. She later headlined DirecTV's Super Saturday Night event on the eve of the 2017 Super Bowl. In 2019, Swift signed a multi-year partnership with Capital One, and released a sustainable clothing line with Stella McCartney. In 2022, in light of her philanthropic support for independent record stores during the COVID-19 pandemic, Record Store Day named Swift their first-ever global ambassador.
Discography
Studio albums
Taylor Swift (2006)
Fearless (2008)
Speak Now (2010)
Red (2012)
1989 (2014)
Reputation (2017)
Lover (2019)
Folklore (2020)
Evermore (2020)
Re-recordings
Fearless (Taylor's Version) (2021)
Red (Taylor's Version) (2021)
Filmography
Hannah Montana: The Movie (2009)
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2009)
Valentine's Day (2010)
Journey to Fearless (2010)
The Lorax (2012)
The Giver (2014)
The 1989 World Tour Live (2015)
Taylor Swift: Reputation Stadium Tour (2018)
Cats (2019)
Miss Americana (2020)
City of Lover (2020)
Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions (2020)
All Too Well: The Short Film (2021)
Tours
Fearless Tour (2009–2010)
Speak Now World Tour (2011–2012)
The Red Tour (2013–2014)
The 1989 World Tour (2015)
Reputation Stadium Tour (2018)
See also
List of best-selling albums by year in the United States
List of best-selling singles in the United States
List of highest-certified music artists in the United States
Grammy Award records – Youngest artists to win Album of the Year
Grammy Award records – Most Grammys won by a female artist
List of American Grammy Award winners and nominees
List of Grammy Award winners and nominees by country
List of most-followed Instagram accounts
List of most-followed Twitter accounts
List of most-subscribed YouTube channels
Best-selling female artists of all time
Footnotes
References
External links
Taylor Swift
1989 births
Living people
21st-century American actresses
21st-century American guitarists
21st-century American pianists
21st-century American singers
21st-century American women guitarists
21st-century American women pianists
21st-century American women singers
Actresses from Nashville, Tennessee
Alternative rock singers
American acoustic guitarists
American country banjoists
American country guitarists
American country pianists
American country record producers
American country singer-songwriters
American country songwriters
American women country singers
American women pop singers
American women rock singers
American women singer-songwriters
American women songwriters
American women record producers
American feminists
American film actresses
American folk guitarists
American folk musicians
American folk singers
American mezzo-sopranos
American multi-instrumentalists
American music video directors
American people of German descent
American people of Italian descent
American people of Scottish descent
American pop guitarists
American pop pianists
American synth-pop musicians
American television actresses
American voice actresses
American women guitarists
American women pianists
Big Machine Records artists
Brit Award winners
Christians from Tennessee
Country musicians from Tennessee
Emmy Award winners
Female music video directors
Feminist musicians
Forbes 30 Under 30 multi-time recipients
Grammy Award winners
Guitarists from Pennsylvania
Guitarists from Tennessee
MTV Europe Music Award winners
Musicians from Nashville, Tennessee
NME Awards winners
RCA Records artists
Record producers from Tennessee
Republic Records artists
Singer-songwriters from Tennessee
Sony Music Publishing artists
Synth-pop singers
Universal Music Group artists
Featured articles
Singer-songwriters from Pennsylvania | false | [
"Astrid Hjertenæs Andersen (5 September 1915 – 21 April 1985) was a Norwegian poet and travel-writer. She is a recipient of the Norwegian Critics Prize for Literature (Kritikerprisen), Riksmål Society Literature Prize (Riksmålsprisen), Dobloug Prize (Doblougprisen), and the Norwegian Academy Prize in memory of Thorleif Dahl (Det Norske Akademi for Språk og Litteratur).\n\nBiography\nAstrid Gerd Judith Hjertenæs was born in Horten (now Borre) in Vestfold County, Norway. Her father was a naval officer assigned to Karljohansvern.\nShe attended a secretary and journalist school for women (Hallings sekretær- og journalistskole for damer). She later worked as a typist and journalist for Aftenposten, Norway's largest newspaper. In 1939, she married the painter Snorre Andersen (1914–1979), who later illustrated several of her poetry collections.\nHer work contained nature poems written to her husband's watercolors.\n\nDating from 1942, she devoted herself entirely writing. Her poems appeared often in both Aftenposten and Dagbladet. From the 1950s, Andersen wrote in the modernist direction of Norwegian post-war poetry. She had studied American poetry and drama during a one-year scholarship at Yale University. The poems show a clear connection to the symbolism of the past century and were often inspired by music and visual art. A strong personal artistic style, often with the use of free forms, together with the suggestive use of images and symbols, characterize her writings.\n\nAwards\nAstrid Andersen was awarded the Norwegian Critics Prize for Literature (Kritikerprisen) in 1964, Riksmål Society Literature Prize (Riksmålsprisen) in 1976 and Dobloug Prize (Doblougprisen) in 1984. Additionally in 1984, she received the Norwegian Academy Prize in memory of Thorleif Dahl (Det Norske Akademi for Språk og Litteratur).\n\nPartial bibliography \nDe ville traner – poems (1945)\nDe unge søylene – poems (1948)\nSkilpaddehagen – poems (1950)\nStrandens kvinner – poems (1955)\nVandrersken – poems (1957)\nPastoraler – poems (1960)\nFrokost i det grønne – poems (1964)\nDr. Gnomen – poems (1967)\nHyrdefløyten – epistler fra Algerie – travel writing 1968)\nRosenbusken – poems (1972)\nSvaner og nåtid – epistler fra Island – travel writing (1973)\nEt våroffer – poems (1976)\nDe tyve landskaper – poems (1980)\nSamlede dikt – poems (1985)\n\nReferences\n\n1915 births\n1985 deaths\nPeople from Horten\nNorwegian women poets\nNorwegian travel writers\nWomen travel writers\nNorwegian women non-fiction writers \n20th-century Norwegian women writers\n20th-century Norwegian poets\nNorwegian Critics Prize for Literature winners\nDobloug Prize winners",
"Michaela Guzy is a New York based American media executive, entrepreneur, and on-air show host. She is best known founding a content company focusing on people, places and purposes, OhThePeopleYouMeet, and for producing three award-winning series called 'Michaela's Map', 'InspirationStation' and 'Sleeping Around (Again) Safely'. She has traveled to various countries worldwide and produced travel videos about them, including Cuba and its local art, Bhutan, Beverly Hills, Burning Man in Nevada, Rwanda, and Los Cabos. Her footage has often appeared on morning shows, including CBS. She interviewed actress AnnaLynne McCord in Cambodia about the nonprofit organization together1heart, Christie Brinkley on wellness and Dr. Jane Goodall in her award winning episode of \"Michaela's Map: Sierra Leone\". She has traveled to Australia and the @Australia Instagram account shared a portion of the video footage. Her travel videos are featured on American Airlines flights. \n\nIn response to COVID, Michaela created a new IGTV show called: InspirationStation. As of the 102nd episode, the series has had over 4.2million+ views on IGTV. She has interviewed Richard Bailey, the Owner + CEO of The Brando Resort in Tahiti, The CEO of St. Kitt's Tourism, the CEO of Six Senses Resorts + Spas, the Head of CSR for JetBlue Airways and the award winning celebrity DJ as featured by the New York Times: D-Nice. \n\nAs of September 9, 2020, Michaela has been traveling across the USA + documenting the USA reopening to tourism in a video postcard series: \"Sleeping Around Again, Safely\" on Instagram. Including The Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills.\n\nGuzy’s travel tips and Michaela’s Map series footage were featured in three episodes of Bravotv.com’s Tour Group, including Tour Group Guide to Kenya, Tour Group Guide to Morocco and Tour Group Guide to Thailand. Guzy is an advocate for sustainable living. She often curates and hosts events to discuss sustainable travel experiences at CORE Club. She speaks at industry travel events, such as at TBEX and ESTO U.S. Travel Association. She moderated an event called \"The Great Rebranding: Luxury Travel\" from 30,000 foot view to YOU for the event series Bright Young Things by the International Luxury Travel Market (ILTM). Michaela wrote two white papers for ILTM covering travel trends and forecasts called The Great Rebranding of an Industry and What a 23 Year Old Can Teach You About Your Business. She appears on multiple morning shows across the country sharing her sustainable and immersive travel tips, in CBS New York, KPRC Houston Life, Fox2Now St. Louis, PIX 11 New York, WJLA Good Morning Washington DC, WTNH Good Morning Connecticut, and KTNV The Morning Blend Las Vegas.\n\nHer travel tips have been included in media outlets, such as Highways magazine, Forbes and Conde Nast Traveler. Her series are also distributed to sites like Thrive Global and the Clean Plates Collective.\n\nGuzy is also an adjunct professor at New York University School of Professional Studies, where she teaches a course called, \"Travel Storytelling: Creating Video Content\".\n\nEarly life\n\nGuzy was born in Missouri where she was raised before graduating from Spring Hill College.\n\nReferences \n\nLiving people\nAmerican media businesspeople\nNew York University faculty\nYear of birth missing (living people)"
]
|
[
"John Kasich",
"Abortion"
]
| C_2b98b6ca33de4d21a7e358160c7a67fa_1 | What was Kasichs stance on abortion | 1 | What was John Kasich's stance on abortion? | John Kasich | In 1982, Kasich ran for Congress in Ohio's 12th congressional district, which included portions of Columbus as well as the cities of Westerville, Reynoldsburg, Worthington, and Dublin. He won the Republican primary with 83% of the vote and defeated incumbent Democrat U.S. Congressman Bob Shamansky in the general election by a margin of 50%-47%. He was re-elected eight times after 1982, winning at least 64% of the vote each time. During his congressional career, Kasich was considered a fiscal conservative, taking aim at programs supported by Republicans and Democrats. He worked with Ralph Nader in seeking to reduce corporate tax loopholes. Kasich was a member of the House Armed Services Committee for 18 years. He developed a "fairly hawkish" reputation on that committee, although he "also zealously challenged" defense spending he considered wasteful. Among the Pentagon projects that he targeted were the B-2 bomber program (teaming up with Democratic representative Ron Dellums to cut the program, their efforts were partly successful) and the A-12 bomber program (ultimately canceled by defense secretary Dick Cheney in 1991). He participated extensively in the passage of the Goldwater-Nichols Act of 1986, which reorganized the U.S. Department of Defense. He also pushed through the bill creating the 1988 Base Realignment and Closure Commission, which closed obsolete U.S. military bases, and successfully opposed a proposed $110 million expansion of the Pentagon building after the end of the Cold War. He also "proposed a national commission on arms control" and "urged tighter controls over substances that could be used for biological warfare." Kasich said he was "100 percent for" the first Persian Gulf War as well as the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, but said that he did not favor U.S. military participation in the Lebanese Civil War or in Bosnia. In 1997, with fellow Republican representative Floyd Spence, he introduced legislation (supported by some congressional Democrats) for the U.S. to pull out of a multilateral peacekeeping force in Bosnia. In the House, he supported the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act, a Dellums-led initiative to impose economic sanctions against apartheid-era South Africa. In 1993, Kasich became the ranking Republican member of the House Budget Committee. Kasich and other House Budget Committee Republicans proposed an alternative to President Bill Clinton's deficit reduction bill, the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993. That proposal included funds to implement Republican proposals for health care, welfare, and crime control legislation and for a child tax credit. The Penny-Kasich Plan, named after Kasich and fellow lead sponsor Tim Penny, was supported by Republicans and conservative Democrats. It proposed $90 billion in spending cuts over five years, almost three times as much in cuts as the $37 billion in cuts backed by the Clinton administration and Democratic congressional leaders. About one-third ($27 billion) of the proposed Penny-Kasich cuts would come from means-testing Medicare, specifically by reducing Medicare payments to seniors who earned $75,000 or more in adjusted gross income. This angered the AARP, which lobbied against the legislation. Another $26 billion of the Penny-Kasich plan's cuts would have come from the U.S. Department of Defense and foreign aid, which led Secretary of Defense Les Aspin to say that the plan would destroy military morale. Another $27 billion in savings would have come from federal layoffs. The proposal was narrowly defeated in the House by a 219-213 vote. As ranking member of the Budget Committee, Kasich proposed his own health care reform plan as a rival to the Clinton health care plan of 1993 championed by First Lady Hillary Clinton, but more market-based. As Time magazine wrote, "The Kasich plan would have covered all Americans by 2005, using a form of an individual mandate that would have required employees to purchase insurance through their employers. (The mandate was an idea initially supported by conservative groups like The Heritage Foundation.)" On November 17, 1993, Kasich voted to approve the North American Free Trade Agreement, casting a "yea" vote for the North American Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act. In 1994, Kasich was one of the Republican leaders to support a last-minute deal with President Bill Clinton to pass the Federal Assault Weapons Ban. After a series of meetings with Clinton's Chief of Staff, Leon Panetta, a longtime friend of Kasich, the assault weapons ban was passed when 42 Republicans crossed party lines and voted to ban assault weapons with the Democrats. His support of the assault-weapons ban angered the National Rifle Association, which gave Kasich an "F" rating in 1994 as a result. Kasich is a "firm abortion opponent" and describes himself as pro-life. He says abortions should only be performed in cases of rape, incest, and when the mother's life is in danger. Since taking office, he has signed 18 anti-abortion measures into law. In June 2013, Kasich signed into law a state budget, HB 59, which stripped some $1.4 million in federal dollars from Planned Parenthood by placing the organization last on the priority list for family-planning funds; provided funding to crisis pregnancy centers; and required women seeking abortions to undergo ultrasounds. The budget also barred abortion providers from entering into emergency transfer agreements with public hospitals, requiring abortion providers to find private hospitals willing to enter into transfer agreements. Another provision of the bill requires abortion providers to offer information on family planning and adoption services in certain situations. Under the budget, rape crisis centers could lose public funding if they counseled sexual assault victims about abortion. In 2015, Kasich said in an interview that Planned Parenthood "ought to be de-funded" but Republicans in Congress should not force a government shutdown over the issue. In December 2016, Kasich approved a ban on abortions after 20 weeks, except when a pregnancy endangers a woman's life, but vetoed HB 493, a law which would have made abortion illegal after detection of a fetal heartbeat (typically 5-6 weeks after conception). Kasich cited the cost to taxpayers of defending the legislation in court, and the likelihood that the "Heartbeat Bill" would be struck down in federal court as reasons for vetoing the more restrictive bill. CANNOTANSWER | Kasich is a "firm abortion opponent" and describes himself as pro-life. | John Richard Kasich Jr. ( ; born May 13, 1952) is an American politician, author, and television news host who served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1983 to 2001 and as the 69th governor of Ohio from 2011 to 2019. A Republican, Kasich unsuccessfully sought his party's presidential nomination in 2000 and 2016.
Kasich grew up in McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, moving to Ohio to attend college. After a single term in the Ohio Senate, he served nine terms as a member of the United States House of Representatives from . His tenure in the House included 18 years on the House Armed Services Committee and six years as chairman of the House Budget Committee. Kasich was a key figure in the passage of both 1996 welfare reform legislation and the Balanced Budget Act of 1997. Kasich decided not to run for re-election in 2000 and ran for president instead. He withdrew from the race before the Republican primaries.
After leaving Congress, Kasich hosted Heartland with John Kasich on Fox News from 2001 to 2007 and served as managing director of the Lehman Brothers office in Columbus, Ohio. He ran for governor of Ohio in 2010, defeating Democratic incumbent Ted Strickland. He was re-elected in 2014, defeating Democratic challenger Ed FitzGerald by 30 percentage points. Kasich was term-limited and could not seek a third gubernatorial term in 2018; he was succeeded by fellow Republican Mike DeWine.
Kasich ran for president again in 2016, finishing in third place in the Republican primaries behind Donald Trump and Ted Cruz. He won the primary in his home state of Ohio and finished second in New Hampshire. Kasich declined to support Trump as the Republican presidential nominee and did not attend the 2016 Republican National Convention, which was held in Ohio. In 2019, following the end of his second term as governor, Kasich joined CNN as a contributor. Kasich is known as one of Trump's most prominent critics within the Republican Party, and he endorsed Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden for president in a speech at the 2020 Democratic National Convention.
Early life, education, and early political career
John Richard Kasich Jr. was born and raised in the Pittsburgh suburb of McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania. He is the son of Anne (née Vukovich; 1918–1987) and John Richard Kasich (1919-1987), who worked as a mail carrier.
Kasich's father was of Czech descent, while his mother was of Croatian descent. Both his father and mother were children of immigrants and were practicing Roman Catholics. He has described himself as "a Croatian and a Czech".
After attending public schools in his hometown of McKees Rocks, Kasich later left his native Pennsylvania, settling in Columbus, Ohio in 1970 to attend Ohio State University, where he joined the Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity.
As a freshman, he wrote a letter to President Richard Nixon describing concerns he had about the nation and requesting a meeting with the President. The letter was delivered to Nixon by the university's president Novice Fawcett and Kasich was granted a 20-minute meeting with Nixon in December 1970.
Earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Ohio State University, in 1974, he went on to work as a researcher for the Ohio Legislative Service Commission. From 1975 to 1978, he served as an administrative assistant to then-state Senator Buz Lukens.
Ohio Senate career
In 1978, Kasich ran against Democratic incumbent Robert O'Shaughnessy for State Senate. A political ally of Kasich remembers him during that time as a persistent campaigner: "People said, 'If you just quit calling me, I'll support you.'" At age 26, Kasich won with 56% of the vote, beginning his four-year term representing the 15th district. Kasich was the second youngest person ever elected to the Ohio Senate.
One of his first acts as a State Senator was to refuse a pay raise. Republicans gained control of the State Senate in 1980, but Kasich went his own way, for example, by opposing a budget proposal he believed would raise taxes and writing his own proposal instead.
U.S. House of Representatives (1983–2001)
In 1982, Kasich ran for Congress in Ohio's 12th congressional district, which included portions of Columbus as well as the cities of Westerville, Reynoldsburg, Worthington, and Dublin. He won the Republican primary with 83% of the vote and defeated incumbent Democratic U.S. Congressman Bob Shamansky in the general election by a margin of 50%–47%. He would never face another contest nearly that close, and was re-elected eight more times with at least 64 percent of the vote.
During his congressional career, Kasich was considered a fiscal conservative, taking aim at programs supported by Republicans and Democrats. He worked with Ralph Nader in seeking to reduce corporate tax loopholes.
Kasich was a member of the House Armed Services Committee for 18 years. He developed a "fairly hawkish" reputation on that committee, although he "also zealously challenged" defense spending he considered wasteful. Among the Pentagon projects that he targeted were the B-2 bomber program (teaming up with Democratic representative Ron Dellums to cut the program, their efforts were partly successful) and the A-12 bomber program (ultimately canceled by defense secretary Dick Cheney in 1991). He participated extensively in the passage of the Goldwater–Nichols Act of 1986, which reorganized the U.S. Department of Defense. He also pushed through the bill creating the 1988 Base Realignment and Closure Commission, which closed obsolete U.S. military bases, and successfully opposed a proposed $110 million expansion of the Pentagon building after the end of the Cold War. He also "proposed a national commission on arms control" and "urged tighter controls over substances that could be used for biological warfare."
Kasich said he was "100 percent for" the first Persian Gulf War as well as the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, but said that he did not favor U.S. military participation in the Lebanese Civil War or in Bosnia. In 1997, with fellow Republican representative Floyd Spence, he introduced legislation (supported by some congressional Democrats) for the U.S. to pull out of a multilateral peacekeeping force in Bosnia. In the House, he supported the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act, a U.S. Representative Ron Dellums (D- CA)-led initiative to impose economic sanctions against apartheid-era South Africa.
Ranking member of the House Budget Committee
In 1993, Kasich became the ranking Republican member of the House Budget Committee. Kasich and other House Budget Committee Republicans proposed an alternative to President Bill Clinton's deficit reduction bill, the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993. That proposal included funds to implement Republican proposals for health care, welfare, and crime control legislation and for a child tax credit. The Penny-Kasich Plan, named after Kasich and fellow lead sponsor Tim Penny, was supported by Republicans and conservative Democrats. It proposed $90 billion in spending cuts over five years, almost three times as much in cuts as the $37 billion in cuts backed by the Clinton administration and Democratic congressional leaders. About one-third ($27 billion) of the proposed Penny-Kasich cuts would come from means-testing Medicare, specifically by reducing Medicare payments to seniors who earned $75,000 or more in adjusted gross income. This angered the AARP, which lobbied against the legislation. Another $26 billion of the Penny-Kasich plan's cuts would have come from the U.S. Department of Defense and foreign aid, which led Secretary of Defense Les Aspin to say that the plan would destroy military morale. Another $27 billion in savings would have come from federal layoffs. The proposal was narrowly defeated in the House by a 219–213 vote.
As ranking member of the Budget Committee, Kasich proposed his own health care reform plan as a rival to the Clinton health care plan of 1993 championed by First Lady Hillary Clinton, but more market-based. As journalist Zeke Miller wrote in Time magazine, "The Kasich plan would have covered all Americans by 2005, using a form of an individual mandate that would have required employees to purchase insurance through their employers. (The mandate was an idea initially supported by conservative groups like The Heritage Foundation.)"
On November 17, 1993, Kasich voted to approve the North American Free Trade Agreement, casting a "yea" vote for the North American Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act.
In 1994, Kasich was one of the Republican leaders to support a last-minute deal with President Bill Clinton to pass the Federal Assault Weapons Ban. After a series of meetings with Clinton's Chief of Staff, Leon Panetta, a longtime friend of Kasich, the assault weapons ban was passed when 42 Republicans crossed party lines and voted to ban assault weapons with the Democrats. His support of the assault-weapons ban angered the National Rifle Association, which gave Kasich an "F" rating in 1994 as a result.
Chair of the House Budget Committee
In 1995, when Republicans gained the majority in the United States Congress following the 1994 election, Kasich became chair of the House Budget Committee. In 1996, he introduced the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act in the House, an important welfare reform bill signed into law by President Clinton.
During the 1996 presidential campaign, Republican nominee Bob Dole was reported to have considered Kasich as a vice presidential running mate but instead selected Jack Kemp, a former congressman and Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
In 1997, Kasich rose to national prominence after becoming "the chief architect of a deal that balanced the federal budget for the first time since 1969"—the Balanced Budget Act of 1997.
In 1998, Kasich voted to impeach President Clinton on all four charges made against him. In 1999, while the Senate prepared to vote on the charges, he said: "I believe these are impeachable and removable offenses."
2000 presidential campaign
Kasich did not seek re-election in 2000. In February 1999, he formed an exploratory committee to run for president. In March 1999 he announced his campaign for the Republican nomination. After very poor fundraising, he dropped out in July 1999, before the Iowa Straw Poll, and endorsed governor George W. Bush of Texas.
Private sector career (2001–2009)
After leaving Congress, Kasich went to work for Fox News, hosting Heartland with John Kasich on the Fox News Channel and guest-hosting The O'Reilly Factor, filling in for Bill O'Reilly as needed. He also occasionally appeared as a guest on Hannity & Colmes.
Business career
Kasich served on the board of directors for several corporations, including Invacare Corp. and the Chicago-based Norvax Inc. In 2001, Kasich joined Lehman Brothers' investment banking division as a managing director, in Columbus, Ohio. He remained at Lehman Brothers until it declared bankruptcy in 2008. That year, Lehman Brothers paid him a $182,692 salary and a $432,200 bonus. He stated that the bonus was for work performed in 2007.
Kasich's employment by Lehman Brothers was criticized during his subsequent campaigns in light of the firm's collapse during the financial crisis. Kasich responded to critics by saying: "I wasn't involved in the inner workings of Lehman, I was a banker. I didn't go to board meetings or go and talk investment strategy with the top people. I was nowhere near that. That's like, it's sort of like being a car dealer in Zanesville and being blamed for the collapse of GM."
Political activities from 2001 to 2009
Republicans made efforts to recruit Kasich to run for Ohio governor in 2006, but he declined to enter the race.
In 2008, Kasich formed Recharge Ohio, a political action committee (PAC) with the goal of raising money to help Republican candidates for the Ohio House of Representatives and Ohio Senate, in an effort to retain Republican majorities in the Ohio General Assembly. Kasich served as honorary chairman of the PAC.
Governor of Ohio
2010 election
On May 1, 2009, Kasich filed papers to run for governor of Ohio against incumbent Democratic governor Ted Strickland. He formally announced his candidacy on June 1, 2009. On January 15, 2010, Kasich announced Ohio State Auditor Mary Taylor as his running mate.
During a speech before Ashtabula County Republicans in March 2009, Kasich talked about the need to "break the back of organized labor in the schools," according to the Ashtabula Star Beacon.
Ohio teachers' unions supported Strickland, and after Kasich's gubernatorial victory, he said, "I am waiting for the teachers' unions to take out full-page ads in all the major newspapers, apologizing for what they had to say about me during this campaign."
Elsewhere, he said he was willing to work with "unions that make things."
On May 4, 2010, Kasich won the Republican nomination for governor, having run unopposed. On November 2, 2010, Kasich defeated Strickland in a closely contested race to win the governorship. He was sworn in at midnight on January 10, 2011, in a private ceremony at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus. It was then followed by a ceremonial inauguration at the Ohio Theatre at noon on the same day.
2014 re-election
In November 2014, Kasich won re-election, defeating Democrat Ed FitzGerald, the county executive of Cuyahoga County, 64% to 33%. He won 86 of 88 counties.
Kasich, who was elected with Tea Party support in 2010, faced some backlash from some Tea Party activists. His decision to accept the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act's expansion of Medicaid caused some Tea Party activists to refuse to support his campaign. Kasich supported longtime ally and campaign veteran Matt Borges over Portage County Tea Party chairman Tom Zawistowski for the position of chairman of the Ohio Republican Party. Zawistowski secured just three votes in his run for the chairmanship. Tea Party groups announced they would support a primary challenger, or, if none emerged, the Libertarian nominee.
Ultimately, Zawistowski failed to field anyone on the ballot and the Libertarian nominee (former Republican State Representative Charlie Earl) was removed from the ballot after failing to gain the required number of valid signatures necessary for ballot access.
Political positions and record
Kasich is considered by some to be a moderate Republican due to his strong condemnation of far-right conservatives and his endorsement of Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election. However, his record in the House and as governor of Ohio has led others to point out that his views place him to the right of most moderate politicians. Larry Sabato, the director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics, who has known Kasich for years, says that "If you had asked me in the 90s about Kasich I would have said he was a Gingrich conservative." Kasich's friend Curt Steiner, former chief of staff to former Republican Ohio governor and U.S. senator George Voinovich, described Kasich as a "solid Republican" with "an independent streak."
Kasich's tenure as governor was notable for his expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, his work combating the opioid addiction crisis, his attempt (later reversed by Ohio voters in a 2011 referendum) to curtail collective bargaining for public sector employees, his local government funding cuts, his passage of several anti-abortion laws, his veto of a fetal heartbeat law, his tax cuts, and his evolving position on gun control.
Abortion
Kasich opposes abortion except in cases of rape, incest, and danger to the mother's life. As governor, he signed 18 abortion-restrictive measures into law. In June 2013, Kasich signed into law a state budget, HB 59, which stripped some $1.4 million in federal dollars from Planned Parenthood by placing the organization last on the priority list for family-planning funds; provided funding to crisis pregnancy centers; and required women seeking abortions to undergo ultrasounds. The budget also barred abortion providers from entering into emergency transfer agreements with public hospitals, requiring abortion providers to find private hospitals willing to enter into transfer agreements. Another provision of the bill requires abortion providers to offer information on family planning and adoption services in certain situations. Under the budget, rape crisis centers could lose public funding if they counseled sexual assault victims about abortion.
In 2015, Kasich said in an interview that Planned Parenthood "ought to be de-funded", but added that Republicans in Congress should not force a government shutdown over the issue.
In December 2016, Kasich approved a ban on abortions after 20 weeks, except when a pregnancy endangers a woman's life, but vetoed HB 493, a law which would have made abortion illegal after detection of a fetal heartbeat (typically 5–6 weeks after conception). Kasich cited the cost to taxpayers of defending the legislation in court, and the likelihood that the "Heartbeat Bill" would be struck down in federal court as reasons for vetoing the more restrictive bill. In December 2018, Kasich again vetoed a bill to ban abortion after detection of a fetal heartbeat citing the cost to taxpayers and previous rulings by the federal courts. He did sign a bill into law that bans the dilation and evacuation procedure commonly used for abortion.
Climate change, energy, and environment
In a speech in April 2012, Kasich claimed that climate change is real and is a problem. In the same speech, however, Kasich said that the Environmental Protection Agency should not regulate carbon emissions and that instead states and private companies should be in charge of regulating coal-fired power plant emissions. In 2015, Kasich stated that he did not know all the causes of climate change, and that he did not know the extent to which humans contribute to climate change.
In 2014, Kasich signed into law a bill freezing Ohio's renewable portfolio standard (RPS) program for two years. Ohio's RPS program was created by 2008 legislation and required the state to acquire 12.5 percent of its energy portfolio from renewable sources and to reduce energy consumption by 22 percent by 2025. The legislation signed by Kasich to stop the program was supported by Republican legislative leaders, utility companies, and some industry groups, and opposed by environmentalists, some manufacturers, and the American Lung Association. In 2016, Kasich broke with fellow Republicans in the state legislature by vetoing their attempt to continue blocking the RPS standards; as a result, the freeze ended on December 31, 2016, and the clean-energy mandate resumed. This veto won Kasich praise from environmentalist groups, and angered Republicans in the state legislature.
In his 2015 budget plan, Kasich proposed raising the tax rate on hydraulic fracturing (fracking) activities. Specifically, Kasich's plan called for imposing a 6.5 percent severance tax on crude oil and natural gas extracted via horizontal drilling and sold at the source (about $3.25 per $50 barrel of oil), and for an additional 4.5 percent tax per thousand cubic feet on natural gas and liquefied natural gas (about $0.16 per thousand cubic feet). The proposal would not affect conventional drilling taxes.
Kasich formerly supported fracking in Ohio state parks and forests, signing legislation in mid-2011 authorizing him to appoint a five-member commission to oversee the leasing of mineral rights on state land to the highest bidders. In 2012, Kasich aides planned a campaign with a stated goal to "marginalize the effectiveness of communications by adversaries about the initiative" to bring fracking to state parks and forests, naming in an email the Ohio Sierra Club and state Representatives Robert F. Hagan and Nickie Antonio as adversaries of the plan. Kasich never appointed the commission, and the promotional plan was never put into effect. A memo and email relating to the 2012 promotional campaign were publicly released for the first time in February 2015, which according to the Columbus Dispatch attracted criticism from state environmental and liberal groups, as well as Democratic state legislators, who called for an investigation. On the same day the governor reversed himself, with a spokesman saying, "At this point, the governor doesn't support fracking in state parks. We reserve the right to revisit that, but it's not what he wants to do right now, and that's been his position for the past year and a half."
In April 2015, Kasich signed a bill aimed at protecting Lake Erie's water quality. The bill places restrictions on the spread of manure and other fertilizers that contribute to toxic algal blooms and requires large public water treatment plants to monitor phosphorus levels. The bill had been unanimously approved by both chambers of the Ohio Legislature the previous month.
Kasich supported the Keystone XL oil pipeline project and, along with other Republican governors, signed an open letter in February 2015 urging federal approval for the project. In 2016, in response to a request from South Dakota under the terms of an interstate compact, Kasich dispatched 37 Ohio state troopers to South Dakota, where they were stationed around Dakota Access Pipeline protests near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. This controversial deployment prompted unsuccessful petitions to Kasich (from members of the public, Cincinnati City Council members, environmentalists, and some state legislators), who asked Kasich to recall the troopers.
Policing and criminal justice
Prison privatization
To offset a state budget deficit, Kasich proposed selling five state prisons to the for-profit prison industry. The Lake Erie prison was sold for $72.7 million to the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), generating savings of $3 million. Kasich's Director of Corrections, Gary Mohr, whom he had hired in January 2011, had previously worked for CCA, but he said that he removed himself from the sales process. In an audit in October 2012, CCA was cited for 47 contractual violations, and failed a second audit later that year. In July 2015, the Kasich administration announced its intent to sell the North Central Correctional Institution at Marion, in order to recoup the state's original investment in the facility and invest the proceeds in community-based alternatives to prison.
Policing standards
Following the separate fatal police shootings of John Crawford III and Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old boy in Ohio, while each were holding BB guns, grand juries decided not to indict any of the officers involved. Following this, Kasich created the Ohio Collaborative Community-Police Advisory Board "to address what he described as frustration and distrust among some Ohioans toward their police departments, particularly among the black community." The 23-member task force (with 18 members appointed by Kasich) was appointed in January 2015 and issued its 629-page final report and recommendations in April 2015. The report recommended greater accountability and oversight for police agencies and officers, further community education and involvement in policing, and new use-of-force and recruitment, hiring, and training standards for police agencies.
In April 2015, Kasich created the Ohio Collaborative Community-Police Advisory Board, a twelve-member board tasked (in conjunction with the Ohio Office of Criminal Justice Services and the Ohio Department of Public Safety) with developing statewide standards for the recruiting, hiring and screening of police officers, and for the use of force (including deadly force) by police. The advisory board, the first of its kind in Ohio, was also tasked by Kasich with developing "model policies and best practice recommendations to promote better interaction and communication between law enforcement departments and their home communities." In August 2015, the board issued its recommendations, which placed "an emphasis on the preservation of human life and restrict officers to defending themselves or others from death or serious injury."
In August 2015, Kasich said that he was open to the idea of requiring police officers to wear body cameras.
Capital punishment
As governor, Kasich presided over the executions of fifteen inmates and commuted the death sentences of seven inmates. The last execution in Ohio took place in July 2018. In January 2015, Kasich announced that, due to pending litigation and other issues, he was delaying all seven executions scheduled through January 2016. The delay was largely attributed to European pharmaceutical companies, which have refused to supply the state with deadly drugs necessary for executions. In February 2017, Kasich again delayed Ohio executions for an additional three months, after a federal judge ruled that Ohio's three-drug lethal injection protocol is unconstitutional.
Executive clemency
Kasich used his power of executive clemency sparingly. He has the lowest clemency rate of any Ohio governor since at least the 1980s, when records began to be kept. In six years in office, Kasich granted 86 of the 2,291 requests that he acted upon. In 2016, Kasich granted executive clemency to 13 people; in all of the cases, the Ohio Adult Parole Authority had recommended clemency.
Criminal justice reform issues
Kasich supports various criminal justice reform efforts; according to conservative Washington Post columnist George Will, Kasich "favors fewer mandatory minimum sentences and has instituted prison policies that prepare inmates for re-integration into communities." In 2011, Kasich signed sentencing reform legislation which allowed judges to sentence defendants convicted of non-violent fourth- and fifth-degree felonies to "community-based halfway house facilities" instead of prison; expanded the earned credit system to allow inmates to reduce their sentences; and allowed felons who have already served 80 percent or more of their sentences to be immediately released.
In 2012, Kasich signed into law a bill, sponsored by Cleveland Democratic Senator Shirley Smith and Cincinnati Republican Senator Bill Seitz, easing the collateral consequences of criminal conviction.
In September 2014, Kasich touted the Ohio's prison system's recidivism rate, which is one of the lowest in the nation. U.S. Senator Rob Portman, a Republican, attributed a drop in Ohio's recidivism rate "to the bipartisan work of the state legislature, Governor Kasich, Ohio's reentry leaders and the success of programs made possible at the federal level by the Second Chance Act," which Portman sponsored.
In 2015, Kasich proposed a state budget including $61.7 million for addiction treatment services for prisoners.
Drug policy
Kasich initially expressed opposition to medical marijuana in 2012, saying "There's better ways to help people who are in pain." However, in late 2015 and early 2016, Kasich said he was open to the legalization of medical marijuana.
In March 2014, in an effort to address the opioid epidemic, Kasich signed legislation (passed unanimously in both chambers of the state legislature) expanding the availability of naloxone, a lifesaving antidote to opioid overdoses; the measure allowed friends and family members of addicts to obtain access to naloxone and for first responders to carry naloxone. In July 2015, Kasich signed legislation further expanding the availability of naloxone, making it available without a prescription.
In a 2015 interview with radio talk show host Hugh Hewitt, Kasich said he was opposed to the legalization of recreational marijuana in some states and equated the drug to heroin, stating: "In my state and across this country, if I happened to be president, I would lead a significant campaign down at the grassroots level to stomp these drugs out of our country."
When Kasich was asked by Hewitt whether, if elected president, he would federally enforce marijuana laws in states which have legalized marijuana, Kasich characterized it as a states' rights issue and said that "I'd have to think about it." When asked the same question later in 2015, Kasich said: "I would try to discourage the states from doing it...but I would be tempted to say I don't think we can go and start disrupting what they've decided."
Kasich opposed "Issue 3," an Ohio ballot measure in 2015 that proposed the legalization of recreational marijuana, saying it was a "terrible idea."
Economic policy
State budgets and taxation
During Kasich's tenure, the state has eliminated a budget shortfall that his administration has estimated at $8 billion, but which the Cleveland Plain Dealer estimated at closer to $6 billion. (The New York Times put the number at $7.7 billion). Ohio also increased its "rainy day fund" from effectively zero to more than $2 billion.
Kasich "closed the budget shortfall in part by cutting aid to local governments, forcing some of them to raise their own taxes or cut services. And increasing sales taxes helped make the income tax cuts possible." An analysis by the Plain Dealer in March 2016 found that more than 70 cities and villages had lost at least $1 million a year due to Kasich's budget and taxation policy.
In March 2008, Kasich called for "phasing out" Ohio's state income tax.
During Kasich's time as governor, Ohio ranked 22nd out of the 50 states for private-sector job growth, at 9.3%.
Kasich signed a state budget in 2011 which eliminated the state's estate tax effective January 1, 2013.
In 2013, Kasich signed into law a $62 billion two-year state budget. The budget provided for a 10-percent state income tax cut phased in over three years, and an increase in the state sales tax from 5.5 percent to 5.75 percent. It also included a 50% tax cut for small business owners on the first $250,000 of annual net income. Kasich used his line-item veto power to reject a measure that would stop the Medicaid expansion (which Kasich had accepted from the federal government) to cover nearly 275,000 working poor Ohioans.
In 2015, Kasich signed into law a $71 billion two-year state budget after using his line-item veto power to veto 44 items. The overall 2015 budget provides a 6.3 percent state income-tax cut as a part one component of a $1.9 billion net tax reduction and lowers the top income-tax rate to slightly below 5 percent. The budget also "spends $955 million more in basic state aid for K-12 schools than the last two-year period"; "boosts state funding for higher education to help offset a two-year tuition freeze at public universities"; expands the Medicaid health program; increases cigarette taxes by 35 cents a pack; and "prohibits independent health care and child care workers under contract with the state from unionizing."
Senate Bill 5 and labor issues
On March 31, 2011, in his first year as governor, Kasich signed into law Senate Bill 5, a controversial labor law which restricted collective bargaining rights of public employees, such as police officers, firefighters, and teachers. The legislation, championed by Kasich, prohibited all public employees from striking and restricted their ability to negotiate health care and pension benefits. The final version of the legislation signed by Kasich had passed the state Senate in a 17–16 vote (with six Senate Republicans joining all of the Senate Democrats in voting no) and the state House in a 53–44 vote, with two members abstaining.
Democrats and labor unions opposed the legislation and placed a referendum on the November 2011 ballot to repeal SB 5. SB 5 also "sparked numerous protests with thousands of union workers and other opponents descending on the Statehouse, mirroring similar demonstrations in Wisconsin and injecting Ohio into the national debate over Republican governors' attempts to curb public workers' collective bargaining rights." Kasich and other supporters of SB 5 characterized the legislation as a necessary measure "to help public employers control labor costs" and reduce tax burdens to make Ohio more competitive with other states, while labor unions and other opponents characterized the bill as "a union-busting attack on the middle class."
Ohio voters rejected Senate Bill 5 in a 61 percent to 39 percent vote, which was viewed as a rebuke to Kasich. On election night, Kasich said in a speech at the Ohio Statehouse that "It's clear the people have spoken. I heard their voices. I understand their decision. And frankly, I respect what the people have to say in an effort like this." Following this defeat, Kasich dropped efforts to pass broad-based collective bargaining restrictions, although in 2012 he supported a bill including "provisions reminiscent of Senate Bill 5" but applying only to the Cleveland Metropolitan School District.
In May 2015, Kasich rescinded executive orders issued by his predecessor Ted Strickland in 2007 and 2008 that provided the right to home health care contractors and in-home child care contractors to collectively bargain with the state.
Balanced budget amendment
Kasich has campaigned for a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Kasich created a 501(c)(4) group, Balanced Budget Forever, to promote the cause.
Free trade
Kasich said in 2016 that "I have never been an ideological supporter of free trade," but has long supported free trade agreements. He is a strong supporter of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and participated with others in a meeting with President Obama in support of the agreement.
Civil liberties and electronic surveillance
In speaking in the 2016 campaign on domestic surveillance, Kasich has "straddled the line," praising Rand Paul for saying that "we need to get warrants," but also saying "if there's information they need, the government needs to get it." Kasich has said there needs to be "a balance between good intelligence and the need to protect Americans from what can become an aggressive government somewhere down the road."
On one occasion, Kasich spoke out against proposals to mandate that technology companies provide a "backdoor" for the government to access encrypted devices, saying that this could end up aiding hackers. On a subsequent occasion, Kasich said that encryption was dangerous because it could stymie government antiterrorism investigations.
Kasich has condemned whistleblower Edward Snowden as a traitor.
Education
Kasich proposed new legislation which would increase funding to charter schools and poor school districts. He canceled the school-funding formula put into place by his Democratic predecessor, Governor Ted Strickland.
During Kasich's tenure as governor, he pushed to expand charter schools, increase the number of school vouchers that use public money to pay for tuition at private schools, implement a "merit pay" scheme for teachers, and evaluate teachers by student standardized test scores in math and reading. Kasich supports the Common Core State Standards and has criticized Republicans who turned against it.
During Kasich's tenure, funding for traditional public schools declined by about $500 million, while funding for charter schools has increased at least 27 percent. As calculated by the Howard Fleeter/Education Tax Policy Institute, total school funding under Kasich (including both charter and district schools) has ranged from a low of $7.1 billion in fiscal year 2013 to $7.8 billion in fiscal year 2015, which was higher than its previous peak under Kasich's predecessor, Ted Strickland. As calculated by the Howard Fleeter/Education Tax Policy Institute, Kasich has proposed total school funding of $8.0 billion in fiscal year 2016 and fiscal year 2017. The Ohio Department of Education—which includes more spending areas than Fleeter's does and so reports higher numbers—projects total school funding for Ohio schools to rise to slightly under $10.5 billion by the end of fiscal year 2017.
Analysts disagree "on whether Kasich's education budgets give increases beyond inflation." In the 2015 state budget, Kasich used his line-item veto power "to cut more than $84 million of funding from public schools."
According to a September 2014 story in the Columbus Dispatch, Kasich favored allowing public school districts "to teach alternatives to evolution—such as intelligent design—if local school officials want to, under the philosophy of 'local control.'"
In 2011, Kasich had the idea of establishing a Holocaust memorial on the grounds of the Ohio Statehouse. Kasich successfully secured approval of the proposal from the Capital Square Review and Advisory Board. The $2 million Ohio Holocaust and Liberators Memorial, designed by Daniel Libeskind, is located across from the Ohio Theatre; the memorial was dedicated in 2014.
Foreign and defense policy
In November 2002, Kasich urged the invasion of Iraq, telling a crowd of students at Ohio State University: "We should go to war with Iraq. It's not likely that (Saddam) Hussein will give up his weapons. If he did he would be disgraced in the Arab world."
In an interview in August 2015, Kasich said: "I would never have committed ourselves to Iraq." A Kasich spokesman subsequently said that "Kasich was not revising history" but was instead saying that the Iraq War was a mistake given the facts available now.
Kasich has said that the U.S. "should've left a base in Iraq" instead of withdrawing troops in 2011.
In 2015, Kasich said that airstrikes were insufficient to combat the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, and he would send U.S. ground troops to fight ISIL.
Kasich opposed the landmark 2015 international nuclear agreement with Iran, and in September 2015 was one of fourteen Republican governors who sent a letter to President Obama stating "that we intend to ensure that the various state-level sanctions [against Iran] that are now in effect remain in effect," despite the agreement.
Kasich has expressed support for the U.S.'s drone program. He has said, however, that the program should be overseen by the Department of Defense, and not by the CIA.
Kasich has said that he wants to lift budget sequestration for military spending, and "spend more if necessary."
In November 2015, Kasich said that if elected president, he "would send a carrier battle group through the South China Sea" to send a message to China regarding their claims of sovereignty there.
Kasich supports continued U.S. support of Saudi Arabia, but he criticized Saudi Arabia's "funding and teaching of radical clerics who are the very people who try to destroy us".
Kasich favors strong relations between the U.S. and its NATO allies. He supported Senator John McCain's call for maintaining existing U.S. sanctions on Russia, and condemned the Trump administration's consideration of lifting sanctions. Like McCain, Kasich supports imposing "tougher sanctions against Russia and Putin's inner circle." He supports a bipartisan investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections.
LGBT rights
By the mid-2010s, Kasich had shown much more support for LGBT rights than many of his Republican counterparts. However, during his time in Congress, Kasich was much less accepting, and voted for the Defense of Marriage Act, which barred federal recognition of same-sex marriage. During this period, Kasich supported a ban on same-sex marriage in Ohio and stated that he did not approve of the "gay lifestyle." As governor of Ohio, Kasich signed an executive order banning discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation for state employees; this was more narrow than the previous executive order signed by his predecessor because it omitted protections for gender identity.
During the 2016 presidential campaign, Kasich struck a more moderate tone compared to his Republican opponents. In June 2015, following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, which held that there is a fundamental right to same-sex marriage under the Fourteenth Amendment, Kasich said that he was "obviously disappointed" and that he believes in "traditional marriage," but that the ruling was "the law of the land and we'll abide by it" and that it was "time to move on" to other issues. During his time as Ohio governor, Kasich appointed Richard Hodges as Ohio Director of Health, who was the lead-respondent in the case.
Kasich indicated that he did not support an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to overturn the decision. In response to a debate question about how he would explain his position on same-sex marriage to one of his daughters if she were gay, Kasich responded, "The court has ruled, and I said we'll accept it. And guess what, I just went to a wedding of a friend of mine who happens to be gay. Because somebody doesn't think the way I do doesn't mean that I can't care about them or can't love them. So if one of my daughters happened to be that, of course I would love them and I would accept them. Because you know what? That's what we're taught when we have strong faith."
In September 2015, Kasich commented on the highly publicized case of Kim Davis (the Rowan County, Kentucky clerk who refused to comply with a federal court order directing her to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples), saying: "Now, I respect the fact that this lady doesn't agree but she's also a government employee, she's not running a church, I wouldn't force this on a church. But in terms of her responsibility I think she has to comply. I don't think — I don't like the fact that she's sitting in a jail, that's absurd as well. But I think she should follow the law."
In a March 2018 interview on The Rubin Report, Kasich passively came out in support of same-sex marriage saying "I'm fine with it," but stated that he now preferred to show himself as someone in the "Billy Graham tradition" that "avoided social issues". In December 2018, Kasich signed an executive order extending non-discrimination protections for gender identity, including trans and non-binary identities, to state employees in Ohio.
Gun policy
While in the U.S. House of Representatives, Kasich had a mixed record on gun policy. He was one of 215 Representatives to vote for the Federal Assault Weapons Ban, which became law in 1994, but voted against the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act ("Brady Bill"), which established current background check laws.
As governor, Kasich shifted to more pro-gun positions. In 2011, he signed one bill permitting concealed handguns in bars and another making it easier for people with misdemeanor drug convictions to purchase guns. In 2012, Kasich signed a bill allowing gun owners to transport weapons with loaded magazines in their vehicles and expanding concealed carry permit reciprocity. In December 2014, Kasich signed legislation that reduced the numbers of hours of training required to obtain a concealed carry permit and eliminated the training requirement for permit renewals.
After the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in February 2018, Kasich called for restrictions on the sales of AR-15 style rifles.
Health care
Kasich opted to accept Medicaid-expansion funding provided by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA or "Obamacare") in Ohio. This decision angered many Statehouse Republicans, who wanted Kasich to reject the expansion.
Total spending on Medicaid by the state was almost $2 billion (or 7.6 percent) below estimates for the fiscal year ending in June 2015, according to a report by Kasich's administration. The lower-than-expected costs were attributed to expanded managed care, shorter nursing home stays and increased in-home care for seniors, capitated reimbursement policies, increased automation to determine eligibility for the program and pay care providers, and an improving economy in the state which allowed some participants to move out of the program.
In an October 2014 interview, Kasich said that repeal of the ACA was "not gonna happen" and stated that "The opposition to it was really either political or ideological. I don't think that holds water against real flesh and blood, and real improvements in people's lives." Kasich later said that he was referring solely to the law's Medicaid expansion, and that "my position is that we need to repeal and replace" the rest of the law. In 2015, Kasich expressed support for many provisions of the ACA (ensuring coverage for people with preexisting conditions, the use of insurance exchanges, and Medicaid expansion), but opposed mandates.
In 2017, after Donald Trump took office and congressional Republicans maneuvered to repeal the ACA, Kasich criticized Republican hard-liners in Congress who demanded a full ACA repeal, saying that full repeal was "not acceptable" when 20 million people gained insurance under the ACA and that doing so would be a "political impossibility." Kasich urged that the Medicaid expansion be preserved in some form, criticizing the House Republican legislation that would cut the Medicaid expansion and phase out health insurance subsidies for low-income Americans. Kasich said that the nation's "soul" was at stake if Republicans passed legislation that left millions without health insurance. After the failure of the House Republican health-care legislation, Kasich met in Washington with members of the Republican Tuesday Group and urged fellow Republicans to work with Democrats to make more modest changes to the Affordable Care Act. In May 2017, Kasich said that the version of the Republican health care bill that passed the House was "inadequate" and would harm patients; Kasich said that Republicans "should've worked with the Democrats" on the bill rather than passing legislation merely to fulfill a campaign pledge.
In June 2017, Kasich said that he didn't "have a problem" with gradually phasing out the ACA's expansion of Medicaid over a seven-year period, but only if Congress provided states with significantly more, more than the House Republican bill provided for, and only if Congress granted states more authority to manage the program. Along with three other Republican governors (Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas, Brian Sandoval of Nevada, and Rick Snyder of Michigan), Kasich signed a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell with an outline of their wishes for an health care bill. Kasich and the others specifically called upon Congress to "end the requirement that state Medicaid programs cover nearly every prescription drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration." Kasich and the other governors' views were seen as influential, because their states have Republican senators and the Republicans have only a narrow majority in the Senate.
Immigration and refugees
In 2010, while running for governor, Kasich expressed support for amending the U.S. Constitution to abolish the Fourteenth Amendment's guarantee of jus soli (birthright) citizenship for people born in the United States. Kasich also told the Columbus Dispatch at the time that "One thing that I don't want to reward is illegal immigration."
In 2014, Kasich acknowledged that his stance on immigration has "evolved" because "maybe [I'm] a little smarter now," stating: "I don't want to see anybody in pain. So I guess when I look at this now, I look at it differently than I did in '10. ... When I look at a group of people who might be hiding, who may be afraid, who may be scared, who have children, I don't want to be in a position of where I make it worse for them." That year, Kasich expressed openness to a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, saying at a Republican Governors Association (RGA) meeting in Florida, "I don't like the idea of citizenship when people jump the line, [but] we may have to do it." Kasich was the only governor at the RGA conference "to express openly a willingness to create a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants."
In August 2015, while running for president, Kasich called for a path to legal status (but not necessarily citizenship) for undocumented immigrants and for a guest worker program. Kasich also appeared to disavow his earlier stance against birthright citizenship, stating "I don't think we need to go there"; called for completion of a fence along the U.S.-Mexico border; and noted that undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as young children may obtain driver's licenses in Ohio.
In October 2015, Kasich criticized Donald Trump's "plan to build a wall along the Mexican border and remove immigrants who entered the United States illegally," calling these notions "just crazy."
In September 2015, Kasich said that the U.S. had a moral responsibility to accept refugees fleeing war and violence in Syria. Subsequently, however, Kasich moved to the right, and in November 2015 wrote a letter to President Obama asking that no additional Syrian refugees be resettled in Ohio. Kasich opposed Trump's executive order on travel and immigration, which Trump signed one week after taking office in January 2017. Kasich said that the order was "ham-handed" because it "sowed so much confusion" and "sent a message that somehow the United States was looking sideways at Muslims."
Lieutenant governor
Kasich has a "long-standing political partnership" with his lieutenant governor, Mary Taylor. In 2014, Kasich defended Taylor after her chief of staff, and that chief of staff's administrative assistant, resigned following a timesheet probe. Kasich said of Taylor's handling of the matter: "Mary did the right thing and I support her."
In 2017, the Kasich-Taylor relationship frayed after Taylor abandoned Kasich ally Matt Borges in his bid for chairman of the Ohio Republican Party, and instead chose to support Jane Timken, who was actively supported by Donald Trump, who sought revenge against Kasich for his choice not to endorse Trump. Nevertheless, Kasich indicated that Taylor had "been a good partner" over his term and indicated that he would support her if she chose to run for governor in 2018.
Racial diversity in Cabinet
Upon taking office in 2011, Kasich received criticism for appointing an initial all-white cabinet of 22 members. Responding to criticism for not appointing any black, Hispanic, or Asian Cabinet members, Kasich said: "I don't look at things from the standpoint of any of these sort of metrics that people tend to focus on, race or age, or any of those things. It's not the way I look at things... I want the best possible team I can get." Shortly afterward, on February 2, 2011, Kasich made his first minority appointment to the Cabinet, naming Michael Colbert, a black man, to lead the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.
, four members of Kasich's Cabinet were members of racial minorities.
Transportation
Throughout his first gubernatorial campaign, Kasich opposed the Ohio Hub higher-speed passenger rail project (a proposed 258-mile Cleveland-to-Cincinnati train) and promised to cancel it, claiming that it would average speeds of merely 36 mph. In his first press conference following his election victory, Kasich declared "That train is dead...I said it during the campaign: It is dead."
As governor-elect, Kasich lobbied the federal government to use $400 million in federal dollars allocated for high-speed rail for freight rail projects instead. In a November 2010 letter to Kasich, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood wrote that the federal funding was specifically allocated by the 2009 economic stimulus act for high-speed rail, and could not be used for other purposes. In a December 2010 meeting with President Barack Obama, Kasich again unsuccessfully lobbied to use the grant money for freight rail rather than high-speed rail.
In December 2010, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced that Ohio would lose the $385 million in grant funds allocated for high-speed passenger rail, since Kasich had informed them that he had no intention of ever building high-speed rail projects. (Almost $15 million had already been spent for preliminary engineering.) The $385 million was instead diverted to other states, such as California, New York, and Florida, which planned high-speed rail using the grant money for its congressionally intended purpose. Outgoing governor Ted Strickland, who championed the project, expressed disappointment, saying that the loss of funding for the project was "one of the saddest days during my four years as governor" and that "I can't understand the logic of giving up these vital, job-creating resources to California and Florida at a time when so many Ohioans need jobs."
Kasich is an opponent of the Cincinnati Streetcar project.
In April 2015, Kasich signed a two-year transportation budget bill which allocated $7.06 billion for highway construction and maintenance, $600 million to local governments for road and bridge projects, and an additional million over the last budget for public transportation.
Voting rights
In February 2014, Kasich signed into law a bill which cut six days from Ohio's early voting period, including the "golden week" (a period at the beginning of early voting when voters could both register to vote and cast an in-person absentee ballot). The measures were hotly contested in the state legislature, passing on a party-line vote, with Republicans in favor and Democrats opposed. This measure prompted two federal lawsuits. The first lawsuit, brought by the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio on behalf of the NAACP and League of Women Voters of Ohio, resulted in a settlement in April 2015, in which the state agreed to provide evening and Sunday hours for early voting in elections in Ohio through 2018. The second lawsuit, Ohio Democratic Party v. Husted, was brought in May 2015 by Democratic election lawyer Marc Elias; plaintiffs argued that the Ohio bill eliminating "golden week" violated the Constitution and the Voting Rights Act because it disproportionately burdened black, Latino and young voters. The federal district court agreed and struck down the legislation, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit reversed that decision in a 2–1 vote, and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal. In July 2015, Kasich said that it was "pure demagoguery" for Hillary Clinton to "say that there are Republicans who are deliberately trying to keep people from voting."
In April 2015, Kasich used his line-item veto power to veto a provision added to a highway-budget bill by Republicans in the state legislature that would have required college students who register to vote in Ohio to obtain a state driver's license and vehicle registration, imposing an estimated $75 in motor vehicle costs on out-of-state college students who wanted to vote in the state. The veto was celebrated by voting rights advocates, Ohio Democrats, and the Cleveland Plain Dealer editorial board, which viewed the proposal as effectively a "poll tax" motivated by a partisan desire to limit college-town voting.
Judicial appointments
In Ohio, justices of the Ohio Supreme Court are elected, but the governor can fill unexpired terms. In May 2012, Ohio Supreme Court Associate Justice Evelyn Lundberg Stratton announced she would retire at the end of 2012. In December 2012, Kasich appointed Judge Judith L. French to Stratton's unexpired term, which ran from January 1, 2013, through January 1, 2015.
Impeachment of Donald Trump
On October 18, 2019, Kasich publicly stated that Donald Trump should be impeached. He had previously said there was not enough evidence to impeach the President.
2016 presidential campaign
In April 2015, Kasich announced the formation of his "New Day For America" group. Formerly a 527 group, it filed as a super PAC in July 2015. Between April 20 and June 30, 2015, the super PAC raised over $11.1 million from 165 "reportable contributions," including 34 contributions of $100,000 or more. Major contributors to the PAC include Floyd Kvamme, who donated $100,000, and Jim Dicke, chairman emeritus of Crown Equipment Corporation, who donated $250,000. According to FEC filings, Kasich's campaign had $2.5 million on hand at the beginning of 2016.
In May 2015, sources close to him had said he was "virtually certain" to run for the Republican nomination for president. On July 21, 2015, Kasich announced his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination during a speech at the Ohio Union, the student union of his alma mater, the Ohio State University.
On January 30, 2016, the New York Times endorsed Kasich for the Republican nomination. The Times editorial board strongly rebuked leading candidates Donald Trump and Senator Ted Cruz and wrote that Kasich, "though a distinct underdog, is the only plausible choice for Republicans tired of the extremism and inexperience on display in this race."
On the campaign trail, Kasich sought to project a sunny, optimistic message, describing himself as "the prince of light and hope." This marked a change in tone for Kasich, who had developed a reputation as an abrasive governor. Viewed as a long-shot contender, Kasich took an "above-the-fray approach to his rivals" and "ran unapologetically as a candidate with experience" even as others ran as "outsider" contenders.
Kasich came in second place in the New Hampshire primary on February 9, 2016, behind winner Trump. The Cincinnati Enquirer reported that this was "the best possible result" for Kasich and lent "credence to the notion that he can emerge" as a Republican alternative to Trump and Cruz.
Ultimately, however, Kasich's message "never caught on in a campaign that ... exposed the anger and frustration coursing through the electorate" and he "found himself stuck in fourth place in a three-man race, trailing Senator Marco Rubio of Florida in the delegate count" although Rubio had dropped out of the race in March.
The only state won by Kasich was his home state of Ohio, which gave him 66 delegates in its March 2016 winner-take-all primary but still left him with "a steep delegate deficit against his rivals." Kasich's unsuccessful campaign strategy hinged on the possibility of a contested (or brokered) Republican National Convention, in which no single candidate has enough delegates to win the nomination on the first ballot, something that has not happened in either of the two major parties' presidential nominating conventions since 1952. Kasich suspended his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination on May 4, 2016, one day after Trump won the Republican primary in Indiana. The third remaining contender, Cruz, quit the race shortly before Kasich did, leaving Trump as the only candidate remaining in the Republican field and hence the party's presumptive nominee.
A 2018 study on media coverage of the 2016 election noted "the paradox of the Kasich campaign's longevity while it lacked public interest provides some evidence for the idea that Kasich's biggest supporters were the media".
Aftermath
Following his withdrawal from the race, Kasich did not extend his support to Trump. In May and June 2016, Kasich said that Trump was a divisive figure rather than a "unifier," said he had no plans to endorse Trump in the near future, and ruled out the possibility of seeking the Vice Presidency as Trump's running mate.
Kasich said it was "hard to say" whether he would ever endorse Trump; he added, "I can't go for dividing, name calling, or somebody that doesn't really represent conservative principles." Kasich said he had ruled out voting for Clinton but lacked the enthusiasm to fully back Trump.
In August 2016, Kasich repeated an earlier claim that the Trump campaign had offered him a powerful vice presidency, "putting him in charge of all domestic and foreign policy". The Trump campaign denied that such an offer had been made. Kasich also doubted whether Trump could win Ohio, a critical state in the election. It was speculated that Kasich was looking towards a 2020 campaign. This speculation was strengthened by a report that Kasich had planned to give a speech to the American Enterprise Institute less than 48 hours after the election but cancelled it the morning after the election when it was clear that Trump had won.
Kasich received an electoral vote for the presidency from one faithless elector, Christopher Suprun of Texas, who had been pledged to vote for Trump. An elector in Colorado also attempted to vote for him, but that vote was discarded; the elector was replaced by an alternate elector who voted, as pledged, for Clinton.
Opposition to Trump
In February 2017, Kasich met with Trump at the White House in a private meeting that followed a bitter feud. Kasich indicated that he hoped for Trump's success, but would continue to be critical when he thought it was necessary. The same month, Kasich's chief political advisors launched a political group, Two Paths America, in an effort to promote Kasich and his views and draw a contrast with Trump. In April 2017, Kasich also released a book, Two Paths: America Divided or United, written with Daniel Paisner. The creation of the group prompted speculation he could possibly run for president again, but Kasich said that he had no plans to seek elected office in the future.
In April 2017, during a CNN town hall, Kasich, while stating that he was "very unlikely" to do so, reopened the possibility that he might run for president in 2020. On August 20, however, he reiterated his previous statement that he had no plans to run; rather, he stated that he was "rooting for [Trump] to get it together."
In October 2017, during an interview with CNN's Jake Tapper, Kasich said he had not "given up" on the Republican Party, but added that "if the party can't be fixed ... I'm not going to be able to support the party. Period. That's the end of it." In March 2018, he told The Weekly Standard that he was "increasingly open" to running for president in the 2020 presidential election; however, in May 2019, he again declared that he would not seek the presidency in 2020.
In October 2019, Kasich expressed support for the impeachment inquiry against Trump, saying that the "final straw" for him was when Trump's acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney admitted that Trump had withheld U.S. aid from Ukraine in part to pressure the country to investigate Trump's domestic political rivals, a statement that Mulvaney later said were misconstrued.
Kasich confirmed on August 10, 2020, that he would be speaking at the 2020 Democratic National Convention in support of presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden. Kasich said that his conscience compelled him to speak out against Trump and in support of Biden, even if it resulted in blowback against him, adding, "I've been a reformer almost all of my life. I've been very independent and I'm a Republican but the Republican Party has always been my vehicle but never my master. You have to do what you think is right in your heart and I'm comfortable here."
Personal life
Kasich has been married twice. His first marriage was to Mary Lee Griffith from 1975 to 1980, and they had no children. Griffith has campaigned for Kasich since their divorce. Kasich and his current wife, Karen Waldbillig, a former public relations executive, were married in March 1997 and have twin daughters, Emma and Reese.
Kasich was raised a Catholic, but considers denominations irrelevant, while stating that "there's always going to be a part of me that considers myself a Catholic." He drifted away from his religion as an adult, but came to embrace an Anglican faith after his parents were killed in a car crash by a drunk driver on August 20, 1987. He joined the Episcopal Church (United States) as an adult. Kasich has said he "doesn't find God in church" but does belong to St. Augustine's in Westerville, Ohio, which is part of the Anglican Church in North America, a conservative church with which he remained when it broke off from the Episcopal Church (United States).
Electoral history
Published works
Kasich has authored five books:
Courage is Contagious, published in 1998, made the New York Times bestseller list
Stand for Something: The Battle for America's Soul, published in 2006
Every Other Monday, published in 2010. This book is a New York Times bestseller.
Two Paths: America Divided or United, published in 2017
It's Up to Us: Ten Little Ways We Can Bring About Big Change, published in 2019
See also
Ohio's 12th congressional district
List of United States representatives from Ohio
Ohio gubernatorial election, 2010
Ohio gubernatorial election, 2014
Republican Party presidential candidates, 2016
List of John Kasich presidential campaign endorsements, 2016
References
Citations
Bibliography
External links
Governor John Kasich official Ohio government website Jan. 2019 archive
John Kasich for Governor
John Kasich for President
U.S. Representative (1983–2001)
1952 births
Living people
Candidates in the 2000 United States presidential election
Candidates in the 2016 United States presidential election
20th-century American politicians
20th-century American writers
21st-century American businesspeople
21st-century American politicians
21st-century American non-fiction writers
American corporate directors
American investment bankers
American people of Croatian descent
American people of Czech descent
American political writers
American Christians
Businesspeople from Pennsylvania
Christians from Ohio
Former Roman Catholics
Fox News people
CNN people
Governors of Ohio
Lehman Brothers people
Members of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio
Ohio Republicans
Ohio state senators
Ohio State University College of Arts and Sciences alumni
People from McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania
Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives
Republican Party state governors of the United States
Writers from Ohio
Converts to Anglicanism from Roman Catholicism
Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio
Criticism of Donald Trump | false | [
"Christopher Tietze (1908 – April 4, 1984) was a United States physician best known for his stance in the United States pro-choice movement to permit abortion in the United States.\n\nBiography\nChristopher Tietze was born in Vienna. He graduated from the medical school at the University of Vienna. In 1938 he came to the United States.\n\nIn 1967 he joined the biomedical division of the Population Council. He was a member of seven organizations in the World Health Organization which recommended policy on human reproduction. He criticized attempts to limit access to abortion.\n\nHe died on April 4, 1984 at age 75.\n\nRecognition\nIn 1973 he and his wife Sarat Lewit Tietze won the Margaret Sanger Award of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America. In 1977 he won the American Public Health Association's Carl Schultz Award.\n\nThe National Abortion Federation grants the Christopher Tietze Humanitarian Award annually to the person or organization which it recognizes as having advanced its organizational mission.\n\nSelected biography\n\nReferences\n\n1908 births\n1984 deaths\nAmerican abortion providers\nAmerican abortion-rights activists",
"Sandra Cano (born 1947-1948(?)-September 30, 2014), (née Race) better known by the legal pseudonym \"Mary Doe,\" was the plaintiff in the lawsuit case Doe v. Bolton (1970), the companion case to Roe v. Wade (1973).\n\nEarly life \nCano was born in 1947/1948 in Georgia to an impoverished, abusive family. She stood out among her peers, as she was overweight, had Bell's palsy, and had a learning disability. She went to school until she dropped out in the ninth grade. She met Joe Bensing, a gas station employee from Oklahoma, when she was seventeen years old and soon became pregnant with his child. Her parents called a \"shotgun\" wedding in 1965 when they found out. Prior to their relationship, Bensing was convicted multiple times as a child molester and kidnapper and continued to violate his probation throughout their marriage.\n\nJourney to Supreme Court case \nIn 1968, her mother forced her into a mental institution due to her stress from her chaotic marriage, but she escaped soon after and never went back. She still had concerns with her mental stability, causing the juvenile court's decision to place her children in foster care. When she was twenty-two years old, she sought out a lawyer to help her get a divorce and gain custody of her two children in foster care. She discovered the Atlanta Legal Aid Office and was introduced to an ACLU lawyer named Margie Pitts Hames when she was pregnant with her fourth child.\n\nPersonal position\nWhile working on Cano's divorce and custody case, Hames became involved in the Doe v. Bolton case, a lawsuit against the Georgia attorney general Arthur K. Bolton. There is no clear claim as to how Cano became involved in the Doe case despite her self-proclaimed pro-life stance; Cano claims that Hames never notified her of her role as a plaintiff in a case to legalize abortion and was asked to sign documents, which Cano never read. Other stories claim that Cano purposely went to the Atlanta Legal Aid to file for a divorce alongside an abortion on March 25, 1970, at the Grady Memorial Hospital, the only nearby hospital where impoverished people could receive free abortions.\n\nLower court decision \nA month later, three local district court judges heard her case. After sixteen days, they ruled in favor of Hames' argument and struck down parts of Georgia's abortion law. The law stated that women who wanted an abortion needed to consult their primary doctor, two other doctors, and the hospital's committee. It also limited abortion to residents of Georgia who had evidence of carrying deformed fetuses, health-risking pregnancies, and being victims of rape. It was sent to the Supreme Court, as both Hames and Bolton appealed. Hames claims that she informed Cano of a chance to testify her wishes to have an abortion, and Cano agreed.\n\nSupreme Court case (Doe v. Bolton) \nIn preparation for the Supreme Court case, Hames applied Cano for an abortion without Cano's knowledge. When the abortion was approved, Hames notified Cano, who strongly reiterated that she did not want an abortion. At the time, she was 6 months pregnant. Cano, afraid that she would be forced to have the abortion, fled to Oklahoma until her mother and Hames assured her that she would not have to abort the child.\n\nLegal argument \nOn the day of the Supreme Court case, Hames prepared three arguments supporting the reformation of Georgia's abortion law. First, she argued that there was a conflict of what constituted a \"legal abortion\" due to the vague requirements that doctors had to meet in order to approve an abortion. She claimed this was a violation of the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Hames's second claim was that the abortion law of Georgia did not have the right to override women's decisions to have an abortion. She used the decision made in Griswold v. Connecticut and the Fourteenth Amendment to support her claim. Finally, Hames argued that Georgia's abortion law negatively impacted medical professionals and marginalized women, as abortions were only allowed to be performed in state approved hospitals. This limited the number of hospitals women could receive abortions at, which infringed on the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.\n\nCano in court \nDespite Hames' argument, Cano did not fully understand the events of the case, and Hames instructed Cano to only spectate the proceedings. She never testified on paper or verbally for her case. Bolton emphasized the fact that Cano was never asked if she was pregnant or if she ever wanted an abortion. If Cano was given the chance to testify, the court would have discovered Cano's pro-life stance. Cano stated feeling manipulated by Hames because she was used to be a plaintiff in a case that supported a view on abortion that she disagreed on, especially by a lawyer who was assisting her in a vulnerable stage in her life.\n\nDecision \nThe decision for Doe v. Bolton was given on January 22, 1973, the same day as the famous companion case Roe v. Wade. The majority was given by Justice Blackmun in the 7–2 decision, which restricted Georgia's anti-abortion law. The Supreme Court used the Fourteenth Amendment's implied right to privacy to back up their decision. The decision established the definition of the \"health of the mother,\" clarifying that the definition of health includes multiple factors: \"physical, psychological, familial, and the woman's age.\"\n\nLife after court decision \nAfter the 1973 decision, Sandra strongly reiterated that she was pro-life and searched for ways to overturn the decision. In the following year, she went to Georgia Right to Life, attempting to find someone who could analyze the impact of her role in Doe v. Bolton. She began her alliance with the president of the Justice Foundation, Allan Parker, in Fayetteville, NC. She failed to reverse the decision in 1989, in 2000 in a Rule 60 Motion, and in 2006. In her attempts, she testified that her role in the Doe case was misleading due to her opposition to abortion. She was quoted as saying she \"[didn't] want to be part of something that is so deadly wrong...\"\n\nIn 2007, she and 180 other women who had previous experiences with abortion worked alongside the Justice Foundation to file a Friend of the Court Brief at the Supreme Court in support of a federal ban on partial birth abortion. Taking into account the women's claims on struggles after abortion, including depression and low self-esteem, the Court recognized Cano as pro-life, reversing her reputation from her case. In 2014, Cano worked to support North Dakota's ban on abortions at the point of a noticeable heartbeat, or six weeks, by speaking to the States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.\n\nLater years \nCano was able to reconnect with her daughter, Melissa Able, in 1989, who was 19 years old with a husband and child at the time. They resided together until a fight ensued a few months later about their differing views on abortion.\n\nOn January 14, 2002, Cano, Norma McCovey, the plaintiff in the Roe v. Wade case, and multiple pro-life organizations came together to create the \"Shake the Nation Back to Life Campaign\" with a purpose of convincing President Bush and the Senate that abortion is detrimental to both the child and the mother. They wanted the Bush administration to elect pro-life members of the judicial branch who would have a different stance on abortion.\n\nCano died on September 30, 2014.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n Sandra Cano speaking at the 1998 March for Life (C-SPAN)\n\n2014 deaths\nPeople from Georgia (U.S. state)\nAmerican anti-abortion activists"
]
|
[
"John Kasich",
"Abortion",
"What was Kasichs stance on abortion",
"Kasich is a \"firm abortion opponent\" and describes himself as pro-life."
]
| C_2b98b6ca33de4d21a7e358160c7a67fa_1 | What else has he done regards abortion | 2 | What else has John Kasich done regards abortion in addition to being a firm abortion opponent? | John Kasich | In 1982, Kasich ran for Congress in Ohio's 12th congressional district, which included portions of Columbus as well as the cities of Westerville, Reynoldsburg, Worthington, and Dublin. He won the Republican primary with 83% of the vote and defeated incumbent Democrat U.S. Congressman Bob Shamansky in the general election by a margin of 50%-47%. He was re-elected eight times after 1982, winning at least 64% of the vote each time. During his congressional career, Kasich was considered a fiscal conservative, taking aim at programs supported by Republicans and Democrats. He worked with Ralph Nader in seeking to reduce corporate tax loopholes. Kasich was a member of the House Armed Services Committee for 18 years. He developed a "fairly hawkish" reputation on that committee, although he "also zealously challenged" defense spending he considered wasteful. Among the Pentagon projects that he targeted were the B-2 bomber program (teaming up with Democratic representative Ron Dellums to cut the program, their efforts were partly successful) and the A-12 bomber program (ultimately canceled by defense secretary Dick Cheney in 1991). He participated extensively in the passage of the Goldwater-Nichols Act of 1986, which reorganized the U.S. Department of Defense. He also pushed through the bill creating the 1988 Base Realignment and Closure Commission, which closed obsolete U.S. military bases, and successfully opposed a proposed $110 million expansion of the Pentagon building after the end of the Cold War. He also "proposed a national commission on arms control" and "urged tighter controls over substances that could be used for biological warfare." Kasich said he was "100 percent for" the first Persian Gulf War as well as the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, but said that he did not favor U.S. military participation in the Lebanese Civil War or in Bosnia. In 1997, with fellow Republican representative Floyd Spence, he introduced legislation (supported by some congressional Democrats) for the U.S. to pull out of a multilateral peacekeeping force in Bosnia. In the House, he supported the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act, a Dellums-led initiative to impose economic sanctions against apartheid-era South Africa. In 1993, Kasich became the ranking Republican member of the House Budget Committee. Kasich and other House Budget Committee Republicans proposed an alternative to President Bill Clinton's deficit reduction bill, the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993. That proposal included funds to implement Republican proposals for health care, welfare, and crime control legislation and for a child tax credit. The Penny-Kasich Plan, named after Kasich and fellow lead sponsor Tim Penny, was supported by Republicans and conservative Democrats. It proposed $90 billion in spending cuts over five years, almost three times as much in cuts as the $37 billion in cuts backed by the Clinton administration and Democratic congressional leaders. About one-third ($27 billion) of the proposed Penny-Kasich cuts would come from means-testing Medicare, specifically by reducing Medicare payments to seniors who earned $75,000 or more in adjusted gross income. This angered the AARP, which lobbied against the legislation. Another $26 billion of the Penny-Kasich plan's cuts would have come from the U.S. Department of Defense and foreign aid, which led Secretary of Defense Les Aspin to say that the plan would destroy military morale. Another $27 billion in savings would have come from federal layoffs. The proposal was narrowly defeated in the House by a 219-213 vote. As ranking member of the Budget Committee, Kasich proposed his own health care reform plan as a rival to the Clinton health care plan of 1993 championed by First Lady Hillary Clinton, but more market-based. As Time magazine wrote, "The Kasich plan would have covered all Americans by 2005, using a form of an individual mandate that would have required employees to purchase insurance through their employers. (The mandate was an idea initially supported by conservative groups like The Heritage Foundation.)" On November 17, 1993, Kasich voted to approve the North American Free Trade Agreement, casting a "yea" vote for the North American Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act. In 1994, Kasich was one of the Republican leaders to support a last-minute deal with President Bill Clinton to pass the Federal Assault Weapons Ban. After a series of meetings with Clinton's Chief of Staff, Leon Panetta, a longtime friend of Kasich, the assault weapons ban was passed when 42 Republicans crossed party lines and voted to ban assault weapons with the Democrats. His support of the assault-weapons ban angered the National Rifle Association, which gave Kasich an "F" rating in 1994 as a result. Kasich is a "firm abortion opponent" and describes himself as pro-life. He says abortions should only be performed in cases of rape, incest, and when the mother's life is in danger. Since taking office, he has signed 18 anti-abortion measures into law. In June 2013, Kasich signed into law a state budget, HB 59, which stripped some $1.4 million in federal dollars from Planned Parenthood by placing the organization last on the priority list for family-planning funds; provided funding to crisis pregnancy centers; and required women seeking abortions to undergo ultrasounds. The budget also barred abortion providers from entering into emergency transfer agreements with public hospitals, requiring abortion providers to find private hospitals willing to enter into transfer agreements. Another provision of the bill requires abortion providers to offer information on family planning and adoption services in certain situations. Under the budget, rape crisis centers could lose public funding if they counseled sexual assault victims about abortion. In 2015, Kasich said in an interview that Planned Parenthood "ought to be de-funded" but Republicans in Congress should not force a government shutdown over the issue. In December 2016, Kasich approved a ban on abortions after 20 weeks, except when a pregnancy endangers a woman's life, but vetoed HB 493, a law which would have made abortion illegal after detection of a fetal heartbeat (typically 5-6 weeks after conception). Kasich cited the cost to taxpayers of defending the legislation in court, and the likelihood that the "Heartbeat Bill" would be struck down in federal court as reasons for vetoing the more restrictive bill. CANNOTANSWER | Since taking office, he has signed 18 anti-abortion measures into law. | John Richard Kasich Jr. ( ; born May 13, 1952) is an American politician, author, and television news host who served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1983 to 2001 and as the 69th governor of Ohio from 2011 to 2019. A Republican, Kasich unsuccessfully sought his party's presidential nomination in 2000 and 2016.
Kasich grew up in McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, moving to Ohio to attend college. After a single term in the Ohio Senate, he served nine terms as a member of the United States House of Representatives from . His tenure in the House included 18 years on the House Armed Services Committee and six years as chairman of the House Budget Committee. Kasich was a key figure in the passage of both 1996 welfare reform legislation and the Balanced Budget Act of 1997. Kasich decided not to run for re-election in 2000 and ran for president instead. He withdrew from the race before the Republican primaries.
After leaving Congress, Kasich hosted Heartland with John Kasich on Fox News from 2001 to 2007 and served as managing director of the Lehman Brothers office in Columbus, Ohio. He ran for governor of Ohio in 2010, defeating Democratic incumbent Ted Strickland. He was re-elected in 2014, defeating Democratic challenger Ed FitzGerald by 30 percentage points. Kasich was term-limited and could not seek a third gubernatorial term in 2018; he was succeeded by fellow Republican Mike DeWine.
Kasich ran for president again in 2016, finishing in third place in the Republican primaries behind Donald Trump and Ted Cruz. He won the primary in his home state of Ohio and finished second in New Hampshire. Kasich declined to support Trump as the Republican presidential nominee and did not attend the 2016 Republican National Convention, which was held in Ohio. In 2019, following the end of his second term as governor, Kasich joined CNN as a contributor. Kasich is known as one of Trump's most prominent critics within the Republican Party, and he endorsed Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden for president in a speech at the 2020 Democratic National Convention.
Early life, education, and early political career
John Richard Kasich Jr. was born and raised in the Pittsburgh suburb of McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania. He is the son of Anne (née Vukovich; 1918–1987) and John Richard Kasich (1919-1987), who worked as a mail carrier.
Kasich's father was of Czech descent, while his mother was of Croatian descent. Both his father and mother were children of immigrants and were practicing Roman Catholics. He has described himself as "a Croatian and a Czech".
After attending public schools in his hometown of McKees Rocks, Kasich later left his native Pennsylvania, settling in Columbus, Ohio in 1970 to attend Ohio State University, where he joined the Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity.
As a freshman, he wrote a letter to President Richard Nixon describing concerns he had about the nation and requesting a meeting with the President. The letter was delivered to Nixon by the university's president Novice Fawcett and Kasich was granted a 20-minute meeting with Nixon in December 1970.
Earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Ohio State University, in 1974, he went on to work as a researcher for the Ohio Legislative Service Commission. From 1975 to 1978, he served as an administrative assistant to then-state Senator Buz Lukens.
Ohio Senate career
In 1978, Kasich ran against Democratic incumbent Robert O'Shaughnessy for State Senate. A political ally of Kasich remembers him during that time as a persistent campaigner: "People said, 'If you just quit calling me, I'll support you.'" At age 26, Kasich won with 56% of the vote, beginning his four-year term representing the 15th district. Kasich was the second youngest person ever elected to the Ohio Senate.
One of his first acts as a State Senator was to refuse a pay raise. Republicans gained control of the State Senate in 1980, but Kasich went his own way, for example, by opposing a budget proposal he believed would raise taxes and writing his own proposal instead.
U.S. House of Representatives (1983–2001)
In 1982, Kasich ran for Congress in Ohio's 12th congressional district, which included portions of Columbus as well as the cities of Westerville, Reynoldsburg, Worthington, and Dublin. He won the Republican primary with 83% of the vote and defeated incumbent Democratic U.S. Congressman Bob Shamansky in the general election by a margin of 50%–47%. He would never face another contest nearly that close, and was re-elected eight more times with at least 64 percent of the vote.
During his congressional career, Kasich was considered a fiscal conservative, taking aim at programs supported by Republicans and Democrats. He worked with Ralph Nader in seeking to reduce corporate tax loopholes.
Kasich was a member of the House Armed Services Committee for 18 years. He developed a "fairly hawkish" reputation on that committee, although he "also zealously challenged" defense spending he considered wasteful. Among the Pentagon projects that he targeted were the B-2 bomber program (teaming up with Democratic representative Ron Dellums to cut the program, their efforts were partly successful) and the A-12 bomber program (ultimately canceled by defense secretary Dick Cheney in 1991). He participated extensively in the passage of the Goldwater–Nichols Act of 1986, which reorganized the U.S. Department of Defense. He also pushed through the bill creating the 1988 Base Realignment and Closure Commission, which closed obsolete U.S. military bases, and successfully opposed a proposed $110 million expansion of the Pentagon building after the end of the Cold War. He also "proposed a national commission on arms control" and "urged tighter controls over substances that could be used for biological warfare."
Kasich said he was "100 percent for" the first Persian Gulf War as well as the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, but said that he did not favor U.S. military participation in the Lebanese Civil War or in Bosnia. In 1997, with fellow Republican representative Floyd Spence, he introduced legislation (supported by some congressional Democrats) for the U.S. to pull out of a multilateral peacekeeping force in Bosnia. In the House, he supported the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act, a U.S. Representative Ron Dellums (D- CA)-led initiative to impose economic sanctions against apartheid-era South Africa.
Ranking member of the House Budget Committee
In 1993, Kasich became the ranking Republican member of the House Budget Committee. Kasich and other House Budget Committee Republicans proposed an alternative to President Bill Clinton's deficit reduction bill, the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993. That proposal included funds to implement Republican proposals for health care, welfare, and crime control legislation and for a child tax credit. The Penny-Kasich Plan, named after Kasich and fellow lead sponsor Tim Penny, was supported by Republicans and conservative Democrats. It proposed $90 billion in spending cuts over five years, almost three times as much in cuts as the $37 billion in cuts backed by the Clinton administration and Democratic congressional leaders. About one-third ($27 billion) of the proposed Penny-Kasich cuts would come from means-testing Medicare, specifically by reducing Medicare payments to seniors who earned $75,000 or more in adjusted gross income. This angered the AARP, which lobbied against the legislation. Another $26 billion of the Penny-Kasich plan's cuts would have come from the U.S. Department of Defense and foreign aid, which led Secretary of Defense Les Aspin to say that the plan would destroy military morale. Another $27 billion in savings would have come from federal layoffs. The proposal was narrowly defeated in the House by a 219–213 vote.
As ranking member of the Budget Committee, Kasich proposed his own health care reform plan as a rival to the Clinton health care plan of 1993 championed by First Lady Hillary Clinton, but more market-based. As journalist Zeke Miller wrote in Time magazine, "The Kasich plan would have covered all Americans by 2005, using a form of an individual mandate that would have required employees to purchase insurance through their employers. (The mandate was an idea initially supported by conservative groups like The Heritage Foundation.)"
On November 17, 1993, Kasich voted to approve the North American Free Trade Agreement, casting a "yea" vote for the North American Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act.
In 1994, Kasich was one of the Republican leaders to support a last-minute deal with President Bill Clinton to pass the Federal Assault Weapons Ban. After a series of meetings with Clinton's Chief of Staff, Leon Panetta, a longtime friend of Kasich, the assault weapons ban was passed when 42 Republicans crossed party lines and voted to ban assault weapons with the Democrats. His support of the assault-weapons ban angered the National Rifle Association, which gave Kasich an "F" rating in 1994 as a result.
Chair of the House Budget Committee
In 1995, when Republicans gained the majority in the United States Congress following the 1994 election, Kasich became chair of the House Budget Committee. In 1996, he introduced the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act in the House, an important welfare reform bill signed into law by President Clinton.
During the 1996 presidential campaign, Republican nominee Bob Dole was reported to have considered Kasich as a vice presidential running mate but instead selected Jack Kemp, a former congressman and Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
In 1997, Kasich rose to national prominence after becoming "the chief architect of a deal that balanced the federal budget for the first time since 1969"—the Balanced Budget Act of 1997.
In 1998, Kasich voted to impeach President Clinton on all four charges made against him. In 1999, while the Senate prepared to vote on the charges, he said: "I believe these are impeachable and removable offenses."
2000 presidential campaign
Kasich did not seek re-election in 2000. In February 1999, he formed an exploratory committee to run for president. In March 1999 he announced his campaign for the Republican nomination. After very poor fundraising, he dropped out in July 1999, before the Iowa Straw Poll, and endorsed governor George W. Bush of Texas.
Private sector career (2001–2009)
After leaving Congress, Kasich went to work for Fox News, hosting Heartland with John Kasich on the Fox News Channel and guest-hosting The O'Reilly Factor, filling in for Bill O'Reilly as needed. He also occasionally appeared as a guest on Hannity & Colmes.
Business career
Kasich served on the board of directors for several corporations, including Invacare Corp. and the Chicago-based Norvax Inc. In 2001, Kasich joined Lehman Brothers' investment banking division as a managing director, in Columbus, Ohio. He remained at Lehman Brothers until it declared bankruptcy in 2008. That year, Lehman Brothers paid him a $182,692 salary and a $432,200 bonus. He stated that the bonus was for work performed in 2007.
Kasich's employment by Lehman Brothers was criticized during his subsequent campaigns in light of the firm's collapse during the financial crisis. Kasich responded to critics by saying: "I wasn't involved in the inner workings of Lehman, I was a banker. I didn't go to board meetings or go and talk investment strategy with the top people. I was nowhere near that. That's like, it's sort of like being a car dealer in Zanesville and being blamed for the collapse of GM."
Political activities from 2001 to 2009
Republicans made efforts to recruit Kasich to run for Ohio governor in 2006, but he declined to enter the race.
In 2008, Kasich formed Recharge Ohio, a political action committee (PAC) with the goal of raising money to help Republican candidates for the Ohio House of Representatives and Ohio Senate, in an effort to retain Republican majorities in the Ohio General Assembly. Kasich served as honorary chairman of the PAC.
Governor of Ohio
2010 election
On May 1, 2009, Kasich filed papers to run for governor of Ohio against incumbent Democratic governor Ted Strickland. He formally announced his candidacy on June 1, 2009. On January 15, 2010, Kasich announced Ohio State Auditor Mary Taylor as his running mate.
During a speech before Ashtabula County Republicans in March 2009, Kasich talked about the need to "break the back of organized labor in the schools," according to the Ashtabula Star Beacon.
Ohio teachers' unions supported Strickland, and after Kasich's gubernatorial victory, he said, "I am waiting for the teachers' unions to take out full-page ads in all the major newspapers, apologizing for what they had to say about me during this campaign."
Elsewhere, he said he was willing to work with "unions that make things."
On May 4, 2010, Kasich won the Republican nomination for governor, having run unopposed. On November 2, 2010, Kasich defeated Strickland in a closely contested race to win the governorship. He was sworn in at midnight on January 10, 2011, in a private ceremony at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus. It was then followed by a ceremonial inauguration at the Ohio Theatre at noon on the same day.
2014 re-election
In November 2014, Kasich won re-election, defeating Democrat Ed FitzGerald, the county executive of Cuyahoga County, 64% to 33%. He won 86 of 88 counties.
Kasich, who was elected with Tea Party support in 2010, faced some backlash from some Tea Party activists. His decision to accept the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act's expansion of Medicaid caused some Tea Party activists to refuse to support his campaign. Kasich supported longtime ally and campaign veteran Matt Borges over Portage County Tea Party chairman Tom Zawistowski for the position of chairman of the Ohio Republican Party. Zawistowski secured just three votes in his run for the chairmanship. Tea Party groups announced they would support a primary challenger, or, if none emerged, the Libertarian nominee.
Ultimately, Zawistowski failed to field anyone on the ballot and the Libertarian nominee (former Republican State Representative Charlie Earl) was removed from the ballot after failing to gain the required number of valid signatures necessary for ballot access.
Political positions and record
Kasich is considered by some to be a moderate Republican due to his strong condemnation of far-right conservatives and his endorsement of Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election. However, his record in the House and as governor of Ohio has led others to point out that his views place him to the right of most moderate politicians. Larry Sabato, the director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics, who has known Kasich for years, says that "If you had asked me in the 90s about Kasich I would have said he was a Gingrich conservative." Kasich's friend Curt Steiner, former chief of staff to former Republican Ohio governor and U.S. senator George Voinovich, described Kasich as a "solid Republican" with "an independent streak."
Kasich's tenure as governor was notable for his expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, his work combating the opioid addiction crisis, his attempt (later reversed by Ohio voters in a 2011 referendum) to curtail collective bargaining for public sector employees, his local government funding cuts, his passage of several anti-abortion laws, his veto of a fetal heartbeat law, his tax cuts, and his evolving position on gun control.
Abortion
Kasich opposes abortion except in cases of rape, incest, and danger to the mother's life. As governor, he signed 18 abortion-restrictive measures into law. In June 2013, Kasich signed into law a state budget, HB 59, which stripped some $1.4 million in federal dollars from Planned Parenthood by placing the organization last on the priority list for family-planning funds; provided funding to crisis pregnancy centers; and required women seeking abortions to undergo ultrasounds. The budget also barred abortion providers from entering into emergency transfer agreements with public hospitals, requiring abortion providers to find private hospitals willing to enter into transfer agreements. Another provision of the bill requires abortion providers to offer information on family planning and adoption services in certain situations. Under the budget, rape crisis centers could lose public funding if they counseled sexual assault victims about abortion.
In 2015, Kasich said in an interview that Planned Parenthood "ought to be de-funded", but added that Republicans in Congress should not force a government shutdown over the issue.
In December 2016, Kasich approved a ban on abortions after 20 weeks, except when a pregnancy endangers a woman's life, but vetoed HB 493, a law which would have made abortion illegal after detection of a fetal heartbeat (typically 5–6 weeks after conception). Kasich cited the cost to taxpayers of defending the legislation in court, and the likelihood that the "Heartbeat Bill" would be struck down in federal court as reasons for vetoing the more restrictive bill. In December 2018, Kasich again vetoed a bill to ban abortion after detection of a fetal heartbeat citing the cost to taxpayers and previous rulings by the federal courts. He did sign a bill into law that bans the dilation and evacuation procedure commonly used for abortion.
Climate change, energy, and environment
In a speech in April 2012, Kasich claimed that climate change is real and is a problem. In the same speech, however, Kasich said that the Environmental Protection Agency should not regulate carbon emissions and that instead states and private companies should be in charge of regulating coal-fired power plant emissions. In 2015, Kasich stated that he did not know all the causes of climate change, and that he did not know the extent to which humans contribute to climate change.
In 2014, Kasich signed into law a bill freezing Ohio's renewable portfolio standard (RPS) program for two years. Ohio's RPS program was created by 2008 legislation and required the state to acquire 12.5 percent of its energy portfolio from renewable sources and to reduce energy consumption by 22 percent by 2025. The legislation signed by Kasich to stop the program was supported by Republican legislative leaders, utility companies, and some industry groups, and opposed by environmentalists, some manufacturers, and the American Lung Association. In 2016, Kasich broke with fellow Republicans in the state legislature by vetoing their attempt to continue blocking the RPS standards; as a result, the freeze ended on December 31, 2016, and the clean-energy mandate resumed. This veto won Kasich praise from environmentalist groups, and angered Republicans in the state legislature.
In his 2015 budget plan, Kasich proposed raising the tax rate on hydraulic fracturing (fracking) activities. Specifically, Kasich's plan called for imposing a 6.5 percent severance tax on crude oil and natural gas extracted via horizontal drilling and sold at the source (about $3.25 per $50 barrel of oil), and for an additional 4.5 percent tax per thousand cubic feet on natural gas and liquefied natural gas (about $0.16 per thousand cubic feet). The proposal would not affect conventional drilling taxes.
Kasich formerly supported fracking in Ohio state parks and forests, signing legislation in mid-2011 authorizing him to appoint a five-member commission to oversee the leasing of mineral rights on state land to the highest bidders. In 2012, Kasich aides planned a campaign with a stated goal to "marginalize the effectiveness of communications by adversaries about the initiative" to bring fracking to state parks and forests, naming in an email the Ohio Sierra Club and state Representatives Robert F. Hagan and Nickie Antonio as adversaries of the plan. Kasich never appointed the commission, and the promotional plan was never put into effect. A memo and email relating to the 2012 promotional campaign were publicly released for the first time in February 2015, which according to the Columbus Dispatch attracted criticism from state environmental and liberal groups, as well as Democratic state legislators, who called for an investigation. On the same day the governor reversed himself, with a spokesman saying, "At this point, the governor doesn't support fracking in state parks. We reserve the right to revisit that, but it's not what he wants to do right now, and that's been his position for the past year and a half."
In April 2015, Kasich signed a bill aimed at protecting Lake Erie's water quality. The bill places restrictions on the spread of manure and other fertilizers that contribute to toxic algal blooms and requires large public water treatment plants to monitor phosphorus levels. The bill had been unanimously approved by both chambers of the Ohio Legislature the previous month.
Kasich supported the Keystone XL oil pipeline project and, along with other Republican governors, signed an open letter in February 2015 urging federal approval for the project. In 2016, in response to a request from South Dakota under the terms of an interstate compact, Kasich dispatched 37 Ohio state troopers to South Dakota, where they were stationed around Dakota Access Pipeline protests near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. This controversial deployment prompted unsuccessful petitions to Kasich (from members of the public, Cincinnati City Council members, environmentalists, and some state legislators), who asked Kasich to recall the troopers.
Policing and criminal justice
Prison privatization
To offset a state budget deficit, Kasich proposed selling five state prisons to the for-profit prison industry. The Lake Erie prison was sold for $72.7 million to the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), generating savings of $3 million. Kasich's Director of Corrections, Gary Mohr, whom he had hired in January 2011, had previously worked for CCA, but he said that he removed himself from the sales process. In an audit in October 2012, CCA was cited for 47 contractual violations, and failed a second audit later that year. In July 2015, the Kasich administration announced its intent to sell the North Central Correctional Institution at Marion, in order to recoup the state's original investment in the facility and invest the proceeds in community-based alternatives to prison.
Policing standards
Following the separate fatal police shootings of John Crawford III and Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old boy in Ohio, while each were holding BB guns, grand juries decided not to indict any of the officers involved. Following this, Kasich created the Ohio Collaborative Community-Police Advisory Board "to address what he described as frustration and distrust among some Ohioans toward their police departments, particularly among the black community." The 23-member task force (with 18 members appointed by Kasich) was appointed in January 2015 and issued its 629-page final report and recommendations in April 2015. The report recommended greater accountability and oversight for police agencies and officers, further community education and involvement in policing, and new use-of-force and recruitment, hiring, and training standards for police agencies.
In April 2015, Kasich created the Ohio Collaborative Community-Police Advisory Board, a twelve-member board tasked (in conjunction with the Ohio Office of Criminal Justice Services and the Ohio Department of Public Safety) with developing statewide standards for the recruiting, hiring and screening of police officers, and for the use of force (including deadly force) by police. The advisory board, the first of its kind in Ohio, was also tasked by Kasich with developing "model policies and best practice recommendations to promote better interaction and communication between law enforcement departments and their home communities." In August 2015, the board issued its recommendations, which placed "an emphasis on the preservation of human life and restrict officers to defending themselves or others from death or serious injury."
In August 2015, Kasich said that he was open to the idea of requiring police officers to wear body cameras.
Capital punishment
As governor, Kasich presided over the executions of fifteen inmates and commuted the death sentences of seven inmates. The last execution in Ohio took place in July 2018. In January 2015, Kasich announced that, due to pending litigation and other issues, he was delaying all seven executions scheduled through January 2016. The delay was largely attributed to European pharmaceutical companies, which have refused to supply the state with deadly drugs necessary for executions. In February 2017, Kasich again delayed Ohio executions for an additional three months, after a federal judge ruled that Ohio's three-drug lethal injection protocol is unconstitutional.
Executive clemency
Kasich used his power of executive clemency sparingly. He has the lowest clemency rate of any Ohio governor since at least the 1980s, when records began to be kept. In six years in office, Kasich granted 86 of the 2,291 requests that he acted upon. In 2016, Kasich granted executive clemency to 13 people; in all of the cases, the Ohio Adult Parole Authority had recommended clemency.
Criminal justice reform issues
Kasich supports various criminal justice reform efforts; according to conservative Washington Post columnist George Will, Kasich "favors fewer mandatory minimum sentences and has instituted prison policies that prepare inmates for re-integration into communities." In 2011, Kasich signed sentencing reform legislation which allowed judges to sentence defendants convicted of non-violent fourth- and fifth-degree felonies to "community-based halfway house facilities" instead of prison; expanded the earned credit system to allow inmates to reduce their sentences; and allowed felons who have already served 80 percent or more of their sentences to be immediately released.
In 2012, Kasich signed into law a bill, sponsored by Cleveland Democratic Senator Shirley Smith and Cincinnati Republican Senator Bill Seitz, easing the collateral consequences of criminal conviction.
In September 2014, Kasich touted the Ohio's prison system's recidivism rate, which is one of the lowest in the nation. U.S. Senator Rob Portman, a Republican, attributed a drop in Ohio's recidivism rate "to the bipartisan work of the state legislature, Governor Kasich, Ohio's reentry leaders and the success of programs made possible at the federal level by the Second Chance Act," which Portman sponsored.
In 2015, Kasich proposed a state budget including $61.7 million for addiction treatment services for prisoners.
Drug policy
Kasich initially expressed opposition to medical marijuana in 2012, saying "There's better ways to help people who are in pain." However, in late 2015 and early 2016, Kasich said he was open to the legalization of medical marijuana.
In March 2014, in an effort to address the opioid epidemic, Kasich signed legislation (passed unanimously in both chambers of the state legislature) expanding the availability of naloxone, a lifesaving antidote to opioid overdoses; the measure allowed friends and family members of addicts to obtain access to naloxone and for first responders to carry naloxone. In July 2015, Kasich signed legislation further expanding the availability of naloxone, making it available without a prescription.
In a 2015 interview with radio talk show host Hugh Hewitt, Kasich said he was opposed to the legalization of recreational marijuana in some states and equated the drug to heroin, stating: "In my state and across this country, if I happened to be president, I would lead a significant campaign down at the grassroots level to stomp these drugs out of our country."
When Kasich was asked by Hewitt whether, if elected president, he would federally enforce marijuana laws in states which have legalized marijuana, Kasich characterized it as a states' rights issue and said that "I'd have to think about it." When asked the same question later in 2015, Kasich said: "I would try to discourage the states from doing it...but I would be tempted to say I don't think we can go and start disrupting what they've decided."
Kasich opposed "Issue 3," an Ohio ballot measure in 2015 that proposed the legalization of recreational marijuana, saying it was a "terrible idea."
Economic policy
State budgets and taxation
During Kasich's tenure, the state has eliminated a budget shortfall that his administration has estimated at $8 billion, but which the Cleveland Plain Dealer estimated at closer to $6 billion. (The New York Times put the number at $7.7 billion). Ohio also increased its "rainy day fund" from effectively zero to more than $2 billion.
Kasich "closed the budget shortfall in part by cutting aid to local governments, forcing some of them to raise their own taxes or cut services. And increasing sales taxes helped make the income tax cuts possible." An analysis by the Plain Dealer in March 2016 found that more than 70 cities and villages had lost at least $1 million a year due to Kasich's budget and taxation policy.
In March 2008, Kasich called for "phasing out" Ohio's state income tax.
During Kasich's time as governor, Ohio ranked 22nd out of the 50 states for private-sector job growth, at 9.3%.
Kasich signed a state budget in 2011 which eliminated the state's estate tax effective January 1, 2013.
In 2013, Kasich signed into law a $62 billion two-year state budget. The budget provided for a 10-percent state income tax cut phased in over three years, and an increase in the state sales tax from 5.5 percent to 5.75 percent. It also included a 50% tax cut for small business owners on the first $250,000 of annual net income. Kasich used his line-item veto power to reject a measure that would stop the Medicaid expansion (which Kasich had accepted from the federal government) to cover nearly 275,000 working poor Ohioans.
In 2015, Kasich signed into law a $71 billion two-year state budget after using his line-item veto power to veto 44 items. The overall 2015 budget provides a 6.3 percent state income-tax cut as a part one component of a $1.9 billion net tax reduction and lowers the top income-tax rate to slightly below 5 percent. The budget also "spends $955 million more in basic state aid for K-12 schools than the last two-year period"; "boosts state funding for higher education to help offset a two-year tuition freeze at public universities"; expands the Medicaid health program; increases cigarette taxes by 35 cents a pack; and "prohibits independent health care and child care workers under contract with the state from unionizing."
Senate Bill 5 and labor issues
On March 31, 2011, in his first year as governor, Kasich signed into law Senate Bill 5, a controversial labor law which restricted collective bargaining rights of public employees, such as police officers, firefighters, and teachers. The legislation, championed by Kasich, prohibited all public employees from striking and restricted their ability to negotiate health care and pension benefits. The final version of the legislation signed by Kasich had passed the state Senate in a 17–16 vote (with six Senate Republicans joining all of the Senate Democrats in voting no) and the state House in a 53–44 vote, with two members abstaining.
Democrats and labor unions opposed the legislation and placed a referendum on the November 2011 ballot to repeal SB 5. SB 5 also "sparked numerous protests with thousands of union workers and other opponents descending on the Statehouse, mirroring similar demonstrations in Wisconsin and injecting Ohio into the national debate over Republican governors' attempts to curb public workers' collective bargaining rights." Kasich and other supporters of SB 5 characterized the legislation as a necessary measure "to help public employers control labor costs" and reduce tax burdens to make Ohio more competitive with other states, while labor unions and other opponents characterized the bill as "a union-busting attack on the middle class."
Ohio voters rejected Senate Bill 5 in a 61 percent to 39 percent vote, which was viewed as a rebuke to Kasich. On election night, Kasich said in a speech at the Ohio Statehouse that "It's clear the people have spoken. I heard their voices. I understand their decision. And frankly, I respect what the people have to say in an effort like this." Following this defeat, Kasich dropped efforts to pass broad-based collective bargaining restrictions, although in 2012 he supported a bill including "provisions reminiscent of Senate Bill 5" but applying only to the Cleveland Metropolitan School District.
In May 2015, Kasich rescinded executive orders issued by his predecessor Ted Strickland in 2007 and 2008 that provided the right to home health care contractors and in-home child care contractors to collectively bargain with the state.
Balanced budget amendment
Kasich has campaigned for a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Kasich created a 501(c)(4) group, Balanced Budget Forever, to promote the cause.
Free trade
Kasich said in 2016 that "I have never been an ideological supporter of free trade," but has long supported free trade agreements. He is a strong supporter of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and participated with others in a meeting with President Obama in support of the agreement.
Civil liberties and electronic surveillance
In speaking in the 2016 campaign on domestic surveillance, Kasich has "straddled the line," praising Rand Paul for saying that "we need to get warrants," but also saying "if there's information they need, the government needs to get it." Kasich has said there needs to be "a balance between good intelligence and the need to protect Americans from what can become an aggressive government somewhere down the road."
On one occasion, Kasich spoke out against proposals to mandate that technology companies provide a "backdoor" for the government to access encrypted devices, saying that this could end up aiding hackers. On a subsequent occasion, Kasich said that encryption was dangerous because it could stymie government antiterrorism investigations.
Kasich has condemned whistleblower Edward Snowden as a traitor.
Education
Kasich proposed new legislation which would increase funding to charter schools and poor school districts. He canceled the school-funding formula put into place by his Democratic predecessor, Governor Ted Strickland.
During Kasich's tenure as governor, he pushed to expand charter schools, increase the number of school vouchers that use public money to pay for tuition at private schools, implement a "merit pay" scheme for teachers, and evaluate teachers by student standardized test scores in math and reading. Kasich supports the Common Core State Standards and has criticized Republicans who turned against it.
During Kasich's tenure, funding for traditional public schools declined by about $500 million, while funding for charter schools has increased at least 27 percent. As calculated by the Howard Fleeter/Education Tax Policy Institute, total school funding under Kasich (including both charter and district schools) has ranged from a low of $7.1 billion in fiscal year 2013 to $7.8 billion in fiscal year 2015, which was higher than its previous peak under Kasich's predecessor, Ted Strickland. As calculated by the Howard Fleeter/Education Tax Policy Institute, Kasich has proposed total school funding of $8.0 billion in fiscal year 2016 and fiscal year 2017. The Ohio Department of Education—which includes more spending areas than Fleeter's does and so reports higher numbers—projects total school funding for Ohio schools to rise to slightly under $10.5 billion by the end of fiscal year 2017.
Analysts disagree "on whether Kasich's education budgets give increases beyond inflation." In the 2015 state budget, Kasich used his line-item veto power "to cut more than $84 million of funding from public schools."
According to a September 2014 story in the Columbus Dispatch, Kasich favored allowing public school districts "to teach alternatives to evolution—such as intelligent design—if local school officials want to, under the philosophy of 'local control.'"
In 2011, Kasich had the idea of establishing a Holocaust memorial on the grounds of the Ohio Statehouse. Kasich successfully secured approval of the proposal from the Capital Square Review and Advisory Board. The $2 million Ohio Holocaust and Liberators Memorial, designed by Daniel Libeskind, is located across from the Ohio Theatre; the memorial was dedicated in 2014.
Foreign and defense policy
In November 2002, Kasich urged the invasion of Iraq, telling a crowd of students at Ohio State University: "We should go to war with Iraq. It's not likely that (Saddam) Hussein will give up his weapons. If he did he would be disgraced in the Arab world."
In an interview in August 2015, Kasich said: "I would never have committed ourselves to Iraq." A Kasich spokesman subsequently said that "Kasich was not revising history" but was instead saying that the Iraq War was a mistake given the facts available now.
Kasich has said that the U.S. "should've left a base in Iraq" instead of withdrawing troops in 2011.
In 2015, Kasich said that airstrikes were insufficient to combat the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, and he would send U.S. ground troops to fight ISIL.
Kasich opposed the landmark 2015 international nuclear agreement with Iran, and in September 2015 was one of fourteen Republican governors who sent a letter to President Obama stating "that we intend to ensure that the various state-level sanctions [against Iran] that are now in effect remain in effect," despite the agreement.
Kasich has expressed support for the U.S.'s drone program. He has said, however, that the program should be overseen by the Department of Defense, and not by the CIA.
Kasich has said that he wants to lift budget sequestration for military spending, and "spend more if necessary."
In November 2015, Kasich said that if elected president, he "would send a carrier battle group through the South China Sea" to send a message to China regarding their claims of sovereignty there.
Kasich supports continued U.S. support of Saudi Arabia, but he criticized Saudi Arabia's "funding and teaching of radical clerics who are the very people who try to destroy us".
Kasich favors strong relations between the U.S. and its NATO allies. He supported Senator John McCain's call for maintaining existing U.S. sanctions on Russia, and condemned the Trump administration's consideration of lifting sanctions. Like McCain, Kasich supports imposing "tougher sanctions against Russia and Putin's inner circle." He supports a bipartisan investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections.
LGBT rights
By the mid-2010s, Kasich had shown much more support for LGBT rights than many of his Republican counterparts. However, during his time in Congress, Kasich was much less accepting, and voted for the Defense of Marriage Act, which barred federal recognition of same-sex marriage. During this period, Kasich supported a ban on same-sex marriage in Ohio and stated that he did not approve of the "gay lifestyle." As governor of Ohio, Kasich signed an executive order banning discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation for state employees; this was more narrow than the previous executive order signed by his predecessor because it omitted protections for gender identity.
During the 2016 presidential campaign, Kasich struck a more moderate tone compared to his Republican opponents. In June 2015, following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, which held that there is a fundamental right to same-sex marriage under the Fourteenth Amendment, Kasich said that he was "obviously disappointed" and that he believes in "traditional marriage," but that the ruling was "the law of the land and we'll abide by it" and that it was "time to move on" to other issues. During his time as Ohio governor, Kasich appointed Richard Hodges as Ohio Director of Health, who was the lead-respondent in the case.
Kasich indicated that he did not support an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to overturn the decision. In response to a debate question about how he would explain his position on same-sex marriage to one of his daughters if she were gay, Kasich responded, "The court has ruled, and I said we'll accept it. And guess what, I just went to a wedding of a friend of mine who happens to be gay. Because somebody doesn't think the way I do doesn't mean that I can't care about them or can't love them. So if one of my daughters happened to be that, of course I would love them and I would accept them. Because you know what? That's what we're taught when we have strong faith."
In September 2015, Kasich commented on the highly publicized case of Kim Davis (the Rowan County, Kentucky clerk who refused to comply with a federal court order directing her to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples), saying: "Now, I respect the fact that this lady doesn't agree but she's also a government employee, she's not running a church, I wouldn't force this on a church. But in terms of her responsibility I think she has to comply. I don't think — I don't like the fact that she's sitting in a jail, that's absurd as well. But I think she should follow the law."
In a March 2018 interview on The Rubin Report, Kasich passively came out in support of same-sex marriage saying "I'm fine with it," but stated that he now preferred to show himself as someone in the "Billy Graham tradition" that "avoided social issues". In December 2018, Kasich signed an executive order extending non-discrimination protections for gender identity, including trans and non-binary identities, to state employees in Ohio.
Gun policy
While in the U.S. House of Representatives, Kasich had a mixed record on gun policy. He was one of 215 Representatives to vote for the Federal Assault Weapons Ban, which became law in 1994, but voted against the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act ("Brady Bill"), which established current background check laws.
As governor, Kasich shifted to more pro-gun positions. In 2011, he signed one bill permitting concealed handguns in bars and another making it easier for people with misdemeanor drug convictions to purchase guns. In 2012, Kasich signed a bill allowing gun owners to transport weapons with loaded magazines in their vehicles and expanding concealed carry permit reciprocity. In December 2014, Kasich signed legislation that reduced the numbers of hours of training required to obtain a concealed carry permit and eliminated the training requirement for permit renewals.
After the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in February 2018, Kasich called for restrictions on the sales of AR-15 style rifles.
Health care
Kasich opted to accept Medicaid-expansion funding provided by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA or "Obamacare") in Ohio. This decision angered many Statehouse Republicans, who wanted Kasich to reject the expansion.
Total spending on Medicaid by the state was almost $2 billion (or 7.6 percent) below estimates for the fiscal year ending in June 2015, according to a report by Kasich's administration. The lower-than-expected costs were attributed to expanded managed care, shorter nursing home stays and increased in-home care for seniors, capitated reimbursement policies, increased automation to determine eligibility for the program and pay care providers, and an improving economy in the state which allowed some participants to move out of the program.
In an October 2014 interview, Kasich said that repeal of the ACA was "not gonna happen" and stated that "The opposition to it was really either political or ideological. I don't think that holds water against real flesh and blood, and real improvements in people's lives." Kasich later said that he was referring solely to the law's Medicaid expansion, and that "my position is that we need to repeal and replace" the rest of the law. In 2015, Kasich expressed support for many provisions of the ACA (ensuring coverage for people with preexisting conditions, the use of insurance exchanges, and Medicaid expansion), but opposed mandates.
In 2017, after Donald Trump took office and congressional Republicans maneuvered to repeal the ACA, Kasich criticized Republican hard-liners in Congress who demanded a full ACA repeal, saying that full repeal was "not acceptable" when 20 million people gained insurance under the ACA and that doing so would be a "political impossibility." Kasich urged that the Medicaid expansion be preserved in some form, criticizing the House Republican legislation that would cut the Medicaid expansion and phase out health insurance subsidies for low-income Americans. Kasich said that the nation's "soul" was at stake if Republicans passed legislation that left millions without health insurance. After the failure of the House Republican health-care legislation, Kasich met in Washington with members of the Republican Tuesday Group and urged fellow Republicans to work with Democrats to make more modest changes to the Affordable Care Act. In May 2017, Kasich said that the version of the Republican health care bill that passed the House was "inadequate" and would harm patients; Kasich said that Republicans "should've worked with the Democrats" on the bill rather than passing legislation merely to fulfill a campaign pledge.
In June 2017, Kasich said that he didn't "have a problem" with gradually phasing out the ACA's expansion of Medicaid over a seven-year period, but only if Congress provided states with significantly more, more than the House Republican bill provided for, and only if Congress granted states more authority to manage the program. Along with three other Republican governors (Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas, Brian Sandoval of Nevada, and Rick Snyder of Michigan), Kasich signed a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell with an outline of their wishes for an health care bill. Kasich and the others specifically called upon Congress to "end the requirement that state Medicaid programs cover nearly every prescription drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration." Kasich and the other governors' views were seen as influential, because their states have Republican senators and the Republicans have only a narrow majority in the Senate.
Immigration and refugees
In 2010, while running for governor, Kasich expressed support for amending the U.S. Constitution to abolish the Fourteenth Amendment's guarantee of jus soli (birthright) citizenship for people born in the United States. Kasich also told the Columbus Dispatch at the time that "One thing that I don't want to reward is illegal immigration."
In 2014, Kasich acknowledged that his stance on immigration has "evolved" because "maybe [I'm] a little smarter now," stating: "I don't want to see anybody in pain. So I guess when I look at this now, I look at it differently than I did in '10. ... When I look at a group of people who might be hiding, who may be afraid, who may be scared, who have children, I don't want to be in a position of where I make it worse for them." That year, Kasich expressed openness to a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, saying at a Republican Governors Association (RGA) meeting in Florida, "I don't like the idea of citizenship when people jump the line, [but] we may have to do it." Kasich was the only governor at the RGA conference "to express openly a willingness to create a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants."
In August 2015, while running for president, Kasich called for a path to legal status (but not necessarily citizenship) for undocumented immigrants and for a guest worker program. Kasich also appeared to disavow his earlier stance against birthright citizenship, stating "I don't think we need to go there"; called for completion of a fence along the U.S.-Mexico border; and noted that undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as young children may obtain driver's licenses in Ohio.
In October 2015, Kasich criticized Donald Trump's "plan to build a wall along the Mexican border and remove immigrants who entered the United States illegally," calling these notions "just crazy."
In September 2015, Kasich said that the U.S. had a moral responsibility to accept refugees fleeing war and violence in Syria. Subsequently, however, Kasich moved to the right, and in November 2015 wrote a letter to President Obama asking that no additional Syrian refugees be resettled in Ohio. Kasich opposed Trump's executive order on travel and immigration, which Trump signed one week after taking office in January 2017. Kasich said that the order was "ham-handed" because it "sowed so much confusion" and "sent a message that somehow the United States was looking sideways at Muslims."
Lieutenant governor
Kasich has a "long-standing political partnership" with his lieutenant governor, Mary Taylor. In 2014, Kasich defended Taylor after her chief of staff, and that chief of staff's administrative assistant, resigned following a timesheet probe. Kasich said of Taylor's handling of the matter: "Mary did the right thing and I support her."
In 2017, the Kasich-Taylor relationship frayed after Taylor abandoned Kasich ally Matt Borges in his bid for chairman of the Ohio Republican Party, and instead chose to support Jane Timken, who was actively supported by Donald Trump, who sought revenge against Kasich for his choice not to endorse Trump. Nevertheless, Kasich indicated that Taylor had "been a good partner" over his term and indicated that he would support her if she chose to run for governor in 2018.
Racial diversity in Cabinet
Upon taking office in 2011, Kasich received criticism for appointing an initial all-white cabinet of 22 members. Responding to criticism for not appointing any black, Hispanic, or Asian Cabinet members, Kasich said: "I don't look at things from the standpoint of any of these sort of metrics that people tend to focus on, race or age, or any of those things. It's not the way I look at things... I want the best possible team I can get." Shortly afterward, on February 2, 2011, Kasich made his first minority appointment to the Cabinet, naming Michael Colbert, a black man, to lead the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.
, four members of Kasich's Cabinet were members of racial minorities.
Transportation
Throughout his first gubernatorial campaign, Kasich opposed the Ohio Hub higher-speed passenger rail project (a proposed 258-mile Cleveland-to-Cincinnati train) and promised to cancel it, claiming that it would average speeds of merely 36 mph. In his first press conference following his election victory, Kasich declared "That train is dead...I said it during the campaign: It is dead."
As governor-elect, Kasich lobbied the federal government to use $400 million in federal dollars allocated for high-speed rail for freight rail projects instead. In a November 2010 letter to Kasich, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood wrote that the federal funding was specifically allocated by the 2009 economic stimulus act for high-speed rail, and could not be used for other purposes. In a December 2010 meeting with President Barack Obama, Kasich again unsuccessfully lobbied to use the grant money for freight rail rather than high-speed rail.
In December 2010, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced that Ohio would lose the $385 million in grant funds allocated for high-speed passenger rail, since Kasich had informed them that he had no intention of ever building high-speed rail projects. (Almost $15 million had already been spent for preliminary engineering.) The $385 million was instead diverted to other states, such as California, New York, and Florida, which planned high-speed rail using the grant money for its congressionally intended purpose. Outgoing governor Ted Strickland, who championed the project, expressed disappointment, saying that the loss of funding for the project was "one of the saddest days during my four years as governor" and that "I can't understand the logic of giving up these vital, job-creating resources to California and Florida at a time when so many Ohioans need jobs."
Kasich is an opponent of the Cincinnati Streetcar project.
In April 2015, Kasich signed a two-year transportation budget bill which allocated $7.06 billion for highway construction and maintenance, $600 million to local governments for road and bridge projects, and an additional million over the last budget for public transportation.
Voting rights
In February 2014, Kasich signed into law a bill which cut six days from Ohio's early voting period, including the "golden week" (a period at the beginning of early voting when voters could both register to vote and cast an in-person absentee ballot). The measures were hotly contested in the state legislature, passing on a party-line vote, with Republicans in favor and Democrats opposed. This measure prompted two federal lawsuits. The first lawsuit, brought by the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio on behalf of the NAACP and League of Women Voters of Ohio, resulted in a settlement in April 2015, in which the state agreed to provide evening and Sunday hours for early voting in elections in Ohio through 2018. The second lawsuit, Ohio Democratic Party v. Husted, was brought in May 2015 by Democratic election lawyer Marc Elias; plaintiffs argued that the Ohio bill eliminating "golden week" violated the Constitution and the Voting Rights Act because it disproportionately burdened black, Latino and young voters. The federal district court agreed and struck down the legislation, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit reversed that decision in a 2–1 vote, and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal. In July 2015, Kasich said that it was "pure demagoguery" for Hillary Clinton to "say that there are Republicans who are deliberately trying to keep people from voting."
In April 2015, Kasich used his line-item veto power to veto a provision added to a highway-budget bill by Republicans in the state legislature that would have required college students who register to vote in Ohio to obtain a state driver's license and vehicle registration, imposing an estimated $75 in motor vehicle costs on out-of-state college students who wanted to vote in the state. The veto was celebrated by voting rights advocates, Ohio Democrats, and the Cleveland Plain Dealer editorial board, which viewed the proposal as effectively a "poll tax" motivated by a partisan desire to limit college-town voting.
Judicial appointments
In Ohio, justices of the Ohio Supreme Court are elected, but the governor can fill unexpired terms. In May 2012, Ohio Supreme Court Associate Justice Evelyn Lundberg Stratton announced she would retire at the end of 2012. In December 2012, Kasich appointed Judge Judith L. French to Stratton's unexpired term, which ran from January 1, 2013, through January 1, 2015.
Impeachment of Donald Trump
On October 18, 2019, Kasich publicly stated that Donald Trump should be impeached. He had previously said there was not enough evidence to impeach the President.
2016 presidential campaign
In April 2015, Kasich announced the formation of his "New Day For America" group. Formerly a 527 group, it filed as a super PAC in July 2015. Between April 20 and June 30, 2015, the super PAC raised over $11.1 million from 165 "reportable contributions," including 34 contributions of $100,000 or more. Major contributors to the PAC include Floyd Kvamme, who donated $100,000, and Jim Dicke, chairman emeritus of Crown Equipment Corporation, who donated $250,000. According to FEC filings, Kasich's campaign had $2.5 million on hand at the beginning of 2016.
In May 2015, sources close to him had said he was "virtually certain" to run for the Republican nomination for president. On July 21, 2015, Kasich announced his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination during a speech at the Ohio Union, the student union of his alma mater, the Ohio State University.
On January 30, 2016, the New York Times endorsed Kasich for the Republican nomination. The Times editorial board strongly rebuked leading candidates Donald Trump and Senator Ted Cruz and wrote that Kasich, "though a distinct underdog, is the only plausible choice for Republicans tired of the extremism and inexperience on display in this race."
On the campaign trail, Kasich sought to project a sunny, optimistic message, describing himself as "the prince of light and hope." This marked a change in tone for Kasich, who had developed a reputation as an abrasive governor. Viewed as a long-shot contender, Kasich took an "above-the-fray approach to his rivals" and "ran unapologetically as a candidate with experience" even as others ran as "outsider" contenders.
Kasich came in second place in the New Hampshire primary on February 9, 2016, behind winner Trump. The Cincinnati Enquirer reported that this was "the best possible result" for Kasich and lent "credence to the notion that he can emerge" as a Republican alternative to Trump and Cruz.
Ultimately, however, Kasich's message "never caught on in a campaign that ... exposed the anger and frustration coursing through the electorate" and he "found himself stuck in fourth place in a three-man race, trailing Senator Marco Rubio of Florida in the delegate count" although Rubio had dropped out of the race in March.
The only state won by Kasich was his home state of Ohio, which gave him 66 delegates in its March 2016 winner-take-all primary but still left him with "a steep delegate deficit against his rivals." Kasich's unsuccessful campaign strategy hinged on the possibility of a contested (or brokered) Republican National Convention, in which no single candidate has enough delegates to win the nomination on the first ballot, something that has not happened in either of the two major parties' presidential nominating conventions since 1952. Kasich suspended his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination on May 4, 2016, one day after Trump won the Republican primary in Indiana. The third remaining contender, Cruz, quit the race shortly before Kasich did, leaving Trump as the only candidate remaining in the Republican field and hence the party's presumptive nominee.
A 2018 study on media coverage of the 2016 election noted "the paradox of the Kasich campaign's longevity while it lacked public interest provides some evidence for the idea that Kasich's biggest supporters were the media".
Aftermath
Following his withdrawal from the race, Kasich did not extend his support to Trump. In May and June 2016, Kasich said that Trump was a divisive figure rather than a "unifier," said he had no plans to endorse Trump in the near future, and ruled out the possibility of seeking the Vice Presidency as Trump's running mate.
Kasich said it was "hard to say" whether he would ever endorse Trump; he added, "I can't go for dividing, name calling, or somebody that doesn't really represent conservative principles." Kasich said he had ruled out voting for Clinton but lacked the enthusiasm to fully back Trump.
In August 2016, Kasich repeated an earlier claim that the Trump campaign had offered him a powerful vice presidency, "putting him in charge of all domestic and foreign policy". The Trump campaign denied that such an offer had been made. Kasich also doubted whether Trump could win Ohio, a critical state in the election. It was speculated that Kasich was looking towards a 2020 campaign. This speculation was strengthened by a report that Kasich had planned to give a speech to the American Enterprise Institute less than 48 hours after the election but cancelled it the morning after the election when it was clear that Trump had won.
Kasich received an electoral vote for the presidency from one faithless elector, Christopher Suprun of Texas, who had been pledged to vote for Trump. An elector in Colorado also attempted to vote for him, but that vote was discarded; the elector was replaced by an alternate elector who voted, as pledged, for Clinton.
Opposition to Trump
In February 2017, Kasich met with Trump at the White House in a private meeting that followed a bitter feud. Kasich indicated that he hoped for Trump's success, but would continue to be critical when he thought it was necessary. The same month, Kasich's chief political advisors launched a political group, Two Paths America, in an effort to promote Kasich and his views and draw a contrast with Trump. In April 2017, Kasich also released a book, Two Paths: America Divided or United, written with Daniel Paisner. The creation of the group prompted speculation he could possibly run for president again, but Kasich said that he had no plans to seek elected office in the future.
In April 2017, during a CNN town hall, Kasich, while stating that he was "very unlikely" to do so, reopened the possibility that he might run for president in 2020. On August 20, however, he reiterated his previous statement that he had no plans to run; rather, he stated that he was "rooting for [Trump] to get it together."
In October 2017, during an interview with CNN's Jake Tapper, Kasich said he had not "given up" on the Republican Party, but added that "if the party can't be fixed ... I'm not going to be able to support the party. Period. That's the end of it." In March 2018, he told The Weekly Standard that he was "increasingly open" to running for president in the 2020 presidential election; however, in May 2019, he again declared that he would not seek the presidency in 2020.
In October 2019, Kasich expressed support for the impeachment inquiry against Trump, saying that the "final straw" for him was when Trump's acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney admitted that Trump had withheld U.S. aid from Ukraine in part to pressure the country to investigate Trump's domestic political rivals, a statement that Mulvaney later said were misconstrued.
Kasich confirmed on August 10, 2020, that he would be speaking at the 2020 Democratic National Convention in support of presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden. Kasich said that his conscience compelled him to speak out against Trump and in support of Biden, even if it resulted in blowback against him, adding, "I've been a reformer almost all of my life. I've been very independent and I'm a Republican but the Republican Party has always been my vehicle but never my master. You have to do what you think is right in your heart and I'm comfortable here."
Personal life
Kasich has been married twice. His first marriage was to Mary Lee Griffith from 1975 to 1980, and they had no children. Griffith has campaigned for Kasich since their divorce. Kasich and his current wife, Karen Waldbillig, a former public relations executive, were married in March 1997 and have twin daughters, Emma and Reese.
Kasich was raised a Catholic, but considers denominations irrelevant, while stating that "there's always going to be a part of me that considers myself a Catholic." He drifted away from his religion as an adult, but came to embrace an Anglican faith after his parents were killed in a car crash by a drunk driver on August 20, 1987. He joined the Episcopal Church (United States) as an adult. Kasich has said he "doesn't find God in church" but does belong to St. Augustine's in Westerville, Ohio, which is part of the Anglican Church in North America, a conservative church with which he remained when it broke off from the Episcopal Church (United States).
Electoral history
Published works
Kasich has authored five books:
Courage is Contagious, published in 1998, made the New York Times bestseller list
Stand for Something: The Battle for America's Soul, published in 2006
Every Other Monday, published in 2010. This book is a New York Times bestseller.
Two Paths: America Divided or United, published in 2017
It's Up to Us: Ten Little Ways We Can Bring About Big Change, published in 2019
See also
Ohio's 12th congressional district
List of United States representatives from Ohio
Ohio gubernatorial election, 2010
Ohio gubernatorial election, 2014
Republican Party presidential candidates, 2016
List of John Kasich presidential campaign endorsements, 2016
References
Citations
Bibliography
External links
Governor John Kasich official Ohio government website Jan. 2019 archive
John Kasich for Governor
John Kasich for President
U.S. Representative (1983–2001)
1952 births
Living people
Candidates in the 2000 United States presidential election
Candidates in the 2016 United States presidential election
20th-century American politicians
20th-century American writers
21st-century American businesspeople
21st-century American politicians
21st-century American non-fiction writers
American corporate directors
American investment bankers
American people of Croatian descent
American people of Czech descent
American political writers
American Christians
Businesspeople from Pennsylvania
Christians from Ohio
Former Roman Catholics
Fox News people
CNN people
Governors of Ohio
Lehman Brothers people
Members of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio
Ohio Republicans
Ohio state senators
Ohio State University College of Arts and Sciences alumni
People from McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania
Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives
Republican Party state governors of the United States
Writers from Ohio
Converts to Anglicanism from Roman Catholicism
Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio
Criticism of Donald Trump | false | [
"Cherish Life Queensland (originally known as Queensland Right to Life) is a Queensland pro-life/anti abortion group. It is non-denominational, non-party political pro-life organisation founded in Brisbane in 1970, before the emergence of similar organisations in other Australian states. Cherish Life Queensland is the state affiliate for the Federation of Right to Life Associations.\n\nHistory\n\nCherish Life Queensland was formed in 1970 by a group of concerned Christian women who saw what was happening in America in regards to the push for the legalisation of abortion and wanted to prevent its legalisation in their state. Since its inception as Queensland Right to Life, it has been funded by entirely by donations alone.\n\nAt the General Meeting on 21 June 2008, the members present voted for a change of name from \"Queensland Right to Life\" to \"Cherish Life Queensland\", which they believed would more accurately represent their opposition to embryonic stem cell research, assisted suicide, as well as abortion.\n\nIn May 2019, Anna Palmer wife of Australian businessman Clive Palmer donated $20,000 to Cherish Life Queensland for electoral purposes.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n Cherish Life Queensland | Official website\n\n1970 establishments in Australia\nAbortion-rights organisations in Australia\nAnti-abortion organisations in Australia\nChild welfare in Australia\nChildren's health in Australia\nEuthanasia in Australia\nHealth law in Australia\nHuman rights organisations based in Australia\nLobbying organisations in Australia\nMurder in Australia\nNon-profit organisations based in Queensland\nOld age in Australia\nOrganizations established in 1970\nPolitical advocacy groups in Australia\nAnti-abortion organizations\nSuicide in Australia",
"Abortion in Turkey is legal until the tenth week after the conception. It can be extended if there is danger to the woman's life or the life of the fetus. During the ten weeks, an abortion is allowed for the following reasons: the pregnancy threatens the woman's mental and/or physical health, the fetus would be physically or mentally impaired, if the conception occurred through rape or incest, and economic or social reasons. The woman's consent is required. If the woman is under the age of 18, then parental consent is required. If the woman is married, the consent of the husband is also required. Single women over the age of 18 can choose to have an abortion on their own.\n\nDespite issues, the understanding and education about abortion has improved, and the procedure has become safer since its legalization in 1983. The legalization followed a period of high mortality rates among pregnant women seeking unsafe abortions due to the lack of access to the legal, professional procedure.\n\nHistory\nIn 1983, abortion was legalized in Turkey (it was passed in 1982 during a military government). In the past, abortions would happen in secret and were usually done in harmful and unsafe ways. Finally, in 1983 Turkey decided to legalize abortions, as they do in Tunisia, during the first trimester no matter what circumstances the mother faces. Out of all the countries in the Middle East region, Turkey and Tunisia are the only two countries in this region that allow abortions under any circumstances during the first trimester. The rest of the Middle East only allows abortions if it affects the health of the woman. Because abortions were done in secret, they were done in harmful ways. It was one of the major reasons for the death of women at this time. Statistics show that deaths of women caused by harmful abortion methods stood at 50% in the 1950s. Also, in 1974, there were \"208 maternal deaths for every 100,000 births.\"\n\nProtest\nIn 2012, thousands of people went out to protest against the anti-abortion law plan that the then prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, had in mind. A total of around 3,000-4,000 protesters went out to voice their opinions and speak against Erdoğan's decision. His decision, and two speeches he gave against abortion and cesarean births, caused the protest. The protest included women of all ages and they held banners including phrases such as \"My body, my choice\" and \"I am a woman not a mother, don't touch my body.\"\n\nIssues with public hospitals\nDue to the legalization of abortion, the percentage of maternal deaths caused by unsafe abortions is only 2% as opposed to the 50% in the 1950s. Also, in 2013, the number of maternal deaths was reduced to \"20 maternal deaths for every 100,000 births\" as opposed to the 208 in 1974. Although this holds true and abortions are legal, being able to get non-emergency terminations at public hospitals is difficult. It's shown that \"only three out of thirty-seven public hospitals in the country\" are allowing non-emergency terminations. A proposed law in 2012 stated doctors had the right to refuse to perform abortions for conscientious reasons, and could make waiting periods that would be mandatory. The law did not pass, but the influence and idea of it has caused health professionals to enact it on their own anyway. They are making it difficult for women to get abortions. Some hospitals have created a policy to inform fathers of the pregnancy of their daughters. There are also some that do not permit abortion services for women who are not married or are more than six weeks pregnant, although the law allows for abortions no matter the circumstance up until the tenth week of pregnancy.\n\nSee also\nAbortion\nAbortion by country\nAbortion law\n\nReferences\n\nFurther reading\n \n\n1983 establishments in Turkey\nTurkey\nTurkey\nTurkey\nTurkish law"
]
|
[
"John Kasich",
"Abortion",
"What was Kasichs stance on abortion",
"Kasich is a \"firm abortion opponent\" and describes himself as pro-life.",
"What else has he done regards abortion",
"Since taking office, he has signed 18 anti-abortion measures into law."
]
| C_2b98b6ca33de4d21a7e358160c7a67fa_1 | What were some of the measures | 3 | What were some of the anti-abortion measures signed into law by John Kasich? | John Kasich | In 1982, Kasich ran for Congress in Ohio's 12th congressional district, which included portions of Columbus as well as the cities of Westerville, Reynoldsburg, Worthington, and Dublin. He won the Republican primary with 83% of the vote and defeated incumbent Democrat U.S. Congressman Bob Shamansky in the general election by a margin of 50%-47%. He was re-elected eight times after 1982, winning at least 64% of the vote each time. During his congressional career, Kasich was considered a fiscal conservative, taking aim at programs supported by Republicans and Democrats. He worked with Ralph Nader in seeking to reduce corporate tax loopholes. Kasich was a member of the House Armed Services Committee for 18 years. He developed a "fairly hawkish" reputation on that committee, although he "also zealously challenged" defense spending he considered wasteful. Among the Pentagon projects that he targeted were the B-2 bomber program (teaming up with Democratic representative Ron Dellums to cut the program, their efforts were partly successful) and the A-12 bomber program (ultimately canceled by defense secretary Dick Cheney in 1991). He participated extensively in the passage of the Goldwater-Nichols Act of 1986, which reorganized the U.S. Department of Defense. He also pushed through the bill creating the 1988 Base Realignment and Closure Commission, which closed obsolete U.S. military bases, and successfully opposed a proposed $110 million expansion of the Pentagon building after the end of the Cold War. He also "proposed a national commission on arms control" and "urged tighter controls over substances that could be used for biological warfare." Kasich said he was "100 percent for" the first Persian Gulf War as well as the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, but said that he did not favor U.S. military participation in the Lebanese Civil War or in Bosnia. In 1997, with fellow Republican representative Floyd Spence, he introduced legislation (supported by some congressional Democrats) for the U.S. to pull out of a multilateral peacekeeping force in Bosnia. In the House, he supported the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act, a Dellums-led initiative to impose economic sanctions against apartheid-era South Africa. In 1993, Kasich became the ranking Republican member of the House Budget Committee. Kasich and other House Budget Committee Republicans proposed an alternative to President Bill Clinton's deficit reduction bill, the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993. That proposal included funds to implement Republican proposals for health care, welfare, and crime control legislation and for a child tax credit. The Penny-Kasich Plan, named after Kasich and fellow lead sponsor Tim Penny, was supported by Republicans and conservative Democrats. It proposed $90 billion in spending cuts over five years, almost three times as much in cuts as the $37 billion in cuts backed by the Clinton administration and Democratic congressional leaders. About one-third ($27 billion) of the proposed Penny-Kasich cuts would come from means-testing Medicare, specifically by reducing Medicare payments to seniors who earned $75,000 or more in adjusted gross income. This angered the AARP, which lobbied against the legislation. Another $26 billion of the Penny-Kasich plan's cuts would have come from the U.S. Department of Defense and foreign aid, which led Secretary of Defense Les Aspin to say that the plan would destroy military morale. Another $27 billion in savings would have come from federal layoffs. The proposal was narrowly defeated in the House by a 219-213 vote. As ranking member of the Budget Committee, Kasich proposed his own health care reform plan as a rival to the Clinton health care plan of 1993 championed by First Lady Hillary Clinton, but more market-based. As Time magazine wrote, "The Kasich plan would have covered all Americans by 2005, using a form of an individual mandate that would have required employees to purchase insurance through their employers. (The mandate was an idea initially supported by conservative groups like The Heritage Foundation.)" On November 17, 1993, Kasich voted to approve the North American Free Trade Agreement, casting a "yea" vote for the North American Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act. In 1994, Kasich was one of the Republican leaders to support a last-minute deal with President Bill Clinton to pass the Federal Assault Weapons Ban. After a series of meetings with Clinton's Chief of Staff, Leon Panetta, a longtime friend of Kasich, the assault weapons ban was passed when 42 Republicans crossed party lines and voted to ban assault weapons with the Democrats. His support of the assault-weapons ban angered the National Rifle Association, which gave Kasich an "F" rating in 1994 as a result. Kasich is a "firm abortion opponent" and describes himself as pro-life. He says abortions should only be performed in cases of rape, incest, and when the mother's life is in danger. Since taking office, he has signed 18 anti-abortion measures into law. In June 2013, Kasich signed into law a state budget, HB 59, which stripped some $1.4 million in federal dollars from Planned Parenthood by placing the organization last on the priority list for family-planning funds; provided funding to crisis pregnancy centers; and required women seeking abortions to undergo ultrasounds. The budget also barred abortion providers from entering into emergency transfer agreements with public hospitals, requiring abortion providers to find private hospitals willing to enter into transfer agreements. Another provision of the bill requires abortion providers to offer information on family planning and adoption services in certain situations. Under the budget, rape crisis centers could lose public funding if they counseled sexual assault victims about abortion. In 2015, Kasich said in an interview that Planned Parenthood "ought to be de-funded" but Republicans in Congress should not force a government shutdown over the issue. In December 2016, Kasich approved a ban on abortions after 20 weeks, except when a pregnancy endangers a woman's life, but vetoed HB 493, a law which would have made abortion illegal after detection of a fetal heartbeat (typically 5-6 weeks after conception). Kasich cited the cost to taxpayers of defending the legislation in court, and the likelihood that the "Heartbeat Bill" would be struck down in federal court as reasons for vetoing the more restrictive bill. CANNOTANSWER | Kasich signed into law a state budget, HB 59, which stripped some $1.4 million in federal dollars from Planned Parenthood | John Richard Kasich Jr. ( ; born May 13, 1952) is an American politician, author, and television news host who served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1983 to 2001 and as the 69th governor of Ohio from 2011 to 2019. A Republican, Kasich unsuccessfully sought his party's presidential nomination in 2000 and 2016.
Kasich grew up in McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, moving to Ohio to attend college. After a single term in the Ohio Senate, he served nine terms as a member of the United States House of Representatives from . His tenure in the House included 18 years on the House Armed Services Committee and six years as chairman of the House Budget Committee. Kasich was a key figure in the passage of both 1996 welfare reform legislation and the Balanced Budget Act of 1997. Kasich decided not to run for re-election in 2000 and ran for president instead. He withdrew from the race before the Republican primaries.
After leaving Congress, Kasich hosted Heartland with John Kasich on Fox News from 2001 to 2007 and served as managing director of the Lehman Brothers office in Columbus, Ohio. He ran for governor of Ohio in 2010, defeating Democratic incumbent Ted Strickland. He was re-elected in 2014, defeating Democratic challenger Ed FitzGerald by 30 percentage points. Kasich was term-limited and could not seek a third gubernatorial term in 2018; he was succeeded by fellow Republican Mike DeWine.
Kasich ran for president again in 2016, finishing in third place in the Republican primaries behind Donald Trump and Ted Cruz. He won the primary in his home state of Ohio and finished second in New Hampshire. Kasich declined to support Trump as the Republican presidential nominee and did not attend the 2016 Republican National Convention, which was held in Ohio. In 2019, following the end of his second term as governor, Kasich joined CNN as a contributor. Kasich is known as one of Trump's most prominent critics within the Republican Party, and he endorsed Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden for president in a speech at the 2020 Democratic National Convention.
Early life, education, and early political career
John Richard Kasich Jr. was born and raised in the Pittsburgh suburb of McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania. He is the son of Anne (née Vukovich; 1918–1987) and John Richard Kasich (1919-1987), who worked as a mail carrier.
Kasich's father was of Czech descent, while his mother was of Croatian descent. Both his father and mother were children of immigrants and were practicing Roman Catholics. He has described himself as "a Croatian and a Czech".
After attending public schools in his hometown of McKees Rocks, Kasich later left his native Pennsylvania, settling in Columbus, Ohio in 1970 to attend Ohio State University, where he joined the Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity.
As a freshman, he wrote a letter to President Richard Nixon describing concerns he had about the nation and requesting a meeting with the President. The letter was delivered to Nixon by the university's president Novice Fawcett and Kasich was granted a 20-minute meeting with Nixon in December 1970.
Earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Ohio State University, in 1974, he went on to work as a researcher for the Ohio Legislative Service Commission. From 1975 to 1978, he served as an administrative assistant to then-state Senator Buz Lukens.
Ohio Senate career
In 1978, Kasich ran against Democratic incumbent Robert O'Shaughnessy for State Senate. A political ally of Kasich remembers him during that time as a persistent campaigner: "People said, 'If you just quit calling me, I'll support you.'" At age 26, Kasich won with 56% of the vote, beginning his four-year term representing the 15th district. Kasich was the second youngest person ever elected to the Ohio Senate.
One of his first acts as a State Senator was to refuse a pay raise. Republicans gained control of the State Senate in 1980, but Kasich went his own way, for example, by opposing a budget proposal he believed would raise taxes and writing his own proposal instead.
U.S. House of Representatives (1983–2001)
In 1982, Kasich ran for Congress in Ohio's 12th congressional district, which included portions of Columbus as well as the cities of Westerville, Reynoldsburg, Worthington, and Dublin. He won the Republican primary with 83% of the vote and defeated incumbent Democratic U.S. Congressman Bob Shamansky in the general election by a margin of 50%–47%. He would never face another contest nearly that close, and was re-elected eight more times with at least 64 percent of the vote.
During his congressional career, Kasich was considered a fiscal conservative, taking aim at programs supported by Republicans and Democrats. He worked with Ralph Nader in seeking to reduce corporate tax loopholes.
Kasich was a member of the House Armed Services Committee for 18 years. He developed a "fairly hawkish" reputation on that committee, although he "also zealously challenged" defense spending he considered wasteful. Among the Pentagon projects that he targeted were the B-2 bomber program (teaming up with Democratic representative Ron Dellums to cut the program, their efforts were partly successful) and the A-12 bomber program (ultimately canceled by defense secretary Dick Cheney in 1991). He participated extensively in the passage of the Goldwater–Nichols Act of 1986, which reorganized the U.S. Department of Defense. He also pushed through the bill creating the 1988 Base Realignment and Closure Commission, which closed obsolete U.S. military bases, and successfully opposed a proposed $110 million expansion of the Pentagon building after the end of the Cold War. He also "proposed a national commission on arms control" and "urged tighter controls over substances that could be used for biological warfare."
Kasich said he was "100 percent for" the first Persian Gulf War as well as the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, but said that he did not favor U.S. military participation in the Lebanese Civil War or in Bosnia. In 1997, with fellow Republican representative Floyd Spence, he introduced legislation (supported by some congressional Democrats) for the U.S. to pull out of a multilateral peacekeeping force in Bosnia. In the House, he supported the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act, a U.S. Representative Ron Dellums (D- CA)-led initiative to impose economic sanctions against apartheid-era South Africa.
Ranking member of the House Budget Committee
In 1993, Kasich became the ranking Republican member of the House Budget Committee. Kasich and other House Budget Committee Republicans proposed an alternative to President Bill Clinton's deficit reduction bill, the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993. That proposal included funds to implement Republican proposals for health care, welfare, and crime control legislation and for a child tax credit. The Penny-Kasich Plan, named after Kasich and fellow lead sponsor Tim Penny, was supported by Republicans and conservative Democrats. It proposed $90 billion in spending cuts over five years, almost three times as much in cuts as the $37 billion in cuts backed by the Clinton administration and Democratic congressional leaders. About one-third ($27 billion) of the proposed Penny-Kasich cuts would come from means-testing Medicare, specifically by reducing Medicare payments to seniors who earned $75,000 or more in adjusted gross income. This angered the AARP, which lobbied against the legislation. Another $26 billion of the Penny-Kasich plan's cuts would have come from the U.S. Department of Defense and foreign aid, which led Secretary of Defense Les Aspin to say that the plan would destroy military morale. Another $27 billion in savings would have come from federal layoffs. The proposal was narrowly defeated in the House by a 219–213 vote.
As ranking member of the Budget Committee, Kasich proposed his own health care reform plan as a rival to the Clinton health care plan of 1993 championed by First Lady Hillary Clinton, but more market-based. As journalist Zeke Miller wrote in Time magazine, "The Kasich plan would have covered all Americans by 2005, using a form of an individual mandate that would have required employees to purchase insurance through their employers. (The mandate was an idea initially supported by conservative groups like The Heritage Foundation.)"
On November 17, 1993, Kasich voted to approve the North American Free Trade Agreement, casting a "yea" vote for the North American Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act.
In 1994, Kasich was one of the Republican leaders to support a last-minute deal with President Bill Clinton to pass the Federal Assault Weapons Ban. After a series of meetings with Clinton's Chief of Staff, Leon Panetta, a longtime friend of Kasich, the assault weapons ban was passed when 42 Republicans crossed party lines and voted to ban assault weapons with the Democrats. His support of the assault-weapons ban angered the National Rifle Association, which gave Kasich an "F" rating in 1994 as a result.
Chair of the House Budget Committee
In 1995, when Republicans gained the majority in the United States Congress following the 1994 election, Kasich became chair of the House Budget Committee. In 1996, he introduced the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act in the House, an important welfare reform bill signed into law by President Clinton.
During the 1996 presidential campaign, Republican nominee Bob Dole was reported to have considered Kasich as a vice presidential running mate but instead selected Jack Kemp, a former congressman and Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
In 1997, Kasich rose to national prominence after becoming "the chief architect of a deal that balanced the federal budget for the first time since 1969"—the Balanced Budget Act of 1997.
In 1998, Kasich voted to impeach President Clinton on all four charges made against him. In 1999, while the Senate prepared to vote on the charges, he said: "I believe these are impeachable and removable offenses."
2000 presidential campaign
Kasich did not seek re-election in 2000. In February 1999, he formed an exploratory committee to run for president. In March 1999 he announced his campaign for the Republican nomination. After very poor fundraising, he dropped out in July 1999, before the Iowa Straw Poll, and endorsed governor George W. Bush of Texas.
Private sector career (2001–2009)
After leaving Congress, Kasich went to work for Fox News, hosting Heartland with John Kasich on the Fox News Channel and guest-hosting The O'Reilly Factor, filling in for Bill O'Reilly as needed. He also occasionally appeared as a guest on Hannity & Colmes.
Business career
Kasich served on the board of directors for several corporations, including Invacare Corp. and the Chicago-based Norvax Inc. In 2001, Kasich joined Lehman Brothers' investment banking division as a managing director, in Columbus, Ohio. He remained at Lehman Brothers until it declared bankruptcy in 2008. That year, Lehman Brothers paid him a $182,692 salary and a $432,200 bonus. He stated that the bonus was for work performed in 2007.
Kasich's employment by Lehman Brothers was criticized during his subsequent campaigns in light of the firm's collapse during the financial crisis. Kasich responded to critics by saying: "I wasn't involved in the inner workings of Lehman, I was a banker. I didn't go to board meetings or go and talk investment strategy with the top people. I was nowhere near that. That's like, it's sort of like being a car dealer in Zanesville and being blamed for the collapse of GM."
Political activities from 2001 to 2009
Republicans made efforts to recruit Kasich to run for Ohio governor in 2006, but he declined to enter the race.
In 2008, Kasich formed Recharge Ohio, a political action committee (PAC) with the goal of raising money to help Republican candidates for the Ohio House of Representatives and Ohio Senate, in an effort to retain Republican majorities in the Ohio General Assembly. Kasich served as honorary chairman of the PAC.
Governor of Ohio
2010 election
On May 1, 2009, Kasich filed papers to run for governor of Ohio against incumbent Democratic governor Ted Strickland. He formally announced his candidacy on June 1, 2009. On January 15, 2010, Kasich announced Ohio State Auditor Mary Taylor as his running mate.
During a speech before Ashtabula County Republicans in March 2009, Kasich talked about the need to "break the back of organized labor in the schools," according to the Ashtabula Star Beacon.
Ohio teachers' unions supported Strickland, and after Kasich's gubernatorial victory, he said, "I am waiting for the teachers' unions to take out full-page ads in all the major newspapers, apologizing for what they had to say about me during this campaign."
Elsewhere, he said he was willing to work with "unions that make things."
On May 4, 2010, Kasich won the Republican nomination for governor, having run unopposed. On November 2, 2010, Kasich defeated Strickland in a closely contested race to win the governorship. He was sworn in at midnight on January 10, 2011, in a private ceremony at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus. It was then followed by a ceremonial inauguration at the Ohio Theatre at noon on the same day.
2014 re-election
In November 2014, Kasich won re-election, defeating Democrat Ed FitzGerald, the county executive of Cuyahoga County, 64% to 33%. He won 86 of 88 counties.
Kasich, who was elected with Tea Party support in 2010, faced some backlash from some Tea Party activists. His decision to accept the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act's expansion of Medicaid caused some Tea Party activists to refuse to support his campaign. Kasich supported longtime ally and campaign veteran Matt Borges over Portage County Tea Party chairman Tom Zawistowski for the position of chairman of the Ohio Republican Party. Zawistowski secured just three votes in his run for the chairmanship. Tea Party groups announced they would support a primary challenger, or, if none emerged, the Libertarian nominee.
Ultimately, Zawistowski failed to field anyone on the ballot and the Libertarian nominee (former Republican State Representative Charlie Earl) was removed from the ballot after failing to gain the required number of valid signatures necessary for ballot access.
Political positions and record
Kasich is considered by some to be a moderate Republican due to his strong condemnation of far-right conservatives and his endorsement of Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election. However, his record in the House and as governor of Ohio has led others to point out that his views place him to the right of most moderate politicians. Larry Sabato, the director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics, who has known Kasich for years, says that "If you had asked me in the 90s about Kasich I would have said he was a Gingrich conservative." Kasich's friend Curt Steiner, former chief of staff to former Republican Ohio governor and U.S. senator George Voinovich, described Kasich as a "solid Republican" with "an independent streak."
Kasich's tenure as governor was notable for his expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, his work combating the opioid addiction crisis, his attempt (later reversed by Ohio voters in a 2011 referendum) to curtail collective bargaining for public sector employees, his local government funding cuts, his passage of several anti-abortion laws, his veto of a fetal heartbeat law, his tax cuts, and his evolving position on gun control.
Abortion
Kasich opposes abortion except in cases of rape, incest, and danger to the mother's life. As governor, he signed 18 abortion-restrictive measures into law. In June 2013, Kasich signed into law a state budget, HB 59, which stripped some $1.4 million in federal dollars from Planned Parenthood by placing the organization last on the priority list for family-planning funds; provided funding to crisis pregnancy centers; and required women seeking abortions to undergo ultrasounds. The budget also barred abortion providers from entering into emergency transfer agreements with public hospitals, requiring abortion providers to find private hospitals willing to enter into transfer agreements. Another provision of the bill requires abortion providers to offer information on family planning and adoption services in certain situations. Under the budget, rape crisis centers could lose public funding if they counseled sexual assault victims about abortion.
In 2015, Kasich said in an interview that Planned Parenthood "ought to be de-funded", but added that Republicans in Congress should not force a government shutdown over the issue.
In December 2016, Kasich approved a ban on abortions after 20 weeks, except when a pregnancy endangers a woman's life, but vetoed HB 493, a law which would have made abortion illegal after detection of a fetal heartbeat (typically 5–6 weeks after conception). Kasich cited the cost to taxpayers of defending the legislation in court, and the likelihood that the "Heartbeat Bill" would be struck down in federal court as reasons for vetoing the more restrictive bill. In December 2018, Kasich again vetoed a bill to ban abortion after detection of a fetal heartbeat citing the cost to taxpayers and previous rulings by the federal courts. He did sign a bill into law that bans the dilation and evacuation procedure commonly used for abortion.
Climate change, energy, and environment
In a speech in April 2012, Kasich claimed that climate change is real and is a problem. In the same speech, however, Kasich said that the Environmental Protection Agency should not regulate carbon emissions and that instead states and private companies should be in charge of regulating coal-fired power plant emissions. In 2015, Kasich stated that he did not know all the causes of climate change, and that he did not know the extent to which humans contribute to climate change.
In 2014, Kasich signed into law a bill freezing Ohio's renewable portfolio standard (RPS) program for two years. Ohio's RPS program was created by 2008 legislation and required the state to acquire 12.5 percent of its energy portfolio from renewable sources and to reduce energy consumption by 22 percent by 2025. The legislation signed by Kasich to stop the program was supported by Republican legislative leaders, utility companies, and some industry groups, and opposed by environmentalists, some manufacturers, and the American Lung Association. In 2016, Kasich broke with fellow Republicans in the state legislature by vetoing their attempt to continue blocking the RPS standards; as a result, the freeze ended on December 31, 2016, and the clean-energy mandate resumed. This veto won Kasich praise from environmentalist groups, and angered Republicans in the state legislature.
In his 2015 budget plan, Kasich proposed raising the tax rate on hydraulic fracturing (fracking) activities. Specifically, Kasich's plan called for imposing a 6.5 percent severance tax on crude oil and natural gas extracted via horizontal drilling and sold at the source (about $3.25 per $50 barrel of oil), and for an additional 4.5 percent tax per thousand cubic feet on natural gas and liquefied natural gas (about $0.16 per thousand cubic feet). The proposal would not affect conventional drilling taxes.
Kasich formerly supported fracking in Ohio state parks and forests, signing legislation in mid-2011 authorizing him to appoint a five-member commission to oversee the leasing of mineral rights on state land to the highest bidders. In 2012, Kasich aides planned a campaign with a stated goal to "marginalize the effectiveness of communications by adversaries about the initiative" to bring fracking to state parks and forests, naming in an email the Ohio Sierra Club and state Representatives Robert F. Hagan and Nickie Antonio as adversaries of the plan. Kasich never appointed the commission, and the promotional plan was never put into effect. A memo and email relating to the 2012 promotional campaign were publicly released for the first time in February 2015, which according to the Columbus Dispatch attracted criticism from state environmental and liberal groups, as well as Democratic state legislators, who called for an investigation. On the same day the governor reversed himself, with a spokesman saying, "At this point, the governor doesn't support fracking in state parks. We reserve the right to revisit that, but it's not what he wants to do right now, and that's been his position for the past year and a half."
In April 2015, Kasich signed a bill aimed at protecting Lake Erie's water quality. The bill places restrictions on the spread of manure and other fertilizers that contribute to toxic algal blooms and requires large public water treatment plants to monitor phosphorus levels. The bill had been unanimously approved by both chambers of the Ohio Legislature the previous month.
Kasich supported the Keystone XL oil pipeline project and, along with other Republican governors, signed an open letter in February 2015 urging federal approval for the project. In 2016, in response to a request from South Dakota under the terms of an interstate compact, Kasich dispatched 37 Ohio state troopers to South Dakota, where they were stationed around Dakota Access Pipeline protests near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. This controversial deployment prompted unsuccessful petitions to Kasich (from members of the public, Cincinnati City Council members, environmentalists, and some state legislators), who asked Kasich to recall the troopers.
Policing and criminal justice
Prison privatization
To offset a state budget deficit, Kasich proposed selling five state prisons to the for-profit prison industry. The Lake Erie prison was sold for $72.7 million to the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), generating savings of $3 million. Kasich's Director of Corrections, Gary Mohr, whom he had hired in January 2011, had previously worked for CCA, but he said that he removed himself from the sales process. In an audit in October 2012, CCA was cited for 47 contractual violations, and failed a second audit later that year. In July 2015, the Kasich administration announced its intent to sell the North Central Correctional Institution at Marion, in order to recoup the state's original investment in the facility and invest the proceeds in community-based alternatives to prison.
Policing standards
Following the separate fatal police shootings of John Crawford III and Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old boy in Ohio, while each were holding BB guns, grand juries decided not to indict any of the officers involved. Following this, Kasich created the Ohio Collaborative Community-Police Advisory Board "to address what he described as frustration and distrust among some Ohioans toward their police departments, particularly among the black community." The 23-member task force (with 18 members appointed by Kasich) was appointed in January 2015 and issued its 629-page final report and recommendations in April 2015. The report recommended greater accountability and oversight for police agencies and officers, further community education and involvement in policing, and new use-of-force and recruitment, hiring, and training standards for police agencies.
In April 2015, Kasich created the Ohio Collaborative Community-Police Advisory Board, a twelve-member board tasked (in conjunction with the Ohio Office of Criminal Justice Services and the Ohio Department of Public Safety) with developing statewide standards for the recruiting, hiring and screening of police officers, and for the use of force (including deadly force) by police. The advisory board, the first of its kind in Ohio, was also tasked by Kasich with developing "model policies and best practice recommendations to promote better interaction and communication between law enforcement departments and their home communities." In August 2015, the board issued its recommendations, which placed "an emphasis on the preservation of human life and restrict officers to defending themselves or others from death or serious injury."
In August 2015, Kasich said that he was open to the idea of requiring police officers to wear body cameras.
Capital punishment
As governor, Kasich presided over the executions of fifteen inmates and commuted the death sentences of seven inmates. The last execution in Ohio took place in July 2018. In January 2015, Kasich announced that, due to pending litigation and other issues, he was delaying all seven executions scheduled through January 2016. The delay was largely attributed to European pharmaceutical companies, which have refused to supply the state with deadly drugs necessary for executions. In February 2017, Kasich again delayed Ohio executions for an additional three months, after a federal judge ruled that Ohio's three-drug lethal injection protocol is unconstitutional.
Executive clemency
Kasich used his power of executive clemency sparingly. He has the lowest clemency rate of any Ohio governor since at least the 1980s, when records began to be kept. In six years in office, Kasich granted 86 of the 2,291 requests that he acted upon. In 2016, Kasich granted executive clemency to 13 people; in all of the cases, the Ohio Adult Parole Authority had recommended clemency.
Criminal justice reform issues
Kasich supports various criminal justice reform efforts; according to conservative Washington Post columnist George Will, Kasich "favors fewer mandatory minimum sentences and has instituted prison policies that prepare inmates for re-integration into communities." In 2011, Kasich signed sentencing reform legislation which allowed judges to sentence defendants convicted of non-violent fourth- and fifth-degree felonies to "community-based halfway house facilities" instead of prison; expanded the earned credit system to allow inmates to reduce their sentences; and allowed felons who have already served 80 percent or more of their sentences to be immediately released.
In 2012, Kasich signed into law a bill, sponsored by Cleveland Democratic Senator Shirley Smith and Cincinnati Republican Senator Bill Seitz, easing the collateral consequences of criminal conviction.
In September 2014, Kasich touted the Ohio's prison system's recidivism rate, which is one of the lowest in the nation. U.S. Senator Rob Portman, a Republican, attributed a drop in Ohio's recidivism rate "to the bipartisan work of the state legislature, Governor Kasich, Ohio's reentry leaders and the success of programs made possible at the federal level by the Second Chance Act," which Portman sponsored.
In 2015, Kasich proposed a state budget including $61.7 million for addiction treatment services for prisoners.
Drug policy
Kasich initially expressed opposition to medical marijuana in 2012, saying "There's better ways to help people who are in pain." However, in late 2015 and early 2016, Kasich said he was open to the legalization of medical marijuana.
In March 2014, in an effort to address the opioid epidemic, Kasich signed legislation (passed unanimously in both chambers of the state legislature) expanding the availability of naloxone, a lifesaving antidote to opioid overdoses; the measure allowed friends and family members of addicts to obtain access to naloxone and for first responders to carry naloxone. In July 2015, Kasich signed legislation further expanding the availability of naloxone, making it available without a prescription.
In a 2015 interview with radio talk show host Hugh Hewitt, Kasich said he was opposed to the legalization of recreational marijuana in some states and equated the drug to heroin, stating: "In my state and across this country, if I happened to be president, I would lead a significant campaign down at the grassroots level to stomp these drugs out of our country."
When Kasich was asked by Hewitt whether, if elected president, he would federally enforce marijuana laws in states which have legalized marijuana, Kasich characterized it as a states' rights issue and said that "I'd have to think about it." When asked the same question later in 2015, Kasich said: "I would try to discourage the states from doing it...but I would be tempted to say I don't think we can go and start disrupting what they've decided."
Kasich opposed "Issue 3," an Ohio ballot measure in 2015 that proposed the legalization of recreational marijuana, saying it was a "terrible idea."
Economic policy
State budgets and taxation
During Kasich's tenure, the state has eliminated a budget shortfall that his administration has estimated at $8 billion, but which the Cleveland Plain Dealer estimated at closer to $6 billion. (The New York Times put the number at $7.7 billion). Ohio also increased its "rainy day fund" from effectively zero to more than $2 billion.
Kasich "closed the budget shortfall in part by cutting aid to local governments, forcing some of them to raise their own taxes or cut services. And increasing sales taxes helped make the income tax cuts possible." An analysis by the Plain Dealer in March 2016 found that more than 70 cities and villages had lost at least $1 million a year due to Kasich's budget and taxation policy.
In March 2008, Kasich called for "phasing out" Ohio's state income tax.
During Kasich's time as governor, Ohio ranked 22nd out of the 50 states for private-sector job growth, at 9.3%.
Kasich signed a state budget in 2011 which eliminated the state's estate tax effective January 1, 2013.
In 2013, Kasich signed into law a $62 billion two-year state budget. The budget provided for a 10-percent state income tax cut phased in over three years, and an increase in the state sales tax from 5.5 percent to 5.75 percent. It also included a 50% tax cut for small business owners on the first $250,000 of annual net income. Kasich used his line-item veto power to reject a measure that would stop the Medicaid expansion (which Kasich had accepted from the federal government) to cover nearly 275,000 working poor Ohioans.
In 2015, Kasich signed into law a $71 billion two-year state budget after using his line-item veto power to veto 44 items. The overall 2015 budget provides a 6.3 percent state income-tax cut as a part one component of a $1.9 billion net tax reduction and lowers the top income-tax rate to slightly below 5 percent. The budget also "spends $955 million more in basic state aid for K-12 schools than the last two-year period"; "boosts state funding for higher education to help offset a two-year tuition freeze at public universities"; expands the Medicaid health program; increases cigarette taxes by 35 cents a pack; and "prohibits independent health care and child care workers under contract with the state from unionizing."
Senate Bill 5 and labor issues
On March 31, 2011, in his first year as governor, Kasich signed into law Senate Bill 5, a controversial labor law which restricted collective bargaining rights of public employees, such as police officers, firefighters, and teachers. The legislation, championed by Kasich, prohibited all public employees from striking and restricted their ability to negotiate health care and pension benefits. The final version of the legislation signed by Kasich had passed the state Senate in a 17–16 vote (with six Senate Republicans joining all of the Senate Democrats in voting no) and the state House in a 53–44 vote, with two members abstaining.
Democrats and labor unions opposed the legislation and placed a referendum on the November 2011 ballot to repeal SB 5. SB 5 also "sparked numerous protests with thousands of union workers and other opponents descending on the Statehouse, mirroring similar demonstrations in Wisconsin and injecting Ohio into the national debate over Republican governors' attempts to curb public workers' collective bargaining rights." Kasich and other supporters of SB 5 characterized the legislation as a necessary measure "to help public employers control labor costs" and reduce tax burdens to make Ohio more competitive with other states, while labor unions and other opponents characterized the bill as "a union-busting attack on the middle class."
Ohio voters rejected Senate Bill 5 in a 61 percent to 39 percent vote, which was viewed as a rebuke to Kasich. On election night, Kasich said in a speech at the Ohio Statehouse that "It's clear the people have spoken. I heard their voices. I understand their decision. And frankly, I respect what the people have to say in an effort like this." Following this defeat, Kasich dropped efforts to pass broad-based collective bargaining restrictions, although in 2012 he supported a bill including "provisions reminiscent of Senate Bill 5" but applying only to the Cleveland Metropolitan School District.
In May 2015, Kasich rescinded executive orders issued by his predecessor Ted Strickland in 2007 and 2008 that provided the right to home health care contractors and in-home child care contractors to collectively bargain with the state.
Balanced budget amendment
Kasich has campaigned for a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Kasich created a 501(c)(4) group, Balanced Budget Forever, to promote the cause.
Free trade
Kasich said in 2016 that "I have never been an ideological supporter of free trade," but has long supported free trade agreements. He is a strong supporter of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and participated with others in a meeting with President Obama in support of the agreement.
Civil liberties and electronic surveillance
In speaking in the 2016 campaign on domestic surveillance, Kasich has "straddled the line," praising Rand Paul for saying that "we need to get warrants," but also saying "if there's information they need, the government needs to get it." Kasich has said there needs to be "a balance between good intelligence and the need to protect Americans from what can become an aggressive government somewhere down the road."
On one occasion, Kasich spoke out against proposals to mandate that technology companies provide a "backdoor" for the government to access encrypted devices, saying that this could end up aiding hackers. On a subsequent occasion, Kasich said that encryption was dangerous because it could stymie government antiterrorism investigations.
Kasich has condemned whistleblower Edward Snowden as a traitor.
Education
Kasich proposed new legislation which would increase funding to charter schools and poor school districts. He canceled the school-funding formula put into place by his Democratic predecessor, Governor Ted Strickland.
During Kasich's tenure as governor, he pushed to expand charter schools, increase the number of school vouchers that use public money to pay for tuition at private schools, implement a "merit pay" scheme for teachers, and evaluate teachers by student standardized test scores in math and reading. Kasich supports the Common Core State Standards and has criticized Republicans who turned against it.
During Kasich's tenure, funding for traditional public schools declined by about $500 million, while funding for charter schools has increased at least 27 percent. As calculated by the Howard Fleeter/Education Tax Policy Institute, total school funding under Kasich (including both charter and district schools) has ranged from a low of $7.1 billion in fiscal year 2013 to $7.8 billion in fiscal year 2015, which was higher than its previous peak under Kasich's predecessor, Ted Strickland. As calculated by the Howard Fleeter/Education Tax Policy Institute, Kasich has proposed total school funding of $8.0 billion in fiscal year 2016 and fiscal year 2017. The Ohio Department of Education—which includes more spending areas than Fleeter's does and so reports higher numbers—projects total school funding for Ohio schools to rise to slightly under $10.5 billion by the end of fiscal year 2017.
Analysts disagree "on whether Kasich's education budgets give increases beyond inflation." In the 2015 state budget, Kasich used his line-item veto power "to cut more than $84 million of funding from public schools."
According to a September 2014 story in the Columbus Dispatch, Kasich favored allowing public school districts "to teach alternatives to evolution—such as intelligent design—if local school officials want to, under the philosophy of 'local control.'"
In 2011, Kasich had the idea of establishing a Holocaust memorial on the grounds of the Ohio Statehouse. Kasich successfully secured approval of the proposal from the Capital Square Review and Advisory Board. The $2 million Ohio Holocaust and Liberators Memorial, designed by Daniel Libeskind, is located across from the Ohio Theatre; the memorial was dedicated in 2014.
Foreign and defense policy
In November 2002, Kasich urged the invasion of Iraq, telling a crowd of students at Ohio State University: "We should go to war with Iraq. It's not likely that (Saddam) Hussein will give up his weapons. If he did he would be disgraced in the Arab world."
In an interview in August 2015, Kasich said: "I would never have committed ourselves to Iraq." A Kasich spokesman subsequently said that "Kasich was not revising history" but was instead saying that the Iraq War was a mistake given the facts available now.
Kasich has said that the U.S. "should've left a base in Iraq" instead of withdrawing troops in 2011.
In 2015, Kasich said that airstrikes were insufficient to combat the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, and he would send U.S. ground troops to fight ISIL.
Kasich opposed the landmark 2015 international nuclear agreement with Iran, and in September 2015 was one of fourteen Republican governors who sent a letter to President Obama stating "that we intend to ensure that the various state-level sanctions [against Iran] that are now in effect remain in effect," despite the agreement.
Kasich has expressed support for the U.S.'s drone program. He has said, however, that the program should be overseen by the Department of Defense, and not by the CIA.
Kasich has said that he wants to lift budget sequestration for military spending, and "spend more if necessary."
In November 2015, Kasich said that if elected president, he "would send a carrier battle group through the South China Sea" to send a message to China regarding their claims of sovereignty there.
Kasich supports continued U.S. support of Saudi Arabia, but he criticized Saudi Arabia's "funding and teaching of radical clerics who are the very people who try to destroy us".
Kasich favors strong relations between the U.S. and its NATO allies. He supported Senator John McCain's call for maintaining existing U.S. sanctions on Russia, and condemned the Trump administration's consideration of lifting sanctions. Like McCain, Kasich supports imposing "tougher sanctions against Russia and Putin's inner circle." He supports a bipartisan investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections.
LGBT rights
By the mid-2010s, Kasich had shown much more support for LGBT rights than many of his Republican counterparts. However, during his time in Congress, Kasich was much less accepting, and voted for the Defense of Marriage Act, which barred federal recognition of same-sex marriage. During this period, Kasich supported a ban on same-sex marriage in Ohio and stated that he did not approve of the "gay lifestyle." As governor of Ohio, Kasich signed an executive order banning discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation for state employees; this was more narrow than the previous executive order signed by his predecessor because it omitted protections for gender identity.
During the 2016 presidential campaign, Kasich struck a more moderate tone compared to his Republican opponents. In June 2015, following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, which held that there is a fundamental right to same-sex marriage under the Fourteenth Amendment, Kasich said that he was "obviously disappointed" and that he believes in "traditional marriage," but that the ruling was "the law of the land and we'll abide by it" and that it was "time to move on" to other issues. During his time as Ohio governor, Kasich appointed Richard Hodges as Ohio Director of Health, who was the lead-respondent in the case.
Kasich indicated that he did not support an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to overturn the decision. In response to a debate question about how he would explain his position on same-sex marriage to one of his daughters if she were gay, Kasich responded, "The court has ruled, and I said we'll accept it. And guess what, I just went to a wedding of a friend of mine who happens to be gay. Because somebody doesn't think the way I do doesn't mean that I can't care about them or can't love them. So if one of my daughters happened to be that, of course I would love them and I would accept them. Because you know what? That's what we're taught when we have strong faith."
In September 2015, Kasich commented on the highly publicized case of Kim Davis (the Rowan County, Kentucky clerk who refused to comply with a federal court order directing her to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples), saying: "Now, I respect the fact that this lady doesn't agree but she's also a government employee, she's not running a church, I wouldn't force this on a church. But in terms of her responsibility I think she has to comply. I don't think — I don't like the fact that she's sitting in a jail, that's absurd as well. But I think she should follow the law."
In a March 2018 interview on The Rubin Report, Kasich passively came out in support of same-sex marriage saying "I'm fine with it," but stated that he now preferred to show himself as someone in the "Billy Graham tradition" that "avoided social issues". In December 2018, Kasich signed an executive order extending non-discrimination protections for gender identity, including trans and non-binary identities, to state employees in Ohio.
Gun policy
While in the U.S. House of Representatives, Kasich had a mixed record on gun policy. He was one of 215 Representatives to vote for the Federal Assault Weapons Ban, which became law in 1994, but voted against the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act ("Brady Bill"), which established current background check laws.
As governor, Kasich shifted to more pro-gun positions. In 2011, he signed one bill permitting concealed handguns in bars and another making it easier for people with misdemeanor drug convictions to purchase guns. In 2012, Kasich signed a bill allowing gun owners to transport weapons with loaded magazines in their vehicles and expanding concealed carry permit reciprocity. In December 2014, Kasich signed legislation that reduced the numbers of hours of training required to obtain a concealed carry permit and eliminated the training requirement for permit renewals.
After the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in February 2018, Kasich called for restrictions on the sales of AR-15 style rifles.
Health care
Kasich opted to accept Medicaid-expansion funding provided by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA or "Obamacare") in Ohio. This decision angered many Statehouse Republicans, who wanted Kasich to reject the expansion.
Total spending on Medicaid by the state was almost $2 billion (or 7.6 percent) below estimates for the fiscal year ending in June 2015, according to a report by Kasich's administration. The lower-than-expected costs were attributed to expanded managed care, shorter nursing home stays and increased in-home care for seniors, capitated reimbursement policies, increased automation to determine eligibility for the program and pay care providers, and an improving economy in the state which allowed some participants to move out of the program.
In an October 2014 interview, Kasich said that repeal of the ACA was "not gonna happen" and stated that "The opposition to it was really either political or ideological. I don't think that holds water against real flesh and blood, and real improvements in people's lives." Kasich later said that he was referring solely to the law's Medicaid expansion, and that "my position is that we need to repeal and replace" the rest of the law. In 2015, Kasich expressed support for many provisions of the ACA (ensuring coverage for people with preexisting conditions, the use of insurance exchanges, and Medicaid expansion), but opposed mandates.
In 2017, after Donald Trump took office and congressional Republicans maneuvered to repeal the ACA, Kasich criticized Republican hard-liners in Congress who demanded a full ACA repeal, saying that full repeal was "not acceptable" when 20 million people gained insurance under the ACA and that doing so would be a "political impossibility." Kasich urged that the Medicaid expansion be preserved in some form, criticizing the House Republican legislation that would cut the Medicaid expansion and phase out health insurance subsidies for low-income Americans. Kasich said that the nation's "soul" was at stake if Republicans passed legislation that left millions without health insurance. After the failure of the House Republican health-care legislation, Kasich met in Washington with members of the Republican Tuesday Group and urged fellow Republicans to work with Democrats to make more modest changes to the Affordable Care Act. In May 2017, Kasich said that the version of the Republican health care bill that passed the House was "inadequate" and would harm patients; Kasich said that Republicans "should've worked with the Democrats" on the bill rather than passing legislation merely to fulfill a campaign pledge.
In June 2017, Kasich said that he didn't "have a problem" with gradually phasing out the ACA's expansion of Medicaid over a seven-year period, but only if Congress provided states with significantly more, more than the House Republican bill provided for, and only if Congress granted states more authority to manage the program. Along with three other Republican governors (Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas, Brian Sandoval of Nevada, and Rick Snyder of Michigan), Kasich signed a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell with an outline of their wishes for an health care bill. Kasich and the others specifically called upon Congress to "end the requirement that state Medicaid programs cover nearly every prescription drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration." Kasich and the other governors' views were seen as influential, because their states have Republican senators and the Republicans have only a narrow majority in the Senate.
Immigration and refugees
In 2010, while running for governor, Kasich expressed support for amending the U.S. Constitution to abolish the Fourteenth Amendment's guarantee of jus soli (birthright) citizenship for people born in the United States. Kasich also told the Columbus Dispatch at the time that "One thing that I don't want to reward is illegal immigration."
In 2014, Kasich acknowledged that his stance on immigration has "evolved" because "maybe [I'm] a little smarter now," stating: "I don't want to see anybody in pain. So I guess when I look at this now, I look at it differently than I did in '10. ... When I look at a group of people who might be hiding, who may be afraid, who may be scared, who have children, I don't want to be in a position of where I make it worse for them." That year, Kasich expressed openness to a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, saying at a Republican Governors Association (RGA) meeting in Florida, "I don't like the idea of citizenship when people jump the line, [but] we may have to do it." Kasich was the only governor at the RGA conference "to express openly a willingness to create a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants."
In August 2015, while running for president, Kasich called for a path to legal status (but not necessarily citizenship) for undocumented immigrants and for a guest worker program. Kasich also appeared to disavow his earlier stance against birthright citizenship, stating "I don't think we need to go there"; called for completion of a fence along the U.S.-Mexico border; and noted that undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as young children may obtain driver's licenses in Ohio.
In October 2015, Kasich criticized Donald Trump's "plan to build a wall along the Mexican border and remove immigrants who entered the United States illegally," calling these notions "just crazy."
In September 2015, Kasich said that the U.S. had a moral responsibility to accept refugees fleeing war and violence in Syria. Subsequently, however, Kasich moved to the right, and in November 2015 wrote a letter to President Obama asking that no additional Syrian refugees be resettled in Ohio. Kasich opposed Trump's executive order on travel and immigration, which Trump signed one week after taking office in January 2017. Kasich said that the order was "ham-handed" because it "sowed so much confusion" and "sent a message that somehow the United States was looking sideways at Muslims."
Lieutenant governor
Kasich has a "long-standing political partnership" with his lieutenant governor, Mary Taylor. In 2014, Kasich defended Taylor after her chief of staff, and that chief of staff's administrative assistant, resigned following a timesheet probe. Kasich said of Taylor's handling of the matter: "Mary did the right thing and I support her."
In 2017, the Kasich-Taylor relationship frayed after Taylor abandoned Kasich ally Matt Borges in his bid for chairman of the Ohio Republican Party, and instead chose to support Jane Timken, who was actively supported by Donald Trump, who sought revenge against Kasich for his choice not to endorse Trump. Nevertheless, Kasich indicated that Taylor had "been a good partner" over his term and indicated that he would support her if she chose to run for governor in 2018.
Racial diversity in Cabinet
Upon taking office in 2011, Kasich received criticism for appointing an initial all-white cabinet of 22 members. Responding to criticism for not appointing any black, Hispanic, or Asian Cabinet members, Kasich said: "I don't look at things from the standpoint of any of these sort of metrics that people tend to focus on, race or age, or any of those things. It's not the way I look at things... I want the best possible team I can get." Shortly afterward, on February 2, 2011, Kasich made his first minority appointment to the Cabinet, naming Michael Colbert, a black man, to lead the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.
, four members of Kasich's Cabinet were members of racial minorities.
Transportation
Throughout his first gubernatorial campaign, Kasich opposed the Ohio Hub higher-speed passenger rail project (a proposed 258-mile Cleveland-to-Cincinnati train) and promised to cancel it, claiming that it would average speeds of merely 36 mph. In his first press conference following his election victory, Kasich declared "That train is dead...I said it during the campaign: It is dead."
As governor-elect, Kasich lobbied the federal government to use $400 million in federal dollars allocated for high-speed rail for freight rail projects instead. In a November 2010 letter to Kasich, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood wrote that the federal funding was specifically allocated by the 2009 economic stimulus act for high-speed rail, and could not be used for other purposes. In a December 2010 meeting with President Barack Obama, Kasich again unsuccessfully lobbied to use the grant money for freight rail rather than high-speed rail.
In December 2010, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced that Ohio would lose the $385 million in grant funds allocated for high-speed passenger rail, since Kasich had informed them that he had no intention of ever building high-speed rail projects. (Almost $15 million had already been spent for preliminary engineering.) The $385 million was instead diverted to other states, such as California, New York, and Florida, which planned high-speed rail using the grant money for its congressionally intended purpose. Outgoing governor Ted Strickland, who championed the project, expressed disappointment, saying that the loss of funding for the project was "one of the saddest days during my four years as governor" and that "I can't understand the logic of giving up these vital, job-creating resources to California and Florida at a time when so many Ohioans need jobs."
Kasich is an opponent of the Cincinnati Streetcar project.
In April 2015, Kasich signed a two-year transportation budget bill which allocated $7.06 billion for highway construction and maintenance, $600 million to local governments for road and bridge projects, and an additional million over the last budget for public transportation.
Voting rights
In February 2014, Kasich signed into law a bill which cut six days from Ohio's early voting period, including the "golden week" (a period at the beginning of early voting when voters could both register to vote and cast an in-person absentee ballot). The measures were hotly contested in the state legislature, passing on a party-line vote, with Republicans in favor and Democrats opposed. This measure prompted two federal lawsuits. The first lawsuit, brought by the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio on behalf of the NAACP and League of Women Voters of Ohio, resulted in a settlement in April 2015, in which the state agreed to provide evening and Sunday hours for early voting in elections in Ohio through 2018. The second lawsuit, Ohio Democratic Party v. Husted, was brought in May 2015 by Democratic election lawyer Marc Elias; plaintiffs argued that the Ohio bill eliminating "golden week" violated the Constitution and the Voting Rights Act because it disproportionately burdened black, Latino and young voters. The federal district court agreed and struck down the legislation, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit reversed that decision in a 2–1 vote, and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal. In July 2015, Kasich said that it was "pure demagoguery" for Hillary Clinton to "say that there are Republicans who are deliberately trying to keep people from voting."
In April 2015, Kasich used his line-item veto power to veto a provision added to a highway-budget bill by Republicans in the state legislature that would have required college students who register to vote in Ohio to obtain a state driver's license and vehicle registration, imposing an estimated $75 in motor vehicle costs on out-of-state college students who wanted to vote in the state. The veto was celebrated by voting rights advocates, Ohio Democrats, and the Cleveland Plain Dealer editorial board, which viewed the proposal as effectively a "poll tax" motivated by a partisan desire to limit college-town voting.
Judicial appointments
In Ohio, justices of the Ohio Supreme Court are elected, but the governor can fill unexpired terms. In May 2012, Ohio Supreme Court Associate Justice Evelyn Lundberg Stratton announced she would retire at the end of 2012. In December 2012, Kasich appointed Judge Judith L. French to Stratton's unexpired term, which ran from January 1, 2013, through January 1, 2015.
Impeachment of Donald Trump
On October 18, 2019, Kasich publicly stated that Donald Trump should be impeached. He had previously said there was not enough evidence to impeach the President.
2016 presidential campaign
In April 2015, Kasich announced the formation of his "New Day For America" group. Formerly a 527 group, it filed as a super PAC in July 2015. Between April 20 and June 30, 2015, the super PAC raised over $11.1 million from 165 "reportable contributions," including 34 contributions of $100,000 or more. Major contributors to the PAC include Floyd Kvamme, who donated $100,000, and Jim Dicke, chairman emeritus of Crown Equipment Corporation, who donated $250,000. According to FEC filings, Kasich's campaign had $2.5 million on hand at the beginning of 2016.
In May 2015, sources close to him had said he was "virtually certain" to run for the Republican nomination for president. On July 21, 2015, Kasich announced his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination during a speech at the Ohio Union, the student union of his alma mater, the Ohio State University.
On January 30, 2016, the New York Times endorsed Kasich for the Republican nomination. The Times editorial board strongly rebuked leading candidates Donald Trump and Senator Ted Cruz and wrote that Kasich, "though a distinct underdog, is the only plausible choice for Republicans tired of the extremism and inexperience on display in this race."
On the campaign trail, Kasich sought to project a sunny, optimistic message, describing himself as "the prince of light and hope." This marked a change in tone for Kasich, who had developed a reputation as an abrasive governor. Viewed as a long-shot contender, Kasich took an "above-the-fray approach to his rivals" and "ran unapologetically as a candidate with experience" even as others ran as "outsider" contenders.
Kasich came in second place in the New Hampshire primary on February 9, 2016, behind winner Trump. The Cincinnati Enquirer reported that this was "the best possible result" for Kasich and lent "credence to the notion that he can emerge" as a Republican alternative to Trump and Cruz.
Ultimately, however, Kasich's message "never caught on in a campaign that ... exposed the anger and frustration coursing through the electorate" and he "found himself stuck in fourth place in a three-man race, trailing Senator Marco Rubio of Florida in the delegate count" although Rubio had dropped out of the race in March.
The only state won by Kasich was his home state of Ohio, which gave him 66 delegates in its March 2016 winner-take-all primary but still left him with "a steep delegate deficit against his rivals." Kasich's unsuccessful campaign strategy hinged on the possibility of a contested (or brokered) Republican National Convention, in which no single candidate has enough delegates to win the nomination on the first ballot, something that has not happened in either of the two major parties' presidential nominating conventions since 1952. Kasich suspended his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination on May 4, 2016, one day after Trump won the Republican primary in Indiana. The third remaining contender, Cruz, quit the race shortly before Kasich did, leaving Trump as the only candidate remaining in the Republican field and hence the party's presumptive nominee.
A 2018 study on media coverage of the 2016 election noted "the paradox of the Kasich campaign's longevity while it lacked public interest provides some evidence for the idea that Kasich's biggest supporters were the media".
Aftermath
Following his withdrawal from the race, Kasich did not extend his support to Trump. In May and June 2016, Kasich said that Trump was a divisive figure rather than a "unifier," said he had no plans to endorse Trump in the near future, and ruled out the possibility of seeking the Vice Presidency as Trump's running mate.
Kasich said it was "hard to say" whether he would ever endorse Trump; he added, "I can't go for dividing, name calling, or somebody that doesn't really represent conservative principles." Kasich said he had ruled out voting for Clinton but lacked the enthusiasm to fully back Trump.
In August 2016, Kasich repeated an earlier claim that the Trump campaign had offered him a powerful vice presidency, "putting him in charge of all domestic and foreign policy". The Trump campaign denied that such an offer had been made. Kasich also doubted whether Trump could win Ohio, a critical state in the election. It was speculated that Kasich was looking towards a 2020 campaign. This speculation was strengthened by a report that Kasich had planned to give a speech to the American Enterprise Institute less than 48 hours after the election but cancelled it the morning after the election when it was clear that Trump had won.
Kasich received an electoral vote for the presidency from one faithless elector, Christopher Suprun of Texas, who had been pledged to vote for Trump. An elector in Colorado also attempted to vote for him, but that vote was discarded; the elector was replaced by an alternate elector who voted, as pledged, for Clinton.
Opposition to Trump
In February 2017, Kasich met with Trump at the White House in a private meeting that followed a bitter feud. Kasich indicated that he hoped for Trump's success, but would continue to be critical when he thought it was necessary. The same month, Kasich's chief political advisors launched a political group, Two Paths America, in an effort to promote Kasich and his views and draw a contrast with Trump. In April 2017, Kasich also released a book, Two Paths: America Divided or United, written with Daniel Paisner. The creation of the group prompted speculation he could possibly run for president again, but Kasich said that he had no plans to seek elected office in the future.
In April 2017, during a CNN town hall, Kasich, while stating that he was "very unlikely" to do so, reopened the possibility that he might run for president in 2020. On August 20, however, he reiterated his previous statement that he had no plans to run; rather, he stated that he was "rooting for [Trump] to get it together."
In October 2017, during an interview with CNN's Jake Tapper, Kasich said he had not "given up" on the Republican Party, but added that "if the party can't be fixed ... I'm not going to be able to support the party. Period. That's the end of it." In March 2018, he told The Weekly Standard that he was "increasingly open" to running for president in the 2020 presidential election; however, in May 2019, he again declared that he would not seek the presidency in 2020.
In October 2019, Kasich expressed support for the impeachment inquiry against Trump, saying that the "final straw" for him was when Trump's acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney admitted that Trump had withheld U.S. aid from Ukraine in part to pressure the country to investigate Trump's domestic political rivals, a statement that Mulvaney later said were misconstrued.
Kasich confirmed on August 10, 2020, that he would be speaking at the 2020 Democratic National Convention in support of presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden. Kasich said that his conscience compelled him to speak out against Trump and in support of Biden, even if it resulted in blowback against him, adding, "I've been a reformer almost all of my life. I've been very independent and I'm a Republican but the Republican Party has always been my vehicle but never my master. You have to do what you think is right in your heart and I'm comfortable here."
Personal life
Kasich has been married twice. His first marriage was to Mary Lee Griffith from 1975 to 1980, and they had no children. Griffith has campaigned for Kasich since their divorce. Kasich and his current wife, Karen Waldbillig, a former public relations executive, were married in March 1997 and have twin daughters, Emma and Reese.
Kasich was raised a Catholic, but considers denominations irrelevant, while stating that "there's always going to be a part of me that considers myself a Catholic." He drifted away from his religion as an adult, but came to embrace an Anglican faith after his parents were killed in a car crash by a drunk driver on August 20, 1987. He joined the Episcopal Church (United States) as an adult. Kasich has said he "doesn't find God in church" but does belong to St. Augustine's in Westerville, Ohio, which is part of the Anglican Church in North America, a conservative church with which he remained when it broke off from the Episcopal Church (United States).
Electoral history
Published works
Kasich has authored five books:
Courage is Contagious, published in 1998, made the New York Times bestseller list
Stand for Something: The Battle for America's Soul, published in 2006
Every Other Monday, published in 2010. This book is a New York Times bestseller.
Two Paths: America Divided or United, published in 2017
It's Up to Us: Ten Little Ways We Can Bring About Big Change, published in 2019
See also
Ohio's 12th congressional district
List of United States representatives from Ohio
Ohio gubernatorial election, 2010
Ohio gubernatorial election, 2014
Republican Party presidential candidates, 2016
List of John Kasich presidential campaign endorsements, 2016
References
Citations
Bibliography
External links
Governor John Kasich official Ohio government website Jan. 2019 archive
John Kasich for Governor
John Kasich for President
U.S. Representative (1983–2001)
1952 births
Living people
Candidates in the 2000 United States presidential election
Candidates in the 2016 United States presidential election
20th-century American politicians
20th-century American writers
21st-century American businesspeople
21st-century American politicians
21st-century American non-fiction writers
American corporate directors
American investment bankers
American people of Croatian descent
American people of Czech descent
American political writers
American Christians
Businesspeople from Pennsylvania
Christians from Ohio
Former Roman Catholics
Fox News people
CNN people
Governors of Ohio
Lehman Brothers people
Members of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio
Ohio Republicans
Ohio state senators
Ohio State University College of Arts and Sciences alumni
People from McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania
Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives
Republican Party state governors of the United States
Writers from Ohio
Converts to Anglicanism from Roman Catholicism
Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio
Criticism of Donald Trump | true | [
"The Weights and Measures Act (R.S. 1985; ) (long title: An Act respecting weights and measures) is a Canadian law governing the units of measurements used in Canada.\n\nOriginally passed in 1970 as part of the Government of Canada's plan for metrication of Canada from Imperial measures, it was stopped in 1985 and changes were made to the act. The Metric Commission was created by the act and abolished in 1985.\n\nThe act sets forth the regulation of measurements and the commerce conducted using measuring devices. The act provides that the International System of measurement be used with what the act calls \"Customary units used with the international system\" such as hour, minutes, litres, hectares, tonne or metric ton.\n\nIn addition, the act allows usage of what it labels as \"Canadian units\" (the imperial system), such as miles, inches, imperial gallons, and acres. In SCHEDULE III - section 5, the act also provides for the usage of certain French units in what it labels as UNITS OF MEASUREMENT TO DESCRIBE CERTAIN LAND IN QUEBEC. The five permitted old French units are the foot (the French foot of 12.789 inches), arpent (for both length and area), and perch (for both length and area).\n\nUnits (Schedule II)\n\nLength\n\nArea\n\nVolume\n\nMass\n\nQuebec land measure (Schedule III)\n\nSee also\n Measurement Canada\n Measurement Information Division of Industry Canada\n Metric system\n Metrication Ordinance \n Units of measurement in France before the French Revolution\n Weights and Measures Act\n\nReferences\n\n Weights and Measures Act\n\nCanadian federal legislation\nMetrication in Canada\n1970 in Canadian law",
"In mathematics, Aleksandrov–Clark (AC) measures are specially constructed measures named after the two mathematicians, A. B. Aleksandrov and Douglas Clark, who discovered some of their deepest properties. The measures are also called either Aleksandrov measures, Clark measures, or occasionally spectral measures.\n\nAC measures are used to extract information about self-maps of the unit disc, and have applications in a number of areas of complex analysis, most notably those related to operator theory. Systems of AC measures have also been constructed for higher dimensions, and for the half-plane.\n\nConstruction of the measures\n\nThe original construction of Clark relates to one-dimensional perturbations of compressed shift operators on subspaces of the Hardy space:\n\n \n\nBy virtue of Beurling's theorem, any shift-invariant subspace of this space is of the form\n \n\nwhere is an inner function. As such, any invariant subspace of the adjoint of the shift is of the form\n\n \n\nWe now define to be the shift operator compressed to , that is\n\n \n\nClark noticed that all the one-dimensional perturbations of , which were also unitary maps, were of the form\n\n \n\nand related each such map to a measure, on the unit circle, via the Spectral theorem. This collection of measures, one for each on the unit circle , is then called the collection of AC measures associated with .\n\nAn alternative construction\n\nThe collection of measures may also be constructed for any analytic function (that is, not necessarily an inner function). Given an analytic self map, , of the unit disc, , we can construct a collection of functions, , given by\n\none for each . Each of these functions is positive and harmonic, so by Herglotz' Theorem each is the Poisson integral of some positive measure on . This collection is the set of AC measures associated with . It can be shown that the two definitions coincide for inner functions.\n\nReferences\n\n Douglas Clark, One-dimensional perturbations of restricted shifts, J. Analyse Math., 1972, vol 25, pp 169–191.\n E. Saksman, An elementary introduction to Clark measures, in Topics in complex analysis and operator theory, Univ. Málaga, Málaga, 2007, pp. 85–136.\n\nHardy spaces"
]
|
[
"John Kasich",
"Abortion",
"What was Kasichs stance on abortion",
"Kasich is a \"firm abortion opponent\" and describes himself as pro-life.",
"What else has he done regards abortion",
"Since taking office, he has signed 18 anti-abortion measures into law.",
"What were some of the measures",
"Kasich signed into law a state budget, HB 59, which stripped some $1.4 million in federal dollars from Planned Parenthood"
]
| C_2b98b6ca33de4d21a7e358160c7a67fa_1 | What else did he do | 4 | What else did John Kasich do besides signing anti-abortion measures into law? | John Kasich | In 1982, Kasich ran for Congress in Ohio's 12th congressional district, which included portions of Columbus as well as the cities of Westerville, Reynoldsburg, Worthington, and Dublin. He won the Republican primary with 83% of the vote and defeated incumbent Democrat U.S. Congressman Bob Shamansky in the general election by a margin of 50%-47%. He was re-elected eight times after 1982, winning at least 64% of the vote each time. During his congressional career, Kasich was considered a fiscal conservative, taking aim at programs supported by Republicans and Democrats. He worked with Ralph Nader in seeking to reduce corporate tax loopholes. Kasich was a member of the House Armed Services Committee for 18 years. He developed a "fairly hawkish" reputation on that committee, although he "also zealously challenged" defense spending he considered wasteful. Among the Pentagon projects that he targeted were the B-2 bomber program (teaming up with Democratic representative Ron Dellums to cut the program, their efforts were partly successful) and the A-12 bomber program (ultimately canceled by defense secretary Dick Cheney in 1991). He participated extensively in the passage of the Goldwater-Nichols Act of 1986, which reorganized the U.S. Department of Defense. He also pushed through the bill creating the 1988 Base Realignment and Closure Commission, which closed obsolete U.S. military bases, and successfully opposed a proposed $110 million expansion of the Pentagon building after the end of the Cold War. He also "proposed a national commission on arms control" and "urged tighter controls over substances that could be used for biological warfare." Kasich said he was "100 percent for" the first Persian Gulf War as well as the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, but said that he did not favor U.S. military participation in the Lebanese Civil War or in Bosnia. In 1997, with fellow Republican representative Floyd Spence, he introduced legislation (supported by some congressional Democrats) for the U.S. to pull out of a multilateral peacekeeping force in Bosnia. In the House, he supported the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act, a Dellums-led initiative to impose economic sanctions against apartheid-era South Africa. In 1993, Kasich became the ranking Republican member of the House Budget Committee. Kasich and other House Budget Committee Republicans proposed an alternative to President Bill Clinton's deficit reduction bill, the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993. That proposal included funds to implement Republican proposals for health care, welfare, and crime control legislation and for a child tax credit. The Penny-Kasich Plan, named after Kasich and fellow lead sponsor Tim Penny, was supported by Republicans and conservative Democrats. It proposed $90 billion in spending cuts over five years, almost three times as much in cuts as the $37 billion in cuts backed by the Clinton administration and Democratic congressional leaders. About one-third ($27 billion) of the proposed Penny-Kasich cuts would come from means-testing Medicare, specifically by reducing Medicare payments to seniors who earned $75,000 or more in adjusted gross income. This angered the AARP, which lobbied against the legislation. Another $26 billion of the Penny-Kasich plan's cuts would have come from the U.S. Department of Defense and foreign aid, which led Secretary of Defense Les Aspin to say that the plan would destroy military morale. Another $27 billion in savings would have come from federal layoffs. The proposal was narrowly defeated in the House by a 219-213 vote. As ranking member of the Budget Committee, Kasich proposed his own health care reform plan as a rival to the Clinton health care plan of 1993 championed by First Lady Hillary Clinton, but more market-based. As Time magazine wrote, "The Kasich plan would have covered all Americans by 2005, using a form of an individual mandate that would have required employees to purchase insurance through their employers. (The mandate was an idea initially supported by conservative groups like The Heritage Foundation.)" On November 17, 1993, Kasich voted to approve the North American Free Trade Agreement, casting a "yea" vote for the North American Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act. In 1994, Kasich was one of the Republican leaders to support a last-minute deal with President Bill Clinton to pass the Federal Assault Weapons Ban. After a series of meetings with Clinton's Chief of Staff, Leon Panetta, a longtime friend of Kasich, the assault weapons ban was passed when 42 Republicans crossed party lines and voted to ban assault weapons with the Democrats. His support of the assault-weapons ban angered the National Rifle Association, which gave Kasich an "F" rating in 1994 as a result. Kasich is a "firm abortion opponent" and describes himself as pro-life. He says abortions should only be performed in cases of rape, incest, and when the mother's life is in danger. Since taking office, he has signed 18 anti-abortion measures into law. In June 2013, Kasich signed into law a state budget, HB 59, which stripped some $1.4 million in federal dollars from Planned Parenthood by placing the organization last on the priority list for family-planning funds; provided funding to crisis pregnancy centers; and required women seeking abortions to undergo ultrasounds. The budget also barred abortion providers from entering into emergency transfer agreements with public hospitals, requiring abortion providers to find private hospitals willing to enter into transfer agreements. Another provision of the bill requires abortion providers to offer information on family planning and adoption services in certain situations. Under the budget, rape crisis centers could lose public funding if they counseled sexual assault victims about abortion. In 2015, Kasich said in an interview that Planned Parenthood "ought to be de-funded" but Republicans in Congress should not force a government shutdown over the issue. In December 2016, Kasich approved a ban on abortions after 20 weeks, except when a pregnancy endangers a woman's life, but vetoed HB 493, a law which would have made abortion illegal after detection of a fetal heartbeat (typically 5-6 weeks after conception). Kasich cited the cost to taxpayers of defending the legislation in court, and the likelihood that the "Heartbeat Bill" would be struck down in federal court as reasons for vetoing the more restrictive bill. CANNOTANSWER | Under the budget, rape crisis centers could lose public funding if they counseled sexual assault victims about abortion. | John Richard Kasich Jr. ( ; born May 13, 1952) is an American politician, author, and television news host who served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1983 to 2001 and as the 69th governor of Ohio from 2011 to 2019. A Republican, Kasich unsuccessfully sought his party's presidential nomination in 2000 and 2016.
Kasich grew up in McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, moving to Ohio to attend college. After a single term in the Ohio Senate, he served nine terms as a member of the United States House of Representatives from . His tenure in the House included 18 years on the House Armed Services Committee and six years as chairman of the House Budget Committee. Kasich was a key figure in the passage of both 1996 welfare reform legislation and the Balanced Budget Act of 1997. Kasich decided not to run for re-election in 2000 and ran for president instead. He withdrew from the race before the Republican primaries.
After leaving Congress, Kasich hosted Heartland with John Kasich on Fox News from 2001 to 2007 and served as managing director of the Lehman Brothers office in Columbus, Ohio. He ran for governor of Ohio in 2010, defeating Democratic incumbent Ted Strickland. He was re-elected in 2014, defeating Democratic challenger Ed FitzGerald by 30 percentage points. Kasich was term-limited and could not seek a third gubernatorial term in 2018; he was succeeded by fellow Republican Mike DeWine.
Kasich ran for president again in 2016, finishing in third place in the Republican primaries behind Donald Trump and Ted Cruz. He won the primary in his home state of Ohio and finished second in New Hampshire. Kasich declined to support Trump as the Republican presidential nominee and did not attend the 2016 Republican National Convention, which was held in Ohio. In 2019, following the end of his second term as governor, Kasich joined CNN as a contributor. Kasich is known as one of Trump's most prominent critics within the Republican Party, and he endorsed Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden for president in a speech at the 2020 Democratic National Convention.
Early life, education, and early political career
John Richard Kasich Jr. was born and raised in the Pittsburgh suburb of McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania. He is the son of Anne (née Vukovich; 1918–1987) and John Richard Kasich (1919-1987), who worked as a mail carrier.
Kasich's father was of Czech descent, while his mother was of Croatian descent. Both his father and mother were children of immigrants and were practicing Roman Catholics. He has described himself as "a Croatian and a Czech".
After attending public schools in his hometown of McKees Rocks, Kasich later left his native Pennsylvania, settling in Columbus, Ohio in 1970 to attend Ohio State University, where he joined the Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity.
As a freshman, he wrote a letter to President Richard Nixon describing concerns he had about the nation and requesting a meeting with the President. The letter was delivered to Nixon by the university's president Novice Fawcett and Kasich was granted a 20-minute meeting with Nixon in December 1970.
Earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Ohio State University, in 1974, he went on to work as a researcher for the Ohio Legislative Service Commission. From 1975 to 1978, he served as an administrative assistant to then-state Senator Buz Lukens.
Ohio Senate career
In 1978, Kasich ran against Democratic incumbent Robert O'Shaughnessy for State Senate. A political ally of Kasich remembers him during that time as a persistent campaigner: "People said, 'If you just quit calling me, I'll support you.'" At age 26, Kasich won with 56% of the vote, beginning his four-year term representing the 15th district. Kasich was the second youngest person ever elected to the Ohio Senate.
One of his first acts as a State Senator was to refuse a pay raise. Republicans gained control of the State Senate in 1980, but Kasich went his own way, for example, by opposing a budget proposal he believed would raise taxes and writing his own proposal instead.
U.S. House of Representatives (1983–2001)
In 1982, Kasich ran for Congress in Ohio's 12th congressional district, which included portions of Columbus as well as the cities of Westerville, Reynoldsburg, Worthington, and Dublin. He won the Republican primary with 83% of the vote and defeated incumbent Democratic U.S. Congressman Bob Shamansky in the general election by a margin of 50%–47%. He would never face another contest nearly that close, and was re-elected eight more times with at least 64 percent of the vote.
During his congressional career, Kasich was considered a fiscal conservative, taking aim at programs supported by Republicans and Democrats. He worked with Ralph Nader in seeking to reduce corporate tax loopholes.
Kasich was a member of the House Armed Services Committee for 18 years. He developed a "fairly hawkish" reputation on that committee, although he "also zealously challenged" defense spending he considered wasteful. Among the Pentagon projects that he targeted were the B-2 bomber program (teaming up with Democratic representative Ron Dellums to cut the program, their efforts were partly successful) and the A-12 bomber program (ultimately canceled by defense secretary Dick Cheney in 1991). He participated extensively in the passage of the Goldwater–Nichols Act of 1986, which reorganized the U.S. Department of Defense. He also pushed through the bill creating the 1988 Base Realignment and Closure Commission, which closed obsolete U.S. military bases, and successfully opposed a proposed $110 million expansion of the Pentagon building after the end of the Cold War. He also "proposed a national commission on arms control" and "urged tighter controls over substances that could be used for biological warfare."
Kasich said he was "100 percent for" the first Persian Gulf War as well as the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, but said that he did not favor U.S. military participation in the Lebanese Civil War or in Bosnia. In 1997, with fellow Republican representative Floyd Spence, he introduced legislation (supported by some congressional Democrats) for the U.S. to pull out of a multilateral peacekeeping force in Bosnia. In the House, he supported the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act, a U.S. Representative Ron Dellums (D- CA)-led initiative to impose economic sanctions against apartheid-era South Africa.
Ranking member of the House Budget Committee
In 1993, Kasich became the ranking Republican member of the House Budget Committee. Kasich and other House Budget Committee Republicans proposed an alternative to President Bill Clinton's deficit reduction bill, the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993. That proposal included funds to implement Republican proposals for health care, welfare, and crime control legislation and for a child tax credit. The Penny-Kasich Plan, named after Kasich and fellow lead sponsor Tim Penny, was supported by Republicans and conservative Democrats. It proposed $90 billion in spending cuts over five years, almost three times as much in cuts as the $37 billion in cuts backed by the Clinton administration and Democratic congressional leaders. About one-third ($27 billion) of the proposed Penny-Kasich cuts would come from means-testing Medicare, specifically by reducing Medicare payments to seniors who earned $75,000 or more in adjusted gross income. This angered the AARP, which lobbied against the legislation. Another $26 billion of the Penny-Kasich plan's cuts would have come from the U.S. Department of Defense and foreign aid, which led Secretary of Defense Les Aspin to say that the plan would destroy military morale. Another $27 billion in savings would have come from federal layoffs. The proposal was narrowly defeated in the House by a 219–213 vote.
As ranking member of the Budget Committee, Kasich proposed his own health care reform plan as a rival to the Clinton health care plan of 1993 championed by First Lady Hillary Clinton, but more market-based. As journalist Zeke Miller wrote in Time magazine, "The Kasich plan would have covered all Americans by 2005, using a form of an individual mandate that would have required employees to purchase insurance through their employers. (The mandate was an idea initially supported by conservative groups like The Heritage Foundation.)"
On November 17, 1993, Kasich voted to approve the North American Free Trade Agreement, casting a "yea" vote for the North American Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act.
In 1994, Kasich was one of the Republican leaders to support a last-minute deal with President Bill Clinton to pass the Federal Assault Weapons Ban. After a series of meetings with Clinton's Chief of Staff, Leon Panetta, a longtime friend of Kasich, the assault weapons ban was passed when 42 Republicans crossed party lines and voted to ban assault weapons with the Democrats. His support of the assault-weapons ban angered the National Rifle Association, which gave Kasich an "F" rating in 1994 as a result.
Chair of the House Budget Committee
In 1995, when Republicans gained the majority in the United States Congress following the 1994 election, Kasich became chair of the House Budget Committee. In 1996, he introduced the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act in the House, an important welfare reform bill signed into law by President Clinton.
During the 1996 presidential campaign, Republican nominee Bob Dole was reported to have considered Kasich as a vice presidential running mate but instead selected Jack Kemp, a former congressman and Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
In 1997, Kasich rose to national prominence after becoming "the chief architect of a deal that balanced the federal budget for the first time since 1969"—the Balanced Budget Act of 1997.
In 1998, Kasich voted to impeach President Clinton on all four charges made against him. In 1999, while the Senate prepared to vote on the charges, he said: "I believe these are impeachable and removable offenses."
2000 presidential campaign
Kasich did not seek re-election in 2000. In February 1999, he formed an exploratory committee to run for president. In March 1999 he announced his campaign for the Republican nomination. After very poor fundraising, he dropped out in July 1999, before the Iowa Straw Poll, and endorsed governor George W. Bush of Texas.
Private sector career (2001–2009)
After leaving Congress, Kasich went to work for Fox News, hosting Heartland with John Kasich on the Fox News Channel and guest-hosting The O'Reilly Factor, filling in for Bill O'Reilly as needed. He also occasionally appeared as a guest on Hannity & Colmes.
Business career
Kasich served on the board of directors for several corporations, including Invacare Corp. and the Chicago-based Norvax Inc. In 2001, Kasich joined Lehman Brothers' investment banking division as a managing director, in Columbus, Ohio. He remained at Lehman Brothers until it declared bankruptcy in 2008. That year, Lehman Brothers paid him a $182,692 salary and a $432,200 bonus. He stated that the bonus was for work performed in 2007.
Kasich's employment by Lehman Brothers was criticized during his subsequent campaigns in light of the firm's collapse during the financial crisis. Kasich responded to critics by saying: "I wasn't involved in the inner workings of Lehman, I was a banker. I didn't go to board meetings or go and talk investment strategy with the top people. I was nowhere near that. That's like, it's sort of like being a car dealer in Zanesville and being blamed for the collapse of GM."
Political activities from 2001 to 2009
Republicans made efforts to recruit Kasich to run for Ohio governor in 2006, but he declined to enter the race.
In 2008, Kasich formed Recharge Ohio, a political action committee (PAC) with the goal of raising money to help Republican candidates for the Ohio House of Representatives and Ohio Senate, in an effort to retain Republican majorities in the Ohio General Assembly. Kasich served as honorary chairman of the PAC.
Governor of Ohio
2010 election
On May 1, 2009, Kasich filed papers to run for governor of Ohio against incumbent Democratic governor Ted Strickland. He formally announced his candidacy on June 1, 2009. On January 15, 2010, Kasich announced Ohio State Auditor Mary Taylor as his running mate.
During a speech before Ashtabula County Republicans in March 2009, Kasich talked about the need to "break the back of organized labor in the schools," according to the Ashtabula Star Beacon.
Ohio teachers' unions supported Strickland, and after Kasich's gubernatorial victory, he said, "I am waiting for the teachers' unions to take out full-page ads in all the major newspapers, apologizing for what they had to say about me during this campaign."
Elsewhere, he said he was willing to work with "unions that make things."
On May 4, 2010, Kasich won the Republican nomination for governor, having run unopposed. On November 2, 2010, Kasich defeated Strickland in a closely contested race to win the governorship. He was sworn in at midnight on January 10, 2011, in a private ceremony at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus. It was then followed by a ceremonial inauguration at the Ohio Theatre at noon on the same day.
2014 re-election
In November 2014, Kasich won re-election, defeating Democrat Ed FitzGerald, the county executive of Cuyahoga County, 64% to 33%. He won 86 of 88 counties.
Kasich, who was elected with Tea Party support in 2010, faced some backlash from some Tea Party activists. His decision to accept the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act's expansion of Medicaid caused some Tea Party activists to refuse to support his campaign. Kasich supported longtime ally and campaign veteran Matt Borges over Portage County Tea Party chairman Tom Zawistowski for the position of chairman of the Ohio Republican Party. Zawistowski secured just three votes in his run for the chairmanship. Tea Party groups announced they would support a primary challenger, or, if none emerged, the Libertarian nominee.
Ultimately, Zawistowski failed to field anyone on the ballot and the Libertarian nominee (former Republican State Representative Charlie Earl) was removed from the ballot after failing to gain the required number of valid signatures necessary for ballot access.
Political positions and record
Kasich is considered by some to be a moderate Republican due to his strong condemnation of far-right conservatives and his endorsement of Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election. However, his record in the House and as governor of Ohio has led others to point out that his views place him to the right of most moderate politicians. Larry Sabato, the director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics, who has known Kasich for years, says that "If you had asked me in the 90s about Kasich I would have said he was a Gingrich conservative." Kasich's friend Curt Steiner, former chief of staff to former Republican Ohio governor and U.S. senator George Voinovich, described Kasich as a "solid Republican" with "an independent streak."
Kasich's tenure as governor was notable for his expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, his work combating the opioid addiction crisis, his attempt (later reversed by Ohio voters in a 2011 referendum) to curtail collective bargaining for public sector employees, his local government funding cuts, his passage of several anti-abortion laws, his veto of a fetal heartbeat law, his tax cuts, and his evolving position on gun control.
Abortion
Kasich opposes abortion except in cases of rape, incest, and danger to the mother's life. As governor, he signed 18 abortion-restrictive measures into law. In June 2013, Kasich signed into law a state budget, HB 59, which stripped some $1.4 million in federal dollars from Planned Parenthood by placing the organization last on the priority list for family-planning funds; provided funding to crisis pregnancy centers; and required women seeking abortions to undergo ultrasounds. The budget also barred abortion providers from entering into emergency transfer agreements with public hospitals, requiring abortion providers to find private hospitals willing to enter into transfer agreements. Another provision of the bill requires abortion providers to offer information on family planning and adoption services in certain situations. Under the budget, rape crisis centers could lose public funding if they counseled sexual assault victims about abortion.
In 2015, Kasich said in an interview that Planned Parenthood "ought to be de-funded", but added that Republicans in Congress should not force a government shutdown over the issue.
In December 2016, Kasich approved a ban on abortions after 20 weeks, except when a pregnancy endangers a woman's life, but vetoed HB 493, a law which would have made abortion illegal after detection of a fetal heartbeat (typically 5–6 weeks after conception). Kasich cited the cost to taxpayers of defending the legislation in court, and the likelihood that the "Heartbeat Bill" would be struck down in federal court as reasons for vetoing the more restrictive bill. In December 2018, Kasich again vetoed a bill to ban abortion after detection of a fetal heartbeat citing the cost to taxpayers and previous rulings by the federal courts. He did sign a bill into law that bans the dilation and evacuation procedure commonly used for abortion.
Climate change, energy, and environment
In a speech in April 2012, Kasich claimed that climate change is real and is a problem. In the same speech, however, Kasich said that the Environmental Protection Agency should not regulate carbon emissions and that instead states and private companies should be in charge of regulating coal-fired power plant emissions. In 2015, Kasich stated that he did not know all the causes of climate change, and that he did not know the extent to which humans contribute to climate change.
In 2014, Kasich signed into law a bill freezing Ohio's renewable portfolio standard (RPS) program for two years. Ohio's RPS program was created by 2008 legislation and required the state to acquire 12.5 percent of its energy portfolio from renewable sources and to reduce energy consumption by 22 percent by 2025. The legislation signed by Kasich to stop the program was supported by Republican legislative leaders, utility companies, and some industry groups, and opposed by environmentalists, some manufacturers, and the American Lung Association. In 2016, Kasich broke with fellow Republicans in the state legislature by vetoing their attempt to continue blocking the RPS standards; as a result, the freeze ended on December 31, 2016, and the clean-energy mandate resumed. This veto won Kasich praise from environmentalist groups, and angered Republicans in the state legislature.
In his 2015 budget plan, Kasich proposed raising the tax rate on hydraulic fracturing (fracking) activities. Specifically, Kasich's plan called for imposing a 6.5 percent severance tax on crude oil and natural gas extracted via horizontal drilling and sold at the source (about $3.25 per $50 barrel of oil), and for an additional 4.5 percent tax per thousand cubic feet on natural gas and liquefied natural gas (about $0.16 per thousand cubic feet). The proposal would not affect conventional drilling taxes.
Kasich formerly supported fracking in Ohio state parks and forests, signing legislation in mid-2011 authorizing him to appoint a five-member commission to oversee the leasing of mineral rights on state land to the highest bidders. In 2012, Kasich aides planned a campaign with a stated goal to "marginalize the effectiveness of communications by adversaries about the initiative" to bring fracking to state parks and forests, naming in an email the Ohio Sierra Club and state Representatives Robert F. Hagan and Nickie Antonio as adversaries of the plan. Kasich never appointed the commission, and the promotional plan was never put into effect. A memo and email relating to the 2012 promotional campaign were publicly released for the first time in February 2015, which according to the Columbus Dispatch attracted criticism from state environmental and liberal groups, as well as Democratic state legislators, who called for an investigation. On the same day the governor reversed himself, with a spokesman saying, "At this point, the governor doesn't support fracking in state parks. We reserve the right to revisit that, but it's not what he wants to do right now, and that's been his position for the past year and a half."
In April 2015, Kasich signed a bill aimed at protecting Lake Erie's water quality. The bill places restrictions on the spread of manure and other fertilizers that contribute to toxic algal blooms and requires large public water treatment plants to monitor phosphorus levels. The bill had been unanimously approved by both chambers of the Ohio Legislature the previous month.
Kasich supported the Keystone XL oil pipeline project and, along with other Republican governors, signed an open letter in February 2015 urging federal approval for the project. In 2016, in response to a request from South Dakota under the terms of an interstate compact, Kasich dispatched 37 Ohio state troopers to South Dakota, where they were stationed around Dakota Access Pipeline protests near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. This controversial deployment prompted unsuccessful petitions to Kasich (from members of the public, Cincinnati City Council members, environmentalists, and some state legislators), who asked Kasich to recall the troopers.
Policing and criminal justice
Prison privatization
To offset a state budget deficit, Kasich proposed selling five state prisons to the for-profit prison industry. The Lake Erie prison was sold for $72.7 million to the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), generating savings of $3 million. Kasich's Director of Corrections, Gary Mohr, whom he had hired in January 2011, had previously worked for CCA, but he said that he removed himself from the sales process. In an audit in October 2012, CCA was cited for 47 contractual violations, and failed a second audit later that year. In July 2015, the Kasich administration announced its intent to sell the North Central Correctional Institution at Marion, in order to recoup the state's original investment in the facility and invest the proceeds in community-based alternatives to prison.
Policing standards
Following the separate fatal police shootings of John Crawford III and Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old boy in Ohio, while each were holding BB guns, grand juries decided not to indict any of the officers involved. Following this, Kasich created the Ohio Collaborative Community-Police Advisory Board "to address what he described as frustration and distrust among some Ohioans toward their police departments, particularly among the black community." The 23-member task force (with 18 members appointed by Kasich) was appointed in January 2015 and issued its 629-page final report and recommendations in April 2015. The report recommended greater accountability and oversight for police agencies and officers, further community education and involvement in policing, and new use-of-force and recruitment, hiring, and training standards for police agencies.
In April 2015, Kasich created the Ohio Collaborative Community-Police Advisory Board, a twelve-member board tasked (in conjunction with the Ohio Office of Criminal Justice Services and the Ohio Department of Public Safety) with developing statewide standards for the recruiting, hiring and screening of police officers, and for the use of force (including deadly force) by police. The advisory board, the first of its kind in Ohio, was also tasked by Kasich with developing "model policies and best practice recommendations to promote better interaction and communication between law enforcement departments and their home communities." In August 2015, the board issued its recommendations, which placed "an emphasis on the preservation of human life and restrict officers to defending themselves or others from death or serious injury."
In August 2015, Kasich said that he was open to the idea of requiring police officers to wear body cameras.
Capital punishment
As governor, Kasich presided over the executions of fifteen inmates and commuted the death sentences of seven inmates. The last execution in Ohio took place in July 2018. In January 2015, Kasich announced that, due to pending litigation and other issues, he was delaying all seven executions scheduled through January 2016. The delay was largely attributed to European pharmaceutical companies, which have refused to supply the state with deadly drugs necessary for executions. In February 2017, Kasich again delayed Ohio executions for an additional three months, after a federal judge ruled that Ohio's three-drug lethal injection protocol is unconstitutional.
Executive clemency
Kasich used his power of executive clemency sparingly. He has the lowest clemency rate of any Ohio governor since at least the 1980s, when records began to be kept. In six years in office, Kasich granted 86 of the 2,291 requests that he acted upon. In 2016, Kasich granted executive clemency to 13 people; in all of the cases, the Ohio Adult Parole Authority had recommended clemency.
Criminal justice reform issues
Kasich supports various criminal justice reform efforts; according to conservative Washington Post columnist George Will, Kasich "favors fewer mandatory minimum sentences and has instituted prison policies that prepare inmates for re-integration into communities." In 2011, Kasich signed sentencing reform legislation which allowed judges to sentence defendants convicted of non-violent fourth- and fifth-degree felonies to "community-based halfway house facilities" instead of prison; expanded the earned credit system to allow inmates to reduce their sentences; and allowed felons who have already served 80 percent or more of their sentences to be immediately released.
In 2012, Kasich signed into law a bill, sponsored by Cleveland Democratic Senator Shirley Smith and Cincinnati Republican Senator Bill Seitz, easing the collateral consequences of criminal conviction.
In September 2014, Kasich touted the Ohio's prison system's recidivism rate, which is one of the lowest in the nation. U.S. Senator Rob Portman, a Republican, attributed a drop in Ohio's recidivism rate "to the bipartisan work of the state legislature, Governor Kasich, Ohio's reentry leaders and the success of programs made possible at the federal level by the Second Chance Act," which Portman sponsored.
In 2015, Kasich proposed a state budget including $61.7 million for addiction treatment services for prisoners.
Drug policy
Kasich initially expressed opposition to medical marijuana in 2012, saying "There's better ways to help people who are in pain." However, in late 2015 and early 2016, Kasich said he was open to the legalization of medical marijuana.
In March 2014, in an effort to address the opioid epidemic, Kasich signed legislation (passed unanimously in both chambers of the state legislature) expanding the availability of naloxone, a lifesaving antidote to opioid overdoses; the measure allowed friends and family members of addicts to obtain access to naloxone and for first responders to carry naloxone. In July 2015, Kasich signed legislation further expanding the availability of naloxone, making it available without a prescription.
In a 2015 interview with radio talk show host Hugh Hewitt, Kasich said he was opposed to the legalization of recreational marijuana in some states and equated the drug to heroin, stating: "In my state and across this country, if I happened to be president, I would lead a significant campaign down at the grassroots level to stomp these drugs out of our country."
When Kasich was asked by Hewitt whether, if elected president, he would federally enforce marijuana laws in states which have legalized marijuana, Kasich characterized it as a states' rights issue and said that "I'd have to think about it." When asked the same question later in 2015, Kasich said: "I would try to discourage the states from doing it...but I would be tempted to say I don't think we can go and start disrupting what they've decided."
Kasich opposed "Issue 3," an Ohio ballot measure in 2015 that proposed the legalization of recreational marijuana, saying it was a "terrible idea."
Economic policy
State budgets and taxation
During Kasich's tenure, the state has eliminated a budget shortfall that his administration has estimated at $8 billion, but which the Cleveland Plain Dealer estimated at closer to $6 billion. (The New York Times put the number at $7.7 billion). Ohio also increased its "rainy day fund" from effectively zero to more than $2 billion.
Kasich "closed the budget shortfall in part by cutting aid to local governments, forcing some of them to raise their own taxes or cut services. And increasing sales taxes helped make the income tax cuts possible." An analysis by the Plain Dealer in March 2016 found that more than 70 cities and villages had lost at least $1 million a year due to Kasich's budget and taxation policy.
In March 2008, Kasich called for "phasing out" Ohio's state income tax.
During Kasich's time as governor, Ohio ranked 22nd out of the 50 states for private-sector job growth, at 9.3%.
Kasich signed a state budget in 2011 which eliminated the state's estate tax effective January 1, 2013.
In 2013, Kasich signed into law a $62 billion two-year state budget. The budget provided for a 10-percent state income tax cut phased in over three years, and an increase in the state sales tax from 5.5 percent to 5.75 percent. It also included a 50% tax cut for small business owners on the first $250,000 of annual net income. Kasich used his line-item veto power to reject a measure that would stop the Medicaid expansion (which Kasich had accepted from the federal government) to cover nearly 275,000 working poor Ohioans.
In 2015, Kasich signed into law a $71 billion two-year state budget after using his line-item veto power to veto 44 items. The overall 2015 budget provides a 6.3 percent state income-tax cut as a part one component of a $1.9 billion net tax reduction and lowers the top income-tax rate to slightly below 5 percent. The budget also "spends $955 million more in basic state aid for K-12 schools than the last two-year period"; "boosts state funding for higher education to help offset a two-year tuition freeze at public universities"; expands the Medicaid health program; increases cigarette taxes by 35 cents a pack; and "prohibits independent health care and child care workers under contract with the state from unionizing."
Senate Bill 5 and labor issues
On March 31, 2011, in his first year as governor, Kasich signed into law Senate Bill 5, a controversial labor law which restricted collective bargaining rights of public employees, such as police officers, firefighters, and teachers. The legislation, championed by Kasich, prohibited all public employees from striking and restricted their ability to negotiate health care and pension benefits. The final version of the legislation signed by Kasich had passed the state Senate in a 17–16 vote (with six Senate Republicans joining all of the Senate Democrats in voting no) and the state House in a 53–44 vote, with two members abstaining.
Democrats and labor unions opposed the legislation and placed a referendum on the November 2011 ballot to repeal SB 5. SB 5 also "sparked numerous protests with thousands of union workers and other opponents descending on the Statehouse, mirroring similar demonstrations in Wisconsin and injecting Ohio into the national debate over Republican governors' attempts to curb public workers' collective bargaining rights." Kasich and other supporters of SB 5 characterized the legislation as a necessary measure "to help public employers control labor costs" and reduce tax burdens to make Ohio more competitive with other states, while labor unions and other opponents characterized the bill as "a union-busting attack on the middle class."
Ohio voters rejected Senate Bill 5 in a 61 percent to 39 percent vote, which was viewed as a rebuke to Kasich. On election night, Kasich said in a speech at the Ohio Statehouse that "It's clear the people have spoken. I heard their voices. I understand their decision. And frankly, I respect what the people have to say in an effort like this." Following this defeat, Kasich dropped efforts to pass broad-based collective bargaining restrictions, although in 2012 he supported a bill including "provisions reminiscent of Senate Bill 5" but applying only to the Cleveland Metropolitan School District.
In May 2015, Kasich rescinded executive orders issued by his predecessor Ted Strickland in 2007 and 2008 that provided the right to home health care contractors and in-home child care contractors to collectively bargain with the state.
Balanced budget amendment
Kasich has campaigned for a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Kasich created a 501(c)(4) group, Balanced Budget Forever, to promote the cause.
Free trade
Kasich said in 2016 that "I have never been an ideological supporter of free trade," but has long supported free trade agreements. He is a strong supporter of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and participated with others in a meeting with President Obama in support of the agreement.
Civil liberties and electronic surveillance
In speaking in the 2016 campaign on domestic surveillance, Kasich has "straddled the line," praising Rand Paul for saying that "we need to get warrants," but also saying "if there's information they need, the government needs to get it." Kasich has said there needs to be "a balance between good intelligence and the need to protect Americans from what can become an aggressive government somewhere down the road."
On one occasion, Kasich spoke out against proposals to mandate that technology companies provide a "backdoor" for the government to access encrypted devices, saying that this could end up aiding hackers. On a subsequent occasion, Kasich said that encryption was dangerous because it could stymie government antiterrorism investigations.
Kasich has condemned whistleblower Edward Snowden as a traitor.
Education
Kasich proposed new legislation which would increase funding to charter schools and poor school districts. He canceled the school-funding formula put into place by his Democratic predecessor, Governor Ted Strickland.
During Kasich's tenure as governor, he pushed to expand charter schools, increase the number of school vouchers that use public money to pay for tuition at private schools, implement a "merit pay" scheme for teachers, and evaluate teachers by student standardized test scores in math and reading. Kasich supports the Common Core State Standards and has criticized Republicans who turned against it.
During Kasich's tenure, funding for traditional public schools declined by about $500 million, while funding for charter schools has increased at least 27 percent. As calculated by the Howard Fleeter/Education Tax Policy Institute, total school funding under Kasich (including both charter and district schools) has ranged from a low of $7.1 billion in fiscal year 2013 to $7.8 billion in fiscal year 2015, which was higher than its previous peak under Kasich's predecessor, Ted Strickland. As calculated by the Howard Fleeter/Education Tax Policy Institute, Kasich has proposed total school funding of $8.0 billion in fiscal year 2016 and fiscal year 2017. The Ohio Department of Education—which includes more spending areas than Fleeter's does and so reports higher numbers—projects total school funding for Ohio schools to rise to slightly under $10.5 billion by the end of fiscal year 2017.
Analysts disagree "on whether Kasich's education budgets give increases beyond inflation." In the 2015 state budget, Kasich used his line-item veto power "to cut more than $84 million of funding from public schools."
According to a September 2014 story in the Columbus Dispatch, Kasich favored allowing public school districts "to teach alternatives to evolution—such as intelligent design—if local school officials want to, under the philosophy of 'local control.'"
In 2011, Kasich had the idea of establishing a Holocaust memorial on the grounds of the Ohio Statehouse. Kasich successfully secured approval of the proposal from the Capital Square Review and Advisory Board. The $2 million Ohio Holocaust and Liberators Memorial, designed by Daniel Libeskind, is located across from the Ohio Theatre; the memorial was dedicated in 2014.
Foreign and defense policy
In November 2002, Kasich urged the invasion of Iraq, telling a crowd of students at Ohio State University: "We should go to war with Iraq. It's not likely that (Saddam) Hussein will give up his weapons. If he did he would be disgraced in the Arab world."
In an interview in August 2015, Kasich said: "I would never have committed ourselves to Iraq." A Kasich spokesman subsequently said that "Kasich was not revising history" but was instead saying that the Iraq War was a mistake given the facts available now.
Kasich has said that the U.S. "should've left a base in Iraq" instead of withdrawing troops in 2011.
In 2015, Kasich said that airstrikes were insufficient to combat the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, and he would send U.S. ground troops to fight ISIL.
Kasich opposed the landmark 2015 international nuclear agreement with Iran, and in September 2015 was one of fourteen Republican governors who sent a letter to President Obama stating "that we intend to ensure that the various state-level sanctions [against Iran] that are now in effect remain in effect," despite the agreement.
Kasich has expressed support for the U.S.'s drone program. He has said, however, that the program should be overseen by the Department of Defense, and not by the CIA.
Kasich has said that he wants to lift budget sequestration for military spending, and "spend more if necessary."
In November 2015, Kasich said that if elected president, he "would send a carrier battle group through the South China Sea" to send a message to China regarding their claims of sovereignty there.
Kasich supports continued U.S. support of Saudi Arabia, but he criticized Saudi Arabia's "funding and teaching of radical clerics who are the very people who try to destroy us".
Kasich favors strong relations between the U.S. and its NATO allies. He supported Senator John McCain's call for maintaining existing U.S. sanctions on Russia, and condemned the Trump administration's consideration of lifting sanctions. Like McCain, Kasich supports imposing "tougher sanctions against Russia and Putin's inner circle." He supports a bipartisan investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections.
LGBT rights
By the mid-2010s, Kasich had shown much more support for LGBT rights than many of his Republican counterparts. However, during his time in Congress, Kasich was much less accepting, and voted for the Defense of Marriage Act, which barred federal recognition of same-sex marriage. During this period, Kasich supported a ban on same-sex marriage in Ohio and stated that he did not approve of the "gay lifestyle." As governor of Ohio, Kasich signed an executive order banning discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation for state employees; this was more narrow than the previous executive order signed by his predecessor because it omitted protections for gender identity.
During the 2016 presidential campaign, Kasich struck a more moderate tone compared to his Republican opponents. In June 2015, following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, which held that there is a fundamental right to same-sex marriage under the Fourteenth Amendment, Kasich said that he was "obviously disappointed" and that he believes in "traditional marriage," but that the ruling was "the law of the land and we'll abide by it" and that it was "time to move on" to other issues. During his time as Ohio governor, Kasich appointed Richard Hodges as Ohio Director of Health, who was the lead-respondent in the case.
Kasich indicated that he did not support an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to overturn the decision. In response to a debate question about how he would explain his position on same-sex marriage to one of his daughters if she were gay, Kasich responded, "The court has ruled, and I said we'll accept it. And guess what, I just went to a wedding of a friend of mine who happens to be gay. Because somebody doesn't think the way I do doesn't mean that I can't care about them or can't love them. So if one of my daughters happened to be that, of course I would love them and I would accept them. Because you know what? That's what we're taught when we have strong faith."
In September 2015, Kasich commented on the highly publicized case of Kim Davis (the Rowan County, Kentucky clerk who refused to comply with a federal court order directing her to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples), saying: "Now, I respect the fact that this lady doesn't agree but she's also a government employee, she's not running a church, I wouldn't force this on a church. But in terms of her responsibility I think she has to comply. I don't think — I don't like the fact that she's sitting in a jail, that's absurd as well. But I think she should follow the law."
In a March 2018 interview on The Rubin Report, Kasich passively came out in support of same-sex marriage saying "I'm fine with it," but stated that he now preferred to show himself as someone in the "Billy Graham tradition" that "avoided social issues". In December 2018, Kasich signed an executive order extending non-discrimination protections for gender identity, including trans and non-binary identities, to state employees in Ohio.
Gun policy
While in the U.S. House of Representatives, Kasich had a mixed record on gun policy. He was one of 215 Representatives to vote for the Federal Assault Weapons Ban, which became law in 1994, but voted against the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act ("Brady Bill"), which established current background check laws.
As governor, Kasich shifted to more pro-gun positions. In 2011, he signed one bill permitting concealed handguns in bars and another making it easier for people with misdemeanor drug convictions to purchase guns. In 2012, Kasich signed a bill allowing gun owners to transport weapons with loaded magazines in their vehicles and expanding concealed carry permit reciprocity. In December 2014, Kasich signed legislation that reduced the numbers of hours of training required to obtain a concealed carry permit and eliminated the training requirement for permit renewals.
After the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in February 2018, Kasich called for restrictions on the sales of AR-15 style rifles.
Health care
Kasich opted to accept Medicaid-expansion funding provided by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA or "Obamacare") in Ohio. This decision angered many Statehouse Republicans, who wanted Kasich to reject the expansion.
Total spending on Medicaid by the state was almost $2 billion (or 7.6 percent) below estimates for the fiscal year ending in June 2015, according to a report by Kasich's administration. The lower-than-expected costs were attributed to expanded managed care, shorter nursing home stays and increased in-home care for seniors, capitated reimbursement policies, increased automation to determine eligibility for the program and pay care providers, and an improving economy in the state which allowed some participants to move out of the program.
In an October 2014 interview, Kasich said that repeal of the ACA was "not gonna happen" and stated that "The opposition to it was really either political or ideological. I don't think that holds water against real flesh and blood, and real improvements in people's lives." Kasich later said that he was referring solely to the law's Medicaid expansion, and that "my position is that we need to repeal and replace" the rest of the law. In 2015, Kasich expressed support for many provisions of the ACA (ensuring coverage for people with preexisting conditions, the use of insurance exchanges, and Medicaid expansion), but opposed mandates.
In 2017, after Donald Trump took office and congressional Republicans maneuvered to repeal the ACA, Kasich criticized Republican hard-liners in Congress who demanded a full ACA repeal, saying that full repeal was "not acceptable" when 20 million people gained insurance under the ACA and that doing so would be a "political impossibility." Kasich urged that the Medicaid expansion be preserved in some form, criticizing the House Republican legislation that would cut the Medicaid expansion and phase out health insurance subsidies for low-income Americans. Kasich said that the nation's "soul" was at stake if Republicans passed legislation that left millions without health insurance. After the failure of the House Republican health-care legislation, Kasich met in Washington with members of the Republican Tuesday Group and urged fellow Republicans to work with Democrats to make more modest changes to the Affordable Care Act. In May 2017, Kasich said that the version of the Republican health care bill that passed the House was "inadequate" and would harm patients; Kasich said that Republicans "should've worked with the Democrats" on the bill rather than passing legislation merely to fulfill a campaign pledge.
In June 2017, Kasich said that he didn't "have a problem" with gradually phasing out the ACA's expansion of Medicaid over a seven-year period, but only if Congress provided states with significantly more, more than the House Republican bill provided for, and only if Congress granted states more authority to manage the program. Along with three other Republican governors (Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas, Brian Sandoval of Nevada, and Rick Snyder of Michigan), Kasich signed a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell with an outline of their wishes for an health care bill. Kasich and the others specifically called upon Congress to "end the requirement that state Medicaid programs cover nearly every prescription drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration." Kasich and the other governors' views were seen as influential, because their states have Republican senators and the Republicans have only a narrow majority in the Senate.
Immigration and refugees
In 2010, while running for governor, Kasich expressed support for amending the U.S. Constitution to abolish the Fourteenth Amendment's guarantee of jus soli (birthright) citizenship for people born in the United States. Kasich also told the Columbus Dispatch at the time that "One thing that I don't want to reward is illegal immigration."
In 2014, Kasich acknowledged that his stance on immigration has "evolved" because "maybe [I'm] a little smarter now," stating: "I don't want to see anybody in pain. So I guess when I look at this now, I look at it differently than I did in '10. ... When I look at a group of people who might be hiding, who may be afraid, who may be scared, who have children, I don't want to be in a position of where I make it worse for them." That year, Kasich expressed openness to a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, saying at a Republican Governors Association (RGA) meeting in Florida, "I don't like the idea of citizenship when people jump the line, [but] we may have to do it." Kasich was the only governor at the RGA conference "to express openly a willingness to create a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants."
In August 2015, while running for president, Kasich called for a path to legal status (but not necessarily citizenship) for undocumented immigrants and for a guest worker program. Kasich also appeared to disavow his earlier stance against birthright citizenship, stating "I don't think we need to go there"; called for completion of a fence along the U.S.-Mexico border; and noted that undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as young children may obtain driver's licenses in Ohio.
In October 2015, Kasich criticized Donald Trump's "plan to build a wall along the Mexican border and remove immigrants who entered the United States illegally," calling these notions "just crazy."
In September 2015, Kasich said that the U.S. had a moral responsibility to accept refugees fleeing war and violence in Syria. Subsequently, however, Kasich moved to the right, and in November 2015 wrote a letter to President Obama asking that no additional Syrian refugees be resettled in Ohio. Kasich opposed Trump's executive order on travel and immigration, which Trump signed one week after taking office in January 2017. Kasich said that the order was "ham-handed" because it "sowed so much confusion" and "sent a message that somehow the United States was looking sideways at Muslims."
Lieutenant governor
Kasich has a "long-standing political partnership" with his lieutenant governor, Mary Taylor. In 2014, Kasich defended Taylor after her chief of staff, and that chief of staff's administrative assistant, resigned following a timesheet probe. Kasich said of Taylor's handling of the matter: "Mary did the right thing and I support her."
In 2017, the Kasich-Taylor relationship frayed after Taylor abandoned Kasich ally Matt Borges in his bid for chairman of the Ohio Republican Party, and instead chose to support Jane Timken, who was actively supported by Donald Trump, who sought revenge against Kasich for his choice not to endorse Trump. Nevertheless, Kasich indicated that Taylor had "been a good partner" over his term and indicated that he would support her if she chose to run for governor in 2018.
Racial diversity in Cabinet
Upon taking office in 2011, Kasich received criticism for appointing an initial all-white cabinet of 22 members. Responding to criticism for not appointing any black, Hispanic, or Asian Cabinet members, Kasich said: "I don't look at things from the standpoint of any of these sort of metrics that people tend to focus on, race or age, or any of those things. It's not the way I look at things... I want the best possible team I can get." Shortly afterward, on February 2, 2011, Kasich made his first minority appointment to the Cabinet, naming Michael Colbert, a black man, to lead the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.
, four members of Kasich's Cabinet were members of racial minorities.
Transportation
Throughout his first gubernatorial campaign, Kasich opposed the Ohio Hub higher-speed passenger rail project (a proposed 258-mile Cleveland-to-Cincinnati train) and promised to cancel it, claiming that it would average speeds of merely 36 mph. In his first press conference following his election victory, Kasich declared "That train is dead...I said it during the campaign: It is dead."
As governor-elect, Kasich lobbied the federal government to use $400 million in federal dollars allocated for high-speed rail for freight rail projects instead. In a November 2010 letter to Kasich, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood wrote that the federal funding was specifically allocated by the 2009 economic stimulus act for high-speed rail, and could not be used for other purposes. In a December 2010 meeting with President Barack Obama, Kasich again unsuccessfully lobbied to use the grant money for freight rail rather than high-speed rail.
In December 2010, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced that Ohio would lose the $385 million in grant funds allocated for high-speed passenger rail, since Kasich had informed them that he had no intention of ever building high-speed rail projects. (Almost $15 million had already been spent for preliminary engineering.) The $385 million was instead diverted to other states, such as California, New York, and Florida, which planned high-speed rail using the grant money for its congressionally intended purpose. Outgoing governor Ted Strickland, who championed the project, expressed disappointment, saying that the loss of funding for the project was "one of the saddest days during my four years as governor" and that "I can't understand the logic of giving up these vital, job-creating resources to California and Florida at a time when so many Ohioans need jobs."
Kasich is an opponent of the Cincinnati Streetcar project.
In April 2015, Kasich signed a two-year transportation budget bill which allocated $7.06 billion for highway construction and maintenance, $600 million to local governments for road and bridge projects, and an additional million over the last budget for public transportation.
Voting rights
In February 2014, Kasich signed into law a bill which cut six days from Ohio's early voting period, including the "golden week" (a period at the beginning of early voting when voters could both register to vote and cast an in-person absentee ballot). The measures were hotly contested in the state legislature, passing on a party-line vote, with Republicans in favor and Democrats opposed. This measure prompted two federal lawsuits. The first lawsuit, brought by the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio on behalf of the NAACP and League of Women Voters of Ohio, resulted in a settlement in April 2015, in which the state agreed to provide evening and Sunday hours for early voting in elections in Ohio through 2018. The second lawsuit, Ohio Democratic Party v. Husted, was brought in May 2015 by Democratic election lawyer Marc Elias; plaintiffs argued that the Ohio bill eliminating "golden week" violated the Constitution and the Voting Rights Act because it disproportionately burdened black, Latino and young voters. The federal district court agreed and struck down the legislation, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit reversed that decision in a 2–1 vote, and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal. In July 2015, Kasich said that it was "pure demagoguery" for Hillary Clinton to "say that there are Republicans who are deliberately trying to keep people from voting."
In April 2015, Kasich used his line-item veto power to veto a provision added to a highway-budget bill by Republicans in the state legislature that would have required college students who register to vote in Ohio to obtain a state driver's license and vehicle registration, imposing an estimated $75 in motor vehicle costs on out-of-state college students who wanted to vote in the state. The veto was celebrated by voting rights advocates, Ohio Democrats, and the Cleveland Plain Dealer editorial board, which viewed the proposal as effectively a "poll tax" motivated by a partisan desire to limit college-town voting.
Judicial appointments
In Ohio, justices of the Ohio Supreme Court are elected, but the governor can fill unexpired terms. In May 2012, Ohio Supreme Court Associate Justice Evelyn Lundberg Stratton announced she would retire at the end of 2012. In December 2012, Kasich appointed Judge Judith L. French to Stratton's unexpired term, which ran from January 1, 2013, through January 1, 2015.
Impeachment of Donald Trump
On October 18, 2019, Kasich publicly stated that Donald Trump should be impeached. He had previously said there was not enough evidence to impeach the President.
2016 presidential campaign
In April 2015, Kasich announced the formation of his "New Day For America" group. Formerly a 527 group, it filed as a super PAC in July 2015. Between April 20 and June 30, 2015, the super PAC raised over $11.1 million from 165 "reportable contributions," including 34 contributions of $100,000 or more. Major contributors to the PAC include Floyd Kvamme, who donated $100,000, and Jim Dicke, chairman emeritus of Crown Equipment Corporation, who donated $250,000. According to FEC filings, Kasich's campaign had $2.5 million on hand at the beginning of 2016.
In May 2015, sources close to him had said he was "virtually certain" to run for the Republican nomination for president. On July 21, 2015, Kasich announced his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination during a speech at the Ohio Union, the student union of his alma mater, the Ohio State University.
On January 30, 2016, the New York Times endorsed Kasich for the Republican nomination. The Times editorial board strongly rebuked leading candidates Donald Trump and Senator Ted Cruz and wrote that Kasich, "though a distinct underdog, is the only plausible choice for Republicans tired of the extremism and inexperience on display in this race."
On the campaign trail, Kasich sought to project a sunny, optimistic message, describing himself as "the prince of light and hope." This marked a change in tone for Kasich, who had developed a reputation as an abrasive governor. Viewed as a long-shot contender, Kasich took an "above-the-fray approach to his rivals" and "ran unapologetically as a candidate with experience" even as others ran as "outsider" contenders.
Kasich came in second place in the New Hampshire primary on February 9, 2016, behind winner Trump. The Cincinnati Enquirer reported that this was "the best possible result" for Kasich and lent "credence to the notion that he can emerge" as a Republican alternative to Trump and Cruz.
Ultimately, however, Kasich's message "never caught on in a campaign that ... exposed the anger and frustration coursing through the electorate" and he "found himself stuck in fourth place in a three-man race, trailing Senator Marco Rubio of Florida in the delegate count" although Rubio had dropped out of the race in March.
The only state won by Kasich was his home state of Ohio, which gave him 66 delegates in its March 2016 winner-take-all primary but still left him with "a steep delegate deficit against his rivals." Kasich's unsuccessful campaign strategy hinged on the possibility of a contested (or brokered) Republican National Convention, in which no single candidate has enough delegates to win the nomination on the first ballot, something that has not happened in either of the two major parties' presidential nominating conventions since 1952. Kasich suspended his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination on May 4, 2016, one day after Trump won the Republican primary in Indiana. The third remaining contender, Cruz, quit the race shortly before Kasich did, leaving Trump as the only candidate remaining in the Republican field and hence the party's presumptive nominee.
A 2018 study on media coverage of the 2016 election noted "the paradox of the Kasich campaign's longevity while it lacked public interest provides some evidence for the idea that Kasich's biggest supporters were the media".
Aftermath
Following his withdrawal from the race, Kasich did not extend his support to Trump. In May and June 2016, Kasich said that Trump was a divisive figure rather than a "unifier," said he had no plans to endorse Trump in the near future, and ruled out the possibility of seeking the Vice Presidency as Trump's running mate.
Kasich said it was "hard to say" whether he would ever endorse Trump; he added, "I can't go for dividing, name calling, or somebody that doesn't really represent conservative principles." Kasich said he had ruled out voting for Clinton but lacked the enthusiasm to fully back Trump.
In August 2016, Kasich repeated an earlier claim that the Trump campaign had offered him a powerful vice presidency, "putting him in charge of all domestic and foreign policy". The Trump campaign denied that such an offer had been made. Kasich also doubted whether Trump could win Ohio, a critical state in the election. It was speculated that Kasich was looking towards a 2020 campaign. This speculation was strengthened by a report that Kasich had planned to give a speech to the American Enterprise Institute less than 48 hours after the election but cancelled it the morning after the election when it was clear that Trump had won.
Kasich received an electoral vote for the presidency from one faithless elector, Christopher Suprun of Texas, who had been pledged to vote for Trump. An elector in Colorado also attempted to vote for him, but that vote was discarded; the elector was replaced by an alternate elector who voted, as pledged, for Clinton.
Opposition to Trump
In February 2017, Kasich met with Trump at the White House in a private meeting that followed a bitter feud. Kasich indicated that he hoped for Trump's success, but would continue to be critical when he thought it was necessary. The same month, Kasich's chief political advisors launched a political group, Two Paths America, in an effort to promote Kasich and his views and draw a contrast with Trump. In April 2017, Kasich also released a book, Two Paths: America Divided or United, written with Daniel Paisner. The creation of the group prompted speculation he could possibly run for president again, but Kasich said that he had no plans to seek elected office in the future.
In April 2017, during a CNN town hall, Kasich, while stating that he was "very unlikely" to do so, reopened the possibility that he might run for president in 2020. On August 20, however, he reiterated his previous statement that he had no plans to run; rather, he stated that he was "rooting for [Trump] to get it together."
In October 2017, during an interview with CNN's Jake Tapper, Kasich said he had not "given up" on the Republican Party, but added that "if the party can't be fixed ... I'm not going to be able to support the party. Period. That's the end of it." In March 2018, he told The Weekly Standard that he was "increasingly open" to running for president in the 2020 presidential election; however, in May 2019, he again declared that he would not seek the presidency in 2020.
In October 2019, Kasich expressed support for the impeachment inquiry against Trump, saying that the "final straw" for him was when Trump's acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney admitted that Trump had withheld U.S. aid from Ukraine in part to pressure the country to investigate Trump's domestic political rivals, a statement that Mulvaney later said were misconstrued.
Kasich confirmed on August 10, 2020, that he would be speaking at the 2020 Democratic National Convention in support of presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden. Kasich said that his conscience compelled him to speak out against Trump and in support of Biden, even if it resulted in blowback against him, adding, "I've been a reformer almost all of my life. I've been very independent and I'm a Republican but the Republican Party has always been my vehicle but never my master. You have to do what you think is right in your heart and I'm comfortable here."
Personal life
Kasich has been married twice. His first marriage was to Mary Lee Griffith from 1975 to 1980, and they had no children. Griffith has campaigned for Kasich since their divorce. Kasich and his current wife, Karen Waldbillig, a former public relations executive, were married in March 1997 and have twin daughters, Emma and Reese.
Kasich was raised a Catholic, but considers denominations irrelevant, while stating that "there's always going to be a part of me that considers myself a Catholic." He drifted away from his religion as an adult, but came to embrace an Anglican faith after his parents were killed in a car crash by a drunk driver on August 20, 1987. He joined the Episcopal Church (United States) as an adult. Kasich has said he "doesn't find God in church" but does belong to St. Augustine's in Westerville, Ohio, which is part of the Anglican Church in North America, a conservative church with which he remained when it broke off from the Episcopal Church (United States).
Electoral history
Published works
Kasich has authored five books:
Courage is Contagious, published in 1998, made the New York Times bestseller list
Stand for Something: The Battle for America's Soul, published in 2006
Every Other Monday, published in 2010. This book is a New York Times bestseller.
Two Paths: America Divided or United, published in 2017
It's Up to Us: Ten Little Ways We Can Bring About Big Change, published in 2019
See also
Ohio's 12th congressional district
List of United States representatives from Ohio
Ohio gubernatorial election, 2010
Ohio gubernatorial election, 2014
Republican Party presidential candidates, 2016
List of John Kasich presidential campaign endorsements, 2016
References
Citations
Bibliography
External links
Governor John Kasich official Ohio government website Jan. 2019 archive
John Kasich for Governor
John Kasich for President
U.S. Representative (1983–2001)
1952 births
Living people
Candidates in the 2000 United States presidential election
Candidates in the 2016 United States presidential election
20th-century American politicians
20th-century American writers
21st-century American businesspeople
21st-century American politicians
21st-century American non-fiction writers
American corporate directors
American investment bankers
American people of Croatian descent
American people of Czech descent
American political writers
American Christians
Businesspeople from Pennsylvania
Christians from Ohio
Former Roman Catholics
Fox News people
CNN people
Governors of Ohio
Lehman Brothers people
Members of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio
Ohio Republicans
Ohio state senators
Ohio State University College of Arts and Sciences alumni
People from McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania
Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives
Republican Party state governors of the United States
Writers from Ohio
Converts to Anglicanism from Roman Catholicism
Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio
Criticism of Donald Trump | true | [
"What Else Do You Do? (A Compilation of Quiet Music) is a various artists compilation album, released in 1990 by Shimmy Disc.\n\nTrack listing\n\nPersonnel \nAdapted from the What Else Do You Do? (A Compilation of Quiet Music) liner notes.\n Kramer – production, engineering\n\nRelease history\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n \n\n1990 compilation albums\nAlbums produced by Kramer (musician)\nShimmy Disc compilation albums",
"Do You Know What I'm Going To Do Next Saturday? is a 1963 children's book published by Beginner Books and written by Helen Palmer Geisel, the first wife of Theodor Seuss Geisel (Dr. Seuss). Unlike most of the Beginner Books, Do You Know What I'm Going To Do Next Saturday? did not follow the format of text with inline drawings, being illustrated with black-and-white photographs by Lynn Fayman, featuring a boy named Rawli Davis. It is sometimes misattributed to Dr. Seuss himself. The book's cover features a photograph of a young boy sitting at a breakfast table with a huge pile of pancakes.\n\nActivities mentioned in the book include bowling, water skiing, marching, boxing, and shooting guns with the United States Marines, and eating more spaghetti \"than anyone else has eaten before.\n\nHelen Palmer's photograph-based children's books did not prove to be as popular as the more traditional text-and-illustrations format; however, Do You Know What I'm Going To Do Next Saturday received positive reviews and was listed by The New York Times as one of the best children's books of 1963. The book is currently out of print.\n\nReferences\n\n1963 children's books\nAmerican picture books"
]
|
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"John Kasich",
"Abortion",
"What was Kasichs stance on abortion",
"Kasich is a \"firm abortion opponent\" and describes himself as pro-life.",
"What else has he done regards abortion",
"Since taking office, he has signed 18 anti-abortion measures into law.",
"What were some of the measures",
"Kasich signed into law a state budget, HB 59, which stripped some $1.4 million in federal dollars from Planned Parenthood",
"What else did he do",
"Under the budget, rape crisis centers could lose public funding if they counseled sexual assault victims about abortion."
]
| C_2b98b6ca33de4d21a7e358160c7a67fa_1 | What other anti-abortion things did he do | 5 | What other anti-abortion things did John Kasich do besides stripping funding from Planned Parenthood? | John Kasich | In 1982, Kasich ran for Congress in Ohio's 12th congressional district, which included portions of Columbus as well as the cities of Westerville, Reynoldsburg, Worthington, and Dublin. He won the Republican primary with 83% of the vote and defeated incumbent Democrat U.S. Congressman Bob Shamansky in the general election by a margin of 50%-47%. He was re-elected eight times after 1982, winning at least 64% of the vote each time. During his congressional career, Kasich was considered a fiscal conservative, taking aim at programs supported by Republicans and Democrats. He worked with Ralph Nader in seeking to reduce corporate tax loopholes. Kasich was a member of the House Armed Services Committee for 18 years. He developed a "fairly hawkish" reputation on that committee, although he "also zealously challenged" defense spending he considered wasteful. Among the Pentagon projects that he targeted were the B-2 bomber program (teaming up with Democratic representative Ron Dellums to cut the program, their efforts were partly successful) and the A-12 bomber program (ultimately canceled by defense secretary Dick Cheney in 1991). He participated extensively in the passage of the Goldwater-Nichols Act of 1986, which reorganized the U.S. Department of Defense. He also pushed through the bill creating the 1988 Base Realignment and Closure Commission, which closed obsolete U.S. military bases, and successfully opposed a proposed $110 million expansion of the Pentagon building after the end of the Cold War. He also "proposed a national commission on arms control" and "urged tighter controls over substances that could be used for biological warfare." Kasich said he was "100 percent for" the first Persian Gulf War as well as the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, but said that he did not favor U.S. military participation in the Lebanese Civil War or in Bosnia. In 1997, with fellow Republican representative Floyd Spence, he introduced legislation (supported by some congressional Democrats) for the U.S. to pull out of a multilateral peacekeeping force in Bosnia. In the House, he supported the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act, a Dellums-led initiative to impose economic sanctions against apartheid-era South Africa. In 1993, Kasich became the ranking Republican member of the House Budget Committee. Kasich and other House Budget Committee Republicans proposed an alternative to President Bill Clinton's deficit reduction bill, the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993. That proposal included funds to implement Republican proposals for health care, welfare, and crime control legislation and for a child tax credit. The Penny-Kasich Plan, named after Kasich and fellow lead sponsor Tim Penny, was supported by Republicans and conservative Democrats. It proposed $90 billion in spending cuts over five years, almost three times as much in cuts as the $37 billion in cuts backed by the Clinton administration and Democratic congressional leaders. About one-third ($27 billion) of the proposed Penny-Kasich cuts would come from means-testing Medicare, specifically by reducing Medicare payments to seniors who earned $75,000 or more in adjusted gross income. This angered the AARP, which lobbied against the legislation. Another $26 billion of the Penny-Kasich plan's cuts would have come from the U.S. Department of Defense and foreign aid, which led Secretary of Defense Les Aspin to say that the plan would destroy military morale. Another $27 billion in savings would have come from federal layoffs. The proposal was narrowly defeated in the House by a 219-213 vote. As ranking member of the Budget Committee, Kasich proposed his own health care reform plan as a rival to the Clinton health care plan of 1993 championed by First Lady Hillary Clinton, but more market-based. As Time magazine wrote, "The Kasich plan would have covered all Americans by 2005, using a form of an individual mandate that would have required employees to purchase insurance through their employers. (The mandate was an idea initially supported by conservative groups like The Heritage Foundation.)" On November 17, 1993, Kasich voted to approve the North American Free Trade Agreement, casting a "yea" vote for the North American Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act. In 1994, Kasich was one of the Republican leaders to support a last-minute deal with President Bill Clinton to pass the Federal Assault Weapons Ban. After a series of meetings with Clinton's Chief of Staff, Leon Panetta, a longtime friend of Kasich, the assault weapons ban was passed when 42 Republicans crossed party lines and voted to ban assault weapons with the Democrats. His support of the assault-weapons ban angered the National Rifle Association, which gave Kasich an "F" rating in 1994 as a result. Kasich is a "firm abortion opponent" and describes himself as pro-life. He says abortions should only be performed in cases of rape, incest, and when the mother's life is in danger. Since taking office, he has signed 18 anti-abortion measures into law. In June 2013, Kasich signed into law a state budget, HB 59, which stripped some $1.4 million in federal dollars from Planned Parenthood by placing the organization last on the priority list for family-planning funds; provided funding to crisis pregnancy centers; and required women seeking abortions to undergo ultrasounds. The budget also barred abortion providers from entering into emergency transfer agreements with public hospitals, requiring abortion providers to find private hospitals willing to enter into transfer agreements. Another provision of the bill requires abortion providers to offer information on family planning and adoption services in certain situations. Under the budget, rape crisis centers could lose public funding if they counseled sexual assault victims about abortion. In 2015, Kasich said in an interview that Planned Parenthood "ought to be de-funded" but Republicans in Congress should not force a government shutdown over the issue. In December 2016, Kasich approved a ban on abortions after 20 weeks, except when a pregnancy endangers a woman's life, but vetoed HB 493, a law which would have made abortion illegal after detection of a fetal heartbeat (typically 5-6 weeks after conception). Kasich cited the cost to taxpayers of defending the legislation in court, and the likelihood that the "Heartbeat Bill" would be struck down in federal court as reasons for vetoing the more restrictive bill. CANNOTANSWER | In December 2016, Kasich approved a ban on abortions after 20 weeks, except when a pregnancy endangers a woman's life, | John Richard Kasich Jr. ( ; born May 13, 1952) is an American politician, author, and television news host who served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1983 to 2001 and as the 69th governor of Ohio from 2011 to 2019. A Republican, Kasich unsuccessfully sought his party's presidential nomination in 2000 and 2016.
Kasich grew up in McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, moving to Ohio to attend college. After a single term in the Ohio Senate, he served nine terms as a member of the United States House of Representatives from . His tenure in the House included 18 years on the House Armed Services Committee and six years as chairman of the House Budget Committee. Kasich was a key figure in the passage of both 1996 welfare reform legislation and the Balanced Budget Act of 1997. Kasich decided not to run for re-election in 2000 and ran for president instead. He withdrew from the race before the Republican primaries.
After leaving Congress, Kasich hosted Heartland with John Kasich on Fox News from 2001 to 2007 and served as managing director of the Lehman Brothers office in Columbus, Ohio. He ran for governor of Ohio in 2010, defeating Democratic incumbent Ted Strickland. He was re-elected in 2014, defeating Democratic challenger Ed FitzGerald by 30 percentage points. Kasich was term-limited and could not seek a third gubernatorial term in 2018; he was succeeded by fellow Republican Mike DeWine.
Kasich ran for president again in 2016, finishing in third place in the Republican primaries behind Donald Trump and Ted Cruz. He won the primary in his home state of Ohio and finished second in New Hampshire. Kasich declined to support Trump as the Republican presidential nominee and did not attend the 2016 Republican National Convention, which was held in Ohio. In 2019, following the end of his second term as governor, Kasich joined CNN as a contributor. Kasich is known as one of Trump's most prominent critics within the Republican Party, and he endorsed Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden for president in a speech at the 2020 Democratic National Convention.
Early life, education, and early political career
John Richard Kasich Jr. was born and raised in the Pittsburgh suburb of McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania. He is the son of Anne (née Vukovich; 1918–1987) and John Richard Kasich (1919-1987), who worked as a mail carrier.
Kasich's father was of Czech descent, while his mother was of Croatian descent. Both his father and mother were children of immigrants and were practicing Roman Catholics. He has described himself as "a Croatian and a Czech".
After attending public schools in his hometown of McKees Rocks, Kasich later left his native Pennsylvania, settling in Columbus, Ohio in 1970 to attend Ohio State University, where he joined the Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity.
As a freshman, he wrote a letter to President Richard Nixon describing concerns he had about the nation and requesting a meeting with the President. The letter was delivered to Nixon by the university's president Novice Fawcett and Kasich was granted a 20-minute meeting with Nixon in December 1970.
Earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Ohio State University, in 1974, he went on to work as a researcher for the Ohio Legislative Service Commission. From 1975 to 1978, he served as an administrative assistant to then-state Senator Buz Lukens.
Ohio Senate career
In 1978, Kasich ran against Democratic incumbent Robert O'Shaughnessy for State Senate. A political ally of Kasich remembers him during that time as a persistent campaigner: "People said, 'If you just quit calling me, I'll support you.'" At age 26, Kasich won with 56% of the vote, beginning his four-year term representing the 15th district. Kasich was the second youngest person ever elected to the Ohio Senate.
One of his first acts as a State Senator was to refuse a pay raise. Republicans gained control of the State Senate in 1980, but Kasich went his own way, for example, by opposing a budget proposal he believed would raise taxes and writing his own proposal instead.
U.S. House of Representatives (1983–2001)
In 1982, Kasich ran for Congress in Ohio's 12th congressional district, which included portions of Columbus as well as the cities of Westerville, Reynoldsburg, Worthington, and Dublin. He won the Republican primary with 83% of the vote and defeated incumbent Democratic U.S. Congressman Bob Shamansky in the general election by a margin of 50%–47%. He would never face another contest nearly that close, and was re-elected eight more times with at least 64 percent of the vote.
During his congressional career, Kasich was considered a fiscal conservative, taking aim at programs supported by Republicans and Democrats. He worked with Ralph Nader in seeking to reduce corporate tax loopholes.
Kasich was a member of the House Armed Services Committee for 18 years. He developed a "fairly hawkish" reputation on that committee, although he "also zealously challenged" defense spending he considered wasteful. Among the Pentagon projects that he targeted were the B-2 bomber program (teaming up with Democratic representative Ron Dellums to cut the program, their efforts were partly successful) and the A-12 bomber program (ultimately canceled by defense secretary Dick Cheney in 1991). He participated extensively in the passage of the Goldwater–Nichols Act of 1986, which reorganized the U.S. Department of Defense. He also pushed through the bill creating the 1988 Base Realignment and Closure Commission, which closed obsolete U.S. military bases, and successfully opposed a proposed $110 million expansion of the Pentagon building after the end of the Cold War. He also "proposed a national commission on arms control" and "urged tighter controls over substances that could be used for biological warfare."
Kasich said he was "100 percent for" the first Persian Gulf War as well as the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, but said that he did not favor U.S. military participation in the Lebanese Civil War or in Bosnia. In 1997, with fellow Republican representative Floyd Spence, he introduced legislation (supported by some congressional Democrats) for the U.S. to pull out of a multilateral peacekeeping force in Bosnia. In the House, he supported the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act, a U.S. Representative Ron Dellums (D- CA)-led initiative to impose economic sanctions against apartheid-era South Africa.
Ranking member of the House Budget Committee
In 1993, Kasich became the ranking Republican member of the House Budget Committee. Kasich and other House Budget Committee Republicans proposed an alternative to President Bill Clinton's deficit reduction bill, the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993. That proposal included funds to implement Republican proposals for health care, welfare, and crime control legislation and for a child tax credit. The Penny-Kasich Plan, named after Kasich and fellow lead sponsor Tim Penny, was supported by Republicans and conservative Democrats. It proposed $90 billion in spending cuts over five years, almost three times as much in cuts as the $37 billion in cuts backed by the Clinton administration and Democratic congressional leaders. About one-third ($27 billion) of the proposed Penny-Kasich cuts would come from means-testing Medicare, specifically by reducing Medicare payments to seniors who earned $75,000 or more in adjusted gross income. This angered the AARP, which lobbied against the legislation. Another $26 billion of the Penny-Kasich plan's cuts would have come from the U.S. Department of Defense and foreign aid, which led Secretary of Defense Les Aspin to say that the plan would destroy military morale. Another $27 billion in savings would have come from federal layoffs. The proposal was narrowly defeated in the House by a 219–213 vote.
As ranking member of the Budget Committee, Kasich proposed his own health care reform plan as a rival to the Clinton health care plan of 1993 championed by First Lady Hillary Clinton, but more market-based. As journalist Zeke Miller wrote in Time magazine, "The Kasich plan would have covered all Americans by 2005, using a form of an individual mandate that would have required employees to purchase insurance through their employers. (The mandate was an idea initially supported by conservative groups like The Heritage Foundation.)"
On November 17, 1993, Kasich voted to approve the North American Free Trade Agreement, casting a "yea" vote for the North American Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act.
In 1994, Kasich was one of the Republican leaders to support a last-minute deal with President Bill Clinton to pass the Federal Assault Weapons Ban. After a series of meetings with Clinton's Chief of Staff, Leon Panetta, a longtime friend of Kasich, the assault weapons ban was passed when 42 Republicans crossed party lines and voted to ban assault weapons with the Democrats. His support of the assault-weapons ban angered the National Rifle Association, which gave Kasich an "F" rating in 1994 as a result.
Chair of the House Budget Committee
In 1995, when Republicans gained the majority in the United States Congress following the 1994 election, Kasich became chair of the House Budget Committee. In 1996, he introduced the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act in the House, an important welfare reform bill signed into law by President Clinton.
During the 1996 presidential campaign, Republican nominee Bob Dole was reported to have considered Kasich as a vice presidential running mate but instead selected Jack Kemp, a former congressman and Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
In 1997, Kasich rose to national prominence after becoming "the chief architect of a deal that balanced the federal budget for the first time since 1969"—the Balanced Budget Act of 1997.
In 1998, Kasich voted to impeach President Clinton on all four charges made against him. In 1999, while the Senate prepared to vote on the charges, he said: "I believe these are impeachable and removable offenses."
2000 presidential campaign
Kasich did not seek re-election in 2000. In February 1999, he formed an exploratory committee to run for president. In March 1999 he announced his campaign for the Republican nomination. After very poor fundraising, he dropped out in July 1999, before the Iowa Straw Poll, and endorsed governor George W. Bush of Texas.
Private sector career (2001–2009)
After leaving Congress, Kasich went to work for Fox News, hosting Heartland with John Kasich on the Fox News Channel and guest-hosting The O'Reilly Factor, filling in for Bill O'Reilly as needed. He also occasionally appeared as a guest on Hannity & Colmes.
Business career
Kasich served on the board of directors for several corporations, including Invacare Corp. and the Chicago-based Norvax Inc. In 2001, Kasich joined Lehman Brothers' investment banking division as a managing director, in Columbus, Ohio. He remained at Lehman Brothers until it declared bankruptcy in 2008. That year, Lehman Brothers paid him a $182,692 salary and a $432,200 bonus. He stated that the bonus was for work performed in 2007.
Kasich's employment by Lehman Brothers was criticized during his subsequent campaigns in light of the firm's collapse during the financial crisis. Kasich responded to critics by saying: "I wasn't involved in the inner workings of Lehman, I was a banker. I didn't go to board meetings or go and talk investment strategy with the top people. I was nowhere near that. That's like, it's sort of like being a car dealer in Zanesville and being blamed for the collapse of GM."
Political activities from 2001 to 2009
Republicans made efforts to recruit Kasich to run for Ohio governor in 2006, but he declined to enter the race.
In 2008, Kasich formed Recharge Ohio, a political action committee (PAC) with the goal of raising money to help Republican candidates for the Ohio House of Representatives and Ohio Senate, in an effort to retain Republican majorities in the Ohio General Assembly. Kasich served as honorary chairman of the PAC.
Governor of Ohio
2010 election
On May 1, 2009, Kasich filed papers to run for governor of Ohio against incumbent Democratic governor Ted Strickland. He formally announced his candidacy on June 1, 2009. On January 15, 2010, Kasich announced Ohio State Auditor Mary Taylor as his running mate.
During a speech before Ashtabula County Republicans in March 2009, Kasich talked about the need to "break the back of organized labor in the schools," according to the Ashtabula Star Beacon.
Ohio teachers' unions supported Strickland, and after Kasich's gubernatorial victory, he said, "I am waiting for the teachers' unions to take out full-page ads in all the major newspapers, apologizing for what they had to say about me during this campaign."
Elsewhere, he said he was willing to work with "unions that make things."
On May 4, 2010, Kasich won the Republican nomination for governor, having run unopposed. On November 2, 2010, Kasich defeated Strickland in a closely contested race to win the governorship. He was sworn in at midnight on January 10, 2011, in a private ceremony at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus. It was then followed by a ceremonial inauguration at the Ohio Theatre at noon on the same day.
2014 re-election
In November 2014, Kasich won re-election, defeating Democrat Ed FitzGerald, the county executive of Cuyahoga County, 64% to 33%. He won 86 of 88 counties.
Kasich, who was elected with Tea Party support in 2010, faced some backlash from some Tea Party activists. His decision to accept the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act's expansion of Medicaid caused some Tea Party activists to refuse to support his campaign. Kasich supported longtime ally and campaign veteran Matt Borges over Portage County Tea Party chairman Tom Zawistowski for the position of chairman of the Ohio Republican Party. Zawistowski secured just three votes in his run for the chairmanship. Tea Party groups announced they would support a primary challenger, or, if none emerged, the Libertarian nominee.
Ultimately, Zawistowski failed to field anyone on the ballot and the Libertarian nominee (former Republican State Representative Charlie Earl) was removed from the ballot after failing to gain the required number of valid signatures necessary for ballot access.
Political positions and record
Kasich is considered by some to be a moderate Republican due to his strong condemnation of far-right conservatives and his endorsement of Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election. However, his record in the House and as governor of Ohio has led others to point out that his views place him to the right of most moderate politicians. Larry Sabato, the director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics, who has known Kasich for years, says that "If you had asked me in the 90s about Kasich I would have said he was a Gingrich conservative." Kasich's friend Curt Steiner, former chief of staff to former Republican Ohio governor and U.S. senator George Voinovich, described Kasich as a "solid Republican" with "an independent streak."
Kasich's tenure as governor was notable for his expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, his work combating the opioid addiction crisis, his attempt (later reversed by Ohio voters in a 2011 referendum) to curtail collective bargaining for public sector employees, his local government funding cuts, his passage of several anti-abortion laws, his veto of a fetal heartbeat law, his tax cuts, and his evolving position on gun control.
Abortion
Kasich opposes abortion except in cases of rape, incest, and danger to the mother's life. As governor, he signed 18 abortion-restrictive measures into law. In June 2013, Kasich signed into law a state budget, HB 59, which stripped some $1.4 million in federal dollars from Planned Parenthood by placing the organization last on the priority list for family-planning funds; provided funding to crisis pregnancy centers; and required women seeking abortions to undergo ultrasounds. The budget also barred abortion providers from entering into emergency transfer agreements with public hospitals, requiring abortion providers to find private hospitals willing to enter into transfer agreements. Another provision of the bill requires abortion providers to offer information on family planning and adoption services in certain situations. Under the budget, rape crisis centers could lose public funding if they counseled sexual assault victims about abortion.
In 2015, Kasich said in an interview that Planned Parenthood "ought to be de-funded", but added that Republicans in Congress should not force a government shutdown over the issue.
In December 2016, Kasich approved a ban on abortions after 20 weeks, except when a pregnancy endangers a woman's life, but vetoed HB 493, a law which would have made abortion illegal after detection of a fetal heartbeat (typically 5–6 weeks after conception). Kasich cited the cost to taxpayers of defending the legislation in court, and the likelihood that the "Heartbeat Bill" would be struck down in federal court as reasons for vetoing the more restrictive bill. In December 2018, Kasich again vetoed a bill to ban abortion after detection of a fetal heartbeat citing the cost to taxpayers and previous rulings by the federal courts. He did sign a bill into law that bans the dilation and evacuation procedure commonly used for abortion.
Climate change, energy, and environment
In a speech in April 2012, Kasich claimed that climate change is real and is a problem. In the same speech, however, Kasich said that the Environmental Protection Agency should not regulate carbon emissions and that instead states and private companies should be in charge of regulating coal-fired power plant emissions. In 2015, Kasich stated that he did not know all the causes of climate change, and that he did not know the extent to which humans contribute to climate change.
In 2014, Kasich signed into law a bill freezing Ohio's renewable portfolio standard (RPS) program for two years. Ohio's RPS program was created by 2008 legislation and required the state to acquire 12.5 percent of its energy portfolio from renewable sources and to reduce energy consumption by 22 percent by 2025. The legislation signed by Kasich to stop the program was supported by Republican legislative leaders, utility companies, and some industry groups, and opposed by environmentalists, some manufacturers, and the American Lung Association. In 2016, Kasich broke with fellow Republicans in the state legislature by vetoing their attempt to continue blocking the RPS standards; as a result, the freeze ended on December 31, 2016, and the clean-energy mandate resumed. This veto won Kasich praise from environmentalist groups, and angered Republicans in the state legislature.
In his 2015 budget plan, Kasich proposed raising the tax rate on hydraulic fracturing (fracking) activities. Specifically, Kasich's plan called for imposing a 6.5 percent severance tax on crude oil and natural gas extracted via horizontal drilling and sold at the source (about $3.25 per $50 barrel of oil), and for an additional 4.5 percent tax per thousand cubic feet on natural gas and liquefied natural gas (about $0.16 per thousand cubic feet). The proposal would not affect conventional drilling taxes.
Kasich formerly supported fracking in Ohio state parks and forests, signing legislation in mid-2011 authorizing him to appoint a five-member commission to oversee the leasing of mineral rights on state land to the highest bidders. In 2012, Kasich aides planned a campaign with a stated goal to "marginalize the effectiveness of communications by adversaries about the initiative" to bring fracking to state parks and forests, naming in an email the Ohio Sierra Club and state Representatives Robert F. Hagan and Nickie Antonio as adversaries of the plan. Kasich never appointed the commission, and the promotional plan was never put into effect. A memo and email relating to the 2012 promotional campaign were publicly released for the first time in February 2015, which according to the Columbus Dispatch attracted criticism from state environmental and liberal groups, as well as Democratic state legislators, who called for an investigation. On the same day the governor reversed himself, with a spokesman saying, "At this point, the governor doesn't support fracking in state parks. We reserve the right to revisit that, but it's not what he wants to do right now, and that's been his position for the past year and a half."
In April 2015, Kasich signed a bill aimed at protecting Lake Erie's water quality. The bill places restrictions on the spread of manure and other fertilizers that contribute to toxic algal blooms and requires large public water treatment plants to monitor phosphorus levels. The bill had been unanimously approved by both chambers of the Ohio Legislature the previous month.
Kasich supported the Keystone XL oil pipeline project and, along with other Republican governors, signed an open letter in February 2015 urging federal approval for the project. In 2016, in response to a request from South Dakota under the terms of an interstate compact, Kasich dispatched 37 Ohio state troopers to South Dakota, where they were stationed around Dakota Access Pipeline protests near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. This controversial deployment prompted unsuccessful petitions to Kasich (from members of the public, Cincinnati City Council members, environmentalists, and some state legislators), who asked Kasich to recall the troopers.
Policing and criminal justice
Prison privatization
To offset a state budget deficit, Kasich proposed selling five state prisons to the for-profit prison industry. The Lake Erie prison was sold for $72.7 million to the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), generating savings of $3 million. Kasich's Director of Corrections, Gary Mohr, whom he had hired in January 2011, had previously worked for CCA, but he said that he removed himself from the sales process. In an audit in October 2012, CCA was cited for 47 contractual violations, and failed a second audit later that year. In July 2015, the Kasich administration announced its intent to sell the North Central Correctional Institution at Marion, in order to recoup the state's original investment in the facility and invest the proceeds in community-based alternatives to prison.
Policing standards
Following the separate fatal police shootings of John Crawford III and Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old boy in Ohio, while each were holding BB guns, grand juries decided not to indict any of the officers involved. Following this, Kasich created the Ohio Collaborative Community-Police Advisory Board "to address what he described as frustration and distrust among some Ohioans toward their police departments, particularly among the black community." The 23-member task force (with 18 members appointed by Kasich) was appointed in January 2015 and issued its 629-page final report and recommendations in April 2015. The report recommended greater accountability and oversight for police agencies and officers, further community education and involvement in policing, and new use-of-force and recruitment, hiring, and training standards for police agencies.
In April 2015, Kasich created the Ohio Collaborative Community-Police Advisory Board, a twelve-member board tasked (in conjunction with the Ohio Office of Criminal Justice Services and the Ohio Department of Public Safety) with developing statewide standards for the recruiting, hiring and screening of police officers, and for the use of force (including deadly force) by police. The advisory board, the first of its kind in Ohio, was also tasked by Kasich with developing "model policies and best practice recommendations to promote better interaction and communication between law enforcement departments and their home communities." In August 2015, the board issued its recommendations, which placed "an emphasis on the preservation of human life and restrict officers to defending themselves or others from death or serious injury."
In August 2015, Kasich said that he was open to the idea of requiring police officers to wear body cameras.
Capital punishment
As governor, Kasich presided over the executions of fifteen inmates and commuted the death sentences of seven inmates. The last execution in Ohio took place in July 2018. In January 2015, Kasich announced that, due to pending litigation and other issues, he was delaying all seven executions scheduled through January 2016. The delay was largely attributed to European pharmaceutical companies, which have refused to supply the state with deadly drugs necessary for executions. In February 2017, Kasich again delayed Ohio executions for an additional three months, after a federal judge ruled that Ohio's three-drug lethal injection protocol is unconstitutional.
Executive clemency
Kasich used his power of executive clemency sparingly. He has the lowest clemency rate of any Ohio governor since at least the 1980s, when records began to be kept. In six years in office, Kasich granted 86 of the 2,291 requests that he acted upon. In 2016, Kasich granted executive clemency to 13 people; in all of the cases, the Ohio Adult Parole Authority had recommended clemency.
Criminal justice reform issues
Kasich supports various criminal justice reform efforts; according to conservative Washington Post columnist George Will, Kasich "favors fewer mandatory minimum sentences and has instituted prison policies that prepare inmates for re-integration into communities." In 2011, Kasich signed sentencing reform legislation which allowed judges to sentence defendants convicted of non-violent fourth- and fifth-degree felonies to "community-based halfway house facilities" instead of prison; expanded the earned credit system to allow inmates to reduce their sentences; and allowed felons who have already served 80 percent or more of their sentences to be immediately released.
In 2012, Kasich signed into law a bill, sponsored by Cleveland Democratic Senator Shirley Smith and Cincinnati Republican Senator Bill Seitz, easing the collateral consequences of criminal conviction.
In September 2014, Kasich touted the Ohio's prison system's recidivism rate, which is one of the lowest in the nation. U.S. Senator Rob Portman, a Republican, attributed a drop in Ohio's recidivism rate "to the bipartisan work of the state legislature, Governor Kasich, Ohio's reentry leaders and the success of programs made possible at the federal level by the Second Chance Act," which Portman sponsored.
In 2015, Kasich proposed a state budget including $61.7 million for addiction treatment services for prisoners.
Drug policy
Kasich initially expressed opposition to medical marijuana in 2012, saying "There's better ways to help people who are in pain." However, in late 2015 and early 2016, Kasich said he was open to the legalization of medical marijuana.
In March 2014, in an effort to address the opioid epidemic, Kasich signed legislation (passed unanimously in both chambers of the state legislature) expanding the availability of naloxone, a lifesaving antidote to opioid overdoses; the measure allowed friends and family members of addicts to obtain access to naloxone and for first responders to carry naloxone. In July 2015, Kasich signed legislation further expanding the availability of naloxone, making it available without a prescription.
In a 2015 interview with radio talk show host Hugh Hewitt, Kasich said he was opposed to the legalization of recreational marijuana in some states and equated the drug to heroin, stating: "In my state and across this country, if I happened to be president, I would lead a significant campaign down at the grassroots level to stomp these drugs out of our country."
When Kasich was asked by Hewitt whether, if elected president, he would federally enforce marijuana laws in states which have legalized marijuana, Kasich characterized it as a states' rights issue and said that "I'd have to think about it." When asked the same question later in 2015, Kasich said: "I would try to discourage the states from doing it...but I would be tempted to say I don't think we can go and start disrupting what they've decided."
Kasich opposed "Issue 3," an Ohio ballot measure in 2015 that proposed the legalization of recreational marijuana, saying it was a "terrible idea."
Economic policy
State budgets and taxation
During Kasich's tenure, the state has eliminated a budget shortfall that his administration has estimated at $8 billion, but which the Cleveland Plain Dealer estimated at closer to $6 billion. (The New York Times put the number at $7.7 billion). Ohio also increased its "rainy day fund" from effectively zero to more than $2 billion.
Kasich "closed the budget shortfall in part by cutting aid to local governments, forcing some of them to raise their own taxes or cut services. And increasing sales taxes helped make the income tax cuts possible." An analysis by the Plain Dealer in March 2016 found that more than 70 cities and villages had lost at least $1 million a year due to Kasich's budget and taxation policy.
In March 2008, Kasich called for "phasing out" Ohio's state income tax.
During Kasich's time as governor, Ohio ranked 22nd out of the 50 states for private-sector job growth, at 9.3%.
Kasich signed a state budget in 2011 which eliminated the state's estate tax effective January 1, 2013.
In 2013, Kasich signed into law a $62 billion two-year state budget. The budget provided for a 10-percent state income tax cut phased in over three years, and an increase in the state sales tax from 5.5 percent to 5.75 percent. It also included a 50% tax cut for small business owners on the first $250,000 of annual net income. Kasich used his line-item veto power to reject a measure that would stop the Medicaid expansion (which Kasich had accepted from the federal government) to cover nearly 275,000 working poor Ohioans.
In 2015, Kasich signed into law a $71 billion two-year state budget after using his line-item veto power to veto 44 items. The overall 2015 budget provides a 6.3 percent state income-tax cut as a part one component of a $1.9 billion net tax reduction and lowers the top income-tax rate to slightly below 5 percent. The budget also "spends $955 million more in basic state aid for K-12 schools than the last two-year period"; "boosts state funding for higher education to help offset a two-year tuition freeze at public universities"; expands the Medicaid health program; increases cigarette taxes by 35 cents a pack; and "prohibits independent health care and child care workers under contract with the state from unionizing."
Senate Bill 5 and labor issues
On March 31, 2011, in his first year as governor, Kasich signed into law Senate Bill 5, a controversial labor law which restricted collective bargaining rights of public employees, such as police officers, firefighters, and teachers. The legislation, championed by Kasich, prohibited all public employees from striking and restricted their ability to negotiate health care and pension benefits. The final version of the legislation signed by Kasich had passed the state Senate in a 17–16 vote (with six Senate Republicans joining all of the Senate Democrats in voting no) and the state House in a 53–44 vote, with two members abstaining.
Democrats and labor unions opposed the legislation and placed a referendum on the November 2011 ballot to repeal SB 5. SB 5 also "sparked numerous protests with thousands of union workers and other opponents descending on the Statehouse, mirroring similar demonstrations in Wisconsin and injecting Ohio into the national debate over Republican governors' attempts to curb public workers' collective bargaining rights." Kasich and other supporters of SB 5 characterized the legislation as a necessary measure "to help public employers control labor costs" and reduce tax burdens to make Ohio more competitive with other states, while labor unions and other opponents characterized the bill as "a union-busting attack on the middle class."
Ohio voters rejected Senate Bill 5 in a 61 percent to 39 percent vote, which was viewed as a rebuke to Kasich. On election night, Kasich said in a speech at the Ohio Statehouse that "It's clear the people have spoken. I heard their voices. I understand their decision. And frankly, I respect what the people have to say in an effort like this." Following this defeat, Kasich dropped efforts to pass broad-based collective bargaining restrictions, although in 2012 he supported a bill including "provisions reminiscent of Senate Bill 5" but applying only to the Cleveland Metropolitan School District.
In May 2015, Kasich rescinded executive orders issued by his predecessor Ted Strickland in 2007 and 2008 that provided the right to home health care contractors and in-home child care contractors to collectively bargain with the state.
Balanced budget amendment
Kasich has campaigned for a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Kasich created a 501(c)(4) group, Balanced Budget Forever, to promote the cause.
Free trade
Kasich said in 2016 that "I have never been an ideological supporter of free trade," but has long supported free trade agreements. He is a strong supporter of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and participated with others in a meeting with President Obama in support of the agreement.
Civil liberties and electronic surveillance
In speaking in the 2016 campaign on domestic surveillance, Kasich has "straddled the line," praising Rand Paul for saying that "we need to get warrants," but also saying "if there's information they need, the government needs to get it." Kasich has said there needs to be "a balance between good intelligence and the need to protect Americans from what can become an aggressive government somewhere down the road."
On one occasion, Kasich spoke out against proposals to mandate that technology companies provide a "backdoor" for the government to access encrypted devices, saying that this could end up aiding hackers. On a subsequent occasion, Kasich said that encryption was dangerous because it could stymie government antiterrorism investigations.
Kasich has condemned whistleblower Edward Snowden as a traitor.
Education
Kasich proposed new legislation which would increase funding to charter schools and poor school districts. He canceled the school-funding formula put into place by his Democratic predecessor, Governor Ted Strickland.
During Kasich's tenure as governor, he pushed to expand charter schools, increase the number of school vouchers that use public money to pay for tuition at private schools, implement a "merit pay" scheme for teachers, and evaluate teachers by student standardized test scores in math and reading. Kasich supports the Common Core State Standards and has criticized Republicans who turned against it.
During Kasich's tenure, funding for traditional public schools declined by about $500 million, while funding for charter schools has increased at least 27 percent. As calculated by the Howard Fleeter/Education Tax Policy Institute, total school funding under Kasich (including both charter and district schools) has ranged from a low of $7.1 billion in fiscal year 2013 to $7.8 billion in fiscal year 2015, which was higher than its previous peak under Kasich's predecessor, Ted Strickland. As calculated by the Howard Fleeter/Education Tax Policy Institute, Kasich has proposed total school funding of $8.0 billion in fiscal year 2016 and fiscal year 2017. The Ohio Department of Education—which includes more spending areas than Fleeter's does and so reports higher numbers—projects total school funding for Ohio schools to rise to slightly under $10.5 billion by the end of fiscal year 2017.
Analysts disagree "on whether Kasich's education budgets give increases beyond inflation." In the 2015 state budget, Kasich used his line-item veto power "to cut more than $84 million of funding from public schools."
According to a September 2014 story in the Columbus Dispatch, Kasich favored allowing public school districts "to teach alternatives to evolution—such as intelligent design—if local school officials want to, under the philosophy of 'local control.'"
In 2011, Kasich had the idea of establishing a Holocaust memorial on the grounds of the Ohio Statehouse. Kasich successfully secured approval of the proposal from the Capital Square Review and Advisory Board. The $2 million Ohio Holocaust and Liberators Memorial, designed by Daniel Libeskind, is located across from the Ohio Theatre; the memorial was dedicated in 2014.
Foreign and defense policy
In November 2002, Kasich urged the invasion of Iraq, telling a crowd of students at Ohio State University: "We should go to war with Iraq. It's not likely that (Saddam) Hussein will give up his weapons. If he did he would be disgraced in the Arab world."
In an interview in August 2015, Kasich said: "I would never have committed ourselves to Iraq." A Kasich spokesman subsequently said that "Kasich was not revising history" but was instead saying that the Iraq War was a mistake given the facts available now.
Kasich has said that the U.S. "should've left a base in Iraq" instead of withdrawing troops in 2011.
In 2015, Kasich said that airstrikes were insufficient to combat the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, and he would send U.S. ground troops to fight ISIL.
Kasich opposed the landmark 2015 international nuclear agreement with Iran, and in September 2015 was one of fourteen Republican governors who sent a letter to President Obama stating "that we intend to ensure that the various state-level sanctions [against Iran] that are now in effect remain in effect," despite the agreement.
Kasich has expressed support for the U.S.'s drone program. He has said, however, that the program should be overseen by the Department of Defense, and not by the CIA.
Kasich has said that he wants to lift budget sequestration for military spending, and "spend more if necessary."
In November 2015, Kasich said that if elected president, he "would send a carrier battle group through the South China Sea" to send a message to China regarding their claims of sovereignty there.
Kasich supports continued U.S. support of Saudi Arabia, but he criticized Saudi Arabia's "funding and teaching of radical clerics who are the very people who try to destroy us".
Kasich favors strong relations between the U.S. and its NATO allies. He supported Senator John McCain's call for maintaining existing U.S. sanctions on Russia, and condemned the Trump administration's consideration of lifting sanctions. Like McCain, Kasich supports imposing "tougher sanctions against Russia and Putin's inner circle." He supports a bipartisan investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections.
LGBT rights
By the mid-2010s, Kasich had shown much more support for LGBT rights than many of his Republican counterparts. However, during his time in Congress, Kasich was much less accepting, and voted for the Defense of Marriage Act, which barred federal recognition of same-sex marriage. During this period, Kasich supported a ban on same-sex marriage in Ohio and stated that he did not approve of the "gay lifestyle." As governor of Ohio, Kasich signed an executive order banning discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation for state employees; this was more narrow than the previous executive order signed by his predecessor because it omitted protections for gender identity.
During the 2016 presidential campaign, Kasich struck a more moderate tone compared to his Republican opponents. In June 2015, following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, which held that there is a fundamental right to same-sex marriage under the Fourteenth Amendment, Kasich said that he was "obviously disappointed" and that he believes in "traditional marriage," but that the ruling was "the law of the land and we'll abide by it" and that it was "time to move on" to other issues. During his time as Ohio governor, Kasich appointed Richard Hodges as Ohio Director of Health, who was the lead-respondent in the case.
Kasich indicated that he did not support an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to overturn the decision. In response to a debate question about how he would explain his position on same-sex marriage to one of his daughters if she were gay, Kasich responded, "The court has ruled, and I said we'll accept it. And guess what, I just went to a wedding of a friend of mine who happens to be gay. Because somebody doesn't think the way I do doesn't mean that I can't care about them or can't love them. So if one of my daughters happened to be that, of course I would love them and I would accept them. Because you know what? That's what we're taught when we have strong faith."
In September 2015, Kasich commented on the highly publicized case of Kim Davis (the Rowan County, Kentucky clerk who refused to comply with a federal court order directing her to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples), saying: "Now, I respect the fact that this lady doesn't agree but she's also a government employee, she's not running a church, I wouldn't force this on a church. But in terms of her responsibility I think she has to comply. I don't think — I don't like the fact that she's sitting in a jail, that's absurd as well. But I think she should follow the law."
In a March 2018 interview on The Rubin Report, Kasich passively came out in support of same-sex marriage saying "I'm fine with it," but stated that he now preferred to show himself as someone in the "Billy Graham tradition" that "avoided social issues". In December 2018, Kasich signed an executive order extending non-discrimination protections for gender identity, including trans and non-binary identities, to state employees in Ohio.
Gun policy
While in the U.S. House of Representatives, Kasich had a mixed record on gun policy. He was one of 215 Representatives to vote for the Federal Assault Weapons Ban, which became law in 1994, but voted against the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act ("Brady Bill"), which established current background check laws.
As governor, Kasich shifted to more pro-gun positions. In 2011, he signed one bill permitting concealed handguns in bars and another making it easier for people with misdemeanor drug convictions to purchase guns. In 2012, Kasich signed a bill allowing gun owners to transport weapons with loaded magazines in their vehicles and expanding concealed carry permit reciprocity. In December 2014, Kasich signed legislation that reduced the numbers of hours of training required to obtain a concealed carry permit and eliminated the training requirement for permit renewals.
After the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in February 2018, Kasich called for restrictions on the sales of AR-15 style rifles.
Health care
Kasich opted to accept Medicaid-expansion funding provided by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA or "Obamacare") in Ohio. This decision angered many Statehouse Republicans, who wanted Kasich to reject the expansion.
Total spending on Medicaid by the state was almost $2 billion (or 7.6 percent) below estimates for the fiscal year ending in June 2015, according to a report by Kasich's administration. The lower-than-expected costs were attributed to expanded managed care, shorter nursing home stays and increased in-home care for seniors, capitated reimbursement policies, increased automation to determine eligibility for the program and pay care providers, and an improving economy in the state which allowed some participants to move out of the program.
In an October 2014 interview, Kasich said that repeal of the ACA was "not gonna happen" and stated that "The opposition to it was really either political or ideological. I don't think that holds water against real flesh and blood, and real improvements in people's lives." Kasich later said that he was referring solely to the law's Medicaid expansion, and that "my position is that we need to repeal and replace" the rest of the law. In 2015, Kasich expressed support for many provisions of the ACA (ensuring coverage for people with preexisting conditions, the use of insurance exchanges, and Medicaid expansion), but opposed mandates.
In 2017, after Donald Trump took office and congressional Republicans maneuvered to repeal the ACA, Kasich criticized Republican hard-liners in Congress who demanded a full ACA repeal, saying that full repeal was "not acceptable" when 20 million people gained insurance under the ACA and that doing so would be a "political impossibility." Kasich urged that the Medicaid expansion be preserved in some form, criticizing the House Republican legislation that would cut the Medicaid expansion and phase out health insurance subsidies for low-income Americans. Kasich said that the nation's "soul" was at stake if Republicans passed legislation that left millions without health insurance. After the failure of the House Republican health-care legislation, Kasich met in Washington with members of the Republican Tuesday Group and urged fellow Republicans to work with Democrats to make more modest changes to the Affordable Care Act. In May 2017, Kasich said that the version of the Republican health care bill that passed the House was "inadequate" and would harm patients; Kasich said that Republicans "should've worked with the Democrats" on the bill rather than passing legislation merely to fulfill a campaign pledge.
In June 2017, Kasich said that he didn't "have a problem" with gradually phasing out the ACA's expansion of Medicaid over a seven-year period, but only if Congress provided states with significantly more, more than the House Republican bill provided for, and only if Congress granted states more authority to manage the program. Along with three other Republican governors (Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas, Brian Sandoval of Nevada, and Rick Snyder of Michigan), Kasich signed a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell with an outline of their wishes for an health care bill. Kasich and the others specifically called upon Congress to "end the requirement that state Medicaid programs cover nearly every prescription drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration." Kasich and the other governors' views were seen as influential, because their states have Republican senators and the Republicans have only a narrow majority in the Senate.
Immigration and refugees
In 2010, while running for governor, Kasich expressed support for amending the U.S. Constitution to abolish the Fourteenth Amendment's guarantee of jus soli (birthright) citizenship for people born in the United States. Kasich also told the Columbus Dispatch at the time that "One thing that I don't want to reward is illegal immigration."
In 2014, Kasich acknowledged that his stance on immigration has "evolved" because "maybe [I'm] a little smarter now," stating: "I don't want to see anybody in pain. So I guess when I look at this now, I look at it differently than I did in '10. ... When I look at a group of people who might be hiding, who may be afraid, who may be scared, who have children, I don't want to be in a position of where I make it worse for them." That year, Kasich expressed openness to a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, saying at a Republican Governors Association (RGA) meeting in Florida, "I don't like the idea of citizenship when people jump the line, [but] we may have to do it." Kasich was the only governor at the RGA conference "to express openly a willingness to create a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants."
In August 2015, while running for president, Kasich called for a path to legal status (but not necessarily citizenship) for undocumented immigrants and for a guest worker program. Kasich also appeared to disavow his earlier stance against birthright citizenship, stating "I don't think we need to go there"; called for completion of a fence along the U.S.-Mexico border; and noted that undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as young children may obtain driver's licenses in Ohio.
In October 2015, Kasich criticized Donald Trump's "plan to build a wall along the Mexican border and remove immigrants who entered the United States illegally," calling these notions "just crazy."
In September 2015, Kasich said that the U.S. had a moral responsibility to accept refugees fleeing war and violence in Syria. Subsequently, however, Kasich moved to the right, and in November 2015 wrote a letter to President Obama asking that no additional Syrian refugees be resettled in Ohio. Kasich opposed Trump's executive order on travel and immigration, which Trump signed one week after taking office in January 2017. Kasich said that the order was "ham-handed" because it "sowed so much confusion" and "sent a message that somehow the United States was looking sideways at Muslims."
Lieutenant governor
Kasich has a "long-standing political partnership" with his lieutenant governor, Mary Taylor. In 2014, Kasich defended Taylor after her chief of staff, and that chief of staff's administrative assistant, resigned following a timesheet probe. Kasich said of Taylor's handling of the matter: "Mary did the right thing and I support her."
In 2017, the Kasich-Taylor relationship frayed after Taylor abandoned Kasich ally Matt Borges in his bid for chairman of the Ohio Republican Party, and instead chose to support Jane Timken, who was actively supported by Donald Trump, who sought revenge against Kasich for his choice not to endorse Trump. Nevertheless, Kasich indicated that Taylor had "been a good partner" over his term and indicated that he would support her if she chose to run for governor in 2018.
Racial diversity in Cabinet
Upon taking office in 2011, Kasich received criticism for appointing an initial all-white cabinet of 22 members. Responding to criticism for not appointing any black, Hispanic, or Asian Cabinet members, Kasich said: "I don't look at things from the standpoint of any of these sort of metrics that people tend to focus on, race or age, or any of those things. It's not the way I look at things... I want the best possible team I can get." Shortly afterward, on February 2, 2011, Kasich made his first minority appointment to the Cabinet, naming Michael Colbert, a black man, to lead the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.
, four members of Kasich's Cabinet were members of racial minorities.
Transportation
Throughout his first gubernatorial campaign, Kasich opposed the Ohio Hub higher-speed passenger rail project (a proposed 258-mile Cleveland-to-Cincinnati train) and promised to cancel it, claiming that it would average speeds of merely 36 mph. In his first press conference following his election victory, Kasich declared "That train is dead...I said it during the campaign: It is dead."
As governor-elect, Kasich lobbied the federal government to use $400 million in federal dollars allocated for high-speed rail for freight rail projects instead. In a November 2010 letter to Kasich, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood wrote that the federal funding was specifically allocated by the 2009 economic stimulus act for high-speed rail, and could not be used for other purposes. In a December 2010 meeting with President Barack Obama, Kasich again unsuccessfully lobbied to use the grant money for freight rail rather than high-speed rail.
In December 2010, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced that Ohio would lose the $385 million in grant funds allocated for high-speed passenger rail, since Kasich had informed them that he had no intention of ever building high-speed rail projects. (Almost $15 million had already been spent for preliminary engineering.) The $385 million was instead diverted to other states, such as California, New York, and Florida, which planned high-speed rail using the grant money for its congressionally intended purpose. Outgoing governor Ted Strickland, who championed the project, expressed disappointment, saying that the loss of funding for the project was "one of the saddest days during my four years as governor" and that "I can't understand the logic of giving up these vital, job-creating resources to California and Florida at a time when so many Ohioans need jobs."
Kasich is an opponent of the Cincinnati Streetcar project.
In April 2015, Kasich signed a two-year transportation budget bill which allocated $7.06 billion for highway construction and maintenance, $600 million to local governments for road and bridge projects, and an additional million over the last budget for public transportation.
Voting rights
In February 2014, Kasich signed into law a bill which cut six days from Ohio's early voting period, including the "golden week" (a period at the beginning of early voting when voters could both register to vote and cast an in-person absentee ballot). The measures were hotly contested in the state legislature, passing on a party-line vote, with Republicans in favor and Democrats opposed. This measure prompted two federal lawsuits. The first lawsuit, brought by the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio on behalf of the NAACP and League of Women Voters of Ohio, resulted in a settlement in April 2015, in which the state agreed to provide evening and Sunday hours for early voting in elections in Ohio through 2018. The second lawsuit, Ohio Democratic Party v. Husted, was brought in May 2015 by Democratic election lawyer Marc Elias; plaintiffs argued that the Ohio bill eliminating "golden week" violated the Constitution and the Voting Rights Act because it disproportionately burdened black, Latino and young voters. The federal district court agreed and struck down the legislation, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit reversed that decision in a 2–1 vote, and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal. In July 2015, Kasich said that it was "pure demagoguery" for Hillary Clinton to "say that there are Republicans who are deliberately trying to keep people from voting."
In April 2015, Kasich used his line-item veto power to veto a provision added to a highway-budget bill by Republicans in the state legislature that would have required college students who register to vote in Ohio to obtain a state driver's license and vehicle registration, imposing an estimated $75 in motor vehicle costs on out-of-state college students who wanted to vote in the state. The veto was celebrated by voting rights advocates, Ohio Democrats, and the Cleveland Plain Dealer editorial board, which viewed the proposal as effectively a "poll tax" motivated by a partisan desire to limit college-town voting.
Judicial appointments
In Ohio, justices of the Ohio Supreme Court are elected, but the governor can fill unexpired terms. In May 2012, Ohio Supreme Court Associate Justice Evelyn Lundberg Stratton announced she would retire at the end of 2012. In December 2012, Kasich appointed Judge Judith L. French to Stratton's unexpired term, which ran from January 1, 2013, through January 1, 2015.
Impeachment of Donald Trump
On October 18, 2019, Kasich publicly stated that Donald Trump should be impeached. He had previously said there was not enough evidence to impeach the President.
2016 presidential campaign
In April 2015, Kasich announced the formation of his "New Day For America" group. Formerly a 527 group, it filed as a super PAC in July 2015. Between April 20 and June 30, 2015, the super PAC raised over $11.1 million from 165 "reportable contributions," including 34 contributions of $100,000 or more. Major contributors to the PAC include Floyd Kvamme, who donated $100,000, and Jim Dicke, chairman emeritus of Crown Equipment Corporation, who donated $250,000. According to FEC filings, Kasich's campaign had $2.5 million on hand at the beginning of 2016.
In May 2015, sources close to him had said he was "virtually certain" to run for the Republican nomination for president. On July 21, 2015, Kasich announced his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination during a speech at the Ohio Union, the student union of his alma mater, the Ohio State University.
On January 30, 2016, the New York Times endorsed Kasich for the Republican nomination. The Times editorial board strongly rebuked leading candidates Donald Trump and Senator Ted Cruz and wrote that Kasich, "though a distinct underdog, is the only plausible choice for Republicans tired of the extremism and inexperience on display in this race."
On the campaign trail, Kasich sought to project a sunny, optimistic message, describing himself as "the prince of light and hope." This marked a change in tone for Kasich, who had developed a reputation as an abrasive governor. Viewed as a long-shot contender, Kasich took an "above-the-fray approach to his rivals" and "ran unapologetically as a candidate with experience" even as others ran as "outsider" contenders.
Kasich came in second place in the New Hampshire primary on February 9, 2016, behind winner Trump. The Cincinnati Enquirer reported that this was "the best possible result" for Kasich and lent "credence to the notion that he can emerge" as a Republican alternative to Trump and Cruz.
Ultimately, however, Kasich's message "never caught on in a campaign that ... exposed the anger and frustration coursing through the electorate" and he "found himself stuck in fourth place in a three-man race, trailing Senator Marco Rubio of Florida in the delegate count" although Rubio had dropped out of the race in March.
The only state won by Kasich was his home state of Ohio, which gave him 66 delegates in its March 2016 winner-take-all primary but still left him with "a steep delegate deficit against his rivals." Kasich's unsuccessful campaign strategy hinged on the possibility of a contested (or brokered) Republican National Convention, in which no single candidate has enough delegates to win the nomination on the first ballot, something that has not happened in either of the two major parties' presidential nominating conventions since 1952. Kasich suspended his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination on May 4, 2016, one day after Trump won the Republican primary in Indiana. The third remaining contender, Cruz, quit the race shortly before Kasich did, leaving Trump as the only candidate remaining in the Republican field and hence the party's presumptive nominee.
A 2018 study on media coverage of the 2016 election noted "the paradox of the Kasich campaign's longevity while it lacked public interest provides some evidence for the idea that Kasich's biggest supporters were the media".
Aftermath
Following his withdrawal from the race, Kasich did not extend his support to Trump. In May and June 2016, Kasich said that Trump was a divisive figure rather than a "unifier," said he had no plans to endorse Trump in the near future, and ruled out the possibility of seeking the Vice Presidency as Trump's running mate.
Kasich said it was "hard to say" whether he would ever endorse Trump; he added, "I can't go for dividing, name calling, or somebody that doesn't really represent conservative principles." Kasich said he had ruled out voting for Clinton but lacked the enthusiasm to fully back Trump.
In August 2016, Kasich repeated an earlier claim that the Trump campaign had offered him a powerful vice presidency, "putting him in charge of all domestic and foreign policy". The Trump campaign denied that such an offer had been made. Kasich also doubted whether Trump could win Ohio, a critical state in the election. It was speculated that Kasich was looking towards a 2020 campaign. This speculation was strengthened by a report that Kasich had planned to give a speech to the American Enterprise Institute less than 48 hours after the election but cancelled it the morning after the election when it was clear that Trump had won.
Kasich received an electoral vote for the presidency from one faithless elector, Christopher Suprun of Texas, who had been pledged to vote for Trump. An elector in Colorado also attempted to vote for him, but that vote was discarded; the elector was replaced by an alternate elector who voted, as pledged, for Clinton.
Opposition to Trump
In February 2017, Kasich met with Trump at the White House in a private meeting that followed a bitter feud. Kasich indicated that he hoped for Trump's success, but would continue to be critical when he thought it was necessary. The same month, Kasich's chief political advisors launched a political group, Two Paths America, in an effort to promote Kasich and his views and draw a contrast with Trump. In April 2017, Kasich also released a book, Two Paths: America Divided or United, written with Daniel Paisner. The creation of the group prompted speculation he could possibly run for president again, but Kasich said that he had no plans to seek elected office in the future.
In April 2017, during a CNN town hall, Kasich, while stating that he was "very unlikely" to do so, reopened the possibility that he might run for president in 2020. On August 20, however, he reiterated his previous statement that he had no plans to run; rather, he stated that he was "rooting for [Trump] to get it together."
In October 2017, during an interview with CNN's Jake Tapper, Kasich said he had not "given up" on the Republican Party, but added that "if the party can't be fixed ... I'm not going to be able to support the party. Period. That's the end of it." In March 2018, he told The Weekly Standard that he was "increasingly open" to running for president in the 2020 presidential election; however, in May 2019, he again declared that he would not seek the presidency in 2020.
In October 2019, Kasich expressed support for the impeachment inquiry against Trump, saying that the "final straw" for him was when Trump's acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney admitted that Trump had withheld U.S. aid from Ukraine in part to pressure the country to investigate Trump's domestic political rivals, a statement that Mulvaney later said were misconstrued.
Kasich confirmed on August 10, 2020, that he would be speaking at the 2020 Democratic National Convention in support of presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden. Kasich said that his conscience compelled him to speak out against Trump and in support of Biden, even if it resulted in blowback against him, adding, "I've been a reformer almost all of my life. I've been very independent and I'm a Republican but the Republican Party has always been my vehicle but never my master. You have to do what you think is right in your heart and I'm comfortable here."
Personal life
Kasich has been married twice. His first marriage was to Mary Lee Griffith from 1975 to 1980, and they had no children. Griffith has campaigned for Kasich since their divorce. Kasich and his current wife, Karen Waldbillig, a former public relations executive, were married in March 1997 and have twin daughters, Emma and Reese.
Kasich was raised a Catholic, but considers denominations irrelevant, while stating that "there's always going to be a part of me that considers myself a Catholic." He drifted away from his religion as an adult, but came to embrace an Anglican faith after his parents were killed in a car crash by a drunk driver on August 20, 1987. He joined the Episcopal Church (United States) as an adult. Kasich has said he "doesn't find God in church" but does belong to St. Augustine's in Westerville, Ohio, which is part of the Anglican Church in North America, a conservative church with which he remained when it broke off from the Episcopal Church (United States).
Electoral history
Published works
Kasich has authored five books:
Courage is Contagious, published in 1998, made the New York Times bestseller list
Stand for Something: The Battle for America's Soul, published in 2006
Every Other Monday, published in 2010. This book is a New York Times bestseller.
Two Paths: America Divided or United, published in 2017
It's Up to Us: Ten Little Ways We Can Bring About Big Change, published in 2019
See also
Ohio's 12th congressional district
List of United States representatives from Ohio
Ohio gubernatorial election, 2010
Ohio gubernatorial election, 2014
Republican Party presidential candidates, 2016
List of John Kasich presidential campaign endorsements, 2016
References
Citations
Bibliography
External links
Governor John Kasich official Ohio government website Jan. 2019 archive
John Kasich for Governor
John Kasich for President
U.S. Representative (1983–2001)
1952 births
Living people
Candidates in the 2000 United States presidential election
Candidates in the 2016 United States presidential election
20th-century American politicians
20th-century American writers
21st-century American businesspeople
21st-century American politicians
21st-century American non-fiction writers
American corporate directors
American investment bankers
American people of Croatian descent
American people of Czech descent
American political writers
American Christians
Businesspeople from Pennsylvania
Christians from Ohio
Former Roman Catholics
Fox News people
CNN people
Governors of Ohio
Lehman Brothers people
Members of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio
Ohio Republicans
Ohio state senators
Ohio State University College of Arts and Sciences alumni
People from McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania
Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives
Republican Party state governors of the United States
Writers from Ohio
Converts to Anglicanism from Roman Catholicism
Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio
Criticism of Donald Trump | true | [
"Anti-abortion feminism or pro-life feminism is the opposition to abortion by some feminists. Anti-abortion feminists may believe that the principles behind women's rights also call them to oppose abortion on right to life grounds and that abortion hurts women more than it benefits them.\n\nThe modern anti-abortion feminist movement cites precedent in the 19th century; the movement itself began to take shape in the early to mid-1970s with the founding of Feminists for Life (FFL) in the United States and Women for Life in Great Britain amid legal changes in those nations which widely permitted abortion. FFL and the Susan B. Anthony List (SBA List) are the most prominent anti-abortion feminist organizations in the United States. Other anti-abortion feminist organizations include New Wave Feminists and Feminists for Nonviolent Choices.\n\nViews and goals \n\nAnti-abortion feminists consider the legal option of abortion to \"support anti-motherhood social attitudes and policies and limit respect for women's citizenship\". Anti-abortion feminists believe that abortion is an action dictated by society and legal abortion \"perpetuates an uncaring, male-dominated society.\" Laury Oaks, Associate Professor of Feminist Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, writes that when abortion is legal, anti-abortion feminists believe, \"women come to see pregnancy and parenting as obstacles to full participation in education and the workplace,\" and describes anti-abortion feminist activism in Ireland as more \"pro-mother\" than \"pro-woman\". Oaks has written that while Irish abortion opponents valorize child-bearing and are critical of the notion that women have \"a right to an identity beyond motherhood\", some, such as Breda O'Brien, founder of Feminists for Life Ireland, also offer feminist-inspired arguments that women's contributions to society are not limited to such functions.\n\nAnti-abortion feminist organizations generally do not distinguish between views on abortion as a legal issue, abortion as a moral issue, and abortion as a medical procedure. Such distinctions are made by many women, for example, women who would not abort their own pregnancies but would prefer that abortion remain legal.\n\nAnti-abortion feminist organizations seek to personalize abortion by using women who survived abortions to attempt to convince others of their argument.\n\nProminent American anti-abortion feminist organizations seek to end abortion in the U.S. The SBA List states this as their \"ultimate goal\", and FFL President Serrin Foster said that FFL \"opposes abortion in all cases because violence is a violation of basic feminist principles\".\n\nRelationship to other movements \n\nAnti-abortion feminists form a part of the anti-abortion movement rather than the mainstream feminist movement. During the second-wave era of the late 1960s and 1970s the tenets of the emerging group of anti-abortion feminists were rejected by mainstream feminists who held that for full participation in society, a woman's \"moral and legal right to control her fertility\" needed to be a fundamental principle. From their minority position, anti-abortion feminists said that mainstream feminists did not speak for all women.\n\nHaving failed to gain a respected position within mainstream feminism, anti-abortion feminists aligned themselves with other anti-abortion and right to life groups. This placement, according to Oaks, has eroded a feminist sense of identity separate from other anti-abortion groups, despite pro-woman arguments that are distinct from the fetal rights arguments put forward by other anti-abortion advocates.\n\nArguments \nThe abortion debate has primarily been focused on the question of whether or not the human fetus is a person and whether or not the killing of humans (depending on their developmental stage) should ever fall under the umbrella of person autonomy. Anti-abortion feminist organizations do distinguish themselves as \"pro-woman\" organizations as opposed to \"fetal rights\" organizations. This sets them apart from other anti-abortion groups.\n\nThe \"pro-woman\" argument frames abortion as harmful to women. Anti-abortion feminists argue that most women do not truly want to have abortions, but rather are forced into abortions by third parties, partners or medical practitioners. They also suggest that women have been primed and socialized to believe they cannot be successful if they experience an unanticipated pregnancy and that our society continues to reflect patriarchal standards that use men as the \"basic human.\". They believe unwanted abortions, can cause physical and emotional damage to women. However, research from the Guttmacher Institute shows that the majority of women who have abortions seek the procedure for personal, financial, vocational, and/or family planning purposes rather than under coercion from third-parties. \n\nBy positing the existence of a \"post-abortion syndrome\" mental condition, which is not medically recognized, anti-abortion feminists reframe opposition to abortion in terms of protecting women's public health. The \"pro-woman\" argument has been used to sway men and women against-abortion.\n\n19th-century feminists \nFeminist anti-abortion groups say they are continuing the tradition of 19th-century women's rights activists such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Matilda Joslyn Gage, Victoria Woodhull, Elizabeth Blackwell, and Alice Paul who considered abortion to be an evil forced upon women by men. The newspaper, The Revolution, published by Susan B. Anthony and Stanton, carried letters, essays and editorials debating many issues of the day, including articles decrying \"child murder\" and \"infanticide.\" According to historians A. Kennedy and K. D. Mary, Alice Paul felt that abortion was the \"ultimate exploitation of women\" and worried about female babies being aborted. Kennedy and Mary also say that Elizabeth Blackwell, the first female doctor in the United States, became a doctor because of her passionate hatred for abortion. By way of criticism, however, sociologists Nicole Beisel and Tamara Kay have written that white Anglo-Saxon Protestants (WASPs) in the US were worried that continued abortions by their kind would endanger their position at the top of society's hierarchy, especially fearing the influx of Irish Catholics, but also concerned about African Americans, and describe Anthony and Stanton as part of this reactionary racial stance.\n\nIn arguing for \"voluntary motherhood\" (abstinence until children are wanted), Stanton said that the problem of abortion demonstrates the victimization of women by men who pass laws without women's consent. Woodhull and her sister argued that abortion clinics would go out of business if voluntary motherhood was widely practiced.\n\nA dispute about Anthony's abortion views arose in 1989: anti-abortion feminists in the U.S. began using Anthony's words and image to promote their anti-abortion cause. Scholars of 19th-century American feminism, as well as pro-choice activists, countered what they considered a co-opting of Anthony's legacy as America's most dedicated suffragist, saying that the anti-abortion activists are falsely attributing opinions to Anthony, and that it is misleading to apply 19th century arguments to the modern abortion debate.\n\nSee also \n United States anti-abortion movement\n Dorothy Day\n\nReferences\n\nFurther reading \n The Cost of 'Choice': Women Evaluate the Impact of Abortion edited by Erika Bachiochi (2004, )\n Prolife Feminism Yesterday & Today. Second & greatly expanded edition. Edited by Derr, Naranjo-Huebl, & MacNair (2005, )\n Prolife Feminism Yesterday & Today. edited by Derr, Naranjo-Huebl, and MacNair (1995, )\n Pro-Life Feminism: Different Voices edited by Gail Grenier-Sweet (1985, )\n Swimming Against the Tide: Feminist Dissent on the Issue of Abortion edited by Angela Kennedy (1997, )\n\nExternal links \nFeminism & Nonviolence Studies Association\n\nAnti-abortion movement\nFeminism and health\nFeminist theory",
"Democrats for Life of America (DFLA) is a 501(c)(4) American political advocacy nonprofit organization that seeks to elect anti-abortion Democrats and to encourage the Democratic Party to oppose euthanasia, capital punishment and abortion. DFLA's position on abortion is in opposition to the current platform of the Democratic Party, which generally supports abortion rights.\n\nThe group takes no position on most socio-economic issues or any foreign policy. They have drafted the Pregnant Women Support Act, a comprehensive package of federal legislation and policy proposals that supporters hope will reduce the number of abortions. They have an affiliated political action committee, DFLA PAC.\n\nThey have proposed linking a ban on abortions after 20 weeks of gestation to increased support for pregnant women and mothers, such as paid medical leave and/or more support for affordable day care.\n\nHistory\nIn 1999, Democrats for Life of America was founded to coordinate, at a national level, the efforts of anti-abortion Democrats.\n\nIn the 1960s and 1970s, anti-abortion Democrats comprised a substantial portion of the party's membership in the United States Congress and the United States Senate. Some Democratic presidential and vice-presidential candidates ran for those offices as anti-abortion, including Hubert Humphrey and Sargent Shriver. Others were once anti-abortion before running, such as Ted Kennedy, Jesse Jackson, Bill Clinton and Al Gore. In the 1980s, the influence of anti-abortion advocates in the Democratic Party declined slowly but considerably. At the 1992 Democratic National Convention, anti-abortion Governor Robert Casey of Pennsylvania was allegedly \"barred from addressing the Convention because of his antiabortion views\". The official reason given by the Convention organizers was that Casey was not allowed to speak because he did not support the Democratic ticket. Kathy Taylor, a pro-abortion rights activist from Pennsylvania, instead addressed the convention. Taylor was a Republican who had worked for Casey's opponent in the previous gubernatorial election. Several anti-abortion Democrats did address the delegates in 1992, though they did not address the anti-abortion stance, and were not given prominent prime time slots. Governor Casey's son Bob Casey Jr., also an anti-abortion Democrat, spoke during the 2008 Democratic National Convention.\n\nRelationships\nAs its name implies, DFLA aims to encompass members of the Democratic Party who are anti-abortion, cutting against the stereotype that Democrats are naturally pro-abortion rights and that those who are anti-abortion are naturally Republicans.\n\nRelationship to the Democratic National Committee\n\nDespite its strongly pro-abortion rights platform, party leadership has supported some anti-abortion Democrats, such as Bob Casey Jr.\n\nAnti-abortion Democrats in recent elections\n\n2004\nIn their 2005 book, Take It Back: Our Party, Our Country, Our Future, Paul Begala and James Carville praised Democrats For Life for their work that led to the Pregnant Women Support Act. In the book they say the legislation \"is built around seventeen concrete policy proposals that would reduce the number of abortions.... We believe these proposals would do more to prevent abortions than all the speeches, all the marches and all the campaign ads the pro-lifers have used over the past 30 years.\" They go on to call it \"both good politics and, we think, good policy\". The initiative has become legislation known as the Pregnant Women Support Act, which \"has gained broad support and even has attracted some Republican backers\". The Commonwealth of Virginia is the first state to pass a version of the PWSA.\n\nOrganizations and Individuals who support the bill include the National Association of Evangelicals, Sojourners/Call to Renewal, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Americans United for Life, National Council on Adoption, Life Education and Resource Network, Redeem the Vote, Care Net, Tony Campolo (founder of the Evangelical Association for the Promotion of Education), Joe Turnham (Chairman, Alabama Democratic Party), U.S. Senator Bob Casey Jr., and actor Martin Sheen.\n\n2010\nThe organization has endorsed Congresswoman Kathy Dahlkemper and Congressmen Jim Oberstar, Joe Donnelly, Steve Driehaus and many other anti-abortion Democrats for the 2010 midterm elections, and its PAC raised over $42,000 in 2010. Of the four mentioned above, only Donnelly was successfully re-elected. Oberstar was defeated after 18 terms. Additionally, all four of the freshmen successfully endorsed by DFLA in 2008 were defeated for re-election in 2010 (see above).\n\n2018 \nRepresentative Dan Lipinski, a long-time anti-abortion Democrat, from one of Illinois' Chicago-area House districts won his primary. Three Democratic Senators, who self-identify as anti-abortion, had voted to ban abortion after 20 weeks and ran for re-election to the US Senate; Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, Joe Donnelly of Indiana, and Joe Manchin of West Virginia had all voted with most Republicans on the issue. Donnelly and Manchin had been endorsed by Democrats for Life in their re-election bids.\n\nOn the afternoon of July 20, 2018, DLFA Executive Director Kristen Day hosted an event where anti-abortion Democrats from around the nation gathered for their first annual conference at a Radisson Hotel in Aurora, Colorado. Over eighteen individual speaking sessions were arranged over the course of three days. The keynote speaker on Friday evening was former U.S. Representative Bart Stupak (D-MI) who was instrumental in keeping abortion funding out of the Affordable Care Act in 2010. Stupak discussed the challenges of being an anti-abortion Democrat while promoting his new book For All Americans.\n\n2020 \nRepresentative Dan Lipinski was defeated in a primary election against Marie Newman. Representatives Collin Peterson and Ben McAdams were both defeated in their general election races. This left Henry Cuellar as the only anti-abortion Democrat in the House of Representatives.\n\nSee also\nAbortion debate\nAmerican Solidarity Party\nCommunitarianism\nFactions in the Democratic Party\nFetal and children's rights\nLibertarians for Life\nPhilosophical aspects\nRepublican Majority for Choice\nUnited States anti-abortion movement\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nLife of America\nFactions in the Democratic Party (United States)\nAnti-abortion organizations in the United States\n1999 establishments in the United States\n501(c)(4) nonprofit organizations"
]
|
[
"John Kasich",
"Abortion",
"What was Kasichs stance on abortion",
"Kasich is a \"firm abortion opponent\" and describes himself as pro-life.",
"What else has he done regards abortion",
"Since taking office, he has signed 18 anti-abortion measures into law.",
"What were some of the measures",
"Kasich signed into law a state budget, HB 59, which stripped some $1.4 million in federal dollars from Planned Parenthood",
"What else did he do",
"Under the budget, rape crisis centers could lose public funding if they counseled sexual assault victims about abortion.",
"What other anti-abortion things did he do",
"In December 2016, Kasich approved a ban on abortions after 20 weeks, except when a pregnancy endangers a woman's life,"
]
| C_2b98b6ca33de4d21a7e358160c7a67fa_1 | Did he make other anti-abortion laws | 6 | Did John Kasich make other anti-abortion laws besides the ban on abortion after 20 weeks? | John Kasich | In 1982, Kasich ran for Congress in Ohio's 12th congressional district, which included portions of Columbus as well as the cities of Westerville, Reynoldsburg, Worthington, and Dublin. He won the Republican primary with 83% of the vote and defeated incumbent Democrat U.S. Congressman Bob Shamansky in the general election by a margin of 50%-47%. He was re-elected eight times after 1982, winning at least 64% of the vote each time. During his congressional career, Kasich was considered a fiscal conservative, taking aim at programs supported by Republicans and Democrats. He worked with Ralph Nader in seeking to reduce corporate tax loopholes. Kasich was a member of the House Armed Services Committee for 18 years. He developed a "fairly hawkish" reputation on that committee, although he "also zealously challenged" defense spending he considered wasteful. Among the Pentagon projects that he targeted were the B-2 bomber program (teaming up with Democratic representative Ron Dellums to cut the program, their efforts were partly successful) and the A-12 bomber program (ultimately canceled by defense secretary Dick Cheney in 1991). He participated extensively in the passage of the Goldwater-Nichols Act of 1986, which reorganized the U.S. Department of Defense. He also pushed through the bill creating the 1988 Base Realignment and Closure Commission, which closed obsolete U.S. military bases, and successfully opposed a proposed $110 million expansion of the Pentagon building after the end of the Cold War. He also "proposed a national commission on arms control" and "urged tighter controls over substances that could be used for biological warfare." Kasich said he was "100 percent for" the first Persian Gulf War as well as the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, but said that he did not favor U.S. military participation in the Lebanese Civil War or in Bosnia. In 1997, with fellow Republican representative Floyd Spence, he introduced legislation (supported by some congressional Democrats) for the U.S. to pull out of a multilateral peacekeeping force in Bosnia. In the House, he supported the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act, a Dellums-led initiative to impose economic sanctions against apartheid-era South Africa. In 1993, Kasich became the ranking Republican member of the House Budget Committee. Kasich and other House Budget Committee Republicans proposed an alternative to President Bill Clinton's deficit reduction bill, the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993. That proposal included funds to implement Republican proposals for health care, welfare, and crime control legislation and for a child tax credit. The Penny-Kasich Plan, named after Kasich and fellow lead sponsor Tim Penny, was supported by Republicans and conservative Democrats. It proposed $90 billion in spending cuts over five years, almost three times as much in cuts as the $37 billion in cuts backed by the Clinton administration and Democratic congressional leaders. About one-third ($27 billion) of the proposed Penny-Kasich cuts would come from means-testing Medicare, specifically by reducing Medicare payments to seniors who earned $75,000 or more in adjusted gross income. This angered the AARP, which lobbied against the legislation. Another $26 billion of the Penny-Kasich plan's cuts would have come from the U.S. Department of Defense and foreign aid, which led Secretary of Defense Les Aspin to say that the plan would destroy military morale. Another $27 billion in savings would have come from federal layoffs. The proposal was narrowly defeated in the House by a 219-213 vote. As ranking member of the Budget Committee, Kasich proposed his own health care reform plan as a rival to the Clinton health care plan of 1993 championed by First Lady Hillary Clinton, but more market-based. As Time magazine wrote, "The Kasich plan would have covered all Americans by 2005, using a form of an individual mandate that would have required employees to purchase insurance through their employers. (The mandate was an idea initially supported by conservative groups like The Heritage Foundation.)" On November 17, 1993, Kasich voted to approve the North American Free Trade Agreement, casting a "yea" vote for the North American Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act. In 1994, Kasich was one of the Republican leaders to support a last-minute deal with President Bill Clinton to pass the Federal Assault Weapons Ban. After a series of meetings with Clinton's Chief of Staff, Leon Panetta, a longtime friend of Kasich, the assault weapons ban was passed when 42 Republicans crossed party lines and voted to ban assault weapons with the Democrats. His support of the assault-weapons ban angered the National Rifle Association, which gave Kasich an "F" rating in 1994 as a result. Kasich is a "firm abortion opponent" and describes himself as pro-life. He says abortions should only be performed in cases of rape, incest, and when the mother's life is in danger. Since taking office, he has signed 18 anti-abortion measures into law. In June 2013, Kasich signed into law a state budget, HB 59, which stripped some $1.4 million in federal dollars from Planned Parenthood by placing the organization last on the priority list for family-planning funds; provided funding to crisis pregnancy centers; and required women seeking abortions to undergo ultrasounds. The budget also barred abortion providers from entering into emergency transfer agreements with public hospitals, requiring abortion providers to find private hospitals willing to enter into transfer agreements. Another provision of the bill requires abortion providers to offer information on family planning and adoption services in certain situations. Under the budget, rape crisis centers could lose public funding if they counseled sexual assault victims about abortion. In 2015, Kasich said in an interview that Planned Parenthood "ought to be de-funded" but Republicans in Congress should not force a government shutdown over the issue. In December 2016, Kasich approved a ban on abortions after 20 weeks, except when a pregnancy endangers a woman's life, but vetoed HB 493, a law which would have made abortion illegal after detection of a fetal heartbeat (typically 5-6 weeks after conception). Kasich cited the cost to taxpayers of defending the legislation in court, and the likelihood that the "Heartbeat Bill" would be struck down in federal court as reasons for vetoing the more restrictive bill. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | John Richard Kasich Jr. ( ; born May 13, 1952) is an American politician, author, and television news host who served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1983 to 2001 and as the 69th governor of Ohio from 2011 to 2019. A Republican, Kasich unsuccessfully sought his party's presidential nomination in 2000 and 2016.
Kasich grew up in McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, moving to Ohio to attend college. After a single term in the Ohio Senate, he served nine terms as a member of the United States House of Representatives from . His tenure in the House included 18 years on the House Armed Services Committee and six years as chairman of the House Budget Committee. Kasich was a key figure in the passage of both 1996 welfare reform legislation and the Balanced Budget Act of 1997. Kasich decided not to run for re-election in 2000 and ran for president instead. He withdrew from the race before the Republican primaries.
After leaving Congress, Kasich hosted Heartland with John Kasich on Fox News from 2001 to 2007 and served as managing director of the Lehman Brothers office in Columbus, Ohio. He ran for governor of Ohio in 2010, defeating Democratic incumbent Ted Strickland. He was re-elected in 2014, defeating Democratic challenger Ed FitzGerald by 30 percentage points. Kasich was term-limited and could not seek a third gubernatorial term in 2018; he was succeeded by fellow Republican Mike DeWine.
Kasich ran for president again in 2016, finishing in third place in the Republican primaries behind Donald Trump and Ted Cruz. He won the primary in his home state of Ohio and finished second in New Hampshire. Kasich declined to support Trump as the Republican presidential nominee and did not attend the 2016 Republican National Convention, which was held in Ohio. In 2019, following the end of his second term as governor, Kasich joined CNN as a contributor. Kasich is known as one of Trump's most prominent critics within the Republican Party, and he endorsed Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden for president in a speech at the 2020 Democratic National Convention.
Early life, education, and early political career
John Richard Kasich Jr. was born and raised in the Pittsburgh suburb of McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania. He is the son of Anne (née Vukovich; 1918–1987) and John Richard Kasich (1919-1987), who worked as a mail carrier.
Kasich's father was of Czech descent, while his mother was of Croatian descent. Both his father and mother were children of immigrants and were practicing Roman Catholics. He has described himself as "a Croatian and a Czech".
After attending public schools in his hometown of McKees Rocks, Kasich later left his native Pennsylvania, settling in Columbus, Ohio in 1970 to attend Ohio State University, where he joined the Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity.
As a freshman, he wrote a letter to President Richard Nixon describing concerns he had about the nation and requesting a meeting with the President. The letter was delivered to Nixon by the university's president Novice Fawcett and Kasich was granted a 20-minute meeting with Nixon in December 1970.
Earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Ohio State University, in 1974, he went on to work as a researcher for the Ohio Legislative Service Commission. From 1975 to 1978, he served as an administrative assistant to then-state Senator Buz Lukens.
Ohio Senate career
In 1978, Kasich ran against Democratic incumbent Robert O'Shaughnessy for State Senate. A political ally of Kasich remembers him during that time as a persistent campaigner: "People said, 'If you just quit calling me, I'll support you.'" At age 26, Kasich won with 56% of the vote, beginning his four-year term representing the 15th district. Kasich was the second youngest person ever elected to the Ohio Senate.
One of his first acts as a State Senator was to refuse a pay raise. Republicans gained control of the State Senate in 1980, but Kasich went his own way, for example, by opposing a budget proposal he believed would raise taxes and writing his own proposal instead.
U.S. House of Representatives (1983–2001)
In 1982, Kasich ran for Congress in Ohio's 12th congressional district, which included portions of Columbus as well as the cities of Westerville, Reynoldsburg, Worthington, and Dublin. He won the Republican primary with 83% of the vote and defeated incumbent Democratic U.S. Congressman Bob Shamansky in the general election by a margin of 50%–47%. He would never face another contest nearly that close, and was re-elected eight more times with at least 64 percent of the vote.
During his congressional career, Kasich was considered a fiscal conservative, taking aim at programs supported by Republicans and Democrats. He worked with Ralph Nader in seeking to reduce corporate tax loopholes.
Kasich was a member of the House Armed Services Committee for 18 years. He developed a "fairly hawkish" reputation on that committee, although he "also zealously challenged" defense spending he considered wasteful. Among the Pentagon projects that he targeted were the B-2 bomber program (teaming up with Democratic representative Ron Dellums to cut the program, their efforts were partly successful) and the A-12 bomber program (ultimately canceled by defense secretary Dick Cheney in 1991). He participated extensively in the passage of the Goldwater–Nichols Act of 1986, which reorganized the U.S. Department of Defense. He also pushed through the bill creating the 1988 Base Realignment and Closure Commission, which closed obsolete U.S. military bases, and successfully opposed a proposed $110 million expansion of the Pentagon building after the end of the Cold War. He also "proposed a national commission on arms control" and "urged tighter controls over substances that could be used for biological warfare."
Kasich said he was "100 percent for" the first Persian Gulf War as well as the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, but said that he did not favor U.S. military participation in the Lebanese Civil War or in Bosnia. In 1997, with fellow Republican representative Floyd Spence, he introduced legislation (supported by some congressional Democrats) for the U.S. to pull out of a multilateral peacekeeping force in Bosnia. In the House, he supported the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act, a U.S. Representative Ron Dellums (D- CA)-led initiative to impose economic sanctions against apartheid-era South Africa.
Ranking member of the House Budget Committee
In 1993, Kasich became the ranking Republican member of the House Budget Committee. Kasich and other House Budget Committee Republicans proposed an alternative to President Bill Clinton's deficit reduction bill, the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993. That proposal included funds to implement Republican proposals for health care, welfare, and crime control legislation and for a child tax credit. The Penny-Kasich Plan, named after Kasich and fellow lead sponsor Tim Penny, was supported by Republicans and conservative Democrats. It proposed $90 billion in spending cuts over five years, almost three times as much in cuts as the $37 billion in cuts backed by the Clinton administration and Democratic congressional leaders. About one-third ($27 billion) of the proposed Penny-Kasich cuts would come from means-testing Medicare, specifically by reducing Medicare payments to seniors who earned $75,000 or more in adjusted gross income. This angered the AARP, which lobbied against the legislation. Another $26 billion of the Penny-Kasich plan's cuts would have come from the U.S. Department of Defense and foreign aid, which led Secretary of Defense Les Aspin to say that the plan would destroy military morale. Another $27 billion in savings would have come from federal layoffs. The proposal was narrowly defeated in the House by a 219–213 vote.
As ranking member of the Budget Committee, Kasich proposed his own health care reform plan as a rival to the Clinton health care plan of 1993 championed by First Lady Hillary Clinton, but more market-based. As journalist Zeke Miller wrote in Time magazine, "The Kasich plan would have covered all Americans by 2005, using a form of an individual mandate that would have required employees to purchase insurance through their employers. (The mandate was an idea initially supported by conservative groups like The Heritage Foundation.)"
On November 17, 1993, Kasich voted to approve the North American Free Trade Agreement, casting a "yea" vote for the North American Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act.
In 1994, Kasich was one of the Republican leaders to support a last-minute deal with President Bill Clinton to pass the Federal Assault Weapons Ban. After a series of meetings with Clinton's Chief of Staff, Leon Panetta, a longtime friend of Kasich, the assault weapons ban was passed when 42 Republicans crossed party lines and voted to ban assault weapons with the Democrats. His support of the assault-weapons ban angered the National Rifle Association, which gave Kasich an "F" rating in 1994 as a result.
Chair of the House Budget Committee
In 1995, when Republicans gained the majority in the United States Congress following the 1994 election, Kasich became chair of the House Budget Committee. In 1996, he introduced the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act in the House, an important welfare reform bill signed into law by President Clinton.
During the 1996 presidential campaign, Republican nominee Bob Dole was reported to have considered Kasich as a vice presidential running mate but instead selected Jack Kemp, a former congressman and Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
In 1997, Kasich rose to national prominence after becoming "the chief architect of a deal that balanced the federal budget for the first time since 1969"—the Balanced Budget Act of 1997.
In 1998, Kasich voted to impeach President Clinton on all four charges made against him. In 1999, while the Senate prepared to vote on the charges, he said: "I believe these are impeachable and removable offenses."
2000 presidential campaign
Kasich did not seek re-election in 2000. In February 1999, he formed an exploratory committee to run for president. In March 1999 he announced his campaign for the Republican nomination. After very poor fundraising, he dropped out in July 1999, before the Iowa Straw Poll, and endorsed governor George W. Bush of Texas.
Private sector career (2001–2009)
After leaving Congress, Kasich went to work for Fox News, hosting Heartland with John Kasich on the Fox News Channel and guest-hosting The O'Reilly Factor, filling in for Bill O'Reilly as needed. He also occasionally appeared as a guest on Hannity & Colmes.
Business career
Kasich served on the board of directors for several corporations, including Invacare Corp. and the Chicago-based Norvax Inc. In 2001, Kasich joined Lehman Brothers' investment banking division as a managing director, in Columbus, Ohio. He remained at Lehman Brothers until it declared bankruptcy in 2008. That year, Lehman Brothers paid him a $182,692 salary and a $432,200 bonus. He stated that the bonus was for work performed in 2007.
Kasich's employment by Lehman Brothers was criticized during his subsequent campaigns in light of the firm's collapse during the financial crisis. Kasich responded to critics by saying: "I wasn't involved in the inner workings of Lehman, I was a banker. I didn't go to board meetings or go and talk investment strategy with the top people. I was nowhere near that. That's like, it's sort of like being a car dealer in Zanesville and being blamed for the collapse of GM."
Political activities from 2001 to 2009
Republicans made efforts to recruit Kasich to run for Ohio governor in 2006, but he declined to enter the race.
In 2008, Kasich formed Recharge Ohio, a political action committee (PAC) with the goal of raising money to help Republican candidates for the Ohio House of Representatives and Ohio Senate, in an effort to retain Republican majorities in the Ohio General Assembly. Kasich served as honorary chairman of the PAC.
Governor of Ohio
2010 election
On May 1, 2009, Kasich filed papers to run for governor of Ohio against incumbent Democratic governor Ted Strickland. He formally announced his candidacy on June 1, 2009. On January 15, 2010, Kasich announced Ohio State Auditor Mary Taylor as his running mate.
During a speech before Ashtabula County Republicans in March 2009, Kasich talked about the need to "break the back of organized labor in the schools," according to the Ashtabula Star Beacon.
Ohio teachers' unions supported Strickland, and after Kasich's gubernatorial victory, he said, "I am waiting for the teachers' unions to take out full-page ads in all the major newspapers, apologizing for what they had to say about me during this campaign."
Elsewhere, he said he was willing to work with "unions that make things."
On May 4, 2010, Kasich won the Republican nomination for governor, having run unopposed. On November 2, 2010, Kasich defeated Strickland in a closely contested race to win the governorship. He was sworn in at midnight on January 10, 2011, in a private ceremony at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus. It was then followed by a ceremonial inauguration at the Ohio Theatre at noon on the same day.
2014 re-election
In November 2014, Kasich won re-election, defeating Democrat Ed FitzGerald, the county executive of Cuyahoga County, 64% to 33%. He won 86 of 88 counties.
Kasich, who was elected with Tea Party support in 2010, faced some backlash from some Tea Party activists. His decision to accept the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act's expansion of Medicaid caused some Tea Party activists to refuse to support his campaign. Kasich supported longtime ally and campaign veteran Matt Borges over Portage County Tea Party chairman Tom Zawistowski for the position of chairman of the Ohio Republican Party. Zawistowski secured just three votes in his run for the chairmanship. Tea Party groups announced they would support a primary challenger, or, if none emerged, the Libertarian nominee.
Ultimately, Zawistowski failed to field anyone on the ballot and the Libertarian nominee (former Republican State Representative Charlie Earl) was removed from the ballot after failing to gain the required number of valid signatures necessary for ballot access.
Political positions and record
Kasich is considered by some to be a moderate Republican due to his strong condemnation of far-right conservatives and his endorsement of Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election. However, his record in the House and as governor of Ohio has led others to point out that his views place him to the right of most moderate politicians. Larry Sabato, the director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics, who has known Kasich for years, says that "If you had asked me in the 90s about Kasich I would have said he was a Gingrich conservative." Kasich's friend Curt Steiner, former chief of staff to former Republican Ohio governor and U.S. senator George Voinovich, described Kasich as a "solid Republican" with "an independent streak."
Kasich's tenure as governor was notable for his expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, his work combating the opioid addiction crisis, his attempt (later reversed by Ohio voters in a 2011 referendum) to curtail collective bargaining for public sector employees, his local government funding cuts, his passage of several anti-abortion laws, his veto of a fetal heartbeat law, his tax cuts, and his evolving position on gun control.
Abortion
Kasich opposes abortion except in cases of rape, incest, and danger to the mother's life. As governor, he signed 18 abortion-restrictive measures into law. In June 2013, Kasich signed into law a state budget, HB 59, which stripped some $1.4 million in federal dollars from Planned Parenthood by placing the organization last on the priority list for family-planning funds; provided funding to crisis pregnancy centers; and required women seeking abortions to undergo ultrasounds. The budget also barred abortion providers from entering into emergency transfer agreements with public hospitals, requiring abortion providers to find private hospitals willing to enter into transfer agreements. Another provision of the bill requires abortion providers to offer information on family planning and adoption services in certain situations. Under the budget, rape crisis centers could lose public funding if they counseled sexual assault victims about abortion.
In 2015, Kasich said in an interview that Planned Parenthood "ought to be de-funded", but added that Republicans in Congress should not force a government shutdown over the issue.
In December 2016, Kasich approved a ban on abortions after 20 weeks, except when a pregnancy endangers a woman's life, but vetoed HB 493, a law which would have made abortion illegal after detection of a fetal heartbeat (typically 5–6 weeks after conception). Kasich cited the cost to taxpayers of defending the legislation in court, and the likelihood that the "Heartbeat Bill" would be struck down in federal court as reasons for vetoing the more restrictive bill. In December 2018, Kasich again vetoed a bill to ban abortion after detection of a fetal heartbeat citing the cost to taxpayers and previous rulings by the federal courts. He did sign a bill into law that bans the dilation and evacuation procedure commonly used for abortion.
Climate change, energy, and environment
In a speech in April 2012, Kasich claimed that climate change is real and is a problem. In the same speech, however, Kasich said that the Environmental Protection Agency should not regulate carbon emissions and that instead states and private companies should be in charge of regulating coal-fired power plant emissions. In 2015, Kasich stated that he did not know all the causes of climate change, and that he did not know the extent to which humans contribute to climate change.
In 2014, Kasich signed into law a bill freezing Ohio's renewable portfolio standard (RPS) program for two years. Ohio's RPS program was created by 2008 legislation and required the state to acquire 12.5 percent of its energy portfolio from renewable sources and to reduce energy consumption by 22 percent by 2025. The legislation signed by Kasich to stop the program was supported by Republican legislative leaders, utility companies, and some industry groups, and opposed by environmentalists, some manufacturers, and the American Lung Association. In 2016, Kasich broke with fellow Republicans in the state legislature by vetoing their attempt to continue blocking the RPS standards; as a result, the freeze ended on December 31, 2016, and the clean-energy mandate resumed. This veto won Kasich praise from environmentalist groups, and angered Republicans in the state legislature.
In his 2015 budget plan, Kasich proposed raising the tax rate on hydraulic fracturing (fracking) activities. Specifically, Kasich's plan called for imposing a 6.5 percent severance tax on crude oil and natural gas extracted via horizontal drilling and sold at the source (about $3.25 per $50 barrel of oil), and for an additional 4.5 percent tax per thousand cubic feet on natural gas and liquefied natural gas (about $0.16 per thousand cubic feet). The proposal would not affect conventional drilling taxes.
Kasich formerly supported fracking in Ohio state parks and forests, signing legislation in mid-2011 authorizing him to appoint a five-member commission to oversee the leasing of mineral rights on state land to the highest bidders. In 2012, Kasich aides planned a campaign with a stated goal to "marginalize the effectiveness of communications by adversaries about the initiative" to bring fracking to state parks and forests, naming in an email the Ohio Sierra Club and state Representatives Robert F. Hagan and Nickie Antonio as adversaries of the plan. Kasich never appointed the commission, and the promotional plan was never put into effect. A memo and email relating to the 2012 promotional campaign were publicly released for the first time in February 2015, which according to the Columbus Dispatch attracted criticism from state environmental and liberal groups, as well as Democratic state legislators, who called for an investigation. On the same day the governor reversed himself, with a spokesman saying, "At this point, the governor doesn't support fracking in state parks. We reserve the right to revisit that, but it's not what he wants to do right now, and that's been his position for the past year and a half."
In April 2015, Kasich signed a bill aimed at protecting Lake Erie's water quality. The bill places restrictions on the spread of manure and other fertilizers that contribute to toxic algal blooms and requires large public water treatment plants to monitor phosphorus levels. The bill had been unanimously approved by both chambers of the Ohio Legislature the previous month.
Kasich supported the Keystone XL oil pipeline project and, along with other Republican governors, signed an open letter in February 2015 urging federal approval for the project. In 2016, in response to a request from South Dakota under the terms of an interstate compact, Kasich dispatched 37 Ohio state troopers to South Dakota, where they were stationed around Dakota Access Pipeline protests near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. This controversial deployment prompted unsuccessful petitions to Kasich (from members of the public, Cincinnati City Council members, environmentalists, and some state legislators), who asked Kasich to recall the troopers.
Policing and criminal justice
Prison privatization
To offset a state budget deficit, Kasich proposed selling five state prisons to the for-profit prison industry. The Lake Erie prison was sold for $72.7 million to the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), generating savings of $3 million. Kasich's Director of Corrections, Gary Mohr, whom he had hired in January 2011, had previously worked for CCA, but he said that he removed himself from the sales process. In an audit in October 2012, CCA was cited for 47 contractual violations, and failed a second audit later that year. In July 2015, the Kasich administration announced its intent to sell the North Central Correctional Institution at Marion, in order to recoup the state's original investment in the facility and invest the proceeds in community-based alternatives to prison.
Policing standards
Following the separate fatal police shootings of John Crawford III and Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old boy in Ohio, while each were holding BB guns, grand juries decided not to indict any of the officers involved. Following this, Kasich created the Ohio Collaborative Community-Police Advisory Board "to address what he described as frustration and distrust among some Ohioans toward their police departments, particularly among the black community." The 23-member task force (with 18 members appointed by Kasich) was appointed in January 2015 and issued its 629-page final report and recommendations in April 2015. The report recommended greater accountability and oversight for police agencies and officers, further community education and involvement in policing, and new use-of-force and recruitment, hiring, and training standards for police agencies.
In April 2015, Kasich created the Ohio Collaborative Community-Police Advisory Board, a twelve-member board tasked (in conjunction with the Ohio Office of Criminal Justice Services and the Ohio Department of Public Safety) with developing statewide standards for the recruiting, hiring and screening of police officers, and for the use of force (including deadly force) by police. The advisory board, the first of its kind in Ohio, was also tasked by Kasich with developing "model policies and best practice recommendations to promote better interaction and communication between law enforcement departments and their home communities." In August 2015, the board issued its recommendations, which placed "an emphasis on the preservation of human life and restrict officers to defending themselves or others from death or serious injury."
In August 2015, Kasich said that he was open to the idea of requiring police officers to wear body cameras.
Capital punishment
As governor, Kasich presided over the executions of fifteen inmates and commuted the death sentences of seven inmates. The last execution in Ohio took place in July 2018. In January 2015, Kasich announced that, due to pending litigation and other issues, he was delaying all seven executions scheduled through January 2016. The delay was largely attributed to European pharmaceutical companies, which have refused to supply the state with deadly drugs necessary for executions. In February 2017, Kasich again delayed Ohio executions for an additional three months, after a federal judge ruled that Ohio's three-drug lethal injection protocol is unconstitutional.
Executive clemency
Kasich used his power of executive clemency sparingly. He has the lowest clemency rate of any Ohio governor since at least the 1980s, when records began to be kept. In six years in office, Kasich granted 86 of the 2,291 requests that he acted upon. In 2016, Kasich granted executive clemency to 13 people; in all of the cases, the Ohio Adult Parole Authority had recommended clemency.
Criminal justice reform issues
Kasich supports various criminal justice reform efforts; according to conservative Washington Post columnist George Will, Kasich "favors fewer mandatory minimum sentences and has instituted prison policies that prepare inmates for re-integration into communities." In 2011, Kasich signed sentencing reform legislation which allowed judges to sentence defendants convicted of non-violent fourth- and fifth-degree felonies to "community-based halfway house facilities" instead of prison; expanded the earned credit system to allow inmates to reduce their sentences; and allowed felons who have already served 80 percent or more of their sentences to be immediately released.
In 2012, Kasich signed into law a bill, sponsored by Cleveland Democratic Senator Shirley Smith and Cincinnati Republican Senator Bill Seitz, easing the collateral consequences of criminal conviction.
In September 2014, Kasich touted the Ohio's prison system's recidivism rate, which is one of the lowest in the nation. U.S. Senator Rob Portman, a Republican, attributed a drop in Ohio's recidivism rate "to the bipartisan work of the state legislature, Governor Kasich, Ohio's reentry leaders and the success of programs made possible at the federal level by the Second Chance Act," which Portman sponsored.
In 2015, Kasich proposed a state budget including $61.7 million for addiction treatment services for prisoners.
Drug policy
Kasich initially expressed opposition to medical marijuana in 2012, saying "There's better ways to help people who are in pain." However, in late 2015 and early 2016, Kasich said he was open to the legalization of medical marijuana.
In March 2014, in an effort to address the opioid epidemic, Kasich signed legislation (passed unanimously in both chambers of the state legislature) expanding the availability of naloxone, a lifesaving antidote to opioid overdoses; the measure allowed friends and family members of addicts to obtain access to naloxone and for first responders to carry naloxone. In July 2015, Kasich signed legislation further expanding the availability of naloxone, making it available without a prescription.
In a 2015 interview with radio talk show host Hugh Hewitt, Kasich said he was opposed to the legalization of recreational marijuana in some states and equated the drug to heroin, stating: "In my state and across this country, if I happened to be president, I would lead a significant campaign down at the grassroots level to stomp these drugs out of our country."
When Kasich was asked by Hewitt whether, if elected president, he would federally enforce marijuana laws in states which have legalized marijuana, Kasich characterized it as a states' rights issue and said that "I'd have to think about it." When asked the same question later in 2015, Kasich said: "I would try to discourage the states from doing it...but I would be tempted to say I don't think we can go and start disrupting what they've decided."
Kasich opposed "Issue 3," an Ohio ballot measure in 2015 that proposed the legalization of recreational marijuana, saying it was a "terrible idea."
Economic policy
State budgets and taxation
During Kasich's tenure, the state has eliminated a budget shortfall that his administration has estimated at $8 billion, but which the Cleveland Plain Dealer estimated at closer to $6 billion. (The New York Times put the number at $7.7 billion). Ohio also increased its "rainy day fund" from effectively zero to more than $2 billion.
Kasich "closed the budget shortfall in part by cutting aid to local governments, forcing some of them to raise their own taxes or cut services. And increasing sales taxes helped make the income tax cuts possible." An analysis by the Plain Dealer in March 2016 found that more than 70 cities and villages had lost at least $1 million a year due to Kasich's budget and taxation policy.
In March 2008, Kasich called for "phasing out" Ohio's state income tax.
During Kasich's time as governor, Ohio ranked 22nd out of the 50 states for private-sector job growth, at 9.3%.
Kasich signed a state budget in 2011 which eliminated the state's estate tax effective January 1, 2013.
In 2013, Kasich signed into law a $62 billion two-year state budget. The budget provided for a 10-percent state income tax cut phased in over three years, and an increase in the state sales tax from 5.5 percent to 5.75 percent. It also included a 50% tax cut for small business owners on the first $250,000 of annual net income. Kasich used his line-item veto power to reject a measure that would stop the Medicaid expansion (which Kasich had accepted from the federal government) to cover nearly 275,000 working poor Ohioans.
In 2015, Kasich signed into law a $71 billion two-year state budget after using his line-item veto power to veto 44 items. The overall 2015 budget provides a 6.3 percent state income-tax cut as a part one component of a $1.9 billion net tax reduction and lowers the top income-tax rate to slightly below 5 percent. The budget also "spends $955 million more in basic state aid for K-12 schools than the last two-year period"; "boosts state funding for higher education to help offset a two-year tuition freeze at public universities"; expands the Medicaid health program; increases cigarette taxes by 35 cents a pack; and "prohibits independent health care and child care workers under contract with the state from unionizing."
Senate Bill 5 and labor issues
On March 31, 2011, in his first year as governor, Kasich signed into law Senate Bill 5, a controversial labor law which restricted collective bargaining rights of public employees, such as police officers, firefighters, and teachers. The legislation, championed by Kasich, prohibited all public employees from striking and restricted their ability to negotiate health care and pension benefits. The final version of the legislation signed by Kasich had passed the state Senate in a 17–16 vote (with six Senate Republicans joining all of the Senate Democrats in voting no) and the state House in a 53–44 vote, with two members abstaining.
Democrats and labor unions opposed the legislation and placed a referendum on the November 2011 ballot to repeal SB 5. SB 5 also "sparked numerous protests with thousands of union workers and other opponents descending on the Statehouse, mirroring similar demonstrations in Wisconsin and injecting Ohio into the national debate over Republican governors' attempts to curb public workers' collective bargaining rights." Kasich and other supporters of SB 5 characterized the legislation as a necessary measure "to help public employers control labor costs" and reduce tax burdens to make Ohio more competitive with other states, while labor unions and other opponents characterized the bill as "a union-busting attack on the middle class."
Ohio voters rejected Senate Bill 5 in a 61 percent to 39 percent vote, which was viewed as a rebuke to Kasich. On election night, Kasich said in a speech at the Ohio Statehouse that "It's clear the people have spoken. I heard their voices. I understand their decision. And frankly, I respect what the people have to say in an effort like this." Following this defeat, Kasich dropped efforts to pass broad-based collective bargaining restrictions, although in 2012 he supported a bill including "provisions reminiscent of Senate Bill 5" but applying only to the Cleveland Metropolitan School District.
In May 2015, Kasich rescinded executive orders issued by his predecessor Ted Strickland in 2007 and 2008 that provided the right to home health care contractors and in-home child care contractors to collectively bargain with the state.
Balanced budget amendment
Kasich has campaigned for a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Kasich created a 501(c)(4) group, Balanced Budget Forever, to promote the cause.
Free trade
Kasich said in 2016 that "I have never been an ideological supporter of free trade," but has long supported free trade agreements. He is a strong supporter of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and participated with others in a meeting with President Obama in support of the agreement.
Civil liberties and electronic surveillance
In speaking in the 2016 campaign on domestic surveillance, Kasich has "straddled the line," praising Rand Paul for saying that "we need to get warrants," but also saying "if there's information they need, the government needs to get it." Kasich has said there needs to be "a balance between good intelligence and the need to protect Americans from what can become an aggressive government somewhere down the road."
On one occasion, Kasich spoke out against proposals to mandate that technology companies provide a "backdoor" for the government to access encrypted devices, saying that this could end up aiding hackers. On a subsequent occasion, Kasich said that encryption was dangerous because it could stymie government antiterrorism investigations.
Kasich has condemned whistleblower Edward Snowden as a traitor.
Education
Kasich proposed new legislation which would increase funding to charter schools and poor school districts. He canceled the school-funding formula put into place by his Democratic predecessor, Governor Ted Strickland.
During Kasich's tenure as governor, he pushed to expand charter schools, increase the number of school vouchers that use public money to pay for tuition at private schools, implement a "merit pay" scheme for teachers, and evaluate teachers by student standardized test scores in math and reading. Kasich supports the Common Core State Standards and has criticized Republicans who turned against it.
During Kasich's tenure, funding for traditional public schools declined by about $500 million, while funding for charter schools has increased at least 27 percent. As calculated by the Howard Fleeter/Education Tax Policy Institute, total school funding under Kasich (including both charter and district schools) has ranged from a low of $7.1 billion in fiscal year 2013 to $7.8 billion in fiscal year 2015, which was higher than its previous peak under Kasich's predecessor, Ted Strickland. As calculated by the Howard Fleeter/Education Tax Policy Institute, Kasich has proposed total school funding of $8.0 billion in fiscal year 2016 and fiscal year 2017. The Ohio Department of Education—which includes more spending areas than Fleeter's does and so reports higher numbers—projects total school funding for Ohio schools to rise to slightly under $10.5 billion by the end of fiscal year 2017.
Analysts disagree "on whether Kasich's education budgets give increases beyond inflation." In the 2015 state budget, Kasich used his line-item veto power "to cut more than $84 million of funding from public schools."
According to a September 2014 story in the Columbus Dispatch, Kasich favored allowing public school districts "to teach alternatives to evolution—such as intelligent design—if local school officials want to, under the philosophy of 'local control.'"
In 2011, Kasich had the idea of establishing a Holocaust memorial on the grounds of the Ohio Statehouse. Kasich successfully secured approval of the proposal from the Capital Square Review and Advisory Board. The $2 million Ohio Holocaust and Liberators Memorial, designed by Daniel Libeskind, is located across from the Ohio Theatre; the memorial was dedicated in 2014.
Foreign and defense policy
In November 2002, Kasich urged the invasion of Iraq, telling a crowd of students at Ohio State University: "We should go to war with Iraq. It's not likely that (Saddam) Hussein will give up his weapons. If he did he would be disgraced in the Arab world."
In an interview in August 2015, Kasich said: "I would never have committed ourselves to Iraq." A Kasich spokesman subsequently said that "Kasich was not revising history" but was instead saying that the Iraq War was a mistake given the facts available now.
Kasich has said that the U.S. "should've left a base in Iraq" instead of withdrawing troops in 2011.
In 2015, Kasich said that airstrikes were insufficient to combat the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, and he would send U.S. ground troops to fight ISIL.
Kasich opposed the landmark 2015 international nuclear agreement with Iran, and in September 2015 was one of fourteen Republican governors who sent a letter to President Obama stating "that we intend to ensure that the various state-level sanctions [against Iran] that are now in effect remain in effect," despite the agreement.
Kasich has expressed support for the U.S.'s drone program. He has said, however, that the program should be overseen by the Department of Defense, and not by the CIA.
Kasich has said that he wants to lift budget sequestration for military spending, and "spend more if necessary."
In November 2015, Kasich said that if elected president, he "would send a carrier battle group through the South China Sea" to send a message to China regarding their claims of sovereignty there.
Kasich supports continued U.S. support of Saudi Arabia, but he criticized Saudi Arabia's "funding and teaching of radical clerics who are the very people who try to destroy us".
Kasich favors strong relations between the U.S. and its NATO allies. He supported Senator John McCain's call for maintaining existing U.S. sanctions on Russia, and condemned the Trump administration's consideration of lifting sanctions. Like McCain, Kasich supports imposing "tougher sanctions against Russia and Putin's inner circle." He supports a bipartisan investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections.
LGBT rights
By the mid-2010s, Kasich had shown much more support for LGBT rights than many of his Republican counterparts. However, during his time in Congress, Kasich was much less accepting, and voted for the Defense of Marriage Act, which barred federal recognition of same-sex marriage. During this period, Kasich supported a ban on same-sex marriage in Ohio and stated that he did not approve of the "gay lifestyle." As governor of Ohio, Kasich signed an executive order banning discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation for state employees; this was more narrow than the previous executive order signed by his predecessor because it omitted protections for gender identity.
During the 2016 presidential campaign, Kasich struck a more moderate tone compared to his Republican opponents. In June 2015, following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, which held that there is a fundamental right to same-sex marriage under the Fourteenth Amendment, Kasich said that he was "obviously disappointed" and that he believes in "traditional marriage," but that the ruling was "the law of the land and we'll abide by it" and that it was "time to move on" to other issues. During his time as Ohio governor, Kasich appointed Richard Hodges as Ohio Director of Health, who was the lead-respondent in the case.
Kasich indicated that he did not support an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to overturn the decision. In response to a debate question about how he would explain his position on same-sex marriage to one of his daughters if she were gay, Kasich responded, "The court has ruled, and I said we'll accept it. And guess what, I just went to a wedding of a friend of mine who happens to be gay. Because somebody doesn't think the way I do doesn't mean that I can't care about them or can't love them. So if one of my daughters happened to be that, of course I would love them and I would accept them. Because you know what? That's what we're taught when we have strong faith."
In September 2015, Kasich commented on the highly publicized case of Kim Davis (the Rowan County, Kentucky clerk who refused to comply with a federal court order directing her to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples), saying: "Now, I respect the fact that this lady doesn't agree but she's also a government employee, she's not running a church, I wouldn't force this on a church. But in terms of her responsibility I think she has to comply. I don't think — I don't like the fact that she's sitting in a jail, that's absurd as well. But I think she should follow the law."
In a March 2018 interview on The Rubin Report, Kasich passively came out in support of same-sex marriage saying "I'm fine with it," but stated that he now preferred to show himself as someone in the "Billy Graham tradition" that "avoided social issues". In December 2018, Kasich signed an executive order extending non-discrimination protections for gender identity, including trans and non-binary identities, to state employees in Ohio.
Gun policy
While in the U.S. House of Representatives, Kasich had a mixed record on gun policy. He was one of 215 Representatives to vote for the Federal Assault Weapons Ban, which became law in 1994, but voted against the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act ("Brady Bill"), which established current background check laws.
As governor, Kasich shifted to more pro-gun positions. In 2011, he signed one bill permitting concealed handguns in bars and another making it easier for people with misdemeanor drug convictions to purchase guns. In 2012, Kasich signed a bill allowing gun owners to transport weapons with loaded magazines in their vehicles and expanding concealed carry permit reciprocity. In December 2014, Kasich signed legislation that reduced the numbers of hours of training required to obtain a concealed carry permit and eliminated the training requirement for permit renewals.
After the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in February 2018, Kasich called for restrictions on the sales of AR-15 style rifles.
Health care
Kasich opted to accept Medicaid-expansion funding provided by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA or "Obamacare") in Ohio. This decision angered many Statehouse Republicans, who wanted Kasich to reject the expansion.
Total spending on Medicaid by the state was almost $2 billion (or 7.6 percent) below estimates for the fiscal year ending in June 2015, according to a report by Kasich's administration. The lower-than-expected costs were attributed to expanded managed care, shorter nursing home stays and increased in-home care for seniors, capitated reimbursement policies, increased automation to determine eligibility for the program and pay care providers, and an improving economy in the state which allowed some participants to move out of the program.
In an October 2014 interview, Kasich said that repeal of the ACA was "not gonna happen" and stated that "The opposition to it was really either political or ideological. I don't think that holds water against real flesh and blood, and real improvements in people's lives." Kasich later said that he was referring solely to the law's Medicaid expansion, and that "my position is that we need to repeal and replace" the rest of the law. In 2015, Kasich expressed support for many provisions of the ACA (ensuring coverage for people with preexisting conditions, the use of insurance exchanges, and Medicaid expansion), but opposed mandates.
In 2017, after Donald Trump took office and congressional Republicans maneuvered to repeal the ACA, Kasich criticized Republican hard-liners in Congress who demanded a full ACA repeal, saying that full repeal was "not acceptable" when 20 million people gained insurance under the ACA and that doing so would be a "political impossibility." Kasich urged that the Medicaid expansion be preserved in some form, criticizing the House Republican legislation that would cut the Medicaid expansion and phase out health insurance subsidies for low-income Americans. Kasich said that the nation's "soul" was at stake if Republicans passed legislation that left millions without health insurance. After the failure of the House Republican health-care legislation, Kasich met in Washington with members of the Republican Tuesday Group and urged fellow Republicans to work with Democrats to make more modest changes to the Affordable Care Act. In May 2017, Kasich said that the version of the Republican health care bill that passed the House was "inadequate" and would harm patients; Kasich said that Republicans "should've worked with the Democrats" on the bill rather than passing legislation merely to fulfill a campaign pledge.
In June 2017, Kasich said that he didn't "have a problem" with gradually phasing out the ACA's expansion of Medicaid over a seven-year period, but only if Congress provided states with significantly more, more than the House Republican bill provided for, and only if Congress granted states more authority to manage the program. Along with three other Republican governors (Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas, Brian Sandoval of Nevada, and Rick Snyder of Michigan), Kasich signed a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell with an outline of their wishes for an health care bill. Kasich and the others specifically called upon Congress to "end the requirement that state Medicaid programs cover nearly every prescription drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration." Kasich and the other governors' views were seen as influential, because their states have Republican senators and the Republicans have only a narrow majority in the Senate.
Immigration and refugees
In 2010, while running for governor, Kasich expressed support for amending the U.S. Constitution to abolish the Fourteenth Amendment's guarantee of jus soli (birthright) citizenship for people born in the United States. Kasich also told the Columbus Dispatch at the time that "One thing that I don't want to reward is illegal immigration."
In 2014, Kasich acknowledged that his stance on immigration has "evolved" because "maybe [I'm] a little smarter now," stating: "I don't want to see anybody in pain. So I guess when I look at this now, I look at it differently than I did in '10. ... When I look at a group of people who might be hiding, who may be afraid, who may be scared, who have children, I don't want to be in a position of where I make it worse for them." That year, Kasich expressed openness to a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, saying at a Republican Governors Association (RGA) meeting in Florida, "I don't like the idea of citizenship when people jump the line, [but] we may have to do it." Kasich was the only governor at the RGA conference "to express openly a willingness to create a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants."
In August 2015, while running for president, Kasich called for a path to legal status (but not necessarily citizenship) for undocumented immigrants and for a guest worker program. Kasich also appeared to disavow his earlier stance against birthright citizenship, stating "I don't think we need to go there"; called for completion of a fence along the U.S.-Mexico border; and noted that undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as young children may obtain driver's licenses in Ohio.
In October 2015, Kasich criticized Donald Trump's "plan to build a wall along the Mexican border and remove immigrants who entered the United States illegally," calling these notions "just crazy."
In September 2015, Kasich said that the U.S. had a moral responsibility to accept refugees fleeing war and violence in Syria. Subsequently, however, Kasich moved to the right, and in November 2015 wrote a letter to President Obama asking that no additional Syrian refugees be resettled in Ohio. Kasich opposed Trump's executive order on travel and immigration, which Trump signed one week after taking office in January 2017. Kasich said that the order was "ham-handed" because it "sowed so much confusion" and "sent a message that somehow the United States was looking sideways at Muslims."
Lieutenant governor
Kasich has a "long-standing political partnership" with his lieutenant governor, Mary Taylor. In 2014, Kasich defended Taylor after her chief of staff, and that chief of staff's administrative assistant, resigned following a timesheet probe. Kasich said of Taylor's handling of the matter: "Mary did the right thing and I support her."
In 2017, the Kasich-Taylor relationship frayed after Taylor abandoned Kasich ally Matt Borges in his bid for chairman of the Ohio Republican Party, and instead chose to support Jane Timken, who was actively supported by Donald Trump, who sought revenge against Kasich for his choice not to endorse Trump. Nevertheless, Kasich indicated that Taylor had "been a good partner" over his term and indicated that he would support her if she chose to run for governor in 2018.
Racial diversity in Cabinet
Upon taking office in 2011, Kasich received criticism for appointing an initial all-white cabinet of 22 members. Responding to criticism for not appointing any black, Hispanic, or Asian Cabinet members, Kasich said: "I don't look at things from the standpoint of any of these sort of metrics that people tend to focus on, race or age, or any of those things. It's not the way I look at things... I want the best possible team I can get." Shortly afterward, on February 2, 2011, Kasich made his first minority appointment to the Cabinet, naming Michael Colbert, a black man, to lead the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.
, four members of Kasich's Cabinet were members of racial minorities.
Transportation
Throughout his first gubernatorial campaign, Kasich opposed the Ohio Hub higher-speed passenger rail project (a proposed 258-mile Cleveland-to-Cincinnati train) and promised to cancel it, claiming that it would average speeds of merely 36 mph. In his first press conference following his election victory, Kasich declared "That train is dead...I said it during the campaign: It is dead."
As governor-elect, Kasich lobbied the federal government to use $400 million in federal dollars allocated for high-speed rail for freight rail projects instead. In a November 2010 letter to Kasich, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood wrote that the federal funding was specifically allocated by the 2009 economic stimulus act for high-speed rail, and could not be used for other purposes. In a December 2010 meeting with President Barack Obama, Kasich again unsuccessfully lobbied to use the grant money for freight rail rather than high-speed rail.
In December 2010, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced that Ohio would lose the $385 million in grant funds allocated for high-speed passenger rail, since Kasich had informed them that he had no intention of ever building high-speed rail projects. (Almost $15 million had already been spent for preliminary engineering.) The $385 million was instead diverted to other states, such as California, New York, and Florida, which planned high-speed rail using the grant money for its congressionally intended purpose. Outgoing governor Ted Strickland, who championed the project, expressed disappointment, saying that the loss of funding for the project was "one of the saddest days during my four years as governor" and that "I can't understand the logic of giving up these vital, job-creating resources to California and Florida at a time when so many Ohioans need jobs."
Kasich is an opponent of the Cincinnati Streetcar project.
In April 2015, Kasich signed a two-year transportation budget bill which allocated $7.06 billion for highway construction and maintenance, $600 million to local governments for road and bridge projects, and an additional million over the last budget for public transportation.
Voting rights
In February 2014, Kasich signed into law a bill which cut six days from Ohio's early voting period, including the "golden week" (a period at the beginning of early voting when voters could both register to vote and cast an in-person absentee ballot). The measures were hotly contested in the state legislature, passing on a party-line vote, with Republicans in favor and Democrats opposed. This measure prompted two federal lawsuits. The first lawsuit, brought by the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio on behalf of the NAACP and League of Women Voters of Ohio, resulted in a settlement in April 2015, in which the state agreed to provide evening and Sunday hours for early voting in elections in Ohio through 2018. The second lawsuit, Ohio Democratic Party v. Husted, was brought in May 2015 by Democratic election lawyer Marc Elias; plaintiffs argued that the Ohio bill eliminating "golden week" violated the Constitution and the Voting Rights Act because it disproportionately burdened black, Latino and young voters. The federal district court agreed and struck down the legislation, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit reversed that decision in a 2–1 vote, and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal. In July 2015, Kasich said that it was "pure demagoguery" for Hillary Clinton to "say that there are Republicans who are deliberately trying to keep people from voting."
In April 2015, Kasich used his line-item veto power to veto a provision added to a highway-budget bill by Republicans in the state legislature that would have required college students who register to vote in Ohio to obtain a state driver's license and vehicle registration, imposing an estimated $75 in motor vehicle costs on out-of-state college students who wanted to vote in the state. The veto was celebrated by voting rights advocates, Ohio Democrats, and the Cleveland Plain Dealer editorial board, which viewed the proposal as effectively a "poll tax" motivated by a partisan desire to limit college-town voting.
Judicial appointments
In Ohio, justices of the Ohio Supreme Court are elected, but the governor can fill unexpired terms. In May 2012, Ohio Supreme Court Associate Justice Evelyn Lundberg Stratton announced she would retire at the end of 2012. In December 2012, Kasich appointed Judge Judith L. French to Stratton's unexpired term, which ran from January 1, 2013, through January 1, 2015.
Impeachment of Donald Trump
On October 18, 2019, Kasich publicly stated that Donald Trump should be impeached. He had previously said there was not enough evidence to impeach the President.
2016 presidential campaign
In April 2015, Kasich announced the formation of his "New Day For America" group. Formerly a 527 group, it filed as a super PAC in July 2015. Between April 20 and June 30, 2015, the super PAC raised over $11.1 million from 165 "reportable contributions," including 34 contributions of $100,000 or more. Major contributors to the PAC include Floyd Kvamme, who donated $100,000, and Jim Dicke, chairman emeritus of Crown Equipment Corporation, who donated $250,000. According to FEC filings, Kasich's campaign had $2.5 million on hand at the beginning of 2016.
In May 2015, sources close to him had said he was "virtually certain" to run for the Republican nomination for president. On July 21, 2015, Kasich announced his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination during a speech at the Ohio Union, the student union of his alma mater, the Ohio State University.
On January 30, 2016, the New York Times endorsed Kasich for the Republican nomination. The Times editorial board strongly rebuked leading candidates Donald Trump and Senator Ted Cruz and wrote that Kasich, "though a distinct underdog, is the only plausible choice for Republicans tired of the extremism and inexperience on display in this race."
On the campaign trail, Kasich sought to project a sunny, optimistic message, describing himself as "the prince of light and hope." This marked a change in tone for Kasich, who had developed a reputation as an abrasive governor. Viewed as a long-shot contender, Kasich took an "above-the-fray approach to his rivals" and "ran unapologetically as a candidate with experience" even as others ran as "outsider" contenders.
Kasich came in second place in the New Hampshire primary on February 9, 2016, behind winner Trump. The Cincinnati Enquirer reported that this was "the best possible result" for Kasich and lent "credence to the notion that he can emerge" as a Republican alternative to Trump and Cruz.
Ultimately, however, Kasich's message "never caught on in a campaign that ... exposed the anger and frustration coursing through the electorate" and he "found himself stuck in fourth place in a three-man race, trailing Senator Marco Rubio of Florida in the delegate count" although Rubio had dropped out of the race in March.
The only state won by Kasich was his home state of Ohio, which gave him 66 delegates in its March 2016 winner-take-all primary but still left him with "a steep delegate deficit against his rivals." Kasich's unsuccessful campaign strategy hinged on the possibility of a contested (or brokered) Republican National Convention, in which no single candidate has enough delegates to win the nomination on the first ballot, something that has not happened in either of the two major parties' presidential nominating conventions since 1952. Kasich suspended his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination on May 4, 2016, one day after Trump won the Republican primary in Indiana. The third remaining contender, Cruz, quit the race shortly before Kasich did, leaving Trump as the only candidate remaining in the Republican field and hence the party's presumptive nominee.
A 2018 study on media coverage of the 2016 election noted "the paradox of the Kasich campaign's longevity while it lacked public interest provides some evidence for the idea that Kasich's biggest supporters were the media".
Aftermath
Following his withdrawal from the race, Kasich did not extend his support to Trump. In May and June 2016, Kasich said that Trump was a divisive figure rather than a "unifier," said he had no plans to endorse Trump in the near future, and ruled out the possibility of seeking the Vice Presidency as Trump's running mate.
Kasich said it was "hard to say" whether he would ever endorse Trump; he added, "I can't go for dividing, name calling, or somebody that doesn't really represent conservative principles." Kasich said he had ruled out voting for Clinton but lacked the enthusiasm to fully back Trump.
In August 2016, Kasich repeated an earlier claim that the Trump campaign had offered him a powerful vice presidency, "putting him in charge of all domestic and foreign policy". The Trump campaign denied that such an offer had been made. Kasich also doubted whether Trump could win Ohio, a critical state in the election. It was speculated that Kasich was looking towards a 2020 campaign. This speculation was strengthened by a report that Kasich had planned to give a speech to the American Enterprise Institute less than 48 hours after the election but cancelled it the morning after the election when it was clear that Trump had won.
Kasich received an electoral vote for the presidency from one faithless elector, Christopher Suprun of Texas, who had been pledged to vote for Trump. An elector in Colorado also attempted to vote for him, but that vote was discarded; the elector was replaced by an alternate elector who voted, as pledged, for Clinton.
Opposition to Trump
In February 2017, Kasich met with Trump at the White House in a private meeting that followed a bitter feud. Kasich indicated that he hoped for Trump's success, but would continue to be critical when he thought it was necessary. The same month, Kasich's chief political advisors launched a political group, Two Paths America, in an effort to promote Kasich and his views and draw a contrast with Trump. In April 2017, Kasich also released a book, Two Paths: America Divided or United, written with Daniel Paisner. The creation of the group prompted speculation he could possibly run for president again, but Kasich said that he had no plans to seek elected office in the future.
In April 2017, during a CNN town hall, Kasich, while stating that he was "very unlikely" to do so, reopened the possibility that he might run for president in 2020. On August 20, however, he reiterated his previous statement that he had no plans to run; rather, he stated that he was "rooting for [Trump] to get it together."
In October 2017, during an interview with CNN's Jake Tapper, Kasich said he had not "given up" on the Republican Party, but added that "if the party can't be fixed ... I'm not going to be able to support the party. Period. That's the end of it." In March 2018, he told The Weekly Standard that he was "increasingly open" to running for president in the 2020 presidential election; however, in May 2019, he again declared that he would not seek the presidency in 2020.
In October 2019, Kasich expressed support for the impeachment inquiry against Trump, saying that the "final straw" for him was when Trump's acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney admitted that Trump had withheld U.S. aid from Ukraine in part to pressure the country to investigate Trump's domestic political rivals, a statement that Mulvaney later said were misconstrued.
Kasich confirmed on August 10, 2020, that he would be speaking at the 2020 Democratic National Convention in support of presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden. Kasich said that his conscience compelled him to speak out against Trump and in support of Biden, even if it resulted in blowback against him, adding, "I've been a reformer almost all of my life. I've been very independent and I'm a Republican but the Republican Party has always been my vehicle but never my master. You have to do what you think is right in your heart and I'm comfortable here."
Personal life
Kasich has been married twice. His first marriage was to Mary Lee Griffith from 1975 to 1980, and they had no children. Griffith has campaigned for Kasich since their divorce. Kasich and his current wife, Karen Waldbillig, a former public relations executive, were married in March 1997 and have twin daughters, Emma and Reese.
Kasich was raised a Catholic, but considers denominations irrelevant, while stating that "there's always going to be a part of me that considers myself a Catholic." He drifted away from his religion as an adult, but came to embrace an Anglican faith after his parents were killed in a car crash by a drunk driver on August 20, 1987. He joined the Episcopal Church (United States) as an adult. Kasich has said he "doesn't find God in church" but does belong to St. Augustine's in Westerville, Ohio, which is part of the Anglican Church in North America, a conservative church with which he remained when it broke off from the Episcopal Church (United States).
Electoral history
Published works
Kasich has authored five books:
Courage is Contagious, published in 1998, made the New York Times bestseller list
Stand for Something: The Battle for America's Soul, published in 2006
Every Other Monday, published in 2010. This book is a New York Times bestseller.
Two Paths: America Divided or United, published in 2017
It's Up to Us: Ten Little Ways We Can Bring About Big Change, published in 2019
See also
Ohio's 12th congressional district
List of United States representatives from Ohio
Ohio gubernatorial election, 2010
Ohio gubernatorial election, 2014
Republican Party presidential candidates, 2016
List of John Kasich presidential campaign endorsements, 2016
References
Citations
Bibliography
External links
Governor John Kasich official Ohio government website Jan. 2019 archive
John Kasich for Governor
John Kasich for President
U.S. Representative (1983–2001)
1952 births
Living people
Candidates in the 2000 United States presidential election
Candidates in the 2016 United States presidential election
20th-century American politicians
20th-century American writers
21st-century American businesspeople
21st-century American politicians
21st-century American non-fiction writers
American corporate directors
American investment bankers
American people of Croatian descent
American people of Czech descent
American political writers
American Christians
Businesspeople from Pennsylvania
Christians from Ohio
Former Roman Catholics
Fox News people
CNN people
Governors of Ohio
Lehman Brothers people
Members of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio
Ohio Republicans
Ohio state senators
Ohio State University College of Arts and Sciences alumni
People from McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania
Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives
Republican Party state governors of the United States
Writers from Ohio
Converts to Anglicanism from Roman Catholicism
Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio
Criticism of Donald Trump | false | [
"An abortion clinic escort is an individual who volunteers at an abortion clinic or family planning clinic. Their role is to assist patients and staff to enter and exit these facilities safely, and to prevent any potential harassment or danger to individuals. A clinic escort's role at a family planning clinic encompasses myriad different tasks, which can also vary between clinics. \n\nInstances of anti-abortion protesting and violence have occurred throughout history, where groups or individuals have protested outside of family planning clinics, and in other instances, used violence against clinic escorts, doctors, and patients. \n\nAbortion laws also vary across different countries and jurisdictions, with some enacting laws to protect clinic escorts, other clinic staff, and patients in family planning clinics.\n\nRole of an abortion clinic escort \nThere are various rules and guidelines that exist at each family planning clinic, but the role of abortion clinic escorts is to approach patients and inform them why they are there and that they work with the clinic. The clinic escorts walk patients and staff to and from the clinic entrance when they believe there is a need for assistance, protecting them by acting as a buffer. The abortion clinic escort is there to protect a patient’s legal right to access the family planning clinic’s services, whether or not that be for the purpose of an abortion. Often, the clinic escorts are told never to stand in front of, or block a patient or staff’s path to the entrance of the clinic, and not to make any contact if protesters are present.\n\nIn order to protect the abortion clinic escort’s own privacy, usual practice involves refraining from referring to each other by name. Additionally, an abortion clinic escort is asked to equally respect the wishes of a patient if they do not want to be escorted to and from the family planning centre. \n\nIt is the policy at certain family planning clinics for clinic escorts to uphold and respect others’ right to freedom of speech and the freedom to protest. In raising this point, abortion clinics will inform clinic escorts to distinguish between maintaining this right and recognising when a law has been broken. If the latter occurs, abortion clinic escorts are directed to report this, as their role is to protect a patient’s legal right to access the family planning clinics' services. \n\nIt is worth noting that laws will differ country to country, however, examples of illegal activity include trespass, assault, or battery. In the US, it is illegal to ‘intimidate, interfere with, or threaten a client entering a clinic; it is illegal to block the entrance or driveway, or disturb clinic services with noise or unruly behavior’. In some countries, patients have a right not to be photographed, if this is the case, clinic escorts are directed to step in front of, or shield a patient, if an attempt is being made by someone to photograph the patient. \n\nGenerally, rules setting out the role of clinic escorts suggest that they should always be aware of their surroundings and any unusual behaviour occurring near them, or near the premises of the family planning clinic. They should follow security procedures that their local clinic has informed them to adhere to, and report any suspected dangers to the family planning clinic.\n\nThe debate surrounding abortion \nAbortion is a contested and polarising issue that has been the topic of substantial debate. This is due to differing moral, religious, political, and legal views and perspectives that individuals, groups, and societies hold. \n\nGroups or individuals who believe in abortion rights usually identify as being “pro-choice”. This means that they believe that human beings should have the right to decide whether or not they wish to have a child. Further, these groups believe that women should have reproductive rights and a right to choose whether or not they wish to carry out or to terminate a pregnancy. On the other hand, groups or individuals who are anti-abortion sometimes describe themselves using the term “pro-life”. This view believes that an embryo, or a foetus, is a human being who has the right to life, and some individuals or groups believe that abortion can be equated to an act of murder. \n\nWhile these two opposing sides exist in the abortion debate, note that there are shades of diverse beliefs and opinions that exist outside of, or within these two groups. The complexity of the debate may not be fully realised if the debate is reduced to these two labels. \n\nThe topic of abortion is an issue of moral debate surrounding women’s rights, the rights of a foetus, and when personhood commences. While this is the case, these normative debates of what is morally correct can then lead to legal implications and legal debate over what the laws surrounding abortion should be. While some push for the expansion of an individual's right to access abortion, others seek to enact laws to make abortion illegal.\n\nAnti-abortion protests and violence \nExpressions of anti-abortion sentiment occurs in various ways. Anti-abortion protesting from various groups can occur outside of a family planning clinic or a facility that performs abortions. This can possibly be in the form of peaceful picketing or could lead to harassment and large demonstrations. On occasion, extreme acts of violence and terrorism have occurred in different forms, which clinic escorts, doctors, staff and patients have been exposed to. \n\nUsually, daily picketing outside of a family planning clinic involves individuals or groups gathering outside of a facility with anti-abortion posters, who approach patients entering in an attempt to convince them not to have an abortion. \n\nOther forms of protesting that has been carried out include: the mass scheduling of no-show appointments by anti-abortion groups, to prevent people from accessing their abortion rights; calling the clinics in order to occupy all the telephone lines so patients are unable to get through; and vandalism of facilities. \n\nMore extreme measures that have occurred against doctors, abortion clinic escorts, or other staff include: tracing the license plate numbers of individuals, and picketing at the homes of staff and patients. Photos of patients, doctors, and staff, as well as their number plates have also been reported to be uploaded to anti-abortion websites, along with lists of their names. Usually, these activities are not isolated events, but are continual and patterned pressure that is directed at the family planning centres and its staff. \n\nAdditionally, acts of violence and terrorism have even taken place. One instance of violence occurred in 1993 in Pensacola, Florida where a doctor, David Gunn, died after being shot outside of an abortion clinic. Michael Griffin was the perpetrator of this act of violence.\n\nAnother occurrence took place on July 29, 1994, when a man named Paul Hill shot Dr John Britton and a clinic escort, James Barrett, with a 12-gauge shotgun outside of a family planning clinic. Paul Hill first shot and killed James Barrett, before shooting Dr Britton in the head and injuring June Barrett, Mr Barrett’s wife. Dr Britton was even wearing a bulletproof vest at the time. Paul Hill later revealed that he had a suspicion that Dr Britton was wearing a bullet proof vest, and thus deliberately aimed at his head. This case fuelled more anti-abortion protesters to voice their opinions and was a platform for various groups to mobilise, speaking to the polarisation surrounding the abortion debate.\n\nClinic escorts and abortion laws \nThe laws surrounding the right to access abortions are extremely diverse and differ country to country, and sometimes even across regions within a country. On one hand, some jurisdictions have made abortion completely illegal, while other jurisdictions have not only legalised the procedure, but provide public funding for abortions to be carried out. This, too, has meant that an individual’s access to a safe abortion is incredibly varied depending on where they are in the world. \n\nAccording to a 2013 United Nations report, 93 per cent of countries allow abortion where its purpose is to save a woman’s life. Around two thirds of the countries surveyed permit abortion when the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman is put at risk, and only in half the countries where a pregnancy resulted from rape or incest. 36 per cent of global governments allow abortions for economic or social reasons, or on request. These countries, however, contain 61 per cent of the world’s population because they include countries such as China and India, which have very large populations. Six countries do not permit abortion under any circumstances. These countries are: the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Malta, the Holy See, and Nicaragua. \n\nIt can be seen that regardless of moral debates, even where abortions in certain countries are illegal, they are still taking place. According to the United Nations, in countries where abortion laws are restrictive, there are much higher unsafe abortion rates. The unsafe abortion rate was over four times greater in countries that had restrictive abortion laws, compared to countries that had more liberal abortion laws. The former had 26.7 unsafe abortions for every 1,000 women aged 15 to 44 years old, whereas the latter only had 6.1 unsafe abortions for every 1,000 women of the same age range. \n\nIn certain jurisdictions, governments have responded to and taken measures to protect an individuals’ legal right to access abortion, or accessing general clinic services. Countries such as Australia and the US (in select states) have legislation in place to protect staff and patients against picketing, intimidation, harassment, and obstruction from the entrance to family planning clinics. \n\nGovernments in certain regions have passed legislation to create a radius around a family planning or abortion clinic in which certain activities, such as protesting, is prohibited. These areas are referred to as a ‘safe zone’, ‘access zone’, ‘buffer zone’ or ‘bubble zone’. This legislation allows patients and clinic staff to enter and exit family planning clinics, free from anti-abortion protesters. \n\nThere are different ways in which these protections have been legislated. In some jurisdictions, there are fixed protective zones, which are specified areas of a fixed radius around the entrance to family planning clinics, in which individuals are prohibited from engaging in certain activities. Additionally, there are floating protective zones, or bubble zones, in place which ‘float’ around individuals or vehicles who wish to access these clinics. \n\nAlongside this legislation, other laws are in place in certain countries or states to limit or restrict certain protestor behaviour. This includes prohibiting photography around the entrance of abortion clinics to protect against the invasion of a patient’s privacy. Additionally, there have been similar zones in place to protect the homes of doctors and clinic staff. \n\nIndividuals who support these laws put forward that these ‘safe zones’ are necessary to ensure a woman’s legal right to abortion, and that these zones protect the safety of patients and clinic staff, and their right to feel safe and free from harassment. \n\nIn contrast, people who oppose the enactment of these laws argue that these ‘access zones’ infringe upon one’s right to protest, the right to freedom of expression, and the right of freedom of assembly.\n\nReferences\n\nAbortion-rights movement\nClinics in the United States",
"The United States anti-abortion movement (also called the pro-life movement or right-to-life movement) contains elements opposing induced abortion on both moral and religious grounds and supports its legal prohibition or restriction. Advocates generally argue that human life begins at conception and that the human zygote, embryo or fetus is a person and therefore has a right to life. The anti-abortion movement includes a variety of organizations, with no single centralized decision-making body. There are diverse arguments and rationales for the anti-abortion stance. Some anti-abortion activists allow for some permissible abortions, including therapeutic abortions, in exceptional circumstances such as incest, rape, severe fetal defects or when the woman's health is at risk.\n\nBefore the Supreme Court 1973 decisions in Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton, anti-abortion views predominated and found expression in state laws which prohibited or restricted abortions in a variety of ways. (See Abortion in the United States.) The anti-abortion movement became politically active and dedicated to the reversal of the Roe v. Wade decision, which struck down most state laws restricting abortion in the first trimester of pregnancy.\nIn the United States, the movement is associated with several Christian religious groups, especially the Catholic Church, and is frequently, but not exclusively, allied with the Republican Party. The movement is also supported by secular organizations (such as Secular Pro-Life) and non-mainstream anti-abortion feminists. The movement seeks to reverse Roe v. Wade and to promote legislative changes or constitutional amendments, such as the Human Life Amendment, that prohibit or at least broadly restrict abortion.\n\nOn the other side of the abortion debate in the United States is the abortion-rights movement (also called the pro-choice movement), which argues that pregnant women should have the right to choose whether or not to have an abortion.\n\nHistory\n\nThroughout the 1950s and 1960s, a movement to liberalize abortion laws gained momentum due in part to the second-wave feminist movement and to a number of high-profile therapeutic abortion cases, such as that of Sherri Finkbine. In 1965, a Supreme Court decision in Griswold v. Connecticut set a precedent for an expansive right to privacy in the area of reproductive healthcare. In the late 1960s, in response to nationwide abortion-rights efforts, a number of organizations were formed to mobilize opinion against the legalization of abortion. Most of these were led by Catholic institutions and communities; most evangelical Christian groups did not see abortion as a clear-cut or priority issue at the time. The first major U.S. organization in the modern anti-abortion movement, the National Right to Life Committee, was formed out of the United States Catholic Conference in 1967.\n\nThe description \"pro-life\" was adopted by the right-to-life (anti-abortion) movement in the United States following the Supreme Court 1973 decision Roe v. Wade, which held that a woman may terminate her pregnancy prior to the viability of the fetus outside of the womb and may also terminate her pregnancy \"subsequent to viability ... for the preservation of the life or health of the mother.\" The term pro-life was adopted instead of anti-abortion to highlight their proponents' belief that abortion is the taking of a human life, rather than an issue concerning the restriction of women's reproductive rights, as the pro choice movement would say. The first organized action was initiated by U.S. Catholic bishops who recommended in 1973 that the U.S. Constitution should be amended to ban abortion.\n\nRoe v. Wade was considered a major setback by anti-abortion campaigners. The case and the overturning of most anti-abortion laws spurred the growth of a largely religious-based anti-abortion political and social movement, even as Americans were becoming, in the 1970s and 1980s, increasingly pro-choice. The first major anti-abortion success since Roe's case came in 1976 with the passing of the Hyde Amendment prohibiting the use of certain federal funds for abortions. In Harris v. McRae, anti-abortion advocates won a 1980 challenge to the Hyde Amendment. That same year, anti-abortion politicians gained control of the Republican Party's platform committee, adding anti-abortion planks to the Republican position, and calling for a Human Life Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, banning abortion. Four anti-abortion U.S. Presidents – Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, George W. Bush, and Donald Trump – were elected.\n\nLisa Miller of The Washington Post wrote about the younger, more feminine face of the anti-abortion movement with the rise of leaders such as Lila Rose of Live Action, Marjorie Dannenfelser of the Susan B. Anthony List, Charmaine Yoest of Americans United for Life, Penny Nance of Concerned Women for America, and Kristan Hawkins of Students for Life, all \"youngish Christian working mothers with children at home\" who seek to combat the image of the anti-abortion movement as made up of \"old white men\" who cannot relate to the experience of pregnant women.\n\nThe anti-abortion movement has been successful in recent years in promoting new laws against abortion within the states. The Guttmacher Institute said eighty laws restricting abortion were passed in the first six months of 2011, \"more than double the previous record of 34 abortion restrictions enacted in 2005—and more than triple the 23 enacted in 2010\".\n\nIn 2019, six U.S. states (Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, and Ohio) enacted fetal heartbeat abortion bills. These heartbeat bills generally restrict abortion to the time period in pregnancy before a fetal heartbeat can be detected (which can be as early as six weeks of gestation or as late as twelve weeks). The bills face legal challenges, with their supporters stating they hope the legislation will allow the United States Supreme Court to reconsider Roe v Wade. Other abortion-related laws passed in several US states during this time period, which were upheld by the judicial system, include laws requiring an ultrasound before an abortion and laws that mandate fetal burial or cremation after an abortion.\n\nOverview\n\nThe anti-abortion movement includes a variety of organizations, with no single centralized decision-making body. There are diverse arguments and rationales for the anti-abortion stance.\n\nMany socially conservative organizations are involved in the anti-abortion movement. Some groups focus solely on promoting the anti-abortion cause, such as American Life League, the Susan B. Anthony List, National Right to Life Committee, Americans United for Life, and Live Action, among many others. Other groups support not only the anti-abortion cause but the broader family values cause, such as Family Research Council, Focus on the Family, American Family Association, and Concerned Women for America, among many others.\n\nAbortion opponents generally believe that human life should be valued either from fertilization or implantation until natural death. The contemporary anti-abortion movement is typically, but not exclusively, influenced by conservative Christian beliefs and has influenced certain strains of bioethical utilitarianism. From that viewpoint, any action which destroys an embryo or fetus kills a person. Any deliberate destruction of human life is considered ethically or morally wrong and is not considered to be mitigated by any benefits to others, as such benefits are coming at the expense of the life of what they believe to be a person. In some cases, this belief extends to opposing abortion of fetuses that would almost certainly expire within a short time after birth, such as anencephalic fetuses.\n\nSome abortion opponents also oppose certain forms of birth control, particularly hormonal contraception such as emergency contraception (ECPs), and copper IUDs which may prevent the implantation of a zygote. Because they believe that the term pregnancy should be defined so as to begin at fertilization, they refer to these contraceptives as abortifacients because they cause the fertilized egg to be flushed out during menses. The Catholic Church endorses this view. There are, however, anti-abortion physicians who concur with the view that hormonal contraception does not block implantation.\n\nAttachment to an anti-abortion position is often but not exclusively connected to religious beliefs about the sanctity of life (see also culture of life). Exclusively secular-humanist positions against abortion tend to be a minority viewpoint among anti-abortion advocates; these groups say that their position is based on human rights and biology, rather than religion. Some holding the anti-abortion position also hold a complementarian view of gender roles, though there is also a self-described feminist element inside the movement.\n\nViews in opposition to abortion\n\nThe variety in opinion on the issue of abortion is reflected in the diverse views of religious groups. For example, the Catholic Church considers all procured abortions morally evil, while traditional Jewish teaching sanctions abortion if necessary to safeguard the life and well-being of the pregnant woman.\n\nChristian groups\n\nThe only coordinated opposition to abortion in the United States during the late 1960s and early 1970s before the Roe v. Wade decision was from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and its Family Life Bureau. Mobilization of a wide-scale anti-abortion movement began immediately after 1973 with the creation of the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC).\n\nBefore 1980, the Southern Baptist Convention officially advocated for loosening of abortion restrictions. During the 1971 and 1974 Southern Baptist Conventions, Southern Baptists were called upon \"to work for legislation that will allow the possibility of abortion under such conditions as rape, incest, clear evidence of severe fetal deformity, and carefully ascertained evidence of the likelihood of damage to the emotional, mental, and physical health of the mother.\" W. Barry Garrett wrote in the Baptist Press, \"Religious liberty, human equality and justice are advanced by the [Roe v. Wade] Supreme Court abortion decision.\" By 1980, conservative Protestant leaders became vocal in their opposition to legalized abortion, and by the early 1990s Pat Robertson's Christian Coalition of America became a significant anti-abortion organization. In 2005, Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, said that making abortion illegal is more important than any other issue.\n\nMuch of the anti-abortion movement in the United States and around the world finds support in the Roman Catholic Church, the Christian right, the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod and the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, the Church of England, the Anglican Church in North America, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS). However, the anti-abortion teachings of these denominations vary considerably. The Eastern Orthodox Church and Roman Catholic Church consider abortion to be immoral in all cases, but may in some cases permit an act which indirectly and without intent results in the death of the fetus in a case where the mother's life is threatened. In Pope John Paul II's Letter to Families, he simply stated the Roman Catholic Church's view on abortion and euthanasia: \"Laws which legitimize the direct killing of innocent human beings through abortion or euthanasia are in complete opposition to the inviolable right to life proper to every individual; they thus deny the equality of everyone before the law.\"\n\nThe National Association of Evangelicals has adopted a number of resolutions stating its opposition to abortion, but \"recognizes that there might be situations in which terminating a pregnancy is warranted – such as protecting the life of a mother or in cases of rape or incest.\" The position of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) is that \"elective abortion for personal or social convenience is contrary to the will and the commandments of God\" but that abortion may be justified where the pregnancy endangers life of the mother, or where the pregnancy is the outcome of rape or incest. The Taskforce of United Methodists on Abortion and Sexuality (TUMAS) was formed in 1987 to further the anti-abortion ministry in The United Methodist Church. The Southern Baptist Convention believes that abortion is allowable only in cases where there is a direct threat to the life of the woman.\n\nAmong Mainline Protestant denominations, the Episcopal Church recognizes a right of a pregnant woman to terminate a pregnancy, but opposes \"abortion as a means of birth control, family planning, sex selection or any reason of mere convenience.\" The United Church of Christ supports abortion rights, viewing it as a matter of reproductive health and justice. The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) adopts the view that abortion is a personal choice, but acknowledges \"diverse conclusions and actions\" within the church on the issue. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's position is that abortion prior to the point of viability \"should not be prohibited by law or by lack of public funding\" but that \"abortion after the point of fetal viability should be prohibited except when the life of a mother is threatened or when fetal abnormalities pose a fatal threat to a newborn.\"\n\nConsistent life ethic\nSupporters of the consistent life ethic also oppose abortions as one of the acts that end human life. In 1979, Juli Loesch linked anti-abortion and anti-nuclear weapons arguments to form the group Pro Lifers for Survival. In 1987 this group defined an ethic of the sanctity of all life, and formed the group Seamless Garment Network. This group was against abortion, euthanasia, capital punishment, militarism, poverty and racism. Beginning in 1983, American Catholic Cardinal Joseph Bernardin argued that abortion, euthanasia, capital punishment, and unjust war are all related, and all wrong. He said that \"to be truly 'pro-life,' you have to take all of those issues into account.\" Paul M. Perl studied 1996 voter statistics and found that the consistent life ethic is difficult for religious leaders to promote because it combines the generally conservative anti-abortion stance with a liberal social attitude.\n\nLegal and political aspects\n\nThe Republican Party platform officially advocates an anti-abortion position, which developed alongside the modern pro-life movement. Before Roe v. Wade, the majority of Republicans were not anti-abortion, including most of the party's leadership, which typically cited abortion rights as included within an ideology of limited government and personal freedom. At the 1976 Republican National Convention, the party adopted an anti-abortion amendment as part of their platform, for strategic reasons. The party's leadership hoped to appeal to Catholics, a demographic which had traditionally voted Democratic, a party at the time containing fairly liberal economic views with mixed opinions on social ones, but who might be put off by growing cultural liberalism and who made up the core of the anti-abortion movement. Over time, the anti-abortion plank of the Republican platform became one rallying point for a growing conservative religious coalition in the party, which drove out many pro-choice Republicans and led to a long-term shift in the party's public image and identity.\n\nHowever, there are some pro-choice Republicans. The Republican group The Wish List supports pro-choice Republican women just as EMILY's List supports pro-choice Democratic women. The Susan B. Anthony List (SBA List) is dedicated to \"increasing the percentage of anti-abortion women in Congress and high public office,\" and seeks to eliminate abortion in the U.S. The Democrats for Life of America are a group of anti-abortion Democrats on the political left who advocate for an anti-abortion plank in the Democratic Party's platform and for anti-abortion Democratic candidates. Former vice-presidential candidate Sargent Shriver, the late Robert Casey, a former two-term governor of Pennsylvania, and former Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich), a former leader of the bipartisan anti-abortion caucus in the United States House of Representatives, have been among the most well-known anti-abortion Democrats. However, following his vote in favor of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Marjorie Dannenfelser of the SBA List reported that her organization was revoking an anti-abortion award it had been planning to give to Stupak, and anti-abortion organizations accused Stupak of having betrayed the anti-abortion movement.\n\nThe New York Times reported in 2011 that the anti-abortion movement in the United States had been undergoing a disagreement over tactics. Since Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973, the movement had usually focused on chipping away at Roe through incremental restrictions such as laws requiring parental consent or women to see sonograms, restricting late-term abortions, etc., with the goal of limiting abortions and changing \"hearts and minds\" until there is a majority on the Supreme Court to overturn Roe. However, some activists were calling for \"an all-out legal assault on Roe. v. Wade\", seeking the enactment of laws defining legal personhood as beginning at fertilization or prohibiting abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detectable at six to eight weeks in the hope that court challenges to such laws would lead the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade. Such activists believed that then-Justice Anthony Kennedy, who nearly decided to overturn Roe in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, was open to rethinking Roe. Others feared that such a legal challenge would result in the solidification of the 1973 decision in Roe. Evangelical Christian groups tended to be in the former camp and Catholic groups in the latter.\n\nAmong those who believe that abortion is murder, some believe it may be appropriate to punish it with death. While attempts to criminalize abortion generally focus on the doctor, Texas state Rep. Tony Tinderholt (R) introduced a bill in 2017 and 2019 that may enable the death penalty in Texas for women who have abortions, and the Ohio legislature considered a similar bill in 2018.\n\nDemographics\n\nWithin the movement\nStudies indicate that activists within the American anti-abortion movement are predominantly white and religious, with a majority of anti-abortion activism constituted by women. Scholars continue to dispute the primary factors that cause individuals to become anti-abortion activists. While some have suggested that a particular moral stance or worldview leads to activism, others have suggested that activism leads individuals to develop particular moral positions and worldviews.\n\nA 1981 survey of dues paying members of the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) by sociologist Donald O. Granberg found that survey respondents held conservative views on sex, sex education, and contraception. Additionally, Granberg's survey provided basic demographic characteristics of his sample: 98% of survey respondents were white, 63% were female, 58% had a college degree, and 70% were Catholic. Granberg concluded that conservative personal morality was the primary mechanism for explaining an individual's involvement in the anti-abortion movement.\n\nA 2002 study by Carol J.C. Maxwell drawing on decades of survey and interview data of direct-action activists within the anti-abortion movement found that 99% of the sample was white, 60% was female, 51% had a college degree, and 29% were Catholic. Like Granberg's 1981 study, Maxwell concluded that anti-abortion and abortion-rights activists held two different worldviews which in turn are formed by two different moral centers.\n\nIn 2008, sociologist Ziad Munson studied the characteristics of both activists and non-activists who considered themselves anti-abortion. The anti-abortion activists of Munson's sample were 93% white, 57% female, 66% Catholic, and 71% had a college degree. Of non-activists who considered themselves anti-abortion, Munson found that 83% were white, 52% were female, 45% were Catholic, and 76% had a college degree. In Munson's analysis personal moralities and worldviews are formed as a consequence of participation in anti-abortion activism. Munson's analysis differs from previous scholarly work in its assertion that beliefs result from activism rather than causing activism. For Munson, life course factors make an individual more or less likely to become an activist.\n\nPopular opinion\nA 2019 Gallup poll found that men and women in the United States generally hold similar abortion views: \"19% of both men and women say abortion should be totally illegal; 31% of women and 26% of men want abortion to be totally legal.\" In addition, 53% of men and 48% of women favored abortion being legal, but only under certain circumstances.\n\nGallup polling in 2019 found that 25% of Americans believe abortion should be legal under any circumstances; 13%, under most circumstances; 39%, under only a few circumstances; and 21%, under no circumstances. A 2020 poll by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research similarly found that 37% of Americans believed abortion should be legal under only a few circumstances. This answer was provided by 45% of Catholics and 67% of white evangelical Protestants.\n\nIn the Gallup poll, when respondents were first asked about the legality of abortion, 49% described themselves as \"pro-life\" and 46% as \"pro-choice.\" However, among people who were not asked about legality first, 43% described themselves as \"pro-life\" and 52% as \"pro-choice.\" Gallup's 2019 polling also found that 50% of Americans believe abortion to be morally wrong, while 42% believe it to be morally acceptable, and 6% believe that it depends on the situation. When asked whether the Supreme Court should reverse their 1973 decision of Roe v. Wade, 60% opined that the Court should not, while only 33% said that it should. Polling in 2020 revealed that 32% of Americans are either very or somewhat satisfied about abortion policies as they currently stand, while 24% report being dissatisfied and desire stricter policies and another 22% also express dissatisfaction but desire less strict policies.\n\nAccording to a 2013 Gallup poll, 15% of Americans with no religious identity are anti-abortion and slight majorities of Catholics, Protestants, Southerners, seniors and nonwhites reported as anti-abortion. A 2019 Gallup poll found that Mormons, the Southern Baptist Convention, and Jehovah's Witnesses have the highest majorities who believe abortion should be illegal in all or most cases, while atheists, agnostics, and Jews have the highest majorities who think the reverse.\n\nControversies over terminology \n\nAnti-abortion advocates tend to use terms such as \"unborn baby\", \"unborn child\", or \"pre-born child\", and see the medical terms \"embryo\", \"zygote\", and \"fetus\" as dehumanizing.\n\nBoth \"pro-choice\" and \"pro-life\" are examples of terms labeled as political framing: they are terms which purposely try to define their philosophies in the best possible light, while by definition attempting to describe their opposition in the worst possible light. \"Pro-choice\" implies that the alternative viewpoint is \"anti-choice\", while \"pro-life\" implies the alternative viewpoint is \"pro-death\" or \"anti-life\". In part due to this viewpoint, the Associated Press encourages journalists to use the terms \"abortion rights\" and \"anti-abortion\".\n\nIn a 2009 Gallup Poll, a majority of U.S. adults (51%) called themselves \"pro-life\" on the issue of abortion—for the first time since Gallup began asking the question in 1995—while 42% identified themselves as \"pro-choice\", although pro-choice groups noted that acceptance of the \"pro-life\" label did not in all cases indicate opposition to legalized abortion, and that another recent poll had indicated that an equal number were pro-choice.\n\nA March 2011 Rasmussen Reports poll concluded that Americans are \"closely divided between those who call themselves pro-life\" and those who consider themselves as \"pro-choice\". In a February 2011 Rasmussen Reports poll of \"Likely U.S. Voters\", fifty percent view themselves as\n\"pro-choice\" and forty percent \"say they are pro-life\". In a July 2013 Rasmussen Reports poll of \"Likely U.S. Voters\", 46 percent view themselves as \"pro-choice\" and 43 percent \"say they are pro-life\".\n\nMethods and activities\n\nDemonstrations and protests\n Mass demonstrations: every year, American anti-abortion advocates hold a March for Life in Washington, D.C., on January 22, the anniversary date of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion in the United States. The event typically draws tens of thousands of attendees and, since 2003, frequently features notable politicians as speakers. Similar events take place on a smaller scale in other U.S. cities, such as the Walk for Life in San Francisco, California.\n The life chain: The \"Life Chain\" is a public demonstration technique that involves standing in a row on sidewalks holding signs bearing anti-abortion messages. Messages include \"Abortion Kills Children\", \"Abortion stops a beating heart\" or \"Abortion Hurts Women\". Participants, as an official policy, do not yell or chant slogans and do not block pedestrians or roadways. Many Right to Life chapters hold Life Chain events yearly and the annual worldwide 40 Days for Life campaigns also use this technique.\n The rescue: A \"rescue operation\" involves anti-abortion activists blocking the entrances to an abortion clinic in order to prevent anyone from entering. The stated goal of this practice is to force the clinic to shut down for the day. Often, the protesters are removed by law enforcement. Some clinics were protested so heavily in this fashion that they closed down permanently. \"The rescue\" was first attempted by Operation Rescue. Ever since President Bill Clinton signed the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act into law, the rescue has become prohibitively expensive, and has rarely been attempted.\n The truth display: Involves publicly displaying large pictures of aborted fetuses. Some anti-abortion groups believe that showing the graphic results of abortion is an effective way to dissuade and prevent others from choosing abortion. The Pro-Life Action League has used this form of activism in its Face the Truth displays. Members of one group, Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust, are known for setting up truth displays on university campuses. This group has faced legal battles over the use of such graphic imagery, and they have generated debate regarding the protection of such displays, by freedom of speech. \"Truth displays\" are controversial, even within the anti-abortion movement.\n Picketing: The majority of the facilities that perform abortions in the United States experience some form of protest from anti-abortion demonstrators every year, of which the most common form is picketing. In 2007, 11,113 instances of picketing were either reported to, or obtained by, the National Abortion Federation.\n\nCounseling\n Sidewalk counseling: \"Sidewalk counseling\" is a form of anti-abortion advocacy which is conducted outside of abortion clinics. Activists seek to communicate with those entering the building, or with passersby in general, in an effort to persuade them not to have an abortion or to reconsider their position on the morality of abortion. They do so by trying to engage in conversation, displaying signs, distributing literature, or giving directions to a nearby crisis pregnancy center. \n The \"Chicago Method\" is an approach to sidewalk counseling that involves giving those about to enter an abortion facility copies of lawsuits filed against the facility or its physicians. The name comes from the fact that it was first used by Pro-Life Action League in Chicago. The intent of the Chicago Method is to turn the woman away from a facility that the protesters deem \"unsafe\", thus giving her time to reconsider her choice to abort.\n Crisis pregnancy centers: \"Crisis pregnancy centers\" are non-profit organizations, mainly in the United States, established to persuade pregnant women against having an abortion. These centers are typically run by anti-abortion Christians according to a conservative Christian philosophy, and they often disseminate false medical information, usually but not exclusively about the supposed health risks and mental health risks of abortion. The centers usually provide peer counseling against abortion, and sometimes also offer adoption referrals or baby supplies. Most are not licensed and do not provide medical services, though some offer sonograms, claiming that women who see such sonograms decide not to have an abortion. Legal and legislative action regarding CPCs has generally attempted to curb false or deceptive advertising undertaken in pursuit of the anti-abortion cause. Several thousand CPCs exist in the United States, often operating in affiliation with one of three umbrella organizations (Care Net, Heartbeat International, and Birthright International), with hundreds in other countries. By 2006, U.S. CPCs had received more than $60 million of federal funding, including some funding earmarked for abstinence-only programs, as well as state funding from many states.\n\nSpecialty license plates\nIn the United States, some states issue specialty license plates that have an anti-abortion theme. Choose Life, an advocacy group founded in 1997, was successful in securing an anti-abortion automobile tag in Florida. Subsequently, the organization has been actively helping groups in other states pursue \"Choose Life\" license plates.\n\nAbortion health risk claims\n\nSome anti-abortion organizations and individuals disseminate false medical information and unsupported pseudoscientific claims about alleged physical and mental health risks of abortion. Many right-to-life organizations claim that abortion damages future fertility, or causes breast cancer, which is contradicted by the medical professional organizations. Some states, such as Alaska, Mississippi, West Virginia, Texas, and Kansas, have passed laws requiring abortion providers to warn patients of a link between abortion and breast cancer, and to issue other scientifically unsupported warnings.\n\nSome right-to-life advocacy groups allege a link between abortion and subsequent mental-health problems. Some U.S. state legislatures have mandated that patients be told that abortion increases their risk of depression and suicide, despite the fact that such risks are not supported by the bulk of the scientific literature, and are contradicted by mainstream organizations of mental-health professionals such as the American Psychological Association.\n\nViolence\n\nViolent incidents directed against abortion providers have included arson and bombings of abortion clinics, and murders or attempted murders of physicians and clinic staff, especially the doctors that provide abortions. Acts of violence against abortion providers and facilities in North America have largely subsided following a peak in the mid-1990s which included the murders of Drs. David Gunn, John Britton, and Barnett Slepian and the attempted murder of Dr. George Tiller. Tiller was later murdered in his church in 2009.\n\nAs of 1995, nearly all anti-abortion leaders said that they condemned the use of violence in the movement, describing it as an aberration and saying that no one in their organizations was associated with acts of violence. A small extremist element of the movement in the USA supports, raises money for, and attempts to justify anti-abortion violence, including murders of abortion workers, which this fringe element calls \"justifiable homicides\". An example of such an organization is the Army of God.\n\nThe murder of Jim Pouillon was reported as the first killing of an anti-abortion protester.\n\nSee also\n Abortion law\n Anti-abortion movements\n Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act\n Philosophical aspects of the abortion debate\n180, a 2011 anti-abortion documentary\n\nReferences\n\nFurther reading\n\n Mason, Carol. \"Opposing Abortion to Protect Women: Transnational Strategy since the 1990s.\" Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 44.3 (2019): 665-692. online\n Critchlow, Donald T. Intended Consequences: Birth Control, Abortion, and the Federal Government in Modern America (2001) excerpt\n Flowers, Prudence. \"‘Voodoo biology’: the right-to-life campaign against family planning programs in the United States in the 1980s.\" Women's History Review 29.2 (2020): 331-356.\n Flowers, Prudence. \"Fighting the “hurricane winds” of abortion liberalization: Americans United for life and the struggle for self-definition before Roe v. Wade.\" The Sixties 11.2 (2018): 131-155.\n Garrow, David J. \"Abortion before and after Roe v. Wade: An historical perspective.\" Labany Law Review 62 (1998): 833+ online.\n Haugeberg, Karissa. \"'How Come There's Only Men Up There?': Catholic Women's Grassroots Anti-Abortion Activism.\" Journal of Women's History 27.4 (2015): 38-61. excerpt\n Haugeberg, Karissa. Women against abortion: Inside the largest moral reform movement of the twentieth century (U of Illinois Press, 2017). excerpt also PhD dissertation version\n Lewis, Andrew R. The rights turn in conservative Christian politics: How abortion transformed the culture wars (Cambridge UP, 2017).\n Lowe, Pam, and Graeme Hayes. \"Anti-abortion clinic activism, civil inattention and the problem of gendered harassment.\" Sociology 53.2 (2019): 330-346. online\n McCaffrey, Dawn, and Jennifer Keys*. \"Competitive framing processes in the abortion debate: Polarization‐vilification, frame saving, and frame debunking.\" Sociological Quarterly 41.1 (2000): 41-61.\n Mohamed, Heather Silber. \"Embryonic politics: Attitudes about abortion, stem cell research, and IVF.\" Politics and Religion 11.3 (2018): 459-497 online.\n Munson, Ziad. \"Protest and Religion: The US Pro-Life Movement.\" Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics (2019).\n Nelson, Jennifer. \"Sterilization, Birth Control, and Abortion: Reproductive Politics from 1945 to the Present.\" in A Companion to American Women's History (2020): 299-317. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119522690.ch18\n Risen, James, and Judy L. Thomas. Wrath of Angels: The American Abortion War (1998).\n Rohlinger, Deana A. \"Friends and foes: Media, politics, and tactics in the abortion war.\" Social Problems 53.4 (2006): 537-561 online.\n Williams, Daniel K. \"The GOP's Abortion Strategy: Why Pro-Choice Republicans Became Pro-Life in the 1970s.\" Journal of Policy History 23.4 (2011): 513-539 online.\n Williams, Daniel K. Defenders of the Unborn: The Pro-Life Movement before Roe v. Wade (Oxford UP, 2016). xiv, 365 pp.\n\nExternal links\n\n National Right to Life Committee\n Americans United for Life\n American Life League\n Physicians for Life\n Family Research Council\n\n \nAbortion in the United States\nUnited States\nSocial movements in the United States"
]
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[
"John Kasich",
"Abortion",
"What was Kasichs stance on abortion",
"Kasich is a \"firm abortion opponent\" and describes himself as pro-life.",
"What else has he done regards abortion",
"Since taking office, he has signed 18 anti-abortion measures into law.",
"What were some of the measures",
"Kasich signed into law a state budget, HB 59, which stripped some $1.4 million in federal dollars from Planned Parenthood",
"What else did he do",
"Under the budget, rape crisis centers could lose public funding if they counseled sexual assault victims about abortion.",
"What other anti-abortion things did he do",
"In December 2016, Kasich approved a ban on abortions after 20 weeks, except when a pregnancy endangers a woman's life,",
"Did he make other anti-abortion laws",
"I don't know."
]
| C_2b98b6ca33de4d21a7e358160c7a67fa_1 | What else should I know about his abortion views | 7 | What else should I know about John Kasich's abortion views besides banning abortion after 20 weeks? | John Kasich | In 1982, Kasich ran for Congress in Ohio's 12th congressional district, which included portions of Columbus as well as the cities of Westerville, Reynoldsburg, Worthington, and Dublin. He won the Republican primary with 83% of the vote and defeated incumbent Democrat U.S. Congressman Bob Shamansky in the general election by a margin of 50%-47%. He was re-elected eight times after 1982, winning at least 64% of the vote each time. During his congressional career, Kasich was considered a fiscal conservative, taking aim at programs supported by Republicans and Democrats. He worked with Ralph Nader in seeking to reduce corporate tax loopholes. Kasich was a member of the House Armed Services Committee for 18 years. He developed a "fairly hawkish" reputation on that committee, although he "also zealously challenged" defense spending he considered wasteful. Among the Pentagon projects that he targeted were the B-2 bomber program (teaming up with Democratic representative Ron Dellums to cut the program, their efforts were partly successful) and the A-12 bomber program (ultimately canceled by defense secretary Dick Cheney in 1991). He participated extensively in the passage of the Goldwater-Nichols Act of 1986, which reorganized the U.S. Department of Defense. He also pushed through the bill creating the 1988 Base Realignment and Closure Commission, which closed obsolete U.S. military bases, and successfully opposed a proposed $110 million expansion of the Pentagon building after the end of the Cold War. He also "proposed a national commission on arms control" and "urged tighter controls over substances that could be used for biological warfare." Kasich said he was "100 percent for" the first Persian Gulf War as well as the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, but said that he did not favor U.S. military participation in the Lebanese Civil War or in Bosnia. In 1997, with fellow Republican representative Floyd Spence, he introduced legislation (supported by some congressional Democrats) for the U.S. to pull out of a multilateral peacekeeping force in Bosnia. In the House, he supported the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act, a Dellums-led initiative to impose economic sanctions against apartheid-era South Africa. In 1993, Kasich became the ranking Republican member of the House Budget Committee. Kasich and other House Budget Committee Republicans proposed an alternative to President Bill Clinton's deficit reduction bill, the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993. That proposal included funds to implement Republican proposals for health care, welfare, and crime control legislation and for a child tax credit. The Penny-Kasich Plan, named after Kasich and fellow lead sponsor Tim Penny, was supported by Republicans and conservative Democrats. It proposed $90 billion in spending cuts over five years, almost three times as much in cuts as the $37 billion in cuts backed by the Clinton administration and Democratic congressional leaders. About one-third ($27 billion) of the proposed Penny-Kasich cuts would come from means-testing Medicare, specifically by reducing Medicare payments to seniors who earned $75,000 or more in adjusted gross income. This angered the AARP, which lobbied against the legislation. Another $26 billion of the Penny-Kasich plan's cuts would have come from the U.S. Department of Defense and foreign aid, which led Secretary of Defense Les Aspin to say that the plan would destroy military morale. Another $27 billion in savings would have come from federal layoffs. The proposal was narrowly defeated in the House by a 219-213 vote. As ranking member of the Budget Committee, Kasich proposed his own health care reform plan as a rival to the Clinton health care plan of 1993 championed by First Lady Hillary Clinton, but more market-based. As Time magazine wrote, "The Kasich plan would have covered all Americans by 2005, using a form of an individual mandate that would have required employees to purchase insurance through their employers. (The mandate was an idea initially supported by conservative groups like The Heritage Foundation.)" On November 17, 1993, Kasich voted to approve the North American Free Trade Agreement, casting a "yea" vote for the North American Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act. In 1994, Kasich was one of the Republican leaders to support a last-minute deal with President Bill Clinton to pass the Federal Assault Weapons Ban. After a series of meetings with Clinton's Chief of Staff, Leon Panetta, a longtime friend of Kasich, the assault weapons ban was passed when 42 Republicans crossed party lines and voted to ban assault weapons with the Democrats. His support of the assault-weapons ban angered the National Rifle Association, which gave Kasich an "F" rating in 1994 as a result. Kasich is a "firm abortion opponent" and describes himself as pro-life. He says abortions should only be performed in cases of rape, incest, and when the mother's life is in danger. Since taking office, he has signed 18 anti-abortion measures into law. In June 2013, Kasich signed into law a state budget, HB 59, which stripped some $1.4 million in federal dollars from Planned Parenthood by placing the organization last on the priority list for family-planning funds; provided funding to crisis pregnancy centers; and required women seeking abortions to undergo ultrasounds. The budget also barred abortion providers from entering into emergency transfer agreements with public hospitals, requiring abortion providers to find private hospitals willing to enter into transfer agreements. Another provision of the bill requires abortion providers to offer information on family planning and adoption services in certain situations. Under the budget, rape crisis centers could lose public funding if they counseled sexual assault victims about abortion. In 2015, Kasich said in an interview that Planned Parenthood "ought to be de-funded" but Republicans in Congress should not force a government shutdown over the issue. In December 2016, Kasich approved a ban on abortions after 20 weeks, except when a pregnancy endangers a woman's life, but vetoed HB 493, a law which would have made abortion illegal after detection of a fetal heartbeat (typically 5-6 weeks after conception). Kasich cited the cost to taxpayers of defending the legislation in court, and the likelihood that the "Heartbeat Bill" would be struck down in federal court as reasons for vetoing the more restrictive bill. CANNOTANSWER | vetoed HB 493, a law which would have made abortion illegal after detection of a fetal heartbeat (typically 5-6 weeks after conception). | John Richard Kasich Jr. ( ; born May 13, 1952) is an American politician, author, and television news host who served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1983 to 2001 and as the 69th governor of Ohio from 2011 to 2019. A Republican, Kasich unsuccessfully sought his party's presidential nomination in 2000 and 2016.
Kasich grew up in McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, moving to Ohio to attend college. After a single term in the Ohio Senate, he served nine terms as a member of the United States House of Representatives from . His tenure in the House included 18 years on the House Armed Services Committee and six years as chairman of the House Budget Committee. Kasich was a key figure in the passage of both 1996 welfare reform legislation and the Balanced Budget Act of 1997. Kasich decided not to run for re-election in 2000 and ran for president instead. He withdrew from the race before the Republican primaries.
After leaving Congress, Kasich hosted Heartland with John Kasich on Fox News from 2001 to 2007 and served as managing director of the Lehman Brothers office in Columbus, Ohio. He ran for governor of Ohio in 2010, defeating Democratic incumbent Ted Strickland. He was re-elected in 2014, defeating Democratic challenger Ed FitzGerald by 30 percentage points. Kasich was term-limited and could not seek a third gubernatorial term in 2018; he was succeeded by fellow Republican Mike DeWine.
Kasich ran for president again in 2016, finishing in third place in the Republican primaries behind Donald Trump and Ted Cruz. He won the primary in his home state of Ohio and finished second in New Hampshire. Kasich declined to support Trump as the Republican presidential nominee and did not attend the 2016 Republican National Convention, which was held in Ohio. In 2019, following the end of his second term as governor, Kasich joined CNN as a contributor. Kasich is known as one of Trump's most prominent critics within the Republican Party, and he endorsed Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden for president in a speech at the 2020 Democratic National Convention.
Early life, education, and early political career
John Richard Kasich Jr. was born and raised in the Pittsburgh suburb of McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania. He is the son of Anne (née Vukovich; 1918–1987) and John Richard Kasich (1919-1987), who worked as a mail carrier.
Kasich's father was of Czech descent, while his mother was of Croatian descent. Both his father and mother were children of immigrants and were practicing Roman Catholics. He has described himself as "a Croatian and a Czech".
After attending public schools in his hometown of McKees Rocks, Kasich later left his native Pennsylvania, settling in Columbus, Ohio in 1970 to attend Ohio State University, where he joined the Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity.
As a freshman, he wrote a letter to President Richard Nixon describing concerns he had about the nation and requesting a meeting with the President. The letter was delivered to Nixon by the university's president Novice Fawcett and Kasich was granted a 20-minute meeting with Nixon in December 1970.
Earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Ohio State University, in 1974, he went on to work as a researcher for the Ohio Legislative Service Commission. From 1975 to 1978, he served as an administrative assistant to then-state Senator Buz Lukens.
Ohio Senate career
In 1978, Kasich ran against Democratic incumbent Robert O'Shaughnessy for State Senate. A political ally of Kasich remembers him during that time as a persistent campaigner: "People said, 'If you just quit calling me, I'll support you.'" At age 26, Kasich won with 56% of the vote, beginning his four-year term representing the 15th district. Kasich was the second youngest person ever elected to the Ohio Senate.
One of his first acts as a State Senator was to refuse a pay raise. Republicans gained control of the State Senate in 1980, but Kasich went his own way, for example, by opposing a budget proposal he believed would raise taxes and writing his own proposal instead.
U.S. House of Representatives (1983–2001)
In 1982, Kasich ran for Congress in Ohio's 12th congressional district, which included portions of Columbus as well as the cities of Westerville, Reynoldsburg, Worthington, and Dublin. He won the Republican primary with 83% of the vote and defeated incumbent Democratic U.S. Congressman Bob Shamansky in the general election by a margin of 50%–47%. He would never face another contest nearly that close, and was re-elected eight more times with at least 64 percent of the vote.
During his congressional career, Kasich was considered a fiscal conservative, taking aim at programs supported by Republicans and Democrats. He worked with Ralph Nader in seeking to reduce corporate tax loopholes.
Kasich was a member of the House Armed Services Committee for 18 years. He developed a "fairly hawkish" reputation on that committee, although he "also zealously challenged" defense spending he considered wasteful. Among the Pentagon projects that he targeted were the B-2 bomber program (teaming up with Democratic representative Ron Dellums to cut the program, their efforts were partly successful) and the A-12 bomber program (ultimately canceled by defense secretary Dick Cheney in 1991). He participated extensively in the passage of the Goldwater–Nichols Act of 1986, which reorganized the U.S. Department of Defense. He also pushed through the bill creating the 1988 Base Realignment and Closure Commission, which closed obsolete U.S. military bases, and successfully opposed a proposed $110 million expansion of the Pentagon building after the end of the Cold War. He also "proposed a national commission on arms control" and "urged tighter controls over substances that could be used for biological warfare."
Kasich said he was "100 percent for" the first Persian Gulf War as well as the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, but said that he did not favor U.S. military participation in the Lebanese Civil War or in Bosnia. In 1997, with fellow Republican representative Floyd Spence, he introduced legislation (supported by some congressional Democrats) for the U.S. to pull out of a multilateral peacekeeping force in Bosnia. In the House, he supported the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act, a U.S. Representative Ron Dellums (D- CA)-led initiative to impose economic sanctions against apartheid-era South Africa.
Ranking member of the House Budget Committee
In 1993, Kasich became the ranking Republican member of the House Budget Committee. Kasich and other House Budget Committee Republicans proposed an alternative to President Bill Clinton's deficit reduction bill, the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993. That proposal included funds to implement Republican proposals for health care, welfare, and crime control legislation and for a child tax credit. The Penny-Kasich Plan, named after Kasich and fellow lead sponsor Tim Penny, was supported by Republicans and conservative Democrats. It proposed $90 billion in spending cuts over five years, almost three times as much in cuts as the $37 billion in cuts backed by the Clinton administration and Democratic congressional leaders. About one-third ($27 billion) of the proposed Penny-Kasich cuts would come from means-testing Medicare, specifically by reducing Medicare payments to seniors who earned $75,000 or more in adjusted gross income. This angered the AARP, which lobbied against the legislation. Another $26 billion of the Penny-Kasich plan's cuts would have come from the U.S. Department of Defense and foreign aid, which led Secretary of Defense Les Aspin to say that the plan would destroy military morale. Another $27 billion in savings would have come from federal layoffs. The proposal was narrowly defeated in the House by a 219–213 vote.
As ranking member of the Budget Committee, Kasich proposed his own health care reform plan as a rival to the Clinton health care plan of 1993 championed by First Lady Hillary Clinton, but more market-based. As journalist Zeke Miller wrote in Time magazine, "The Kasich plan would have covered all Americans by 2005, using a form of an individual mandate that would have required employees to purchase insurance through their employers. (The mandate was an idea initially supported by conservative groups like The Heritage Foundation.)"
On November 17, 1993, Kasich voted to approve the North American Free Trade Agreement, casting a "yea" vote for the North American Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act.
In 1994, Kasich was one of the Republican leaders to support a last-minute deal with President Bill Clinton to pass the Federal Assault Weapons Ban. After a series of meetings with Clinton's Chief of Staff, Leon Panetta, a longtime friend of Kasich, the assault weapons ban was passed when 42 Republicans crossed party lines and voted to ban assault weapons with the Democrats. His support of the assault-weapons ban angered the National Rifle Association, which gave Kasich an "F" rating in 1994 as a result.
Chair of the House Budget Committee
In 1995, when Republicans gained the majority in the United States Congress following the 1994 election, Kasich became chair of the House Budget Committee. In 1996, he introduced the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act in the House, an important welfare reform bill signed into law by President Clinton.
During the 1996 presidential campaign, Republican nominee Bob Dole was reported to have considered Kasich as a vice presidential running mate but instead selected Jack Kemp, a former congressman and Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
In 1997, Kasich rose to national prominence after becoming "the chief architect of a deal that balanced the federal budget for the first time since 1969"—the Balanced Budget Act of 1997.
In 1998, Kasich voted to impeach President Clinton on all four charges made against him. In 1999, while the Senate prepared to vote on the charges, he said: "I believe these are impeachable and removable offenses."
2000 presidential campaign
Kasich did not seek re-election in 2000. In February 1999, he formed an exploratory committee to run for president. In March 1999 he announced his campaign for the Republican nomination. After very poor fundraising, he dropped out in July 1999, before the Iowa Straw Poll, and endorsed governor George W. Bush of Texas.
Private sector career (2001–2009)
After leaving Congress, Kasich went to work for Fox News, hosting Heartland with John Kasich on the Fox News Channel and guest-hosting The O'Reilly Factor, filling in for Bill O'Reilly as needed. He also occasionally appeared as a guest on Hannity & Colmes.
Business career
Kasich served on the board of directors for several corporations, including Invacare Corp. and the Chicago-based Norvax Inc. In 2001, Kasich joined Lehman Brothers' investment banking division as a managing director, in Columbus, Ohio. He remained at Lehman Brothers until it declared bankruptcy in 2008. That year, Lehman Brothers paid him a $182,692 salary and a $432,200 bonus. He stated that the bonus was for work performed in 2007.
Kasich's employment by Lehman Brothers was criticized during his subsequent campaigns in light of the firm's collapse during the financial crisis. Kasich responded to critics by saying: "I wasn't involved in the inner workings of Lehman, I was a banker. I didn't go to board meetings or go and talk investment strategy with the top people. I was nowhere near that. That's like, it's sort of like being a car dealer in Zanesville and being blamed for the collapse of GM."
Political activities from 2001 to 2009
Republicans made efforts to recruit Kasich to run for Ohio governor in 2006, but he declined to enter the race.
In 2008, Kasich formed Recharge Ohio, a political action committee (PAC) with the goal of raising money to help Republican candidates for the Ohio House of Representatives and Ohio Senate, in an effort to retain Republican majorities in the Ohio General Assembly. Kasich served as honorary chairman of the PAC.
Governor of Ohio
2010 election
On May 1, 2009, Kasich filed papers to run for governor of Ohio against incumbent Democratic governor Ted Strickland. He formally announced his candidacy on June 1, 2009. On January 15, 2010, Kasich announced Ohio State Auditor Mary Taylor as his running mate.
During a speech before Ashtabula County Republicans in March 2009, Kasich talked about the need to "break the back of organized labor in the schools," according to the Ashtabula Star Beacon.
Ohio teachers' unions supported Strickland, and after Kasich's gubernatorial victory, he said, "I am waiting for the teachers' unions to take out full-page ads in all the major newspapers, apologizing for what they had to say about me during this campaign."
Elsewhere, he said he was willing to work with "unions that make things."
On May 4, 2010, Kasich won the Republican nomination for governor, having run unopposed. On November 2, 2010, Kasich defeated Strickland in a closely contested race to win the governorship. He was sworn in at midnight on January 10, 2011, in a private ceremony at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus. It was then followed by a ceremonial inauguration at the Ohio Theatre at noon on the same day.
2014 re-election
In November 2014, Kasich won re-election, defeating Democrat Ed FitzGerald, the county executive of Cuyahoga County, 64% to 33%. He won 86 of 88 counties.
Kasich, who was elected with Tea Party support in 2010, faced some backlash from some Tea Party activists. His decision to accept the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act's expansion of Medicaid caused some Tea Party activists to refuse to support his campaign. Kasich supported longtime ally and campaign veteran Matt Borges over Portage County Tea Party chairman Tom Zawistowski for the position of chairman of the Ohio Republican Party. Zawistowski secured just three votes in his run for the chairmanship. Tea Party groups announced they would support a primary challenger, or, if none emerged, the Libertarian nominee.
Ultimately, Zawistowski failed to field anyone on the ballot and the Libertarian nominee (former Republican State Representative Charlie Earl) was removed from the ballot after failing to gain the required number of valid signatures necessary for ballot access.
Political positions and record
Kasich is considered by some to be a moderate Republican due to his strong condemnation of far-right conservatives and his endorsement of Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election. However, his record in the House and as governor of Ohio has led others to point out that his views place him to the right of most moderate politicians. Larry Sabato, the director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics, who has known Kasich for years, says that "If you had asked me in the 90s about Kasich I would have said he was a Gingrich conservative." Kasich's friend Curt Steiner, former chief of staff to former Republican Ohio governor and U.S. senator George Voinovich, described Kasich as a "solid Republican" with "an independent streak."
Kasich's tenure as governor was notable for his expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, his work combating the opioid addiction crisis, his attempt (later reversed by Ohio voters in a 2011 referendum) to curtail collective bargaining for public sector employees, his local government funding cuts, his passage of several anti-abortion laws, his veto of a fetal heartbeat law, his tax cuts, and his evolving position on gun control.
Abortion
Kasich opposes abortion except in cases of rape, incest, and danger to the mother's life. As governor, he signed 18 abortion-restrictive measures into law. In June 2013, Kasich signed into law a state budget, HB 59, which stripped some $1.4 million in federal dollars from Planned Parenthood by placing the organization last on the priority list for family-planning funds; provided funding to crisis pregnancy centers; and required women seeking abortions to undergo ultrasounds. The budget also barred abortion providers from entering into emergency transfer agreements with public hospitals, requiring abortion providers to find private hospitals willing to enter into transfer agreements. Another provision of the bill requires abortion providers to offer information on family planning and adoption services in certain situations. Under the budget, rape crisis centers could lose public funding if they counseled sexual assault victims about abortion.
In 2015, Kasich said in an interview that Planned Parenthood "ought to be de-funded", but added that Republicans in Congress should not force a government shutdown over the issue.
In December 2016, Kasich approved a ban on abortions after 20 weeks, except when a pregnancy endangers a woman's life, but vetoed HB 493, a law which would have made abortion illegal after detection of a fetal heartbeat (typically 5–6 weeks after conception). Kasich cited the cost to taxpayers of defending the legislation in court, and the likelihood that the "Heartbeat Bill" would be struck down in federal court as reasons for vetoing the more restrictive bill. In December 2018, Kasich again vetoed a bill to ban abortion after detection of a fetal heartbeat citing the cost to taxpayers and previous rulings by the federal courts. He did sign a bill into law that bans the dilation and evacuation procedure commonly used for abortion.
Climate change, energy, and environment
In a speech in April 2012, Kasich claimed that climate change is real and is a problem. In the same speech, however, Kasich said that the Environmental Protection Agency should not regulate carbon emissions and that instead states and private companies should be in charge of regulating coal-fired power plant emissions. In 2015, Kasich stated that he did not know all the causes of climate change, and that he did not know the extent to which humans contribute to climate change.
In 2014, Kasich signed into law a bill freezing Ohio's renewable portfolio standard (RPS) program for two years. Ohio's RPS program was created by 2008 legislation and required the state to acquire 12.5 percent of its energy portfolio from renewable sources and to reduce energy consumption by 22 percent by 2025. The legislation signed by Kasich to stop the program was supported by Republican legislative leaders, utility companies, and some industry groups, and opposed by environmentalists, some manufacturers, and the American Lung Association. In 2016, Kasich broke with fellow Republicans in the state legislature by vetoing their attempt to continue blocking the RPS standards; as a result, the freeze ended on December 31, 2016, and the clean-energy mandate resumed. This veto won Kasich praise from environmentalist groups, and angered Republicans in the state legislature.
In his 2015 budget plan, Kasich proposed raising the tax rate on hydraulic fracturing (fracking) activities. Specifically, Kasich's plan called for imposing a 6.5 percent severance tax on crude oil and natural gas extracted via horizontal drilling and sold at the source (about $3.25 per $50 barrel of oil), and for an additional 4.5 percent tax per thousand cubic feet on natural gas and liquefied natural gas (about $0.16 per thousand cubic feet). The proposal would not affect conventional drilling taxes.
Kasich formerly supported fracking in Ohio state parks and forests, signing legislation in mid-2011 authorizing him to appoint a five-member commission to oversee the leasing of mineral rights on state land to the highest bidders. In 2012, Kasich aides planned a campaign with a stated goal to "marginalize the effectiveness of communications by adversaries about the initiative" to bring fracking to state parks and forests, naming in an email the Ohio Sierra Club and state Representatives Robert F. Hagan and Nickie Antonio as adversaries of the plan. Kasich never appointed the commission, and the promotional plan was never put into effect. A memo and email relating to the 2012 promotional campaign were publicly released for the first time in February 2015, which according to the Columbus Dispatch attracted criticism from state environmental and liberal groups, as well as Democratic state legislators, who called for an investigation. On the same day the governor reversed himself, with a spokesman saying, "At this point, the governor doesn't support fracking in state parks. We reserve the right to revisit that, but it's not what he wants to do right now, and that's been his position for the past year and a half."
In April 2015, Kasich signed a bill aimed at protecting Lake Erie's water quality. The bill places restrictions on the spread of manure and other fertilizers that contribute to toxic algal blooms and requires large public water treatment plants to monitor phosphorus levels. The bill had been unanimously approved by both chambers of the Ohio Legislature the previous month.
Kasich supported the Keystone XL oil pipeline project and, along with other Republican governors, signed an open letter in February 2015 urging federal approval for the project. In 2016, in response to a request from South Dakota under the terms of an interstate compact, Kasich dispatched 37 Ohio state troopers to South Dakota, where they were stationed around Dakota Access Pipeline protests near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. This controversial deployment prompted unsuccessful petitions to Kasich (from members of the public, Cincinnati City Council members, environmentalists, and some state legislators), who asked Kasich to recall the troopers.
Policing and criminal justice
Prison privatization
To offset a state budget deficit, Kasich proposed selling five state prisons to the for-profit prison industry. The Lake Erie prison was sold for $72.7 million to the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), generating savings of $3 million. Kasich's Director of Corrections, Gary Mohr, whom he had hired in January 2011, had previously worked for CCA, but he said that he removed himself from the sales process. In an audit in October 2012, CCA was cited for 47 contractual violations, and failed a second audit later that year. In July 2015, the Kasich administration announced its intent to sell the North Central Correctional Institution at Marion, in order to recoup the state's original investment in the facility and invest the proceeds in community-based alternatives to prison.
Policing standards
Following the separate fatal police shootings of John Crawford III and Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old boy in Ohio, while each were holding BB guns, grand juries decided not to indict any of the officers involved. Following this, Kasich created the Ohio Collaborative Community-Police Advisory Board "to address what he described as frustration and distrust among some Ohioans toward their police departments, particularly among the black community." The 23-member task force (with 18 members appointed by Kasich) was appointed in January 2015 and issued its 629-page final report and recommendations in April 2015. The report recommended greater accountability and oversight for police agencies and officers, further community education and involvement in policing, and new use-of-force and recruitment, hiring, and training standards for police agencies.
In April 2015, Kasich created the Ohio Collaborative Community-Police Advisory Board, a twelve-member board tasked (in conjunction with the Ohio Office of Criminal Justice Services and the Ohio Department of Public Safety) with developing statewide standards for the recruiting, hiring and screening of police officers, and for the use of force (including deadly force) by police. The advisory board, the first of its kind in Ohio, was also tasked by Kasich with developing "model policies and best practice recommendations to promote better interaction and communication between law enforcement departments and their home communities." In August 2015, the board issued its recommendations, which placed "an emphasis on the preservation of human life and restrict officers to defending themselves or others from death or serious injury."
In August 2015, Kasich said that he was open to the idea of requiring police officers to wear body cameras.
Capital punishment
As governor, Kasich presided over the executions of fifteen inmates and commuted the death sentences of seven inmates. The last execution in Ohio took place in July 2018. In January 2015, Kasich announced that, due to pending litigation and other issues, he was delaying all seven executions scheduled through January 2016. The delay was largely attributed to European pharmaceutical companies, which have refused to supply the state with deadly drugs necessary for executions. In February 2017, Kasich again delayed Ohio executions for an additional three months, after a federal judge ruled that Ohio's three-drug lethal injection protocol is unconstitutional.
Executive clemency
Kasich used his power of executive clemency sparingly. He has the lowest clemency rate of any Ohio governor since at least the 1980s, when records began to be kept. In six years in office, Kasich granted 86 of the 2,291 requests that he acted upon. In 2016, Kasich granted executive clemency to 13 people; in all of the cases, the Ohio Adult Parole Authority had recommended clemency.
Criminal justice reform issues
Kasich supports various criminal justice reform efforts; according to conservative Washington Post columnist George Will, Kasich "favors fewer mandatory minimum sentences and has instituted prison policies that prepare inmates for re-integration into communities." In 2011, Kasich signed sentencing reform legislation which allowed judges to sentence defendants convicted of non-violent fourth- and fifth-degree felonies to "community-based halfway house facilities" instead of prison; expanded the earned credit system to allow inmates to reduce their sentences; and allowed felons who have already served 80 percent or more of their sentences to be immediately released.
In 2012, Kasich signed into law a bill, sponsored by Cleveland Democratic Senator Shirley Smith and Cincinnati Republican Senator Bill Seitz, easing the collateral consequences of criminal conviction.
In September 2014, Kasich touted the Ohio's prison system's recidivism rate, which is one of the lowest in the nation. U.S. Senator Rob Portman, a Republican, attributed a drop in Ohio's recidivism rate "to the bipartisan work of the state legislature, Governor Kasich, Ohio's reentry leaders and the success of programs made possible at the federal level by the Second Chance Act," which Portman sponsored.
In 2015, Kasich proposed a state budget including $61.7 million for addiction treatment services for prisoners.
Drug policy
Kasich initially expressed opposition to medical marijuana in 2012, saying "There's better ways to help people who are in pain." However, in late 2015 and early 2016, Kasich said he was open to the legalization of medical marijuana.
In March 2014, in an effort to address the opioid epidemic, Kasich signed legislation (passed unanimously in both chambers of the state legislature) expanding the availability of naloxone, a lifesaving antidote to opioid overdoses; the measure allowed friends and family members of addicts to obtain access to naloxone and for first responders to carry naloxone. In July 2015, Kasich signed legislation further expanding the availability of naloxone, making it available without a prescription.
In a 2015 interview with radio talk show host Hugh Hewitt, Kasich said he was opposed to the legalization of recreational marijuana in some states and equated the drug to heroin, stating: "In my state and across this country, if I happened to be president, I would lead a significant campaign down at the grassroots level to stomp these drugs out of our country."
When Kasich was asked by Hewitt whether, if elected president, he would federally enforce marijuana laws in states which have legalized marijuana, Kasich characterized it as a states' rights issue and said that "I'd have to think about it." When asked the same question later in 2015, Kasich said: "I would try to discourage the states from doing it...but I would be tempted to say I don't think we can go and start disrupting what they've decided."
Kasich opposed "Issue 3," an Ohio ballot measure in 2015 that proposed the legalization of recreational marijuana, saying it was a "terrible idea."
Economic policy
State budgets and taxation
During Kasich's tenure, the state has eliminated a budget shortfall that his administration has estimated at $8 billion, but which the Cleveland Plain Dealer estimated at closer to $6 billion. (The New York Times put the number at $7.7 billion). Ohio also increased its "rainy day fund" from effectively zero to more than $2 billion.
Kasich "closed the budget shortfall in part by cutting aid to local governments, forcing some of them to raise their own taxes or cut services. And increasing sales taxes helped make the income tax cuts possible." An analysis by the Plain Dealer in March 2016 found that more than 70 cities and villages had lost at least $1 million a year due to Kasich's budget and taxation policy.
In March 2008, Kasich called for "phasing out" Ohio's state income tax.
During Kasich's time as governor, Ohio ranked 22nd out of the 50 states for private-sector job growth, at 9.3%.
Kasich signed a state budget in 2011 which eliminated the state's estate tax effective January 1, 2013.
In 2013, Kasich signed into law a $62 billion two-year state budget. The budget provided for a 10-percent state income tax cut phased in over three years, and an increase in the state sales tax from 5.5 percent to 5.75 percent. It also included a 50% tax cut for small business owners on the first $250,000 of annual net income. Kasich used his line-item veto power to reject a measure that would stop the Medicaid expansion (which Kasich had accepted from the federal government) to cover nearly 275,000 working poor Ohioans.
In 2015, Kasich signed into law a $71 billion two-year state budget after using his line-item veto power to veto 44 items. The overall 2015 budget provides a 6.3 percent state income-tax cut as a part one component of a $1.9 billion net tax reduction and lowers the top income-tax rate to slightly below 5 percent. The budget also "spends $955 million more in basic state aid for K-12 schools than the last two-year period"; "boosts state funding for higher education to help offset a two-year tuition freeze at public universities"; expands the Medicaid health program; increases cigarette taxes by 35 cents a pack; and "prohibits independent health care and child care workers under contract with the state from unionizing."
Senate Bill 5 and labor issues
On March 31, 2011, in his first year as governor, Kasich signed into law Senate Bill 5, a controversial labor law which restricted collective bargaining rights of public employees, such as police officers, firefighters, and teachers. The legislation, championed by Kasich, prohibited all public employees from striking and restricted their ability to negotiate health care and pension benefits. The final version of the legislation signed by Kasich had passed the state Senate in a 17–16 vote (with six Senate Republicans joining all of the Senate Democrats in voting no) and the state House in a 53–44 vote, with two members abstaining.
Democrats and labor unions opposed the legislation and placed a referendum on the November 2011 ballot to repeal SB 5. SB 5 also "sparked numerous protests with thousands of union workers and other opponents descending on the Statehouse, mirroring similar demonstrations in Wisconsin and injecting Ohio into the national debate over Republican governors' attempts to curb public workers' collective bargaining rights." Kasich and other supporters of SB 5 characterized the legislation as a necessary measure "to help public employers control labor costs" and reduce tax burdens to make Ohio more competitive with other states, while labor unions and other opponents characterized the bill as "a union-busting attack on the middle class."
Ohio voters rejected Senate Bill 5 in a 61 percent to 39 percent vote, which was viewed as a rebuke to Kasich. On election night, Kasich said in a speech at the Ohio Statehouse that "It's clear the people have spoken. I heard their voices. I understand their decision. And frankly, I respect what the people have to say in an effort like this." Following this defeat, Kasich dropped efforts to pass broad-based collective bargaining restrictions, although in 2012 he supported a bill including "provisions reminiscent of Senate Bill 5" but applying only to the Cleveland Metropolitan School District.
In May 2015, Kasich rescinded executive orders issued by his predecessor Ted Strickland in 2007 and 2008 that provided the right to home health care contractors and in-home child care contractors to collectively bargain with the state.
Balanced budget amendment
Kasich has campaigned for a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Kasich created a 501(c)(4) group, Balanced Budget Forever, to promote the cause.
Free trade
Kasich said in 2016 that "I have never been an ideological supporter of free trade," but has long supported free trade agreements. He is a strong supporter of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and participated with others in a meeting with President Obama in support of the agreement.
Civil liberties and electronic surveillance
In speaking in the 2016 campaign on domestic surveillance, Kasich has "straddled the line," praising Rand Paul for saying that "we need to get warrants," but also saying "if there's information they need, the government needs to get it." Kasich has said there needs to be "a balance between good intelligence and the need to protect Americans from what can become an aggressive government somewhere down the road."
On one occasion, Kasich spoke out against proposals to mandate that technology companies provide a "backdoor" for the government to access encrypted devices, saying that this could end up aiding hackers. On a subsequent occasion, Kasich said that encryption was dangerous because it could stymie government antiterrorism investigations.
Kasich has condemned whistleblower Edward Snowden as a traitor.
Education
Kasich proposed new legislation which would increase funding to charter schools and poor school districts. He canceled the school-funding formula put into place by his Democratic predecessor, Governor Ted Strickland.
During Kasich's tenure as governor, he pushed to expand charter schools, increase the number of school vouchers that use public money to pay for tuition at private schools, implement a "merit pay" scheme for teachers, and evaluate teachers by student standardized test scores in math and reading. Kasich supports the Common Core State Standards and has criticized Republicans who turned against it.
During Kasich's tenure, funding for traditional public schools declined by about $500 million, while funding for charter schools has increased at least 27 percent. As calculated by the Howard Fleeter/Education Tax Policy Institute, total school funding under Kasich (including both charter and district schools) has ranged from a low of $7.1 billion in fiscal year 2013 to $7.8 billion in fiscal year 2015, which was higher than its previous peak under Kasich's predecessor, Ted Strickland. As calculated by the Howard Fleeter/Education Tax Policy Institute, Kasich has proposed total school funding of $8.0 billion in fiscal year 2016 and fiscal year 2017. The Ohio Department of Education—which includes more spending areas than Fleeter's does and so reports higher numbers—projects total school funding for Ohio schools to rise to slightly under $10.5 billion by the end of fiscal year 2017.
Analysts disagree "on whether Kasich's education budgets give increases beyond inflation." In the 2015 state budget, Kasich used his line-item veto power "to cut more than $84 million of funding from public schools."
According to a September 2014 story in the Columbus Dispatch, Kasich favored allowing public school districts "to teach alternatives to evolution—such as intelligent design—if local school officials want to, under the philosophy of 'local control.'"
In 2011, Kasich had the idea of establishing a Holocaust memorial on the grounds of the Ohio Statehouse. Kasich successfully secured approval of the proposal from the Capital Square Review and Advisory Board. The $2 million Ohio Holocaust and Liberators Memorial, designed by Daniel Libeskind, is located across from the Ohio Theatre; the memorial was dedicated in 2014.
Foreign and defense policy
In November 2002, Kasich urged the invasion of Iraq, telling a crowd of students at Ohio State University: "We should go to war with Iraq. It's not likely that (Saddam) Hussein will give up his weapons. If he did he would be disgraced in the Arab world."
In an interview in August 2015, Kasich said: "I would never have committed ourselves to Iraq." A Kasich spokesman subsequently said that "Kasich was not revising history" but was instead saying that the Iraq War was a mistake given the facts available now.
Kasich has said that the U.S. "should've left a base in Iraq" instead of withdrawing troops in 2011.
In 2015, Kasich said that airstrikes were insufficient to combat the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, and he would send U.S. ground troops to fight ISIL.
Kasich opposed the landmark 2015 international nuclear agreement with Iran, and in September 2015 was one of fourteen Republican governors who sent a letter to President Obama stating "that we intend to ensure that the various state-level sanctions [against Iran] that are now in effect remain in effect," despite the agreement.
Kasich has expressed support for the U.S.'s drone program. He has said, however, that the program should be overseen by the Department of Defense, and not by the CIA.
Kasich has said that he wants to lift budget sequestration for military spending, and "spend more if necessary."
In November 2015, Kasich said that if elected president, he "would send a carrier battle group through the South China Sea" to send a message to China regarding their claims of sovereignty there.
Kasich supports continued U.S. support of Saudi Arabia, but he criticized Saudi Arabia's "funding and teaching of radical clerics who are the very people who try to destroy us".
Kasich favors strong relations between the U.S. and its NATO allies. He supported Senator John McCain's call for maintaining existing U.S. sanctions on Russia, and condemned the Trump administration's consideration of lifting sanctions. Like McCain, Kasich supports imposing "tougher sanctions against Russia and Putin's inner circle." He supports a bipartisan investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections.
LGBT rights
By the mid-2010s, Kasich had shown much more support for LGBT rights than many of his Republican counterparts. However, during his time in Congress, Kasich was much less accepting, and voted for the Defense of Marriage Act, which barred federal recognition of same-sex marriage. During this period, Kasich supported a ban on same-sex marriage in Ohio and stated that he did not approve of the "gay lifestyle." As governor of Ohio, Kasich signed an executive order banning discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation for state employees; this was more narrow than the previous executive order signed by his predecessor because it omitted protections for gender identity.
During the 2016 presidential campaign, Kasich struck a more moderate tone compared to his Republican opponents. In June 2015, following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, which held that there is a fundamental right to same-sex marriage under the Fourteenth Amendment, Kasich said that he was "obviously disappointed" and that he believes in "traditional marriage," but that the ruling was "the law of the land and we'll abide by it" and that it was "time to move on" to other issues. During his time as Ohio governor, Kasich appointed Richard Hodges as Ohio Director of Health, who was the lead-respondent in the case.
Kasich indicated that he did not support an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to overturn the decision. In response to a debate question about how he would explain his position on same-sex marriage to one of his daughters if she were gay, Kasich responded, "The court has ruled, and I said we'll accept it. And guess what, I just went to a wedding of a friend of mine who happens to be gay. Because somebody doesn't think the way I do doesn't mean that I can't care about them or can't love them. So if one of my daughters happened to be that, of course I would love them and I would accept them. Because you know what? That's what we're taught when we have strong faith."
In September 2015, Kasich commented on the highly publicized case of Kim Davis (the Rowan County, Kentucky clerk who refused to comply with a federal court order directing her to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples), saying: "Now, I respect the fact that this lady doesn't agree but she's also a government employee, she's not running a church, I wouldn't force this on a church. But in terms of her responsibility I think she has to comply. I don't think — I don't like the fact that she's sitting in a jail, that's absurd as well. But I think she should follow the law."
In a March 2018 interview on The Rubin Report, Kasich passively came out in support of same-sex marriage saying "I'm fine with it," but stated that he now preferred to show himself as someone in the "Billy Graham tradition" that "avoided social issues". In December 2018, Kasich signed an executive order extending non-discrimination protections for gender identity, including trans and non-binary identities, to state employees in Ohio.
Gun policy
While in the U.S. House of Representatives, Kasich had a mixed record on gun policy. He was one of 215 Representatives to vote for the Federal Assault Weapons Ban, which became law in 1994, but voted against the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act ("Brady Bill"), which established current background check laws.
As governor, Kasich shifted to more pro-gun positions. In 2011, he signed one bill permitting concealed handguns in bars and another making it easier for people with misdemeanor drug convictions to purchase guns. In 2012, Kasich signed a bill allowing gun owners to transport weapons with loaded magazines in their vehicles and expanding concealed carry permit reciprocity. In December 2014, Kasich signed legislation that reduced the numbers of hours of training required to obtain a concealed carry permit and eliminated the training requirement for permit renewals.
After the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in February 2018, Kasich called for restrictions on the sales of AR-15 style rifles.
Health care
Kasich opted to accept Medicaid-expansion funding provided by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA or "Obamacare") in Ohio. This decision angered many Statehouse Republicans, who wanted Kasich to reject the expansion.
Total spending on Medicaid by the state was almost $2 billion (or 7.6 percent) below estimates for the fiscal year ending in June 2015, according to a report by Kasich's administration. The lower-than-expected costs were attributed to expanded managed care, shorter nursing home stays and increased in-home care for seniors, capitated reimbursement policies, increased automation to determine eligibility for the program and pay care providers, and an improving economy in the state which allowed some participants to move out of the program.
In an October 2014 interview, Kasich said that repeal of the ACA was "not gonna happen" and stated that "The opposition to it was really either political or ideological. I don't think that holds water against real flesh and blood, and real improvements in people's lives." Kasich later said that he was referring solely to the law's Medicaid expansion, and that "my position is that we need to repeal and replace" the rest of the law. In 2015, Kasich expressed support for many provisions of the ACA (ensuring coverage for people with preexisting conditions, the use of insurance exchanges, and Medicaid expansion), but opposed mandates.
In 2017, after Donald Trump took office and congressional Republicans maneuvered to repeal the ACA, Kasich criticized Republican hard-liners in Congress who demanded a full ACA repeal, saying that full repeal was "not acceptable" when 20 million people gained insurance under the ACA and that doing so would be a "political impossibility." Kasich urged that the Medicaid expansion be preserved in some form, criticizing the House Republican legislation that would cut the Medicaid expansion and phase out health insurance subsidies for low-income Americans. Kasich said that the nation's "soul" was at stake if Republicans passed legislation that left millions without health insurance. After the failure of the House Republican health-care legislation, Kasich met in Washington with members of the Republican Tuesday Group and urged fellow Republicans to work with Democrats to make more modest changes to the Affordable Care Act. In May 2017, Kasich said that the version of the Republican health care bill that passed the House was "inadequate" and would harm patients; Kasich said that Republicans "should've worked with the Democrats" on the bill rather than passing legislation merely to fulfill a campaign pledge.
In June 2017, Kasich said that he didn't "have a problem" with gradually phasing out the ACA's expansion of Medicaid over a seven-year period, but only if Congress provided states with significantly more, more than the House Republican bill provided for, and only if Congress granted states more authority to manage the program. Along with three other Republican governors (Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas, Brian Sandoval of Nevada, and Rick Snyder of Michigan), Kasich signed a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell with an outline of their wishes for an health care bill. Kasich and the others specifically called upon Congress to "end the requirement that state Medicaid programs cover nearly every prescription drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration." Kasich and the other governors' views were seen as influential, because their states have Republican senators and the Republicans have only a narrow majority in the Senate.
Immigration and refugees
In 2010, while running for governor, Kasich expressed support for amending the U.S. Constitution to abolish the Fourteenth Amendment's guarantee of jus soli (birthright) citizenship for people born in the United States. Kasich also told the Columbus Dispatch at the time that "One thing that I don't want to reward is illegal immigration."
In 2014, Kasich acknowledged that his stance on immigration has "evolved" because "maybe [I'm] a little smarter now," stating: "I don't want to see anybody in pain. So I guess when I look at this now, I look at it differently than I did in '10. ... When I look at a group of people who might be hiding, who may be afraid, who may be scared, who have children, I don't want to be in a position of where I make it worse for them." That year, Kasich expressed openness to a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, saying at a Republican Governors Association (RGA) meeting in Florida, "I don't like the idea of citizenship when people jump the line, [but] we may have to do it." Kasich was the only governor at the RGA conference "to express openly a willingness to create a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants."
In August 2015, while running for president, Kasich called for a path to legal status (but not necessarily citizenship) for undocumented immigrants and for a guest worker program. Kasich also appeared to disavow his earlier stance against birthright citizenship, stating "I don't think we need to go there"; called for completion of a fence along the U.S.-Mexico border; and noted that undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as young children may obtain driver's licenses in Ohio.
In October 2015, Kasich criticized Donald Trump's "plan to build a wall along the Mexican border and remove immigrants who entered the United States illegally," calling these notions "just crazy."
In September 2015, Kasich said that the U.S. had a moral responsibility to accept refugees fleeing war and violence in Syria. Subsequently, however, Kasich moved to the right, and in November 2015 wrote a letter to President Obama asking that no additional Syrian refugees be resettled in Ohio. Kasich opposed Trump's executive order on travel and immigration, which Trump signed one week after taking office in January 2017. Kasich said that the order was "ham-handed" because it "sowed so much confusion" and "sent a message that somehow the United States was looking sideways at Muslims."
Lieutenant governor
Kasich has a "long-standing political partnership" with his lieutenant governor, Mary Taylor. In 2014, Kasich defended Taylor after her chief of staff, and that chief of staff's administrative assistant, resigned following a timesheet probe. Kasich said of Taylor's handling of the matter: "Mary did the right thing and I support her."
In 2017, the Kasich-Taylor relationship frayed after Taylor abandoned Kasich ally Matt Borges in his bid for chairman of the Ohio Republican Party, and instead chose to support Jane Timken, who was actively supported by Donald Trump, who sought revenge against Kasich for his choice not to endorse Trump. Nevertheless, Kasich indicated that Taylor had "been a good partner" over his term and indicated that he would support her if she chose to run for governor in 2018.
Racial diversity in Cabinet
Upon taking office in 2011, Kasich received criticism for appointing an initial all-white cabinet of 22 members. Responding to criticism for not appointing any black, Hispanic, or Asian Cabinet members, Kasich said: "I don't look at things from the standpoint of any of these sort of metrics that people tend to focus on, race or age, or any of those things. It's not the way I look at things... I want the best possible team I can get." Shortly afterward, on February 2, 2011, Kasich made his first minority appointment to the Cabinet, naming Michael Colbert, a black man, to lead the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.
, four members of Kasich's Cabinet were members of racial minorities.
Transportation
Throughout his first gubernatorial campaign, Kasich opposed the Ohio Hub higher-speed passenger rail project (a proposed 258-mile Cleveland-to-Cincinnati train) and promised to cancel it, claiming that it would average speeds of merely 36 mph. In his first press conference following his election victory, Kasich declared "That train is dead...I said it during the campaign: It is dead."
As governor-elect, Kasich lobbied the federal government to use $400 million in federal dollars allocated for high-speed rail for freight rail projects instead. In a November 2010 letter to Kasich, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood wrote that the federal funding was specifically allocated by the 2009 economic stimulus act for high-speed rail, and could not be used for other purposes. In a December 2010 meeting with President Barack Obama, Kasich again unsuccessfully lobbied to use the grant money for freight rail rather than high-speed rail.
In December 2010, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced that Ohio would lose the $385 million in grant funds allocated for high-speed passenger rail, since Kasich had informed them that he had no intention of ever building high-speed rail projects. (Almost $15 million had already been spent for preliminary engineering.) The $385 million was instead diverted to other states, such as California, New York, and Florida, which planned high-speed rail using the grant money for its congressionally intended purpose. Outgoing governor Ted Strickland, who championed the project, expressed disappointment, saying that the loss of funding for the project was "one of the saddest days during my four years as governor" and that "I can't understand the logic of giving up these vital, job-creating resources to California and Florida at a time when so many Ohioans need jobs."
Kasich is an opponent of the Cincinnati Streetcar project.
In April 2015, Kasich signed a two-year transportation budget bill which allocated $7.06 billion for highway construction and maintenance, $600 million to local governments for road and bridge projects, and an additional million over the last budget for public transportation.
Voting rights
In February 2014, Kasich signed into law a bill which cut six days from Ohio's early voting period, including the "golden week" (a period at the beginning of early voting when voters could both register to vote and cast an in-person absentee ballot). The measures were hotly contested in the state legislature, passing on a party-line vote, with Republicans in favor and Democrats opposed. This measure prompted two federal lawsuits. The first lawsuit, brought by the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio on behalf of the NAACP and League of Women Voters of Ohio, resulted in a settlement in April 2015, in which the state agreed to provide evening and Sunday hours for early voting in elections in Ohio through 2018. The second lawsuit, Ohio Democratic Party v. Husted, was brought in May 2015 by Democratic election lawyer Marc Elias; plaintiffs argued that the Ohio bill eliminating "golden week" violated the Constitution and the Voting Rights Act because it disproportionately burdened black, Latino and young voters. The federal district court agreed and struck down the legislation, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit reversed that decision in a 2–1 vote, and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal. In July 2015, Kasich said that it was "pure demagoguery" for Hillary Clinton to "say that there are Republicans who are deliberately trying to keep people from voting."
In April 2015, Kasich used his line-item veto power to veto a provision added to a highway-budget bill by Republicans in the state legislature that would have required college students who register to vote in Ohio to obtain a state driver's license and vehicle registration, imposing an estimated $75 in motor vehicle costs on out-of-state college students who wanted to vote in the state. The veto was celebrated by voting rights advocates, Ohio Democrats, and the Cleveland Plain Dealer editorial board, which viewed the proposal as effectively a "poll tax" motivated by a partisan desire to limit college-town voting.
Judicial appointments
In Ohio, justices of the Ohio Supreme Court are elected, but the governor can fill unexpired terms. In May 2012, Ohio Supreme Court Associate Justice Evelyn Lundberg Stratton announced she would retire at the end of 2012. In December 2012, Kasich appointed Judge Judith L. French to Stratton's unexpired term, which ran from January 1, 2013, through January 1, 2015.
Impeachment of Donald Trump
On October 18, 2019, Kasich publicly stated that Donald Trump should be impeached. He had previously said there was not enough evidence to impeach the President.
2016 presidential campaign
In April 2015, Kasich announced the formation of his "New Day For America" group. Formerly a 527 group, it filed as a super PAC in July 2015. Between April 20 and June 30, 2015, the super PAC raised over $11.1 million from 165 "reportable contributions," including 34 contributions of $100,000 or more. Major contributors to the PAC include Floyd Kvamme, who donated $100,000, and Jim Dicke, chairman emeritus of Crown Equipment Corporation, who donated $250,000. According to FEC filings, Kasich's campaign had $2.5 million on hand at the beginning of 2016.
In May 2015, sources close to him had said he was "virtually certain" to run for the Republican nomination for president. On July 21, 2015, Kasich announced his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination during a speech at the Ohio Union, the student union of his alma mater, the Ohio State University.
On January 30, 2016, the New York Times endorsed Kasich for the Republican nomination. The Times editorial board strongly rebuked leading candidates Donald Trump and Senator Ted Cruz and wrote that Kasich, "though a distinct underdog, is the only plausible choice for Republicans tired of the extremism and inexperience on display in this race."
On the campaign trail, Kasich sought to project a sunny, optimistic message, describing himself as "the prince of light and hope." This marked a change in tone for Kasich, who had developed a reputation as an abrasive governor. Viewed as a long-shot contender, Kasich took an "above-the-fray approach to his rivals" and "ran unapologetically as a candidate with experience" even as others ran as "outsider" contenders.
Kasich came in second place in the New Hampshire primary on February 9, 2016, behind winner Trump. The Cincinnati Enquirer reported that this was "the best possible result" for Kasich and lent "credence to the notion that he can emerge" as a Republican alternative to Trump and Cruz.
Ultimately, however, Kasich's message "never caught on in a campaign that ... exposed the anger and frustration coursing through the electorate" and he "found himself stuck in fourth place in a three-man race, trailing Senator Marco Rubio of Florida in the delegate count" although Rubio had dropped out of the race in March.
The only state won by Kasich was his home state of Ohio, which gave him 66 delegates in its March 2016 winner-take-all primary but still left him with "a steep delegate deficit against his rivals." Kasich's unsuccessful campaign strategy hinged on the possibility of a contested (or brokered) Republican National Convention, in which no single candidate has enough delegates to win the nomination on the first ballot, something that has not happened in either of the two major parties' presidential nominating conventions since 1952. Kasich suspended his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination on May 4, 2016, one day after Trump won the Republican primary in Indiana. The third remaining contender, Cruz, quit the race shortly before Kasich did, leaving Trump as the only candidate remaining in the Republican field and hence the party's presumptive nominee.
A 2018 study on media coverage of the 2016 election noted "the paradox of the Kasich campaign's longevity while it lacked public interest provides some evidence for the idea that Kasich's biggest supporters were the media".
Aftermath
Following his withdrawal from the race, Kasich did not extend his support to Trump. In May and June 2016, Kasich said that Trump was a divisive figure rather than a "unifier," said he had no plans to endorse Trump in the near future, and ruled out the possibility of seeking the Vice Presidency as Trump's running mate.
Kasich said it was "hard to say" whether he would ever endorse Trump; he added, "I can't go for dividing, name calling, or somebody that doesn't really represent conservative principles." Kasich said he had ruled out voting for Clinton but lacked the enthusiasm to fully back Trump.
In August 2016, Kasich repeated an earlier claim that the Trump campaign had offered him a powerful vice presidency, "putting him in charge of all domestic and foreign policy". The Trump campaign denied that such an offer had been made. Kasich also doubted whether Trump could win Ohio, a critical state in the election. It was speculated that Kasich was looking towards a 2020 campaign. This speculation was strengthened by a report that Kasich had planned to give a speech to the American Enterprise Institute less than 48 hours after the election but cancelled it the morning after the election when it was clear that Trump had won.
Kasich received an electoral vote for the presidency from one faithless elector, Christopher Suprun of Texas, who had been pledged to vote for Trump. An elector in Colorado also attempted to vote for him, but that vote was discarded; the elector was replaced by an alternate elector who voted, as pledged, for Clinton.
Opposition to Trump
In February 2017, Kasich met with Trump at the White House in a private meeting that followed a bitter feud. Kasich indicated that he hoped for Trump's success, but would continue to be critical when he thought it was necessary. The same month, Kasich's chief political advisors launched a political group, Two Paths America, in an effort to promote Kasich and his views and draw a contrast with Trump. In April 2017, Kasich also released a book, Two Paths: America Divided or United, written with Daniel Paisner. The creation of the group prompted speculation he could possibly run for president again, but Kasich said that he had no plans to seek elected office in the future.
In April 2017, during a CNN town hall, Kasich, while stating that he was "very unlikely" to do so, reopened the possibility that he might run for president in 2020. On August 20, however, he reiterated his previous statement that he had no plans to run; rather, he stated that he was "rooting for [Trump] to get it together."
In October 2017, during an interview with CNN's Jake Tapper, Kasich said he had not "given up" on the Republican Party, but added that "if the party can't be fixed ... I'm not going to be able to support the party. Period. That's the end of it." In March 2018, he told The Weekly Standard that he was "increasingly open" to running for president in the 2020 presidential election; however, in May 2019, he again declared that he would not seek the presidency in 2020.
In October 2019, Kasich expressed support for the impeachment inquiry against Trump, saying that the "final straw" for him was when Trump's acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney admitted that Trump had withheld U.S. aid from Ukraine in part to pressure the country to investigate Trump's domestic political rivals, a statement that Mulvaney later said were misconstrued.
Kasich confirmed on August 10, 2020, that he would be speaking at the 2020 Democratic National Convention in support of presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden. Kasich said that his conscience compelled him to speak out against Trump and in support of Biden, even if it resulted in blowback against him, adding, "I've been a reformer almost all of my life. I've been very independent and I'm a Republican but the Republican Party has always been my vehicle but never my master. You have to do what you think is right in your heart and I'm comfortable here."
Personal life
Kasich has been married twice. His first marriage was to Mary Lee Griffith from 1975 to 1980, and they had no children. Griffith has campaigned for Kasich since their divorce. Kasich and his current wife, Karen Waldbillig, a former public relations executive, were married in March 1997 and have twin daughters, Emma and Reese.
Kasich was raised a Catholic, but considers denominations irrelevant, while stating that "there's always going to be a part of me that considers myself a Catholic." He drifted away from his religion as an adult, but came to embrace an Anglican faith after his parents were killed in a car crash by a drunk driver on August 20, 1987. He joined the Episcopal Church (United States) as an adult. Kasich has said he "doesn't find God in church" but does belong to St. Augustine's in Westerville, Ohio, which is part of the Anglican Church in North America, a conservative church with which he remained when it broke off from the Episcopal Church (United States).
Electoral history
Published works
Kasich has authored five books:
Courage is Contagious, published in 1998, made the New York Times bestseller list
Stand for Something: The Battle for America's Soul, published in 2006
Every Other Monday, published in 2010. This book is a New York Times bestseller.
Two Paths: America Divided or United, published in 2017
It's Up to Us: Ten Little Ways We Can Bring About Big Change, published in 2019
See also
Ohio's 12th congressional district
List of United States representatives from Ohio
Ohio gubernatorial election, 2010
Ohio gubernatorial election, 2014
Republican Party presidential candidates, 2016
List of John Kasich presidential campaign endorsements, 2016
References
Citations
Bibliography
External links
Governor John Kasich official Ohio government website Jan. 2019 archive
John Kasich for Governor
John Kasich for President
U.S. Representative (1983–2001)
1952 births
Living people
Candidates in the 2000 United States presidential election
Candidates in the 2016 United States presidential election
20th-century American politicians
20th-century American writers
21st-century American businesspeople
21st-century American politicians
21st-century American non-fiction writers
American corporate directors
American investment bankers
American people of Croatian descent
American people of Czech descent
American political writers
American Christians
Businesspeople from Pennsylvania
Christians from Ohio
Former Roman Catholics
Fox News people
CNN people
Governors of Ohio
Lehman Brothers people
Members of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio
Ohio Republicans
Ohio state senators
Ohio State University College of Arts and Sciences alumni
People from McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania
Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives
Republican Party state governors of the United States
Writers from Ohio
Converts to Anglicanism from Roman Catholicism
Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio
Criticism of Donald Trump | false | [
"Societal attitudes towards abortion have varied throughout different historical periods and cultures. One manner of assessing such attitudes in the modern era has been to conduct opinion polls to measure levels of public opinion on abortion.\n\nAttitudes by region\n\nAfrica\nSouth Africa: A 2003 Human Sciences Research Council study examined moral attitudes among South Africans: 56% said they believed that abortion is wrong even if there is a strong chance of serious defect in the fetus, while 70% said they believed that abortion is wrong if done primarily because the parents have low income and may be unable to afford another child.\n\nEurope\n\nAustria: A May 2007 OGM survey examined Austrian opinion on the morality of abortion, asking, \"Personally, do you think of abortion as a moral issue?\" 20% of those polled replied, \"yes, always\", 59% replied \"yes, under certain circumstances\", 19% replied \"no, never\", and 2% replied that they were \"not sure\".\nCzech Republic: A May 2007 CVVM poll found that 72% believe abortion in the Czech Republic should be allowed \"at the request of the woman\", 19% that it should be allowed for \"societal reasons\", 5% that it should be allowed only if \"a woman’s health is at risk\", 1% that it should be \"banned\".\nRepublic of Ireland: A January 2010 Irish Examiner/RedC poll about abortion in Ireland found that 60% of 18- to 35-year-olds felt abortion should be legalised, and 10% had been in a relationship in which an abortion had taken place. A January 2010 opinion poll conducted by Millward Brown Landsdowne for the Pro Life Campaign found 70% of people questioned favored constitutional protection for the unborn under circumstances where intervention to save the mother's life was legal. A January 2013 Paddy Power/Red C poll of 1,002 adults found that 29% of voters believed that there should be a constitutional amendment to allow abortion \"in any case where the woman requests it\". Support was highest at 37% within the 18- to 35-year-old age group.\nGreat Britain: A January 2010 Angus Reid Public Opinion poll asked \"Do you think abortion should be legal under any circumstances, legal only under certain circumstances, or illegal in all circumstances?\" 36% responded that they believe abortion should be legal in all circumstances, 55% that it should be legal in certain circumstances, and 3% that it should be illegal in all circumstances.\n Poland: An April 2019 Kantar poll in Poland found 58% of Poles supported women to have the right to abortion on-demand up to the 12th week of pregnancy, 35% opposed and 7% had no opinion. A poll from 28 October 2020 found that 22% of Poles supported abortion-on demand, 62% only in certain cases and 11% thought it should be completely illegal.\n\n2005 poll of ten countries\nA May 2005 Euro RSCG/TNS Sofres poll examined attitudes toward abortion in 10 European countries, asking polltakers whether they agreed with the statement, \"If a woman doesn't want children, she should be able to have an abortion\".\nResults were as follows:\n\nEastern Europe/Eurasia study\nAn April 2003 CDC/ORC Macro report examined sentiment on abortion among women aged 15 to 44 in six former-Comecon countries, asking, \"Do you think that (in any situation) a woman always has (or should have) the right to decide about her (own) pregnancy, including whether to have an abortion?\"\nThe results were:\n\nAmong those whose response was \"no\" above, it was then asked if abortion would be acceptable under selected circumstances. Positive responses to this subsequent question were:\n\nNorth & Central America\n Canada: A December 2001 Gallup poll about abortion in Canada, asked, \"Do you think abortions should be legal under any circumstances, legal only under certain circumstances or illegal in all circumstances and in what circumstances?\" 32% responded that they believe abortion should be legal in all circumstances, 52% that it should be legal in certain circumstances, and 14% that it should be legal in no circumstances.\nMexico: A November 2005 IMO poll about abortion in Mexico found that 73.4% think abortion should not be legalized while 11.2% think it should.\nNicaragua: An August–September 2006 Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research poll on the legality of abortion to save a woman's life found that 20% of respondents felt strongly that it should be \"legal\", 49% felt somewhat that it should be \"legal\", 18% felt strongly that it should be \"illegal\", and 10% felt somewhat that it should be \"illegal\".\nPanama: A May 2005 Dichter & Neira/La Prensa poll found that 89.4% disagreed with abortion and 8.3% agreed.\nCanada: A January 2010 Angus Reid Public Opinion poll found that 40% of Canadians think abortion should be permitted in all cases, while 31% support it with some restrictions; 41% say the health care system should pay for abortions only in emergency cases; 53% say under-aged girls should need parental consent for abortions.\nUnited States: A January 2010 Angus Reid Public Opinion poll found that 30% of Americans think abortion should be permitted only in cases of rape, incest, or to save the woman’s life; 44% agree with banning abortion coverage through insurance companies subsidized by the government,while 42% disagree; 31% claim pregnant women don’t have enough information about alternatives to abortion.\n United States: A February 2007 CBS News poll about abortion in the U.S. asked, \"What is your personal feeling about abortion?\", and 30% said that it should be \"permitted only in cases such as rape, incest or to save the woman's life\", 31% said that abortion should be \"permitted in all cases\", 16% that it should be \"permitted, but subject to greater restrictions than it is now\", 12% said that it should \"only be permitted to save the woman's life\", and 5% said that it should \"never\" be permitted. The Gallup poll has obtained the following results:\n\nOceania\nAustralia: Since at least the 1980s, public opinion polls have shown a majority of Australians support abortion rights, and that support for abortion is increasing. In 2003, a poll by the Australian Survey of Social Attitudes found that 81% of Australians believe a woman should have the right to choose an abortion, and a 2007 poll by the same group found 4% of Australians are opposed to abortion in all circumstances.\n\nSouth America\nArgentina: A September 2011 survey conducted by the nonprofit organization Catholics for Choice found that 45% of Argentines are in favor of abortion for any reason in the first twelve weeks. This same poll conducted in September 2011 also suggests that most Argentines favor abortion being legal when a woman’s health or life is at risk (81%), when the pregnancy is a result of rape (80%) or the fetus has severe abnormalities (68%).\nBrazil: In 2021, a survey conducted by PoderData, found that, 58% of Brazilians are against the legalization of abortion in Brazil, those who are favorable of legalization add up to 31%. Another 11% do not know or do not respond. \n\nChile: A 2014 poll found that 70% of Chileans supported abortion if a mother’s life is in danger, if a foetus is unviable or when a pregnancy is a result of rape. According to a Pew Research Center poll in 2014, in Chile, public opinion is divided on the issue; 47% say that abortion should be legal in all or most cases, while 49% say it should be illegal in all or most circumstances.\nColombia: A September 2017 survey, conducted by the nonprofit Table for Life and Women's Health, found that 65% of Colombians believe that abortion should be legal for certain circumstances.\nUruguay: A May 2007 Factum/El Espectador survey asked Uruguayans about a law under debate in their country's Senate, which would legalize abortion within the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, finding that 61% support the law, 27% oppose the law, and 12% are unsure about it.\n\nAttitudes by religion\n\nChristianity\nAn October 2006 Pew Research Center survey of moral opinion among Christians in 10 countries asked \"... [Do] you think abortion can always be justified, sometimes be justified, or never be justified?\" \n\nThe poll also asked respondents whether they agreed with the statement, \"The government should not interfere with a woman’s ability to have an abortion\".\n\nBuddhism\n\nHinduism\n\nIslam\n\nAmong physicians\nA survey in the United States of more than 10,000 physicians (not only obstetricians) came to the result that 34% of physicians would perform an abortion in certain situations, even if it were against their own beliefs. Approximately 54% would not, and for the remaining 12%, it would depend on circumstances.\n\nSee also\nAbortion debate\nAbortion law\n\nExternal links\n Angus Reid Global Monitor - Global Polls on Abortion\n Polling Report: Abortion and birth control\n\nReferences\n\nAbortion debate\nPublic opinion\nSocial philosophy",
"The You Know Me movement is a 2019 movement by abortion rights advocates in the United States to fight abortion stigma. A similar campaign and movement from 2015 is called #ShoutYourAbortion.\n\nThe You Know Me movement is an example of the MeToo effect and a response the successful 2019 passage of the United States fetal heartbeat bills in five states in the United States, most notably the passing of anti-abortion laws in Georgia (House Bill 381), Ohio (House Bill 68) and Alabama (House Bill 314)\n.\n\nBackground and origin\n\n1970–2014 \nWhile 2015 is acknowledged as the start of #ShoutYourAbortion and 2019 as the start of #YouKnowMe, the efforts of Sue Perlgut and other second-wave feminists who suggested that women confess their abortions publicly provides historic precedent from the 1970s.\n\nIn 1971 in France, 343 filmmakers, writers, actresses, singers and philosophers confessed their illegal abortions publicly, in order to demand freedom to have an abortion, in the 'Manifesto of the 343', published by the magazine Nouvel Observateur.\n\nIn 1973, the manifesto was the inspiration for a 1973 manifesto by 331 doctors declaring their support for abortion rights.\n\nWithin less than four years of the manifesto's publication, the French Health Minister Simone Veil presented a law on 26 November 1974 to the National Assembly that would legalize abortion. France legalized abortion in Law 75-17 of 18 January 1975, which permitted a woman to receive an abortion on request until the tenth week of pregnancy. After a trial period, Law 75-17 was adopted permanently in December 1979.\n\nSince 1990, Whoopi Goldberg (1991), Lil' Kim (2000), Sharon Osbourne (2004), Joan Collins (2010), Chelsea Handler (2012), Sherri Shepherd (2012), Nicki Minaj (2014) and Gloria Steinem (2015) are some notable women in the public eye who discussed their abortions in order to help end stigma.\n\n2015: #ShoutYourAbortion \nIn the wake of the House of Representatives' vote to defund Planned Parenthood, Lindy West, Amelia Bonow and Kimberly Morrison launched #ShoutYourAbortion to \"remind supporters and critics alike abortion is a legal right to anyone who wants or needs it\". The women encouraged other women to share positive abortion experiences online using the hashtag #ShoutYourAbortion in order to \"denounce the stigma surrounding abortion\".\n\n2019 build-up to the You Know Me movement \nOn 18 February 2019, the singer Amanda Palmer released a single about abortion, \"Voicemail for Jill\", on YouTube. Palmer had previously spoken out about her abortions in 2015.\n\nOn 1 March 2019, the artist and activist Rose McGowan spoke out about her abortion and asked for a public debate about abortion using the hashtag #HonestAbortion, in a reply to a tweet that stated, \"1 in 4 women has an abortion by age 45. 60% are already mothers.\"\n\nOn 7 May 2019, the actress Busy Philipps spoke about her own abortion in her talkshow Busy Tonight:\n\"The statistic is 1 in 4 women will have an abortion before age 45, and that statistic sometimes surprises people, and maybe you're sitting there thinking: I don't know a woman who had an abortion. Well, you know me. I had an abortion when I was fifteen years old.\"\n\n#YouKnowMe \nOn 15 May 2019, the actress Busy Philipps encouraged women on Twitter to share their abortion stories, in the wake of the proposed Alabama abortion ban. Phillips said she was encouraged to share the hashtag by Tina Fey, as it \"makes it very personal\". As a result of Philipps' tweet, women both in the United States as well as outside, replied with their abortion stories, many of them using the hashtag #youknowme on social media. Within 24 hours, nearly 50,000 people had liked or shared Philipps' tweet, and almost 2,000 users had replied to it.\n\nNotably, the actresses Jameela Jamil, Rosanna Arquette and Ashley Judd used the #youknowme hashtag. Women in the public eye who shared abortion stories after Philipps' tweet include the activist Nelini Stamp and the actresses Cynthia Nixon, Keke Palmer, and Rosanna Arquette.\n\nOn Tuesday, 22 May 2019, thousands of people across the US marched in abortion rights '#StopTheBans' protests against the 2019 wave of anti-abortion legislation in some states in America. Several politicians, including Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar, Kirsten Gillibrand and Cory Booker, participated in these demonstrations. California Rep. Jackie Speier spoke about her abortion at a protest in Washington DC, while referring to the You Know Me movement's phrase:\nYou know me, I am one of the 1 in 4 women who has had an abortion in this country. ... I am not ashamed.\n\nOn May 23, 2019, the American Civil Liberties Union launched an advertising campaign narrated by Busy Philipps, which featured the #YouKnowMe hashtag and encouraged people to speak out against abortion bans \n\nOn June 4, 2019, Busy Philipps testified before the United States Congress in support of abortion rights and against abortion restrictions.\n\nInternational response \n\"You Know Me\" has been identified and referred to as a viral social media campaign and movement. The movement has gained international media coverage outside the US, for instance in Germany, Italy, France, The Netherlands and South Korea.\n\nLisa Bouyeure, a columnist for the Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant, wrote about the May 2019 Alabama abortion ban in her column and how the events reminded her of the TV show The Handmaid's Tale. She noted that #YouKnowMe is \"a start, such a warm wave of solidarity in an ice-cold conservative climate, but let's hope that it will really change something. You grant every baby to be born at a time when The Handmaid's Tale is fiction again.\"\n\nMare Hotterbeekx, a journalist for the Belgium magazine Knack'''s weekend edition, stated that the hashtag #YouKnowMe causing women to massively share their abortion stories was \"an openness that Belgian women can only dream of\".\n\nKathy Michaels, a journalist for InfoTel Canada, started her opinion article on the #YouKnowMe movement with the question \"Have you had an abortion?\". She continued stating \"don't say because I don’t care and neither should anyone else. #YouKnowMe movement or not, it’s no more anyone’s business if you terminated a pregnancy than it is if your significant other has a low sperm count or if you’re having a series of particularly unpleasant periods that require a visit to your GP.\" Michaels remarked further that people in her social network had started posting articles from the US \"lamenting the backward momentum south of the border and expressing fear that a cultural black hole is going to suck us all in\". She finished with the statement, \"The good news is that this is happening in an election year so those of you who care can start doing the work needed to ensure your needs and interests are best represented when and if the time comes to raise this issue again. Until then, #YouDontNeedToKnowMe. We're Canadian and that means something when it comes to bodily autonomy.\"\n\nKari Postma and Robin Smeets of Dance4Life addressed the #YouKnowMe hashtag in an opinion article in Dutch newspaper Trouw. Postma and Smeets voiced their concerns about the 2019 anti-abortion movements in America, remarking that \"the growth of the anti-abortion lobby ensures that girls and women who terminate a pregnancy are stigmatized and hardly talk about it\" which they considered \"a worrying development\". They wrote that abortion is an \"important acquired right in the Netherlands\" and given that \"the right to abortion is under international fire\", people in the Netherlands should make a \"clear pro-choice sound in the Netherlands\". Postma and Smeets stated that safe environments for women should be created so they \"dare to tell about their decision, whether or not via #YouKnowMe\" and that \"It is up to all of us not to condemn but to respect women who exercise their freedom of choice\".\n\nVanja Deželić, a journalist for the Montenegrin newspaper Vijesti, compared the #YouKnowMe movement to the Croatian Spasime movement (translated: save me), which started in March 2019 and aims to collect testimonies about domestic abuse and to fight domestic violence in Croatia. Deželić wrote that anti-abortion movements had become more active in Croatia and were aiming for similar law changes such as the 2019 Heartbeat bill that passed in Alabama. Deželić stated that resistance against these anti-abortion movements could happen in Croatia based on the #YouKnowMe movement and thanks to Busy Philipps.\n\n Criticism \nArwa Mahdawi, a columnist for The Guardian, wrote that \"while #YouKnowMe is powerful, it's also profoundly depressing\" and that women should not have to tell abortion stories to remind lawmakers that they are human.\n\nMeghan Flaherty, a writer for The Seattle Times, wrote that she felt \"deeply humbled and heartened\" by the #YouKnowMe stories she read, but also noted many women used the hashtag to explain their reasons for abortion, which she found \"problematic\". Flaherty wrote that \"personal reproductive health decision-making power and the tools to implement those decisions are fundamental human rights. No woman or man should have to justify the decisions they make about their own body and parenthood.\"\n\nMadeline Fry, a commentary writer for The Washington Examiner'', argued that the \"heartbreaking\" stories within the #YouKnowMe hashtag \"didn't justify the pro-abortion cause\", remarking however that the movement was \"less shameless\" than \"#ShoutYourAbortion, the repulsive no-regrets movement\".\n\nJorge Plaza, a contributing writer for MRC NewsBusters, wrote that Busy Phillips in \"a desperate attempt to revive her relevancy\" after her show was cancelled, joined \"the Hollywood bandwagon to protest recent pro-life bills\" and teamed up with the American Civil Liberties Union to \"glorify abortion\" in an advertisement featuring the YouKnowMe hashtag.\n\nSee also \n Abortion in the United States by state\n Hashtag activism\n Me Too movement\n Rape\n List of songs about abortion\n Manifesto of the 343\n Spasime movement\n Ele Não movement\n\nReferences \n\nInternet-based activism\n21st-century social movements\n2019 in Internet culture\nFeminist movements and ideologies\nFeminism in the United States\nHashtags\nAmerican political catchphrases\n2019 in women's history"
]
|
[
"John Kasich",
"Abortion",
"What was Kasichs stance on abortion",
"Kasich is a \"firm abortion opponent\" and describes himself as pro-life.",
"What else has he done regards abortion",
"Since taking office, he has signed 18 anti-abortion measures into law.",
"What were some of the measures",
"Kasich signed into law a state budget, HB 59, which stripped some $1.4 million in federal dollars from Planned Parenthood",
"What else did he do",
"Under the budget, rape crisis centers could lose public funding if they counseled sexual assault victims about abortion.",
"What other anti-abortion things did he do",
"In December 2016, Kasich approved a ban on abortions after 20 weeks, except when a pregnancy endangers a woman's life,",
"Did he make other anti-abortion laws",
"I don't know.",
"What else should I know about his abortion views",
"vetoed HB 493, a law which would have made abortion illegal after detection of a fetal heartbeat (typically 5-6 weeks after conception)."
]
| C_2b98b6ca33de4d21a7e358160c7a67fa_1 | Is there anything else he did restricting abortion | 8 | Is there anything else John Kasich did other than ban abortion after 20 weeks to restrict abortion? | John Kasich | In 1982, Kasich ran for Congress in Ohio's 12th congressional district, which included portions of Columbus as well as the cities of Westerville, Reynoldsburg, Worthington, and Dublin. He won the Republican primary with 83% of the vote and defeated incumbent Democrat U.S. Congressman Bob Shamansky in the general election by a margin of 50%-47%. He was re-elected eight times after 1982, winning at least 64% of the vote each time. During his congressional career, Kasich was considered a fiscal conservative, taking aim at programs supported by Republicans and Democrats. He worked with Ralph Nader in seeking to reduce corporate tax loopholes. Kasich was a member of the House Armed Services Committee for 18 years. He developed a "fairly hawkish" reputation on that committee, although he "also zealously challenged" defense spending he considered wasteful. Among the Pentagon projects that he targeted were the B-2 bomber program (teaming up with Democratic representative Ron Dellums to cut the program, their efforts were partly successful) and the A-12 bomber program (ultimately canceled by defense secretary Dick Cheney in 1991). He participated extensively in the passage of the Goldwater-Nichols Act of 1986, which reorganized the U.S. Department of Defense. He also pushed through the bill creating the 1988 Base Realignment and Closure Commission, which closed obsolete U.S. military bases, and successfully opposed a proposed $110 million expansion of the Pentagon building after the end of the Cold War. He also "proposed a national commission on arms control" and "urged tighter controls over substances that could be used for biological warfare." Kasich said he was "100 percent for" the first Persian Gulf War as well as the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, but said that he did not favor U.S. military participation in the Lebanese Civil War or in Bosnia. In 1997, with fellow Republican representative Floyd Spence, he introduced legislation (supported by some congressional Democrats) for the U.S. to pull out of a multilateral peacekeeping force in Bosnia. In the House, he supported the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act, a Dellums-led initiative to impose economic sanctions against apartheid-era South Africa. In 1993, Kasich became the ranking Republican member of the House Budget Committee. Kasich and other House Budget Committee Republicans proposed an alternative to President Bill Clinton's deficit reduction bill, the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993. That proposal included funds to implement Republican proposals for health care, welfare, and crime control legislation and for a child tax credit. The Penny-Kasich Plan, named after Kasich and fellow lead sponsor Tim Penny, was supported by Republicans and conservative Democrats. It proposed $90 billion in spending cuts over five years, almost three times as much in cuts as the $37 billion in cuts backed by the Clinton administration and Democratic congressional leaders. About one-third ($27 billion) of the proposed Penny-Kasich cuts would come from means-testing Medicare, specifically by reducing Medicare payments to seniors who earned $75,000 or more in adjusted gross income. This angered the AARP, which lobbied against the legislation. Another $26 billion of the Penny-Kasich plan's cuts would have come from the U.S. Department of Defense and foreign aid, which led Secretary of Defense Les Aspin to say that the plan would destroy military morale. Another $27 billion in savings would have come from federal layoffs. The proposal was narrowly defeated in the House by a 219-213 vote. As ranking member of the Budget Committee, Kasich proposed his own health care reform plan as a rival to the Clinton health care plan of 1993 championed by First Lady Hillary Clinton, but more market-based. As Time magazine wrote, "The Kasich plan would have covered all Americans by 2005, using a form of an individual mandate that would have required employees to purchase insurance through their employers. (The mandate was an idea initially supported by conservative groups like The Heritage Foundation.)" On November 17, 1993, Kasich voted to approve the North American Free Trade Agreement, casting a "yea" vote for the North American Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act. In 1994, Kasich was one of the Republican leaders to support a last-minute deal with President Bill Clinton to pass the Federal Assault Weapons Ban. After a series of meetings with Clinton's Chief of Staff, Leon Panetta, a longtime friend of Kasich, the assault weapons ban was passed when 42 Republicans crossed party lines and voted to ban assault weapons with the Democrats. His support of the assault-weapons ban angered the National Rifle Association, which gave Kasich an "F" rating in 1994 as a result. Kasich is a "firm abortion opponent" and describes himself as pro-life. He says abortions should only be performed in cases of rape, incest, and when the mother's life is in danger. Since taking office, he has signed 18 anti-abortion measures into law. In June 2013, Kasich signed into law a state budget, HB 59, which stripped some $1.4 million in federal dollars from Planned Parenthood by placing the organization last on the priority list for family-planning funds; provided funding to crisis pregnancy centers; and required women seeking abortions to undergo ultrasounds. The budget also barred abortion providers from entering into emergency transfer agreements with public hospitals, requiring abortion providers to find private hospitals willing to enter into transfer agreements. Another provision of the bill requires abortion providers to offer information on family planning and adoption services in certain situations. Under the budget, rape crisis centers could lose public funding if they counseled sexual assault victims about abortion. In 2015, Kasich said in an interview that Planned Parenthood "ought to be de-funded" but Republicans in Congress should not force a government shutdown over the issue. In December 2016, Kasich approved a ban on abortions after 20 weeks, except when a pregnancy endangers a woman's life, but vetoed HB 493, a law which would have made abortion illegal after detection of a fetal heartbeat (typically 5-6 weeks after conception). Kasich cited the cost to taxpayers of defending the legislation in court, and the likelihood that the "Heartbeat Bill" would be struck down in federal court as reasons for vetoing the more restrictive bill. CANNOTANSWER | In 2015, Kasich said in an interview that Planned Parenthood "ought to be de-funded" but Republicans in Congress should not force a government shutdown over the issue. | John Richard Kasich Jr. ( ; born May 13, 1952) is an American politician, author, and television news host who served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1983 to 2001 and as the 69th governor of Ohio from 2011 to 2019. A Republican, Kasich unsuccessfully sought his party's presidential nomination in 2000 and 2016.
Kasich grew up in McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, moving to Ohio to attend college. After a single term in the Ohio Senate, he served nine terms as a member of the United States House of Representatives from . His tenure in the House included 18 years on the House Armed Services Committee and six years as chairman of the House Budget Committee. Kasich was a key figure in the passage of both 1996 welfare reform legislation and the Balanced Budget Act of 1997. Kasich decided not to run for re-election in 2000 and ran for president instead. He withdrew from the race before the Republican primaries.
After leaving Congress, Kasich hosted Heartland with John Kasich on Fox News from 2001 to 2007 and served as managing director of the Lehman Brothers office in Columbus, Ohio. He ran for governor of Ohio in 2010, defeating Democratic incumbent Ted Strickland. He was re-elected in 2014, defeating Democratic challenger Ed FitzGerald by 30 percentage points. Kasich was term-limited and could not seek a third gubernatorial term in 2018; he was succeeded by fellow Republican Mike DeWine.
Kasich ran for president again in 2016, finishing in third place in the Republican primaries behind Donald Trump and Ted Cruz. He won the primary in his home state of Ohio and finished second in New Hampshire. Kasich declined to support Trump as the Republican presidential nominee and did not attend the 2016 Republican National Convention, which was held in Ohio. In 2019, following the end of his second term as governor, Kasich joined CNN as a contributor. Kasich is known as one of Trump's most prominent critics within the Republican Party, and he endorsed Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden for president in a speech at the 2020 Democratic National Convention.
Early life, education, and early political career
John Richard Kasich Jr. was born and raised in the Pittsburgh suburb of McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania. He is the son of Anne (née Vukovich; 1918–1987) and John Richard Kasich (1919-1987), who worked as a mail carrier.
Kasich's father was of Czech descent, while his mother was of Croatian descent. Both his father and mother were children of immigrants and were practicing Roman Catholics. He has described himself as "a Croatian and a Czech".
After attending public schools in his hometown of McKees Rocks, Kasich later left his native Pennsylvania, settling in Columbus, Ohio in 1970 to attend Ohio State University, where he joined the Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity.
As a freshman, he wrote a letter to President Richard Nixon describing concerns he had about the nation and requesting a meeting with the President. The letter was delivered to Nixon by the university's president Novice Fawcett and Kasich was granted a 20-minute meeting with Nixon in December 1970.
Earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Ohio State University, in 1974, he went on to work as a researcher for the Ohio Legislative Service Commission. From 1975 to 1978, he served as an administrative assistant to then-state Senator Buz Lukens.
Ohio Senate career
In 1978, Kasich ran against Democratic incumbent Robert O'Shaughnessy for State Senate. A political ally of Kasich remembers him during that time as a persistent campaigner: "People said, 'If you just quit calling me, I'll support you.'" At age 26, Kasich won with 56% of the vote, beginning his four-year term representing the 15th district. Kasich was the second youngest person ever elected to the Ohio Senate.
One of his first acts as a State Senator was to refuse a pay raise. Republicans gained control of the State Senate in 1980, but Kasich went his own way, for example, by opposing a budget proposal he believed would raise taxes and writing his own proposal instead.
U.S. House of Representatives (1983–2001)
In 1982, Kasich ran for Congress in Ohio's 12th congressional district, which included portions of Columbus as well as the cities of Westerville, Reynoldsburg, Worthington, and Dublin. He won the Republican primary with 83% of the vote and defeated incumbent Democratic U.S. Congressman Bob Shamansky in the general election by a margin of 50%–47%. He would never face another contest nearly that close, and was re-elected eight more times with at least 64 percent of the vote.
During his congressional career, Kasich was considered a fiscal conservative, taking aim at programs supported by Republicans and Democrats. He worked with Ralph Nader in seeking to reduce corporate tax loopholes.
Kasich was a member of the House Armed Services Committee for 18 years. He developed a "fairly hawkish" reputation on that committee, although he "also zealously challenged" defense spending he considered wasteful. Among the Pentagon projects that he targeted were the B-2 bomber program (teaming up with Democratic representative Ron Dellums to cut the program, their efforts were partly successful) and the A-12 bomber program (ultimately canceled by defense secretary Dick Cheney in 1991). He participated extensively in the passage of the Goldwater–Nichols Act of 1986, which reorganized the U.S. Department of Defense. He also pushed through the bill creating the 1988 Base Realignment and Closure Commission, which closed obsolete U.S. military bases, and successfully opposed a proposed $110 million expansion of the Pentagon building after the end of the Cold War. He also "proposed a national commission on arms control" and "urged tighter controls over substances that could be used for biological warfare."
Kasich said he was "100 percent for" the first Persian Gulf War as well as the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, but said that he did not favor U.S. military participation in the Lebanese Civil War or in Bosnia. In 1997, with fellow Republican representative Floyd Spence, he introduced legislation (supported by some congressional Democrats) for the U.S. to pull out of a multilateral peacekeeping force in Bosnia. In the House, he supported the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act, a U.S. Representative Ron Dellums (D- CA)-led initiative to impose economic sanctions against apartheid-era South Africa.
Ranking member of the House Budget Committee
In 1993, Kasich became the ranking Republican member of the House Budget Committee. Kasich and other House Budget Committee Republicans proposed an alternative to President Bill Clinton's deficit reduction bill, the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993. That proposal included funds to implement Republican proposals for health care, welfare, and crime control legislation and for a child tax credit. The Penny-Kasich Plan, named after Kasich and fellow lead sponsor Tim Penny, was supported by Republicans and conservative Democrats. It proposed $90 billion in spending cuts over five years, almost three times as much in cuts as the $37 billion in cuts backed by the Clinton administration and Democratic congressional leaders. About one-third ($27 billion) of the proposed Penny-Kasich cuts would come from means-testing Medicare, specifically by reducing Medicare payments to seniors who earned $75,000 or more in adjusted gross income. This angered the AARP, which lobbied against the legislation. Another $26 billion of the Penny-Kasich plan's cuts would have come from the U.S. Department of Defense and foreign aid, which led Secretary of Defense Les Aspin to say that the plan would destroy military morale. Another $27 billion in savings would have come from federal layoffs. The proposal was narrowly defeated in the House by a 219–213 vote.
As ranking member of the Budget Committee, Kasich proposed his own health care reform plan as a rival to the Clinton health care plan of 1993 championed by First Lady Hillary Clinton, but more market-based. As journalist Zeke Miller wrote in Time magazine, "The Kasich plan would have covered all Americans by 2005, using a form of an individual mandate that would have required employees to purchase insurance through their employers. (The mandate was an idea initially supported by conservative groups like The Heritage Foundation.)"
On November 17, 1993, Kasich voted to approve the North American Free Trade Agreement, casting a "yea" vote for the North American Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act.
In 1994, Kasich was one of the Republican leaders to support a last-minute deal with President Bill Clinton to pass the Federal Assault Weapons Ban. After a series of meetings with Clinton's Chief of Staff, Leon Panetta, a longtime friend of Kasich, the assault weapons ban was passed when 42 Republicans crossed party lines and voted to ban assault weapons with the Democrats. His support of the assault-weapons ban angered the National Rifle Association, which gave Kasich an "F" rating in 1994 as a result.
Chair of the House Budget Committee
In 1995, when Republicans gained the majority in the United States Congress following the 1994 election, Kasich became chair of the House Budget Committee. In 1996, he introduced the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act in the House, an important welfare reform bill signed into law by President Clinton.
During the 1996 presidential campaign, Republican nominee Bob Dole was reported to have considered Kasich as a vice presidential running mate but instead selected Jack Kemp, a former congressman and Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
In 1997, Kasich rose to national prominence after becoming "the chief architect of a deal that balanced the federal budget for the first time since 1969"—the Balanced Budget Act of 1997.
In 1998, Kasich voted to impeach President Clinton on all four charges made against him. In 1999, while the Senate prepared to vote on the charges, he said: "I believe these are impeachable and removable offenses."
2000 presidential campaign
Kasich did not seek re-election in 2000. In February 1999, he formed an exploratory committee to run for president. In March 1999 he announced his campaign for the Republican nomination. After very poor fundraising, he dropped out in July 1999, before the Iowa Straw Poll, and endorsed governor George W. Bush of Texas.
Private sector career (2001–2009)
After leaving Congress, Kasich went to work for Fox News, hosting Heartland with John Kasich on the Fox News Channel and guest-hosting The O'Reilly Factor, filling in for Bill O'Reilly as needed. He also occasionally appeared as a guest on Hannity & Colmes.
Business career
Kasich served on the board of directors for several corporations, including Invacare Corp. and the Chicago-based Norvax Inc. In 2001, Kasich joined Lehman Brothers' investment banking division as a managing director, in Columbus, Ohio. He remained at Lehman Brothers until it declared bankruptcy in 2008. That year, Lehman Brothers paid him a $182,692 salary and a $432,200 bonus. He stated that the bonus was for work performed in 2007.
Kasich's employment by Lehman Brothers was criticized during his subsequent campaigns in light of the firm's collapse during the financial crisis. Kasich responded to critics by saying: "I wasn't involved in the inner workings of Lehman, I was a banker. I didn't go to board meetings or go and talk investment strategy with the top people. I was nowhere near that. That's like, it's sort of like being a car dealer in Zanesville and being blamed for the collapse of GM."
Political activities from 2001 to 2009
Republicans made efforts to recruit Kasich to run for Ohio governor in 2006, but he declined to enter the race.
In 2008, Kasich formed Recharge Ohio, a political action committee (PAC) with the goal of raising money to help Republican candidates for the Ohio House of Representatives and Ohio Senate, in an effort to retain Republican majorities in the Ohio General Assembly. Kasich served as honorary chairman of the PAC.
Governor of Ohio
2010 election
On May 1, 2009, Kasich filed papers to run for governor of Ohio against incumbent Democratic governor Ted Strickland. He formally announced his candidacy on June 1, 2009. On January 15, 2010, Kasich announced Ohio State Auditor Mary Taylor as his running mate.
During a speech before Ashtabula County Republicans in March 2009, Kasich talked about the need to "break the back of organized labor in the schools," according to the Ashtabula Star Beacon.
Ohio teachers' unions supported Strickland, and after Kasich's gubernatorial victory, he said, "I am waiting for the teachers' unions to take out full-page ads in all the major newspapers, apologizing for what they had to say about me during this campaign."
Elsewhere, he said he was willing to work with "unions that make things."
On May 4, 2010, Kasich won the Republican nomination for governor, having run unopposed. On November 2, 2010, Kasich defeated Strickland in a closely contested race to win the governorship. He was sworn in at midnight on January 10, 2011, in a private ceremony at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus. It was then followed by a ceremonial inauguration at the Ohio Theatre at noon on the same day.
2014 re-election
In November 2014, Kasich won re-election, defeating Democrat Ed FitzGerald, the county executive of Cuyahoga County, 64% to 33%. He won 86 of 88 counties.
Kasich, who was elected with Tea Party support in 2010, faced some backlash from some Tea Party activists. His decision to accept the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act's expansion of Medicaid caused some Tea Party activists to refuse to support his campaign. Kasich supported longtime ally and campaign veteran Matt Borges over Portage County Tea Party chairman Tom Zawistowski for the position of chairman of the Ohio Republican Party. Zawistowski secured just three votes in his run for the chairmanship. Tea Party groups announced they would support a primary challenger, or, if none emerged, the Libertarian nominee.
Ultimately, Zawistowski failed to field anyone on the ballot and the Libertarian nominee (former Republican State Representative Charlie Earl) was removed from the ballot after failing to gain the required number of valid signatures necessary for ballot access.
Political positions and record
Kasich is considered by some to be a moderate Republican due to his strong condemnation of far-right conservatives and his endorsement of Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election. However, his record in the House and as governor of Ohio has led others to point out that his views place him to the right of most moderate politicians. Larry Sabato, the director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics, who has known Kasich for years, says that "If you had asked me in the 90s about Kasich I would have said he was a Gingrich conservative." Kasich's friend Curt Steiner, former chief of staff to former Republican Ohio governor and U.S. senator George Voinovich, described Kasich as a "solid Republican" with "an independent streak."
Kasich's tenure as governor was notable for his expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, his work combating the opioid addiction crisis, his attempt (later reversed by Ohio voters in a 2011 referendum) to curtail collective bargaining for public sector employees, his local government funding cuts, his passage of several anti-abortion laws, his veto of a fetal heartbeat law, his tax cuts, and his evolving position on gun control.
Abortion
Kasich opposes abortion except in cases of rape, incest, and danger to the mother's life. As governor, he signed 18 abortion-restrictive measures into law. In June 2013, Kasich signed into law a state budget, HB 59, which stripped some $1.4 million in federal dollars from Planned Parenthood by placing the organization last on the priority list for family-planning funds; provided funding to crisis pregnancy centers; and required women seeking abortions to undergo ultrasounds. The budget also barred abortion providers from entering into emergency transfer agreements with public hospitals, requiring abortion providers to find private hospitals willing to enter into transfer agreements. Another provision of the bill requires abortion providers to offer information on family planning and adoption services in certain situations. Under the budget, rape crisis centers could lose public funding if they counseled sexual assault victims about abortion.
In 2015, Kasich said in an interview that Planned Parenthood "ought to be de-funded", but added that Republicans in Congress should not force a government shutdown over the issue.
In December 2016, Kasich approved a ban on abortions after 20 weeks, except when a pregnancy endangers a woman's life, but vetoed HB 493, a law which would have made abortion illegal after detection of a fetal heartbeat (typically 5–6 weeks after conception). Kasich cited the cost to taxpayers of defending the legislation in court, and the likelihood that the "Heartbeat Bill" would be struck down in federal court as reasons for vetoing the more restrictive bill. In December 2018, Kasich again vetoed a bill to ban abortion after detection of a fetal heartbeat citing the cost to taxpayers and previous rulings by the federal courts. He did sign a bill into law that bans the dilation and evacuation procedure commonly used for abortion.
Climate change, energy, and environment
In a speech in April 2012, Kasich claimed that climate change is real and is a problem. In the same speech, however, Kasich said that the Environmental Protection Agency should not regulate carbon emissions and that instead states and private companies should be in charge of regulating coal-fired power plant emissions. In 2015, Kasich stated that he did not know all the causes of climate change, and that he did not know the extent to which humans contribute to climate change.
In 2014, Kasich signed into law a bill freezing Ohio's renewable portfolio standard (RPS) program for two years. Ohio's RPS program was created by 2008 legislation and required the state to acquire 12.5 percent of its energy portfolio from renewable sources and to reduce energy consumption by 22 percent by 2025. The legislation signed by Kasich to stop the program was supported by Republican legislative leaders, utility companies, and some industry groups, and opposed by environmentalists, some manufacturers, and the American Lung Association. In 2016, Kasich broke with fellow Republicans in the state legislature by vetoing their attempt to continue blocking the RPS standards; as a result, the freeze ended on December 31, 2016, and the clean-energy mandate resumed. This veto won Kasich praise from environmentalist groups, and angered Republicans in the state legislature.
In his 2015 budget plan, Kasich proposed raising the tax rate on hydraulic fracturing (fracking) activities. Specifically, Kasich's plan called for imposing a 6.5 percent severance tax on crude oil and natural gas extracted via horizontal drilling and sold at the source (about $3.25 per $50 barrel of oil), and for an additional 4.5 percent tax per thousand cubic feet on natural gas and liquefied natural gas (about $0.16 per thousand cubic feet). The proposal would not affect conventional drilling taxes.
Kasich formerly supported fracking in Ohio state parks and forests, signing legislation in mid-2011 authorizing him to appoint a five-member commission to oversee the leasing of mineral rights on state land to the highest bidders. In 2012, Kasich aides planned a campaign with a stated goal to "marginalize the effectiveness of communications by adversaries about the initiative" to bring fracking to state parks and forests, naming in an email the Ohio Sierra Club and state Representatives Robert F. Hagan and Nickie Antonio as adversaries of the plan. Kasich never appointed the commission, and the promotional plan was never put into effect. A memo and email relating to the 2012 promotional campaign were publicly released for the first time in February 2015, which according to the Columbus Dispatch attracted criticism from state environmental and liberal groups, as well as Democratic state legislators, who called for an investigation. On the same day the governor reversed himself, with a spokesman saying, "At this point, the governor doesn't support fracking in state parks. We reserve the right to revisit that, but it's not what he wants to do right now, and that's been his position for the past year and a half."
In April 2015, Kasich signed a bill aimed at protecting Lake Erie's water quality. The bill places restrictions on the spread of manure and other fertilizers that contribute to toxic algal blooms and requires large public water treatment plants to monitor phosphorus levels. The bill had been unanimously approved by both chambers of the Ohio Legislature the previous month.
Kasich supported the Keystone XL oil pipeline project and, along with other Republican governors, signed an open letter in February 2015 urging federal approval for the project. In 2016, in response to a request from South Dakota under the terms of an interstate compact, Kasich dispatched 37 Ohio state troopers to South Dakota, where they were stationed around Dakota Access Pipeline protests near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. This controversial deployment prompted unsuccessful petitions to Kasich (from members of the public, Cincinnati City Council members, environmentalists, and some state legislators), who asked Kasich to recall the troopers.
Policing and criminal justice
Prison privatization
To offset a state budget deficit, Kasich proposed selling five state prisons to the for-profit prison industry. The Lake Erie prison was sold for $72.7 million to the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), generating savings of $3 million. Kasich's Director of Corrections, Gary Mohr, whom he had hired in January 2011, had previously worked for CCA, but he said that he removed himself from the sales process. In an audit in October 2012, CCA was cited for 47 contractual violations, and failed a second audit later that year. In July 2015, the Kasich administration announced its intent to sell the North Central Correctional Institution at Marion, in order to recoup the state's original investment in the facility and invest the proceeds in community-based alternatives to prison.
Policing standards
Following the separate fatal police shootings of John Crawford III and Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old boy in Ohio, while each were holding BB guns, grand juries decided not to indict any of the officers involved. Following this, Kasich created the Ohio Collaborative Community-Police Advisory Board "to address what he described as frustration and distrust among some Ohioans toward their police departments, particularly among the black community." The 23-member task force (with 18 members appointed by Kasich) was appointed in January 2015 and issued its 629-page final report and recommendations in April 2015. The report recommended greater accountability and oversight for police agencies and officers, further community education and involvement in policing, and new use-of-force and recruitment, hiring, and training standards for police agencies.
In April 2015, Kasich created the Ohio Collaborative Community-Police Advisory Board, a twelve-member board tasked (in conjunction with the Ohio Office of Criminal Justice Services and the Ohio Department of Public Safety) with developing statewide standards for the recruiting, hiring and screening of police officers, and for the use of force (including deadly force) by police. The advisory board, the first of its kind in Ohio, was also tasked by Kasich with developing "model policies and best practice recommendations to promote better interaction and communication between law enforcement departments and their home communities." In August 2015, the board issued its recommendations, which placed "an emphasis on the preservation of human life and restrict officers to defending themselves or others from death or serious injury."
In August 2015, Kasich said that he was open to the idea of requiring police officers to wear body cameras.
Capital punishment
As governor, Kasich presided over the executions of fifteen inmates and commuted the death sentences of seven inmates. The last execution in Ohio took place in July 2018. In January 2015, Kasich announced that, due to pending litigation and other issues, he was delaying all seven executions scheduled through January 2016. The delay was largely attributed to European pharmaceutical companies, which have refused to supply the state with deadly drugs necessary for executions. In February 2017, Kasich again delayed Ohio executions for an additional three months, after a federal judge ruled that Ohio's three-drug lethal injection protocol is unconstitutional.
Executive clemency
Kasich used his power of executive clemency sparingly. He has the lowest clemency rate of any Ohio governor since at least the 1980s, when records began to be kept. In six years in office, Kasich granted 86 of the 2,291 requests that he acted upon. In 2016, Kasich granted executive clemency to 13 people; in all of the cases, the Ohio Adult Parole Authority had recommended clemency.
Criminal justice reform issues
Kasich supports various criminal justice reform efforts; according to conservative Washington Post columnist George Will, Kasich "favors fewer mandatory minimum sentences and has instituted prison policies that prepare inmates for re-integration into communities." In 2011, Kasich signed sentencing reform legislation which allowed judges to sentence defendants convicted of non-violent fourth- and fifth-degree felonies to "community-based halfway house facilities" instead of prison; expanded the earned credit system to allow inmates to reduce their sentences; and allowed felons who have already served 80 percent or more of their sentences to be immediately released.
In 2012, Kasich signed into law a bill, sponsored by Cleveland Democratic Senator Shirley Smith and Cincinnati Republican Senator Bill Seitz, easing the collateral consequences of criminal conviction.
In September 2014, Kasich touted the Ohio's prison system's recidivism rate, which is one of the lowest in the nation. U.S. Senator Rob Portman, a Republican, attributed a drop in Ohio's recidivism rate "to the bipartisan work of the state legislature, Governor Kasich, Ohio's reentry leaders and the success of programs made possible at the federal level by the Second Chance Act," which Portman sponsored.
In 2015, Kasich proposed a state budget including $61.7 million for addiction treatment services for prisoners.
Drug policy
Kasich initially expressed opposition to medical marijuana in 2012, saying "There's better ways to help people who are in pain." However, in late 2015 and early 2016, Kasich said he was open to the legalization of medical marijuana.
In March 2014, in an effort to address the opioid epidemic, Kasich signed legislation (passed unanimously in both chambers of the state legislature) expanding the availability of naloxone, a lifesaving antidote to opioid overdoses; the measure allowed friends and family members of addicts to obtain access to naloxone and for first responders to carry naloxone. In July 2015, Kasich signed legislation further expanding the availability of naloxone, making it available without a prescription.
In a 2015 interview with radio talk show host Hugh Hewitt, Kasich said he was opposed to the legalization of recreational marijuana in some states and equated the drug to heroin, stating: "In my state and across this country, if I happened to be president, I would lead a significant campaign down at the grassroots level to stomp these drugs out of our country."
When Kasich was asked by Hewitt whether, if elected president, he would federally enforce marijuana laws in states which have legalized marijuana, Kasich characterized it as a states' rights issue and said that "I'd have to think about it." When asked the same question later in 2015, Kasich said: "I would try to discourage the states from doing it...but I would be tempted to say I don't think we can go and start disrupting what they've decided."
Kasich opposed "Issue 3," an Ohio ballot measure in 2015 that proposed the legalization of recreational marijuana, saying it was a "terrible idea."
Economic policy
State budgets and taxation
During Kasich's tenure, the state has eliminated a budget shortfall that his administration has estimated at $8 billion, but which the Cleveland Plain Dealer estimated at closer to $6 billion. (The New York Times put the number at $7.7 billion). Ohio also increased its "rainy day fund" from effectively zero to more than $2 billion.
Kasich "closed the budget shortfall in part by cutting aid to local governments, forcing some of them to raise their own taxes or cut services. And increasing sales taxes helped make the income tax cuts possible." An analysis by the Plain Dealer in March 2016 found that more than 70 cities and villages had lost at least $1 million a year due to Kasich's budget and taxation policy.
In March 2008, Kasich called for "phasing out" Ohio's state income tax.
During Kasich's time as governor, Ohio ranked 22nd out of the 50 states for private-sector job growth, at 9.3%.
Kasich signed a state budget in 2011 which eliminated the state's estate tax effective January 1, 2013.
In 2013, Kasich signed into law a $62 billion two-year state budget. The budget provided for a 10-percent state income tax cut phased in over three years, and an increase in the state sales tax from 5.5 percent to 5.75 percent. It also included a 50% tax cut for small business owners on the first $250,000 of annual net income. Kasich used his line-item veto power to reject a measure that would stop the Medicaid expansion (which Kasich had accepted from the federal government) to cover nearly 275,000 working poor Ohioans.
In 2015, Kasich signed into law a $71 billion two-year state budget after using his line-item veto power to veto 44 items. The overall 2015 budget provides a 6.3 percent state income-tax cut as a part one component of a $1.9 billion net tax reduction and lowers the top income-tax rate to slightly below 5 percent. The budget also "spends $955 million more in basic state aid for K-12 schools than the last two-year period"; "boosts state funding for higher education to help offset a two-year tuition freeze at public universities"; expands the Medicaid health program; increases cigarette taxes by 35 cents a pack; and "prohibits independent health care and child care workers under contract with the state from unionizing."
Senate Bill 5 and labor issues
On March 31, 2011, in his first year as governor, Kasich signed into law Senate Bill 5, a controversial labor law which restricted collective bargaining rights of public employees, such as police officers, firefighters, and teachers. The legislation, championed by Kasich, prohibited all public employees from striking and restricted their ability to negotiate health care and pension benefits. The final version of the legislation signed by Kasich had passed the state Senate in a 17–16 vote (with six Senate Republicans joining all of the Senate Democrats in voting no) and the state House in a 53–44 vote, with two members abstaining.
Democrats and labor unions opposed the legislation and placed a referendum on the November 2011 ballot to repeal SB 5. SB 5 also "sparked numerous protests with thousands of union workers and other opponents descending on the Statehouse, mirroring similar demonstrations in Wisconsin and injecting Ohio into the national debate over Republican governors' attempts to curb public workers' collective bargaining rights." Kasich and other supporters of SB 5 characterized the legislation as a necessary measure "to help public employers control labor costs" and reduce tax burdens to make Ohio more competitive with other states, while labor unions and other opponents characterized the bill as "a union-busting attack on the middle class."
Ohio voters rejected Senate Bill 5 in a 61 percent to 39 percent vote, which was viewed as a rebuke to Kasich. On election night, Kasich said in a speech at the Ohio Statehouse that "It's clear the people have spoken. I heard their voices. I understand their decision. And frankly, I respect what the people have to say in an effort like this." Following this defeat, Kasich dropped efforts to pass broad-based collective bargaining restrictions, although in 2012 he supported a bill including "provisions reminiscent of Senate Bill 5" but applying only to the Cleveland Metropolitan School District.
In May 2015, Kasich rescinded executive orders issued by his predecessor Ted Strickland in 2007 and 2008 that provided the right to home health care contractors and in-home child care contractors to collectively bargain with the state.
Balanced budget amendment
Kasich has campaigned for a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Kasich created a 501(c)(4) group, Balanced Budget Forever, to promote the cause.
Free trade
Kasich said in 2016 that "I have never been an ideological supporter of free trade," but has long supported free trade agreements. He is a strong supporter of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and participated with others in a meeting with President Obama in support of the agreement.
Civil liberties and electronic surveillance
In speaking in the 2016 campaign on domestic surveillance, Kasich has "straddled the line," praising Rand Paul for saying that "we need to get warrants," but also saying "if there's information they need, the government needs to get it." Kasich has said there needs to be "a balance between good intelligence and the need to protect Americans from what can become an aggressive government somewhere down the road."
On one occasion, Kasich spoke out against proposals to mandate that technology companies provide a "backdoor" for the government to access encrypted devices, saying that this could end up aiding hackers. On a subsequent occasion, Kasich said that encryption was dangerous because it could stymie government antiterrorism investigations.
Kasich has condemned whistleblower Edward Snowden as a traitor.
Education
Kasich proposed new legislation which would increase funding to charter schools and poor school districts. He canceled the school-funding formula put into place by his Democratic predecessor, Governor Ted Strickland.
During Kasich's tenure as governor, he pushed to expand charter schools, increase the number of school vouchers that use public money to pay for tuition at private schools, implement a "merit pay" scheme for teachers, and evaluate teachers by student standardized test scores in math and reading. Kasich supports the Common Core State Standards and has criticized Republicans who turned against it.
During Kasich's tenure, funding for traditional public schools declined by about $500 million, while funding for charter schools has increased at least 27 percent. As calculated by the Howard Fleeter/Education Tax Policy Institute, total school funding under Kasich (including both charter and district schools) has ranged from a low of $7.1 billion in fiscal year 2013 to $7.8 billion in fiscal year 2015, which was higher than its previous peak under Kasich's predecessor, Ted Strickland. As calculated by the Howard Fleeter/Education Tax Policy Institute, Kasich has proposed total school funding of $8.0 billion in fiscal year 2016 and fiscal year 2017. The Ohio Department of Education—which includes more spending areas than Fleeter's does and so reports higher numbers—projects total school funding for Ohio schools to rise to slightly under $10.5 billion by the end of fiscal year 2017.
Analysts disagree "on whether Kasich's education budgets give increases beyond inflation." In the 2015 state budget, Kasich used his line-item veto power "to cut more than $84 million of funding from public schools."
According to a September 2014 story in the Columbus Dispatch, Kasich favored allowing public school districts "to teach alternatives to evolution—such as intelligent design—if local school officials want to, under the philosophy of 'local control.'"
In 2011, Kasich had the idea of establishing a Holocaust memorial on the grounds of the Ohio Statehouse. Kasich successfully secured approval of the proposal from the Capital Square Review and Advisory Board. The $2 million Ohio Holocaust and Liberators Memorial, designed by Daniel Libeskind, is located across from the Ohio Theatre; the memorial was dedicated in 2014.
Foreign and defense policy
In November 2002, Kasich urged the invasion of Iraq, telling a crowd of students at Ohio State University: "We should go to war with Iraq. It's not likely that (Saddam) Hussein will give up his weapons. If he did he would be disgraced in the Arab world."
In an interview in August 2015, Kasich said: "I would never have committed ourselves to Iraq." A Kasich spokesman subsequently said that "Kasich was not revising history" but was instead saying that the Iraq War was a mistake given the facts available now.
Kasich has said that the U.S. "should've left a base in Iraq" instead of withdrawing troops in 2011.
In 2015, Kasich said that airstrikes were insufficient to combat the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, and he would send U.S. ground troops to fight ISIL.
Kasich opposed the landmark 2015 international nuclear agreement with Iran, and in September 2015 was one of fourteen Republican governors who sent a letter to President Obama stating "that we intend to ensure that the various state-level sanctions [against Iran] that are now in effect remain in effect," despite the agreement.
Kasich has expressed support for the U.S.'s drone program. He has said, however, that the program should be overseen by the Department of Defense, and not by the CIA.
Kasich has said that he wants to lift budget sequestration for military spending, and "spend more if necessary."
In November 2015, Kasich said that if elected president, he "would send a carrier battle group through the South China Sea" to send a message to China regarding their claims of sovereignty there.
Kasich supports continued U.S. support of Saudi Arabia, but he criticized Saudi Arabia's "funding and teaching of radical clerics who are the very people who try to destroy us".
Kasich favors strong relations between the U.S. and its NATO allies. He supported Senator John McCain's call for maintaining existing U.S. sanctions on Russia, and condemned the Trump administration's consideration of lifting sanctions. Like McCain, Kasich supports imposing "tougher sanctions against Russia and Putin's inner circle." He supports a bipartisan investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections.
LGBT rights
By the mid-2010s, Kasich had shown much more support for LGBT rights than many of his Republican counterparts. However, during his time in Congress, Kasich was much less accepting, and voted for the Defense of Marriage Act, which barred federal recognition of same-sex marriage. During this period, Kasich supported a ban on same-sex marriage in Ohio and stated that he did not approve of the "gay lifestyle." As governor of Ohio, Kasich signed an executive order banning discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation for state employees; this was more narrow than the previous executive order signed by his predecessor because it omitted protections for gender identity.
During the 2016 presidential campaign, Kasich struck a more moderate tone compared to his Republican opponents. In June 2015, following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, which held that there is a fundamental right to same-sex marriage under the Fourteenth Amendment, Kasich said that he was "obviously disappointed" and that he believes in "traditional marriage," but that the ruling was "the law of the land and we'll abide by it" and that it was "time to move on" to other issues. During his time as Ohio governor, Kasich appointed Richard Hodges as Ohio Director of Health, who was the lead-respondent in the case.
Kasich indicated that he did not support an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to overturn the decision. In response to a debate question about how he would explain his position on same-sex marriage to one of his daughters if she were gay, Kasich responded, "The court has ruled, and I said we'll accept it. And guess what, I just went to a wedding of a friend of mine who happens to be gay. Because somebody doesn't think the way I do doesn't mean that I can't care about them or can't love them. So if one of my daughters happened to be that, of course I would love them and I would accept them. Because you know what? That's what we're taught when we have strong faith."
In September 2015, Kasich commented on the highly publicized case of Kim Davis (the Rowan County, Kentucky clerk who refused to comply with a federal court order directing her to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples), saying: "Now, I respect the fact that this lady doesn't agree but she's also a government employee, she's not running a church, I wouldn't force this on a church. But in terms of her responsibility I think she has to comply. I don't think — I don't like the fact that she's sitting in a jail, that's absurd as well. But I think she should follow the law."
In a March 2018 interview on The Rubin Report, Kasich passively came out in support of same-sex marriage saying "I'm fine with it," but stated that he now preferred to show himself as someone in the "Billy Graham tradition" that "avoided social issues". In December 2018, Kasich signed an executive order extending non-discrimination protections for gender identity, including trans and non-binary identities, to state employees in Ohio.
Gun policy
While in the U.S. House of Representatives, Kasich had a mixed record on gun policy. He was one of 215 Representatives to vote for the Federal Assault Weapons Ban, which became law in 1994, but voted against the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act ("Brady Bill"), which established current background check laws.
As governor, Kasich shifted to more pro-gun positions. In 2011, he signed one bill permitting concealed handguns in bars and another making it easier for people with misdemeanor drug convictions to purchase guns. In 2012, Kasich signed a bill allowing gun owners to transport weapons with loaded magazines in their vehicles and expanding concealed carry permit reciprocity. In December 2014, Kasich signed legislation that reduced the numbers of hours of training required to obtain a concealed carry permit and eliminated the training requirement for permit renewals.
After the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in February 2018, Kasich called for restrictions on the sales of AR-15 style rifles.
Health care
Kasich opted to accept Medicaid-expansion funding provided by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA or "Obamacare") in Ohio. This decision angered many Statehouse Republicans, who wanted Kasich to reject the expansion.
Total spending on Medicaid by the state was almost $2 billion (or 7.6 percent) below estimates for the fiscal year ending in June 2015, according to a report by Kasich's administration. The lower-than-expected costs were attributed to expanded managed care, shorter nursing home stays and increased in-home care for seniors, capitated reimbursement policies, increased automation to determine eligibility for the program and pay care providers, and an improving economy in the state which allowed some participants to move out of the program.
In an October 2014 interview, Kasich said that repeal of the ACA was "not gonna happen" and stated that "The opposition to it was really either political or ideological. I don't think that holds water against real flesh and blood, and real improvements in people's lives." Kasich later said that he was referring solely to the law's Medicaid expansion, and that "my position is that we need to repeal and replace" the rest of the law. In 2015, Kasich expressed support for many provisions of the ACA (ensuring coverage for people with preexisting conditions, the use of insurance exchanges, and Medicaid expansion), but opposed mandates.
In 2017, after Donald Trump took office and congressional Republicans maneuvered to repeal the ACA, Kasich criticized Republican hard-liners in Congress who demanded a full ACA repeal, saying that full repeal was "not acceptable" when 20 million people gained insurance under the ACA and that doing so would be a "political impossibility." Kasich urged that the Medicaid expansion be preserved in some form, criticizing the House Republican legislation that would cut the Medicaid expansion and phase out health insurance subsidies for low-income Americans. Kasich said that the nation's "soul" was at stake if Republicans passed legislation that left millions without health insurance. After the failure of the House Republican health-care legislation, Kasich met in Washington with members of the Republican Tuesday Group and urged fellow Republicans to work with Democrats to make more modest changes to the Affordable Care Act. In May 2017, Kasich said that the version of the Republican health care bill that passed the House was "inadequate" and would harm patients; Kasich said that Republicans "should've worked with the Democrats" on the bill rather than passing legislation merely to fulfill a campaign pledge.
In June 2017, Kasich said that he didn't "have a problem" with gradually phasing out the ACA's expansion of Medicaid over a seven-year period, but only if Congress provided states with significantly more, more than the House Republican bill provided for, and only if Congress granted states more authority to manage the program. Along with three other Republican governors (Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas, Brian Sandoval of Nevada, and Rick Snyder of Michigan), Kasich signed a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell with an outline of their wishes for an health care bill. Kasich and the others specifically called upon Congress to "end the requirement that state Medicaid programs cover nearly every prescription drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration." Kasich and the other governors' views were seen as influential, because their states have Republican senators and the Republicans have only a narrow majority in the Senate.
Immigration and refugees
In 2010, while running for governor, Kasich expressed support for amending the U.S. Constitution to abolish the Fourteenth Amendment's guarantee of jus soli (birthright) citizenship for people born in the United States. Kasich also told the Columbus Dispatch at the time that "One thing that I don't want to reward is illegal immigration."
In 2014, Kasich acknowledged that his stance on immigration has "evolved" because "maybe [I'm] a little smarter now," stating: "I don't want to see anybody in pain. So I guess when I look at this now, I look at it differently than I did in '10. ... When I look at a group of people who might be hiding, who may be afraid, who may be scared, who have children, I don't want to be in a position of where I make it worse for them." That year, Kasich expressed openness to a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, saying at a Republican Governors Association (RGA) meeting in Florida, "I don't like the idea of citizenship when people jump the line, [but] we may have to do it." Kasich was the only governor at the RGA conference "to express openly a willingness to create a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants."
In August 2015, while running for president, Kasich called for a path to legal status (but not necessarily citizenship) for undocumented immigrants and for a guest worker program. Kasich also appeared to disavow his earlier stance against birthright citizenship, stating "I don't think we need to go there"; called for completion of a fence along the U.S.-Mexico border; and noted that undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as young children may obtain driver's licenses in Ohio.
In October 2015, Kasich criticized Donald Trump's "plan to build a wall along the Mexican border and remove immigrants who entered the United States illegally," calling these notions "just crazy."
In September 2015, Kasich said that the U.S. had a moral responsibility to accept refugees fleeing war and violence in Syria. Subsequently, however, Kasich moved to the right, and in November 2015 wrote a letter to President Obama asking that no additional Syrian refugees be resettled in Ohio. Kasich opposed Trump's executive order on travel and immigration, which Trump signed one week after taking office in January 2017. Kasich said that the order was "ham-handed" because it "sowed so much confusion" and "sent a message that somehow the United States was looking sideways at Muslims."
Lieutenant governor
Kasich has a "long-standing political partnership" with his lieutenant governor, Mary Taylor. In 2014, Kasich defended Taylor after her chief of staff, and that chief of staff's administrative assistant, resigned following a timesheet probe. Kasich said of Taylor's handling of the matter: "Mary did the right thing and I support her."
In 2017, the Kasich-Taylor relationship frayed after Taylor abandoned Kasich ally Matt Borges in his bid for chairman of the Ohio Republican Party, and instead chose to support Jane Timken, who was actively supported by Donald Trump, who sought revenge against Kasich for his choice not to endorse Trump. Nevertheless, Kasich indicated that Taylor had "been a good partner" over his term and indicated that he would support her if she chose to run for governor in 2018.
Racial diversity in Cabinet
Upon taking office in 2011, Kasich received criticism for appointing an initial all-white cabinet of 22 members. Responding to criticism for not appointing any black, Hispanic, or Asian Cabinet members, Kasich said: "I don't look at things from the standpoint of any of these sort of metrics that people tend to focus on, race or age, or any of those things. It's not the way I look at things... I want the best possible team I can get." Shortly afterward, on February 2, 2011, Kasich made his first minority appointment to the Cabinet, naming Michael Colbert, a black man, to lead the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.
, four members of Kasich's Cabinet were members of racial minorities.
Transportation
Throughout his first gubernatorial campaign, Kasich opposed the Ohio Hub higher-speed passenger rail project (a proposed 258-mile Cleveland-to-Cincinnati train) and promised to cancel it, claiming that it would average speeds of merely 36 mph. In his first press conference following his election victory, Kasich declared "That train is dead...I said it during the campaign: It is dead."
As governor-elect, Kasich lobbied the federal government to use $400 million in federal dollars allocated for high-speed rail for freight rail projects instead. In a November 2010 letter to Kasich, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood wrote that the federal funding was specifically allocated by the 2009 economic stimulus act for high-speed rail, and could not be used for other purposes. In a December 2010 meeting with President Barack Obama, Kasich again unsuccessfully lobbied to use the grant money for freight rail rather than high-speed rail.
In December 2010, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced that Ohio would lose the $385 million in grant funds allocated for high-speed passenger rail, since Kasich had informed them that he had no intention of ever building high-speed rail projects. (Almost $15 million had already been spent for preliminary engineering.) The $385 million was instead diverted to other states, such as California, New York, and Florida, which planned high-speed rail using the grant money for its congressionally intended purpose. Outgoing governor Ted Strickland, who championed the project, expressed disappointment, saying that the loss of funding for the project was "one of the saddest days during my four years as governor" and that "I can't understand the logic of giving up these vital, job-creating resources to California and Florida at a time when so many Ohioans need jobs."
Kasich is an opponent of the Cincinnati Streetcar project.
In April 2015, Kasich signed a two-year transportation budget bill which allocated $7.06 billion for highway construction and maintenance, $600 million to local governments for road and bridge projects, and an additional million over the last budget for public transportation.
Voting rights
In February 2014, Kasich signed into law a bill which cut six days from Ohio's early voting period, including the "golden week" (a period at the beginning of early voting when voters could both register to vote and cast an in-person absentee ballot). The measures were hotly contested in the state legislature, passing on a party-line vote, with Republicans in favor and Democrats opposed. This measure prompted two federal lawsuits. The first lawsuit, brought by the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio on behalf of the NAACP and League of Women Voters of Ohio, resulted in a settlement in April 2015, in which the state agreed to provide evening and Sunday hours for early voting in elections in Ohio through 2018. The second lawsuit, Ohio Democratic Party v. Husted, was brought in May 2015 by Democratic election lawyer Marc Elias; plaintiffs argued that the Ohio bill eliminating "golden week" violated the Constitution and the Voting Rights Act because it disproportionately burdened black, Latino and young voters. The federal district court agreed and struck down the legislation, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit reversed that decision in a 2–1 vote, and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal. In July 2015, Kasich said that it was "pure demagoguery" for Hillary Clinton to "say that there are Republicans who are deliberately trying to keep people from voting."
In April 2015, Kasich used his line-item veto power to veto a provision added to a highway-budget bill by Republicans in the state legislature that would have required college students who register to vote in Ohio to obtain a state driver's license and vehicle registration, imposing an estimated $75 in motor vehicle costs on out-of-state college students who wanted to vote in the state. The veto was celebrated by voting rights advocates, Ohio Democrats, and the Cleveland Plain Dealer editorial board, which viewed the proposal as effectively a "poll tax" motivated by a partisan desire to limit college-town voting.
Judicial appointments
In Ohio, justices of the Ohio Supreme Court are elected, but the governor can fill unexpired terms. In May 2012, Ohio Supreme Court Associate Justice Evelyn Lundberg Stratton announced she would retire at the end of 2012. In December 2012, Kasich appointed Judge Judith L. French to Stratton's unexpired term, which ran from January 1, 2013, through January 1, 2015.
Impeachment of Donald Trump
On October 18, 2019, Kasich publicly stated that Donald Trump should be impeached. He had previously said there was not enough evidence to impeach the President.
2016 presidential campaign
In April 2015, Kasich announced the formation of his "New Day For America" group. Formerly a 527 group, it filed as a super PAC in July 2015. Between April 20 and June 30, 2015, the super PAC raised over $11.1 million from 165 "reportable contributions," including 34 contributions of $100,000 or more. Major contributors to the PAC include Floyd Kvamme, who donated $100,000, and Jim Dicke, chairman emeritus of Crown Equipment Corporation, who donated $250,000. According to FEC filings, Kasich's campaign had $2.5 million on hand at the beginning of 2016.
In May 2015, sources close to him had said he was "virtually certain" to run for the Republican nomination for president. On July 21, 2015, Kasich announced his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination during a speech at the Ohio Union, the student union of his alma mater, the Ohio State University.
On January 30, 2016, the New York Times endorsed Kasich for the Republican nomination. The Times editorial board strongly rebuked leading candidates Donald Trump and Senator Ted Cruz and wrote that Kasich, "though a distinct underdog, is the only plausible choice for Republicans tired of the extremism and inexperience on display in this race."
On the campaign trail, Kasich sought to project a sunny, optimistic message, describing himself as "the prince of light and hope." This marked a change in tone for Kasich, who had developed a reputation as an abrasive governor. Viewed as a long-shot contender, Kasich took an "above-the-fray approach to his rivals" and "ran unapologetically as a candidate with experience" even as others ran as "outsider" contenders.
Kasich came in second place in the New Hampshire primary on February 9, 2016, behind winner Trump. The Cincinnati Enquirer reported that this was "the best possible result" for Kasich and lent "credence to the notion that he can emerge" as a Republican alternative to Trump and Cruz.
Ultimately, however, Kasich's message "never caught on in a campaign that ... exposed the anger and frustration coursing through the electorate" and he "found himself stuck in fourth place in a three-man race, trailing Senator Marco Rubio of Florida in the delegate count" although Rubio had dropped out of the race in March.
The only state won by Kasich was his home state of Ohio, which gave him 66 delegates in its March 2016 winner-take-all primary but still left him with "a steep delegate deficit against his rivals." Kasich's unsuccessful campaign strategy hinged on the possibility of a contested (or brokered) Republican National Convention, in which no single candidate has enough delegates to win the nomination on the first ballot, something that has not happened in either of the two major parties' presidential nominating conventions since 1952. Kasich suspended his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination on May 4, 2016, one day after Trump won the Republican primary in Indiana. The third remaining contender, Cruz, quit the race shortly before Kasich did, leaving Trump as the only candidate remaining in the Republican field and hence the party's presumptive nominee.
A 2018 study on media coverage of the 2016 election noted "the paradox of the Kasich campaign's longevity while it lacked public interest provides some evidence for the idea that Kasich's biggest supporters were the media".
Aftermath
Following his withdrawal from the race, Kasich did not extend his support to Trump. In May and June 2016, Kasich said that Trump was a divisive figure rather than a "unifier," said he had no plans to endorse Trump in the near future, and ruled out the possibility of seeking the Vice Presidency as Trump's running mate.
Kasich said it was "hard to say" whether he would ever endorse Trump; he added, "I can't go for dividing, name calling, or somebody that doesn't really represent conservative principles." Kasich said he had ruled out voting for Clinton but lacked the enthusiasm to fully back Trump.
In August 2016, Kasich repeated an earlier claim that the Trump campaign had offered him a powerful vice presidency, "putting him in charge of all domestic and foreign policy". The Trump campaign denied that such an offer had been made. Kasich also doubted whether Trump could win Ohio, a critical state in the election. It was speculated that Kasich was looking towards a 2020 campaign. This speculation was strengthened by a report that Kasich had planned to give a speech to the American Enterprise Institute less than 48 hours after the election but cancelled it the morning after the election when it was clear that Trump had won.
Kasich received an electoral vote for the presidency from one faithless elector, Christopher Suprun of Texas, who had been pledged to vote for Trump. An elector in Colorado also attempted to vote for him, but that vote was discarded; the elector was replaced by an alternate elector who voted, as pledged, for Clinton.
Opposition to Trump
In February 2017, Kasich met with Trump at the White House in a private meeting that followed a bitter feud. Kasich indicated that he hoped for Trump's success, but would continue to be critical when he thought it was necessary. The same month, Kasich's chief political advisors launched a political group, Two Paths America, in an effort to promote Kasich and his views and draw a contrast with Trump. In April 2017, Kasich also released a book, Two Paths: America Divided or United, written with Daniel Paisner. The creation of the group prompted speculation he could possibly run for president again, but Kasich said that he had no plans to seek elected office in the future.
In April 2017, during a CNN town hall, Kasich, while stating that he was "very unlikely" to do so, reopened the possibility that he might run for president in 2020. On August 20, however, he reiterated his previous statement that he had no plans to run; rather, he stated that he was "rooting for [Trump] to get it together."
In October 2017, during an interview with CNN's Jake Tapper, Kasich said he had not "given up" on the Republican Party, but added that "if the party can't be fixed ... I'm not going to be able to support the party. Period. That's the end of it." In March 2018, he told The Weekly Standard that he was "increasingly open" to running for president in the 2020 presidential election; however, in May 2019, he again declared that he would not seek the presidency in 2020.
In October 2019, Kasich expressed support for the impeachment inquiry against Trump, saying that the "final straw" for him was when Trump's acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney admitted that Trump had withheld U.S. aid from Ukraine in part to pressure the country to investigate Trump's domestic political rivals, a statement that Mulvaney later said were misconstrued.
Kasich confirmed on August 10, 2020, that he would be speaking at the 2020 Democratic National Convention in support of presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden. Kasich said that his conscience compelled him to speak out against Trump and in support of Biden, even if it resulted in blowback against him, adding, "I've been a reformer almost all of my life. I've been very independent and I'm a Republican but the Republican Party has always been my vehicle but never my master. You have to do what you think is right in your heart and I'm comfortable here."
Personal life
Kasich has been married twice. His first marriage was to Mary Lee Griffith from 1975 to 1980, and they had no children. Griffith has campaigned for Kasich since their divorce. Kasich and his current wife, Karen Waldbillig, a former public relations executive, were married in March 1997 and have twin daughters, Emma and Reese.
Kasich was raised a Catholic, but considers denominations irrelevant, while stating that "there's always going to be a part of me that considers myself a Catholic." He drifted away from his religion as an adult, but came to embrace an Anglican faith after his parents were killed in a car crash by a drunk driver on August 20, 1987. He joined the Episcopal Church (United States) as an adult. Kasich has said he "doesn't find God in church" but does belong to St. Augustine's in Westerville, Ohio, which is part of the Anglican Church in North America, a conservative church with which he remained when it broke off from the Episcopal Church (United States).
Electoral history
Published works
Kasich has authored five books:
Courage is Contagious, published in 1998, made the New York Times bestseller list
Stand for Something: The Battle for America's Soul, published in 2006
Every Other Monday, published in 2010. This book is a New York Times bestseller.
Two Paths: America Divided or United, published in 2017
It's Up to Us: Ten Little Ways We Can Bring About Big Change, published in 2019
See also
Ohio's 12th congressional district
List of United States representatives from Ohio
Ohio gubernatorial election, 2010
Ohio gubernatorial election, 2014
Republican Party presidential candidates, 2016
List of John Kasich presidential campaign endorsements, 2016
References
Citations
Bibliography
External links
Governor John Kasich official Ohio government website Jan. 2019 archive
John Kasich for Governor
John Kasich for President
U.S. Representative (1983–2001)
1952 births
Living people
Candidates in the 2000 United States presidential election
Candidates in the 2016 United States presidential election
20th-century American politicians
20th-century American writers
21st-century American businesspeople
21st-century American politicians
21st-century American non-fiction writers
American corporate directors
American investment bankers
American people of Croatian descent
American people of Czech descent
American political writers
American Christians
Businesspeople from Pennsylvania
Christians from Ohio
Former Roman Catholics
Fox News people
CNN people
Governors of Ohio
Lehman Brothers people
Members of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio
Ohio Republicans
Ohio state senators
Ohio State University College of Arts and Sciences alumni
People from McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania
Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives
Republican Party state governors of the United States
Writers from Ohio
Converts to Anglicanism from Roman Catholicism
Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio
Criticism of Donald Trump | false | [
"Executive Order 13535 is an executive order announced by President Barack Obama on March 21, 2010, and signed on March 24, 2010. It reinforces a commitment to preservation of the Hyde Amendment's policy restricting federal funds for abortion within the context of recent health care legislation. The order was signed after an agreement with anti-abortion Democratic Congressman Bart Stupak, who had said he and several other anti-abortion Democrats in the House of Representatives would not support the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act unless the Bill's language prohibiting federal funding of abortions was strengthened.\n\nThe executive order was condemned as ineffective by major anti-abortion organizations, including the Susan B. Anthony List, the National Right to Life Committee, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Family Research Council, the American Family Association, Focus on the Family, and Americans United for Life, among others. The organizations said executive orders can be rescinded at any time by any administration. They also said the fact that an executive order was needed proves that the health care law did fund abortion. The National Right to Life Committee said the executive order did not correct seven provisions in the law they identified as objectionable.\n\nPro-abortion rights groups also condemned the executive order, questioning Obama's commitment to the pro-abortion rights position. The National Organization for Women, Planned Parenthood, NARAL Pro-Choice America, and EMILY's List were among pro-abortion rights groups opposing the executive order.\n\nReferences\n\nAbortion in the United States\nExecutive orders of Barack Obama\nAffordable Care Act",
"Abortion in Guam is legal but there were no abortion providers in Guam as of 2018.\n\nTerminology \n\nThe abortion debate most commonly relates to the \"induced abortion\" of an embryo or fetus at some point in a pregnancy, which is also how the term is used in a legal sense. Some also use the term \"elective abortion\", which is used in relation to a claim to an unrestricted right of a woman to an abortion, whether or not she chooses to have one. The term elective abortion or voluntary abortion describes the interruption of pregnancy before viability at the request of the woman, but not for medical reasons.\n\nAnti-abortion advocates tend to use terms such as \"unborn baby\", \"unborn child\", or \"pre-born child\", and see the medical terms \"embryo\", \"zygote\", and \"fetus\" as dehumanizing. Both \"pro-choice\" and \"pro-life\" are examples of terms labeled as political framing: they are terms which purposely try to define their philosophies in the best possible light, while by definition attempting to describe their opposition in the worst possible light. \"Pro-choice\" implies that the alternative viewpoint is \"anti-choice\", while \"pro-life\" implies the alternative viewpoint is \"pro-death\" or \"anti-life\". The Associated Press encourages journalists to use the terms \"abortion rights\" and \"anti-abortion\".\n\nHistory \nAbortion, also known as pokká, was first documented in Guam in the 1750s. Chamorro women sought suicide, sterilization, or abortion as they did not wish to birth a child into the \"subjugation of the Spaniards\". Early methods utilized by Chamorro women to self-induce abortion included consuming drinks made from tree trunks, roots, and leaves.\n\nAbortion access \nDuring the 1990s, women who needed abortions often traveled to the Philippines to get an abortion as there were no legal options on the island. From 2000 to 2018, two medical providers performed the majority of abortions on Guam. However, after the last doctor providing abortion services retired in June 2018, women were left with few options for legal abortion services. Women seeking abortion may pay out-of-pocket to travel to Hawaii or Japan.\n\nLegislative and judicial history \n\nAs a United States territory, Guam is subject to federal legislation of the United States. In 1990, the Legislature of Guam enacted a law prohibiting abortion in all cases except when there was \"substantial risk\" to her life or that continuing the pregnancy would \"gravely impair\" her health. This law was challenged by the American Civil Liberties Union and struck down by the ninth circuit court of Guam in a case called Guam Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists v. Ada in 1997. In 2012, the Woman's Reproductive Health Information Act was passed, creating new restrictions for abortion provision, including a 13-week gestational age limit, a physician-only requirement, and a 24-hour mandatory waiting period.\n\nHospital and clinic history \nThere were no clinics or doctors providing abortion services during much of the 1990s. Since the 2000s and up to 2016, there were two doctors who performed abortions in Guam. That year on November 30, Dr. Edmund Griley at the Guam PolyClinic retired and then Dr. William Freeman at the Women's Clinic retired in June 2018. This left Guam without an abortion provider. Dr. Jeffrey Gabel took over the Women's Clinic in June 2018 and renamed it the Dr. Gabel's Clinic Obstetrics & Gynecology Para Famalao’an but since Gabel is pro-life, he refused to provide abortion services. Guam Memorial Hospital did not openly provide abortions and refused to refer women with life-threatening conditions to other medical facilities for abortions. Guam Regional Medical City also did not have any doctors willing to openly provide abortions and they did not provide referrals to doctors who provided them. Department of Public Health and Social Services also refused to provide abortion referrals.\n\nStatistics \nIn 2017, 239 abortions were performed, and 97% of these abortions utilized surgical intervention, such as dilation and curettage or intrauterine saline infusion. All but three abortions were performed at Women's Clinic. As legal abortion is no longer readily available in Guam, the current rate of abortion is not known.\n\nAnti-abortion and abortion rights movements \nThe Catholic Church of Guam is active in support of abortion restrictions through participation in the Rally for Life march. Guam's Governor Lou Leon Guerrero has publicly supported the recruitment of an abortion provider to Guam.\n\nFootnotes\n\nReferences \n\nGuam\nHealth in Guam\nWomen in Guam"
]
|
[
"The Aquabats! Super Show!",
"Premise"
]
| C_4cdf6386fc074258b24b5e00bbcdec23_1 | what can you tell me about their premise? | 1 | What can you tell me about The Aquabats! Super Show! premise? | The Aquabats! Super Show! | Chronicled in both live-action and animated segments, The Aquabats! Super Show! is centered around the adventures of The Aquabats, a group of superhero rock musicians who travel the countryside on a self-appointed mission to fight evil and "destroy boredom", protecting the world from the villains and creatures who threaten to destroy it while aiming to become a famous rock and roll band in their own right. The Aquabats consist of singer The MC Bat Commander (Christian Jacobs), the swaggering leader of the group; bassist Crash McLarson (Chad Larson), who can grow up to 100 feet in size; drummer Ricky Fitness (Richard Falomir), who has the power of super speed; guitarist EagleBones Falconhawk (Ian Fowles), who's armed with a laser-shooting electric guitar; and keyboardist Jimmy the Robot (James R. Briggs, Jr.), an android. Despite their superhuman strengths and abilities, The Aquabats are quite bumbling, disorganized, and sometimes cowardly when faced with danger; this has in fact led them to be labeled "the world's most inept superheroes". The band lives and travels by way of their "Battletram", a modified recreational vehicle which, despite its small exterior, has an implausibly massive interior (similar to the TARDIS from Doctor Who or The Big Bologna from The Kids From C.A.P.E.R.), which contains, among many things, a science lab, a command center, and a living room. The Aquabats' origin story was left intentionally vague throughout the series, a choice Jacobs explains was done for the sake of the viewer's imagination, as kids are more accepting of the inherent absurdity of the premise than adults tend to be: "'There's five guys. This is what each of the five guys does. There are monsters. They're gonna try to fight them'. It's so simple. And I think that's why it's so awesome with kids--they just take it and run with it". In the first five episodes of season two, each member of The Aquabats shares their memory of how they joined the band via animated flashback sequences; however, all of these flashbacks directly and intentionally contradict each other, leaving it unknown which--if any--could be considered officially canonical. CANNOTANSWER | The Aquabats! Super Show! is centered around the adventures of The Aquabats, | The Aquabats! Super Show! is an American action-comedy musical television series which aired from March 3, 2012 to January 8, 2014 on The Hub Network and resumed as an independent YouTube web series in September 2019. The series was created by Christian Jacobs, and Scott Schultz, both the creators of the Nick Jr. show Yo Gabba Gabba!, and Jason deVilliers.
Based on the superhero mythology of The Aquabats, a real-life comedy rock band which series co-creator and lead singer Jacobs formed in 1994, The Aquabats! Super Show! follows the comic adventures of a fictionalized version of the band, a musical group of amateur superheroes, as they haphazardly defend the world from a variety of villains and monsters. Styled similarly to the campy aesthetics of 1960s and 1970s children's television and Japanese tokusatsu, Super Show! utilizes various mediums of visual styles and special effects, mixing live-action storylines with cartoon shorts, parody advertisements and musical interludes.
The series' first season concluded on June 16, 2012 following a run of 13 episodes, having met with a largely positive critical reception, consistently high ratings for the channel and a Daytime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Children's Series. The series' second season consisted of an initial five episodes which aired through June 2013, with three additional episodes airing in late December and January 2014, receiving similar acclaim and a further seven Daytime Emmy nominations, ultimately winning one for Best Stunt Coordination. In June 2014, co-creator Jacobs officially announced the series' cancellation, following news of The Hub's financial losses which led to the network's rebranding as Discovery Family later that October.
In July 2018, The Aquabats launched a successful Kickstarter to help independently finance new episodes of The Aquabats! Super Show!, promoting the campaign with a series of YouTube-exclusive mini-episodes continuing the original series' storyline. On September 28, 2019, The Aquabats premiered the first installment of these new episodes, now a biweekly YouTube series entitled The Aquabats! RadVentures!, though still retaining Super Show!s theme song and title card.
Series overview
Premise
Chronicled in both live-action and animated segments, The Aquabats! Super Show! is centered around the adventures of The Aquabats, a group of superhero rock musicians who travel the countryside on a self-appointed mission to fight evil and "destroy boredom", protecting the world from the villains and creatures who threaten to destroy it while aiming to become a famous rock and roll band in their own right.
The Aquabats consist of singer The MC Bat Commander (Christian Jacobs), the swaggering leader of the group; bassist Crash McLarson (Chad Larson), who can grow up to 100 feet in size; drummer Ricky Fitness (Richard Falomir), who has the power of super speed; guitarist EagleBones Falconhawk (Ian Fowles), who's armed with a laser-shooting electric guitar; and keyboardist Jimmy the Robot (James R. Briggs, Jr.), an android. Despite their superhuman strengths and abilities, The Aquabats are quite bumbling, disorganized, and sometimes cowardly when faced with danger; this has in fact led them to be labeled "the world's most inept superheroes". The band lives and travels by way of their "Battletram", a modified classic GMC motorhome which, despite its small exterior, has an implausibly massive interior (similar to the TARDIS from Doctor Who or The Big Bologna from The Kids From C.A.P.E.R.), which contains, among many things, a science lab, a command center, and a living room.
The Aquabats' origin story was left intentionally vague throughout the series, a choice Jacobs explains was done for the sake of the viewer's imagination, as he felt kids were more accepting of the inherent absurdity of the premise than adults tend to be: "'There's five guys. This is what each of the five guys does. There are monsters. They're gonna try to fight them'. It's so simple. And I think that's why it's so awesome with kids—they just take it and run with it". In the first five episodes of season two, each member of The Aquabats shares their memory of how they joined the band via animated flashback sequences; however, all of these flashbacks directly and intentionally contradict each other, leaving it unknown which—if any—could be considered officially canonical.
Format and influences
The Aquabats! Super Show! juxtaposes both live-action and animated segments starring The Aquabats, interwoven with various tangential skits and cartoon interstitials. The live-action storylines are the primary focus of each episode, following a self-contained villain of the week formula. In the first season, each episode featured brief anime-styled cartoon shorts which one of the characters would introduce at a random point of the show, often by finding "A Cartoon" (represented by a miniature television set) in an absurd location. Unlike the live-action segments, these cartoons followed a serialized story arc, with each installment ending in a cliffhanger to be resolved in the next episode. In season two, this format was replaced with a series of animated flashbacks recounting the origins of The Aquabats, each by a different animation studio and in a different animation style. Between these segments are pantomime cartoon shorts starring "Lil' Bat", The Aquabats' anthropomorphic bat mascot, and live-action parody commercials for outlandish fictional products, the latter of which has long been a staple of The Aquabats' multi-media stage shows.
Jacobs says the concept behind Super Show! was something he had always dreamed of doing, making a "campy, live-action, funky kid's show" in the vein of the 1960s and 1970s television that he and the rest of the series' producers had grown up with. While the show pays homage to many facets of pop culture, Jacobs has named the 1960s Batman television series as the primary influence on Super Show!s "obviously silly" tone and visual style, ranging from set design to the trademark use of dutch angles for villain scenes. Other notable influences Jacobs has repeatedly mentioned include the works of Sid and Marty Krofft and Hanna-Barbera, Japanese tokusatsu series such as Ultraman and Johnny Sokko And His Flying Robot, the Shaw Brothers and Hong Kong cinema, and shows including Danger Island, Star Trek, The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, and Pee-wee's Playhouse, noting "there's a good 30 years worth of television culture packed into these 22-minute episodes".
Demographic
As The Hub's key demographic were children aged 6 to 12, Super Show! was ostensibly targeted towards said age group, though Jacobs has stated that the series primarily aimed to appeal to an all-ages crowd, with the intent of creating entertainment that both kids and parents can watch and enjoy together or separately. In interviews prior to the series' premiere, he explained that this was merely an extension of The Aquabats' own family-friendly ethos: "There's just obviously something about the costumes and being superheroes that really appeals to younger kids, and I think we always knew that as a band...I think we'll want to put things in [the show] for an older audience, because we realize we have an older audience, but then also we want the young kids, to not have it go over their heads".
Production history
History and previous attempts at a series
In 1994, musicians Christian Jacobs, Chad Larson and former member Boyd Terry formed The Aquabats in Brea, California. Influenced as much by cartoons and camp television as theatrical bands like Devo and Oingo Boingo, The Aquabats gained instant notoriety in the Orange County music scene for their eccentric persona in which they claimed to be a band of superheroes on a quest to save the world and their elaborate stage shows which regularly featured scripted fights with costumed villains alongside similar stunts and comedy sketches.
The Aquabats' second studio album, 1997's The Fury of The Aquabats!, proved to be a minor commercial breakthrough for the group, charting on the Billboard 200 and bringing them exposure through such venues as MTV, leading Jacobs – a former child actor with ties in the industry – to develop the concept of adapting the band's mythology for television. In 1998, Buena Vista Television helped produce a live-action mini-pilot directed by comedian Bobcat Goldthwait titled simply The Aquabats!, following the comic misadventures of the then-eight member band in an over-the-top camp style similar to Saturday morning cartoon shows. The pilot, which has yet to be made available for public viewing, failed to generate any network interest and was ultimately even disowned by the band themselves.
Undeterred, The Aquabats made an attempt at a second pilot the following year, using a music video budget granted by their record label Goldenvoice Records for their 1999 album The Aquabats vs. the Floating Eye of Death!. Independently directed and produced by Jacobs and his creative partner Scott Schultz, the result was a five-minute promo video entitled The Aquabats in Color!. In contrast to the wackier tone of the previous pilot, The Aquabats in Color! was a more action-oriented superhero series modeled after Japanese tokusatsu shows such as Kamen Rider. According to Jacobs, the Fox Family Channel reportedly expressed interest in the series and ordered production on a proper pilot episode, though following the channel's acquisition by Disney in 2001, the project was cancelled.
The Aquabats! Super Show! pilot (2008)
In 2005, Jacobs and Schultz formed the Orange County-based production company The Magic Store, focusing on creating family-oriented television entertainment. One of the company's independently produced pilots, the children's television series Yo Gabba Gabba!, was eventually picked up as a series by Viacoms Nick Jr. channel, premiering in August 2007 and ultimately becoming an award-winning and critically acclaimed international success. In the wake of the series' popularity, Jacobs and Schultz persuaded Yo Gabba Gabba!s joint production company Wild Brain to help produce a new pilot based around The Aquabats in conjuncture with The Magic Store.
Again creatively spearheaded by Jacobs and Schultz, The Aquabats' third pilot, titled The Aquabats! Super Show!, was shot on location throughout southern California in late 2007 and early 2008. Part of this filming took place at a free invitation-only concert for members of the band's official fan club at the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles on January 12, 2008. While The Aquabats' previous pilots were short, live-action promotional videos, The Aquabats! Super Show! was a fully realized 22-minute episode featuring two separate storylines based on the adventures of The Aquabats, one live-action and one animated, and interspersed with parody commercials and live footage of the band. Speaking on the decision to structure the show in such a varied format, Jacobs said "[w]e did that for a strategic reason – some networks like cartoons more than other networks. We wanted to say, 'this could be both shows'."
Following a period of post-production, The Aquabats began widely self-promoting Super Show! in June 2008, redesigning their website to promote the pilot and releasing a teaser trailer and several exclusive clips through an official Super Show! YouTube channel. On July 25, 2008, the band screened the full pilot at a concert in San Diego held during the weekend of the San Diego Comic-Con, while a segment of the episode was hosted on Boing Boing the same day. In 2009, Cartoon Network allegedly picked the series up for a run of 22 episodes, though following major staff changes within the company—which, according to Jacobs, included the termination of the executives who had green-lighted Super Show!—the project was again cancelled.
The Hub and season one
After several more unsuccessful network pitches into the 2010s, The Aquabats! Super Show! was finally picked up as a series by family cable channel The Hub, a joint venture between Hasbro and Discovery which launched in 2010 as a replacement for Discovery Kids. The Hub formally announced the series in a press release on March 23, 2011, revealing Super Show! would be given a first season run of 13 episodes, produced in conjuncture with FremantleMedia. In promotion of the series, The Aquabats appeared as part of a panel at the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con where they discussed their initial plans for the show, while The Hub sponsored an Aquabats concert held at the nearby House of Blues during the same weekend.
Production on season one of Super Show! officially began in May 2011. The entirety of the first season was shot within and around The Aquabats' hometown of Orange County, California; according to the first season DVD audio commentary, episodes were shot on location in the cities of Irvine, Silverado, Yorba Linda, Huntington Beach and Fullerton, while a private sound stage in Santa Ana was used for interior shots of the Battletram. A public Aquabats concert held at The Glass House club in Pomona on November 5, 2011 was also filmed to provide live footage of the band which is featured in the series' opening credits montage and several individual episodes.
Much of Super Show!s staff consist of friends and colleagues of The Aquabats who've previously worked with the band on various projects, ranging from members of Yo Gabba Gabba!s production team to fellow musicians within the southern California music scene. Among the more notable examples include Dallas McLaughlin and Matthew Gorney, both members of the San Diego hip hop band Bad Credit, who prominently served as writers, composers and performers, Warren Fitzgerald, guitarist for The Vandals, who was hired as a writer and music director, internet sketch comedy group Mega64 were commissioned to produce original material, primarily the series' parody commercials, and Japanese artist Pey, who had designed much of The Aquabats' promotional art and merchandise during the 2000s, was hired to design the season's animated segments. Additionally, several industry professionals were brought in to help work on the show: Dani Michaeli, a staff writer on SpongeBob SquarePants, was hired as the series' story editor, while Matt Chapman, co-creator of the internet Flash cartoon Homestar Runner, acted as a writer, director and actor on several episodes. As none of the members besides Jacobs had any previous acting experience, comedian Matt Walsh of the Upright Citizens Brigade was brought in to help teach The Aquabats comedic acting and timing.
In further homage to the original Batman series, Super Show! features a variety of celebrity cameo appearances. The series' first season included appearances from actors Jon Heder, Lou Diamond Phillips and Samm Levine, comedians Rip Taylor, Paul Scheer and Paul Rust, and comedy musician "Weird Al" Yankovic, who appeared in two episodes as different characters. The first season also included several "Easter egg" cameos from original Aquabats members Corey "Chainsaw" Pollock and Boyd "Catboy" Terry, as well as from fellow musicians Warren Fitzgerald and Art Mitchell of the band Supernova.
Despite having been originally announced as part of The Hub's 2011 Fall line-up, production delays postponed Super Show!s premiere to early 2012. The series' marketing campaign began in December 2011, with a later announcement of an official premiere date confirmed for March 3, 2012. Following a non-consecutive run of 13 episodes, the first-season finale aired on June 16, 2012.
Season two
On October 16, 2012, The Aquabats and The Hub confirmed production on new episodes of Super Show! through the social networking sites Facebook and Twitter, announcing a tentative debut date of Spring 2013. Principal photography on season two began on October 22 and wrapped on December 1. Unlike the first season, the majority of season two was shot in and around Salt Lake City, Utah, which Jacobs explained was considerably less expensive than shooting in California.
While no changes were made to Super Shows creative team, in December 2012 it was announced that season two would introduce the series' first guest director, musician and comic book writer Gerard Way, who co-directed and co-wrote the season finale "The AntiBats!" with Jacobs and deVilliers. Way's involvement with the series was heavily covered by the music press in the wake of the March 2013 break-up of his popular alternative rock band My Chemical Romance. Among the guest stars featured in season two were professional skateboarders Tony Hawk and Eric Koston, Devo frontman and Yo Gabba Gabba! cast member Mark Mothersbaugh, internet celebrity Leslie Hall, actor Martin Starr and My Chemical Romance bassist Mikey Way.
On December 2, 2012, deVilliers revealed on his Twitter account that the upcoming season would consist of only five new episodes, in what he called more "season 1.5" than a "season 2", though mentioned the possibility of more being made in the future. On May 1, 2013, it was announced through Entertainment Weekly that the series' second season would begin airing on June 1. After a run of only five episodes, the season concluded on June 29, 2013.
2013–2014 specials
On August 22, 2013, series performer Chad Larson confirmed via Twitter that three additional episodes of Super Show! were being filmed near the end of the year, "and maybe more next". Principal photography on these episodes eventually began in Utah in early October. Throughout the month, The Aquabats posted numerous pictures of production on the new episodes on their Twitter and Instagram accounts, some of which revealed production code numbers of 301, 302 and 303, ostensibly indicating what would be a third season. Though these numbers were later verified by the Internet Movie Database, a November press release from The Hub explicitly referred to these three episodes as "specials".
The first of these specials, "Christmas with The Aquabats!", aired on December 21, featuring comedians Robert Smigel and Matt Walsh in guest roles. The second of these episodes, "The Shark Fighter!" (based on The Aquabats' song of the same name), featuring comedian Rhys Darby, aired the following week on December 28, while the final special "Kitty Litter!" aired on January 18, 2014. "Kitty Litter!" was helmed by another guest director, Munn Powell, best known for his work as cinematographer on the Jared and Jerusha Hess films Napoleon Dynamite and Gentlemen Broncos.
Following this short run of episodes, there was no confirmation by either The Hub or The Aquabats as to the production of any future episodes. In a December 2013 interview, Christian Jacobs acknowledged the network's unusually small order of episodes but didn't elaborate on any possible reasoning. In the same interview, he stated that the band had initially prepared for another order of 13 episodes, having written as many scripts for potential future episodes.
On May 1, 2014, the nominees for the 2014 Daytime Emmy Awards were announced, revealing that Super Show! had been nominated for five awards in four categories, including the award for Best Writing in a Children's Series for the episode "The AntiBats!". The awards ceremony was held on June 22, 2014, where the series ultimately won the award for Best Stunt Coordination for stuntman Skip Carlson.
Cancellation by The Hub and hiatus
In mid-2014, it was announced in entertainment press that Hasbro and Discovery had been in the process of rebranding The Hub following what they saw to be disappointing returns for the channel, changes which included the departure of CEO Margaret Loesch, who was instrumental in acquiring Super Show! as a series. In a Huffington Post feature about The Aquabats prior to the band's appearance at the 2014 San Diego Comic-Con, it was revealed that The Hub had opted not to renew Super Show! for a third season, effectively cancelling the series.
Jacobs admitted he was surprised by this turn of events, noting "Everything we heard was that the show has been a real Cinderella story for the Hub and that it was rating really well with viewers. We just assumed that we'd eventually go back into production or at least get picked up for Season 3", but ultimately concluded "it is what it is" in regard to the network's decision. Despite this, Jacobs remained optimistic about the series' future, saying "Given that we now live in a world where people are streaming TV shows directly onto their iPhones & computers, and given that companies like Netflix & Yahoo! are now picking up so much new content for their customers...I just find it hard to believe that The Aquabats! Super Show! is really over. I mean, we haven't even made any toys yet". He concluded by stating "It took us almost 15 years to get that TV series made. And even though we've got a bunch more concert dates lined up for the rest of this year, our first priority is to find a new home for The Aquabats! Super Show!".
On March 31, 2015, the nominees for the 42nd annual Daytime Emmy Awards were announced, with Super Show! earning nominations for Best SFX Mixer (Blaine Stewart) and Best Stunt Coordinator (Braxton McAllister).
On June 27, 2015, The Aquabats screened the entire first season of Super Show! before a sold-out crowd at The Frida Cinema in downtown Santa Ana, which was accompanied by a live performance by the band and Q&A sessions with The Aquabats and numerous members of the cast and crew. A similar presentation of the entire second season – including the three additional specials – took place at The Art Theater in Long Beach on December 16, 2017, coinciding with the release of the second season Blu-ray.
Bring Back The Aquabats! Kickstarter campaign
Following weeks of teasing a major announcement, The Aquabats launched a Kickstarter campaign on July 31, 2018 to help finance the return of The Aquabats! Super Show! as well as new studio albums from the band at a minimum projected cost of $1.1 million. The Aquabats promoted their campaign with a video featuring a slew of celebrity cameos, including Super Show! guest stars "Weird Al" Yankovic, Robert Smigel (as Triumph the Insult Comic Dog), Matt Chapman (as Homestar Runner and Strong Bad), former Aquabats member Travis Barker, Tony Kanal, Tom Dumont, Oscar Nunez, Kate Micucci, Blake Anderson, Imagine Dragons, Felicia Day and Tom Lennon, all of whom appeared in The Aquabats' trademark uniforms and spoke the Kickstarter's promotional slogan "I am The Aquabats"/"We are The Aquabats". Most prominently featured, however, was comedian Jack Black, who was later confirmed by the campaign's press releases to act as executive producer for the series' return.
Along with their Kickstarter, the band began releasing a series of Super Show! "mini-episodes", depicting the MC Bat Commander's metafictional quest to reunite the estranged Aquabats following the series' cancellation. The band confirmed that as the Kickstarter progresses, further "mini-episodes" will be released to both promote the campaign as well as act as a continuation of Super Show!.
By August 28, mere days before the campaign's end date of September 1, The Aquabats' Kickstarter had raised only $601,629 of its projected $1.1 million goal. The funding was subsequently cancelled and the campaign was rebooted the same day with a smaller goal of $100,000 to instead finance one new album and the continued production of the Super Show!! "mini-episodes". The project's goal was met within minutes.
Music
Original music for The Aquabats! Super Show! was primarily composed and performed by The Aquabats themselves, with additional scoring on most episodes provided by Matthew Gorney, Warren Fitzgerald or individual credits for Aquabats members James R. Briggs, Jr., Richard Falomir and Ian Fowles. Fitzgerald, guitarist for punk rock band The Vandals and former member of Oingo Boingo, acted as the series' music supervisor. The theme song to Super Show!, "Super Show Theme Song!", was co-written by The Aquabats and Fitzgerald.
Whereas most musically oriented shows like The Monkees typically break the narrative of an episode for a music video performance of a standalone song, each episode of Super Show! typically features one or two unique songs that tied directly into the plot, usually about and performed during the events of a particular scene. Most of these songs are rather brief, averaging a running time of just under a minute; Jacobs stated that many of the show's original songs were recorded as full-length pieces but trimmed down for inclusion in an episode, simply due to the show "trying to pack so much into 22 minutes".
Shortly after Super Show!s premiere, Jacobs confirmed plans to eventually release the series' original full-length songs as a soundtrack album. However, these plans wouldn't fully come to fruition until 2019; in a 2018 interview, Jacobs retrospectively revealed that the album had been long completed but the band "hadn't had all the rights tied up" until then. The first original and full-length recordings from the series' first season debuted in July 2017, when "Burger Rain" and "Beat Fishin'" were released as a tour-exclusive 7" single. Songs from the series' first season were eventually compiled as The Aquabats! Super Show! Television Soundtrack: Volume One, which was released digitally in March 2019 and then onto physical media the following June, where it became The Aquabats' highest-charting album to date, debuting at the top of Billboards Top Heatseekers chart and at 165 on the Billboard 200.
Cast and characters
See: List of The Aquabats! Super Show! characters
The Aquabats! Super Show! stars and is based upon fictionalized versions of the then-current (since 2006) line-up of the California comedy rock band The Aquabats. Adapting the backstory the band has used for the entirety of their professional career, Super Show! depicts The Aquabats as a group of bumbling, out-of-shape superheroes on a self-appointed mission to fight the forces of evil, presented in both live-action and animated segments. The five members of The Aquabats are:
The MC Bat Commander (played and voiced by Christian Jacobs) – The Aquabats' singer and de facto leader of the team. Though he doesn't have any superpowers of his own and is often quite stubborn and naive, the Commander is shown to be an effective strategist whose sharp leadership skills, bravery and determination regularly drive the band towards victory.
Crash McLarson (played and voiced by Chad Larson) – The band's bass guitarist, who has the frequently uncontrollable ability to grow upwards of 100 feet in size when under emotional stress. Despite being the largest and strongest of The Aquabats, Crash has a gentle, childlike demeanor bordering on slight dim-wittedness, and as such is usually the most cowardly member of the team.
Jimmy the Robot (played and voiced by James R. Briggs, Jr.) – The Aquabats' keyboardist. As his name implies, Jimmy is an android whose mechanical body houses a variety of built-in gadgets and weaponry, plus a comprehensive knowledge database which earns him the position of the group's resident scientist. Being a robot, Jimmy is generally perplexed by human emotions and behavior.
Ricky Fitness (played and voiced by Richard Falomir) – the band's drummer, Ricky possesses the power of super speed. Being the most physically fit and health-conscious member of The Aquabats, some of the series' running gags revolve around Ricky's status as a handsome ladies' man and his fondness for "fresh, healthy veggies" in contrast to the rest of the team's voracious affinity for junk food.
EagleBones Falconhawk (played and voiced by Ian Fowles) – The Aquabats' guitarist. The cocky and boyish maverick of the team, EagleBones is highly proficient on his custom weaponized electric guitar which shoots lasers from its headstock. Following a spiritual encounter early in season one, EagleBones also has the gift of second sight and is accompanied by "The Dude", an invisible spirit eagle whom he summons to aide The Aquabats in battle.
Voice actor and writer Mr. Lawrence provided the minimal narration for both seasons of Super Show!s live-action segments, while staff writer Kyle McCulloch narrated the first season's animated segments.
Guest stars and recurring characters
Though each episode of the series introduced a new villain, ally and/or celebrity cameo, Super Show! never featured any major recurring characters throughout its run. However, every episode of the show included a very brief appearance by a character fans dubbed the "Fox Man", a man in a cheap-looking fox costume played by visual effects supervisor Joel Fox, who would appear hidden in the background of a random scene as an Easter egg for viewers to spot, although his character was never explained within the context of the series.
Comedy musician "Weird Al" Yankovic and comedian Paul Rust were the only two guest actors to appear in two episodes: Yankovic played two different roles as the President of the United States and superhero SuperMagic PowerMan! (in a 2012 interview, Jacobs alluded to the two possibly being the same character, though this isn't implied within the series), while Rust played a boorish slacker named Ronmark, first appearing in live-action in a first-season episode and subsequently lending his voice to a mutated monster version of the character in part of a second-season episode.
Episodes
Distribution
International broadcast
Outside of North America, The Aquabats! Super Show! broadcast in Australia on the children's public broadcasting channel ABC3 and in the United Kingdom on the children's network CITV.
Home media
Coinciding with the run of the first season, each new episode of The Aquabats! Super Show! was released through the iTunes Store for digital download. Prior to the series debut, a season pass was made available for purchase to enable viewers to automatically receive a download of each new episode on its airdate. The first season of Super Show! was added to the video streaming service Netflix on December 1, 2012, later being added to Hulu on December 21.
Unlike the first season, the series' second season was not made available for iTunes pre-order, nor were episodes released for purchase. Though each episode was briefly streamed on The Hub's official website, none of the seasons' episodes were made available on Hulu, Netflix or similar streaming services.
Shout! Factory had the DVD publishing rights for The Aquabats! Super Show! within Region 1 for release of the first season. The company first announced their acquisition of the series and plans for a future DVD in a press release dated August 6, 2012, though did not initially confirm a set release date until several months later. On May 21, 2013, the first season of Super Show! was released on a two-disc DVD set.
On November 22, 2017, in conjunction with their announcement of a season two theatrical screening, The Aquabats confirmed an independent Blu-ray release for season two, including the three specials often considered a "season three". On December 5, pre-orders were launched on The Aquabats' merchandising site for an official release date of December 22, though copies were first made for public sale at the second season theatrical screening on December 16.
Starting in December 2014, The Aquabats gradually began uploading the series' full episodes onto their official YouTube channel. As of August 2019, all 21 episodes of Super Show! and its pilot episode have been publicly uploaded to their account.
Critical reception
Critical response to The Aquabats! Super Show! was predominantly positive, with most reviewers praising the series' intentionally campy tone and offbeat humor. The Onions The A.V. Club gave the series premiere an A− rating, describing it as "a loving homage to basically everything ever done by the brothers Krofft": "the show adeptly flips from humor to melodrama to action, providing some awesomely cheap special effects, goofy songs, and gags that range from slapstick to sublime", summarizing "there's so much here that both kids and parents will be able to enjoy the proceedings on their own respective levels and rarely find themselves bored".
Brian Lowry of Variety wrote "you don't have to laugh at everything to admire the effort and sheer silliness", calling the show a "goofy and nostalgic" throwback to the "children's TV of baby boomers' youth, down to crappy production values and awful-looking 'monsters' that work to its advantage". He summarized "Although this Hub series at times feels like an SNL skit stretched to a half-hour, its sly mix of music, live-action crime-fighting, cartoons and mock ads ought to develop a cult following—and might be more popular with parents, at least those with the geek gene, than their kids".
Technology magazine Wired was consistently positive towards the series, calling it both "wonderfully strange" and "delightfully deranged", writing "[f]illed with self-deprecating music videos, toon interludes and ludicrous villains, The Aquabats! Super Show! has become one of television's strangely comforting finds".
Common Sense Media, who review shows based on age-appropriate content, gave Super Show! a rating of 4 out of 5 stars, calling it "demented and manic...fun by sheer dint of how many jokes, visual and otherwise, are thrown at the screen, both those calculated to appeal to kids and adults". The site praised the series for its lighter and sillier tone in comparison to more violent live-action superhero fare, and considered the "kind-hearted" Aquabats to be relatively positive role models. However, the reviewer suggested the show's violence and creatures may be too intense for very young children, and pointed out a distinct lack of central female characters.
Neil Genzlinger of The New York Times offered a more indifferent opinion, calling The Aquabats "indescribably odd" and the series "frenetic, semicoherent and generally harmless. Also somewhat hallucinogenic", noting Super Show!s writing "may be over the heads of the 2-to-12 set", suggesting its most receptive audience might be "the college drinking-game crowd".
Awards and nominations
The Aquabats! Super Show! was nominated for the following awards:
Daytime Emmy Award
References
External links
Official website of The Aquabats
The Aquabats
2010s American children's television series
2010s American musical comedy television series
2010s American satirical television series
2010s American sketch comedy television series
2010s American superhero comedy television series
2012 American television series debuts
2014 American television series endings
American children's adventure television series
American children's musical television series
American television series with live action and animation
Children's sketch comedy
English-language television shows
Television series by Fremantle (company)
Television shows set in Orange County, California
American television shows featuring puppetry
Discovery Family original programming | true | [
"In both formal and informal logic, a main contention or conclusion is a thought which can be either true or false and is usually the most controversial proposition being argued for. In reasoning, a main contention is represented by the top of an argument map, with all supporting and objecting premises which bear upon it placed underneath.\n\nIn the context of argumentative text, it is the point that the author wants to convince you to believe - the culmination of all their reasoning. The main contention provides an answer to the following types of questions:\n \"Why is the author bothering to tell me these things?\"\n \"What is the main point the author is trying to convince me of?\"\n \"What is the most important thing the author is arguing for or against?\"\n\nSee also \n Argument map\n Argumentation theory\n Co-premise\n Logical consequence\n Inference objection\n Practical arguments\n Premise\n\nReferences\n\nInformal arguments\nPhilosophical logic\nRhetoric\nTerm logic",
"\"Tell Me What You Want\" is the fourth single by English R&B band Loose Ends from their first studio album, A Little Spice, and was released in February 1984 by Virgin Records. The single reached number 74 in the UK Singles Chart.\n\nTrack listing\n7” Single: VS658\n \"Tell Me What You Want) 3.35\n \"Tell Me What You Want (Dub Mix)\" 3.34\n\n12” Single: VS658-12\n \"Tell Me What You Want (Extended Version)\" 6.11\n \"Tell Me What You Want (Extended Dub Mix)\" 5.41\n\nU.S. only release - 12” Single: MCA23596 (released 1985)\n \"Tell Me What You Want (U.S. Extended Remix)\" 6.08 *\n \"Tell Me What You Want (U.S. Dub Version)\" 5.18\n\n* The U.S. Extended Remix version was released on CD on the U.S. Version of the 'A Little Spice' album (MCAD27141).\n\nThe Extended Version also featured on Side D of the limited gatefold sleeve version of 'Magic Touch'\n\nChart performance\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Tell Me What You Want at Discogs.\n\n1984 singles\nLoose Ends (band) songs\nSong recordings produced by Nick Martinelli\nSongs written by Carl McIntosh (musician)\nSongs written by Steve Nichol\n1984 songs\nVirgin Records singles"
]
|
[
"The Aquabats! Super Show!",
"Premise",
"what can you tell me about their premise?",
"The Aquabats! Super Show! is centered around the adventures of The Aquabats,"
]
| C_4cdf6386fc074258b24b5e00bbcdec23_1 | what kind of adventures? | 2 | what kind of adventures is The Aquabats! Super Show! centered around? | The Aquabats! Super Show! | Chronicled in both live-action and animated segments, The Aquabats! Super Show! is centered around the adventures of The Aquabats, a group of superhero rock musicians who travel the countryside on a self-appointed mission to fight evil and "destroy boredom", protecting the world from the villains and creatures who threaten to destroy it while aiming to become a famous rock and roll band in their own right. The Aquabats consist of singer The MC Bat Commander (Christian Jacobs), the swaggering leader of the group; bassist Crash McLarson (Chad Larson), who can grow up to 100 feet in size; drummer Ricky Fitness (Richard Falomir), who has the power of super speed; guitarist EagleBones Falconhawk (Ian Fowles), who's armed with a laser-shooting electric guitar; and keyboardist Jimmy the Robot (James R. Briggs, Jr.), an android. Despite their superhuman strengths and abilities, The Aquabats are quite bumbling, disorganized, and sometimes cowardly when faced with danger; this has in fact led them to be labeled "the world's most inept superheroes". The band lives and travels by way of their "Battletram", a modified recreational vehicle which, despite its small exterior, has an implausibly massive interior (similar to the TARDIS from Doctor Who or The Big Bologna from The Kids From C.A.P.E.R.), which contains, among many things, a science lab, a command center, and a living room. The Aquabats' origin story was left intentionally vague throughout the series, a choice Jacobs explains was done for the sake of the viewer's imagination, as kids are more accepting of the inherent absurdity of the premise than adults tend to be: "'There's five guys. This is what each of the five guys does. There are monsters. They're gonna try to fight them'. It's so simple. And I think that's why it's so awesome with kids--they just take it and run with it". In the first five episodes of season two, each member of The Aquabats shares their memory of how they joined the band via animated flashback sequences; however, all of these flashbacks directly and intentionally contradict each other, leaving it unknown which--if any--could be considered officially canonical. CANNOTANSWER | a group of superhero rock musicians who travel the countryside on a self-appointed mission to fight evil and "destroy boredom", | The Aquabats! Super Show! is an American action-comedy musical television series which aired from March 3, 2012 to January 8, 2014 on The Hub Network and resumed as an independent YouTube web series in September 2019. The series was created by Christian Jacobs, and Scott Schultz, both the creators of the Nick Jr. show Yo Gabba Gabba!, and Jason deVilliers.
Based on the superhero mythology of The Aquabats, a real-life comedy rock band which series co-creator and lead singer Jacobs formed in 1994, The Aquabats! Super Show! follows the comic adventures of a fictionalized version of the band, a musical group of amateur superheroes, as they haphazardly defend the world from a variety of villains and monsters. Styled similarly to the campy aesthetics of 1960s and 1970s children's television and Japanese tokusatsu, Super Show! utilizes various mediums of visual styles and special effects, mixing live-action storylines with cartoon shorts, parody advertisements and musical interludes.
The series' first season concluded on June 16, 2012 following a run of 13 episodes, having met with a largely positive critical reception, consistently high ratings for the channel and a Daytime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Children's Series. The series' second season consisted of an initial five episodes which aired through June 2013, with three additional episodes airing in late December and January 2014, receiving similar acclaim and a further seven Daytime Emmy nominations, ultimately winning one for Best Stunt Coordination. In June 2014, co-creator Jacobs officially announced the series' cancellation, following news of The Hub's financial losses which led to the network's rebranding as Discovery Family later that October.
In July 2018, The Aquabats launched a successful Kickstarter to help independently finance new episodes of The Aquabats! Super Show!, promoting the campaign with a series of YouTube-exclusive mini-episodes continuing the original series' storyline. On September 28, 2019, The Aquabats premiered the first installment of these new episodes, now a biweekly YouTube series entitled The Aquabats! RadVentures!, though still retaining Super Show!s theme song and title card.
Series overview
Premise
Chronicled in both live-action and animated segments, The Aquabats! Super Show! is centered around the adventures of The Aquabats, a group of superhero rock musicians who travel the countryside on a self-appointed mission to fight evil and "destroy boredom", protecting the world from the villains and creatures who threaten to destroy it while aiming to become a famous rock and roll band in their own right.
The Aquabats consist of singer The MC Bat Commander (Christian Jacobs), the swaggering leader of the group; bassist Crash McLarson (Chad Larson), who can grow up to 100 feet in size; drummer Ricky Fitness (Richard Falomir), who has the power of super speed; guitarist EagleBones Falconhawk (Ian Fowles), who's armed with a laser-shooting electric guitar; and keyboardist Jimmy the Robot (James R. Briggs, Jr.), an android. Despite their superhuman strengths and abilities, The Aquabats are quite bumbling, disorganized, and sometimes cowardly when faced with danger; this has in fact led them to be labeled "the world's most inept superheroes". The band lives and travels by way of their "Battletram", a modified classic GMC motorhome which, despite its small exterior, has an implausibly massive interior (similar to the TARDIS from Doctor Who or The Big Bologna from The Kids From C.A.P.E.R.), which contains, among many things, a science lab, a command center, and a living room.
The Aquabats' origin story was left intentionally vague throughout the series, a choice Jacobs explains was done for the sake of the viewer's imagination, as he felt kids were more accepting of the inherent absurdity of the premise than adults tend to be: "'There's five guys. This is what each of the five guys does. There are monsters. They're gonna try to fight them'. It's so simple. And I think that's why it's so awesome with kids—they just take it and run with it". In the first five episodes of season two, each member of The Aquabats shares their memory of how they joined the band via animated flashback sequences; however, all of these flashbacks directly and intentionally contradict each other, leaving it unknown which—if any—could be considered officially canonical.
Format and influences
The Aquabats! Super Show! juxtaposes both live-action and animated segments starring The Aquabats, interwoven with various tangential skits and cartoon interstitials. The live-action storylines are the primary focus of each episode, following a self-contained villain of the week formula. In the first season, each episode featured brief anime-styled cartoon shorts which one of the characters would introduce at a random point of the show, often by finding "A Cartoon" (represented by a miniature television set) in an absurd location. Unlike the live-action segments, these cartoons followed a serialized story arc, with each installment ending in a cliffhanger to be resolved in the next episode. In season two, this format was replaced with a series of animated flashbacks recounting the origins of The Aquabats, each by a different animation studio and in a different animation style. Between these segments are pantomime cartoon shorts starring "Lil' Bat", The Aquabats' anthropomorphic bat mascot, and live-action parody commercials for outlandish fictional products, the latter of which has long been a staple of The Aquabats' multi-media stage shows.
Jacobs says the concept behind Super Show! was something he had always dreamed of doing, making a "campy, live-action, funky kid's show" in the vein of the 1960s and 1970s television that he and the rest of the series' producers had grown up with. While the show pays homage to many facets of pop culture, Jacobs has named the 1960s Batman television series as the primary influence on Super Show!s "obviously silly" tone and visual style, ranging from set design to the trademark use of dutch angles for villain scenes. Other notable influences Jacobs has repeatedly mentioned include the works of Sid and Marty Krofft and Hanna-Barbera, Japanese tokusatsu series such as Ultraman and Johnny Sokko And His Flying Robot, the Shaw Brothers and Hong Kong cinema, and shows including Danger Island, Star Trek, The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, and Pee-wee's Playhouse, noting "there's a good 30 years worth of television culture packed into these 22-minute episodes".
Demographic
As The Hub's key demographic were children aged 6 to 12, Super Show! was ostensibly targeted towards said age group, though Jacobs has stated that the series primarily aimed to appeal to an all-ages crowd, with the intent of creating entertainment that both kids and parents can watch and enjoy together or separately. In interviews prior to the series' premiere, he explained that this was merely an extension of The Aquabats' own family-friendly ethos: "There's just obviously something about the costumes and being superheroes that really appeals to younger kids, and I think we always knew that as a band...I think we'll want to put things in [the show] for an older audience, because we realize we have an older audience, but then also we want the young kids, to not have it go over their heads".
Production history
History and previous attempts at a series
In 1994, musicians Christian Jacobs, Chad Larson and former member Boyd Terry formed The Aquabats in Brea, California. Influenced as much by cartoons and camp television as theatrical bands like Devo and Oingo Boingo, The Aquabats gained instant notoriety in the Orange County music scene for their eccentric persona in which they claimed to be a band of superheroes on a quest to save the world and their elaborate stage shows which regularly featured scripted fights with costumed villains alongside similar stunts and comedy sketches.
The Aquabats' second studio album, 1997's The Fury of The Aquabats!, proved to be a minor commercial breakthrough for the group, charting on the Billboard 200 and bringing them exposure through such venues as MTV, leading Jacobs – a former child actor with ties in the industry – to develop the concept of adapting the band's mythology for television. In 1998, Buena Vista Television helped produce a live-action mini-pilot directed by comedian Bobcat Goldthwait titled simply The Aquabats!, following the comic misadventures of the then-eight member band in an over-the-top camp style similar to Saturday morning cartoon shows. The pilot, which has yet to be made available for public viewing, failed to generate any network interest and was ultimately even disowned by the band themselves.
Undeterred, The Aquabats made an attempt at a second pilot the following year, using a music video budget granted by their record label Goldenvoice Records for their 1999 album The Aquabats vs. the Floating Eye of Death!. Independently directed and produced by Jacobs and his creative partner Scott Schultz, the result was a five-minute promo video entitled The Aquabats in Color!. In contrast to the wackier tone of the previous pilot, The Aquabats in Color! was a more action-oriented superhero series modeled after Japanese tokusatsu shows such as Kamen Rider. According to Jacobs, the Fox Family Channel reportedly expressed interest in the series and ordered production on a proper pilot episode, though following the channel's acquisition by Disney in 2001, the project was cancelled.
The Aquabats! Super Show! pilot (2008)
In 2005, Jacobs and Schultz formed the Orange County-based production company The Magic Store, focusing on creating family-oriented television entertainment. One of the company's independently produced pilots, the children's television series Yo Gabba Gabba!, was eventually picked up as a series by Viacoms Nick Jr. channel, premiering in August 2007 and ultimately becoming an award-winning and critically acclaimed international success. In the wake of the series' popularity, Jacobs and Schultz persuaded Yo Gabba Gabba!s joint production company Wild Brain to help produce a new pilot based around The Aquabats in conjuncture with The Magic Store.
Again creatively spearheaded by Jacobs and Schultz, The Aquabats' third pilot, titled The Aquabats! Super Show!, was shot on location throughout southern California in late 2007 and early 2008. Part of this filming took place at a free invitation-only concert for members of the band's official fan club at the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles on January 12, 2008. While The Aquabats' previous pilots were short, live-action promotional videos, The Aquabats! Super Show! was a fully realized 22-minute episode featuring two separate storylines based on the adventures of The Aquabats, one live-action and one animated, and interspersed with parody commercials and live footage of the band. Speaking on the decision to structure the show in such a varied format, Jacobs said "[w]e did that for a strategic reason – some networks like cartoons more than other networks. We wanted to say, 'this could be both shows'."
Following a period of post-production, The Aquabats began widely self-promoting Super Show! in June 2008, redesigning their website to promote the pilot and releasing a teaser trailer and several exclusive clips through an official Super Show! YouTube channel. On July 25, 2008, the band screened the full pilot at a concert in San Diego held during the weekend of the San Diego Comic-Con, while a segment of the episode was hosted on Boing Boing the same day. In 2009, Cartoon Network allegedly picked the series up for a run of 22 episodes, though following major staff changes within the company—which, according to Jacobs, included the termination of the executives who had green-lighted Super Show!—the project was again cancelled.
The Hub and season one
After several more unsuccessful network pitches into the 2010s, The Aquabats! Super Show! was finally picked up as a series by family cable channel The Hub, a joint venture between Hasbro and Discovery which launched in 2010 as a replacement for Discovery Kids. The Hub formally announced the series in a press release on March 23, 2011, revealing Super Show! would be given a first season run of 13 episodes, produced in conjuncture with FremantleMedia. In promotion of the series, The Aquabats appeared as part of a panel at the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con where they discussed their initial plans for the show, while The Hub sponsored an Aquabats concert held at the nearby House of Blues during the same weekend.
Production on season one of Super Show! officially began in May 2011. The entirety of the first season was shot within and around The Aquabats' hometown of Orange County, California; according to the first season DVD audio commentary, episodes were shot on location in the cities of Irvine, Silverado, Yorba Linda, Huntington Beach and Fullerton, while a private sound stage in Santa Ana was used for interior shots of the Battletram. A public Aquabats concert held at The Glass House club in Pomona on November 5, 2011 was also filmed to provide live footage of the band which is featured in the series' opening credits montage and several individual episodes.
Much of Super Show!s staff consist of friends and colleagues of The Aquabats who've previously worked with the band on various projects, ranging from members of Yo Gabba Gabba!s production team to fellow musicians within the southern California music scene. Among the more notable examples include Dallas McLaughlin and Matthew Gorney, both members of the San Diego hip hop band Bad Credit, who prominently served as writers, composers and performers, Warren Fitzgerald, guitarist for The Vandals, who was hired as a writer and music director, internet sketch comedy group Mega64 were commissioned to produce original material, primarily the series' parody commercials, and Japanese artist Pey, who had designed much of The Aquabats' promotional art and merchandise during the 2000s, was hired to design the season's animated segments. Additionally, several industry professionals were brought in to help work on the show: Dani Michaeli, a staff writer on SpongeBob SquarePants, was hired as the series' story editor, while Matt Chapman, co-creator of the internet Flash cartoon Homestar Runner, acted as a writer, director and actor on several episodes. As none of the members besides Jacobs had any previous acting experience, comedian Matt Walsh of the Upright Citizens Brigade was brought in to help teach The Aquabats comedic acting and timing.
In further homage to the original Batman series, Super Show! features a variety of celebrity cameo appearances. The series' first season included appearances from actors Jon Heder, Lou Diamond Phillips and Samm Levine, comedians Rip Taylor, Paul Scheer and Paul Rust, and comedy musician "Weird Al" Yankovic, who appeared in two episodes as different characters. The first season also included several "Easter egg" cameos from original Aquabats members Corey "Chainsaw" Pollock and Boyd "Catboy" Terry, as well as from fellow musicians Warren Fitzgerald and Art Mitchell of the band Supernova.
Despite having been originally announced as part of The Hub's 2011 Fall line-up, production delays postponed Super Show!s premiere to early 2012. The series' marketing campaign began in December 2011, with a later announcement of an official premiere date confirmed for March 3, 2012. Following a non-consecutive run of 13 episodes, the first-season finale aired on June 16, 2012.
Season two
On October 16, 2012, The Aquabats and The Hub confirmed production on new episodes of Super Show! through the social networking sites Facebook and Twitter, announcing a tentative debut date of Spring 2013. Principal photography on season two began on October 22 and wrapped on December 1. Unlike the first season, the majority of season two was shot in and around Salt Lake City, Utah, which Jacobs explained was considerably less expensive than shooting in California.
While no changes were made to Super Shows creative team, in December 2012 it was announced that season two would introduce the series' first guest director, musician and comic book writer Gerard Way, who co-directed and co-wrote the season finale "The AntiBats!" with Jacobs and deVilliers. Way's involvement with the series was heavily covered by the music press in the wake of the March 2013 break-up of his popular alternative rock band My Chemical Romance. Among the guest stars featured in season two were professional skateboarders Tony Hawk and Eric Koston, Devo frontman and Yo Gabba Gabba! cast member Mark Mothersbaugh, internet celebrity Leslie Hall, actor Martin Starr and My Chemical Romance bassist Mikey Way.
On December 2, 2012, deVilliers revealed on his Twitter account that the upcoming season would consist of only five new episodes, in what he called more "season 1.5" than a "season 2", though mentioned the possibility of more being made in the future. On May 1, 2013, it was announced through Entertainment Weekly that the series' second season would begin airing on June 1. After a run of only five episodes, the season concluded on June 29, 2013.
2013–2014 specials
On August 22, 2013, series performer Chad Larson confirmed via Twitter that three additional episodes of Super Show! were being filmed near the end of the year, "and maybe more next". Principal photography on these episodes eventually began in Utah in early October. Throughout the month, The Aquabats posted numerous pictures of production on the new episodes on their Twitter and Instagram accounts, some of which revealed production code numbers of 301, 302 and 303, ostensibly indicating what would be a third season. Though these numbers were later verified by the Internet Movie Database, a November press release from The Hub explicitly referred to these three episodes as "specials".
The first of these specials, "Christmas with The Aquabats!", aired on December 21, featuring comedians Robert Smigel and Matt Walsh in guest roles. The second of these episodes, "The Shark Fighter!" (based on The Aquabats' song of the same name), featuring comedian Rhys Darby, aired the following week on December 28, while the final special "Kitty Litter!" aired on January 18, 2014. "Kitty Litter!" was helmed by another guest director, Munn Powell, best known for his work as cinematographer on the Jared and Jerusha Hess films Napoleon Dynamite and Gentlemen Broncos.
Following this short run of episodes, there was no confirmation by either The Hub or The Aquabats as to the production of any future episodes. In a December 2013 interview, Christian Jacobs acknowledged the network's unusually small order of episodes but didn't elaborate on any possible reasoning. In the same interview, he stated that the band had initially prepared for another order of 13 episodes, having written as many scripts for potential future episodes.
On May 1, 2014, the nominees for the 2014 Daytime Emmy Awards were announced, revealing that Super Show! had been nominated for five awards in four categories, including the award for Best Writing in a Children's Series for the episode "The AntiBats!". The awards ceremony was held on June 22, 2014, where the series ultimately won the award for Best Stunt Coordination for stuntman Skip Carlson.
Cancellation by The Hub and hiatus
In mid-2014, it was announced in entertainment press that Hasbro and Discovery had been in the process of rebranding The Hub following what they saw to be disappointing returns for the channel, changes which included the departure of CEO Margaret Loesch, who was instrumental in acquiring Super Show! as a series. In a Huffington Post feature about The Aquabats prior to the band's appearance at the 2014 San Diego Comic-Con, it was revealed that The Hub had opted not to renew Super Show! for a third season, effectively cancelling the series.
Jacobs admitted he was surprised by this turn of events, noting "Everything we heard was that the show has been a real Cinderella story for the Hub and that it was rating really well with viewers. We just assumed that we'd eventually go back into production or at least get picked up for Season 3", but ultimately concluded "it is what it is" in regard to the network's decision. Despite this, Jacobs remained optimistic about the series' future, saying "Given that we now live in a world where people are streaming TV shows directly onto their iPhones & computers, and given that companies like Netflix & Yahoo! are now picking up so much new content for their customers...I just find it hard to believe that The Aquabats! Super Show! is really over. I mean, we haven't even made any toys yet". He concluded by stating "It took us almost 15 years to get that TV series made. And even though we've got a bunch more concert dates lined up for the rest of this year, our first priority is to find a new home for The Aquabats! Super Show!".
On March 31, 2015, the nominees for the 42nd annual Daytime Emmy Awards were announced, with Super Show! earning nominations for Best SFX Mixer (Blaine Stewart) and Best Stunt Coordinator (Braxton McAllister).
On June 27, 2015, The Aquabats screened the entire first season of Super Show! before a sold-out crowd at The Frida Cinema in downtown Santa Ana, which was accompanied by a live performance by the band and Q&A sessions with The Aquabats and numerous members of the cast and crew. A similar presentation of the entire second season – including the three additional specials – took place at The Art Theater in Long Beach on December 16, 2017, coinciding with the release of the second season Blu-ray.
Bring Back The Aquabats! Kickstarter campaign
Following weeks of teasing a major announcement, The Aquabats launched a Kickstarter campaign on July 31, 2018 to help finance the return of The Aquabats! Super Show! as well as new studio albums from the band at a minimum projected cost of $1.1 million. The Aquabats promoted their campaign with a video featuring a slew of celebrity cameos, including Super Show! guest stars "Weird Al" Yankovic, Robert Smigel (as Triumph the Insult Comic Dog), Matt Chapman (as Homestar Runner and Strong Bad), former Aquabats member Travis Barker, Tony Kanal, Tom Dumont, Oscar Nunez, Kate Micucci, Blake Anderson, Imagine Dragons, Felicia Day and Tom Lennon, all of whom appeared in The Aquabats' trademark uniforms and spoke the Kickstarter's promotional slogan "I am The Aquabats"/"We are The Aquabats". Most prominently featured, however, was comedian Jack Black, who was later confirmed by the campaign's press releases to act as executive producer for the series' return.
Along with their Kickstarter, the band began releasing a series of Super Show! "mini-episodes", depicting the MC Bat Commander's metafictional quest to reunite the estranged Aquabats following the series' cancellation. The band confirmed that as the Kickstarter progresses, further "mini-episodes" will be released to both promote the campaign as well as act as a continuation of Super Show!.
By August 28, mere days before the campaign's end date of September 1, The Aquabats' Kickstarter had raised only $601,629 of its projected $1.1 million goal. The funding was subsequently cancelled and the campaign was rebooted the same day with a smaller goal of $100,000 to instead finance one new album and the continued production of the Super Show!! "mini-episodes". The project's goal was met within minutes.
Music
Original music for The Aquabats! Super Show! was primarily composed and performed by The Aquabats themselves, with additional scoring on most episodes provided by Matthew Gorney, Warren Fitzgerald or individual credits for Aquabats members James R. Briggs, Jr., Richard Falomir and Ian Fowles. Fitzgerald, guitarist for punk rock band The Vandals and former member of Oingo Boingo, acted as the series' music supervisor. The theme song to Super Show!, "Super Show Theme Song!", was co-written by The Aquabats and Fitzgerald.
Whereas most musically oriented shows like The Monkees typically break the narrative of an episode for a music video performance of a standalone song, each episode of Super Show! typically features one or two unique songs that tied directly into the plot, usually about and performed during the events of a particular scene. Most of these songs are rather brief, averaging a running time of just under a minute; Jacobs stated that many of the show's original songs were recorded as full-length pieces but trimmed down for inclusion in an episode, simply due to the show "trying to pack so much into 22 minutes".
Shortly after Super Show!s premiere, Jacobs confirmed plans to eventually release the series' original full-length songs as a soundtrack album. However, these plans wouldn't fully come to fruition until 2019; in a 2018 interview, Jacobs retrospectively revealed that the album had been long completed but the band "hadn't had all the rights tied up" until then. The first original and full-length recordings from the series' first season debuted in July 2017, when "Burger Rain" and "Beat Fishin'" were released as a tour-exclusive 7" single. Songs from the series' first season were eventually compiled as The Aquabats! Super Show! Television Soundtrack: Volume One, which was released digitally in March 2019 and then onto physical media the following June, where it became The Aquabats' highest-charting album to date, debuting at the top of Billboards Top Heatseekers chart and at 165 on the Billboard 200.
Cast and characters
See: List of The Aquabats! Super Show! characters
The Aquabats! Super Show! stars and is based upon fictionalized versions of the then-current (since 2006) line-up of the California comedy rock band The Aquabats. Adapting the backstory the band has used for the entirety of their professional career, Super Show! depicts The Aquabats as a group of bumbling, out-of-shape superheroes on a self-appointed mission to fight the forces of evil, presented in both live-action and animated segments. The five members of The Aquabats are:
The MC Bat Commander (played and voiced by Christian Jacobs) – The Aquabats' singer and de facto leader of the team. Though he doesn't have any superpowers of his own and is often quite stubborn and naive, the Commander is shown to be an effective strategist whose sharp leadership skills, bravery and determination regularly drive the band towards victory.
Crash McLarson (played and voiced by Chad Larson) – The band's bass guitarist, who has the frequently uncontrollable ability to grow upwards of 100 feet in size when under emotional stress. Despite being the largest and strongest of The Aquabats, Crash has a gentle, childlike demeanor bordering on slight dim-wittedness, and as such is usually the most cowardly member of the team.
Jimmy the Robot (played and voiced by James R. Briggs, Jr.) – The Aquabats' keyboardist. As his name implies, Jimmy is an android whose mechanical body houses a variety of built-in gadgets and weaponry, plus a comprehensive knowledge database which earns him the position of the group's resident scientist. Being a robot, Jimmy is generally perplexed by human emotions and behavior.
Ricky Fitness (played and voiced by Richard Falomir) – the band's drummer, Ricky possesses the power of super speed. Being the most physically fit and health-conscious member of The Aquabats, some of the series' running gags revolve around Ricky's status as a handsome ladies' man and his fondness for "fresh, healthy veggies" in contrast to the rest of the team's voracious affinity for junk food.
EagleBones Falconhawk (played and voiced by Ian Fowles) – The Aquabats' guitarist. The cocky and boyish maverick of the team, EagleBones is highly proficient on his custom weaponized electric guitar which shoots lasers from its headstock. Following a spiritual encounter early in season one, EagleBones also has the gift of second sight and is accompanied by "The Dude", an invisible spirit eagle whom he summons to aide The Aquabats in battle.
Voice actor and writer Mr. Lawrence provided the minimal narration for both seasons of Super Show!s live-action segments, while staff writer Kyle McCulloch narrated the first season's animated segments.
Guest stars and recurring characters
Though each episode of the series introduced a new villain, ally and/or celebrity cameo, Super Show! never featured any major recurring characters throughout its run. However, every episode of the show included a very brief appearance by a character fans dubbed the "Fox Man", a man in a cheap-looking fox costume played by visual effects supervisor Joel Fox, who would appear hidden in the background of a random scene as an Easter egg for viewers to spot, although his character was never explained within the context of the series.
Comedy musician "Weird Al" Yankovic and comedian Paul Rust were the only two guest actors to appear in two episodes: Yankovic played two different roles as the President of the United States and superhero SuperMagic PowerMan! (in a 2012 interview, Jacobs alluded to the two possibly being the same character, though this isn't implied within the series), while Rust played a boorish slacker named Ronmark, first appearing in live-action in a first-season episode and subsequently lending his voice to a mutated monster version of the character in part of a second-season episode.
Episodes
Distribution
International broadcast
Outside of North America, The Aquabats! Super Show! broadcast in Australia on the children's public broadcasting channel ABC3 and in the United Kingdom on the children's network CITV.
Home media
Coinciding with the run of the first season, each new episode of The Aquabats! Super Show! was released through the iTunes Store for digital download. Prior to the series debut, a season pass was made available for purchase to enable viewers to automatically receive a download of each new episode on its airdate. The first season of Super Show! was added to the video streaming service Netflix on December 1, 2012, later being added to Hulu on December 21.
Unlike the first season, the series' second season was not made available for iTunes pre-order, nor were episodes released for purchase. Though each episode was briefly streamed on The Hub's official website, none of the seasons' episodes were made available on Hulu, Netflix or similar streaming services.
Shout! Factory had the DVD publishing rights for The Aquabats! Super Show! within Region 1 for release of the first season. The company first announced their acquisition of the series and plans for a future DVD in a press release dated August 6, 2012, though did not initially confirm a set release date until several months later. On May 21, 2013, the first season of Super Show! was released on a two-disc DVD set.
On November 22, 2017, in conjunction with their announcement of a season two theatrical screening, The Aquabats confirmed an independent Blu-ray release for season two, including the three specials often considered a "season three". On December 5, pre-orders were launched on The Aquabats' merchandising site for an official release date of December 22, though copies were first made for public sale at the second season theatrical screening on December 16.
Starting in December 2014, The Aquabats gradually began uploading the series' full episodes onto their official YouTube channel. As of August 2019, all 21 episodes of Super Show! and its pilot episode have been publicly uploaded to their account.
Critical reception
Critical response to The Aquabats! Super Show! was predominantly positive, with most reviewers praising the series' intentionally campy tone and offbeat humor. The Onions The A.V. Club gave the series premiere an A− rating, describing it as "a loving homage to basically everything ever done by the brothers Krofft": "the show adeptly flips from humor to melodrama to action, providing some awesomely cheap special effects, goofy songs, and gags that range from slapstick to sublime", summarizing "there's so much here that both kids and parents will be able to enjoy the proceedings on their own respective levels and rarely find themselves bored".
Brian Lowry of Variety wrote "you don't have to laugh at everything to admire the effort and sheer silliness", calling the show a "goofy and nostalgic" throwback to the "children's TV of baby boomers' youth, down to crappy production values and awful-looking 'monsters' that work to its advantage". He summarized "Although this Hub series at times feels like an SNL skit stretched to a half-hour, its sly mix of music, live-action crime-fighting, cartoons and mock ads ought to develop a cult following—and might be more popular with parents, at least those with the geek gene, than their kids".
Technology magazine Wired was consistently positive towards the series, calling it both "wonderfully strange" and "delightfully deranged", writing "[f]illed with self-deprecating music videos, toon interludes and ludicrous villains, The Aquabats! Super Show! has become one of television's strangely comforting finds".
Common Sense Media, who review shows based on age-appropriate content, gave Super Show! a rating of 4 out of 5 stars, calling it "demented and manic...fun by sheer dint of how many jokes, visual and otherwise, are thrown at the screen, both those calculated to appeal to kids and adults". The site praised the series for its lighter and sillier tone in comparison to more violent live-action superhero fare, and considered the "kind-hearted" Aquabats to be relatively positive role models. However, the reviewer suggested the show's violence and creatures may be too intense for very young children, and pointed out a distinct lack of central female characters.
Neil Genzlinger of The New York Times offered a more indifferent opinion, calling The Aquabats "indescribably odd" and the series "frenetic, semicoherent and generally harmless. Also somewhat hallucinogenic", noting Super Show!s writing "may be over the heads of the 2-to-12 set", suggesting its most receptive audience might be "the college drinking-game crowd".
Awards and nominations
The Aquabats! Super Show! was nominated for the following awards:
Daytime Emmy Award
References
External links
Official website of The Aquabats
The Aquabats
2010s American children's television series
2010s American musical comedy television series
2010s American satirical television series
2010s American sketch comedy television series
2010s American superhero comedy television series
2012 American television series debuts
2014 American television series endings
American children's adventure television series
American children's musical television series
American television series with live action and animation
Children's sketch comedy
English-language television shows
Television series by Fremantle (company)
Television shows set in Orange County, California
American television shows featuring puppetry
Discovery Family original programming | true | [
"\"What Kind of Fool\" is a 1981 vocal duet between Barbra Streisand and Barry Gibb.\n\nWhat Kind of Fool may also refer to:\n\n \"What Kind of Fool\" (Lionel Cartwright song), a 1991 song by Lionel Cartwright\n \"What Kind of Fool (Heard All That Before)\", a 1992 song performed by Kylie Minogue\n \"What Kind of Fool Am I?\", a 1962 song recorded by several artists\n \"What Kind of Fool (Do You Think I Am)\", a 1964 song by The Tamms\n \"What Kind of Fool Do You Think I Am\", a 1992 song by Lee Roy Parnell\n \"What Kind of Fool\", a 1988 single by All About Eve",
"Palladium Fantasy RPG Book 3: Adventures on the High Seas is a role-playing game supplement for Palladium Fantasy Role-Playing Game published by Palladium Books in 1987. An updated edition was published in 1996.\n\nContents\nAdventures on the High Seas is a supplement including new skills, character classes (gladiator, pirate, acrobat, bard) and magic items, plus characters sheets, ship types, and rules for nautical adventures. It includes several scenarios set on a series of fully mapped-out islands.\n\nPublication history\nAdventures on the High Seas was written by Kevin Siembieda, and was published by Palladium Books in 1987 as a 208-page book.\n\nReception\nIn the November 1987 edition of Dragon (Issue 127), Ken Rolston reviewed the first edition of this book, and thought it was \"Good old-fashioned, prehistoric D&D game-style fantasy adventures by the shipload.\" Rolston liked the extra rules and campaign supplements, calling the new character classes, magic items and curses \"neat stuff.\" He concluded, \"What it lacks in organization and sophistication, it more than makes up for in enthusiasm and imagination.\"\n\nTen years later, in the December 1997 edition of Dragon (Issue 242), Rick Swan reviewed the second edition, and was complimentary, saying, \"The seafaring stuff — the best of its kind I’ve ever seen — covers the economics of sea trade, ship-to-ship combat, and naval equipment.\" He gave the book an above-average rating of 5 out of 6, but concluded that it was \"better for [gaming] veterans, owing to some complicated concepts.\"\n\nReview\nArcane (Issue 18 - Apr 1997)\n\nReferences\n\nPalladium Fantasy Role-Playing Game supplements"
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"The Aquabats! Super Show!",
"Premise",
"what can you tell me about their premise?",
"The Aquabats! Super Show! is centered around the adventures of The Aquabats,",
"what kind of adventures?",
"a group of superhero rock musicians who travel the countryside on a self-appointed mission to fight evil and \"destroy boredom\","
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| C_4cdf6386fc074258b24b5e00bbcdec23_1 | what else do the super heroes do? | 3 | Besides rock musicians traveling the countryside on a self-appointed mission to fight evil and "destroy boredom", what else do the super heroes in The Aquabats! Super Show! do? | The Aquabats! Super Show! | Chronicled in both live-action and animated segments, The Aquabats! Super Show! is centered around the adventures of The Aquabats, a group of superhero rock musicians who travel the countryside on a self-appointed mission to fight evil and "destroy boredom", protecting the world from the villains and creatures who threaten to destroy it while aiming to become a famous rock and roll band in their own right. The Aquabats consist of singer The MC Bat Commander (Christian Jacobs), the swaggering leader of the group; bassist Crash McLarson (Chad Larson), who can grow up to 100 feet in size; drummer Ricky Fitness (Richard Falomir), who has the power of super speed; guitarist EagleBones Falconhawk (Ian Fowles), who's armed with a laser-shooting electric guitar; and keyboardist Jimmy the Robot (James R. Briggs, Jr.), an android. Despite their superhuman strengths and abilities, The Aquabats are quite bumbling, disorganized, and sometimes cowardly when faced with danger; this has in fact led them to be labeled "the world's most inept superheroes". The band lives and travels by way of their "Battletram", a modified recreational vehicle which, despite its small exterior, has an implausibly massive interior (similar to the TARDIS from Doctor Who or The Big Bologna from The Kids From C.A.P.E.R.), which contains, among many things, a science lab, a command center, and a living room. The Aquabats' origin story was left intentionally vague throughout the series, a choice Jacobs explains was done for the sake of the viewer's imagination, as kids are more accepting of the inherent absurdity of the premise than adults tend to be: "'There's five guys. This is what each of the five guys does. There are monsters. They're gonna try to fight them'. It's so simple. And I think that's why it's so awesome with kids--they just take it and run with it". In the first five episodes of season two, each member of The Aquabats shares their memory of how they joined the band via animated flashback sequences; however, all of these flashbacks directly and intentionally contradict each other, leaving it unknown which--if any--could be considered officially canonical. CANNOTANSWER | ", protecting the world from the villains and creatures who threaten to destroy it while aiming to become a famous rock and roll band in their own right. | The Aquabats! Super Show! is an American action-comedy musical television series which aired from March 3, 2012 to January 8, 2014 on The Hub Network and resumed as an independent YouTube web series in September 2019. The series was created by Christian Jacobs, and Scott Schultz, both the creators of the Nick Jr. show Yo Gabba Gabba!, and Jason deVilliers.
Based on the superhero mythology of The Aquabats, a real-life comedy rock band which series co-creator and lead singer Jacobs formed in 1994, The Aquabats! Super Show! follows the comic adventures of a fictionalized version of the band, a musical group of amateur superheroes, as they haphazardly defend the world from a variety of villains and monsters. Styled similarly to the campy aesthetics of 1960s and 1970s children's television and Japanese tokusatsu, Super Show! utilizes various mediums of visual styles and special effects, mixing live-action storylines with cartoon shorts, parody advertisements and musical interludes.
The series' first season concluded on June 16, 2012 following a run of 13 episodes, having met with a largely positive critical reception, consistently high ratings for the channel and a Daytime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Children's Series. The series' second season consisted of an initial five episodes which aired through June 2013, with three additional episodes airing in late December and January 2014, receiving similar acclaim and a further seven Daytime Emmy nominations, ultimately winning one for Best Stunt Coordination. In June 2014, co-creator Jacobs officially announced the series' cancellation, following news of The Hub's financial losses which led to the network's rebranding as Discovery Family later that October.
In July 2018, The Aquabats launched a successful Kickstarter to help independently finance new episodes of The Aquabats! Super Show!, promoting the campaign with a series of YouTube-exclusive mini-episodes continuing the original series' storyline. On September 28, 2019, The Aquabats premiered the first installment of these new episodes, now a biweekly YouTube series entitled The Aquabats! RadVentures!, though still retaining Super Show!s theme song and title card.
Series overview
Premise
Chronicled in both live-action and animated segments, The Aquabats! Super Show! is centered around the adventures of The Aquabats, a group of superhero rock musicians who travel the countryside on a self-appointed mission to fight evil and "destroy boredom", protecting the world from the villains and creatures who threaten to destroy it while aiming to become a famous rock and roll band in their own right.
The Aquabats consist of singer The MC Bat Commander (Christian Jacobs), the swaggering leader of the group; bassist Crash McLarson (Chad Larson), who can grow up to 100 feet in size; drummer Ricky Fitness (Richard Falomir), who has the power of super speed; guitarist EagleBones Falconhawk (Ian Fowles), who's armed with a laser-shooting electric guitar; and keyboardist Jimmy the Robot (James R. Briggs, Jr.), an android. Despite their superhuman strengths and abilities, The Aquabats are quite bumbling, disorganized, and sometimes cowardly when faced with danger; this has in fact led them to be labeled "the world's most inept superheroes". The band lives and travels by way of their "Battletram", a modified classic GMC motorhome which, despite its small exterior, has an implausibly massive interior (similar to the TARDIS from Doctor Who or The Big Bologna from The Kids From C.A.P.E.R.), which contains, among many things, a science lab, a command center, and a living room.
The Aquabats' origin story was left intentionally vague throughout the series, a choice Jacobs explains was done for the sake of the viewer's imagination, as he felt kids were more accepting of the inherent absurdity of the premise than adults tend to be: "'There's five guys. This is what each of the five guys does. There are monsters. They're gonna try to fight them'. It's so simple. And I think that's why it's so awesome with kids—they just take it and run with it". In the first five episodes of season two, each member of The Aquabats shares their memory of how they joined the band via animated flashback sequences; however, all of these flashbacks directly and intentionally contradict each other, leaving it unknown which—if any—could be considered officially canonical.
Format and influences
The Aquabats! Super Show! juxtaposes both live-action and animated segments starring The Aquabats, interwoven with various tangential skits and cartoon interstitials. The live-action storylines are the primary focus of each episode, following a self-contained villain of the week formula. In the first season, each episode featured brief anime-styled cartoon shorts which one of the characters would introduce at a random point of the show, often by finding "A Cartoon" (represented by a miniature television set) in an absurd location. Unlike the live-action segments, these cartoons followed a serialized story arc, with each installment ending in a cliffhanger to be resolved in the next episode. In season two, this format was replaced with a series of animated flashbacks recounting the origins of The Aquabats, each by a different animation studio and in a different animation style. Between these segments are pantomime cartoon shorts starring "Lil' Bat", The Aquabats' anthropomorphic bat mascot, and live-action parody commercials for outlandish fictional products, the latter of which has long been a staple of The Aquabats' multi-media stage shows.
Jacobs says the concept behind Super Show! was something he had always dreamed of doing, making a "campy, live-action, funky kid's show" in the vein of the 1960s and 1970s television that he and the rest of the series' producers had grown up with. While the show pays homage to many facets of pop culture, Jacobs has named the 1960s Batman television series as the primary influence on Super Show!s "obviously silly" tone and visual style, ranging from set design to the trademark use of dutch angles for villain scenes. Other notable influences Jacobs has repeatedly mentioned include the works of Sid and Marty Krofft and Hanna-Barbera, Japanese tokusatsu series such as Ultraman and Johnny Sokko And His Flying Robot, the Shaw Brothers and Hong Kong cinema, and shows including Danger Island, Star Trek, The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, and Pee-wee's Playhouse, noting "there's a good 30 years worth of television culture packed into these 22-minute episodes".
Demographic
As The Hub's key demographic were children aged 6 to 12, Super Show! was ostensibly targeted towards said age group, though Jacobs has stated that the series primarily aimed to appeal to an all-ages crowd, with the intent of creating entertainment that both kids and parents can watch and enjoy together or separately. In interviews prior to the series' premiere, he explained that this was merely an extension of The Aquabats' own family-friendly ethos: "There's just obviously something about the costumes and being superheroes that really appeals to younger kids, and I think we always knew that as a band...I think we'll want to put things in [the show] for an older audience, because we realize we have an older audience, but then also we want the young kids, to not have it go over their heads".
Production history
History and previous attempts at a series
In 1994, musicians Christian Jacobs, Chad Larson and former member Boyd Terry formed The Aquabats in Brea, California. Influenced as much by cartoons and camp television as theatrical bands like Devo and Oingo Boingo, The Aquabats gained instant notoriety in the Orange County music scene for their eccentric persona in which they claimed to be a band of superheroes on a quest to save the world and their elaborate stage shows which regularly featured scripted fights with costumed villains alongside similar stunts and comedy sketches.
The Aquabats' second studio album, 1997's The Fury of The Aquabats!, proved to be a minor commercial breakthrough for the group, charting on the Billboard 200 and bringing them exposure through such venues as MTV, leading Jacobs – a former child actor with ties in the industry – to develop the concept of adapting the band's mythology for television. In 1998, Buena Vista Television helped produce a live-action mini-pilot directed by comedian Bobcat Goldthwait titled simply The Aquabats!, following the comic misadventures of the then-eight member band in an over-the-top camp style similar to Saturday morning cartoon shows. The pilot, which has yet to be made available for public viewing, failed to generate any network interest and was ultimately even disowned by the band themselves.
Undeterred, The Aquabats made an attempt at a second pilot the following year, using a music video budget granted by their record label Goldenvoice Records for their 1999 album The Aquabats vs. the Floating Eye of Death!. Independently directed and produced by Jacobs and his creative partner Scott Schultz, the result was a five-minute promo video entitled The Aquabats in Color!. In contrast to the wackier tone of the previous pilot, The Aquabats in Color! was a more action-oriented superhero series modeled after Japanese tokusatsu shows such as Kamen Rider. According to Jacobs, the Fox Family Channel reportedly expressed interest in the series and ordered production on a proper pilot episode, though following the channel's acquisition by Disney in 2001, the project was cancelled.
The Aquabats! Super Show! pilot (2008)
In 2005, Jacobs and Schultz formed the Orange County-based production company The Magic Store, focusing on creating family-oriented television entertainment. One of the company's independently produced pilots, the children's television series Yo Gabba Gabba!, was eventually picked up as a series by Viacoms Nick Jr. channel, premiering in August 2007 and ultimately becoming an award-winning and critically acclaimed international success. In the wake of the series' popularity, Jacobs and Schultz persuaded Yo Gabba Gabba!s joint production company Wild Brain to help produce a new pilot based around The Aquabats in conjuncture with The Magic Store.
Again creatively spearheaded by Jacobs and Schultz, The Aquabats' third pilot, titled The Aquabats! Super Show!, was shot on location throughout southern California in late 2007 and early 2008. Part of this filming took place at a free invitation-only concert for members of the band's official fan club at the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles on January 12, 2008. While The Aquabats' previous pilots were short, live-action promotional videos, The Aquabats! Super Show! was a fully realized 22-minute episode featuring two separate storylines based on the adventures of The Aquabats, one live-action and one animated, and interspersed with parody commercials and live footage of the band. Speaking on the decision to structure the show in such a varied format, Jacobs said "[w]e did that for a strategic reason – some networks like cartoons more than other networks. We wanted to say, 'this could be both shows'."
Following a period of post-production, The Aquabats began widely self-promoting Super Show! in June 2008, redesigning their website to promote the pilot and releasing a teaser trailer and several exclusive clips through an official Super Show! YouTube channel. On July 25, 2008, the band screened the full pilot at a concert in San Diego held during the weekend of the San Diego Comic-Con, while a segment of the episode was hosted on Boing Boing the same day. In 2009, Cartoon Network allegedly picked the series up for a run of 22 episodes, though following major staff changes within the company—which, according to Jacobs, included the termination of the executives who had green-lighted Super Show!—the project was again cancelled.
The Hub and season one
After several more unsuccessful network pitches into the 2010s, The Aquabats! Super Show! was finally picked up as a series by family cable channel The Hub, a joint venture between Hasbro and Discovery which launched in 2010 as a replacement for Discovery Kids. The Hub formally announced the series in a press release on March 23, 2011, revealing Super Show! would be given a first season run of 13 episodes, produced in conjuncture with FremantleMedia. In promotion of the series, The Aquabats appeared as part of a panel at the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con where they discussed their initial plans for the show, while The Hub sponsored an Aquabats concert held at the nearby House of Blues during the same weekend.
Production on season one of Super Show! officially began in May 2011. The entirety of the first season was shot within and around The Aquabats' hometown of Orange County, California; according to the first season DVD audio commentary, episodes were shot on location in the cities of Irvine, Silverado, Yorba Linda, Huntington Beach and Fullerton, while a private sound stage in Santa Ana was used for interior shots of the Battletram. A public Aquabats concert held at The Glass House club in Pomona on November 5, 2011 was also filmed to provide live footage of the band which is featured in the series' opening credits montage and several individual episodes.
Much of Super Show!s staff consist of friends and colleagues of The Aquabats who've previously worked with the band on various projects, ranging from members of Yo Gabba Gabba!s production team to fellow musicians within the southern California music scene. Among the more notable examples include Dallas McLaughlin and Matthew Gorney, both members of the San Diego hip hop band Bad Credit, who prominently served as writers, composers and performers, Warren Fitzgerald, guitarist for The Vandals, who was hired as a writer and music director, internet sketch comedy group Mega64 were commissioned to produce original material, primarily the series' parody commercials, and Japanese artist Pey, who had designed much of The Aquabats' promotional art and merchandise during the 2000s, was hired to design the season's animated segments. Additionally, several industry professionals were brought in to help work on the show: Dani Michaeli, a staff writer on SpongeBob SquarePants, was hired as the series' story editor, while Matt Chapman, co-creator of the internet Flash cartoon Homestar Runner, acted as a writer, director and actor on several episodes. As none of the members besides Jacobs had any previous acting experience, comedian Matt Walsh of the Upright Citizens Brigade was brought in to help teach The Aquabats comedic acting and timing.
In further homage to the original Batman series, Super Show! features a variety of celebrity cameo appearances. The series' first season included appearances from actors Jon Heder, Lou Diamond Phillips and Samm Levine, comedians Rip Taylor, Paul Scheer and Paul Rust, and comedy musician "Weird Al" Yankovic, who appeared in two episodes as different characters. The first season also included several "Easter egg" cameos from original Aquabats members Corey "Chainsaw" Pollock and Boyd "Catboy" Terry, as well as from fellow musicians Warren Fitzgerald and Art Mitchell of the band Supernova.
Despite having been originally announced as part of The Hub's 2011 Fall line-up, production delays postponed Super Show!s premiere to early 2012. The series' marketing campaign began in December 2011, with a later announcement of an official premiere date confirmed for March 3, 2012. Following a non-consecutive run of 13 episodes, the first-season finale aired on June 16, 2012.
Season two
On October 16, 2012, The Aquabats and The Hub confirmed production on new episodes of Super Show! through the social networking sites Facebook and Twitter, announcing a tentative debut date of Spring 2013. Principal photography on season two began on October 22 and wrapped on December 1. Unlike the first season, the majority of season two was shot in and around Salt Lake City, Utah, which Jacobs explained was considerably less expensive than shooting in California.
While no changes were made to Super Shows creative team, in December 2012 it was announced that season two would introduce the series' first guest director, musician and comic book writer Gerard Way, who co-directed and co-wrote the season finale "The AntiBats!" with Jacobs and deVilliers. Way's involvement with the series was heavily covered by the music press in the wake of the March 2013 break-up of his popular alternative rock band My Chemical Romance. Among the guest stars featured in season two were professional skateboarders Tony Hawk and Eric Koston, Devo frontman and Yo Gabba Gabba! cast member Mark Mothersbaugh, internet celebrity Leslie Hall, actor Martin Starr and My Chemical Romance bassist Mikey Way.
On December 2, 2012, deVilliers revealed on his Twitter account that the upcoming season would consist of only five new episodes, in what he called more "season 1.5" than a "season 2", though mentioned the possibility of more being made in the future. On May 1, 2013, it was announced through Entertainment Weekly that the series' second season would begin airing on June 1. After a run of only five episodes, the season concluded on June 29, 2013.
2013–2014 specials
On August 22, 2013, series performer Chad Larson confirmed via Twitter that three additional episodes of Super Show! were being filmed near the end of the year, "and maybe more next". Principal photography on these episodes eventually began in Utah in early October. Throughout the month, The Aquabats posted numerous pictures of production on the new episodes on their Twitter and Instagram accounts, some of which revealed production code numbers of 301, 302 and 303, ostensibly indicating what would be a third season. Though these numbers were later verified by the Internet Movie Database, a November press release from The Hub explicitly referred to these three episodes as "specials".
The first of these specials, "Christmas with The Aquabats!", aired on December 21, featuring comedians Robert Smigel and Matt Walsh in guest roles. The second of these episodes, "The Shark Fighter!" (based on The Aquabats' song of the same name), featuring comedian Rhys Darby, aired the following week on December 28, while the final special "Kitty Litter!" aired on January 18, 2014. "Kitty Litter!" was helmed by another guest director, Munn Powell, best known for his work as cinematographer on the Jared and Jerusha Hess films Napoleon Dynamite and Gentlemen Broncos.
Following this short run of episodes, there was no confirmation by either The Hub or The Aquabats as to the production of any future episodes. In a December 2013 interview, Christian Jacobs acknowledged the network's unusually small order of episodes but didn't elaborate on any possible reasoning. In the same interview, he stated that the band had initially prepared for another order of 13 episodes, having written as many scripts for potential future episodes.
On May 1, 2014, the nominees for the 2014 Daytime Emmy Awards were announced, revealing that Super Show! had been nominated for five awards in four categories, including the award for Best Writing in a Children's Series for the episode "The AntiBats!". The awards ceremony was held on June 22, 2014, where the series ultimately won the award for Best Stunt Coordination for stuntman Skip Carlson.
Cancellation by The Hub and hiatus
In mid-2014, it was announced in entertainment press that Hasbro and Discovery had been in the process of rebranding The Hub following what they saw to be disappointing returns for the channel, changes which included the departure of CEO Margaret Loesch, who was instrumental in acquiring Super Show! as a series. In a Huffington Post feature about The Aquabats prior to the band's appearance at the 2014 San Diego Comic-Con, it was revealed that The Hub had opted not to renew Super Show! for a third season, effectively cancelling the series.
Jacobs admitted he was surprised by this turn of events, noting "Everything we heard was that the show has been a real Cinderella story for the Hub and that it was rating really well with viewers. We just assumed that we'd eventually go back into production or at least get picked up for Season 3", but ultimately concluded "it is what it is" in regard to the network's decision. Despite this, Jacobs remained optimistic about the series' future, saying "Given that we now live in a world where people are streaming TV shows directly onto their iPhones & computers, and given that companies like Netflix & Yahoo! are now picking up so much new content for their customers...I just find it hard to believe that The Aquabats! Super Show! is really over. I mean, we haven't even made any toys yet". He concluded by stating "It took us almost 15 years to get that TV series made. And even though we've got a bunch more concert dates lined up for the rest of this year, our first priority is to find a new home for The Aquabats! Super Show!".
On March 31, 2015, the nominees for the 42nd annual Daytime Emmy Awards were announced, with Super Show! earning nominations for Best SFX Mixer (Blaine Stewart) and Best Stunt Coordinator (Braxton McAllister).
On June 27, 2015, The Aquabats screened the entire first season of Super Show! before a sold-out crowd at The Frida Cinema in downtown Santa Ana, which was accompanied by a live performance by the band and Q&A sessions with The Aquabats and numerous members of the cast and crew. A similar presentation of the entire second season – including the three additional specials – took place at The Art Theater in Long Beach on December 16, 2017, coinciding with the release of the second season Blu-ray.
Bring Back The Aquabats! Kickstarter campaign
Following weeks of teasing a major announcement, The Aquabats launched a Kickstarter campaign on July 31, 2018 to help finance the return of The Aquabats! Super Show! as well as new studio albums from the band at a minimum projected cost of $1.1 million. The Aquabats promoted their campaign with a video featuring a slew of celebrity cameos, including Super Show! guest stars "Weird Al" Yankovic, Robert Smigel (as Triumph the Insult Comic Dog), Matt Chapman (as Homestar Runner and Strong Bad), former Aquabats member Travis Barker, Tony Kanal, Tom Dumont, Oscar Nunez, Kate Micucci, Blake Anderson, Imagine Dragons, Felicia Day and Tom Lennon, all of whom appeared in The Aquabats' trademark uniforms and spoke the Kickstarter's promotional slogan "I am The Aquabats"/"We are The Aquabats". Most prominently featured, however, was comedian Jack Black, who was later confirmed by the campaign's press releases to act as executive producer for the series' return.
Along with their Kickstarter, the band began releasing a series of Super Show! "mini-episodes", depicting the MC Bat Commander's metafictional quest to reunite the estranged Aquabats following the series' cancellation. The band confirmed that as the Kickstarter progresses, further "mini-episodes" will be released to both promote the campaign as well as act as a continuation of Super Show!.
By August 28, mere days before the campaign's end date of September 1, The Aquabats' Kickstarter had raised only $601,629 of its projected $1.1 million goal. The funding was subsequently cancelled and the campaign was rebooted the same day with a smaller goal of $100,000 to instead finance one new album and the continued production of the Super Show!! "mini-episodes". The project's goal was met within minutes.
Music
Original music for The Aquabats! Super Show! was primarily composed and performed by The Aquabats themselves, with additional scoring on most episodes provided by Matthew Gorney, Warren Fitzgerald or individual credits for Aquabats members James R. Briggs, Jr., Richard Falomir and Ian Fowles. Fitzgerald, guitarist for punk rock band The Vandals and former member of Oingo Boingo, acted as the series' music supervisor. The theme song to Super Show!, "Super Show Theme Song!", was co-written by The Aquabats and Fitzgerald.
Whereas most musically oriented shows like The Monkees typically break the narrative of an episode for a music video performance of a standalone song, each episode of Super Show! typically features one or two unique songs that tied directly into the plot, usually about and performed during the events of a particular scene. Most of these songs are rather brief, averaging a running time of just under a minute; Jacobs stated that many of the show's original songs were recorded as full-length pieces but trimmed down for inclusion in an episode, simply due to the show "trying to pack so much into 22 minutes".
Shortly after Super Show!s premiere, Jacobs confirmed plans to eventually release the series' original full-length songs as a soundtrack album. However, these plans wouldn't fully come to fruition until 2019; in a 2018 interview, Jacobs retrospectively revealed that the album had been long completed but the band "hadn't had all the rights tied up" until then. The first original and full-length recordings from the series' first season debuted in July 2017, when "Burger Rain" and "Beat Fishin'" were released as a tour-exclusive 7" single. Songs from the series' first season were eventually compiled as The Aquabats! Super Show! Television Soundtrack: Volume One, which was released digitally in March 2019 and then onto physical media the following June, where it became The Aquabats' highest-charting album to date, debuting at the top of Billboards Top Heatseekers chart and at 165 on the Billboard 200.
Cast and characters
See: List of The Aquabats! Super Show! characters
The Aquabats! Super Show! stars and is based upon fictionalized versions of the then-current (since 2006) line-up of the California comedy rock band The Aquabats. Adapting the backstory the band has used for the entirety of their professional career, Super Show! depicts The Aquabats as a group of bumbling, out-of-shape superheroes on a self-appointed mission to fight the forces of evil, presented in both live-action and animated segments. The five members of The Aquabats are:
The MC Bat Commander (played and voiced by Christian Jacobs) – The Aquabats' singer and de facto leader of the team. Though he doesn't have any superpowers of his own and is often quite stubborn and naive, the Commander is shown to be an effective strategist whose sharp leadership skills, bravery and determination regularly drive the band towards victory.
Crash McLarson (played and voiced by Chad Larson) – The band's bass guitarist, who has the frequently uncontrollable ability to grow upwards of 100 feet in size when under emotional stress. Despite being the largest and strongest of The Aquabats, Crash has a gentle, childlike demeanor bordering on slight dim-wittedness, and as such is usually the most cowardly member of the team.
Jimmy the Robot (played and voiced by James R. Briggs, Jr.) – The Aquabats' keyboardist. As his name implies, Jimmy is an android whose mechanical body houses a variety of built-in gadgets and weaponry, plus a comprehensive knowledge database which earns him the position of the group's resident scientist. Being a robot, Jimmy is generally perplexed by human emotions and behavior.
Ricky Fitness (played and voiced by Richard Falomir) – the band's drummer, Ricky possesses the power of super speed. Being the most physically fit and health-conscious member of The Aquabats, some of the series' running gags revolve around Ricky's status as a handsome ladies' man and his fondness for "fresh, healthy veggies" in contrast to the rest of the team's voracious affinity for junk food.
EagleBones Falconhawk (played and voiced by Ian Fowles) – The Aquabats' guitarist. The cocky and boyish maverick of the team, EagleBones is highly proficient on his custom weaponized electric guitar which shoots lasers from its headstock. Following a spiritual encounter early in season one, EagleBones also has the gift of second sight and is accompanied by "The Dude", an invisible spirit eagle whom he summons to aide The Aquabats in battle.
Voice actor and writer Mr. Lawrence provided the minimal narration for both seasons of Super Show!s live-action segments, while staff writer Kyle McCulloch narrated the first season's animated segments.
Guest stars and recurring characters
Though each episode of the series introduced a new villain, ally and/or celebrity cameo, Super Show! never featured any major recurring characters throughout its run. However, every episode of the show included a very brief appearance by a character fans dubbed the "Fox Man", a man in a cheap-looking fox costume played by visual effects supervisor Joel Fox, who would appear hidden in the background of a random scene as an Easter egg for viewers to spot, although his character was never explained within the context of the series.
Comedy musician "Weird Al" Yankovic and comedian Paul Rust were the only two guest actors to appear in two episodes: Yankovic played two different roles as the President of the United States and superhero SuperMagic PowerMan! (in a 2012 interview, Jacobs alluded to the two possibly being the same character, though this isn't implied within the series), while Rust played a boorish slacker named Ronmark, first appearing in live-action in a first-season episode and subsequently lending his voice to a mutated monster version of the character in part of a second-season episode.
Episodes
Distribution
International broadcast
Outside of North America, The Aquabats! Super Show! broadcast in Australia on the children's public broadcasting channel ABC3 and in the United Kingdom on the children's network CITV.
Home media
Coinciding with the run of the first season, each new episode of The Aquabats! Super Show! was released through the iTunes Store for digital download. Prior to the series debut, a season pass was made available for purchase to enable viewers to automatically receive a download of each new episode on its airdate. The first season of Super Show! was added to the video streaming service Netflix on December 1, 2012, later being added to Hulu on December 21.
Unlike the first season, the series' second season was not made available for iTunes pre-order, nor were episodes released for purchase. Though each episode was briefly streamed on The Hub's official website, none of the seasons' episodes were made available on Hulu, Netflix or similar streaming services.
Shout! Factory had the DVD publishing rights for The Aquabats! Super Show! within Region 1 for release of the first season. The company first announced their acquisition of the series and plans for a future DVD in a press release dated August 6, 2012, though did not initially confirm a set release date until several months later. On May 21, 2013, the first season of Super Show! was released on a two-disc DVD set.
On November 22, 2017, in conjunction with their announcement of a season two theatrical screening, The Aquabats confirmed an independent Blu-ray release for season two, including the three specials often considered a "season three". On December 5, pre-orders were launched on The Aquabats' merchandising site for an official release date of December 22, though copies were first made for public sale at the second season theatrical screening on December 16.
Starting in December 2014, The Aquabats gradually began uploading the series' full episodes onto their official YouTube channel. As of August 2019, all 21 episodes of Super Show! and its pilot episode have been publicly uploaded to their account.
Critical reception
Critical response to The Aquabats! Super Show! was predominantly positive, with most reviewers praising the series' intentionally campy tone and offbeat humor. The Onions The A.V. Club gave the series premiere an A− rating, describing it as "a loving homage to basically everything ever done by the brothers Krofft": "the show adeptly flips from humor to melodrama to action, providing some awesomely cheap special effects, goofy songs, and gags that range from slapstick to sublime", summarizing "there's so much here that both kids and parents will be able to enjoy the proceedings on their own respective levels and rarely find themselves bored".
Brian Lowry of Variety wrote "you don't have to laugh at everything to admire the effort and sheer silliness", calling the show a "goofy and nostalgic" throwback to the "children's TV of baby boomers' youth, down to crappy production values and awful-looking 'monsters' that work to its advantage". He summarized "Although this Hub series at times feels like an SNL skit stretched to a half-hour, its sly mix of music, live-action crime-fighting, cartoons and mock ads ought to develop a cult following—and might be more popular with parents, at least those with the geek gene, than their kids".
Technology magazine Wired was consistently positive towards the series, calling it both "wonderfully strange" and "delightfully deranged", writing "[f]illed with self-deprecating music videos, toon interludes and ludicrous villains, The Aquabats! Super Show! has become one of television's strangely comforting finds".
Common Sense Media, who review shows based on age-appropriate content, gave Super Show! a rating of 4 out of 5 stars, calling it "demented and manic...fun by sheer dint of how many jokes, visual and otherwise, are thrown at the screen, both those calculated to appeal to kids and adults". The site praised the series for its lighter and sillier tone in comparison to more violent live-action superhero fare, and considered the "kind-hearted" Aquabats to be relatively positive role models. However, the reviewer suggested the show's violence and creatures may be too intense for very young children, and pointed out a distinct lack of central female characters.
Neil Genzlinger of The New York Times offered a more indifferent opinion, calling The Aquabats "indescribably odd" and the series "frenetic, semicoherent and generally harmless. Also somewhat hallucinogenic", noting Super Show!s writing "may be over the heads of the 2-to-12 set", suggesting its most receptive audience might be "the college drinking-game crowd".
Awards and nominations
The Aquabats! Super Show! was nominated for the following awards:
Daytime Emmy Award
References
External links
Official website of The Aquabats
The Aquabats
2010s American children's television series
2010s American musical comedy television series
2010s American satirical television series
2010s American sketch comedy television series
2010s American superhero comedy television series
2012 American television series debuts
2014 American television series endings
American children's adventure television series
American children's musical television series
American television series with live action and animation
Children's sketch comedy
English-language television shows
Television series by Fremantle (company)
Television shows set in Orange County, California
American television shows featuring puppetry
Discovery Family original programming | true | [
"This article is a list of Legion of Super-Heroes publications. The list is in approximate chronological order.\n\nLegion volumes\nThe Legion of Super-Heroes became a regular feature in Adventure Comics with issue #300, but were relegated to back-up feature beginning with issues #381. The Superboy comic book changed its title to Superboy starring the Legion of Super-Heroes with issue number #197. The name later underwent a slight change to Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes. \n\nIn 1973, a four issue limited series titled Legion of Super-Heroes published reprints of stories that originally appeared in Adventure Comics and Action Comics. From a publishing standpoint, the limited series is Legion of Super-Heroes Volume 1.\n\nBeginning with issue #259, Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes changed its title, dropping the \"Superboy\" and becoming simply Legion of Super-Heroes. This generally is considered Legion of Super-Heroes Volume 2.\n\nIn 1984, DC Comics began publishing first-run titles in a new, advanced printing format on heavier paper (with a concomitant price increase). The company launched a new title, Legion of Super-Heroes, in the high-resolution format, beginning with issue #1 in August 1984. This became known as Legion of Super-Heroes Volume 3. The original comic book continued publication, however, changing its name to Tales of the Legion of Super-Heroes with issue #314. Tales of the Legion of Super-Heroes is considered a continuation of Volume 2. It ceased publication in December 1989. During the latter part of its run, Legion of Super-Heroes Volume 3 ran several story lines which retconned the team's history in order to deal with changes in the DC Comics universe wrought by the 1985–1986 crossover known as Crisis on Infinite Earths. These changes removed Superboy (as previously known) from DC Comics. Because the Legion's history was so interwoven with Superboy, a \"pocket universe\" Superboy was created by the Legion villain Time Trapper. The latter part of Volume 3 is thus known as the \"pocket universe Legion\". Legion of Super-Heroes Volume 3 ceased publication with issue #63.\n\nA new book, Legion of Super-Heroes, began publication in November 1989. This is generally known as Volume 4. Set five years after the events of Volume 3, this publication covers what is known as the \"Five Years Later\" Legion. In 1994, the superhero team's continuity came to an end with Legion of Super-Heroes Volume 4, #61, after the DC Comics crossover story Zero Hour: Crisis in Time. Beginning with issue #62, the publication covered stories regarding what is known as the \"Reboot Legion\". Legion of Super-Heroes Volume 4 ceased in March 2000. Part of the superhero team's exploits were continued in the new comic book The Legion, which began publication in December 2001 and ceased in October 2004. Another part of the team's adventures were covered in a limited series comic, Legion Lost, which began publication in May 2000 and ceased in April 2001. Neither publication is considered to be part of Legion of Super-Heroes Volume 4 or Volume 5.\n\nYet another new publication, Legion of Super-Heroes, began in February 2005. With the team's origins retconned yet again, this is known as the period of the \"Threeboot Legion\". Due to the events of the DC Comics crossover story Infinite Crisis in 2005, Supergirl travels to the 30th century for an extended period. Beginning with issue #16, the publication changed its title to Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes. This is considered a continuation of Legion of Super-Heroes Volume 5. The publication returned to its original title with issue #37. Volume 5 ceased publication with issue #50 during the events of yet another DC Comics universe-wide event, known as Final Crisis (published from July 2008 to March 2009).\n\nA new comic book, Legion of Super-Heroes, began publication in July 2010. This is generally known as Volume 6, and restores (mostly) the continuity of the 1958-to-1994 Legion team—generally called the \"Retroboot Legion\". This publication ceased in October 2011 after yet another DC Comics universe-wide reboot known as Flashpoint (published from May to September 2011).\n\nA new publication to bear the title Legion of Super-Heroes was first issued in November 2011. This is generally known as Volume 7, and was part of DC Comics' \"soft reboot\" known as \"The New 52\". It largely maintained the continuity of Volume 6. This publication ceased in October 2013.\n\nThe most recent incarnation of the Legion of Superheroes began with a 2 issue special series titled \"Legion of Superheroes Millennium Edition\" which introduced a new run of \"Legion of Superheroes\" which started monthly in November 2019 and is expected to last for 12 months.\n\nOriginal continuity\n\nAdventure Comics #247, 267, 282, 290, 293, 300–380\nAction Comics #267, 276, 287, 289, 377–392, 591\nSuperboy #86, 89, 98, 117, 147, 172, 173, 176, 183, 184, 188, 190, 191, 193, 195\nSuperman (Volume 1) #147\nLegion of Super-Heroes #1–4 (reprints)\nSuperboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes #197–258\nKarate Kid #1–15\nAll-New Collectors' Edition #C-55 (Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes tabloid)\nLegion of Super-Heroes vol. 2, #259–313, Annual #1–3\nBest of Blue Ribbon Digest #24 (New Story, appears between #287 and #288 of Legion of Super-Heroes vol. 2)\nSecrets of the Legion of Super-Heroes #1–3\nTales of the Legion of Super-Heroes #314–325 (#326–354 are reprints of Legion of Super-Heroes vol. 3)\nLegion of Super-Heroes vol. 3, #1–63, Annual #1–4 (Baxter series)\nLegion of Substitute Heroes Special #1\nLegionnaires 3 #1–4\nCosmic Boy #1–4\nSuperman vol. 2, #8\nAction Comics #591\nWho's Who in the Legion of Super-Heroes #1–7\n\nLegion members appearing during \"Absolute Power\":\nSuperman/Batman #14–18\n\n5 Years Later (includes original and Batch SW6 teams)\nLegion of Super-Heroes vol. 4, #1–61, Annual #1–5\nLegionnaires #1–18, Annual #1\nL.E.G.I.O.N. 94 #69\nTimber Wolf #1–5\nValor #1–23\n\nReboot continuity\n\nLegion of Super-Heroes vol. 4, #0, 62–125, 1000000, Annual #6–7\nLegionnaires #0, 19–81, 1000000, Annual #2–3\nLegends of the Legion #1–4\nLegion Science Police #1–4\nSuperman Plus the Legion of Super-Heroes #1\nSovereign Seven Plus the Legion of Super-Heroes #1\n Superboy vol. 3, #21, #45 \nAdventures of Superman #540\nShowcase '95 #6\n Genesis #1-4\nThe Final Night #1–4\nInferno #1–4\n Action Comics #741\nSuperman Vol. 2 #119\nGreen Lantern Vol. 3 #98-99\nShowcase '96 #6, #8 #10–12\nAdventure Comics 80 pages Special (1998) #1\nLegion Lost #1–12\nLegion Worlds #1–6\nThe Legion #1–38\nLegion of Super-Heroes Secret Files #1-2\nThe Legion Secret Files 3003\nTeen Titans vol. 3, #15–16\nTitans/Legion of Super-Heroes: Universe Ablaze #1–4\nTeen Titans/Legion Special #1\nInfinite Crisis #6\nFinal Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #1–5\nYoung Justice: Our Worlds At War #1\n\nThreeboot continuity\n\nTeen Titans/Legion Special #1\nLegion of Super-Heroes vol. 5, #1–15\nSupergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes #16–36\nAction Comics #850\nLegion of Super-Heroes vol. 5, #37–50\nThe Brave and the Bold vol. 2, #4–6\nFinal Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #1–5\n\nPost-Infinite Crisis \"Retroboot\" team\nJustice League of America vol. 2, #8–10\nJustice Society of America vol. 3, #5–6\nAction Comics #858–864\nCountdown #50–48, 45, 42–41, 39–37, 35–34, 31–27 (descending numerical order)\nCountdown to Final Crisis #26–23, 21–20, 15–13, 11–6 (descending numerical order)\nSupergirl vol. 5, #21–22, 52, Annual #2\nAdventure Comics Special Featuring Guardian\nFinal Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #1–5\nAdventure Comics vol. 2, #1–12 (renumbered to vol. 1, #516–529)\nLegion of Super-Heroes vol. 6, #1–16\nLegion of Super-Villains, #1\nLegion of Super-Heroes vol. 7, #1–23, 0\nLegion Lost vol. 2, #1–16, 0\nLegion: Secret Origin, #1–6\nStar Trek / Legion of Super-Heroes, #1–6\nJustice League United, Annual #1, #6–10\n\nOther comic books\nAdventures in the DC Universe #10\nLegion of Super Heroes in the 31st Century #1–20\n\nHardcovers and trade paperbacks\nThe various Legion titles have been collected in the following trade paperbacks. The \"Archives\" editions are hardcover collections, while most of the rest are softcover trade paperbacks. The \"100-page spectaculars\" are collections that DC has released in conjunction with TPBs or HCs, but through comics markets only. They are squarebound and have slightly stiff covers.\n\nSee also\nList of Legion of Super-Heroes members\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nLegion Publication History at the Legion Wiki\n\nLists of comics by DC Comics",
"Marvel Super Heroes may refer to:\n\n Marvel Super-Heroes (comics), several Marvel Comics publications\n Marvel Super Heroes (video game), a 1995 arcade game\n Marvel Super Heroes: War of the Gems, a 1996 platform game\n Marvel Super Heroes (role-playing game), a 1984 role-playing game\n Marvel Super Heroes Adventure Game, a 1998 role-playing game\n The Marvel Super Heroes, a 1960s animated television series\n The Mighty World of Marvel, a 1972 UK comics series which was renamed Marvel Superheroes from 1979 to 1983\n Lego Marvel Super Heroes, a 2013 video game based on the Lego franchise\n\nSee also\n List of Marvel Comics characters"
]
|
[
"The Aquabats! Super Show!",
"Premise",
"what can you tell me about their premise?",
"The Aquabats! Super Show! is centered around the adventures of The Aquabats,",
"what kind of adventures?",
"a group of superhero rock musicians who travel the countryside on a self-appointed mission to fight evil and \"destroy boredom\",",
"what else do the super heroes do?",
"\", protecting the world from the villains and creatures who threaten to destroy it while aiming to become a famous rock and roll band in their own right."
]
| C_4cdf6386fc074258b24b5e00bbcdec23_1 | who were the members of Aquabats? | 4 | who were the members of Aquabats? | The Aquabats! Super Show! | Chronicled in both live-action and animated segments, The Aquabats! Super Show! is centered around the adventures of The Aquabats, a group of superhero rock musicians who travel the countryside on a self-appointed mission to fight evil and "destroy boredom", protecting the world from the villains and creatures who threaten to destroy it while aiming to become a famous rock and roll band in their own right. The Aquabats consist of singer The MC Bat Commander (Christian Jacobs), the swaggering leader of the group; bassist Crash McLarson (Chad Larson), who can grow up to 100 feet in size; drummer Ricky Fitness (Richard Falomir), who has the power of super speed; guitarist EagleBones Falconhawk (Ian Fowles), who's armed with a laser-shooting electric guitar; and keyboardist Jimmy the Robot (James R. Briggs, Jr.), an android. Despite their superhuman strengths and abilities, The Aquabats are quite bumbling, disorganized, and sometimes cowardly when faced with danger; this has in fact led them to be labeled "the world's most inept superheroes". The band lives and travels by way of their "Battletram", a modified recreational vehicle which, despite its small exterior, has an implausibly massive interior (similar to the TARDIS from Doctor Who or The Big Bologna from The Kids From C.A.P.E.R.), which contains, among many things, a science lab, a command center, and a living room. The Aquabats' origin story was left intentionally vague throughout the series, a choice Jacobs explains was done for the sake of the viewer's imagination, as kids are more accepting of the inherent absurdity of the premise than adults tend to be: "'There's five guys. This is what each of the five guys does. There are monsters. They're gonna try to fight them'. It's so simple. And I think that's why it's so awesome with kids--they just take it and run with it". In the first five episodes of season two, each member of The Aquabats shares their memory of how they joined the band via animated flashback sequences; however, all of these flashbacks directly and intentionally contradict each other, leaving it unknown which--if any--could be considered officially canonical. CANNOTANSWER | The Aquabats consist of singer The MC Bat Commander (Christian Jacobs), the swaggering leader of the group; | The Aquabats! Super Show! is an American action-comedy musical television series which aired from March 3, 2012 to January 8, 2014 on The Hub Network and resumed as an independent YouTube web series in September 2019. The series was created by Christian Jacobs, and Scott Schultz, both the creators of the Nick Jr. show Yo Gabba Gabba!, and Jason deVilliers.
Based on the superhero mythology of The Aquabats, a real-life comedy rock band which series co-creator and lead singer Jacobs formed in 1994, The Aquabats! Super Show! follows the comic adventures of a fictionalized version of the band, a musical group of amateur superheroes, as they haphazardly defend the world from a variety of villains and monsters. Styled similarly to the campy aesthetics of 1960s and 1970s children's television and Japanese tokusatsu, Super Show! utilizes various mediums of visual styles and special effects, mixing live-action storylines with cartoon shorts, parody advertisements and musical interludes.
The series' first season concluded on June 16, 2012 following a run of 13 episodes, having met with a largely positive critical reception, consistently high ratings for the channel and a Daytime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Children's Series. The series' second season consisted of an initial five episodes which aired through June 2013, with three additional episodes airing in late December and January 2014, receiving similar acclaim and a further seven Daytime Emmy nominations, ultimately winning one for Best Stunt Coordination. In June 2014, co-creator Jacobs officially announced the series' cancellation, following news of The Hub's financial losses which led to the network's rebranding as Discovery Family later that October.
In July 2018, The Aquabats launched a successful Kickstarter to help independently finance new episodes of The Aquabats! Super Show!, promoting the campaign with a series of YouTube-exclusive mini-episodes continuing the original series' storyline. On September 28, 2019, The Aquabats premiered the first installment of these new episodes, now a biweekly YouTube series entitled The Aquabats! RadVentures!, though still retaining Super Show!s theme song and title card.
Series overview
Premise
Chronicled in both live-action and animated segments, The Aquabats! Super Show! is centered around the adventures of The Aquabats, a group of superhero rock musicians who travel the countryside on a self-appointed mission to fight evil and "destroy boredom", protecting the world from the villains and creatures who threaten to destroy it while aiming to become a famous rock and roll band in their own right.
The Aquabats consist of singer The MC Bat Commander (Christian Jacobs), the swaggering leader of the group; bassist Crash McLarson (Chad Larson), who can grow up to 100 feet in size; drummer Ricky Fitness (Richard Falomir), who has the power of super speed; guitarist EagleBones Falconhawk (Ian Fowles), who's armed with a laser-shooting electric guitar; and keyboardist Jimmy the Robot (James R. Briggs, Jr.), an android. Despite their superhuman strengths and abilities, The Aquabats are quite bumbling, disorganized, and sometimes cowardly when faced with danger; this has in fact led them to be labeled "the world's most inept superheroes". The band lives and travels by way of their "Battletram", a modified classic GMC motorhome which, despite its small exterior, has an implausibly massive interior (similar to the TARDIS from Doctor Who or The Big Bologna from The Kids From C.A.P.E.R.), which contains, among many things, a science lab, a command center, and a living room.
The Aquabats' origin story was left intentionally vague throughout the series, a choice Jacobs explains was done for the sake of the viewer's imagination, as he felt kids were more accepting of the inherent absurdity of the premise than adults tend to be: "'There's five guys. This is what each of the five guys does. There are monsters. They're gonna try to fight them'. It's so simple. And I think that's why it's so awesome with kids—they just take it and run with it". In the first five episodes of season two, each member of The Aquabats shares their memory of how they joined the band via animated flashback sequences; however, all of these flashbacks directly and intentionally contradict each other, leaving it unknown which—if any—could be considered officially canonical.
Format and influences
The Aquabats! Super Show! juxtaposes both live-action and animated segments starring The Aquabats, interwoven with various tangential skits and cartoon interstitials. The live-action storylines are the primary focus of each episode, following a self-contained villain of the week formula. In the first season, each episode featured brief anime-styled cartoon shorts which one of the characters would introduce at a random point of the show, often by finding "A Cartoon" (represented by a miniature television set) in an absurd location. Unlike the live-action segments, these cartoons followed a serialized story arc, with each installment ending in a cliffhanger to be resolved in the next episode. In season two, this format was replaced with a series of animated flashbacks recounting the origins of The Aquabats, each by a different animation studio and in a different animation style. Between these segments are pantomime cartoon shorts starring "Lil' Bat", The Aquabats' anthropomorphic bat mascot, and live-action parody commercials for outlandish fictional products, the latter of which has long been a staple of The Aquabats' multi-media stage shows.
Jacobs says the concept behind Super Show! was something he had always dreamed of doing, making a "campy, live-action, funky kid's show" in the vein of the 1960s and 1970s television that he and the rest of the series' producers had grown up with. While the show pays homage to many facets of pop culture, Jacobs has named the 1960s Batman television series as the primary influence on Super Show!s "obviously silly" tone and visual style, ranging from set design to the trademark use of dutch angles for villain scenes. Other notable influences Jacobs has repeatedly mentioned include the works of Sid and Marty Krofft and Hanna-Barbera, Japanese tokusatsu series such as Ultraman and Johnny Sokko And His Flying Robot, the Shaw Brothers and Hong Kong cinema, and shows including Danger Island, Star Trek, The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, and Pee-wee's Playhouse, noting "there's a good 30 years worth of television culture packed into these 22-minute episodes".
Demographic
As The Hub's key demographic were children aged 6 to 12, Super Show! was ostensibly targeted towards said age group, though Jacobs has stated that the series primarily aimed to appeal to an all-ages crowd, with the intent of creating entertainment that both kids and parents can watch and enjoy together or separately. In interviews prior to the series' premiere, he explained that this was merely an extension of The Aquabats' own family-friendly ethos: "There's just obviously something about the costumes and being superheroes that really appeals to younger kids, and I think we always knew that as a band...I think we'll want to put things in [the show] for an older audience, because we realize we have an older audience, but then also we want the young kids, to not have it go over their heads".
Production history
History and previous attempts at a series
In 1994, musicians Christian Jacobs, Chad Larson and former member Boyd Terry formed The Aquabats in Brea, California. Influenced as much by cartoons and camp television as theatrical bands like Devo and Oingo Boingo, The Aquabats gained instant notoriety in the Orange County music scene for their eccentric persona in which they claimed to be a band of superheroes on a quest to save the world and their elaborate stage shows which regularly featured scripted fights with costumed villains alongside similar stunts and comedy sketches.
The Aquabats' second studio album, 1997's The Fury of The Aquabats!, proved to be a minor commercial breakthrough for the group, charting on the Billboard 200 and bringing them exposure through such venues as MTV, leading Jacobs – a former child actor with ties in the industry – to develop the concept of adapting the band's mythology for television. In 1998, Buena Vista Television helped produce a live-action mini-pilot directed by comedian Bobcat Goldthwait titled simply The Aquabats!, following the comic misadventures of the then-eight member band in an over-the-top camp style similar to Saturday morning cartoon shows. The pilot, which has yet to be made available for public viewing, failed to generate any network interest and was ultimately even disowned by the band themselves.
Undeterred, The Aquabats made an attempt at a second pilot the following year, using a music video budget granted by their record label Goldenvoice Records for their 1999 album The Aquabats vs. the Floating Eye of Death!. Independently directed and produced by Jacobs and his creative partner Scott Schultz, the result was a five-minute promo video entitled The Aquabats in Color!. In contrast to the wackier tone of the previous pilot, The Aquabats in Color! was a more action-oriented superhero series modeled after Japanese tokusatsu shows such as Kamen Rider. According to Jacobs, the Fox Family Channel reportedly expressed interest in the series and ordered production on a proper pilot episode, though following the channel's acquisition by Disney in 2001, the project was cancelled.
The Aquabats! Super Show! pilot (2008)
In 2005, Jacobs and Schultz formed the Orange County-based production company The Magic Store, focusing on creating family-oriented television entertainment. One of the company's independently produced pilots, the children's television series Yo Gabba Gabba!, was eventually picked up as a series by Viacoms Nick Jr. channel, premiering in August 2007 and ultimately becoming an award-winning and critically acclaimed international success. In the wake of the series' popularity, Jacobs and Schultz persuaded Yo Gabba Gabba!s joint production company Wild Brain to help produce a new pilot based around The Aquabats in conjuncture with The Magic Store.
Again creatively spearheaded by Jacobs and Schultz, The Aquabats' third pilot, titled The Aquabats! Super Show!, was shot on location throughout southern California in late 2007 and early 2008. Part of this filming took place at a free invitation-only concert for members of the band's official fan club at the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles on January 12, 2008. While The Aquabats' previous pilots were short, live-action promotional videos, The Aquabats! Super Show! was a fully realized 22-minute episode featuring two separate storylines based on the adventures of The Aquabats, one live-action and one animated, and interspersed with parody commercials and live footage of the band. Speaking on the decision to structure the show in such a varied format, Jacobs said "[w]e did that for a strategic reason – some networks like cartoons more than other networks. We wanted to say, 'this could be both shows'."
Following a period of post-production, The Aquabats began widely self-promoting Super Show! in June 2008, redesigning their website to promote the pilot and releasing a teaser trailer and several exclusive clips through an official Super Show! YouTube channel. On July 25, 2008, the band screened the full pilot at a concert in San Diego held during the weekend of the San Diego Comic-Con, while a segment of the episode was hosted on Boing Boing the same day. In 2009, Cartoon Network allegedly picked the series up for a run of 22 episodes, though following major staff changes within the company—which, according to Jacobs, included the termination of the executives who had green-lighted Super Show!—the project was again cancelled.
The Hub and season one
After several more unsuccessful network pitches into the 2010s, The Aquabats! Super Show! was finally picked up as a series by family cable channel The Hub, a joint venture between Hasbro and Discovery which launched in 2010 as a replacement for Discovery Kids. The Hub formally announced the series in a press release on March 23, 2011, revealing Super Show! would be given a first season run of 13 episodes, produced in conjuncture with FremantleMedia. In promotion of the series, The Aquabats appeared as part of a panel at the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con where they discussed their initial plans for the show, while The Hub sponsored an Aquabats concert held at the nearby House of Blues during the same weekend.
Production on season one of Super Show! officially began in May 2011. The entirety of the first season was shot within and around The Aquabats' hometown of Orange County, California; according to the first season DVD audio commentary, episodes were shot on location in the cities of Irvine, Silverado, Yorba Linda, Huntington Beach and Fullerton, while a private sound stage in Santa Ana was used for interior shots of the Battletram. A public Aquabats concert held at The Glass House club in Pomona on November 5, 2011 was also filmed to provide live footage of the band which is featured in the series' opening credits montage and several individual episodes.
Much of Super Show!s staff consist of friends and colleagues of The Aquabats who've previously worked with the band on various projects, ranging from members of Yo Gabba Gabba!s production team to fellow musicians within the southern California music scene. Among the more notable examples include Dallas McLaughlin and Matthew Gorney, both members of the San Diego hip hop band Bad Credit, who prominently served as writers, composers and performers, Warren Fitzgerald, guitarist for The Vandals, who was hired as a writer and music director, internet sketch comedy group Mega64 were commissioned to produce original material, primarily the series' parody commercials, and Japanese artist Pey, who had designed much of The Aquabats' promotional art and merchandise during the 2000s, was hired to design the season's animated segments. Additionally, several industry professionals were brought in to help work on the show: Dani Michaeli, a staff writer on SpongeBob SquarePants, was hired as the series' story editor, while Matt Chapman, co-creator of the internet Flash cartoon Homestar Runner, acted as a writer, director and actor on several episodes. As none of the members besides Jacobs had any previous acting experience, comedian Matt Walsh of the Upright Citizens Brigade was brought in to help teach The Aquabats comedic acting and timing.
In further homage to the original Batman series, Super Show! features a variety of celebrity cameo appearances. The series' first season included appearances from actors Jon Heder, Lou Diamond Phillips and Samm Levine, comedians Rip Taylor, Paul Scheer and Paul Rust, and comedy musician "Weird Al" Yankovic, who appeared in two episodes as different characters. The first season also included several "Easter egg" cameos from original Aquabats members Corey "Chainsaw" Pollock and Boyd "Catboy" Terry, as well as from fellow musicians Warren Fitzgerald and Art Mitchell of the band Supernova.
Despite having been originally announced as part of The Hub's 2011 Fall line-up, production delays postponed Super Show!s premiere to early 2012. The series' marketing campaign began in December 2011, with a later announcement of an official premiere date confirmed for March 3, 2012. Following a non-consecutive run of 13 episodes, the first-season finale aired on June 16, 2012.
Season two
On October 16, 2012, The Aquabats and The Hub confirmed production on new episodes of Super Show! through the social networking sites Facebook and Twitter, announcing a tentative debut date of Spring 2013. Principal photography on season two began on October 22 and wrapped on December 1. Unlike the first season, the majority of season two was shot in and around Salt Lake City, Utah, which Jacobs explained was considerably less expensive than shooting in California.
While no changes were made to Super Shows creative team, in December 2012 it was announced that season two would introduce the series' first guest director, musician and comic book writer Gerard Way, who co-directed and co-wrote the season finale "The AntiBats!" with Jacobs and deVilliers. Way's involvement with the series was heavily covered by the music press in the wake of the March 2013 break-up of his popular alternative rock band My Chemical Romance. Among the guest stars featured in season two were professional skateboarders Tony Hawk and Eric Koston, Devo frontman and Yo Gabba Gabba! cast member Mark Mothersbaugh, internet celebrity Leslie Hall, actor Martin Starr and My Chemical Romance bassist Mikey Way.
On December 2, 2012, deVilliers revealed on his Twitter account that the upcoming season would consist of only five new episodes, in what he called more "season 1.5" than a "season 2", though mentioned the possibility of more being made in the future. On May 1, 2013, it was announced through Entertainment Weekly that the series' second season would begin airing on June 1. After a run of only five episodes, the season concluded on June 29, 2013.
2013–2014 specials
On August 22, 2013, series performer Chad Larson confirmed via Twitter that three additional episodes of Super Show! were being filmed near the end of the year, "and maybe more next". Principal photography on these episodes eventually began in Utah in early October. Throughout the month, The Aquabats posted numerous pictures of production on the new episodes on their Twitter and Instagram accounts, some of which revealed production code numbers of 301, 302 and 303, ostensibly indicating what would be a third season. Though these numbers were later verified by the Internet Movie Database, a November press release from The Hub explicitly referred to these three episodes as "specials".
The first of these specials, "Christmas with The Aquabats!", aired on December 21, featuring comedians Robert Smigel and Matt Walsh in guest roles. The second of these episodes, "The Shark Fighter!" (based on The Aquabats' song of the same name), featuring comedian Rhys Darby, aired the following week on December 28, while the final special "Kitty Litter!" aired on January 18, 2014. "Kitty Litter!" was helmed by another guest director, Munn Powell, best known for his work as cinematographer on the Jared and Jerusha Hess films Napoleon Dynamite and Gentlemen Broncos.
Following this short run of episodes, there was no confirmation by either The Hub or The Aquabats as to the production of any future episodes. In a December 2013 interview, Christian Jacobs acknowledged the network's unusually small order of episodes but didn't elaborate on any possible reasoning. In the same interview, he stated that the band had initially prepared for another order of 13 episodes, having written as many scripts for potential future episodes.
On May 1, 2014, the nominees for the 2014 Daytime Emmy Awards were announced, revealing that Super Show! had been nominated for five awards in four categories, including the award for Best Writing in a Children's Series for the episode "The AntiBats!". The awards ceremony was held on June 22, 2014, where the series ultimately won the award for Best Stunt Coordination for stuntman Skip Carlson.
Cancellation by The Hub and hiatus
In mid-2014, it was announced in entertainment press that Hasbro and Discovery had been in the process of rebranding The Hub following what they saw to be disappointing returns for the channel, changes which included the departure of CEO Margaret Loesch, who was instrumental in acquiring Super Show! as a series. In a Huffington Post feature about The Aquabats prior to the band's appearance at the 2014 San Diego Comic-Con, it was revealed that The Hub had opted not to renew Super Show! for a third season, effectively cancelling the series.
Jacobs admitted he was surprised by this turn of events, noting "Everything we heard was that the show has been a real Cinderella story for the Hub and that it was rating really well with viewers. We just assumed that we'd eventually go back into production or at least get picked up for Season 3", but ultimately concluded "it is what it is" in regard to the network's decision. Despite this, Jacobs remained optimistic about the series' future, saying "Given that we now live in a world where people are streaming TV shows directly onto their iPhones & computers, and given that companies like Netflix & Yahoo! are now picking up so much new content for their customers...I just find it hard to believe that The Aquabats! Super Show! is really over. I mean, we haven't even made any toys yet". He concluded by stating "It took us almost 15 years to get that TV series made. And even though we've got a bunch more concert dates lined up for the rest of this year, our first priority is to find a new home for The Aquabats! Super Show!".
On March 31, 2015, the nominees for the 42nd annual Daytime Emmy Awards were announced, with Super Show! earning nominations for Best SFX Mixer (Blaine Stewart) and Best Stunt Coordinator (Braxton McAllister).
On June 27, 2015, The Aquabats screened the entire first season of Super Show! before a sold-out crowd at The Frida Cinema in downtown Santa Ana, which was accompanied by a live performance by the band and Q&A sessions with The Aquabats and numerous members of the cast and crew. A similar presentation of the entire second season – including the three additional specials – took place at The Art Theater in Long Beach on December 16, 2017, coinciding with the release of the second season Blu-ray.
Bring Back The Aquabats! Kickstarter campaign
Following weeks of teasing a major announcement, The Aquabats launched a Kickstarter campaign on July 31, 2018 to help finance the return of The Aquabats! Super Show! as well as new studio albums from the band at a minimum projected cost of $1.1 million. The Aquabats promoted their campaign with a video featuring a slew of celebrity cameos, including Super Show! guest stars "Weird Al" Yankovic, Robert Smigel (as Triumph the Insult Comic Dog), Matt Chapman (as Homestar Runner and Strong Bad), former Aquabats member Travis Barker, Tony Kanal, Tom Dumont, Oscar Nunez, Kate Micucci, Blake Anderson, Imagine Dragons, Felicia Day and Tom Lennon, all of whom appeared in The Aquabats' trademark uniforms and spoke the Kickstarter's promotional slogan "I am The Aquabats"/"We are The Aquabats". Most prominently featured, however, was comedian Jack Black, who was later confirmed by the campaign's press releases to act as executive producer for the series' return.
Along with their Kickstarter, the band began releasing a series of Super Show! "mini-episodes", depicting the MC Bat Commander's metafictional quest to reunite the estranged Aquabats following the series' cancellation. The band confirmed that as the Kickstarter progresses, further "mini-episodes" will be released to both promote the campaign as well as act as a continuation of Super Show!.
By August 28, mere days before the campaign's end date of September 1, The Aquabats' Kickstarter had raised only $601,629 of its projected $1.1 million goal. The funding was subsequently cancelled and the campaign was rebooted the same day with a smaller goal of $100,000 to instead finance one new album and the continued production of the Super Show!! "mini-episodes". The project's goal was met within minutes.
Music
Original music for The Aquabats! Super Show! was primarily composed and performed by The Aquabats themselves, with additional scoring on most episodes provided by Matthew Gorney, Warren Fitzgerald or individual credits for Aquabats members James R. Briggs, Jr., Richard Falomir and Ian Fowles. Fitzgerald, guitarist for punk rock band The Vandals and former member of Oingo Boingo, acted as the series' music supervisor. The theme song to Super Show!, "Super Show Theme Song!", was co-written by The Aquabats and Fitzgerald.
Whereas most musically oriented shows like The Monkees typically break the narrative of an episode for a music video performance of a standalone song, each episode of Super Show! typically features one or two unique songs that tied directly into the plot, usually about and performed during the events of a particular scene. Most of these songs are rather brief, averaging a running time of just under a minute; Jacobs stated that many of the show's original songs were recorded as full-length pieces but trimmed down for inclusion in an episode, simply due to the show "trying to pack so much into 22 minutes".
Shortly after Super Show!s premiere, Jacobs confirmed plans to eventually release the series' original full-length songs as a soundtrack album. However, these plans wouldn't fully come to fruition until 2019; in a 2018 interview, Jacobs retrospectively revealed that the album had been long completed but the band "hadn't had all the rights tied up" until then. The first original and full-length recordings from the series' first season debuted in July 2017, when "Burger Rain" and "Beat Fishin'" were released as a tour-exclusive 7" single. Songs from the series' first season were eventually compiled as The Aquabats! Super Show! Television Soundtrack: Volume One, which was released digitally in March 2019 and then onto physical media the following June, where it became The Aquabats' highest-charting album to date, debuting at the top of Billboards Top Heatseekers chart and at 165 on the Billboard 200.
Cast and characters
See: List of The Aquabats! Super Show! characters
The Aquabats! Super Show! stars and is based upon fictionalized versions of the then-current (since 2006) line-up of the California comedy rock band The Aquabats. Adapting the backstory the band has used for the entirety of their professional career, Super Show! depicts The Aquabats as a group of bumbling, out-of-shape superheroes on a self-appointed mission to fight the forces of evil, presented in both live-action and animated segments. The five members of The Aquabats are:
The MC Bat Commander (played and voiced by Christian Jacobs) – The Aquabats' singer and de facto leader of the team. Though he doesn't have any superpowers of his own and is often quite stubborn and naive, the Commander is shown to be an effective strategist whose sharp leadership skills, bravery and determination regularly drive the band towards victory.
Crash McLarson (played and voiced by Chad Larson) – The band's bass guitarist, who has the frequently uncontrollable ability to grow upwards of 100 feet in size when under emotional stress. Despite being the largest and strongest of The Aquabats, Crash has a gentle, childlike demeanor bordering on slight dim-wittedness, and as such is usually the most cowardly member of the team.
Jimmy the Robot (played and voiced by James R. Briggs, Jr.) – The Aquabats' keyboardist. As his name implies, Jimmy is an android whose mechanical body houses a variety of built-in gadgets and weaponry, plus a comprehensive knowledge database which earns him the position of the group's resident scientist. Being a robot, Jimmy is generally perplexed by human emotions and behavior.
Ricky Fitness (played and voiced by Richard Falomir) – the band's drummer, Ricky possesses the power of super speed. Being the most physically fit and health-conscious member of The Aquabats, some of the series' running gags revolve around Ricky's status as a handsome ladies' man and his fondness for "fresh, healthy veggies" in contrast to the rest of the team's voracious affinity for junk food.
EagleBones Falconhawk (played and voiced by Ian Fowles) – The Aquabats' guitarist. The cocky and boyish maverick of the team, EagleBones is highly proficient on his custom weaponized electric guitar which shoots lasers from its headstock. Following a spiritual encounter early in season one, EagleBones also has the gift of second sight and is accompanied by "The Dude", an invisible spirit eagle whom he summons to aide The Aquabats in battle.
Voice actor and writer Mr. Lawrence provided the minimal narration for both seasons of Super Show!s live-action segments, while staff writer Kyle McCulloch narrated the first season's animated segments.
Guest stars and recurring characters
Though each episode of the series introduced a new villain, ally and/or celebrity cameo, Super Show! never featured any major recurring characters throughout its run. However, every episode of the show included a very brief appearance by a character fans dubbed the "Fox Man", a man in a cheap-looking fox costume played by visual effects supervisor Joel Fox, who would appear hidden in the background of a random scene as an Easter egg for viewers to spot, although his character was never explained within the context of the series.
Comedy musician "Weird Al" Yankovic and comedian Paul Rust were the only two guest actors to appear in two episodes: Yankovic played two different roles as the President of the United States and superhero SuperMagic PowerMan! (in a 2012 interview, Jacobs alluded to the two possibly being the same character, though this isn't implied within the series), while Rust played a boorish slacker named Ronmark, first appearing in live-action in a first-season episode and subsequently lending his voice to a mutated monster version of the character in part of a second-season episode.
Episodes
Distribution
International broadcast
Outside of North America, The Aquabats! Super Show! broadcast in Australia on the children's public broadcasting channel ABC3 and in the United Kingdom on the children's network CITV.
Home media
Coinciding with the run of the first season, each new episode of The Aquabats! Super Show! was released through the iTunes Store for digital download. Prior to the series debut, a season pass was made available for purchase to enable viewers to automatically receive a download of each new episode on its airdate. The first season of Super Show! was added to the video streaming service Netflix on December 1, 2012, later being added to Hulu on December 21.
Unlike the first season, the series' second season was not made available for iTunes pre-order, nor were episodes released for purchase. Though each episode was briefly streamed on The Hub's official website, none of the seasons' episodes were made available on Hulu, Netflix or similar streaming services.
Shout! Factory had the DVD publishing rights for The Aquabats! Super Show! within Region 1 for release of the first season. The company first announced their acquisition of the series and plans for a future DVD in a press release dated August 6, 2012, though did not initially confirm a set release date until several months later. On May 21, 2013, the first season of Super Show! was released on a two-disc DVD set.
On November 22, 2017, in conjunction with their announcement of a season two theatrical screening, The Aquabats confirmed an independent Blu-ray release for season two, including the three specials often considered a "season three". On December 5, pre-orders were launched on The Aquabats' merchandising site for an official release date of December 22, though copies were first made for public sale at the second season theatrical screening on December 16.
Starting in December 2014, The Aquabats gradually began uploading the series' full episodes onto their official YouTube channel. As of August 2019, all 21 episodes of Super Show! and its pilot episode have been publicly uploaded to their account.
Critical reception
Critical response to The Aquabats! Super Show! was predominantly positive, with most reviewers praising the series' intentionally campy tone and offbeat humor. The Onions The A.V. Club gave the series premiere an A− rating, describing it as "a loving homage to basically everything ever done by the brothers Krofft": "the show adeptly flips from humor to melodrama to action, providing some awesomely cheap special effects, goofy songs, and gags that range from slapstick to sublime", summarizing "there's so much here that both kids and parents will be able to enjoy the proceedings on their own respective levels and rarely find themselves bored".
Brian Lowry of Variety wrote "you don't have to laugh at everything to admire the effort and sheer silliness", calling the show a "goofy and nostalgic" throwback to the "children's TV of baby boomers' youth, down to crappy production values and awful-looking 'monsters' that work to its advantage". He summarized "Although this Hub series at times feels like an SNL skit stretched to a half-hour, its sly mix of music, live-action crime-fighting, cartoons and mock ads ought to develop a cult following—and might be more popular with parents, at least those with the geek gene, than their kids".
Technology magazine Wired was consistently positive towards the series, calling it both "wonderfully strange" and "delightfully deranged", writing "[f]illed with self-deprecating music videos, toon interludes and ludicrous villains, The Aquabats! Super Show! has become one of television's strangely comforting finds".
Common Sense Media, who review shows based on age-appropriate content, gave Super Show! a rating of 4 out of 5 stars, calling it "demented and manic...fun by sheer dint of how many jokes, visual and otherwise, are thrown at the screen, both those calculated to appeal to kids and adults". The site praised the series for its lighter and sillier tone in comparison to more violent live-action superhero fare, and considered the "kind-hearted" Aquabats to be relatively positive role models. However, the reviewer suggested the show's violence and creatures may be too intense for very young children, and pointed out a distinct lack of central female characters.
Neil Genzlinger of The New York Times offered a more indifferent opinion, calling The Aquabats "indescribably odd" and the series "frenetic, semicoherent and generally harmless. Also somewhat hallucinogenic", noting Super Show!s writing "may be over the heads of the 2-to-12 set", suggesting its most receptive audience might be "the college drinking-game crowd".
Awards and nominations
The Aquabats! Super Show! was nominated for the following awards:
Daytime Emmy Award
References
External links
Official website of The Aquabats
The Aquabats
2010s American children's television series
2010s American musical comedy television series
2010s American satirical television series
2010s American sketch comedy television series
2010s American superhero comedy television series
2012 American television series debuts
2014 American television series endings
American children's adventure television series
American children's musical television series
American television series with live action and animation
Children's sketch comedy
English-language television shows
Television series by Fremantle (company)
Television shows set in Orange County, California
American television shows featuring puppetry
Discovery Family original programming | true | [
"The Sandfleas are a fictional gang of masked hooligans within the mythology of the superhero-themed American comedy band The Aquabats, who featured prominently as the latter's \"arch enemies\" in their stage shows and related media during the late 1990s.\n\nFrom 1997 to 1999, The Sandfleas occasionally performed as a live band almost exclusively as an opening act for The Aquabats, fronted by Aquabats creative consultant and GOGO13 singer Parker Jacobs and filled out by a rotating roster of former and present Aquabats members. The group released one extended play on The Aquabats' Horchata Records label before disbanding shortly afterwards.\n\nOverview\nAs part of their comic book-inspired superhero aesthetic, The Aquabats have maintained an elaborate fictional mythology and origin story centering on their persona as costumed crime-fighters since the earliest days of their career, including an extensive roster of recurring villains who play into the band's live shows in mock fight scenes and comedic skits. Billed as \"The Aquabats' arch enemies\", The Sandfleas were depicted as a musical punk band of five obnoxious masked hooligans, intended to be the \"bad guy\" inversion of The Aquabats' own group of musical do-gooders.\n\nPlayed by a rotating assortment of The Aquabats' friends and road crew, The Sandfleas became a staple of the band's late 1990s concerts when they would routinely crash The Aquabats' sets and comically antagonize them and the audience, segueing into a staged fight scene which The Sandfleas would inevitably lose. In the documentary \"A Band Called the Aquabats!: A Sweaty History of Radness!\" featured on the 2003 DVD Serious Awesomeness!, The Sandfleas are also shown having waged mock protests at The Aquabats' concerts, brandishing picket signs with messages including \"The Aquabats R Dumb!\" and handing out anti-Aquabat pamphlets to fans waiting in line.\n\nIn addition to The Aquabats' stage shows, The Sandfleas appeared in most of The Aquabats' promotional material and merchandise during the late 1990s, appearing in the liner note artwork for 1997's The Fury of The Aquabats! and 1999's The Aquabats vs. the Floating Eye of Death!, the band's 1997 coloring book, the 1998 7\" picture disc single Ultra Kyu vs. The Sandfleas and a brief cameo in the 1999 television pitch promo The Aquabats in Color!. \n\nIn 2013, over a decade since their last canonical appearance with The Aquabats, The Sandfleas made a brief, non-speaking cameo in an animated segment in The Aquabats! Super Show! episode \"Bad Apple!\", appearing as an unnamed group of \"ruffians\" who attempt to rob The Aquabats. On April 7, 2018, the group reappeared as stage villains for an Aquabats show at Los Angeles' The Fonda Theatre celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Fury of The Aquabats! album, reprising their role three weeks later as part of the band's set at the Back To The Beach Festival in Huntington Beach.\n\nLive band\nAccording to Parker Jacobs, The Sandfleas' history as a live band began at an Aquabats show in 1996 in which not all of The Aquabats had shown up, prompting the remaining members to don Sandfleas costumes and anonymously take the stage under the name \"Mel and Friends\". \"They played awful surf/Christmas songs and received a violent response from the audience who were expecting the Aquabats\", Jacobs recalled, \"It was after that, (97?) that I wanted to make them an actual band\".\n\nThe Sandfleas went through numerous changes in line-ups, frequently consisting of former or original members of The Aquabats. One of the more consistent early line-ups featured Jacobs, Jared Terry (brother of Boyd Terry), original Aquabats guitarist Ben Bergeson, Jamie Morris and Brian Cole, most of whom went on to form the instrumental surf band The Moon Monkeys when Jacobs left to tour with The Aquabats. A later incarnation of The Sandfleas was simply Jacobs backed by Orange County surf-punk band The Immortals.\n\nIn 1999, with the expansion of The Aquabats' Horchata Records label which was intended to host a large network of anonymous conceptual novelty bands, Jacobs spearheaded another version of The Sandfleas featuring Aquabats members Christian Jacobs (The MC Bat Commander) on drums, Chad Larson (Crash McLarson) on guitar, Corey Pollock (Chainsaw the Prince of Karate) and Aquabats graphic designer Tyler Jacobs on backing vocals. It was with this line-up that the band recorded the extended play Four Songs Four Jerks, which, according to Parker Jacobs, was written entirely the night before recording. The Aquabats later brought this version of The Sandfleas on tour following the release of their third studio album The Aquabats vs. the Floating Eye of Death!, effectively serving as their own opening band.\n\nThe Sandfleas disbanded shortly after the release of Four Songs Four Jerks. Following Parker Jacobs resignation from full-time creative involvement with The Aquabats in 2000, The Sandfleas eventually disappeared from the band's live shows and mythology. On December 1, 2005, The Sandfleas played a one-off reunion with Aquabats colleagues Bad Credit, Digital Unicorn, GOGO13 and the Moon Monkeys at the Detroit Bar in Costa Mesa, though as of 2018, there has been no official announcement as to whether The Sandfleas will return as a performing band.\n\nDiscography\nExtended play\nFour Songs Four Jerks (1999, Horchata Records)\n1. \"Frog Jerky\"\n2. \"My Baby's Got a Poopy Diaper\"\n3. \"Girls Are Weak\"\n4. \"You're Super Duper Dumb and Your Mom is Ugly Too [extended Fang mix]\"\n\nOther appearances\nA 20-second non-album track entitled \"Smell My Feet\" was streamed on The Sandfleas' profile on the Horchata Records website.\n\"My Baby's Got a Poopy Diaper\" was featured on the 2000 Horchata sampler compilation Rice Capades.\n\nBand line-up\nFour Songs Four Jerks line-up\nMel Sandflea (Parker Jacobs) - vocals\nBreath Sandflea (Chad Larson) - guitar\nSpodie Sandflea (Corey Pollock) - one-stringed bass\nFang Sandflea (Christian Jacobs) - drums\nBubba Sandflea (Tyler Jacobs) - backing vocals\n\nFormer members\nTaffy Sandflea (Ben Bergeson)\nBird Sandflea (Jared Terry)\nLudwig Sandflea (Jamie Morris)\nCole Sandflea (Brian Cole)\nMark \"The Shark\" Howe\nChris Howe\nJoey\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nThe Sandfleas Official Website Preview\nThe Sandfleas on Horchata Records\n\nThe Aquabats\nBands with fictional stage personas\nFictional gangs\nMasked musicians\nMusical groups disestablished in 1999\nMusical groups established in 1997\nMusical groups from Orange County, California",
"Charles Gray is an American musician, best known for his tenure as the guitarist for the Orange County rock band The Aquabats, of which he served as a member from 1994 to 2000 under the stage name of Ultra Kyu and later The Mysterious Kyu (pronounced as the letter Q). He also wrote all the songs for The Goodwin Club, a Ska band from Orange County, from 1993 to 1995.\n\nAlthough Gray was listed as a member of The Aquabats on their 1996 debut album The Return of the Aquabats, he didn't record with the band until their subsequent release, 1997's The Fury of the Aquabats!. Gray remained a member of The Aquabats until his departure in 2000. After Aquabats, Gray continued playing with various bands and is currently pursuing a career in opera in New York.\n\nDiscography\nThe Fury of the Aquabats! (1997) - electric and acoustic guitars, finger cymbals, piano, banjo, EBow, violin, sitar, Mellotron, vocals, Moog synthesizer\nThe Aquabats vs. the Floating Eye of Death! (1999) - guitar\nMyths, Legends and Other Amazing Adventures, Vol. 2 (2000) - guitar\n\nReferences\n\nAmerican rock guitarists\nAmerican male guitarists\nThe Aquabats members\nYear of birth missing (living people)\nLiving people"
]
|
[
"The Aquabats! Super Show!",
"Premise",
"what can you tell me about their premise?",
"The Aquabats! Super Show! is centered around the adventures of The Aquabats,",
"what kind of adventures?",
"a group of superhero rock musicians who travel the countryside on a self-appointed mission to fight evil and \"destroy boredom\",",
"what else do the super heroes do?",
"\", protecting the world from the villains and creatures who threaten to destroy it while aiming to become a famous rock and roll band in their own right.",
"who were the members of Aquabats?",
"The Aquabats consist of singer The MC Bat Commander (Christian Jacobs), the swaggering leader of the group;"
]
| C_4cdf6386fc074258b24b5e00bbcdec23_1 | who is the leader? | 5 | who is the leader of The Aquabats? | The Aquabats! Super Show! | Chronicled in both live-action and animated segments, The Aquabats! Super Show! is centered around the adventures of The Aquabats, a group of superhero rock musicians who travel the countryside on a self-appointed mission to fight evil and "destroy boredom", protecting the world from the villains and creatures who threaten to destroy it while aiming to become a famous rock and roll band in their own right. The Aquabats consist of singer The MC Bat Commander (Christian Jacobs), the swaggering leader of the group; bassist Crash McLarson (Chad Larson), who can grow up to 100 feet in size; drummer Ricky Fitness (Richard Falomir), who has the power of super speed; guitarist EagleBones Falconhawk (Ian Fowles), who's armed with a laser-shooting electric guitar; and keyboardist Jimmy the Robot (James R. Briggs, Jr.), an android. Despite their superhuman strengths and abilities, The Aquabats are quite bumbling, disorganized, and sometimes cowardly when faced with danger; this has in fact led them to be labeled "the world's most inept superheroes". The band lives and travels by way of their "Battletram", a modified recreational vehicle which, despite its small exterior, has an implausibly massive interior (similar to the TARDIS from Doctor Who or The Big Bologna from The Kids From C.A.P.E.R.), which contains, among many things, a science lab, a command center, and a living room. The Aquabats' origin story was left intentionally vague throughout the series, a choice Jacobs explains was done for the sake of the viewer's imagination, as kids are more accepting of the inherent absurdity of the premise than adults tend to be: "'There's five guys. This is what each of the five guys does. There are monsters. They're gonna try to fight them'. It's so simple. And I think that's why it's so awesome with kids--they just take it and run with it". In the first five episodes of season two, each member of The Aquabats shares their memory of how they joined the band via animated flashback sequences; however, all of these flashbacks directly and intentionally contradict each other, leaving it unknown which--if any--could be considered officially canonical. CANNOTANSWER | The MC Bat Commander (Christian Jacobs), the swaggering leader of the group; | The Aquabats! Super Show! is an American action-comedy musical television series which aired from March 3, 2012 to January 8, 2014 on The Hub Network and resumed as an independent YouTube web series in September 2019. The series was created by Christian Jacobs, and Scott Schultz, both the creators of the Nick Jr. show Yo Gabba Gabba!, and Jason deVilliers.
Based on the superhero mythology of The Aquabats, a real-life comedy rock band which series co-creator and lead singer Jacobs formed in 1994, The Aquabats! Super Show! follows the comic adventures of a fictionalized version of the band, a musical group of amateur superheroes, as they haphazardly defend the world from a variety of villains and monsters. Styled similarly to the campy aesthetics of 1960s and 1970s children's television and Japanese tokusatsu, Super Show! utilizes various mediums of visual styles and special effects, mixing live-action storylines with cartoon shorts, parody advertisements and musical interludes.
The series' first season concluded on June 16, 2012 following a run of 13 episodes, having met with a largely positive critical reception, consistently high ratings for the channel and a Daytime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Children's Series. The series' second season consisted of an initial five episodes which aired through June 2013, with three additional episodes airing in late December and January 2014, receiving similar acclaim and a further seven Daytime Emmy nominations, ultimately winning one for Best Stunt Coordination. In June 2014, co-creator Jacobs officially announced the series' cancellation, following news of The Hub's financial losses which led to the network's rebranding as Discovery Family later that October.
In July 2018, The Aquabats launched a successful Kickstarter to help independently finance new episodes of The Aquabats! Super Show!, promoting the campaign with a series of YouTube-exclusive mini-episodes continuing the original series' storyline. On September 28, 2019, The Aquabats premiered the first installment of these new episodes, now a biweekly YouTube series entitled The Aquabats! RadVentures!, though still retaining Super Show!s theme song and title card.
Series overview
Premise
Chronicled in both live-action and animated segments, The Aquabats! Super Show! is centered around the adventures of The Aquabats, a group of superhero rock musicians who travel the countryside on a self-appointed mission to fight evil and "destroy boredom", protecting the world from the villains and creatures who threaten to destroy it while aiming to become a famous rock and roll band in their own right.
The Aquabats consist of singer The MC Bat Commander (Christian Jacobs), the swaggering leader of the group; bassist Crash McLarson (Chad Larson), who can grow up to 100 feet in size; drummer Ricky Fitness (Richard Falomir), who has the power of super speed; guitarist EagleBones Falconhawk (Ian Fowles), who's armed with a laser-shooting electric guitar; and keyboardist Jimmy the Robot (James R. Briggs, Jr.), an android. Despite their superhuman strengths and abilities, The Aquabats are quite bumbling, disorganized, and sometimes cowardly when faced with danger; this has in fact led them to be labeled "the world's most inept superheroes". The band lives and travels by way of their "Battletram", a modified classic GMC motorhome which, despite its small exterior, has an implausibly massive interior (similar to the TARDIS from Doctor Who or The Big Bologna from The Kids From C.A.P.E.R.), which contains, among many things, a science lab, a command center, and a living room.
The Aquabats' origin story was left intentionally vague throughout the series, a choice Jacobs explains was done for the sake of the viewer's imagination, as he felt kids were more accepting of the inherent absurdity of the premise than adults tend to be: "'There's five guys. This is what each of the five guys does. There are monsters. They're gonna try to fight them'. It's so simple. And I think that's why it's so awesome with kids—they just take it and run with it". In the first five episodes of season two, each member of The Aquabats shares their memory of how they joined the band via animated flashback sequences; however, all of these flashbacks directly and intentionally contradict each other, leaving it unknown which—if any—could be considered officially canonical.
Format and influences
The Aquabats! Super Show! juxtaposes both live-action and animated segments starring The Aquabats, interwoven with various tangential skits and cartoon interstitials. The live-action storylines are the primary focus of each episode, following a self-contained villain of the week formula. In the first season, each episode featured brief anime-styled cartoon shorts which one of the characters would introduce at a random point of the show, often by finding "A Cartoon" (represented by a miniature television set) in an absurd location. Unlike the live-action segments, these cartoons followed a serialized story arc, with each installment ending in a cliffhanger to be resolved in the next episode. In season two, this format was replaced with a series of animated flashbacks recounting the origins of The Aquabats, each by a different animation studio and in a different animation style. Between these segments are pantomime cartoon shorts starring "Lil' Bat", The Aquabats' anthropomorphic bat mascot, and live-action parody commercials for outlandish fictional products, the latter of which has long been a staple of The Aquabats' multi-media stage shows.
Jacobs says the concept behind Super Show! was something he had always dreamed of doing, making a "campy, live-action, funky kid's show" in the vein of the 1960s and 1970s television that he and the rest of the series' producers had grown up with. While the show pays homage to many facets of pop culture, Jacobs has named the 1960s Batman television series as the primary influence on Super Show!s "obviously silly" tone and visual style, ranging from set design to the trademark use of dutch angles for villain scenes. Other notable influences Jacobs has repeatedly mentioned include the works of Sid and Marty Krofft and Hanna-Barbera, Japanese tokusatsu series such as Ultraman and Johnny Sokko And His Flying Robot, the Shaw Brothers and Hong Kong cinema, and shows including Danger Island, Star Trek, The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, and Pee-wee's Playhouse, noting "there's a good 30 years worth of television culture packed into these 22-minute episodes".
Demographic
As The Hub's key demographic were children aged 6 to 12, Super Show! was ostensibly targeted towards said age group, though Jacobs has stated that the series primarily aimed to appeal to an all-ages crowd, with the intent of creating entertainment that both kids and parents can watch and enjoy together or separately. In interviews prior to the series' premiere, he explained that this was merely an extension of The Aquabats' own family-friendly ethos: "There's just obviously something about the costumes and being superheroes that really appeals to younger kids, and I think we always knew that as a band...I think we'll want to put things in [the show] for an older audience, because we realize we have an older audience, but then also we want the young kids, to not have it go over their heads".
Production history
History and previous attempts at a series
In 1994, musicians Christian Jacobs, Chad Larson and former member Boyd Terry formed The Aquabats in Brea, California. Influenced as much by cartoons and camp television as theatrical bands like Devo and Oingo Boingo, The Aquabats gained instant notoriety in the Orange County music scene for their eccentric persona in which they claimed to be a band of superheroes on a quest to save the world and their elaborate stage shows which regularly featured scripted fights with costumed villains alongside similar stunts and comedy sketches.
The Aquabats' second studio album, 1997's The Fury of The Aquabats!, proved to be a minor commercial breakthrough for the group, charting on the Billboard 200 and bringing them exposure through such venues as MTV, leading Jacobs – a former child actor with ties in the industry – to develop the concept of adapting the band's mythology for television. In 1998, Buena Vista Television helped produce a live-action mini-pilot directed by comedian Bobcat Goldthwait titled simply The Aquabats!, following the comic misadventures of the then-eight member band in an over-the-top camp style similar to Saturday morning cartoon shows. The pilot, which has yet to be made available for public viewing, failed to generate any network interest and was ultimately even disowned by the band themselves.
Undeterred, The Aquabats made an attempt at a second pilot the following year, using a music video budget granted by their record label Goldenvoice Records for their 1999 album The Aquabats vs. the Floating Eye of Death!. Independently directed and produced by Jacobs and his creative partner Scott Schultz, the result was a five-minute promo video entitled The Aquabats in Color!. In contrast to the wackier tone of the previous pilot, The Aquabats in Color! was a more action-oriented superhero series modeled after Japanese tokusatsu shows such as Kamen Rider. According to Jacobs, the Fox Family Channel reportedly expressed interest in the series and ordered production on a proper pilot episode, though following the channel's acquisition by Disney in 2001, the project was cancelled.
The Aquabats! Super Show! pilot (2008)
In 2005, Jacobs and Schultz formed the Orange County-based production company The Magic Store, focusing on creating family-oriented television entertainment. One of the company's independently produced pilots, the children's television series Yo Gabba Gabba!, was eventually picked up as a series by Viacoms Nick Jr. channel, premiering in August 2007 and ultimately becoming an award-winning and critically acclaimed international success. In the wake of the series' popularity, Jacobs and Schultz persuaded Yo Gabba Gabba!s joint production company Wild Brain to help produce a new pilot based around The Aquabats in conjuncture with The Magic Store.
Again creatively spearheaded by Jacobs and Schultz, The Aquabats' third pilot, titled The Aquabats! Super Show!, was shot on location throughout southern California in late 2007 and early 2008. Part of this filming took place at a free invitation-only concert for members of the band's official fan club at the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles on January 12, 2008. While The Aquabats' previous pilots were short, live-action promotional videos, The Aquabats! Super Show! was a fully realized 22-minute episode featuring two separate storylines based on the adventures of The Aquabats, one live-action and one animated, and interspersed with parody commercials and live footage of the band. Speaking on the decision to structure the show in such a varied format, Jacobs said "[w]e did that for a strategic reason – some networks like cartoons more than other networks. We wanted to say, 'this could be both shows'."
Following a period of post-production, The Aquabats began widely self-promoting Super Show! in June 2008, redesigning their website to promote the pilot and releasing a teaser trailer and several exclusive clips through an official Super Show! YouTube channel. On July 25, 2008, the band screened the full pilot at a concert in San Diego held during the weekend of the San Diego Comic-Con, while a segment of the episode was hosted on Boing Boing the same day. In 2009, Cartoon Network allegedly picked the series up for a run of 22 episodes, though following major staff changes within the company—which, according to Jacobs, included the termination of the executives who had green-lighted Super Show!—the project was again cancelled.
The Hub and season one
After several more unsuccessful network pitches into the 2010s, The Aquabats! Super Show! was finally picked up as a series by family cable channel The Hub, a joint venture between Hasbro and Discovery which launched in 2010 as a replacement for Discovery Kids. The Hub formally announced the series in a press release on March 23, 2011, revealing Super Show! would be given a first season run of 13 episodes, produced in conjuncture with FremantleMedia. In promotion of the series, The Aquabats appeared as part of a panel at the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con where they discussed their initial plans for the show, while The Hub sponsored an Aquabats concert held at the nearby House of Blues during the same weekend.
Production on season one of Super Show! officially began in May 2011. The entirety of the first season was shot within and around The Aquabats' hometown of Orange County, California; according to the first season DVD audio commentary, episodes were shot on location in the cities of Irvine, Silverado, Yorba Linda, Huntington Beach and Fullerton, while a private sound stage in Santa Ana was used for interior shots of the Battletram. A public Aquabats concert held at The Glass House club in Pomona on November 5, 2011 was also filmed to provide live footage of the band which is featured in the series' opening credits montage and several individual episodes.
Much of Super Show!s staff consist of friends and colleagues of The Aquabats who've previously worked with the band on various projects, ranging from members of Yo Gabba Gabba!s production team to fellow musicians within the southern California music scene. Among the more notable examples include Dallas McLaughlin and Matthew Gorney, both members of the San Diego hip hop band Bad Credit, who prominently served as writers, composers and performers, Warren Fitzgerald, guitarist for The Vandals, who was hired as a writer and music director, internet sketch comedy group Mega64 were commissioned to produce original material, primarily the series' parody commercials, and Japanese artist Pey, who had designed much of The Aquabats' promotional art and merchandise during the 2000s, was hired to design the season's animated segments. Additionally, several industry professionals were brought in to help work on the show: Dani Michaeli, a staff writer on SpongeBob SquarePants, was hired as the series' story editor, while Matt Chapman, co-creator of the internet Flash cartoon Homestar Runner, acted as a writer, director and actor on several episodes. As none of the members besides Jacobs had any previous acting experience, comedian Matt Walsh of the Upright Citizens Brigade was brought in to help teach The Aquabats comedic acting and timing.
In further homage to the original Batman series, Super Show! features a variety of celebrity cameo appearances. The series' first season included appearances from actors Jon Heder, Lou Diamond Phillips and Samm Levine, comedians Rip Taylor, Paul Scheer and Paul Rust, and comedy musician "Weird Al" Yankovic, who appeared in two episodes as different characters. The first season also included several "Easter egg" cameos from original Aquabats members Corey "Chainsaw" Pollock and Boyd "Catboy" Terry, as well as from fellow musicians Warren Fitzgerald and Art Mitchell of the band Supernova.
Despite having been originally announced as part of The Hub's 2011 Fall line-up, production delays postponed Super Show!s premiere to early 2012. The series' marketing campaign began in December 2011, with a later announcement of an official premiere date confirmed for March 3, 2012. Following a non-consecutive run of 13 episodes, the first-season finale aired on June 16, 2012.
Season two
On October 16, 2012, The Aquabats and The Hub confirmed production on new episodes of Super Show! through the social networking sites Facebook and Twitter, announcing a tentative debut date of Spring 2013. Principal photography on season two began on October 22 and wrapped on December 1. Unlike the first season, the majority of season two was shot in and around Salt Lake City, Utah, which Jacobs explained was considerably less expensive than shooting in California.
While no changes were made to Super Shows creative team, in December 2012 it was announced that season two would introduce the series' first guest director, musician and comic book writer Gerard Way, who co-directed and co-wrote the season finale "The AntiBats!" with Jacobs and deVilliers. Way's involvement with the series was heavily covered by the music press in the wake of the March 2013 break-up of his popular alternative rock band My Chemical Romance. Among the guest stars featured in season two were professional skateboarders Tony Hawk and Eric Koston, Devo frontman and Yo Gabba Gabba! cast member Mark Mothersbaugh, internet celebrity Leslie Hall, actor Martin Starr and My Chemical Romance bassist Mikey Way.
On December 2, 2012, deVilliers revealed on his Twitter account that the upcoming season would consist of only five new episodes, in what he called more "season 1.5" than a "season 2", though mentioned the possibility of more being made in the future. On May 1, 2013, it was announced through Entertainment Weekly that the series' second season would begin airing on June 1. After a run of only five episodes, the season concluded on June 29, 2013.
2013–2014 specials
On August 22, 2013, series performer Chad Larson confirmed via Twitter that three additional episodes of Super Show! were being filmed near the end of the year, "and maybe more next". Principal photography on these episodes eventually began in Utah in early October. Throughout the month, The Aquabats posted numerous pictures of production on the new episodes on their Twitter and Instagram accounts, some of which revealed production code numbers of 301, 302 and 303, ostensibly indicating what would be a third season. Though these numbers were later verified by the Internet Movie Database, a November press release from The Hub explicitly referred to these three episodes as "specials".
The first of these specials, "Christmas with The Aquabats!", aired on December 21, featuring comedians Robert Smigel and Matt Walsh in guest roles. The second of these episodes, "The Shark Fighter!" (based on The Aquabats' song of the same name), featuring comedian Rhys Darby, aired the following week on December 28, while the final special "Kitty Litter!" aired on January 18, 2014. "Kitty Litter!" was helmed by another guest director, Munn Powell, best known for his work as cinematographer on the Jared and Jerusha Hess films Napoleon Dynamite and Gentlemen Broncos.
Following this short run of episodes, there was no confirmation by either The Hub or The Aquabats as to the production of any future episodes. In a December 2013 interview, Christian Jacobs acknowledged the network's unusually small order of episodes but didn't elaborate on any possible reasoning. In the same interview, he stated that the band had initially prepared for another order of 13 episodes, having written as many scripts for potential future episodes.
On May 1, 2014, the nominees for the 2014 Daytime Emmy Awards were announced, revealing that Super Show! had been nominated for five awards in four categories, including the award for Best Writing in a Children's Series for the episode "The AntiBats!". The awards ceremony was held on June 22, 2014, where the series ultimately won the award for Best Stunt Coordination for stuntman Skip Carlson.
Cancellation by The Hub and hiatus
In mid-2014, it was announced in entertainment press that Hasbro and Discovery had been in the process of rebranding The Hub following what they saw to be disappointing returns for the channel, changes which included the departure of CEO Margaret Loesch, who was instrumental in acquiring Super Show! as a series. In a Huffington Post feature about The Aquabats prior to the band's appearance at the 2014 San Diego Comic-Con, it was revealed that The Hub had opted not to renew Super Show! for a third season, effectively cancelling the series.
Jacobs admitted he was surprised by this turn of events, noting "Everything we heard was that the show has been a real Cinderella story for the Hub and that it was rating really well with viewers. We just assumed that we'd eventually go back into production or at least get picked up for Season 3", but ultimately concluded "it is what it is" in regard to the network's decision. Despite this, Jacobs remained optimistic about the series' future, saying "Given that we now live in a world where people are streaming TV shows directly onto their iPhones & computers, and given that companies like Netflix & Yahoo! are now picking up so much new content for their customers...I just find it hard to believe that The Aquabats! Super Show! is really over. I mean, we haven't even made any toys yet". He concluded by stating "It took us almost 15 years to get that TV series made. And even though we've got a bunch more concert dates lined up for the rest of this year, our first priority is to find a new home for The Aquabats! Super Show!".
On March 31, 2015, the nominees for the 42nd annual Daytime Emmy Awards were announced, with Super Show! earning nominations for Best SFX Mixer (Blaine Stewart) and Best Stunt Coordinator (Braxton McAllister).
On June 27, 2015, The Aquabats screened the entire first season of Super Show! before a sold-out crowd at The Frida Cinema in downtown Santa Ana, which was accompanied by a live performance by the band and Q&A sessions with The Aquabats and numerous members of the cast and crew. A similar presentation of the entire second season – including the three additional specials – took place at The Art Theater in Long Beach on December 16, 2017, coinciding with the release of the second season Blu-ray.
Bring Back The Aquabats! Kickstarter campaign
Following weeks of teasing a major announcement, The Aquabats launched a Kickstarter campaign on July 31, 2018 to help finance the return of The Aquabats! Super Show! as well as new studio albums from the band at a minimum projected cost of $1.1 million. The Aquabats promoted their campaign with a video featuring a slew of celebrity cameos, including Super Show! guest stars "Weird Al" Yankovic, Robert Smigel (as Triumph the Insult Comic Dog), Matt Chapman (as Homestar Runner and Strong Bad), former Aquabats member Travis Barker, Tony Kanal, Tom Dumont, Oscar Nunez, Kate Micucci, Blake Anderson, Imagine Dragons, Felicia Day and Tom Lennon, all of whom appeared in The Aquabats' trademark uniforms and spoke the Kickstarter's promotional slogan "I am The Aquabats"/"We are The Aquabats". Most prominently featured, however, was comedian Jack Black, who was later confirmed by the campaign's press releases to act as executive producer for the series' return.
Along with their Kickstarter, the band began releasing a series of Super Show! "mini-episodes", depicting the MC Bat Commander's metafictional quest to reunite the estranged Aquabats following the series' cancellation. The band confirmed that as the Kickstarter progresses, further "mini-episodes" will be released to both promote the campaign as well as act as a continuation of Super Show!.
By August 28, mere days before the campaign's end date of September 1, The Aquabats' Kickstarter had raised only $601,629 of its projected $1.1 million goal. The funding was subsequently cancelled and the campaign was rebooted the same day with a smaller goal of $100,000 to instead finance one new album and the continued production of the Super Show!! "mini-episodes". The project's goal was met within minutes.
Music
Original music for The Aquabats! Super Show! was primarily composed and performed by The Aquabats themselves, with additional scoring on most episodes provided by Matthew Gorney, Warren Fitzgerald or individual credits for Aquabats members James R. Briggs, Jr., Richard Falomir and Ian Fowles. Fitzgerald, guitarist for punk rock band The Vandals and former member of Oingo Boingo, acted as the series' music supervisor. The theme song to Super Show!, "Super Show Theme Song!", was co-written by The Aquabats and Fitzgerald.
Whereas most musically oriented shows like The Monkees typically break the narrative of an episode for a music video performance of a standalone song, each episode of Super Show! typically features one or two unique songs that tied directly into the plot, usually about and performed during the events of a particular scene. Most of these songs are rather brief, averaging a running time of just under a minute; Jacobs stated that many of the show's original songs were recorded as full-length pieces but trimmed down for inclusion in an episode, simply due to the show "trying to pack so much into 22 minutes".
Shortly after Super Show!s premiere, Jacobs confirmed plans to eventually release the series' original full-length songs as a soundtrack album. However, these plans wouldn't fully come to fruition until 2019; in a 2018 interview, Jacobs retrospectively revealed that the album had been long completed but the band "hadn't had all the rights tied up" until then. The first original and full-length recordings from the series' first season debuted in July 2017, when "Burger Rain" and "Beat Fishin'" were released as a tour-exclusive 7" single. Songs from the series' first season were eventually compiled as The Aquabats! Super Show! Television Soundtrack: Volume One, which was released digitally in March 2019 and then onto physical media the following June, where it became The Aquabats' highest-charting album to date, debuting at the top of Billboards Top Heatseekers chart and at 165 on the Billboard 200.
Cast and characters
See: List of The Aquabats! Super Show! characters
The Aquabats! Super Show! stars and is based upon fictionalized versions of the then-current (since 2006) line-up of the California comedy rock band The Aquabats. Adapting the backstory the band has used for the entirety of their professional career, Super Show! depicts The Aquabats as a group of bumbling, out-of-shape superheroes on a self-appointed mission to fight the forces of evil, presented in both live-action and animated segments. The five members of The Aquabats are:
The MC Bat Commander (played and voiced by Christian Jacobs) – The Aquabats' singer and de facto leader of the team. Though he doesn't have any superpowers of his own and is often quite stubborn and naive, the Commander is shown to be an effective strategist whose sharp leadership skills, bravery and determination regularly drive the band towards victory.
Crash McLarson (played and voiced by Chad Larson) – The band's bass guitarist, who has the frequently uncontrollable ability to grow upwards of 100 feet in size when under emotional stress. Despite being the largest and strongest of The Aquabats, Crash has a gentle, childlike demeanor bordering on slight dim-wittedness, and as such is usually the most cowardly member of the team.
Jimmy the Robot (played and voiced by James R. Briggs, Jr.) – The Aquabats' keyboardist. As his name implies, Jimmy is an android whose mechanical body houses a variety of built-in gadgets and weaponry, plus a comprehensive knowledge database which earns him the position of the group's resident scientist. Being a robot, Jimmy is generally perplexed by human emotions and behavior.
Ricky Fitness (played and voiced by Richard Falomir) – the band's drummer, Ricky possesses the power of super speed. Being the most physically fit and health-conscious member of The Aquabats, some of the series' running gags revolve around Ricky's status as a handsome ladies' man and his fondness for "fresh, healthy veggies" in contrast to the rest of the team's voracious affinity for junk food.
EagleBones Falconhawk (played and voiced by Ian Fowles) – The Aquabats' guitarist. The cocky and boyish maverick of the team, EagleBones is highly proficient on his custom weaponized electric guitar which shoots lasers from its headstock. Following a spiritual encounter early in season one, EagleBones also has the gift of second sight and is accompanied by "The Dude", an invisible spirit eagle whom he summons to aide The Aquabats in battle.
Voice actor and writer Mr. Lawrence provided the minimal narration for both seasons of Super Show!s live-action segments, while staff writer Kyle McCulloch narrated the first season's animated segments.
Guest stars and recurring characters
Though each episode of the series introduced a new villain, ally and/or celebrity cameo, Super Show! never featured any major recurring characters throughout its run. However, every episode of the show included a very brief appearance by a character fans dubbed the "Fox Man", a man in a cheap-looking fox costume played by visual effects supervisor Joel Fox, who would appear hidden in the background of a random scene as an Easter egg for viewers to spot, although his character was never explained within the context of the series.
Comedy musician "Weird Al" Yankovic and comedian Paul Rust were the only two guest actors to appear in two episodes: Yankovic played two different roles as the President of the United States and superhero SuperMagic PowerMan! (in a 2012 interview, Jacobs alluded to the two possibly being the same character, though this isn't implied within the series), while Rust played a boorish slacker named Ronmark, first appearing in live-action in a first-season episode and subsequently lending his voice to a mutated monster version of the character in part of a second-season episode.
Episodes
Distribution
International broadcast
Outside of North America, The Aquabats! Super Show! broadcast in Australia on the children's public broadcasting channel ABC3 and in the United Kingdom on the children's network CITV.
Home media
Coinciding with the run of the first season, each new episode of The Aquabats! Super Show! was released through the iTunes Store for digital download. Prior to the series debut, a season pass was made available for purchase to enable viewers to automatically receive a download of each new episode on its airdate. The first season of Super Show! was added to the video streaming service Netflix on December 1, 2012, later being added to Hulu on December 21.
Unlike the first season, the series' second season was not made available for iTunes pre-order, nor were episodes released for purchase. Though each episode was briefly streamed on The Hub's official website, none of the seasons' episodes were made available on Hulu, Netflix or similar streaming services.
Shout! Factory had the DVD publishing rights for The Aquabats! Super Show! within Region 1 for release of the first season. The company first announced their acquisition of the series and plans for a future DVD in a press release dated August 6, 2012, though did not initially confirm a set release date until several months later. On May 21, 2013, the first season of Super Show! was released on a two-disc DVD set.
On November 22, 2017, in conjunction with their announcement of a season two theatrical screening, The Aquabats confirmed an independent Blu-ray release for season two, including the three specials often considered a "season three". On December 5, pre-orders were launched on The Aquabats' merchandising site for an official release date of December 22, though copies were first made for public sale at the second season theatrical screening on December 16.
Starting in December 2014, The Aquabats gradually began uploading the series' full episodes onto their official YouTube channel. As of August 2019, all 21 episodes of Super Show! and its pilot episode have been publicly uploaded to their account.
Critical reception
Critical response to The Aquabats! Super Show! was predominantly positive, with most reviewers praising the series' intentionally campy tone and offbeat humor. The Onions The A.V. Club gave the series premiere an A− rating, describing it as "a loving homage to basically everything ever done by the brothers Krofft": "the show adeptly flips from humor to melodrama to action, providing some awesomely cheap special effects, goofy songs, and gags that range from slapstick to sublime", summarizing "there's so much here that both kids and parents will be able to enjoy the proceedings on their own respective levels and rarely find themselves bored".
Brian Lowry of Variety wrote "you don't have to laugh at everything to admire the effort and sheer silliness", calling the show a "goofy and nostalgic" throwback to the "children's TV of baby boomers' youth, down to crappy production values and awful-looking 'monsters' that work to its advantage". He summarized "Although this Hub series at times feels like an SNL skit stretched to a half-hour, its sly mix of music, live-action crime-fighting, cartoons and mock ads ought to develop a cult following—and might be more popular with parents, at least those with the geek gene, than their kids".
Technology magazine Wired was consistently positive towards the series, calling it both "wonderfully strange" and "delightfully deranged", writing "[f]illed with self-deprecating music videos, toon interludes and ludicrous villains, The Aquabats! Super Show! has become one of television's strangely comforting finds".
Common Sense Media, who review shows based on age-appropriate content, gave Super Show! a rating of 4 out of 5 stars, calling it "demented and manic...fun by sheer dint of how many jokes, visual and otherwise, are thrown at the screen, both those calculated to appeal to kids and adults". The site praised the series for its lighter and sillier tone in comparison to more violent live-action superhero fare, and considered the "kind-hearted" Aquabats to be relatively positive role models. However, the reviewer suggested the show's violence and creatures may be too intense for very young children, and pointed out a distinct lack of central female characters.
Neil Genzlinger of The New York Times offered a more indifferent opinion, calling The Aquabats "indescribably odd" and the series "frenetic, semicoherent and generally harmless. Also somewhat hallucinogenic", noting Super Show!s writing "may be over the heads of the 2-to-12 set", suggesting its most receptive audience might be "the college drinking-game crowd".
Awards and nominations
The Aquabats! Super Show! was nominated for the following awards:
Daytime Emmy Award
References
External links
Official website of The Aquabats
The Aquabats
2010s American children's television series
2010s American musical comedy television series
2010s American satirical television series
2010s American sketch comedy television series
2010s American superhero comedy television series
2012 American television series debuts
2014 American television series endings
American children's adventure television series
American children's musical television series
American television series with live action and animation
Children's sketch comedy
English-language television shows
Television series by Fremantle (company)
Television shows set in Orange County, California
American television shows featuring puppetry
Discovery Family original programming | true | [
"The Leader of the Opposition (Urdu: قائد حزب اختلاف), is the people's elected politician who is, by law, the leader of the Official Opposition in Pakistan. The Leader of the Opposition is the leader of the largest political party in the National Assembly that is not in government. This is usually the leader of the second-largest political party in the National Assembly.\n\nHe or she is normally viewed as an alternative Prime Minister. There is also a Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, who is elected / nominated separately by the opposition members of the Senate of Pakistan. The current Leader of the Opposition is Shehbaz Sharif of the Pakistan Muslim League (N) following the 2018 Pakistani general election in which Imran Khan was successful in forming a coalition government.\n\nNational Assembly\nA list of the leaders of the Opposition before and according to the 1973 Constitution of Pakistan;\n\nSee also \n National Assembly of Pakistan\n Government of Pakistan\n Politics of Pakistan\n Pakistan\n\nReferences \n\nPolitics of Pakistan\nLeaders of the Opposition (Pakistan)\nPakistan",
"The leader of the Official Opposition (), formally known as the leader of Majesty's Loyal Opposition (), is the politician who leads the Official Opposition in Canada, typically the leader of the party possessing the most seats in the House of Commons that is not the governing party or part of the governing coalition. \n\nCandice Bergen has been the leader of the Opposition since February 2, 2022, when she was elected interim Conservative leader following the ousting of Erin O'Toole.\n\nThough the leader of the Opposition must be a member of the House of Commons, the office should not be confused with Opposition House leader, who is a frontbencher charged with managing the business of the Opposition in the House of Commons, and is formally titled Leader of the Opposition in the House of Commons. There is also a leader of the Opposition in the Senate, who is usually of the same party as the leader of the Opposition in the house. If the leader of the opposition party is not a member of Parliament (MP), then a sitting MP acts as parliamentary leader and assumes the role of the leader of the Opposition until the party leader can obtain a seat.\n\nThe leader of the Opposition is entitled to the same levels of pay and protection as a Cabinet minister and is often made a member of the Queen's Privy Council, generally the only non-government member of the House of Commons afforded that privilege. The leader of the Opposition is entitled to reside at the official residence of Stornoway and ranks fourteenth on the Order of Precedence, after Cabinet ministers and before lieutenant governors of the provinces. In the House of Commons seating plan, the leader of the Opposition sits directly across from the prime minister.\n\nTwo leaders of the Opposition have died in office: Wilfrid Laurier in 1919 and Jack Layton in 2011.\n\nLeaders of the Official Opposition\n\nDeputy leaders of the Opposition\n\nOfficial Opposition Shadow Cabinet \nThe Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet in Canada is composed of members of the main opposition party and is responsible for holding the Government to account and for developing and disseminating the party's policy positions. Members of the Official Opposition are generally referred to as opposition critics, but the term Shadow Minister (which is generally used in other Westminster systems) is also used.\n\nSee also\n\nOpposition House Leader\n Leader of the Opposition in the Senate (Canada)\n\nNotes\n\nReferences\n\nGovernment of Canada\nOpposition\nOpposition\nCanada"
]
|
[
"The Aquabats! Super Show!",
"Premise",
"what can you tell me about their premise?",
"The Aquabats! Super Show! is centered around the adventures of The Aquabats,",
"what kind of adventures?",
"a group of superhero rock musicians who travel the countryside on a self-appointed mission to fight evil and \"destroy boredom\",",
"what else do the super heroes do?",
"\", protecting the world from the villains and creatures who threaten to destroy it while aiming to become a famous rock and roll band in their own right.",
"who were the members of Aquabats?",
"The Aquabats consist of singer The MC Bat Commander (Christian Jacobs), the swaggering leader of the group;",
"who is the leader?",
"The MC Bat Commander (Christian Jacobs), the swaggering leader of the group;"
]
| C_4cdf6386fc074258b24b5e00bbcdec23_1 | who else was in the group? | 6 | Besides Christian Jacobs, who else was a part of The Aquabats? | The Aquabats! Super Show! | Chronicled in both live-action and animated segments, The Aquabats! Super Show! is centered around the adventures of The Aquabats, a group of superhero rock musicians who travel the countryside on a self-appointed mission to fight evil and "destroy boredom", protecting the world from the villains and creatures who threaten to destroy it while aiming to become a famous rock and roll band in their own right. The Aquabats consist of singer The MC Bat Commander (Christian Jacobs), the swaggering leader of the group; bassist Crash McLarson (Chad Larson), who can grow up to 100 feet in size; drummer Ricky Fitness (Richard Falomir), who has the power of super speed; guitarist EagleBones Falconhawk (Ian Fowles), who's armed with a laser-shooting electric guitar; and keyboardist Jimmy the Robot (James R. Briggs, Jr.), an android. Despite their superhuman strengths and abilities, The Aquabats are quite bumbling, disorganized, and sometimes cowardly when faced with danger; this has in fact led them to be labeled "the world's most inept superheroes". The band lives and travels by way of their "Battletram", a modified recreational vehicle which, despite its small exterior, has an implausibly massive interior (similar to the TARDIS from Doctor Who or The Big Bologna from The Kids From C.A.P.E.R.), which contains, among many things, a science lab, a command center, and a living room. The Aquabats' origin story was left intentionally vague throughout the series, a choice Jacobs explains was done for the sake of the viewer's imagination, as kids are more accepting of the inherent absurdity of the premise than adults tend to be: "'There's five guys. This is what each of the five guys does. There are monsters. They're gonna try to fight them'. It's so simple. And I think that's why it's so awesome with kids--they just take it and run with it". In the first five episodes of season two, each member of The Aquabats shares their memory of how they joined the band via animated flashback sequences; however, all of these flashbacks directly and intentionally contradict each other, leaving it unknown which--if any--could be considered officially canonical. CANNOTANSWER | bassist Crash McLarson (Chad Larson), who can grow up to 100 feet in size; drummer Ricky Fitness (Richard Falomir), who has the power of super speed; | The Aquabats! Super Show! is an American action-comedy musical television series which aired from March 3, 2012 to January 8, 2014 on The Hub Network and resumed as an independent YouTube web series in September 2019. The series was created by Christian Jacobs, and Scott Schultz, both the creators of the Nick Jr. show Yo Gabba Gabba!, and Jason deVilliers.
Based on the superhero mythology of The Aquabats, a real-life comedy rock band which series co-creator and lead singer Jacobs formed in 1994, The Aquabats! Super Show! follows the comic adventures of a fictionalized version of the band, a musical group of amateur superheroes, as they haphazardly defend the world from a variety of villains and monsters. Styled similarly to the campy aesthetics of 1960s and 1970s children's television and Japanese tokusatsu, Super Show! utilizes various mediums of visual styles and special effects, mixing live-action storylines with cartoon shorts, parody advertisements and musical interludes.
The series' first season concluded on June 16, 2012 following a run of 13 episodes, having met with a largely positive critical reception, consistently high ratings for the channel and a Daytime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Children's Series. The series' second season consisted of an initial five episodes which aired through June 2013, with three additional episodes airing in late December and January 2014, receiving similar acclaim and a further seven Daytime Emmy nominations, ultimately winning one for Best Stunt Coordination. In June 2014, co-creator Jacobs officially announced the series' cancellation, following news of The Hub's financial losses which led to the network's rebranding as Discovery Family later that October.
In July 2018, The Aquabats launched a successful Kickstarter to help independently finance new episodes of The Aquabats! Super Show!, promoting the campaign with a series of YouTube-exclusive mini-episodes continuing the original series' storyline. On September 28, 2019, The Aquabats premiered the first installment of these new episodes, now a biweekly YouTube series entitled The Aquabats! RadVentures!, though still retaining Super Show!s theme song and title card.
Series overview
Premise
Chronicled in both live-action and animated segments, The Aquabats! Super Show! is centered around the adventures of The Aquabats, a group of superhero rock musicians who travel the countryside on a self-appointed mission to fight evil and "destroy boredom", protecting the world from the villains and creatures who threaten to destroy it while aiming to become a famous rock and roll band in their own right.
The Aquabats consist of singer The MC Bat Commander (Christian Jacobs), the swaggering leader of the group; bassist Crash McLarson (Chad Larson), who can grow up to 100 feet in size; drummer Ricky Fitness (Richard Falomir), who has the power of super speed; guitarist EagleBones Falconhawk (Ian Fowles), who's armed with a laser-shooting electric guitar; and keyboardist Jimmy the Robot (James R. Briggs, Jr.), an android. Despite their superhuman strengths and abilities, The Aquabats are quite bumbling, disorganized, and sometimes cowardly when faced with danger; this has in fact led them to be labeled "the world's most inept superheroes". The band lives and travels by way of their "Battletram", a modified classic GMC motorhome which, despite its small exterior, has an implausibly massive interior (similar to the TARDIS from Doctor Who or The Big Bologna from The Kids From C.A.P.E.R.), which contains, among many things, a science lab, a command center, and a living room.
The Aquabats' origin story was left intentionally vague throughout the series, a choice Jacobs explains was done for the sake of the viewer's imagination, as he felt kids were more accepting of the inherent absurdity of the premise than adults tend to be: "'There's five guys. This is what each of the five guys does. There are monsters. They're gonna try to fight them'. It's so simple. And I think that's why it's so awesome with kids—they just take it and run with it". In the first five episodes of season two, each member of The Aquabats shares their memory of how they joined the band via animated flashback sequences; however, all of these flashbacks directly and intentionally contradict each other, leaving it unknown which—if any—could be considered officially canonical.
Format and influences
The Aquabats! Super Show! juxtaposes both live-action and animated segments starring The Aquabats, interwoven with various tangential skits and cartoon interstitials. The live-action storylines are the primary focus of each episode, following a self-contained villain of the week formula. In the first season, each episode featured brief anime-styled cartoon shorts which one of the characters would introduce at a random point of the show, often by finding "A Cartoon" (represented by a miniature television set) in an absurd location. Unlike the live-action segments, these cartoons followed a serialized story arc, with each installment ending in a cliffhanger to be resolved in the next episode. In season two, this format was replaced with a series of animated flashbacks recounting the origins of The Aquabats, each by a different animation studio and in a different animation style. Between these segments are pantomime cartoon shorts starring "Lil' Bat", The Aquabats' anthropomorphic bat mascot, and live-action parody commercials for outlandish fictional products, the latter of which has long been a staple of The Aquabats' multi-media stage shows.
Jacobs says the concept behind Super Show! was something he had always dreamed of doing, making a "campy, live-action, funky kid's show" in the vein of the 1960s and 1970s television that he and the rest of the series' producers had grown up with. While the show pays homage to many facets of pop culture, Jacobs has named the 1960s Batman television series as the primary influence on Super Show!s "obviously silly" tone and visual style, ranging from set design to the trademark use of dutch angles for villain scenes. Other notable influences Jacobs has repeatedly mentioned include the works of Sid and Marty Krofft and Hanna-Barbera, Japanese tokusatsu series such as Ultraman and Johnny Sokko And His Flying Robot, the Shaw Brothers and Hong Kong cinema, and shows including Danger Island, Star Trek, The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, and Pee-wee's Playhouse, noting "there's a good 30 years worth of television culture packed into these 22-minute episodes".
Demographic
As The Hub's key demographic were children aged 6 to 12, Super Show! was ostensibly targeted towards said age group, though Jacobs has stated that the series primarily aimed to appeal to an all-ages crowd, with the intent of creating entertainment that both kids and parents can watch and enjoy together or separately. In interviews prior to the series' premiere, he explained that this was merely an extension of The Aquabats' own family-friendly ethos: "There's just obviously something about the costumes and being superheroes that really appeals to younger kids, and I think we always knew that as a band...I think we'll want to put things in [the show] for an older audience, because we realize we have an older audience, but then also we want the young kids, to not have it go over their heads".
Production history
History and previous attempts at a series
In 1994, musicians Christian Jacobs, Chad Larson and former member Boyd Terry formed The Aquabats in Brea, California. Influenced as much by cartoons and camp television as theatrical bands like Devo and Oingo Boingo, The Aquabats gained instant notoriety in the Orange County music scene for their eccentric persona in which they claimed to be a band of superheroes on a quest to save the world and their elaborate stage shows which regularly featured scripted fights with costumed villains alongside similar stunts and comedy sketches.
The Aquabats' second studio album, 1997's The Fury of The Aquabats!, proved to be a minor commercial breakthrough for the group, charting on the Billboard 200 and bringing them exposure through such venues as MTV, leading Jacobs – a former child actor with ties in the industry – to develop the concept of adapting the band's mythology for television. In 1998, Buena Vista Television helped produce a live-action mini-pilot directed by comedian Bobcat Goldthwait titled simply The Aquabats!, following the comic misadventures of the then-eight member band in an over-the-top camp style similar to Saturday morning cartoon shows. The pilot, which has yet to be made available for public viewing, failed to generate any network interest and was ultimately even disowned by the band themselves.
Undeterred, The Aquabats made an attempt at a second pilot the following year, using a music video budget granted by their record label Goldenvoice Records for their 1999 album The Aquabats vs. the Floating Eye of Death!. Independently directed and produced by Jacobs and his creative partner Scott Schultz, the result was a five-minute promo video entitled The Aquabats in Color!. In contrast to the wackier tone of the previous pilot, The Aquabats in Color! was a more action-oriented superhero series modeled after Japanese tokusatsu shows such as Kamen Rider. According to Jacobs, the Fox Family Channel reportedly expressed interest in the series and ordered production on a proper pilot episode, though following the channel's acquisition by Disney in 2001, the project was cancelled.
The Aquabats! Super Show! pilot (2008)
In 2005, Jacobs and Schultz formed the Orange County-based production company The Magic Store, focusing on creating family-oriented television entertainment. One of the company's independently produced pilots, the children's television series Yo Gabba Gabba!, was eventually picked up as a series by Viacoms Nick Jr. channel, premiering in August 2007 and ultimately becoming an award-winning and critically acclaimed international success. In the wake of the series' popularity, Jacobs and Schultz persuaded Yo Gabba Gabba!s joint production company Wild Brain to help produce a new pilot based around The Aquabats in conjuncture with The Magic Store.
Again creatively spearheaded by Jacobs and Schultz, The Aquabats' third pilot, titled The Aquabats! Super Show!, was shot on location throughout southern California in late 2007 and early 2008. Part of this filming took place at a free invitation-only concert for members of the band's official fan club at the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles on January 12, 2008. While The Aquabats' previous pilots were short, live-action promotional videos, The Aquabats! Super Show! was a fully realized 22-minute episode featuring two separate storylines based on the adventures of The Aquabats, one live-action and one animated, and interspersed with parody commercials and live footage of the band. Speaking on the decision to structure the show in such a varied format, Jacobs said "[w]e did that for a strategic reason – some networks like cartoons more than other networks. We wanted to say, 'this could be both shows'."
Following a period of post-production, The Aquabats began widely self-promoting Super Show! in June 2008, redesigning their website to promote the pilot and releasing a teaser trailer and several exclusive clips through an official Super Show! YouTube channel. On July 25, 2008, the band screened the full pilot at a concert in San Diego held during the weekend of the San Diego Comic-Con, while a segment of the episode was hosted on Boing Boing the same day. In 2009, Cartoon Network allegedly picked the series up for a run of 22 episodes, though following major staff changes within the company—which, according to Jacobs, included the termination of the executives who had green-lighted Super Show!—the project was again cancelled.
The Hub and season one
After several more unsuccessful network pitches into the 2010s, The Aquabats! Super Show! was finally picked up as a series by family cable channel The Hub, a joint venture between Hasbro and Discovery which launched in 2010 as a replacement for Discovery Kids. The Hub formally announced the series in a press release on March 23, 2011, revealing Super Show! would be given a first season run of 13 episodes, produced in conjuncture with FremantleMedia. In promotion of the series, The Aquabats appeared as part of a panel at the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con where they discussed their initial plans for the show, while The Hub sponsored an Aquabats concert held at the nearby House of Blues during the same weekend.
Production on season one of Super Show! officially began in May 2011. The entirety of the first season was shot within and around The Aquabats' hometown of Orange County, California; according to the first season DVD audio commentary, episodes were shot on location in the cities of Irvine, Silverado, Yorba Linda, Huntington Beach and Fullerton, while a private sound stage in Santa Ana was used for interior shots of the Battletram. A public Aquabats concert held at The Glass House club in Pomona on November 5, 2011 was also filmed to provide live footage of the band which is featured in the series' opening credits montage and several individual episodes.
Much of Super Show!s staff consist of friends and colleagues of The Aquabats who've previously worked with the band on various projects, ranging from members of Yo Gabba Gabba!s production team to fellow musicians within the southern California music scene. Among the more notable examples include Dallas McLaughlin and Matthew Gorney, both members of the San Diego hip hop band Bad Credit, who prominently served as writers, composers and performers, Warren Fitzgerald, guitarist for The Vandals, who was hired as a writer and music director, internet sketch comedy group Mega64 were commissioned to produce original material, primarily the series' parody commercials, and Japanese artist Pey, who had designed much of The Aquabats' promotional art and merchandise during the 2000s, was hired to design the season's animated segments. Additionally, several industry professionals were brought in to help work on the show: Dani Michaeli, a staff writer on SpongeBob SquarePants, was hired as the series' story editor, while Matt Chapman, co-creator of the internet Flash cartoon Homestar Runner, acted as a writer, director and actor on several episodes. As none of the members besides Jacobs had any previous acting experience, comedian Matt Walsh of the Upright Citizens Brigade was brought in to help teach The Aquabats comedic acting and timing.
In further homage to the original Batman series, Super Show! features a variety of celebrity cameo appearances. The series' first season included appearances from actors Jon Heder, Lou Diamond Phillips and Samm Levine, comedians Rip Taylor, Paul Scheer and Paul Rust, and comedy musician "Weird Al" Yankovic, who appeared in two episodes as different characters. The first season also included several "Easter egg" cameos from original Aquabats members Corey "Chainsaw" Pollock and Boyd "Catboy" Terry, as well as from fellow musicians Warren Fitzgerald and Art Mitchell of the band Supernova.
Despite having been originally announced as part of The Hub's 2011 Fall line-up, production delays postponed Super Show!s premiere to early 2012. The series' marketing campaign began in December 2011, with a later announcement of an official premiere date confirmed for March 3, 2012. Following a non-consecutive run of 13 episodes, the first-season finale aired on June 16, 2012.
Season two
On October 16, 2012, The Aquabats and The Hub confirmed production on new episodes of Super Show! through the social networking sites Facebook and Twitter, announcing a tentative debut date of Spring 2013. Principal photography on season two began on October 22 and wrapped on December 1. Unlike the first season, the majority of season two was shot in and around Salt Lake City, Utah, which Jacobs explained was considerably less expensive than shooting in California.
While no changes were made to Super Shows creative team, in December 2012 it was announced that season two would introduce the series' first guest director, musician and comic book writer Gerard Way, who co-directed and co-wrote the season finale "The AntiBats!" with Jacobs and deVilliers. Way's involvement with the series was heavily covered by the music press in the wake of the March 2013 break-up of his popular alternative rock band My Chemical Romance. Among the guest stars featured in season two were professional skateboarders Tony Hawk and Eric Koston, Devo frontman and Yo Gabba Gabba! cast member Mark Mothersbaugh, internet celebrity Leslie Hall, actor Martin Starr and My Chemical Romance bassist Mikey Way.
On December 2, 2012, deVilliers revealed on his Twitter account that the upcoming season would consist of only five new episodes, in what he called more "season 1.5" than a "season 2", though mentioned the possibility of more being made in the future. On May 1, 2013, it was announced through Entertainment Weekly that the series' second season would begin airing on June 1. After a run of only five episodes, the season concluded on June 29, 2013.
2013–2014 specials
On August 22, 2013, series performer Chad Larson confirmed via Twitter that three additional episodes of Super Show! were being filmed near the end of the year, "and maybe more next". Principal photography on these episodes eventually began in Utah in early October. Throughout the month, The Aquabats posted numerous pictures of production on the new episodes on their Twitter and Instagram accounts, some of which revealed production code numbers of 301, 302 and 303, ostensibly indicating what would be a third season. Though these numbers were later verified by the Internet Movie Database, a November press release from The Hub explicitly referred to these three episodes as "specials".
The first of these specials, "Christmas with The Aquabats!", aired on December 21, featuring comedians Robert Smigel and Matt Walsh in guest roles. The second of these episodes, "The Shark Fighter!" (based on The Aquabats' song of the same name), featuring comedian Rhys Darby, aired the following week on December 28, while the final special "Kitty Litter!" aired on January 18, 2014. "Kitty Litter!" was helmed by another guest director, Munn Powell, best known for his work as cinematographer on the Jared and Jerusha Hess films Napoleon Dynamite and Gentlemen Broncos.
Following this short run of episodes, there was no confirmation by either The Hub or The Aquabats as to the production of any future episodes. In a December 2013 interview, Christian Jacobs acknowledged the network's unusually small order of episodes but didn't elaborate on any possible reasoning. In the same interview, he stated that the band had initially prepared for another order of 13 episodes, having written as many scripts for potential future episodes.
On May 1, 2014, the nominees for the 2014 Daytime Emmy Awards were announced, revealing that Super Show! had been nominated for five awards in four categories, including the award for Best Writing in a Children's Series for the episode "The AntiBats!". The awards ceremony was held on June 22, 2014, where the series ultimately won the award for Best Stunt Coordination for stuntman Skip Carlson.
Cancellation by The Hub and hiatus
In mid-2014, it was announced in entertainment press that Hasbro and Discovery had been in the process of rebranding The Hub following what they saw to be disappointing returns for the channel, changes which included the departure of CEO Margaret Loesch, who was instrumental in acquiring Super Show! as a series. In a Huffington Post feature about The Aquabats prior to the band's appearance at the 2014 San Diego Comic-Con, it was revealed that The Hub had opted not to renew Super Show! for a third season, effectively cancelling the series.
Jacobs admitted he was surprised by this turn of events, noting "Everything we heard was that the show has been a real Cinderella story for the Hub and that it was rating really well with viewers. We just assumed that we'd eventually go back into production or at least get picked up for Season 3", but ultimately concluded "it is what it is" in regard to the network's decision. Despite this, Jacobs remained optimistic about the series' future, saying "Given that we now live in a world where people are streaming TV shows directly onto their iPhones & computers, and given that companies like Netflix & Yahoo! are now picking up so much new content for their customers...I just find it hard to believe that The Aquabats! Super Show! is really over. I mean, we haven't even made any toys yet". He concluded by stating "It took us almost 15 years to get that TV series made. And even though we've got a bunch more concert dates lined up for the rest of this year, our first priority is to find a new home for The Aquabats! Super Show!".
On March 31, 2015, the nominees for the 42nd annual Daytime Emmy Awards were announced, with Super Show! earning nominations for Best SFX Mixer (Blaine Stewart) and Best Stunt Coordinator (Braxton McAllister).
On June 27, 2015, The Aquabats screened the entire first season of Super Show! before a sold-out crowd at The Frida Cinema in downtown Santa Ana, which was accompanied by a live performance by the band and Q&A sessions with The Aquabats and numerous members of the cast and crew. A similar presentation of the entire second season – including the three additional specials – took place at The Art Theater in Long Beach on December 16, 2017, coinciding with the release of the second season Blu-ray.
Bring Back The Aquabats! Kickstarter campaign
Following weeks of teasing a major announcement, The Aquabats launched a Kickstarter campaign on July 31, 2018 to help finance the return of The Aquabats! Super Show! as well as new studio albums from the band at a minimum projected cost of $1.1 million. The Aquabats promoted their campaign with a video featuring a slew of celebrity cameos, including Super Show! guest stars "Weird Al" Yankovic, Robert Smigel (as Triumph the Insult Comic Dog), Matt Chapman (as Homestar Runner and Strong Bad), former Aquabats member Travis Barker, Tony Kanal, Tom Dumont, Oscar Nunez, Kate Micucci, Blake Anderson, Imagine Dragons, Felicia Day and Tom Lennon, all of whom appeared in The Aquabats' trademark uniforms and spoke the Kickstarter's promotional slogan "I am The Aquabats"/"We are The Aquabats". Most prominently featured, however, was comedian Jack Black, who was later confirmed by the campaign's press releases to act as executive producer for the series' return.
Along with their Kickstarter, the band began releasing a series of Super Show! "mini-episodes", depicting the MC Bat Commander's metafictional quest to reunite the estranged Aquabats following the series' cancellation. The band confirmed that as the Kickstarter progresses, further "mini-episodes" will be released to both promote the campaign as well as act as a continuation of Super Show!.
By August 28, mere days before the campaign's end date of September 1, The Aquabats' Kickstarter had raised only $601,629 of its projected $1.1 million goal. The funding was subsequently cancelled and the campaign was rebooted the same day with a smaller goal of $100,000 to instead finance one new album and the continued production of the Super Show!! "mini-episodes". The project's goal was met within minutes.
Music
Original music for The Aquabats! Super Show! was primarily composed and performed by The Aquabats themselves, with additional scoring on most episodes provided by Matthew Gorney, Warren Fitzgerald or individual credits for Aquabats members James R. Briggs, Jr., Richard Falomir and Ian Fowles. Fitzgerald, guitarist for punk rock band The Vandals and former member of Oingo Boingo, acted as the series' music supervisor. The theme song to Super Show!, "Super Show Theme Song!", was co-written by The Aquabats and Fitzgerald.
Whereas most musically oriented shows like The Monkees typically break the narrative of an episode for a music video performance of a standalone song, each episode of Super Show! typically features one or two unique songs that tied directly into the plot, usually about and performed during the events of a particular scene. Most of these songs are rather brief, averaging a running time of just under a minute; Jacobs stated that many of the show's original songs were recorded as full-length pieces but trimmed down for inclusion in an episode, simply due to the show "trying to pack so much into 22 minutes".
Shortly after Super Show!s premiere, Jacobs confirmed plans to eventually release the series' original full-length songs as a soundtrack album. However, these plans wouldn't fully come to fruition until 2019; in a 2018 interview, Jacobs retrospectively revealed that the album had been long completed but the band "hadn't had all the rights tied up" until then. The first original and full-length recordings from the series' first season debuted in July 2017, when "Burger Rain" and "Beat Fishin'" were released as a tour-exclusive 7" single. Songs from the series' first season were eventually compiled as The Aquabats! Super Show! Television Soundtrack: Volume One, which was released digitally in March 2019 and then onto physical media the following June, where it became The Aquabats' highest-charting album to date, debuting at the top of Billboards Top Heatseekers chart and at 165 on the Billboard 200.
Cast and characters
See: List of The Aquabats! Super Show! characters
The Aquabats! Super Show! stars and is based upon fictionalized versions of the then-current (since 2006) line-up of the California comedy rock band The Aquabats. Adapting the backstory the band has used for the entirety of their professional career, Super Show! depicts The Aquabats as a group of bumbling, out-of-shape superheroes on a self-appointed mission to fight the forces of evil, presented in both live-action and animated segments. The five members of The Aquabats are:
The MC Bat Commander (played and voiced by Christian Jacobs) – The Aquabats' singer and de facto leader of the team. Though he doesn't have any superpowers of his own and is often quite stubborn and naive, the Commander is shown to be an effective strategist whose sharp leadership skills, bravery and determination regularly drive the band towards victory.
Crash McLarson (played and voiced by Chad Larson) – The band's bass guitarist, who has the frequently uncontrollable ability to grow upwards of 100 feet in size when under emotional stress. Despite being the largest and strongest of The Aquabats, Crash has a gentle, childlike demeanor bordering on slight dim-wittedness, and as such is usually the most cowardly member of the team.
Jimmy the Robot (played and voiced by James R. Briggs, Jr.) – The Aquabats' keyboardist. As his name implies, Jimmy is an android whose mechanical body houses a variety of built-in gadgets and weaponry, plus a comprehensive knowledge database which earns him the position of the group's resident scientist. Being a robot, Jimmy is generally perplexed by human emotions and behavior.
Ricky Fitness (played and voiced by Richard Falomir) – the band's drummer, Ricky possesses the power of super speed. Being the most physically fit and health-conscious member of The Aquabats, some of the series' running gags revolve around Ricky's status as a handsome ladies' man and his fondness for "fresh, healthy veggies" in contrast to the rest of the team's voracious affinity for junk food.
EagleBones Falconhawk (played and voiced by Ian Fowles) – The Aquabats' guitarist. The cocky and boyish maverick of the team, EagleBones is highly proficient on his custom weaponized electric guitar which shoots lasers from its headstock. Following a spiritual encounter early in season one, EagleBones also has the gift of second sight and is accompanied by "The Dude", an invisible spirit eagle whom he summons to aide The Aquabats in battle.
Voice actor and writer Mr. Lawrence provided the minimal narration for both seasons of Super Show!s live-action segments, while staff writer Kyle McCulloch narrated the first season's animated segments.
Guest stars and recurring characters
Though each episode of the series introduced a new villain, ally and/or celebrity cameo, Super Show! never featured any major recurring characters throughout its run. However, every episode of the show included a very brief appearance by a character fans dubbed the "Fox Man", a man in a cheap-looking fox costume played by visual effects supervisor Joel Fox, who would appear hidden in the background of a random scene as an Easter egg for viewers to spot, although his character was never explained within the context of the series.
Comedy musician "Weird Al" Yankovic and comedian Paul Rust were the only two guest actors to appear in two episodes: Yankovic played two different roles as the President of the United States and superhero SuperMagic PowerMan! (in a 2012 interview, Jacobs alluded to the two possibly being the same character, though this isn't implied within the series), while Rust played a boorish slacker named Ronmark, first appearing in live-action in a first-season episode and subsequently lending his voice to a mutated monster version of the character in part of a second-season episode.
Episodes
Distribution
International broadcast
Outside of North America, The Aquabats! Super Show! broadcast in Australia on the children's public broadcasting channel ABC3 and in the United Kingdom on the children's network CITV.
Home media
Coinciding with the run of the first season, each new episode of The Aquabats! Super Show! was released through the iTunes Store for digital download. Prior to the series debut, a season pass was made available for purchase to enable viewers to automatically receive a download of each new episode on its airdate. The first season of Super Show! was added to the video streaming service Netflix on December 1, 2012, later being added to Hulu on December 21.
Unlike the first season, the series' second season was not made available for iTunes pre-order, nor were episodes released for purchase. Though each episode was briefly streamed on The Hub's official website, none of the seasons' episodes were made available on Hulu, Netflix or similar streaming services.
Shout! Factory had the DVD publishing rights for The Aquabats! Super Show! within Region 1 for release of the first season. The company first announced their acquisition of the series and plans for a future DVD in a press release dated August 6, 2012, though did not initially confirm a set release date until several months later. On May 21, 2013, the first season of Super Show! was released on a two-disc DVD set.
On November 22, 2017, in conjunction with their announcement of a season two theatrical screening, The Aquabats confirmed an independent Blu-ray release for season two, including the three specials often considered a "season three". On December 5, pre-orders were launched on The Aquabats' merchandising site for an official release date of December 22, though copies were first made for public sale at the second season theatrical screening on December 16.
Starting in December 2014, The Aquabats gradually began uploading the series' full episodes onto their official YouTube channel. As of August 2019, all 21 episodes of Super Show! and its pilot episode have been publicly uploaded to their account.
Critical reception
Critical response to The Aquabats! Super Show! was predominantly positive, with most reviewers praising the series' intentionally campy tone and offbeat humor. The Onions The A.V. Club gave the series premiere an A− rating, describing it as "a loving homage to basically everything ever done by the brothers Krofft": "the show adeptly flips from humor to melodrama to action, providing some awesomely cheap special effects, goofy songs, and gags that range from slapstick to sublime", summarizing "there's so much here that both kids and parents will be able to enjoy the proceedings on their own respective levels and rarely find themselves bored".
Brian Lowry of Variety wrote "you don't have to laugh at everything to admire the effort and sheer silliness", calling the show a "goofy and nostalgic" throwback to the "children's TV of baby boomers' youth, down to crappy production values and awful-looking 'monsters' that work to its advantage". He summarized "Although this Hub series at times feels like an SNL skit stretched to a half-hour, its sly mix of music, live-action crime-fighting, cartoons and mock ads ought to develop a cult following—and might be more popular with parents, at least those with the geek gene, than their kids".
Technology magazine Wired was consistently positive towards the series, calling it both "wonderfully strange" and "delightfully deranged", writing "[f]illed with self-deprecating music videos, toon interludes and ludicrous villains, The Aquabats! Super Show! has become one of television's strangely comforting finds".
Common Sense Media, who review shows based on age-appropriate content, gave Super Show! a rating of 4 out of 5 stars, calling it "demented and manic...fun by sheer dint of how many jokes, visual and otherwise, are thrown at the screen, both those calculated to appeal to kids and adults". The site praised the series for its lighter and sillier tone in comparison to more violent live-action superhero fare, and considered the "kind-hearted" Aquabats to be relatively positive role models. However, the reviewer suggested the show's violence and creatures may be too intense for very young children, and pointed out a distinct lack of central female characters.
Neil Genzlinger of The New York Times offered a more indifferent opinion, calling The Aquabats "indescribably odd" and the series "frenetic, semicoherent and generally harmless. Also somewhat hallucinogenic", noting Super Show!s writing "may be over the heads of the 2-to-12 set", suggesting its most receptive audience might be "the college drinking-game crowd".
Awards and nominations
The Aquabats! Super Show! was nominated for the following awards:
Daytime Emmy Award
References
External links
Official website of The Aquabats
The Aquabats
2010s American children's television series
2010s American musical comedy television series
2010s American satirical television series
2010s American sketch comedy television series
2010s American superhero comedy television series
2012 American television series debuts
2014 American television series endings
American children's adventure television series
American children's musical television series
American television series with live action and animation
Children's sketch comedy
English-language television shows
Television series by Fremantle (company)
Television shows set in Orange County, California
American television shows featuring puppetry
Discovery Family original programming | true | [
"\"I Don't Know Anybody Else\" is a song by the Italian music group Black Box. It was the second single from their debut album Dreamland (1990), and was originally released in the United States in December 1989. It was released worldwide in the early months of 1990 and had a great success in record charts, including Ireland, Switzerland, Norway and the United Kingdom, where it reached the Top 5. In other countries, it peaked between number 5 and number 10. It entered the UK Singles Chart on February 17, 1990 and remained for eight weeks.\n\nThe song features an uncredited Martha Wash on lead vocals. The title is a misheard lyric lifted from \"Love Sensation\" by Loleatta Holloway, the original line being \"I love nobody else\", using the same melody line as the chorus of \"I Don't Know Anybody Else\".\n\nCritical reception\nBillboard stated that the \"groove remains in trendy Italo-house vein with diva-styled vocals fueling the fire of tune's brain-imbedding hook.\" A reviewer from Cash Box wrote that \"the group who surprised everyone by breaking out of clubs and onto the pop charts clocks in with its second single, driven by the same intense vocals and formidable House groove that skyrocketed its U.S. debut single, \"Everybody, Everybody\".\" The Daily Vault's Michael R. Smith described it as \"effective and timeless\" in his review of Dreamland, and added that it now \"sound fresher and fuller of life than ever.\" Gene Sandbloom from The Network Forty wrote that the song \"has every bit the house power, but this time lead vocalist Katrin Quinol kicks off with an Annie Lennox intro that leaves you almost exhausted after four minutes.\" Chris Heath from Smash Hits noted that it is \"exceedingly similar\" to \"Ride on Time\" and said it is \"slightly brilliant\".\n\nVibe magazine listed the song at number 11 in their list of Before EDM: 30 Dance Tracks from The '90s That Changed the Game in 2013. They wrote that the song \"helped propel Italian house group Black Box into international fame thanks to the track’s strong vocals (exhibited by Martha Wash) fused with beats laid down by club DJ Daniele Davoli and keyboard wiz Mirko Limoni\".\n\nChart performance\n\"I Don't Know Anybody Else\" was successful on the charts on several continents. In Europe, it managed to climb into the Top 10 in Austria, Finland (number two), France, Ireland (number two), Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, as well as on the Eurochart Hot 100, where it hit number five. In the UK, the single peaked at number four in its second week at the UK Singles Chart, on February 18, 1990. Additionally, it was a Top 20 hit in West Germany and a Top 30 hit in the Netherlands. Outside Europe, it peaked at number-one on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play in the United States and was a Top 10 hit in Australia, where it peaked at number six and was awarded a gold record after 35,000 singles were sold there. In New Zealand, it went to number 25.\n\nMusic video\nA music video was made for \"I Don't Know Anybody Else\", directed by Judith Briant. It features the group performing the song in a club. Briant also directed the video for \"Ride on Time\" (with Greg Copeland). \"I Don't Know Anybody Else\" was later published on Black Box' official YouTube channel in June 2009. The video has amassed more than 7,1 million views as of September 2021.\n\nTrack listings\n\n CD maxi\n \"I Don't Know Anybody Else\" (we got salsoul mix) — 5:40\n \"I Don't Know Anybody Else\" (DJ Lelewel mix) — 6:47\n \"I Don't Know Anybody Else\" (a cappella) — 3:40\n \"I Don't Know Anybody Else\" (hurley's house mix) — 7:00\n \"I Don't Know Anybody Else\" (hurley's house dub) — 5:08\n \"I Don't Know Anybody Else\" (deephouse instrumental) — 4:30\n\n 12\" maxi\n \"I Don't Know Anybody Else\" (melody mix) — 6:36\n \"I Don't Know Anybody Else\" (house club) — 6:15\n\n 7\" single\n \"I Don't Know Anybody Else\" (melody mix) — 4:30\n \"I Don't Know Anybody Else\" (house club) — 4:00\n\nCharts\n\nWeekly charts\n\nYear-end charts\n\nCertifications and sales\n\nSee also\n List of number-one dance singles of 1991 (U.S.)\n\nReferences\n\n1990 singles\nBlack Box (band) songs\nMartha Wash songs\n1989 songs\nPolydor Records singles",
"Else Regensteiner (April 21, 1906 – January 18, 2003) was a German weaver, textile designer, author, and teacher who was primarily based in Chicago, Illinois. She is known for founding and heading the Weaving Department at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and for the creation of the reg/wick Hand Woven Originals weaving studio with Julia McVickers.\n\nPersonal life and education \nElse Regensteiner was born in Munich, Germany on April 21, 1906 to Ludwig and Hilda Friedsam. She studied at the Duetsche Frauenschule in Munich and received a teaching degree in 1925. In 1926 she married Bertold Regensteiner and her only child, Helga Regensteiner was born later that year. In 1936, \nElse and her husband immigrated to the United States. In Chicago, Else was introduced to Marli Ehrman, the head of the weaving department at the School of Design in Chicago. Ehrman offered Else a job as her assistant, and Else accepted the offer but chose to take classes instead of a salary. From 1940 to 1941, Marli Ehrman, a graduate of the Bauhaus, taught Else drafting and weaving on a fly-shuttle loom and introduced her to the ideals of the Bauhaus movement. Following Ehrman's advice, Else went to Black Mountain College in 1942 to take weaving classes under Anni Albers and design classes taught by Joseph Albers.\n\nCareer\n\nTeaching \nIn 1942, upon her return to Chicago from Black Mountain College, Else Regensteiner began her career as an instructor, teaching weaving at the Jane Addams Hull House until 1945. That year, she taught evening classes at the Chicago Institute of Design at the request of Marli Ehrman, and was hired as an assistant professor in the art department of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. In 1947 she was made a full professor at the school, and in 1957 she founded its Weaving Department. She was the head of this department until her retirement in 1971 when she was granted the title of professor emeritus. After her retirement, Else became a weaving and design consultant at the American Farm School in Thessaloniki, Greece until 1978. During her career as a teacher, Else travelled throughout the United States and Canada giving workshops and lectures on weaving.\n\nreg/wick Hand Woven Originals \nIn 1945, Else Regensteiner partnered with Julia Woodruff Von Bergen McVicker to form reg/wick Hand Woven Originals weaving studio. The studio provided custom ordered handwoven fabrics to architects and interior designers, and designed sample weavings as prototypes for industrial production lines. The studio's fabrics were featured in many exhibitions and won national design awards.\n\nBooks \nElse wrote several successful books on the subject of weaving including, The Art of Weaving (1970), Program for a Weaving Study Group (1974), Weaver's Study Course: Sourcebook for Ideas and Techniques (1982), and Geometric Design in Weaving (1986).\n\nDeath \nElse Regensteiner died on January 18, 2003 of heart failure in her Chicago home.\n\nReferences \n\n1906 births\n2003 deaths\nAmerican weavers\n20th-century women textile artists\n20th-century textile artists\n20th-century German women writers"
]
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[
"The Aquabats! Super Show!",
"Premise",
"what can you tell me about their premise?",
"The Aquabats! Super Show! is centered around the adventures of The Aquabats,",
"what kind of adventures?",
"a group of superhero rock musicians who travel the countryside on a self-appointed mission to fight evil and \"destroy boredom\",",
"what else do the super heroes do?",
"\", protecting the world from the villains and creatures who threaten to destroy it while aiming to become a famous rock and roll band in their own right.",
"who were the members of Aquabats?",
"The Aquabats consist of singer The MC Bat Commander (Christian Jacobs), the swaggering leader of the group;",
"who is the leader?",
"The MC Bat Commander (Christian Jacobs), the swaggering leader of the group;",
"who else was in the group?",
"bassist Crash McLarson (Chad Larson), who can grow up to 100 feet in size; drummer Ricky Fitness (Richard Falomir), who has the power of super speed;"
]
| C_4cdf6386fc074258b24b5e00bbcdec23_1 | how did they use their powers when performing? | 7 | how did Crash McLarson and Ricky Fitness use their powers when performing? | The Aquabats! Super Show! | Chronicled in both live-action and animated segments, The Aquabats! Super Show! is centered around the adventures of The Aquabats, a group of superhero rock musicians who travel the countryside on a self-appointed mission to fight evil and "destroy boredom", protecting the world from the villains and creatures who threaten to destroy it while aiming to become a famous rock and roll band in their own right. The Aquabats consist of singer The MC Bat Commander (Christian Jacobs), the swaggering leader of the group; bassist Crash McLarson (Chad Larson), who can grow up to 100 feet in size; drummer Ricky Fitness (Richard Falomir), who has the power of super speed; guitarist EagleBones Falconhawk (Ian Fowles), who's armed with a laser-shooting electric guitar; and keyboardist Jimmy the Robot (James R. Briggs, Jr.), an android. Despite their superhuman strengths and abilities, The Aquabats are quite bumbling, disorganized, and sometimes cowardly when faced with danger; this has in fact led them to be labeled "the world's most inept superheroes". The band lives and travels by way of their "Battletram", a modified recreational vehicle which, despite its small exterior, has an implausibly massive interior (similar to the TARDIS from Doctor Who or The Big Bologna from The Kids From C.A.P.E.R.), which contains, among many things, a science lab, a command center, and a living room. The Aquabats' origin story was left intentionally vague throughout the series, a choice Jacobs explains was done for the sake of the viewer's imagination, as kids are more accepting of the inherent absurdity of the premise than adults tend to be: "'There's five guys. This is what each of the five guys does. There are monsters. They're gonna try to fight them'. It's so simple. And I think that's why it's so awesome with kids--they just take it and run with it". In the first five episodes of season two, each member of The Aquabats shares their memory of how they joined the band via animated flashback sequences; however, all of these flashbacks directly and intentionally contradict each other, leaving it unknown which--if any--could be considered officially canonical. CANNOTANSWER | The Aquabats are quite bumbling, disorganized, and sometimes cowardly when faced with danger; | The Aquabats! Super Show! is an American action-comedy musical television series which aired from March 3, 2012 to January 8, 2014 on The Hub Network and resumed as an independent YouTube web series in September 2019. The series was created by Christian Jacobs, and Scott Schultz, both the creators of the Nick Jr. show Yo Gabba Gabba!, and Jason deVilliers.
Based on the superhero mythology of The Aquabats, a real-life comedy rock band which series co-creator and lead singer Jacobs formed in 1994, The Aquabats! Super Show! follows the comic adventures of a fictionalized version of the band, a musical group of amateur superheroes, as they haphazardly defend the world from a variety of villains and monsters. Styled similarly to the campy aesthetics of 1960s and 1970s children's television and Japanese tokusatsu, Super Show! utilizes various mediums of visual styles and special effects, mixing live-action storylines with cartoon shorts, parody advertisements and musical interludes.
The series' first season concluded on June 16, 2012 following a run of 13 episodes, having met with a largely positive critical reception, consistently high ratings for the channel and a Daytime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Children's Series. The series' second season consisted of an initial five episodes which aired through June 2013, with three additional episodes airing in late December and January 2014, receiving similar acclaim and a further seven Daytime Emmy nominations, ultimately winning one for Best Stunt Coordination. In June 2014, co-creator Jacobs officially announced the series' cancellation, following news of The Hub's financial losses which led to the network's rebranding as Discovery Family later that October.
In July 2018, The Aquabats launched a successful Kickstarter to help independently finance new episodes of The Aquabats! Super Show!, promoting the campaign with a series of YouTube-exclusive mini-episodes continuing the original series' storyline. On September 28, 2019, The Aquabats premiered the first installment of these new episodes, now a biweekly YouTube series entitled The Aquabats! RadVentures!, though still retaining Super Show!s theme song and title card.
Series overview
Premise
Chronicled in both live-action and animated segments, The Aquabats! Super Show! is centered around the adventures of The Aquabats, a group of superhero rock musicians who travel the countryside on a self-appointed mission to fight evil and "destroy boredom", protecting the world from the villains and creatures who threaten to destroy it while aiming to become a famous rock and roll band in their own right.
The Aquabats consist of singer The MC Bat Commander (Christian Jacobs), the swaggering leader of the group; bassist Crash McLarson (Chad Larson), who can grow up to 100 feet in size; drummer Ricky Fitness (Richard Falomir), who has the power of super speed; guitarist EagleBones Falconhawk (Ian Fowles), who's armed with a laser-shooting electric guitar; and keyboardist Jimmy the Robot (James R. Briggs, Jr.), an android. Despite their superhuman strengths and abilities, The Aquabats are quite bumbling, disorganized, and sometimes cowardly when faced with danger; this has in fact led them to be labeled "the world's most inept superheroes". The band lives and travels by way of their "Battletram", a modified classic GMC motorhome which, despite its small exterior, has an implausibly massive interior (similar to the TARDIS from Doctor Who or The Big Bologna from The Kids From C.A.P.E.R.), which contains, among many things, a science lab, a command center, and a living room.
The Aquabats' origin story was left intentionally vague throughout the series, a choice Jacobs explains was done for the sake of the viewer's imagination, as he felt kids were more accepting of the inherent absurdity of the premise than adults tend to be: "'There's five guys. This is what each of the five guys does. There are monsters. They're gonna try to fight them'. It's so simple. And I think that's why it's so awesome with kids—they just take it and run with it". In the first five episodes of season two, each member of The Aquabats shares their memory of how they joined the band via animated flashback sequences; however, all of these flashbacks directly and intentionally contradict each other, leaving it unknown which—if any—could be considered officially canonical.
Format and influences
The Aquabats! Super Show! juxtaposes both live-action and animated segments starring The Aquabats, interwoven with various tangential skits and cartoon interstitials. The live-action storylines are the primary focus of each episode, following a self-contained villain of the week formula. In the first season, each episode featured brief anime-styled cartoon shorts which one of the characters would introduce at a random point of the show, often by finding "A Cartoon" (represented by a miniature television set) in an absurd location. Unlike the live-action segments, these cartoons followed a serialized story arc, with each installment ending in a cliffhanger to be resolved in the next episode. In season two, this format was replaced with a series of animated flashbacks recounting the origins of The Aquabats, each by a different animation studio and in a different animation style. Between these segments are pantomime cartoon shorts starring "Lil' Bat", The Aquabats' anthropomorphic bat mascot, and live-action parody commercials for outlandish fictional products, the latter of which has long been a staple of The Aquabats' multi-media stage shows.
Jacobs says the concept behind Super Show! was something he had always dreamed of doing, making a "campy, live-action, funky kid's show" in the vein of the 1960s and 1970s television that he and the rest of the series' producers had grown up with. While the show pays homage to many facets of pop culture, Jacobs has named the 1960s Batman television series as the primary influence on Super Show!s "obviously silly" tone and visual style, ranging from set design to the trademark use of dutch angles for villain scenes. Other notable influences Jacobs has repeatedly mentioned include the works of Sid and Marty Krofft and Hanna-Barbera, Japanese tokusatsu series such as Ultraman and Johnny Sokko And His Flying Robot, the Shaw Brothers and Hong Kong cinema, and shows including Danger Island, Star Trek, The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, and Pee-wee's Playhouse, noting "there's a good 30 years worth of television culture packed into these 22-minute episodes".
Demographic
As The Hub's key demographic were children aged 6 to 12, Super Show! was ostensibly targeted towards said age group, though Jacobs has stated that the series primarily aimed to appeal to an all-ages crowd, with the intent of creating entertainment that both kids and parents can watch and enjoy together or separately. In interviews prior to the series' premiere, he explained that this was merely an extension of The Aquabats' own family-friendly ethos: "There's just obviously something about the costumes and being superheroes that really appeals to younger kids, and I think we always knew that as a band...I think we'll want to put things in [the show] for an older audience, because we realize we have an older audience, but then also we want the young kids, to not have it go over their heads".
Production history
History and previous attempts at a series
In 1994, musicians Christian Jacobs, Chad Larson and former member Boyd Terry formed The Aquabats in Brea, California. Influenced as much by cartoons and camp television as theatrical bands like Devo and Oingo Boingo, The Aquabats gained instant notoriety in the Orange County music scene for their eccentric persona in which they claimed to be a band of superheroes on a quest to save the world and their elaborate stage shows which regularly featured scripted fights with costumed villains alongside similar stunts and comedy sketches.
The Aquabats' second studio album, 1997's The Fury of The Aquabats!, proved to be a minor commercial breakthrough for the group, charting on the Billboard 200 and bringing them exposure through such venues as MTV, leading Jacobs – a former child actor with ties in the industry – to develop the concept of adapting the band's mythology for television. In 1998, Buena Vista Television helped produce a live-action mini-pilot directed by comedian Bobcat Goldthwait titled simply The Aquabats!, following the comic misadventures of the then-eight member band in an over-the-top camp style similar to Saturday morning cartoon shows. The pilot, which has yet to be made available for public viewing, failed to generate any network interest and was ultimately even disowned by the band themselves.
Undeterred, The Aquabats made an attempt at a second pilot the following year, using a music video budget granted by their record label Goldenvoice Records for their 1999 album The Aquabats vs. the Floating Eye of Death!. Independently directed and produced by Jacobs and his creative partner Scott Schultz, the result was a five-minute promo video entitled The Aquabats in Color!. In contrast to the wackier tone of the previous pilot, The Aquabats in Color! was a more action-oriented superhero series modeled after Japanese tokusatsu shows such as Kamen Rider. According to Jacobs, the Fox Family Channel reportedly expressed interest in the series and ordered production on a proper pilot episode, though following the channel's acquisition by Disney in 2001, the project was cancelled.
The Aquabats! Super Show! pilot (2008)
In 2005, Jacobs and Schultz formed the Orange County-based production company The Magic Store, focusing on creating family-oriented television entertainment. One of the company's independently produced pilots, the children's television series Yo Gabba Gabba!, was eventually picked up as a series by Viacoms Nick Jr. channel, premiering in August 2007 and ultimately becoming an award-winning and critically acclaimed international success. In the wake of the series' popularity, Jacobs and Schultz persuaded Yo Gabba Gabba!s joint production company Wild Brain to help produce a new pilot based around The Aquabats in conjuncture with The Magic Store.
Again creatively spearheaded by Jacobs and Schultz, The Aquabats' third pilot, titled The Aquabats! Super Show!, was shot on location throughout southern California in late 2007 and early 2008. Part of this filming took place at a free invitation-only concert for members of the band's official fan club at the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles on January 12, 2008. While The Aquabats' previous pilots were short, live-action promotional videos, The Aquabats! Super Show! was a fully realized 22-minute episode featuring two separate storylines based on the adventures of The Aquabats, one live-action and one animated, and interspersed with parody commercials and live footage of the band. Speaking on the decision to structure the show in such a varied format, Jacobs said "[w]e did that for a strategic reason – some networks like cartoons more than other networks. We wanted to say, 'this could be both shows'."
Following a period of post-production, The Aquabats began widely self-promoting Super Show! in June 2008, redesigning their website to promote the pilot and releasing a teaser trailer and several exclusive clips through an official Super Show! YouTube channel. On July 25, 2008, the band screened the full pilot at a concert in San Diego held during the weekend of the San Diego Comic-Con, while a segment of the episode was hosted on Boing Boing the same day. In 2009, Cartoon Network allegedly picked the series up for a run of 22 episodes, though following major staff changes within the company—which, according to Jacobs, included the termination of the executives who had green-lighted Super Show!—the project was again cancelled.
The Hub and season one
After several more unsuccessful network pitches into the 2010s, The Aquabats! Super Show! was finally picked up as a series by family cable channel The Hub, a joint venture between Hasbro and Discovery which launched in 2010 as a replacement for Discovery Kids. The Hub formally announced the series in a press release on March 23, 2011, revealing Super Show! would be given a first season run of 13 episodes, produced in conjuncture with FremantleMedia. In promotion of the series, The Aquabats appeared as part of a panel at the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con where they discussed their initial plans for the show, while The Hub sponsored an Aquabats concert held at the nearby House of Blues during the same weekend.
Production on season one of Super Show! officially began in May 2011. The entirety of the first season was shot within and around The Aquabats' hometown of Orange County, California; according to the first season DVD audio commentary, episodes were shot on location in the cities of Irvine, Silverado, Yorba Linda, Huntington Beach and Fullerton, while a private sound stage in Santa Ana was used for interior shots of the Battletram. A public Aquabats concert held at The Glass House club in Pomona on November 5, 2011 was also filmed to provide live footage of the band which is featured in the series' opening credits montage and several individual episodes.
Much of Super Show!s staff consist of friends and colleagues of The Aquabats who've previously worked with the band on various projects, ranging from members of Yo Gabba Gabba!s production team to fellow musicians within the southern California music scene. Among the more notable examples include Dallas McLaughlin and Matthew Gorney, both members of the San Diego hip hop band Bad Credit, who prominently served as writers, composers and performers, Warren Fitzgerald, guitarist for The Vandals, who was hired as a writer and music director, internet sketch comedy group Mega64 were commissioned to produce original material, primarily the series' parody commercials, and Japanese artist Pey, who had designed much of The Aquabats' promotional art and merchandise during the 2000s, was hired to design the season's animated segments. Additionally, several industry professionals were brought in to help work on the show: Dani Michaeli, a staff writer on SpongeBob SquarePants, was hired as the series' story editor, while Matt Chapman, co-creator of the internet Flash cartoon Homestar Runner, acted as a writer, director and actor on several episodes. As none of the members besides Jacobs had any previous acting experience, comedian Matt Walsh of the Upright Citizens Brigade was brought in to help teach The Aquabats comedic acting and timing.
In further homage to the original Batman series, Super Show! features a variety of celebrity cameo appearances. The series' first season included appearances from actors Jon Heder, Lou Diamond Phillips and Samm Levine, comedians Rip Taylor, Paul Scheer and Paul Rust, and comedy musician "Weird Al" Yankovic, who appeared in two episodes as different characters. The first season also included several "Easter egg" cameos from original Aquabats members Corey "Chainsaw" Pollock and Boyd "Catboy" Terry, as well as from fellow musicians Warren Fitzgerald and Art Mitchell of the band Supernova.
Despite having been originally announced as part of The Hub's 2011 Fall line-up, production delays postponed Super Show!s premiere to early 2012. The series' marketing campaign began in December 2011, with a later announcement of an official premiere date confirmed for March 3, 2012. Following a non-consecutive run of 13 episodes, the first-season finale aired on June 16, 2012.
Season two
On October 16, 2012, The Aquabats and The Hub confirmed production on new episodes of Super Show! through the social networking sites Facebook and Twitter, announcing a tentative debut date of Spring 2013. Principal photography on season two began on October 22 and wrapped on December 1. Unlike the first season, the majority of season two was shot in and around Salt Lake City, Utah, which Jacobs explained was considerably less expensive than shooting in California.
While no changes were made to Super Shows creative team, in December 2012 it was announced that season two would introduce the series' first guest director, musician and comic book writer Gerard Way, who co-directed and co-wrote the season finale "The AntiBats!" with Jacobs and deVilliers. Way's involvement with the series was heavily covered by the music press in the wake of the March 2013 break-up of his popular alternative rock band My Chemical Romance. Among the guest stars featured in season two were professional skateboarders Tony Hawk and Eric Koston, Devo frontman and Yo Gabba Gabba! cast member Mark Mothersbaugh, internet celebrity Leslie Hall, actor Martin Starr and My Chemical Romance bassist Mikey Way.
On December 2, 2012, deVilliers revealed on his Twitter account that the upcoming season would consist of only five new episodes, in what he called more "season 1.5" than a "season 2", though mentioned the possibility of more being made in the future. On May 1, 2013, it was announced through Entertainment Weekly that the series' second season would begin airing on June 1. After a run of only five episodes, the season concluded on June 29, 2013.
2013–2014 specials
On August 22, 2013, series performer Chad Larson confirmed via Twitter that three additional episodes of Super Show! were being filmed near the end of the year, "and maybe more next". Principal photography on these episodes eventually began in Utah in early October. Throughout the month, The Aquabats posted numerous pictures of production on the new episodes on their Twitter and Instagram accounts, some of which revealed production code numbers of 301, 302 and 303, ostensibly indicating what would be a third season. Though these numbers were later verified by the Internet Movie Database, a November press release from The Hub explicitly referred to these three episodes as "specials".
The first of these specials, "Christmas with The Aquabats!", aired on December 21, featuring comedians Robert Smigel and Matt Walsh in guest roles. The second of these episodes, "The Shark Fighter!" (based on The Aquabats' song of the same name), featuring comedian Rhys Darby, aired the following week on December 28, while the final special "Kitty Litter!" aired on January 18, 2014. "Kitty Litter!" was helmed by another guest director, Munn Powell, best known for his work as cinematographer on the Jared and Jerusha Hess films Napoleon Dynamite and Gentlemen Broncos.
Following this short run of episodes, there was no confirmation by either The Hub or The Aquabats as to the production of any future episodes. In a December 2013 interview, Christian Jacobs acknowledged the network's unusually small order of episodes but didn't elaborate on any possible reasoning. In the same interview, he stated that the band had initially prepared for another order of 13 episodes, having written as many scripts for potential future episodes.
On May 1, 2014, the nominees for the 2014 Daytime Emmy Awards were announced, revealing that Super Show! had been nominated for five awards in four categories, including the award for Best Writing in a Children's Series for the episode "The AntiBats!". The awards ceremony was held on June 22, 2014, where the series ultimately won the award for Best Stunt Coordination for stuntman Skip Carlson.
Cancellation by The Hub and hiatus
In mid-2014, it was announced in entertainment press that Hasbro and Discovery had been in the process of rebranding The Hub following what they saw to be disappointing returns for the channel, changes which included the departure of CEO Margaret Loesch, who was instrumental in acquiring Super Show! as a series. In a Huffington Post feature about The Aquabats prior to the band's appearance at the 2014 San Diego Comic-Con, it was revealed that The Hub had opted not to renew Super Show! for a third season, effectively cancelling the series.
Jacobs admitted he was surprised by this turn of events, noting "Everything we heard was that the show has been a real Cinderella story for the Hub and that it was rating really well with viewers. We just assumed that we'd eventually go back into production or at least get picked up for Season 3", but ultimately concluded "it is what it is" in regard to the network's decision. Despite this, Jacobs remained optimistic about the series' future, saying "Given that we now live in a world where people are streaming TV shows directly onto their iPhones & computers, and given that companies like Netflix & Yahoo! are now picking up so much new content for their customers...I just find it hard to believe that The Aquabats! Super Show! is really over. I mean, we haven't even made any toys yet". He concluded by stating "It took us almost 15 years to get that TV series made. And even though we've got a bunch more concert dates lined up for the rest of this year, our first priority is to find a new home for The Aquabats! Super Show!".
On March 31, 2015, the nominees for the 42nd annual Daytime Emmy Awards were announced, with Super Show! earning nominations for Best SFX Mixer (Blaine Stewart) and Best Stunt Coordinator (Braxton McAllister).
On June 27, 2015, The Aquabats screened the entire first season of Super Show! before a sold-out crowd at The Frida Cinema in downtown Santa Ana, which was accompanied by a live performance by the band and Q&A sessions with The Aquabats and numerous members of the cast and crew. A similar presentation of the entire second season – including the three additional specials – took place at The Art Theater in Long Beach on December 16, 2017, coinciding with the release of the second season Blu-ray.
Bring Back The Aquabats! Kickstarter campaign
Following weeks of teasing a major announcement, The Aquabats launched a Kickstarter campaign on July 31, 2018 to help finance the return of The Aquabats! Super Show! as well as new studio albums from the band at a minimum projected cost of $1.1 million. The Aquabats promoted their campaign with a video featuring a slew of celebrity cameos, including Super Show! guest stars "Weird Al" Yankovic, Robert Smigel (as Triumph the Insult Comic Dog), Matt Chapman (as Homestar Runner and Strong Bad), former Aquabats member Travis Barker, Tony Kanal, Tom Dumont, Oscar Nunez, Kate Micucci, Blake Anderson, Imagine Dragons, Felicia Day and Tom Lennon, all of whom appeared in The Aquabats' trademark uniforms and spoke the Kickstarter's promotional slogan "I am The Aquabats"/"We are The Aquabats". Most prominently featured, however, was comedian Jack Black, who was later confirmed by the campaign's press releases to act as executive producer for the series' return.
Along with their Kickstarter, the band began releasing a series of Super Show! "mini-episodes", depicting the MC Bat Commander's metafictional quest to reunite the estranged Aquabats following the series' cancellation. The band confirmed that as the Kickstarter progresses, further "mini-episodes" will be released to both promote the campaign as well as act as a continuation of Super Show!.
By August 28, mere days before the campaign's end date of September 1, The Aquabats' Kickstarter had raised only $601,629 of its projected $1.1 million goal. The funding was subsequently cancelled and the campaign was rebooted the same day with a smaller goal of $100,000 to instead finance one new album and the continued production of the Super Show!! "mini-episodes". The project's goal was met within minutes.
Music
Original music for The Aquabats! Super Show! was primarily composed and performed by The Aquabats themselves, with additional scoring on most episodes provided by Matthew Gorney, Warren Fitzgerald or individual credits for Aquabats members James R. Briggs, Jr., Richard Falomir and Ian Fowles. Fitzgerald, guitarist for punk rock band The Vandals and former member of Oingo Boingo, acted as the series' music supervisor. The theme song to Super Show!, "Super Show Theme Song!", was co-written by The Aquabats and Fitzgerald.
Whereas most musically oriented shows like The Monkees typically break the narrative of an episode for a music video performance of a standalone song, each episode of Super Show! typically features one or two unique songs that tied directly into the plot, usually about and performed during the events of a particular scene. Most of these songs are rather brief, averaging a running time of just under a minute; Jacobs stated that many of the show's original songs were recorded as full-length pieces but trimmed down for inclusion in an episode, simply due to the show "trying to pack so much into 22 minutes".
Shortly after Super Show!s premiere, Jacobs confirmed plans to eventually release the series' original full-length songs as a soundtrack album. However, these plans wouldn't fully come to fruition until 2019; in a 2018 interview, Jacobs retrospectively revealed that the album had been long completed but the band "hadn't had all the rights tied up" until then. The first original and full-length recordings from the series' first season debuted in July 2017, when "Burger Rain" and "Beat Fishin'" were released as a tour-exclusive 7" single. Songs from the series' first season were eventually compiled as The Aquabats! Super Show! Television Soundtrack: Volume One, which was released digitally in March 2019 and then onto physical media the following June, where it became The Aquabats' highest-charting album to date, debuting at the top of Billboards Top Heatseekers chart and at 165 on the Billboard 200.
Cast and characters
See: List of The Aquabats! Super Show! characters
The Aquabats! Super Show! stars and is based upon fictionalized versions of the then-current (since 2006) line-up of the California comedy rock band The Aquabats. Adapting the backstory the band has used for the entirety of their professional career, Super Show! depicts The Aquabats as a group of bumbling, out-of-shape superheroes on a self-appointed mission to fight the forces of evil, presented in both live-action and animated segments. The five members of The Aquabats are:
The MC Bat Commander (played and voiced by Christian Jacobs) – The Aquabats' singer and de facto leader of the team. Though he doesn't have any superpowers of his own and is often quite stubborn and naive, the Commander is shown to be an effective strategist whose sharp leadership skills, bravery and determination regularly drive the band towards victory.
Crash McLarson (played and voiced by Chad Larson) – The band's bass guitarist, who has the frequently uncontrollable ability to grow upwards of 100 feet in size when under emotional stress. Despite being the largest and strongest of The Aquabats, Crash has a gentle, childlike demeanor bordering on slight dim-wittedness, and as such is usually the most cowardly member of the team.
Jimmy the Robot (played and voiced by James R. Briggs, Jr.) – The Aquabats' keyboardist. As his name implies, Jimmy is an android whose mechanical body houses a variety of built-in gadgets and weaponry, plus a comprehensive knowledge database which earns him the position of the group's resident scientist. Being a robot, Jimmy is generally perplexed by human emotions and behavior.
Ricky Fitness (played and voiced by Richard Falomir) – the band's drummer, Ricky possesses the power of super speed. Being the most physically fit and health-conscious member of The Aquabats, some of the series' running gags revolve around Ricky's status as a handsome ladies' man and his fondness for "fresh, healthy veggies" in contrast to the rest of the team's voracious affinity for junk food.
EagleBones Falconhawk (played and voiced by Ian Fowles) – The Aquabats' guitarist. The cocky and boyish maverick of the team, EagleBones is highly proficient on his custom weaponized electric guitar which shoots lasers from its headstock. Following a spiritual encounter early in season one, EagleBones also has the gift of second sight and is accompanied by "The Dude", an invisible spirit eagle whom he summons to aide The Aquabats in battle.
Voice actor and writer Mr. Lawrence provided the minimal narration for both seasons of Super Show!s live-action segments, while staff writer Kyle McCulloch narrated the first season's animated segments.
Guest stars and recurring characters
Though each episode of the series introduced a new villain, ally and/or celebrity cameo, Super Show! never featured any major recurring characters throughout its run. However, every episode of the show included a very brief appearance by a character fans dubbed the "Fox Man", a man in a cheap-looking fox costume played by visual effects supervisor Joel Fox, who would appear hidden in the background of a random scene as an Easter egg for viewers to spot, although his character was never explained within the context of the series.
Comedy musician "Weird Al" Yankovic and comedian Paul Rust were the only two guest actors to appear in two episodes: Yankovic played two different roles as the President of the United States and superhero SuperMagic PowerMan! (in a 2012 interview, Jacobs alluded to the two possibly being the same character, though this isn't implied within the series), while Rust played a boorish slacker named Ronmark, first appearing in live-action in a first-season episode and subsequently lending his voice to a mutated monster version of the character in part of a second-season episode.
Episodes
Distribution
International broadcast
Outside of North America, The Aquabats! Super Show! broadcast in Australia on the children's public broadcasting channel ABC3 and in the United Kingdom on the children's network CITV.
Home media
Coinciding with the run of the first season, each new episode of The Aquabats! Super Show! was released through the iTunes Store for digital download. Prior to the series debut, a season pass was made available for purchase to enable viewers to automatically receive a download of each new episode on its airdate. The first season of Super Show! was added to the video streaming service Netflix on December 1, 2012, later being added to Hulu on December 21.
Unlike the first season, the series' second season was not made available for iTunes pre-order, nor were episodes released for purchase. Though each episode was briefly streamed on The Hub's official website, none of the seasons' episodes were made available on Hulu, Netflix or similar streaming services.
Shout! Factory had the DVD publishing rights for The Aquabats! Super Show! within Region 1 for release of the first season. The company first announced their acquisition of the series and plans for a future DVD in a press release dated August 6, 2012, though did not initially confirm a set release date until several months later. On May 21, 2013, the first season of Super Show! was released on a two-disc DVD set.
On November 22, 2017, in conjunction with their announcement of a season two theatrical screening, The Aquabats confirmed an independent Blu-ray release for season two, including the three specials often considered a "season three". On December 5, pre-orders were launched on The Aquabats' merchandising site for an official release date of December 22, though copies were first made for public sale at the second season theatrical screening on December 16.
Starting in December 2014, The Aquabats gradually began uploading the series' full episodes onto their official YouTube channel. As of August 2019, all 21 episodes of Super Show! and its pilot episode have been publicly uploaded to their account.
Critical reception
Critical response to The Aquabats! Super Show! was predominantly positive, with most reviewers praising the series' intentionally campy tone and offbeat humor. The Onions The A.V. Club gave the series premiere an A− rating, describing it as "a loving homage to basically everything ever done by the brothers Krofft": "the show adeptly flips from humor to melodrama to action, providing some awesomely cheap special effects, goofy songs, and gags that range from slapstick to sublime", summarizing "there's so much here that both kids and parents will be able to enjoy the proceedings on their own respective levels and rarely find themselves bored".
Brian Lowry of Variety wrote "you don't have to laugh at everything to admire the effort and sheer silliness", calling the show a "goofy and nostalgic" throwback to the "children's TV of baby boomers' youth, down to crappy production values and awful-looking 'monsters' that work to its advantage". He summarized "Although this Hub series at times feels like an SNL skit stretched to a half-hour, its sly mix of music, live-action crime-fighting, cartoons and mock ads ought to develop a cult following—and might be more popular with parents, at least those with the geek gene, than their kids".
Technology magazine Wired was consistently positive towards the series, calling it both "wonderfully strange" and "delightfully deranged", writing "[f]illed with self-deprecating music videos, toon interludes and ludicrous villains, The Aquabats! Super Show! has become one of television's strangely comforting finds".
Common Sense Media, who review shows based on age-appropriate content, gave Super Show! a rating of 4 out of 5 stars, calling it "demented and manic...fun by sheer dint of how many jokes, visual and otherwise, are thrown at the screen, both those calculated to appeal to kids and adults". The site praised the series for its lighter and sillier tone in comparison to more violent live-action superhero fare, and considered the "kind-hearted" Aquabats to be relatively positive role models. However, the reviewer suggested the show's violence and creatures may be too intense for very young children, and pointed out a distinct lack of central female characters.
Neil Genzlinger of The New York Times offered a more indifferent opinion, calling The Aquabats "indescribably odd" and the series "frenetic, semicoherent and generally harmless. Also somewhat hallucinogenic", noting Super Show!s writing "may be over the heads of the 2-to-12 set", suggesting its most receptive audience might be "the college drinking-game crowd".
Awards and nominations
The Aquabats! Super Show! was nominated for the following awards:
Daytime Emmy Award
References
External links
Official website of The Aquabats
The Aquabats
2010s American children's television series
2010s American musical comedy television series
2010s American satirical television series
2010s American sketch comedy television series
2010s American superhero comedy television series
2012 American television series debuts
2014 American television series endings
American children's adventure television series
American children's musical television series
American television series with live action and animation
Children's sketch comedy
English-language television shows
Television series by Fremantle (company)
Television shows set in Orange County, California
American television shows featuring puppetry
Discovery Family original programming | true | [
"A Custody Assistant is a non-warranted officer of a police force who assists police officers and custody officers in processing people who have been arrested and detained in a police custody suite. The custody assistant also has responsibilities relating to the care and welfare of the detained person.\n\nRole\n\nThe duties of a custody assistant (or known as a Detention Officer) commonly include:\n\n Searching, or assisting in searching arrested persons,\n Performing regular scheduled checks on detained persons in cells,\n Taking photographs, DNA samples and fingerprints of the detained person,\n Assisting custody officers with general admin and the running of the suite,\n Providing meals to those detained.\n\nPowers\nIn England & Wales, the chief police officer of a territorial police force may designate any person who is employed by the police authority maintaining that force, and is under the direction and control of that chief police officer, as a detention officer.\nThey have a range of powers given by the Police Reform Act 2002, and their chief police officer decides which of these powers they may use.\n\nIn Scotland, Police Custody and Security Officers have powers similar to those of detention officers and escort officers in England and Wales. Similar powers are available in Northern Ireland.\n\nReferences\n\nSee also\n Custody suite\n Custody Sergeant\n\nLaw enforcement titles\nLaw enforcement occupations in the United Kingdom",
"Federalist No. 47 is the forty-seventh paper from The Federalist Papers. It was published on January 30, 1788 under the pseudonym Publius, the name under which all The Federalist Papers were published. James Madison was its actual author. This paper examines the separation of powers among the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government under the proposed United States Constitution due to the confusion of the concept at the citizen level. It is titled \"The Particular Structure of the New Government and the Distribution of Power Among Its Different Parts\".\n\nSummary\n\nLike the other Federalist Papers, No. 47 advocated the ratification of the United States Constitution. In No. 47, Madison attempted to refute the citizens of the United States, and all those who opposed the constitution for fear that the separation of powers among the executive, judiciary, and legislature would not be defined enough in the constitution. Madison acknowledged that the topic of separation of powers was \"one of the principal objections by the more respectable adversaries to the Constitution\" and that \"no political truth is certainly of greater intrinsic value.\" Madison acknowledged that \"The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny.\" However, Madison explains his use of separation of powers utilizing a prodigious amount of support from the philosopher Montesquieu, whom Madison claims is to the British Constitution as Homer is to epic poetry. Montesquieu spent twenty years writing his best literary work, and one of the most detailed works in the history of law, the Spirit of Laws (1748). The publication focused on three topics: class of government, separation of powers, and political climate. Montesquieu aimed for the work to focus on the science of law, and thus a lack of spirituality occurred. He made up for this lacking by filling in historical information. He reasoned that history was the only true proof of cause and effect, as he viewed law as an \"application of reason\". Montesquieu claimed in Spirit of Laws that committing to liberty was equal to success. It is here that he focuses on the topic of separation of powers. Montesquieu believed that the only way to liberty was through the proper installment of separation of powers. He modeled this belief off of his love for the English government. Separation of powers was the equivalent to prosperity. Madison states Montesquieu's usage of the British government as the example of separation of powers in order to analyze Montesquieu's connections between the two. Madison quotes Montesquieu in Spirit of Laws as saying the British are the \"mirror of political liberty\". Thus, Montesquieu believed that the British form of separation of powers was of the utmost caliber.\n\nMadison continues by showing that the branches of the British government are not completely separate and distinct. He explains how the monarch (executive branch) can not pass a law solely, but has the power of veto, can create foreign sovereigns, and that he/she cannot administer a justice, but appoints those who do. He continues by examining how judges can exercise no executive or legislative action, but may be advised by the legislative counsel. Furthermore, he expresses how the legislature can do no judiciary act, but can remove judges upon agreement from both houses, can do no executive actions, but constitutes the magistracy and has the power of impeachment. From this analysis, Madison shows how each branch is, in some way, interconnected with one another. Madison also infers that when Montesquieu wrote, \"There can be no liberty where the legislative and executive powers are united in the same person, or body of magistrates… if the power of judging be not separated from the legislative and executive powers\" he did not mean that there was to be no \"partial agency\". The idea that each branch would stand alone to solely deal with its own responsibilities is one that Madison believes is impractical and non-beneficial, which is supported by his findings. After the American Revolution, many Americans were extremely wary of a too-powerful government. In order to avoid dictatorship, the idea of separation of powers was instilled in the political system. \"Diversifying the voices heard in government not only helps to prevent one point of view from becoming too strong, but also promotes the affirmative goal of democratizing governmental decision-making\".\n\nMadison takes a different angle at separations of powers at this point in the paper and considers them as more a system of \"checks and balances\" as he begins to address the states' constitutions. Madison writes that there was \"Not a single instance in which the several departments of power have been kept absolutely separate and distinct\" when he examined each constitution. Madison made a few exceptions when going over each state in No. 47. Massachusetts's constitution was in agreement with Montesquieu on the separation of powers as it did not state a clear disconnect between the three branches, but did contain partial agencies. New York's had no declaration on the subject even though they did not have total separation either. Madison overlooked Rhode Island and Connecticut when discussing the constitutions, but reasoned that it was due to their constitution's installment before the revolution. For all the remaining states (New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia), they all had constitutions that were contradicting in regards to separation of powers. Each state had a similar thesis on the topic, such as New Hampshire's when it states \"Powers ought to be kept as separate from, and independent of, each other as the nature of a free government will admit\". However, each state's legislature appointed its executive, and each state's legislature had impeachment authority and appointed the judiciary members, except for Maryland's in which the executive appointed the judiciary. What more than anything else makes the use of Montesquieu's maxim in 1776 perplexing is the great discrepancy between the affirmations of the need to separate the several government departments and the actual political practice the state governments followed. Madison believes that the fundamental principle of their constitutions have been violated, and wishes not to be seen as disapproving the states' governments, but by bringing light upon the inconsistency that was taking place, and the unjustified scrutiny upon the new constitution.\n\nFootnotes\n\nExternal links \n\n Text of The Federalist No. 47: congress.gov\n\n47\n1788 in law\n1788 documents\n1788 in the United States"
]
|
[
"The Aquabats! Super Show!",
"Premise",
"what can you tell me about their premise?",
"The Aquabats! Super Show! is centered around the adventures of The Aquabats,",
"what kind of adventures?",
"a group of superhero rock musicians who travel the countryside on a self-appointed mission to fight evil and \"destroy boredom\",",
"what else do the super heroes do?",
"\", protecting the world from the villains and creatures who threaten to destroy it while aiming to become a famous rock and roll band in their own right.",
"who were the members of Aquabats?",
"The Aquabats consist of singer The MC Bat Commander (Christian Jacobs), the swaggering leader of the group;",
"who is the leader?",
"The MC Bat Commander (Christian Jacobs), the swaggering leader of the group;",
"who else was in the group?",
"bassist Crash McLarson (Chad Larson), who can grow up to 100 feet in size; drummer Ricky Fitness (Richard Falomir), who has the power of super speed;",
"how did they use their powers when performing?",
"The Aquabats are quite bumbling, disorganized, and sometimes cowardly when faced with danger;"
]
| C_4cdf6386fc074258b24b5e00bbcdec23_1 | who did they fight with? | 8 | who did The Aquabats fight with? | The Aquabats! Super Show! | Chronicled in both live-action and animated segments, The Aquabats! Super Show! is centered around the adventures of The Aquabats, a group of superhero rock musicians who travel the countryside on a self-appointed mission to fight evil and "destroy boredom", protecting the world from the villains and creatures who threaten to destroy it while aiming to become a famous rock and roll band in their own right. The Aquabats consist of singer The MC Bat Commander (Christian Jacobs), the swaggering leader of the group; bassist Crash McLarson (Chad Larson), who can grow up to 100 feet in size; drummer Ricky Fitness (Richard Falomir), who has the power of super speed; guitarist EagleBones Falconhawk (Ian Fowles), who's armed with a laser-shooting electric guitar; and keyboardist Jimmy the Robot (James R. Briggs, Jr.), an android. Despite their superhuman strengths and abilities, The Aquabats are quite bumbling, disorganized, and sometimes cowardly when faced with danger; this has in fact led them to be labeled "the world's most inept superheroes". The band lives and travels by way of their "Battletram", a modified recreational vehicle which, despite its small exterior, has an implausibly massive interior (similar to the TARDIS from Doctor Who or The Big Bologna from The Kids From C.A.P.E.R.), which contains, among many things, a science lab, a command center, and a living room. The Aquabats' origin story was left intentionally vague throughout the series, a choice Jacobs explains was done for the sake of the viewer's imagination, as kids are more accepting of the inherent absurdity of the premise than adults tend to be: "'There's five guys. This is what each of the five guys does. There are monsters. They're gonna try to fight them'. It's so simple. And I think that's why it's so awesome with kids--they just take it and run with it". In the first five episodes of season two, each member of The Aquabats shares their memory of how they joined the band via animated flashback sequences; however, all of these flashbacks directly and intentionally contradict each other, leaving it unknown which--if any--could be considered officially canonical. CANNOTANSWER | ", protecting the world from the villains and creatures who threaten to destroy it | The Aquabats! Super Show! is an American action-comedy musical television series which aired from March 3, 2012 to January 8, 2014 on The Hub Network and resumed as an independent YouTube web series in September 2019. The series was created by Christian Jacobs, and Scott Schultz, both the creators of the Nick Jr. show Yo Gabba Gabba!, and Jason deVilliers.
Based on the superhero mythology of The Aquabats, a real-life comedy rock band which series co-creator and lead singer Jacobs formed in 1994, The Aquabats! Super Show! follows the comic adventures of a fictionalized version of the band, a musical group of amateur superheroes, as they haphazardly defend the world from a variety of villains and monsters. Styled similarly to the campy aesthetics of 1960s and 1970s children's television and Japanese tokusatsu, Super Show! utilizes various mediums of visual styles and special effects, mixing live-action storylines with cartoon shorts, parody advertisements and musical interludes.
The series' first season concluded on June 16, 2012 following a run of 13 episodes, having met with a largely positive critical reception, consistently high ratings for the channel and a Daytime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Children's Series. The series' second season consisted of an initial five episodes which aired through June 2013, with three additional episodes airing in late December and January 2014, receiving similar acclaim and a further seven Daytime Emmy nominations, ultimately winning one for Best Stunt Coordination. In June 2014, co-creator Jacobs officially announced the series' cancellation, following news of The Hub's financial losses which led to the network's rebranding as Discovery Family later that October.
In July 2018, The Aquabats launched a successful Kickstarter to help independently finance new episodes of The Aquabats! Super Show!, promoting the campaign with a series of YouTube-exclusive mini-episodes continuing the original series' storyline. On September 28, 2019, The Aquabats premiered the first installment of these new episodes, now a biweekly YouTube series entitled The Aquabats! RadVentures!, though still retaining Super Show!s theme song and title card.
Series overview
Premise
Chronicled in both live-action and animated segments, The Aquabats! Super Show! is centered around the adventures of The Aquabats, a group of superhero rock musicians who travel the countryside on a self-appointed mission to fight evil and "destroy boredom", protecting the world from the villains and creatures who threaten to destroy it while aiming to become a famous rock and roll band in their own right.
The Aquabats consist of singer The MC Bat Commander (Christian Jacobs), the swaggering leader of the group; bassist Crash McLarson (Chad Larson), who can grow up to 100 feet in size; drummer Ricky Fitness (Richard Falomir), who has the power of super speed; guitarist EagleBones Falconhawk (Ian Fowles), who's armed with a laser-shooting electric guitar; and keyboardist Jimmy the Robot (James R. Briggs, Jr.), an android. Despite their superhuman strengths and abilities, The Aquabats are quite bumbling, disorganized, and sometimes cowardly when faced with danger; this has in fact led them to be labeled "the world's most inept superheroes". The band lives and travels by way of their "Battletram", a modified classic GMC motorhome which, despite its small exterior, has an implausibly massive interior (similar to the TARDIS from Doctor Who or The Big Bologna from The Kids From C.A.P.E.R.), which contains, among many things, a science lab, a command center, and a living room.
The Aquabats' origin story was left intentionally vague throughout the series, a choice Jacobs explains was done for the sake of the viewer's imagination, as he felt kids were more accepting of the inherent absurdity of the premise than adults tend to be: "'There's five guys. This is what each of the five guys does. There are monsters. They're gonna try to fight them'. It's so simple. And I think that's why it's so awesome with kids—they just take it and run with it". In the first five episodes of season two, each member of The Aquabats shares their memory of how they joined the band via animated flashback sequences; however, all of these flashbacks directly and intentionally contradict each other, leaving it unknown which—if any—could be considered officially canonical.
Format and influences
The Aquabats! Super Show! juxtaposes both live-action and animated segments starring The Aquabats, interwoven with various tangential skits and cartoon interstitials. The live-action storylines are the primary focus of each episode, following a self-contained villain of the week formula. In the first season, each episode featured brief anime-styled cartoon shorts which one of the characters would introduce at a random point of the show, often by finding "A Cartoon" (represented by a miniature television set) in an absurd location. Unlike the live-action segments, these cartoons followed a serialized story arc, with each installment ending in a cliffhanger to be resolved in the next episode. In season two, this format was replaced with a series of animated flashbacks recounting the origins of The Aquabats, each by a different animation studio and in a different animation style. Between these segments are pantomime cartoon shorts starring "Lil' Bat", The Aquabats' anthropomorphic bat mascot, and live-action parody commercials for outlandish fictional products, the latter of which has long been a staple of The Aquabats' multi-media stage shows.
Jacobs says the concept behind Super Show! was something he had always dreamed of doing, making a "campy, live-action, funky kid's show" in the vein of the 1960s and 1970s television that he and the rest of the series' producers had grown up with. While the show pays homage to many facets of pop culture, Jacobs has named the 1960s Batman television series as the primary influence on Super Show!s "obviously silly" tone and visual style, ranging from set design to the trademark use of dutch angles for villain scenes. Other notable influences Jacobs has repeatedly mentioned include the works of Sid and Marty Krofft and Hanna-Barbera, Japanese tokusatsu series such as Ultraman and Johnny Sokko And His Flying Robot, the Shaw Brothers and Hong Kong cinema, and shows including Danger Island, Star Trek, The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, and Pee-wee's Playhouse, noting "there's a good 30 years worth of television culture packed into these 22-minute episodes".
Demographic
As The Hub's key demographic were children aged 6 to 12, Super Show! was ostensibly targeted towards said age group, though Jacobs has stated that the series primarily aimed to appeal to an all-ages crowd, with the intent of creating entertainment that both kids and parents can watch and enjoy together or separately. In interviews prior to the series' premiere, he explained that this was merely an extension of The Aquabats' own family-friendly ethos: "There's just obviously something about the costumes and being superheroes that really appeals to younger kids, and I think we always knew that as a band...I think we'll want to put things in [the show] for an older audience, because we realize we have an older audience, but then also we want the young kids, to not have it go over their heads".
Production history
History and previous attempts at a series
In 1994, musicians Christian Jacobs, Chad Larson and former member Boyd Terry formed The Aquabats in Brea, California. Influenced as much by cartoons and camp television as theatrical bands like Devo and Oingo Boingo, The Aquabats gained instant notoriety in the Orange County music scene for their eccentric persona in which they claimed to be a band of superheroes on a quest to save the world and their elaborate stage shows which regularly featured scripted fights with costumed villains alongside similar stunts and comedy sketches.
The Aquabats' second studio album, 1997's The Fury of The Aquabats!, proved to be a minor commercial breakthrough for the group, charting on the Billboard 200 and bringing them exposure through such venues as MTV, leading Jacobs – a former child actor with ties in the industry – to develop the concept of adapting the band's mythology for television. In 1998, Buena Vista Television helped produce a live-action mini-pilot directed by comedian Bobcat Goldthwait titled simply The Aquabats!, following the comic misadventures of the then-eight member band in an over-the-top camp style similar to Saturday morning cartoon shows. The pilot, which has yet to be made available for public viewing, failed to generate any network interest and was ultimately even disowned by the band themselves.
Undeterred, The Aquabats made an attempt at a second pilot the following year, using a music video budget granted by their record label Goldenvoice Records for their 1999 album The Aquabats vs. the Floating Eye of Death!. Independently directed and produced by Jacobs and his creative partner Scott Schultz, the result was a five-minute promo video entitled The Aquabats in Color!. In contrast to the wackier tone of the previous pilot, The Aquabats in Color! was a more action-oriented superhero series modeled after Japanese tokusatsu shows such as Kamen Rider. According to Jacobs, the Fox Family Channel reportedly expressed interest in the series and ordered production on a proper pilot episode, though following the channel's acquisition by Disney in 2001, the project was cancelled.
The Aquabats! Super Show! pilot (2008)
In 2005, Jacobs and Schultz formed the Orange County-based production company The Magic Store, focusing on creating family-oriented television entertainment. One of the company's independently produced pilots, the children's television series Yo Gabba Gabba!, was eventually picked up as a series by Viacoms Nick Jr. channel, premiering in August 2007 and ultimately becoming an award-winning and critically acclaimed international success. In the wake of the series' popularity, Jacobs and Schultz persuaded Yo Gabba Gabba!s joint production company Wild Brain to help produce a new pilot based around The Aquabats in conjuncture with The Magic Store.
Again creatively spearheaded by Jacobs and Schultz, The Aquabats' third pilot, titled The Aquabats! Super Show!, was shot on location throughout southern California in late 2007 and early 2008. Part of this filming took place at a free invitation-only concert for members of the band's official fan club at the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles on January 12, 2008. While The Aquabats' previous pilots were short, live-action promotional videos, The Aquabats! Super Show! was a fully realized 22-minute episode featuring two separate storylines based on the adventures of The Aquabats, one live-action and one animated, and interspersed with parody commercials and live footage of the band. Speaking on the decision to structure the show in such a varied format, Jacobs said "[w]e did that for a strategic reason – some networks like cartoons more than other networks. We wanted to say, 'this could be both shows'."
Following a period of post-production, The Aquabats began widely self-promoting Super Show! in June 2008, redesigning their website to promote the pilot and releasing a teaser trailer and several exclusive clips through an official Super Show! YouTube channel. On July 25, 2008, the band screened the full pilot at a concert in San Diego held during the weekend of the San Diego Comic-Con, while a segment of the episode was hosted on Boing Boing the same day. In 2009, Cartoon Network allegedly picked the series up for a run of 22 episodes, though following major staff changes within the company—which, according to Jacobs, included the termination of the executives who had green-lighted Super Show!—the project was again cancelled.
The Hub and season one
After several more unsuccessful network pitches into the 2010s, The Aquabats! Super Show! was finally picked up as a series by family cable channel The Hub, a joint venture between Hasbro and Discovery which launched in 2010 as a replacement for Discovery Kids. The Hub formally announced the series in a press release on March 23, 2011, revealing Super Show! would be given a first season run of 13 episodes, produced in conjuncture with FremantleMedia. In promotion of the series, The Aquabats appeared as part of a panel at the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con where they discussed their initial plans for the show, while The Hub sponsored an Aquabats concert held at the nearby House of Blues during the same weekend.
Production on season one of Super Show! officially began in May 2011. The entirety of the first season was shot within and around The Aquabats' hometown of Orange County, California; according to the first season DVD audio commentary, episodes were shot on location in the cities of Irvine, Silverado, Yorba Linda, Huntington Beach and Fullerton, while a private sound stage in Santa Ana was used for interior shots of the Battletram. A public Aquabats concert held at The Glass House club in Pomona on November 5, 2011 was also filmed to provide live footage of the band which is featured in the series' opening credits montage and several individual episodes.
Much of Super Show!s staff consist of friends and colleagues of The Aquabats who've previously worked with the band on various projects, ranging from members of Yo Gabba Gabba!s production team to fellow musicians within the southern California music scene. Among the more notable examples include Dallas McLaughlin and Matthew Gorney, both members of the San Diego hip hop band Bad Credit, who prominently served as writers, composers and performers, Warren Fitzgerald, guitarist for The Vandals, who was hired as a writer and music director, internet sketch comedy group Mega64 were commissioned to produce original material, primarily the series' parody commercials, and Japanese artist Pey, who had designed much of The Aquabats' promotional art and merchandise during the 2000s, was hired to design the season's animated segments. Additionally, several industry professionals were brought in to help work on the show: Dani Michaeli, a staff writer on SpongeBob SquarePants, was hired as the series' story editor, while Matt Chapman, co-creator of the internet Flash cartoon Homestar Runner, acted as a writer, director and actor on several episodes. As none of the members besides Jacobs had any previous acting experience, comedian Matt Walsh of the Upright Citizens Brigade was brought in to help teach The Aquabats comedic acting and timing.
In further homage to the original Batman series, Super Show! features a variety of celebrity cameo appearances. The series' first season included appearances from actors Jon Heder, Lou Diamond Phillips and Samm Levine, comedians Rip Taylor, Paul Scheer and Paul Rust, and comedy musician "Weird Al" Yankovic, who appeared in two episodes as different characters. The first season also included several "Easter egg" cameos from original Aquabats members Corey "Chainsaw" Pollock and Boyd "Catboy" Terry, as well as from fellow musicians Warren Fitzgerald and Art Mitchell of the band Supernova.
Despite having been originally announced as part of The Hub's 2011 Fall line-up, production delays postponed Super Show!s premiere to early 2012. The series' marketing campaign began in December 2011, with a later announcement of an official premiere date confirmed for March 3, 2012. Following a non-consecutive run of 13 episodes, the first-season finale aired on June 16, 2012.
Season two
On October 16, 2012, The Aquabats and The Hub confirmed production on new episodes of Super Show! through the social networking sites Facebook and Twitter, announcing a tentative debut date of Spring 2013. Principal photography on season two began on October 22 and wrapped on December 1. Unlike the first season, the majority of season two was shot in and around Salt Lake City, Utah, which Jacobs explained was considerably less expensive than shooting in California.
While no changes were made to Super Shows creative team, in December 2012 it was announced that season two would introduce the series' first guest director, musician and comic book writer Gerard Way, who co-directed and co-wrote the season finale "The AntiBats!" with Jacobs and deVilliers. Way's involvement with the series was heavily covered by the music press in the wake of the March 2013 break-up of his popular alternative rock band My Chemical Romance. Among the guest stars featured in season two were professional skateboarders Tony Hawk and Eric Koston, Devo frontman and Yo Gabba Gabba! cast member Mark Mothersbaugh, internet celebrity Leslie Hall, actor Martin Starr and My Chemical Romance bassist Mikey Way.
On December 2, 2012, deVilliers revealed on his Twitter account that the upcoming season would consist of only five new episodes, in what he called more "season 1.5" than a "season 2", though mentioned the possibility of more being made in the future. On May 1, 2013, it was announced through Entertainment Weekly that the series' second season would begin airing on June 1. After a run of only five episodes, the season concluded on June 29, 2013.
2013–2014 specials
On August 22, 2013, series performer Chad Larson confirmed via Twitter that three additional episodes of Super Show! were being filmed near the end of the year, "and maybe more next". Principal photography on these episodes eventually began in Utah in early October. Throughout the month, The Aquabats posted numerous pictures of production on the new episodes on their Twitter and Instagram accounts, some of which revealed production code numbers of 301, 302 and 303, ostensibly indicating what would be a third season. Though these numbers were later verified by the Internet Movie Database, a November press release from The Hub explicitly referred to these three episodes as "specials".
The first of these specials, "Christmas with The Aquabats!", aired on December 21, featuring comedians Robert Smigel and Matt Walsh in guest roles. The second of these episodes, "The Shark Fighter!" (based on The Aquabats' song of the same name), featuring comedian Rhys Darby, aired the following week on December 28, while the final special "Kitty Litter!" aired on January 18, 2014. "Kitty Litter!" was helmed by another guest director, Munn Powell, best known for his work as cinematographer on the Jared and Jerusha Hess films Napoleon Dynamite and Gentlemen Broncos.
Following this short run of episodes, there was no confirmation by either The Hub or The Aquabats as to the production of any future episodes. In a December 2013 interview, Christian Jacobs acknowledged the network's unusually small order of episodes but didn't elaborate on any possible reasoning. In the same interview, he stated that the band had initially prepared for another order of 13 episodes, having written as many scripts for potential future episodes.
On May 1, 2014, the nominees for the 2014 Daytime Emmy Awards were announced, revealing that Super Show! had been nominated for five awards in four categories, including the award for Best Writing in a Children's Series for the episode "The AntiBats!". The awards ceremony was held on June 22, 2014, where the series ultimately won the award for Best Stunt Coordination for stuntman Skip Carlson.
Cancellation by The Hub and hiatus
In mid-2014, it was announced in entertainment press that Hasbro and Discovery had been in the process of rebranding The Hub following what they saw to be disappointing returns for the channel, changes which included the departure of CEO Margaret Loesch, who was instrumental in acquiring Super Show! as a series. In a Huffington Post feature about The Aquabats prior to the band's appearance at the 2014 San Diego Comic-Con, it was revealed that The Hub had opted not to renew Super Show! for a third season, effectively cancelling the series.
Jacobs admitted he was surprised by this turn of events, noting "Everything we heard was that the show has been a real Cinderella story for the Hub and that it was rating really well with viewers. We just assumed that we'd eventually go back into production or at least get picked up for Season 3", but ultimately concluded "it is what it is" in regard to the network's decision. Despite this, Jacobs remained optimistic about the series' future, saying "Given that we now live in a world where people are streaming TV shows directly onto their iPhones & computers, and given that companies like Netflix & Yahoo! are now picking up so much new content for their customers...I just find it hard to believe that The Aquabats! Super Show! is really over. I mean, we haven't even made any toys yet". He concluded by stating "It took us almost 15 years to get that TV series made. And even though we've got a bunch more concert dates lined up for the rest of this year, our first priority is to find a new home for The Aquabats! Super Show!".
On March 31, 2015, the nominees for the 42nd annual Daytime Emmy Awards were announced, with Super Show! earning nominations for Best SFX Mixer (Blaine Stewart) and Best Stunt Coordinator (Braxton McAllister).
On June 27, 2015, The Aquabats screened the entire first season of Super Show! before a sold-out crowd at The Frida Cinema in downtown Santa Ana, which was accompanied by a live performance by the band and Q&A sessions with The Aquabats and numerous members of the cast and crew. A similar presentation of the entire second season – including the three additional specials – took place at The Art Theater in Long Beach on December 16, 2017, coinciding with the release of the second season Blu-ray.
Bring Back The Aquabats! Kickstarter campaign
Following weeks of teasing a major announcement, The Aquabats launched a Kickstarter campaign on July 31, 2018 to help finance the return of The Aquabats! Super Show! as well as new studio albums from the band at a minimum projected cost of $1.1 million. The Aquabats promoted their campaign with a video featuring a slew of celebrity cameos, including Super Show! guest stars "Weird Al" Yankovic, Robert Smigel (as Triumph the Insult Comic Dog), Matt Chapman (as Homestar Runner and Strong Bad), former Aquabats member Travis Barker, Tony Kanal, Tom Dumont, Oscar Nunez, Kate Micucci, Blake Anderson, Imagine Dragons, Felicia Day and Tom Lennon, all of whom appeared in The Aquabats' trademark uniforms and spoke the Kickstarter's promotional slogan "I am The Aquabats"/"We are The Aquabats". Most prominently featured, however, was comedian Jack Black, who was later confirmed by the campaign's press releases to act as executive producer for the series' return.
Along with their Kickstarter, the band began releasing a series of Super Show! "mini-episodes", depicting the MC Bat Commander's metafictional quest to reunite the estranged Aquabats following the series' cancellation. The band confirmed that as the Kickstarter progresses, further "mini-episodes" will be released to both promote the campaign as well as act as a continuation of Super Show!.
By August 28, mere days before the campaign's end date of September 1, The Aquabats' Kickstarter had raised only $601,629 of its projected $1.1 million goal. The funding was subsequently cancelled and the campaign was rebooted the same day with a smaller goal of $100,000 to instead finance one new album and the continued production of the Super Show!! "mini-episodes". The project's goal was met within minutes.
Music
Original music for The Aquabats! Super Show! was primarily composed and performed by The Aquabats themselves, with additional scoring on most episodes provided by Matthew Gorney, Warren Fitzgerald or individual credits for Aquabats members James R. Briggs, Jr., Richard Falomir and Ian Fowles. Fitzgerald, guitarist for punk rock band The Vandals and former member of Oingo Boingo, acted as the series' music supervisor. The theme song to Super Show!, "Super Show Theme Song!", was co-written by The Aquabats and Fitzgerald.
Whereas most musically oriented shows like The Monkees typically break the narrative of an episode for a music video performance of a standalone song, each episode of Super Show! typically features one or two unique songs that tied directly into the plot, usually about and performed during the events of a particular scene. Most of these songs are rather brief, averaging a running time of just under a minute; Jacobs stated that many of the show's original songs were recorded as full-length pieces but trimmed down for inclusion in an episode, simply due to the show "trying to pack so much into 22 minutes".
Shortly after Super Show!s premiere, Jacobs confirmed plans to eventually release the series' original full-length songs as a soundtrack album. However, these plans wouldn't fully come to fruition until 2019; in a 2018 interview, Jacobs retrospectively revealed that the album had been long completed but the band "hadn't had all the rights tied up" until then. The first original and full-length recordings from the series' first season debuted in July 2017, when "Burger Rain" and "Beat Fishin'" were released as a tour-exclusive 7" single. Songs from the series' first season were eventually compiled as The Aquabats! Super Show! Television Soundtrack: Volume One, which was released digitally in March 2019 and then onto physical media the following June, where it became The Aquabats' highest-charting album to date, debuting at the top of Billboards Top Heatseekers chart and at 165 on the Billboard 200.
Cast and characters
See: List of The Aquabats! Super Show! characters
The Aquabats! Super Show! stars and is based upon fictionalized versions of the then-current (since 2006) line-up of the California comedy rock band The Aquabats. Adapting the backstory the band has used for the entirety of their professional career, Super Show! depicts The Aquabats as a group of bumbling, out-of-shape superheroes on a self-appointed mission to fight the forces of evil, presented in both live-action and animated segments. The five members of The Aquabats are:
The MC Bat Commander (played and voiced by Christian Jacobs) – The Aquabats' singer and de facto leader of the team. Though he doesn't have any superpowers of his own and is often quite stubborn and naive, the Commander is shown to be an effective strategist whose sharp leadership skills, bravery and determination regularly drive the band towards victory.
Crash McLarson (played and voiced by Chad Larson) – The band's bass guitarist, who has the frequently uncontrollable ability to grow upwards of 100 feet in size when under emotional stress. Despite being the largest and strongest of The Aquabats, Crash has a gentle, childlike demeanor bordering on slight dim-wittedness, and as such is usually the most cowardly member of the team.
Jimmy the Robot (played and voiced by James R. Briggs, Jr.) – The Aquabats' keyboardist. As his name implies, Jimmy is an android whose mechanical body houses a variety of built-in gadgets and weaponry, plus a comprehensive knowledge database which earns him the position of the group's resident scientist. Being a robot, Jimmy is generally perplexed by human emotions and behavior.
Ricky Fitness (played and voiced by Richard Falomir) – the band's drummer, Ricky possesses the power of super speed. Being the most physically fit and health-conscious member of The Aquabats, some of the series' running gags revolve around Ricky's status as a handsome ladies' man and his fondness for "fresh, healthy veggies" in contrast to the rest of the team's voracious affinity for junk food.
EagleBones Falconhawk (played and voiced by Ian Fowles) – The Aquabats' guitarist. The cocky and boyish maverick of the team, EagleBones is highly proficient on his custom weaponized electric guitar which shoots lasers from its headstock. Following a spiritual encounter early in season one, EagleBones also has the gift of second sight and is accompanied by "The Dude", an invisible spirit eagle whom he summons to aide The Aquabats in battle.
Voice actor and writer Mr. Lawrence provided the minimal narration for both seasons of Super Show!s live-action segments, while staff writer Kyle McCulloch narrated the first season's animated segments.
Guest stars and recurring characters
Though each episode of the series introduced a new villain, ally and/or celebrity cameo, Super Show! never featured any major recurring characters throughout its run. However, every episode of the show included a very brief appearance by a character fans dubbed the "Fox Man", a man in a cheap-looking fox costume played by visual effects supervisor Joel Fox, who would appear hidden in the background of a random scene as an Easter egg for viewers to spot, although his character was never explained within the context of the series.
Comedy musician "Weird Al" Yankovic and comedian Paul Rust were the only two guest actors to appear in two episodes: Yankovic played two different roles as the President of the United States and superhero SuperMagic PowerMan! (in a 2012 interview, Jacobs alluded to the two possibly being the same character, though this isn't implied within the series), while Rust played a boorish slacker named Ronmark, first appearing in live-action in a first-season episode and subsequently lending his voice to a mutated monster version of the character in part of a second-season episode.
Episodes
Distribution
International broadcast
Outside of North America, The Aquabats! Super Show! broadcast in Australia on the children's public broadcasting channel ABC3 and in the United Kingdom on the children's network CITV.
Home media
Coinciding with the run of the first season, each new episode of The Aquabats! Super Show! was released through the iTunes Store for digital download. Prior to the series debut, a season pass was made available for purchase to enable viewers to automatically receive a download of each new episode on its airdate. The first season of Super Show! was added to the video streaming service Netflix on December 1, 2012, later being added to Hulu on December 21.
Unlike the first season, the series' second season was not made available for iTunes pre-order, nor were episodes released for purchase. Though each episode was briefly streamed on The Hub's official website, none of the seasons' episodes were made available on Hulu, Netflix or similar streaming services.
Shout! Factory had the DVD publishing rights for The Aquabats! Super Show! within Region 1 for release of the first season. The company first announced their acquisition of the series and plans for a future DVD in a press release dated August 6, 2012, though did not initially confirm a set release date until several months later. On May 21, 2013, the first season of Super Show! was released on a two-disc DVD set.
On November 22, 2017, in conjunction with their announcement of a season two theatrical screening, The Aquabats confirmed an independent Blu-ray release for season two, including the three specials often considered a "season three". On December 5, pre-orders were launched on The Aquabats' merchandising site for an official release date of December 22, though copies were first made for public sale at the second season theatrical screening on December 16.
Starting in December 2014, The Aquabats gradually began uploading the series' full episodes onto their official YouTube channel. As of August 2019, all 21 episodes of Super Show! and its pilot episode have been publicly uploaded to their account.
Critical reception
Critical response to The Aquabats! Super Show! was predominantly positive, with most reviewers praising the series' intentionally campy tone and offbeat humor. The Onions The A.V. Club gave the series premiere an A− rating, describing it as "a loving homage to basically everything ever done by the brothers Krofft": "the show adeptly flips from humor to melodrama to action, providing some awesomely cheap special effects, goofy songs, and gags that range from slapstick to sublime", summarizing "there's so much here that both kids and parents will be able to enjoy the proceedings on their own respective levels and rarely find themselves bored".
Brian Lowry of Variety wrote "you don't have to laugh at everything to admire the effort and sheer silliness", calling the show a "goofy and nostalgic" throwback to the "children's TV of baby boomers' youth, down to crappy production values and awful-looking 'monsters' that work to its advantage". He summarized "Although this Hub series at times feels like an SNL skit stretched to a half-hour, its sly mix of music, live-action crime-fighting, cartoons and mock ads ought to develop a cult following—and might be more popular with parents, at least those with the geek gene, than their kids".
Technology magazine Wired was consistently positive towards the series, calling it both "wonderfully strange" and "delightfully deranged", writing "[f]illed with self-deprecating music videos, toon interludes and ludicrous villains, The Aquabats! Super Show! has become one of television's strangely comforting finds".
Common Sense Media, who review shows based on age-appropriate content, gave Super Show! a rating of 4 out of 5 stars, calling it "demented and manic...fun by sheer dint of how many jokes, visual and otherwise, are thrown at the screen, both those calculated to appeal to kids and adults". The site praised the series for its lighter and sillier tone in comparison to more violent live-action superhero fare, and considered the "kind-hearted" Aquabats to be relatively positive role models. However, the reviewer suggested the show's violence and creatures may be too intense for very young children, and pointed out a distinct lack of central female characters.
Neil Genzlinger of The New York Times offered a more indifferent opinion, calling The Aquabats "indescribably odd" and the series "frenetic, semicoherent and generally harmless. Also somewhat hallucinogenic", noting Super Show!s writing "may be over the heads of the 2-to-12 set", suggesting its most receptive audience might be "the college drinking-game crowd".
Awards and nominations
The Aquabats! Super Show! was nominated for the following awards:
Daytime Emmy Award
References
External links
Official website of The Aquabats
The Aquabats
2010s American children's television series
2010s American musical comedy television series
2010s American satirical television series
2010s American sketch comedy television series
2010s American superhero comedy television series
2012 American television series debuts
2014 American television series endings
American children's adventure television series
American children's musical television series
American television series with live action and animation
Children's sketch comedy
English-language television shows
Television series by Fremantle (company)
Television shows set in Orange County, California
American television shows featuring puppetry
Discovery Family original programming | true | [
"Evander Holyfield vs. Ossie Ocasio was a professional boxing match contested on February 14, 1987 for the WBA and IBF cruiserweight title.\n\nBackground\nIn Evander Holyfield's previous fight, he had defeated Rickey Parkey by third round technical knockout to add the IBF cruiserweight title to the WBA version he had captured the previous year. On the undercard of the fight former WBA cruiserweight champions Ossie Ocasio and Dwight Muhammad Qawi would meet to determine the IBF's #1 contender, with both men having already signed a contract that guaranteed them a title match against the winner of the Holyfield–Parkey fight. Ocasio would earn a controversial majority decision victory despite spending most of the fight on the defensive, having avoided engaging Qawi, constantly backing away and clinching, leading the referee to eventually deduct a point for excessive holding. However, two judges scored the fight in favor of Ocasio with scores of 96–94 and 95–94 while the third had scored it a draw at 95–95. The decision was so controversial that the IBF decided to have Qawi keep their #1 ranking despite the loss. IBF president Robert W. Lee stated that they did so as they deemed the decision \"questionable.\" The IBF eventually allowed Ocasio to keep their #1 ranking and Qawi instead would meet former IBF cruiserweight Lee Roy Murphy on the undercard with the winner earning a title shot against the winner of the Holyfield–Ocasio fight.\n\nThe fight\nThe fight lasted into the 11th round, the longest of Holyfield's cruiserweight title defenses. Like he had in his previous fight with Qawi, Ocasio used a defensive approach while Holyfield served as the aggressor throughout and had won 8 of the 10 rounds on one judge's scorecard (100–92) and taken 9 on the other two scorecards (99–94). Holyfield would finally end the fight early in the 11th round when he dropped Ocasio with a left uppercut followed by a right hand. Ocasio was able to continue but Holyfield would continue to attack Ocasio and after Holyfield landed several unanswered combinations with Ocasio against the ropes, the referee stopped the fight and Holyfield was declared the winner by technical knockout at 1:24 of the round.\n\nFight card\n\nReferences\n\n1987 in boxing\nBoxing in France\nOcassio\nAugust 1987 sports events in the United States",
"\"Derry's Walls\" is a historical song sung in Northern Ireland. It commemorates the Siege of Derry in 1689.\n\nThe author of the words is unknown, and it is sung to the tune of \"God Bless the Prince of Wales.”\n\nIt's also popular amongst supporters of Rangers F.C.\n\nLyrics\n\nVerse 1\n\nThe time has scarce gone round boys \nThree hundred years ago\nWhen Rebels to old Derry's Walls \nTheir faces dare not show\nWhen James and all his rebel band \nCame up to Bishops Gate\nWith heart in hand, and sword and shield \nWe forced them to retreat.\n\nChorus.\n\nWe'll fight and won't surrender\nAnd come when duty calls,\nWith heart in hand, and sword and shield\nWe'll guard old Derry's Walls.\n\nVerse 2\n\nThe blood did flow in crimson streams \nThrough many a winter's night\nThey knew the Lord was on their side \nTo help them in their fight\nThey Nobly stood upon the walls \nDetermined not to die,\nTo fight and gain the victory \nAnd raise the Crimson high;\n\nChorus.\n\nWe'll fight and won't surrender\nAnd come when duty calls,\nWith heart in hand, and sword and shield\nWe'll guard old Derry's Walls.\n\nVerse 3\n\nAt last, at last, with one broad side,\nKind heaven sent their aid,\nThe boom that crossed, The Foyle was broke\nAnd James he was dismayed\nThe banner, boys, that floated\nWas run aloft with joy,\nGod bless the hands that broke the boom,\nAnd saved the Apprentice Boys!\n\nChorus.\n\nWe'll fight and won't surrender\nAnd come when duty calls,\nWith heart in hand, and sword and shield\nWe'll guard old Derry's Walls.\n\nReferences\n\nYear of song unknown\nCulture of Northern Ireland\nRangers F.C. songs\nSongwriter unknown"
]
|
[
"The Aquabats! Super Show!",
"Premise",
"what can you tell me about their premise?",
"The Aquabats! Super Show! is centered around the adventures of The Aquabats,",
"what kind of adventures?",
"a group of superhero rock musicians who travel the countryside on a self-appointed mission to fight evil and \"destroy boredom\",",
"what else do the super heroes do?",
"\", protecting the world from the villains and creatures who threaten to destroy it while aiming to become a famous rock and roll band in their own right.",
"who were the members of Aquabats?",
"The Aquabats consist of singer The MC Bat Commander (Christian Jacobs), the swaggering leader of the group;",
"who is the leader?",
"The MC Bat Commander (Christian Jacobs), the swaggering leader of the group;",
"who else was in the group?",
"bassist Crash McLarson (Chad Larson), who can grow up to 100 feet in size; drummer Ricky Fitness (Richard Falomir), who has the power of super speed;",
"how did they use their powers when performing?",
"The Aquabats are quite bumbling, disorganized, and sometimes cowardly when faced with danger;",
"who did they fight with?",
"\", protecting the world from the villains and creatures who threaten to destroy it"
]
| C_4cdf6386fc074258b24b5e00bbcdec23_1 | do they talk about how they joined the group? | 9 | do The Aquabats members talk about how they joined the group? | The Aquabats! Super Show! | Chronicled in both live-action and animated segments, The Aquabats! Super Show! is centered around the adventures of The Aquabats, a group of superhero rock musicians who travel the countryside on a self-appointed mission to fight evil and "destroy boredom", protecting the world from the villains and creatures who threaten to destroy it while aiming to become a famous rock and roll band in their own right. The Aquabats consist of singer The MC Bat Commander (Christian Jacobs), the swaggering leader of the group; bassist Crash McLarson (Chad Larson), who can grow up to 100 feet in size; drummer Ricky Fitness (Richard Falomir), who has the power of super speed; guitarist EagleBones Falconhawk (Ian Fowles), who's armed with a laser-shooting electric guitar; and keyboardist Jimmy the Robot (James R. Briggs, Jr.), an android. Despite their superhuman strengths and abilities, The Aquabats are quite bumbling, disorganized, and sometimes cowardly when faced with danger; this has in fact led them to be labeled "the world's most inept superheroes". The band lives and travels by way of their "Battletram", a modified recreational vehicle which, despite its small exterior, has an implausibly massive interior (similar to the TARDIS from Doctor Who or The Big Bologna from The Kids From C.A.P.E.R.), which contains, among many things, a science lab, a command center, and a living room. The Aquabats' origin story was left intentionally vague throughout the series, a choice Jacobs explains was done for the sake of the viewer's imagination, as kids are more accepting of the inherent absurdity of the premise than adults tend to be: "'There's five guys. This is what each of the five guys does. There are monsters. They're gonna try to fight them'. It's so simple. And I think that's why it's so awesome with kids--they just take it and run with it". In the first five episodes of season two, each member of The Aquabats shares their memory of how they joined the band via animated flashback sequences; however, all of these flashbacks directly and intentionally contradict each other, leaving it unknown which--if any--could be considered officially canonical. CANNOTANSWER | The Aquabats' origin story was left intentionally vague throughout the series, a choice Jacobs explains was done for the sake of the viewer's imagination, | The Aquabats! Super Show! is an American action-comedy musical television series which aired from March 3, 2012 to January 8, 2014 on The Hub Network and resumed as an independent YouTube web series in September 2019. The series was created by Christian Jacobs, and Scott Schultz, both the creators of the Nick Jr. show Yo Gabba Gabba!, and Jason deVilliers.
Based on the superhero mythology of The Aquabats, a real-life comedy rock band which series co-creator and lead singer Jacobs formed in 1994, The Aquabats! Super Show! follows the comic adventures of a fictionalized version of the band, a musical group of amateur superheroes, as they haphazardly defend the world from a variety of villains and monsters. Styled similarly to the campy aesthetics of 1960s and 1970s children's television and Japanese tokusatsu, Super Show! utilizes various mediums of visual styles and special effects, mixing live-action storylines with cartoon shorts, parody advertisements and musical interludes.
The series' first season concluded on June 16, 2012 following a run of 13 episodes, having met with a largely positive critical reception, consistently high ratings for the channel and a Daytime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Children's Series. The series' second season consisted of an initial five episodes which aired through June 2013, with three additional episodes airing in late December and January 2014, receiving similar acclaim and a further seven Daytime Emmy nominations, ultimately winning one for Best Stunt Coordination. In June 2014, co-creator Jacobs officially announced the series' cancellation, following news of The Hub's financial losses which led to the network's rebranding as Discovery Family later that October.
In July 2018, The Aquabats launched a successful Kickstarter to help independently finance new episodes of The Aquabats! Super Show!, promoting the campaign with a series of YouTube-exclusive mini-episodes continuing the original series' storyline. On September 28, 2019, The Aquabats premiered the first installment of these new episodes, now a biweekly YouTube series entitled The Aquabats! RadVentures!, though still retaining Super Show!s theme song and title card.
Series overview
Premise
Chronicled in both live-action and animated segments, The Aquabats! Super Show! is centered around the adventures of The Aquabats, a group of superhero rock musicians who travel the countryside on a self-appointed mission to fight evil and "destroy boredom", protecting the world from the villains and creatures who threaten to destroy it while aiming to become a famous rock and roll band in their own right.
The Aquabats consist of singer The MC Bat Commander (Christian Jacobs), the swaggering leader of the group; bassist Crash McLarson (Chad Larson), who can grow up to 100 feet in size; drummer Ricky Fitness (Richard Falomir), who has the power of super speed; guitarist EagleBones Falconhawk (Ian Fowles), who's armed with a laser-shooting electric guitar; and keyboardist Jimmy the Robot (James R. Briggs, Jr.), an android. Despite their superhuman strengths and abilities, The Aquabats are quite bumbling, disorganized, and sometimes cowardly when faced with danger; this has in fact led them to be labeled "the world's most inept superheroes". The band lives and travels by way of their "Battletram", a modified classic GMC motorhome which, despite its small exterior, has an implausibly massive interior (similar to the TARDIS from Doctor Who or The Big Bologna from The Kids From C.A.P.E.R.), which contains, among many things, a science lab, a command center, and a living room.
The Aquabats' origin story was left intentionally vague throughout the series, a choice Jacobs explains was done for the sake of the viewer's imagination, as he felt kids were more accepting of the inherent absurdity of the premise than adults tend to be: "'There's five guys. This is what each of the five guys does. There are monsters. They're gonna try to fight them'. It's so simple. And I think that's why it's so awesome with kids—they just take it and run with it". In the first five episodes of season two, each member of The Aquabats shares their memory of how they joined the band via animated flashback sequences; however, all of these flashbacks directly and intentionally contradict each other, leaving it unknown which—if any—could be considered officially canonical.
Format and influences
The Aquabats! Super Show! juxtaposes both live-action and animated segments starring The Aquabats, interwoven with various tangential skits and cartoon interstitials. The live-action storylines are the primary focus of each episode, following a self-contained villain of the week formula. In the first season, each episode featured brief anime-styled cartoon shorts which one of the characters would introduce at a random point of the show, often by finding "A Cartoon" (represented by a miniature television set) in an absurd location. Unlike the live-action segments, these cartoons followed a serialized story arc, with each installment ending in a cliffhanger to be resolved in the next episode. In season two, this format was replaced with a series of animated flashbacks recounting the origins of The Aquabats, each by a different animation studio and in a different animation style. Between these segments are pantomime cartoon shorts starring "Lil' Bat", The Aquabats' anthropomorphic bat mascot, and live-action parody commercials for outlandish fictional products, the latter of which has long been a staple of The Aquabats' multi-media stage shows.
Jacobs says the concept behind Super Show! was something he had always dreamed of doing, making a "campy, live-action, funky kid's show" in the vein of the 1960s and 1970s television that he and the rest of the series' producers had grown up with. While the show pays homage to many facets of pop culture, Jacobs has named the 1960s Batman television series as the primary influence on Super Show!s "obviously silly" tone and visual style, ranging from set design to the trademark use of dutch angles for villain scenes. Other notable influences Jacobs has repeatedly mentioned include the works of Sid and Marty Krofft and Hanna-Barbera, Japanese tokusatsu series such as Ultraman and Johnny Sokko And His Flying Robot, the Shaw Brothers and Hong Kong cinema, and shows including Danger Island, Star Trek, The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, and Pee-wee's Playhouse, noting "there's a good 30 years worth of television culture packed into these 22-minute episodes".
Demographic
As The Hub's key demographic were children aged 6 to 12, Super Show! was ostensibly targeted towards said age group, though Jacobs has stated that the series primarily aimed to appeal to an all-ages crowd, with the intent of creating entertainment that both kids and parents can watch and enjoy together or separately. In interviews prior to the series' premiere, he explained that this was merely an extension of The Aquabats' own family-friendly ethos: "There's just obviously something about the costumes and being superheroes that really appeals to younger kids, and I think we always knew that as a band...I think we'll want to put things in [the show] for an older audience, because we realize we have an older audience, but then also we want the young kids, to not have it go over their heads".
Production history
History and previous attempts at a series
In 1994, musicians Christian Jacobs, Chad Larson and former member Boyd Terry formed The Aquabats in Brea, California. Influenced as much by cartoons and camp television as theatrical bands like Devo and Oingo Boingo, The Aquabats gained instant notoriety in the Orange County music scene for their eccentric persona in which they claimed to be a band of superheroes on a quest to save the world and their elaborate stage shows which regularly featured scripted fights with costumed villains alongside similar stunts and comedy sketches.
The Aquabats' second studio album, 1997's The Fury of The Aquabats!, proved to be a minor commercial breakthrough for the group, charting on the Billboard 200 and bringing them exposure through such venues as MTV, leading Jacobs – a former child actor with ties in the industry – to develop the concept of adapting the band's mythology for television. In 1998, Buena Vista Television helped produce a live-action mini-pilot directed by comedian Bobcat Goldthwait titled simply The Aquabats!, following the comic misadventures of the then-eight member band in an over-the-top camp style similar to Saturday morning cartoon shows. The pilot, which has yet to be made available for public viewing, failed to generate any network interest and was ultimately even disowned by the band themselves.
Undeterred, The Aquabats made an attempt at a second pilot the following year, using a music video budget granted by their record label Goldenvoice Records for their 1999 album The Aquabats vs. the Floating Eye of Death!. Independently directed and produced by Jacobs and his creative partner Scott Schultz, the result was a five-minute promo video entitled The Aquabats in Color!. In contrast to the wackier tone of the previous pilot, The Aquabats in Color! was a more action-oriented superhero series modeled after Japanese tokusatsu shows such as Kamen Rider. According to Jacobs, the Fox Family Channel reportedly expressed interest in the series and ordered production on a proper pilot episode, though following the channel's acquisition by Disney in 2001, the project was cancelled.
The Aquabats! Super Show! pilot (2008)
In 2005, Jacobs and Schultz formed the Orange County-based production company The Magic Store, focusing on creating family-oriented television entertainment. One of the company's independently produced pilots, the children's television series Yo Gabba Gabba!, was eventually picked up as a series by Viacoms Nick Jr. channel, premiering in August 2007 and ultimately becoming an award-winning and critically acclaimed international success. In the wake of the series' popularity, Jacobs and Schultz persuaded Yo Gabba Gabba!s joint production company Wild Brain to help produce a new pilot based around The Aquabats in conjuncture with The Magic Store.
Again creatively spearheaded by Jacobs and Schultz, The Aquabats' third pilot, titled The Aquabats! Super Show!, was shot on location throughout southern California in late 2007 and early 2008. Part of this filming took place at a free invitation-only concert for members of the band's official fan club at the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles on January 12, 2008. While The Aquabats' previous pilots were short, live-action promotional videos, The Aquabats! Super Show! was a fully realized 22-minute episode featuring two separate storylines based on the adventures of The Aquabats, one live-action and one animated, and interspersed with parody commercials and live footage of the band. Speaking on the decision to structure the show in such a varied format, Jacobs said "[w]e did that for a strategic reason – some networks like cartoons more than other networks. We wanted to say, 'this could be both shows'."
Following a period of post-production, The Aquabats began widely self-promoting Super Show! in June 2008, redesigning their website to promote the pilot and releasing a teaser trailer and several exclusive clips through an official Super Show! YouTube channel. On July 25, 2008, the band screened the full pilot at a concert in San Diego held during the weekend of the San Diego Comic-Con, while a segment of the episode was hosted on Boing Boing the same day. In 2009, Cartoon Network allegedly picked the series up for a run of 22 episodes, though following major staff changes within the company—which, according to Jacobs, included the termination of the executives who had green-lighted Super Show!—the project was again cancelled.
The Hub and season one
After several more unsuccessful network pitches into the 2010s, The Aquabats! Super Show! was finally picked up as a series by family cable channel The Hub, a joint venture between Hasbro and Discovery which launched in 2010 as a replacement for Discovery Kids. The Hub formally announced the series in a press release on March 23, 2011, revealing Super Show! would be given a first season run of 13 episodes, produced in conjuncture with FremantleMedia. In promotion of the series, The Aquabats appeared as part of a panel at the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con where they discussed their initial plans for the show, while The Hub sponsored an Aquabats concert held at the nearby House of Blues during the same weekend.
Production on season one of Super Show! officially began in May 2011. The entirety of the first season was shot within and around The Aquabats' hometown of Orange County, California; according to the first season DVD audio commentary, episodes were shot on location in the cities of Irvine, Silverado, Yorba Linda, Huntington Beach and Fullerton, while a private sound stage in Santa Ana was used for interior shots of the Battletram. A public Aquabats concert held at The Glass House club in Pomona on November 5, 2011 was also filmed to provide live footage of the band which is featured in the series' opening credits montage and several individual episodes.
Much of Super Show!s staff consist of friends and colleagues of The Aquabats who've previously worked with the band on various projects, ranging from members of Yo Gabba Gabba!s production team to fellow musicians within the southern California music scene. Among the more notable examples include Dallas McLaughlin and Matthew Gorney, both members of the San Diego hip hop band Bad Credit, who prominently served as writers, composers and performers, Warren Fitzgerald, guitarist for The Vandals, who was hired as a writer and music director, internet sketch comedy group Mega64 were commissioned to produce original material, primarily the series' parody commercials, and Japanese artist Pey, who had designed much of The Aquabats' promotional art and merchandise during the 2000s, was hired to design the season's animated segments. Additionally, several industry professionals were brought in to help work on the show: Dani Michaeli, a staff writer on SpongeBob SquarePants, was hired as the series' story editor, while Matt Chapman, co-creator of the internet Flash cartoon Homestar Runner, acted as a writer, director and actor on several episodes. As none of the members besides Jacobs had any previous acting experience, comedian Matt Walsh of the Upright Citizens Brigade was brought in to help teach The Aquabats comedic acting and timing.
In further homage to the original Batman series, Super Show! features a variety of celebrity cameo appearances. The series' first season included appearances from actors Jon Heder, Lou Diamond Phillips and Samm Levine, comedians Rip Taylor, Paul Scheer and Paul Rust, and comedy musician "Weird Al" Yankovic, who appeared in two episodes as different characters. The first season also included several "Easter egg" cameos from original Aquabats members Corey "Chainsaw" Pollock and Boyd "Catboy" Terry, as well as from fellow musicians Warren Fitzgerald and Art Mitchell of the band Supernova.
Despite having been originally announced as part of The Hub's 2011 Fall line-up, production delays postponed Super Show!s premiere to early 2012. The series' marketing campaign began in December 2011, with a later announcement of an official premiere date confirmed for March 3, 2012. Following a non-consecutive run of 13 episodes, the first-season finale aired on June 16, 2012.
Season two
On October 16, 2012, The Aquabats and The Hub confirmed production on new episodes of Super Show! through the social networking sites Facebook and Twitter, announcing a tentative debut date of Spring 2013. Principal photography on season two began on October 22 and wrapped on December 1. Unlike the first season, the majority of season two was shot in and around Salt Lake City, Utah, which Jacobs explained was considerably less expensive than shooting in California.
While no changes were made to Super Shows creative team, in December 2012 it was announced that season two would introduce the series' first guest director, musician and comic book writer Gerard Way, who co-directed and co-wrote the season finale "The AntiBats!" with Jacobs and deVilliers. Way's involvement with the series was heavily covered by the music press in the wake of the March 2013 break-up of his popular alternative rock band My Chemical Romance. Among the guest stars featured in season two were professional skateboarders Tony Hawk and Eric Koston, Devo frontman and Yo Gabba Gabba! cast member Mark Mothersbaugh, internet celebrity Leslie Hall, actor Martin Starr and My Chemical Romance bassist Mikey Way.
On December 2, 2012, deVilliers revealed on his Twitter account that the upcoming season would consist of only five new episodes, in what he called more "season 1.5" than a "season 2", though mentioned the possibility of more being made in the future. On May 1, 2013, it was announced through Entertainment Weekly that the series' second season would begin airing on June 1. After a run of only five episodes, the season concluded on June 29, 2013.
2013–2014 specials
On August 22, 2013, series performer Chad Larson confirmed via Twitter that three additional episodes of Super Show! were being filmed near the end of the year, "and maybe more next". Principal photography on these episodes eventually began in Utah in early October. Throughout the month, The Aquabats posted numerous pictures of production on the new episodes on their Twitter and Instagram accounts, some of which revealed production code numbers of 301, 302 and 303, ostensibly indicating what would be a third season. Though these numbers were later verified by the Internet Movie Database, a November press release from The Hub explicitly referred to these three episodes as "specials".
The first of these specials, "Christmas with The Aquabats!", aired on December 21, featuring comedians Robert Smigel and Matt Walsh in guest roles. The second of these episodes, "The Shark Fighter!" (based on The Aquabats' song of the same name), featuring comedian Rhys Darby, aired the following week on December 28, while the final special "Kitty Litter!" aired on January 18, 2014. "Kitty Litter!" was helmed by another guest director, Munn Powell, best known for his work as cinematographer on the Jared and Jerusha Hess films Napoleon Dynamite and Gentlemen Broncos.
Following this short run of episodes, there was no confirmation by either The Hub or The Aquabats as to the production of any future episodes. In a December 2013 interview, Christian Jacobs acknowledged the network's unusually small order of episodes but didn't elaborate on any possible reasoning. In the same interview, he stated that the band had initially prepared for another order of 13 episodes, having written as many scripts for potential future episodes.
On May 1, 2014, the nominees for the 2014 Daytime Emmy Awards were announced, revealing that Super Show! had been nominated for five awards in four categories, including the award for Best Writing in a Children's Series for the episode "The AntiBats!". The awards ceremony was held on June 22, 2014, where the series ultimately won the award for Best Stunt Coordination for stuntman Skip Carlson.
Cancellation by The Hub and hiatus
In mid-2014, it was announced in entertainment press that Hasbro and Discovery had been in the process of rebranding The Hub following what they saw to be disappointing returns for the channel, changes which included the departure of CEO Margaret Loesch, who was instrumental in acquiring Super Show! as a series. In a Huffington Post feature about The Aquabats prior to the band's appearance at the 2014 San Diego Comic-Con, it was revealed that The Hub had opted not to renew Super Show! for a third season, effectively cancelling the series.
Jacobs admitted he was surprised by this turn of events, noting "Everything we heard was that the show has been a real Cinderella story for the Hub and that it was rating really well with viewers. We just assumed that we'd eventually go back into production or at least get picked up for Season 3", but ultimately concluded "it is what it is" in regard to the network's decision. Despite this, Jacobs remained optimistic about the series' future, saying "Given that we now live in a world where people are streaming TV shows directly onto their iPhones & computers, and given that companies like Netflix & Yahoo! are now picking up so much new content for their customers...I just find it hard to believe that The Aquabats! Super Show! is really over. I mean, we haven't even made any toys yet". He concluded by stating "It took us almost 15 years to get that TV series made. And even though we've got a bunch more concert dates lined up for the rest of this year, our first priority is to find a new home for The Aquabats! Super Show!".
On March 31, 2015, the nominees for the 42nd annual Daytime Emmy Awards were announced, with Super Show! earning nominations for Best SFX Mixer (Blaine Stewart) and Best Stunt Coordinator (Braxton McAllister).
On June 27, 2015, The Aquabats screened the entire first season of Super Show! before a sold-out crowd at The Frida Cinema in downtown Santa Ana, which was accompanied by a live performance by the band and Q&A sessions with The Aquabats and numerous members of the cast and crew. A similar presentation of the entire second season – including the three additional specials – took place at The Art Theater in Long Beach on December 16, 2017, coinciding with the release of the second season Blu-ray.
Bring Back The Aquabats! Kickstarter campaign
Following weeks of teasing a major announcement, The Aquabats launched a Kickstarter campaign on July 31, 2018 to help finance the return of The Aquabats! Super Show! as well as new studio albums from the band at a minimum projected cost of $1.1 million. The Aquabats promoted their campaign with a video featuring a slew of celebrity cameos, including Super Show! guest stars "Weird Al" Yankovic, Robert Smigel (as Triumph the Insult Comic Dog), Matt Chapman (as Homestar Runner and Strong Bad), former Aquabats member Travis Barker, Tony Kanal, Tom Dumont, Oscar Nunez, Kate Micucci, Blake Anderson, Imagine Dragons, Felicia Day and Tom Lennon, all of whom appeared in The Aquabats' trademark uniforms and spoke the Kickstarter's promotional slogan "I am The Aquabats"/"We are The Aquabats". Most prominently featured, however, was comedian Jack Black, who was later confirmed by the campaign's press releases to act as executive producer for the series' return.
Along with their Kickstarter, the band began releasing a series of Super Show! "mini-episodes", depicting the MC Bat Commander's metafictional quest to reunite the estranged Aquabats following the series' cancellation. The band confirmed that as the Kickstarter progresses, further "mini-episodes" will be released to both promote the campaign as well as act as a continuation of Super Show!.
By August 28, mere days before the campaign's end date of September 1, The Aquabats' Kickstarter had raised only $601,629 of its projected $1.1 million goal. The funding was subsequently cancelled and the campaign was rebooted the same day with a smaller goal of $100,000 to instead finance one new album and the continued production of the Super Show!! "mini-episodes". The project's goal was met within minutes.
Music
Original music for The Aquabats! Super Show! was primarily composed and performed by The Aquabats themselves, with additional scoring on most episodes provided by Matthew Gorney, Warren Fitzgerald or individual credits for Aquabats members James R. Briggs, Jr., Richard Falomir and Ian Fowles. Fitzgerald, guitarist for punk rock band The Vandals and former member of Oingo Boingo, acted as the series' music supervisor. The theme song to Super Show!, "Super Show Theme Song!", was co-written by The Aquabats and Fitzgerald.
Whereas most musically oriented shows like The Monkees typically break the narrative of an episode for a music video performance of a standalone song, each episode of Super Show! typically features one or two unique songs that tied directly into the plot, usually about and performed during the events of a particular scene. Most of these songs are rather brief, averaging a running time of just under a minute; Jacobs stated that many of the show's original songs were recorded as full-length pieces but trimmed down for inclusion in an episode, simply due to the show "trying to pack so much into 22 minutes".
Shortly after Super Show!s premiere, Jacobs confirmed plans to eventually release the series' original full-length songs as a soundtrack album. However, these plans wouldn't fully come to fruition until 2019; in a 2018 interview, Jacobs retrospectively revealed that the album had been long completed but the band "hadn't had all the rights tied up" until then. The first original and full-length recordings from the series' first season debuted in July 2017, when "Burger Rain" and "Beat Fishin'" were released as a tour-exclusive 7" single. Songs from the series' first season were eventually compiled as The Aquabats! Super Show! Television Soundtrack: Volume One, which was released digitally in March 2019 and then onto physical media the following June, where it became The Aquabats' highest-charting album to date, debuting at the top of Billboards Top Heatseekers chart and at 165 on the Billboard 200.
Cast and characters
See: List of The Aquabats! Super Show! characters
The Aquabats! Super Show! stars and is based upon fictionalized versions of the then-current (since 2006) line-up of the California comedy rock band The Aquabats. Adapting the backstory the band has used for the entirety of their professional career, Super Show! depicts The Aquabats as a group of bumbling, out-of-shape superheroes on a self-appointed mission to fight the forces of evil, presented in both live-action and animated segments. The five members of The Aquabats are:
The MC Bat Commander (played and voiced by Christian Jacobs) – The Aquabats' singer and de facto leader of the team. Though he doesn't have any superpowers of his own and is often quite stubborn and naive, the Commander is shown to be an effective strategist whose sharp leadership skills, bravery and determination regularly drive the band towards victory.
Crash McLarson (played and voiced by Chad Larson) – The band's bass guitarist, who has the frequently uncontrollable ability to grow upwards of 100 feet in size when under emotional stress. Despite being the largest and strongest of The Aquabats, Crash has a gentle, childlike demeanor bordering on slight dim-wittedness, and as such is usually the most cowardly member of the team.
Jimmy the Robot (played and voiced by James R. Briggs, Jr.) – The Aquabats' keyboardist. As his name implies, Jimmy is an android whose mechanical body houses a variety of built-in gadgets and weaponry, plus a comprehensive knowledge database which earns him the position of the group's resident scientist. Being a robot, Jimmy is generally perplexed by human emotions and behavior.
Ricky Fitness (played and voiced by Richard Falomir) – the band's drummer, Ricky possesses the power of super speed. Being the most physically fit and health-conscious member of The Aquabats, some of the series' running gags revolve around Ricky's status as a handsome ladies' man and his fondness for "fresh, healthy veggies" in contrast to the rest of the team's voracious affinity for junk food.
EagleBones Falconhawk (played and voiced by Ian Fowles) – The Aquabats' guitarist. The cocky and boyish maverick of the team, EagleBones is highly proficient on his custom weaponized electric guitar which shoots lasers from its headstock. Following a spiritual encounter early in season one, EagleBones also has the gift of second sight and is accompanied by "The Dude", an invisible spirit eagle whom he summons to aide The Aquabats in battle.
Voice actor and writer Mr. Lawrence provided the minimal narration for both seasons of Super Show!s live-action segments, while staff writer Kyle McCulloch narrated the first season's animated segments.
Guest stars and recurring characters
Though each episode of the series introduced a new villain, ally and/or celebrity cameo, Super Show! never featured any major recurring characters throughout its run. However, every episode of the show included a very brief appearance by a character fans dubbed the "Fox Man", a man in a cheap-looking fox costume played by visual effects supervisor Joel Fox, who would appear hidden in the background of a random scene as an Easter egg for viewers to spot, although his character was never explained within the context of the series.
Comedy musician "Weird Al" Yankovic and comedian Paul Rust were the only two guest actors to appear in two episodes: Yankovic played two different roles as the President of the United States and superhero SuperMagic PowerMan! (in a 2012 interview, Jacobs alluded to the two possibly being the same character, though this isn't implied within the series), while Rust played a boorish slacker named Ronmark, first appearing in live-action in a first-season episode and subsequently lending his voice to a mutated monster version of the character in part of a second-season episode.
Episodes
Distribution
International broadcast
Outside of North America, The Aquabats! Super Show! broadcast in Australia on the children's public broadcasting channel ABC3 and in the United Kingdom on the children's network CITV.
Home media
Coinciding with the run of the first season, each new episode of The Aquabats! Super Show! was released through the iTunes Store for digital download. Prior to the series debut, a season pass was made available for purchase to enable viewers to automatically receive a download of each new episode on its airdate. The first season of Super Show! was added to the video streaming service Netflix on December 1, 2012, later being added to Hulu on December 21.
Unlike the first season, the series' second season was not made available for iTunes pre-order, nor were episodes released for purchase. Though each episode was briefly streamed on The Hub's official website, none of the seasons' episodes were made available on Hulu, Netflix or similar streaming services.
Shout! Factory had the DVD publishing rights for The Aquabats! Super Show! within Region 1 for release of the first season. The company first announced their acquisition of the series and plans for a future DVD in a press release dated August 6, 2012, though did not initially confirm a set release date until several months later. On May 21, 2013, the first season of Super Show! was released on a two-disc DVD set.
On November 22, 2017, in conjunction with their announcement of a season two theatrical screening, The Aquabats confirmed an independent Blu-ray release for season two, including the three specials often considered a "season three". On December 5, pre-orders were launched on The Aquabats' merchandising site for an official release date of December 22, though copies were first made for public sale at the second season theatrical screening on December 16.
Starting in December 2014, The Aquabats gradually began uploading the series' full episodes onto their official YouTube channel. As of August 2019, all 21 episodes of Super Show! and its pilot episode have been publicly uploaded to their account.
Critical reception
Critical response to The Aquabats! Super Show! was predominantly positive, with most reviewers praising the series' intentionally campy tone and offbeat humor. The Onions The A.V. Club gave the series premiere an A− rating, describing it as "a loving homage to basically everything ever done by the brothers Krofft": "the show adeptly flips from humor to melodrama to action, providing some awesomely cheap special effects, goofy songs, and gags that range from slapstick to sublime", summarizing "there's so much here that both kids and parents will be able to enjoy the proceedings on their own respective levels and rarely find themselves bored".
Brian Lowry of Variety wrote "you don't have to laugh at everything to admire the effort and sheer silliness", calling the show a "goofy and nostalgic" throwback to the "children's TV of baby boomers' youth, down to crappy production values and awful-looking 'monsters' that work to its advantage". He summarized "Although this Hub series at times feels like an SNL skit stretched to a half-hour, its sly mix of music, live-action crime-fighting, cartoons and mock ads ought to develop a cult following—and might be more popular with parents, at least those with the geek gene, than their kids".
Technology magazine Wired was consistently positive towards the series, calling it both "wonderfully strange" and "delightfully deranged", writing "[f]illed with self-deprecating music videos, toon interludes and ludicrous villains, The Aquabats! Super Show! has become one of television's strangely comforting finds".
Common Sense Media, who review shows based on age-appropriate content, gave Super Show! a rating of 4 out of 5 stars, calling it "demented and manic...fun by sheer dint of how many jokes, visual and otherwise, are thrown at the screen, both those calculated to appeal to kids and adults". The site praised the series for its lighter and sillier tone in comparison to more violent live-action superhero fare, and considered the "kind-hearted" Aquabats to be relatively positive role models. However, the reviewer suggested the show's violence and creatures may be too intense for very young children, and pointed out a distinct lack of central female characters.
Neil Genzlinger of The New York Times offered a more indifferent opinion, calling The Aquabats "indescribably odd" and the series "frenetic, semicoherent and generally harmless. Also somewhat hallucinogenic", noting Super Show!s writing "may be over the heads of the 2-to-12 set", suggesting its most receptive audience might be "the college drinking-game crowd".
Awards and nominations
The Aquabats! Super Show! was nominated for the following awards:
Daytime Emmy Award
References
External links
Official website of The Aquabats
The Aquabats
2010s American children's television series
2010s American musical comedy television series
2010s American satirical television series
2010s American sketch comedy television series
2010s American superhero comedy television series
2012 American television series debuts
2014 American television series endings
American children's adventure television series
American children's musical television series
American television series with live action and animation
Children's sketch comedy
English-language television shows
Television series by Fremantle (company)
Television shows set in Orange County, California
American television shows featuring puppetry
Discovery Family original programming | true | [
"The Duck Variations is a 1972 play by American playwright David Mamet. The play depicts a discussion taking place between two elderly men sitting on a park bench watching ducks. The dialogue begins with the mating habits of ducks and runs to examine law, friendship and death. The principal irony is that the men really know nothing about ducks. If they did, it would not improve their beautiful fugue on the theme of the possibility of happiness. Rather they use what experience has taught them and scattered, possibly incorrect ideas and facts to make guesses. They each assure the other that their guesses are established fact. By argument and occasional agreement a composite view of ducks and by extension, the world, begins to emerge.\n\nSynopsis\nThe play is focused around two old men who randomly meet on a park bench. Although it is usually played that the two men do not know of each other, (the stage directions are ambiguous—they could meet, or they could be old friends) they awkwardly begin to talk to each other. As they fumble for topics to speak upon, somehow they always end up reverting to the ducks swimming around in the lake. Although their conversations seem misguided, as they talk about the ducks, many wise conversations are actually discussed. They talk about the leader of the ducks, and how every other duck follows that leader. When the leader duck dies, then a new leader must be chosen. They also talk about how everything the ducks do has a purpose. Within the dialog of the men, they talk about why things occur naturally, friendship, and death, not only in reference to the ducks, but also in human nature.\n\nProduction history\nThe play was initially performed in 1972 at the Saint Nicholas Theatre, directed by Mamet. \n\nThe double bill of Sexual Perversity in Chicago, and The Duck Variations was produced Off-Broadway at the Cherry Lane Theatre, from June 16, 1976\nto April 17, 1977. The plays won the 1976 Obie Award, Best New American Play.\n\nThe play was presented at the Kirk Douglas Theatre, Los Angeles in 2008, as part of a program titled \"Two Unrelated Plays by David Mamet,\" starring Harold Gould as Emil and Michael Lerner as George. According to Charles McNulty (theatre critic), The Duck Variations, about seniors and death, is often paired with Sexual Perversity in Chicago, about young adults and sex.\n\nReferences\n\n1972 plays\nPlays by David Mamet",
"Sajid's Superstars is an Indian television talk show that aired on the TV channel Colors, mainly featuring celebrities from Hindi or Bollywood cinema. Sajid Khan is the host of the show and its first season was aired in between July 2008 and October 2008.\n\nFormat of the show\nThe format of the talk show in Sajid's own words:\n\n\"First there is a basic chat round. Then there is 'How well do you know yourself?' round in which I will ask the guests about themselves, their films and colleagues and see how much they remember. These questions are not really personal, even the general public knows the answers… it's to see how much stars remember. Then there is a 'Stars' cross questions' round where in one star will question the star present on the show through video. In another round, the public tells the star what they like and dislike about him/her and may request the star to do something like sing or dance. Then I show the guest their worst and best scenes to date.\"\n\n\"If you are on my show, you have to be funny, so there is a 'Sit down comedy' round where stars show their funny side and I rate them through my laugh-o-meter. Lastly, there is a 'Scandal round' where the star has to choose from a 'kum, zyaada and a zabardast' scandalous question. Depending on the card they pick, I ask a question. So the show is well segmented.\"\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nSajid's Superstars - Official Website\n\nColors TV original programming\n2008 Indian television series debuts\nIndian television series"
]
|
[
"The Aquabats! Super Show!",
"Premise",
"what can you tell me about their premise?",
"The Aquabats! Super Show! is centered around the adventures of The Aquabats,",
"what kind of adventures?",
"a group of superhero rock musicians who travel the countryside on a self-appointed mission to fight evil and \"destroy boredom\",",
"what else do the super heroes do?",
"\", protecting the world from the villains and creatures who threaten to destroy it while aiming to become a famous rock and roll band in their own right.",
"who were the members of Aquabats?",
"The Aquabats consist of singer The MC Bat Commander (Christian Jacobs), the swaggering leader of the group;",
"who is the leader?",
"The MC Bat Commander (Christian Jacobs), the swaggering leader of the group;",
"who else was in the group?",
"bassist Crash McLarson (Chad Larson), who can grow up to 100 feet in size; drummer Ricky Fitness (Richard Falomir), who has the power of super speed;",
"how did they use their powers when performing?",
"The Aquabats are quite bumbling, disorganized, and sometimes cowardly when faced with danger;",
"who did they fight with?",
"\", protecting the world from the villains and creatures who threaten to destroy it",
"do they talk about how they joined the group?",
"The Aquabats' origin story was left intentionally vague throughout the series, a choice Jacobs explains was done for the sake of the viewer's imagination,"
]
| C_4cdf6386fc074258b24b5e00bbcdec23_1 | were they popular? | 10 | were The Aquabats popular? | The Aquabats! Super Show! | Chronicled in both live-action and animated segments, The Aquabats! Super Show! is centered around the adventures of The Aquabats, a group of superhero rock musicians who travel the countryside on a self-appointed mission to fight evil and "destroy boredom", protecting the world from the villains and creatures who threaten to destroy it while aiming to become a famous rock and roll band in their own right. The Aquabats consist of singer The MC Bat Commander (Christian Jacobs), the swaggering leader of the group; bassist Crash McLarson (Chad Larson), who can grow up to 100 feet in size; drummer Ricky Fitness (Richard Falomir), who has the power of super speed; guitarist EagleBones Falconhawk (Ian Fowles), who's armed with a laser-shooting electric guitar; and keyboardist Jimmy the Robot (James R. Briggs, Jr.), an android. Despite their superhuman strengths and abilities, The Aquabats are quite bumbling, disorganized, and sometimes cowardly when faced with danger; this has in fact led them to be labeled "the world's most inept superheroes". The band lives and travels by way of their "Battletram", a modified recreational vehicle which, despite its small exterior, has an implausibly massive interior (similar to the TARDIS from Doctor Who or The Big Bologna from The Kids From C.A.P.E.R.), which contains, among many things, a science lab, a command center, and a living room. The Aquabats' origin story was left intentionally vague throughout the series, a choice Jacobs explains was done for the sake of the viewer's imagination, as kids are more accepting of the inherent absurdity of the premise than adults tend to be: "'There's five guys. This is what each of the five guys does. There are monsters. They're gonna try to fight them'. It's so simple. And I think that's why it's so awesome with kids--they just take it and run with it". In the first five episodes of season two, each member of The Aquabats shares their memory of how they joined the band via animated flashback sequences; however, all of these flashbacks directly and intentionally contradict each other, leaving it unknown which--if any--could be considered officially canonical. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | The Aquabats! Super Show! is an American action-comedy musical television series which aired from March 3, 2012 to January 8, 2014 on The Hub Network and resumed as an independent YouTube web series in September 2019. The series was created by Christian Jacobs, and Scott Schultz, both the creators of the Nick Jr. show Yo Gabba Gabba!, and Jason deVilliers.
Based on the superhero mythology of The Aquabats, a real-life comedy rock band which series co-creator and lead singer Jacobs formed in 1994, The Aquabats! Super Show! follows the comic adventures of a fictionalized version of the band, a musical group of amateur superheroes, as they haphazardly defend the world from a variety of villains and monsters. Styled similarly to the campy aesthetics of 1960s and 1970s children's television and Japanese tokusatsu, Super Show! utilizes various mediums of visual styles and special effects, mixing live-action storylines with cartoon shorts, parody advertisements and musical interludes.
The series' first season concluded on June 16, 2012 following a run of 13 episodes, having met with a largely positive critical reception, consistently high ratings for the channel and a Daytime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Children's Series. The series' second season consisted of an initial five episodes which aired through June 2013, with three additional episodes airing in late December and January 2014, receiving similar acclaim and a further seven Daytime Emmy nominations, ultimately winning one for Best Stunt Coordination. In June 2014, co-creator Jacobs officially announced the series' cancellation, following news of The Hub's financial losses which led to the network's rebranding as Discovery Family later that October.
In July 2018, The Aquabats launched a successful Kickstarter to help independently finance new episodes of The Aquabats! Super Show!, promoting the campaign with a series of YouTube-exclusive mini-episodes continuing the original series' storyline. On September 28, 2019, The Aquabats premiered the first installment of these new episodes, now a biweekly YouTube series entitled The Aquabats! RadVentures!, though still retaining Super Show!s theme song and title card.
Series overview
Premise
Chronicled in both live-action and animated segments, The Aquabats! Super Show! is centered around the adventures of The Aquabats, a group of superhero rock musicians who travel the countryside on a self-appointed mission to fight evil and "destroy boredom", protecting the world from the villains and creatures who threaten to destroy it while aiming to become a famous rock and roll band in their own right.
The Aquabats consist of singer The MC Bat Commander (Christian Jacobs), the swaggering leader of the group; bassist Crash McLarson (Chad Larson), who can grow up to 100 feet in size; drummer Ricky Fitness (Richard Falomir), who has the power of super speed; guitarist EagleBones Falconhawk (Ian Fowles), who's armed with a laser-shooting electric guitar; and keyboardist Jimmy the Robot (James R. Briggs, Jr.), an android. Despite their superhuman strengths and abilities, The Aquabats are quite bumbling, disorganized, and sometimes cowardly when faced with danger; this has in fact led them to be labeled "the world's most inept superheroes". The band lives and travels by way of their "Battletram", a modified classic GMC motorhome which, despite its small exterior, has an implausibly massive interior (similar to the TARDIS from Doctor Who or The Big Bologna from The Kids From C.A.P.E.R.), which contains, among many things, a science lab, a command center, and a living room.
The Aquabats' origin story was left intentionally vague throughout the series, a choice Jacobs explains was done for the sake of the viewer's imagination, as he felt kids were more accepting of the inherent absurdity of the premise than adults tend to be: "'There's five guys. This is what each of the five guys does. There are monsters. They're gonna try to fight them'. It's so simple. And I think that's why it's so awesome with kids—they just take it and run with it". In the first five episodes of season two, each member of The Aquabats shares their memory of how they joined the band via animated flashback sequences; however, all of these flashbacks directly and intentionally contradict each other, leaving it unknown which—if any—could be considered officially canonical.
Format and influences
The Aquabats! Super Show! juxtaposes both live-action and animated segments starring The Aquabats, interwoven with various tangential skits and cartoon interstitials. The live-action storylines are the primary focus of each episode, following a self-contained villain of the week formula. In the first season, each episode featured brief anime-styled cartoon shorts which one of the characters would introduce at a random point of the show, often by finding "A Cartoon" (represented by a miniature television set) in an absurd location. Unlike the live-action segments, these cartoons followed a serialized story arc, with each installment ending in a cliffhanger to be resolved in the next episode. In season two, this format was replaced with a series of animated flashbacks recounting the origins of The Aquabats, each by a different animation studio and in a different animation style. Between these segments are pantomime cartoon shorts starring "Lil' Bat", The Aquabats' anthropomorphic bat mascot, and live-action parody commercials for outlandish fictional products, the latter of which has long been a staple of The Aquabats' multi-media stage shows.
Jacobs says the concept behind Super Show! was something he had always dreamed of doing, making a "campy, live-action, funky kid's show" in the vein of the 1960s and 1970s television that he and the rest of the series' producers had grown up with. While the show pays homage to many facets of pop culture, Jacobs has named the 1960s Batman television series as the primary influence on Super Show!s "obviously silly" tone and visual style, ranging from set design to the trademark use of dutch angles for villain scenes. Other notable influences Jacobs has repeatedly mentioned include the works of Sid and Marty Krofft and Hanna-Barbera, Japanese tokusatsu series such as Ultraman and Johnny Sokko And His Flying Robot, the Shaw Brothers and Hong Kong cinema, and shows including Danger Island, Star Trek, The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, and Pee-wee's Playhouse, noting "there's a good 30 years worth of television culture packed into these 22-minute episodes".
Demographic
As The Hub's key demographic were children aged 6 to 12, Super Show! was ostensibly targeted towards said age group, though Jacobs has stated that the series primarily aimed to appeal to an all-ages crowd, with the intent of creating entertainment that both kids and parents can watch and enjoy together or separately. In interviews prior to the series' premiere, he explained that this was merely an extension of The Aquabats' own family-friendly ethos: "There's just obviously something about the costumes and being superheroes that really appeals to younger kids, and I think we always knew that as a band...I think we'll want to put things in [the show] for an older audience, because we realize we have an older audience, but then also we want the young kids, to not have it go over their heads".
Production history
History and previous attempts at a series
In 1994, musicians Christian Jacobs, Chad Larson and former member Boyd Terry formed The Aquabats in Brea, California. Influenced as much by cartoons and camp television as theatrical bands like Devo and Oingo Boingo, The Aquabats gained instant notoriety in the Orange County music scene for their eccentric persona in which they claimed to be a band of superheroes on a quest to save the world and their elaborate stage shows which regularly featured scripted fights with costumed villains alongside similar stunts and comedy sketches.
The Aquabats' second studio album, 1997's The Fury of The Aquabats!, proved to be a minor commercial breakthrough for the group, charting on the Billboard 200 and bringing them exposure through such venues as MTV, leading Jacobs – a former child actor with ties in the industry – to develop the concept of adapting the band's mythology for television. In 1998, Buena Vista Television helped produce a live-action mini-pilot directed by comedian Bobcat Goldthwait titled simply The Aquabats!, following the comic misadventures of the then-eight member band in an over-the-top camp style similar to Saturday morning cartoon shows. The pilot, which has yet to be made available for public viewing, failed to generate any network interest and was ultimately even disowned by the band themselves.
Undeterred, The Aquabats made an attempt at a second pilot the following year, using a music video budget granted by their record label Goldenvoice Records for their 1999 album The Aquabats vs. the Floating Eye of Death!. Independently directed and produced by Jacobs and his creative partner Scott Schultz, the result was a five-minute promo video entitled The Aquabats in Color!. In contrast to the wackier tone of the previous pilot, The Aquabats in Color! was a more action-oriented superhero series modeled after Japanese tokusatsu shows such as Kamen Rider. According to Jacobs, the Fox Family Channel reportedly expressed interest in the series and ordered production on a proper pilot episode, though following the channel's acquisition by Disney in 2001, the project was cancelled.
The Aquabats! Super Show! pilot (2008)
In 2005, Jacobs and Schultz formed the Orange County-based production company The Magic Store, focusing on creating family-oriented television entertainment. One of the company's independently produced pilots, the children's television series Yo Gabba Gabba!, was eventually picked up as a series by Viacoms Nick Jr. channel, premiering in August 2007 and ultimately becoming an award-winning and critically acclaimed international success. In the wake of the series' popularity, Jacobs and Schultz persuaded Yo Gabba Gabba!s joint production company Wild Brain to help produce a new pilot based around The Aquabats in conjuncture with The Magic Store.
Again creatively spearheaded by Jacobs and Schultz, The Aquabats' third pilot, titled The Aquabats! Super Show!, was shot on location throughout southern California in late 2007 and early 2008. Part of this filming took place at a free invitation-only concert for members of the band's official fan club at the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles on January 12, 2008. While The Aquabats' previous pilots were short, live-action promotional videos, The Aquabats! Super Show! was a fully realized 22-minute episode featuring two separate storylines based on the adventures of The Aquabats, one live-action and one animated, and interspersed with parody commercials and live footage of the band. Speaking on the decision to structure the show in such a varied format, Jacobs said "[w]e did that for a strategic reason – some networks like cartoons more than other networks. We wanted to say, 'this could be both shows'."
Following a period of post-production, The Aquabats began widely self-promoting Super Show! in June 2008, redesigning their website to promote the pilot and releasing a teaser trailer and several exclusive clips through an official Super Show! YouTube channel. On July 25, 2008, the band screened the full pilot at a concert in San Diego held during the weekend of the San Diego Comic-Con, while a segment of the episode was hosted on Boing Boing the same day. In 2009, Cartoon Network allegedly picked the series up for a run of 22 episodes, though following major staff changes within the company—which, according to Jacobs, included the termination of the executives who had green-lighted Super Show!—the project was again cancelled.
The Hub and season one
After several more unsuccessful network pitches into the 2010s, The Aquabats! Super Show! was finally picked up as a series by family cable channel The Hub, a joint venture between Hasbro and Discovery which launched in 2010 as a replacement for Discovery Kids. The Hub formally announced the series in a press release on March 23, 2011, revealing Super Show! would be given a first season run of 13 episodes, produced in conjuncture with FremantleMedia. In promotion of the series, The Aquabats appeared as part of a panel at the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con where they discussed their initial plans for the show, while The Hub sponsored an Aquabats concert held at the nearby House of Blues during the same weekend.
Production on season one of Super Show! officially began in May 2011. The entirety of the first season was shot within and around The Aquabats' hometown of Orange County, California; according to the first season DVD audio commentary, episodes were shot on location in the cities of Irvine, Silverado, Yorba Linda, Huntington Beach and Fullerton, while a private sound stage in Santa Ana was used for interior shots of the Battletram. A public Aquabats concert held at The Glass House club in Pomona on November 5, 2011 was also filmed to provide live footage of the band which is featured in the series' opening credits montage and several individual episodes.
Much of Super Show!s staff consist of friends and colleagues of The Aquabats who've previously worked with the band on various projects, ranging from members of Yo Gabba Gabba!s production team to fellow musicians within the southern California music scene. Among the more notable examples include Dallas McLaughlin and Matthew Gorney, both members of the San Diego hip hop band Bad Credit, who prominently served as writers, composers and performers, Warren Fitzgerald, guitarist for The Vandals, who was hired as a writer and music director, internet sketch comedy group Mega64 were commissioned to produce original material, primarily the series' parody commercials, and Japanese artist Pey, who had designed much of The Aquabats' promotional art and merchandise during the 2000s, was hired to design the season's animated segments. Additionally, several industry professionals were brought in to help work on the show: Dani Michaeli, a staff writer on SpongeBob SquarePants, was hired as the series' story editor, while Matt Chapman, co-creator of the internet Flash cartoon Homestar Runner, acted as a writer, director and actor on several episodes. As none of the members besides Jacobs had any previous acting experience, comedian Matt Walsh of the Upright Citizens Brigade was brought in to help teach The Aquabats comedic acting and timing.
In further homage to the original Batman series, Super Show! features a variety of celebrity cameo appearances. The series' first season included appearances from actors Jon Heder, Lou Diamond Phillips and Samm Levine, comedians Rip Taylor, Paul Scheer and Paul Rust, and comedy musician "Weird Al" Yankovic, who appeared in two episodes as different characters. The first season also included several "Easter egg" cameos from original Aquabats members Corey "Chainsaw" Pollock and Boyd "Catboy" Terry, as well as from fellow musicians Warren Fitzgerald and Art Mitchell of the band Supernova.
Despite having been originally announced as part of The Hub's 2011 Fall line-up, production delays postponed Super Show!s premiere to early 2012. The series' marketing campaign began in December 2011, with a later announcement of an official premiere date confirmed for March 3, 2012. Following a non-consecutive run of 13 episodes, the first-season finale aired on June 16, 2012.
Season two
On October 16, 2012, The Aquabats and The Hub confirmed production on new episodes of Super Show! through the social networking sites Facebook and Twitter, announcing a tentative debut date of Spring 2013. Principal photography on season two began on October 22 and wrapped on December 1. Unlike the first season, the majority of season two was shot in and around Salt Lake City, Utah, which Jacobs explained was considerably less expensive than shooting in California.
While no changes were made to Super Shows creative team, in December 2012 it was announced that season two would introduce the series' first guest director, musician and comic book writer Gerard Way, who co-directed and co-wrote the season finale "The AntiBats!" with Jacobs and deVilliers. Way's involvement with the series was heavily covered by the music press in the wake of the March 2013 break-up of his popular alternative rock band My Chemical Romance. Among the guest stars featured in season two were professional skateboarders Tony Hawk and Eric Koston, Devo frontman and Yo Gabba Gabba! cast member Mark Mothersbaugh, internet celebrity Leslie Hall, actor Martin Starr and My Chemical Romance bassist Mikey Way.
On December 2, 2012, deVilliers revealed on his Twitter account that the upcoming season would consist of only five new episodes, in what he called more "season 1.5" than a "season 2", though mentioned the possibility of more being made in the future. On May 1, 2013, it was announced through Entertainment Weekly that the series' second season would begin airing on June 1. After a run of only five episodes, the season concluded on June 29, 2013.
2013–2014 specials
On August 22, 2013, series performer Chad Larson confirmed via Twitter that three additional episodes of Super Show! were being filmed near the end of the year, "and maybe more next". Principal photography on these episodes eventually began in Utah in early October. Throughout the month, The Aquabats posted numerous pictures of production on the new episodes on their Twitter and Instagram accounts, some of which revealed production code numbers of 301, 302 and 303, ostensibly indicating what would be a third season. Though these numbers were later verified by the Internet Movie Database, a November press release from The Hub explicitly referred to these three episodes as "specials".
The first of these specials, "Christmas with The Aquabats!", aired on December 21, featuring comedians Robert Smigel and Matt Walsh in guest roles. The second of these episodes, "The Shark Fighter!" (based on The Aquabats' song of the same name), featuring comedian Rhys Darby, aired the following week on December 28, while the final special "Kitty Litter!" aired on January 18, 2014. "Kitty Litter!" was helmed by another guest director, Munn Powell, best known for his work as cinematographer on the Jared and Jerusha Hess films Napoleon Dynamite and Gentlemen Broncos.
Following this short run of episodes, there was no confirmation by either The Hub or The Aquabats as to the production of any future episodes. In a December 2013 interview, Christian Jacobs acknowledged the network's unusually small order of episodes but didn't elaborate on any possible reasoning. In the same interview, he stated that the band had initially prepared for another order of 13 episodes, having written as many scripts for potential future episodes.
On May 1, 2014, the nominees for the 2014 Daytime Emmy Awards were announced, revealing that Super Show! had been nominated for five awards in four categories, including the award for Best Writing in a Children's Series for the episode "The AntiBats!". The awards ceremony was held on June 22, 2014, where the series ultimately won the award for Best Stunt Coordination for stuntman Skip Carlson.
Cancellation by The Hub and hiatus
In mid-2014, it was announced in entertainment press that Hasbro and Discovery had been in the process of rebranding The Hub following what they saw to be disappointing returns for the channel, changes which included the departure of CEO Margaret Loesch, who was instrumental in acquiring Super Show! as a series. In a Huffington Post feature about The Aquabats prior to the band's appearance at the 2014 San Diego Comic-Con, it was revealed that The Hub had opted not to renew Super Show! for a third season, effectively cancelling the series.
Jacobs admitted he was surprised by this turn of events, noting "Everything we heard was that the show has been a real Cinderella story for the Hub and that it was rating really well with viewers. We just assumed that we'd eventually go back into production or at least get picked up for Season 3", but ultimately concluded "it is what it is" in regard to the network's decision. Despite this, Jacobs remained optimistic about the series' future, saying "Given that we now live in a world where people are streaming TV shows directly onto their iPhones & computers, and given that companies like Netflix & Yahoo! are now picking up so much new content for their customers...I just find it hard to believe that The Aquabats! Super Show! is really over. I mean, we haven't even made any toys yet". He concluded by stating "It took us almost 15 years to get that TV series made. And even though we've got a bunch more concert dates lined up for the rest of this year, our first priority is to find a new home for The Aquabats! Super Show!".
On March 31, 2015, the nominees for the 42nd annual Daytime Emmy Awards were announced, with Super Show! earning nominations for Best SFX Mixer (Blaine Stewart) and Best Stunt Coordinator (Braxton McAllister).
On June 27, 2015, The Aquabats screened the entire first season of Super Show! before a sold-out crowd at The Frida Cinema in downtown Santa Ana, which was accompanied by a live performance by the band and Q&A sessions with The Aquabats and numerous members of the cast and crew. A similar presentation of the entire second season – including the three additional specials – took place at The Art Theater in Long Beach on December 16, 2017, coinciding with the release of the second season Blu-ray.
Bring Back The Aquabats! Kickstarter campaign
Following weeks of teasing a major announcement, The Aquabats launched a Kickstarter campaign on July 31, 2018 to help finance the return of The Aquabats! Super Show! as well as new studio albums from the band at a minimum projected cost of $1.1 million. The Aquabats promoted their campaign with a video featuring a slew of celebrity cameos, including Super Show! guest stars "Weird Al" Yankovic, Robert Smigel (as Triumph the Insult Comic Dog), Matt Chapman (as Homestar Runner and Strong Bad), former Aquabats member Travis Barker, Tony Kanal, Tom Dumont, Oscar Nunez, Kate Micucci, Blake Anderson, Imagine Dragons, Felicia Day and Tom Lennon, all of whom appeared in The Aquabats' trademark uniforms and spoke the Kickstarter's promotional slogan "I am The Aquabats"/"We are The Aquabats". Most prominently featured, however, was comedian Jack Black, who was later confirmed by the campaign's press releases to act as executive producer for the series' return.
Along with their Kickstarter, the band began releasing a series of Super Show! "mini-episodes", depicting the MC Bat Commander's metafictional quest to reunite the estranged Aquabats following the series' cancellation. The band confirmed that as the Kickstarter progresses, further "mini-episodes" will be released to both promote the campaign as well as act as a continuation of Super Show!.
By August 28, mere days before the campaign's end date of September 1, The Aquabats' Kickstarter had raised only $601,629 of its projected $1.1 million goal. The funding was subsequently cancelled and the campaign was rebooted the same day with a smaller goal of $100,000 to instead finance one new album and the continued production of the Super Show!! "mini-episodes". The project's goal was met within minutes.
Music
Original music for The Aquabats! Super Show! was primarily composed and performed by The Aquabats themselves, with additional scoring on most episodes provided by Matthew Gorney, Warren Fitzgerald or individual credits for Aquabats members James R. Briggs, Jr., Richard Falomir and Ian Fowles. Fitzgerald, guitarist for punk rock band The Vandals and former member of Oingo Boingo, acted as the series' music supervisor. The theme song to Super Show!, "Super Show Theme Song!", was co-written by The Aquabats and Fitzgerald.
Whereas most musically oriented shows like The Monkees typically break the narrative of an episode for a music video performance of a standalone song, each episode of Super Show! typically features one or two unique songs that tied directly into the plot, usually about and performed during the events of a particular scene. Most of these songs are rather brief, averaging a running time of just under a minute; Jacobs stated that many of the show's original songs were recorded as full-length pieces but trimmed down for inclusion in an episode, simply due to the show "trying to pack so much into 22 minutes".
Shortly after Super Show!s premiere, Jacobs confirmed plans to eventually release the series' original full-length songs as a soundtrack album. However, these plans wouldn't fully come to fruition until 2019; in a 2018 interview, Jacobs retrospectively revealed that the album had been long completed but the band "hadn't had all the rights tied up" until then. The first original and full-length recordings from the series' first season debuted in July 2017, when "Burger Rain" and "Beat Fishin'" were released as a tour-exclusive 7" single. Songs from the series' first season were eventually compiled as The Aquabats! Super Show! Television Soundtrack: Volume One, which was released digitally in March 2019 and then onto physical media the following June, where it became The Aquabats' highest-charting album to date, debuting at the top of Billboards Top Heatseekers chart and at 165 on the Billboard 200.
Cast and characters
See: List of The Aquabats! Super Show! characters
The Aquabats! Super Show! stars and is based upon fictionalized versions of the then-current (since 2006) line-up of the California comedy rock band The Aquabats. Adapting the backstory the band has used for the entirety of their professional career, Super Show! depicts The Aquabats as a group of bumbling, out-of-shape superheroes on a self-appointed mission to fight the forces of evil, presented in both live-action and animated segments. The five members of The Aquabats are:
The MC Bat Commander (played and voiced by Christian Jacobs) – The Aquabats' singer and de facto leader of the team. Though he doesn't have any superpowers of his own and is often quite stubborn and naive, the Commander is shown to be an effective strategist whose sharp leadership skills, bravery and determination regularly drive the band towards victory.
Crash McLarson (played and voiced by Chad Larson) – The band's bass guitarist, who has the frequently uncontrollable ability to grow upwards of 100 feet in size when under emotional stress. Despite being the largest and strongest of The Aquabats, Crash has a gentle, childlike demeanor bordering on slight dim-wittedness, and as such is usually the most cowardly member of the team.
Jimmy the Robot (played and voiced by James R. Briggs, Jr.) – The Aquabats' keyboardist. As his name implies, Jimmy is an android whose mechanical body houses a variety of built-in gadgets and weaponry, plus a comprehensive knowledge database which earns him the position of the group's resident scientist. Being a robot, Jimmy is generally perplexed by human emotions and behavior.
Ricky Fitness (played and voiced by Richard Falomir) – the band's drummer, Ricky possesses the power of super speed. Being the most physically fit and health-conscious member of The Aquabats, some of the series' running gags revolve around Ricky's status as a handsome ladies' man and his fondness for "fresh, healthy veggies" in contrast to the rest of the team's voracious affinity for junk food.
EagleBones Falconhawk (played and voiced by Ian Fowles) – The Aquabats' guitarist. The cocky and boyish maverick of the team, EagleBones is highly proficient on his custom weaponized electric guitar which shoots lasers from its headstock. Following a spiritual encounter early in season one, EagleBones also has the gift of second sight and is accompanied by "The Dude", an invisible spirit eagle whom he summons to aide The Aquabats in battle.
Voice actor and writer Mr. Lawrence provided the minimal narration for both seasons of Super Show!s live-action segments, while staff writer Kyle McCulloch narrated the first season's animated segments.
Guest stars and recurring characters
Though each episode of the series introduced a new villain, ally and/or celebrity cameo, Super Show! never featured any major recurring characters throughout its run. However, every episode of the show included a very brief appearance by a character fans dubbed the "Fox Man", a man in a cheap-looking fox costume played by visual effects supervisor Joel Fox, who would appear hidden in the background of a random scene as an Easter egg for viewers to spot, although his character was never explained within the context of the series.
Comedy musician "Weird Al" Yankovic and comedian Paul Rust were the only two guest actors to appear in two episodes: Yankovic played two different roles as the President of the United States and superhero SuperMagic PowerMan! (in a 2012 interview, Jacobs alluded to the two possibly being the same character, though this isn't implied within the series), while Rust played a boorish slacker named Ronmark, first appearing in live-action in a first-season episode and subsequently lending his voice to a mutated monster version of the character in part of a second-season episode.
Episodes
Distribution
International broadcast
Outside of North America, The Aquabats! Super Show! broadcast in Australia on the children's public broadcasting channel ABC3 and in the United Kingdom on the children's network CITV.
Home media
Coinciding with the run of the first season, each new episode of The Aquabats! Super Show! was released through the iTunes Store for digital download. Prior to the series debut, a season pass was made available for purchase to enable viewers to automatically receive a download of each new episode on its airdate. The first season of Super Show! was added to the video streaming service Netflix on December 1, 2012, later being added to Hulu on December 21.
Unlike the first season, the series' second season was not made available for iTunes pre-order, nor were episodes released for purchase. Though each episode was briefly streamed on The Hub's official website, none of the seasons' episodes were made available on Hulu, Netflix or similar streaming services.
Shout! Factory had the DVD publishing rights for The Aquabats! Super Show! within Region 1 for release of the first season. The company first announced their acquisition of the series and plans for a future DVD in a press release dated August 6, 2012, though did not initially confirm a set release date until several months later. On May 21, 2013, the first season of Super Show! was released on a two-disc DVD set.
On November 22, 2017, in conjunction with their announcement of a season two theatrical screening, The Aquabats confirmed an independent Blu-ray release for season two, including the three specials often considered a "season three". On December 5, pre-orders were launched on The Aquabats' merchandising site for an official release date of December 22, though copies were first made for public sale at the second season theatrical screening on December 16.
Starting in December 2014, The Aquabats gradually began uploading the series' full episodes onto their official YouTube channel. As of August 2019, all 21 episodes of Super Show! and its pilot episode have been publicly uploaded to their account.
Critical reception
Critical response to The Aquabats! Super Show! was predominantly positive, with most reviewers praising the series' intentionally campy tone and offbeat humor. The Onions The A.V. Club gave the series premiere an A− rating, describing it as "a loving homage to basically everything ever done by the brothers Krofft": "the show adeptly flips from humor to melodrama to action, providing some awesomely cheap special effects, goofy songs, and gags that range from slapstick to sublime", summarizing "there's so much here that both kids and parents will be able to enjoy the proceedings on their own respective levels and rarely find themselves bored".
Brian Lowry of Variety wrote "you don't have to laugh at everything to admire the effort and sheer silliness", calling the show a "goofy and nostalgic" throwback to the "children's TV of baby boomers' youth, down to crappy production values and awful-looking 'monsters' that work to its advantage". He summarized "Although this Hub series at times feels like an SNL skit stretched to a half-hour, its sly mix of music, live-action crime-fighting, cartoons and mock ads ought to develop a cult following—and might be more popular with parents, at least those with the geek gene, than their kids".
Technology magazine Wired was consistently positive towards the series, calling it both "wonderfully strange" and "delightfully deranged", writing "[f]illed with self-deprecating music videos, toon interludes and ludicrous villains, The Aquabats! Super Show! has become one of television's strangely comforting finds".
Common Sense Media, who review shows based on age-appropriate content, gave Super Show! a rating of 4 out of 5 stars, calling it "demented and manic...fun by sheer dint of how many jokes, visual and otherwise, are thrown at the screen, both those calculated to appeal to kids and adults". The site praised the series for its lighter and sillier tone in comparison to more violent live-action superhero fare, and considered the "kind-hearted" Aquabats to be relatively positive role models. However, the reviewer suggested the show's violence and creatures may be too intense for very young children, and pointed out a distinct lack of central female characters.
Neil Genzlinger of The New York Times offered a more indifferent opinion, calling The Aquabats "indescribably odd" and the series "frenetic, semicoherent and generally harmless. Also somewhat hallucinogenic", noting Super Show!s writing "may be over the heads of the 2-to-12 set", suggesting its most receptive audience might be "the college drinking-game crowd".
Awards and nominations
The Aquabats! Super Show! was nominated for the following awards:
Daytime Emmy Award
References
External links
Official website of The Aquabats
The Aquabats
2010s American children's television series
2010s American musical comedy television series
2010s American satirical television series
2010s American sketch comedy television series
2010s American superhero comedy television series
2012 American television series debuts
2014 American television series endings
American children's adventure television series
American children's musical television series
American television series with live action and animation
Children's sketch comedy
English-language television shows
Television series by Fremantle (company)
Television shows set in Orange County, California
American television shows featuring puppetry
Discovery Family original programming | false | [
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"Miyazaki Yūzen (宮崎 友禅斎) (1654 July 25, 1736) , also known as Miyazaki Yūzensai or Yūzenzai, was a Japanese fan painter who perfected the yūzen fabric dying technique.\n\nBiography \nMiyazaki was born in Kyoto in 1654. He was originally a fan painter, but is also known for his work with kosode. Miyazaki painted his most popular fan designs on kimono, and they were wildly popular. He used rice paste to resist-dye the cloth in a method that he named yūzen-zome. It later became known as simply yūzen. This technique made it easier for Miyazaki to paint his designs directly on the kimono, making them more expressive.\n\nHis designs were so popular that they were published as a book called the Yuzen-hiinagata in 1688.\n\nReferences \n\n1654 births\n1736 deaths\nJapanese textile artists"
]
|
[
"The Aquabats! Super Show!",
"Premise",
"what can you tell me about their premise?",
"The Aquabats! Super Show! is centered around the adventures of The Aquabats,",
"what kind of adventures?",
"a group of superhero rock musicians who travel the countryside on a self-appointed mission to fight evil and \"destroy boredom\",",
"what else do the super heroes do?",
"\", protecting the world from the villains and creatures who threaten to destroy it while aiming to become a famous rock and roll band in their own right.",
"who were the members of Aquabats?",
"The Aquabats consist of singer The MC Bat Commander (Christian Jacobs), the swaggering leader of the group;",
"who is the leader?",
"The MC Bat Commander (Christian Jacobs), the swaggering leader of the group;",
"who else was in the group?",
"bassist Crash McLarson (Chad Larson), who can grow up to 100 feet in size; drummer Ricky Fitness (Richard Falomir), who has the power of super speed;",
"how did they use their powers when performing?",
"The Aquabats are quite bumbling, disorganized, and sometimes cowardly when faced with danger;",
"who did they fight with?",
"\", protecting the world from the villains and creatures who threaten to destroy it",
"do they talk about how they joined the group?",
"The Aquabats' origin story was left intentionally vague throughout the series, a choice Jacobs explains was done for the sake of the viewer's imagination,",
"were they popular?",
"I don't know."
]
| C_4cdf6386fc074258b24b5e00bbcdec23_1 | what else can you tell me about them? | 11 | Besides protecting the world from the villains and creatures, what else can you tell me about The Aquabats? | The Aquabats! Super Show! | Chronicled in both live-action and animated segments, The Aquabats! Super Show! is centered around the adventures of The Aquabats, a group of superhero rock musicians who travel the countryside on a self-appointed mission to fight evil and "destroy boredom", protecting the world from the villains and creatures who threaten to destroy it while aiming to become a famous rock and roll band in their own right. The Aquabats consist of singer The MC Bat Commander (Christian Jacobs), the swaggering leader of the group; bassist Crash McLarson (Chad Larson), who can grow up to 100 feet in size; drummer Ricky Fitness (Richard Falomir), who has the power of super speed; guitarist EagleBones Falconhawk (Ian Fowles), who's armed with a laser-shooting electric guitar; and keyboardist Jimmy the Robot (James R. Briggs, Jr.), an android. Despite their superhuman strengths and abilities, The Aquabats are quite bumbling, disorganized, and sometimes cowardly when faced with danger; this has in fact led them to be labeled "the world's most inept superheroes". The band lives and travels by way of their "Battletram", a modified recreational vehicle which, despite its small exterior, has an implausibly massive interior (similar to the TARDIS from Doctor Who or The Big Bologna from The Kids From C.A.P.E.R.), which contains, among many things, a science lab, a command center, and a living room. The Aquabats' origin story was left intentionally vague throughout the series, a choice Jacobs explains was done for the sake of the viewer's imagination, as kids are more accepting of the inherent absurdity of the premise than adults tend to be: "'There's five guys. This is what each of the five guys does. There are monsters. They're gonna try to fight them'. It's so simple. And I think that's why it's so awesome with kids--they just take it and run with it". In the first five episodes of season two, each member of The Aquabats shares their memory of how they joined the band via animated flashback sequences; however, all of these flashbacks directly and intentionally contradict each other, leaving it unknown which--if any--could be considered officially canonical. CANNOTANSWER | each member of The Aquabats shares their memory of how they joined the band via animated flashback sequences; however, all of these flashbacks directly and intentionally contradict each other, | The Aquabats! Super Show! is an American action-comedy musical television series which aired from March 3, 2012 to January 8, 2014 on The Hub Network and resumed as an independent YouTube web series in September 2019. The series was created by Christian Jacobs, and Scott Schultz, both the creators of the Nick Jr. show Yo Gabba Gabba!, and Jason deVilliers.
Based on the superhero mythology of The Aquabats, a real-life comedy rock band which series co-creator and lead singer Jacobs formed in 1994, The Aquabats! Super Show! follows the comic adventures of a fictionalized version of the band, a musical group of amateur superheroes, as they haphazardly defend the world from a variety of villains and monsters. Styled similarly to the campy aesthetics of 1960s and 1970s children's television and Japanese tokusatsu, Super Show! utilizes various mediums of visual styles and special effects, mixing live-action storylines with cartoon shorts, parody advertisements and musical interludes.
The series' first season concluded on June 16, 2012 following a run of 13 episodes, having met with a largely positive critical reception, consistently high ratings for the channel and a Daytime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Children's Series. The series' second season consisted of an initial five episodes which aired through June 2013, with three additional episodes airing in late December and January 2014, receiving similar acclaim and a further seven Daytime Emmy nominations, ultimately winning one for Best Stunt Coordination. In June 2014, co-creator Jacobs officially announced the series' cancellation, following news of The Hub's financial losses which led to the network's rebranding as Discovery Family later that October.
In July 2018, The Aquabats launched a successful Kickstarter to help independently finance new episodes of The Aquabats! Super Show!, promoting the campaign with a series of YouTube-exclusive mini-episodes continuing the original series' storyline. On September 28, 2019, The Aquabats premiered the first installment of these new episodes, now a biweekly YouTube series entitled The Aquabats! RadVentures!, though still retaining Super Show!s theme song and title card.
Series overview
Premise
Chronicled in both live-action and animated segments, The Aquabats! Super Show! is centered around the adventures of The Aquabats, a group of superhero rock musicians who travel the countryside on a self-appointed mission to fight evil and "destroy boredom", protecting the world from the villains and creatures who threaten to destroy it while aiming to become a famous rock and roll band in their own right.
The Aquabats consist of singer The MC Bat Commander (Christian Jacobs), the swaggering leader of the group; bassist Crash McLarson (Chad Larson), who can grow up to 100 feet in size; drummer Ricky Fitness (Richard Falomir), who has the power of super speed; guitarist EagleBones Falconhawk (Ian Fowles), who's armed with a laser-shooting electric guitar; and keyboardist Jimmy the Robot (James R. Briggs, Jr.), an android. Despite their superhuman strengths and abilities, The Aquabats are quite bumbling, disorganized, and sometimes cowardly when faced with danger; this has in fact led them to be labeled "the world's most inept superheroes". The band lives and travels by way of their "Battletram", a modified classic GMC motorhome which, despite its small exterior, has an implausibly massive interior (similar to the TARDIS from Doctor Who or The Big Bologna from The Kids From C.A.P.E.R.), which contains, among many things, a science lab, a command center, and a living room.
The Aquabats' origin story was left intentionally vague throughout the series, a choice Jacobs explains was done for the sake of the viewer's imagination, as he felt kids were more accepting of the inherent absurdity of the premise than adults tend to be: "'There's five guys. This is what each of the five guys does. There are monsters. They're gonna try to fight them'. It's so simple. And I think that's why it's so awesome with kids—they just take it and run with it". In the first five episodes of season two, each member of The Aquabats shares their memory of how they joined the band via animated flashback sequences; however, all of these flashbacks directly and intentionally contradict each other, leaving it unknown which—if any—could be considered officially canonical.
Format and influences
The Aquabats! Super Show! juxtaposes both live-action and animated segments starring The Aquabats, interwoven with various tangential skits and cartoon interstitials. The live-action storylines are the primary focus of each episode, following a self-contained villain of the week formula. In the first season, each episode featured brief anime-styled cartoon shorts which one of the characters would introduce at a random point of the show, often by finding "A Cartoon" (represented by a miniature television set) in an absurd location. Unlike the live-action segments, these cartoons followed a serialized story arc, with each installment ending in a cliffhanger to be resolved in the next episode. In season two, this format was replaced with a series of animated flashbacks recounting the origins of The Aquabats, each by a different animation studio and in a different animation style. Between these segments are pantomime cartoon shorts starring "Lil' Bat", The Aquabats' anthropomorphic bat mascot, and live-action parody commercials for outlandish fictional products, the latter of which has long been a staple of The Aquabats' multi-media stage shows.
Jacobs says the concept behind Super Show! was something he had always dreamed of doing, making a "campy, live-action, funky kid's show" in the vein of the 1960s and 1970s television that he and the rest of the series' producers had grown up with. While the show pays homage to many facets of pop culture, Jacobs has named the 1960s Batman television series as the primary influence on Super Show!s "obviously silly" tone and visual style, ranging from set design to the trademark use of dutch angles for villain scenes. Other notable influences Jacobs has repeatedly mentioned include the works of Sid and Marty Krofft and Hanna-Barbera, Japanese tokusatsu series such as Ultraman and Johnny Sokko And His Flying Robot, the Shaw Brothers and Hong Kong cinema, and shows including Danger Island, Star Trek, The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, and Pee-wee's Playhouse, noting "there's a good 30 years worth of television culture packed into these 22-minute episodes".
Demographic
As The Hub's key demographic were children aged 6 to 12, Super Show! was ostensibly targeted towards said age group, though Jacobs has stated that the series primarily aimed to appeal to an all-ages crowd, with the intent of creating entertainment that both kids and parents can watch and enjoy together or separately. In interviews prior to the series' premiere, he explained that this was merely an extension of The Aquabats' own family-friendly ethos: "There's just obviously something about the costumes and being superheroes that really appeals to younger kids, and I think we always knew that as a band...I think we'll want to put things in [the show] for an older audience, because we realize we have an older audience, but then also we want the young kids, to not have it go over their heads".
Production history
History and previous attempts at a series
In 1994, musicians Christian Jacobs, Chad Larson and former member Boyd Terry formed The Aquabats in Brea, California. Influenced as much by cartoons and camp television as theatrical bands like Devo and Oingo Boingo, The Aquabats gained instant notoriety in the Orange County music scene for their eccentric persona in which they claimed to be a band of superheroes on a quest to save the world and their elaborate stage shows which regularly featured scripted fights with costumed villains alongside similar stunts and comedy sketches.
The Aquabats' second studio album, 1997's The Fury of The Aquabats!, proved to be a minor commercial breakthrough for the group, charting on the Billboard 200 and bringing them exposure through such venues as MTV, leading Jacobs – a former child actor with ties in the industry – to develop the concept of adapting the band's mythology for television. In 1998, Buena Vista Television helped produce a live-action mini-pilot directed by comedian Bobcat Goldthwait titled simply The Aquabats!, following the comic misadventures of the then-eight member band in an over-the-top camp style similar to Saturday morning cartoon shows. The pilot, which has yet to be made available for public viewing, failed to generate any network interest and was ultimately even disowned by the band themselves.
Undeterred, The Aquabats made an attempt at a second pilot the following year, using a music video budget granted by their record label Goldenvoice Records for their 1999 album The Aquabats vs. the Floating Eye of Death!. Independently directed and produced by Jacobs and his creative partner Scott Schultz, the result was a five-minute promo video entitled The Aquabats in Color!. In contrast to the wackier tone of the previous pilot, The Aquabats in Color! was a more action-oriented superhero series modeled after Japanese tokusatsu shows such as Kamen Rider. According to Jacobs, the Fox Family Channel reportedly expressed interest in the series and ordered production on a proper pilot episode, though following the channel's acquisition by Disney in 2001, the project was cancelled.
The Aquabats! Super Show! pilot (2008)
In 2005, Jacobs and Schultz formed the Orange County-based production company The Magic Store, focusing on creating family-oriented television entertainment. One of the company's independently produced pilots, the children's television series Yo Gabba Gabba!, was eventually picked up as a series by Viacoms Nick Jr. channel, premiering in August 2007 and ultimately becoming an award-winning and critically acclaimed international success. In the wake of the series' popularity, Jacobs and Schultz persuaded Yo Gabba Gabba!s joint production company Wild Brain to help produce a new pilot based around The Aquabats in conjuncture with The Magic Store.
Again creatively spearheaded by Jacobs and Schultz, The Aquabats' third pilot, titled The Aquabats! Super Show!, was shot on location throughout southern California in late 2007 and early 2008. Part of this filming took place at a free invitation-only concert for members of the band's official fan club at the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles on January 12, 2008. While The Aquabats' previous pilots were short, live-action promotional videos, The Aquabats! Super Show! was a fully realized 22-minute episode featuring two separate storylines based on the adventures of The Aquabats, one live-action and one animated, and interspersed with parody commercials and live footage of the band. Speaking on the decision to structure the show in such a varied format, Jacobs said "[w]e did that for a strategic reason – some networks like cartoons more than other networks. We wanted to say, 'this could be both shows'."
Following a period of post-production, The Aquabats began widely self-promoting Super Show! in June 2008, redesigning their website to promote the pilot and releasing a teaser trailer and several exclusive clips through an official Super Show! YouTube channel. On July 25, 2008, the band screened the full pilot at a concert in San Diego held during the weekend of the San Diego Comic-Con, while a segment of the episode was hosted on Boing Boing the same day. In 2009, Cartoon Network allegedly picked the series up for a run of 22 episodes, though following major staff changes within the company—which, according to Jacobs, included the termination of the executives who had green-lighted Super Show!—the project was again cancelled.
The Hub and season one
After several more unsuccessful network pitches into the 2010s, The Aquabats! Super Show! was finally picked up as a series by family cable channel The Hub, a joint venture between Hasbro and Discovery which launched in 2010 as a replacement for Discovery Kids. The Hub formally announced the series in a press release on March 23, 2011, revealing Super Show! would be given a first season run of 13 episodes, produced in conjuncture with FremantleMedia. In promotion of the series, The Aquabats appeared as part of a panel at the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con where they discussed their initial plans for the show, while The Hub sponsored an Aquabats concert held at the nearby House of Blues during the same weekend.
Production on season one of Super Show! officially began in May 2011. The entirety of the first season was shot within and around The Aquabats' hometown of Orange County, California; according to the first season DVD audio commentary, episodes were shot on location in the cities of Irvine, Silverado, Yorba Linda, Huntington Beach and Fullerton, while a private sound stage in Santa Ana was used for interior shots of the Battletram. A public Aquabats concert held at The Glass House club in Pomona on November 5, 2011 was also filmed to provide live footage of the band which is featured in the series' opening credits montage and several individual episodes.
Much of Super Show!s staff consist of friends and colleagues of The Aquabats who've previously worked with the band on various projects, ranging from members of Yo Gabba Gabba!s production team to fellow musicians within the southern California music scene. Among the more notable examples include Dallas McLaughlin and Matthew Gorney, both members of the San Diego hip hop band Bad Credit, who prominently served as writers, composers and performers, Warren Fitzgerald, guitarist for The Vandals, who was hired as a writer and music director, internet sketch comedy group Mega64 were commissioned to produce original material, primarily the series' parody commercials, and Japanese artist Pey, who had designed much of The Aquabats' promotional art and merchandise during the 2000s, was hired to design the season's animated segments. Additionally, several industry professionals were brought in to help work on the show: Dani Michaeli, a staff writer on SpongeBob SquarePants, was hired as the series' story editor, while Matt Chapman, co-creator of the internet Flash cartoon Homestar Runner, acted as a writer, director and actor on several episodes. As none of the members besides Jacobs had any previous acting experience, comedian Matt Walsh of the Upright Citizens Brigade was brought in to help teach The Aquabats comedic acting and timing.
In further homage to the original Batman series, Super Show! features a variety of celebrity cameo appearances. The series' first season included appearances from actors Jon Heder, Lou Diamond Phillips and Samm Levine, comedians Rip Taylor, Paul Scheer and Paul Rust, and comedy musician "Weird Al" Yankovic, who appeared in two episodes as different characters. The first season also included several "Easter egg" cameos from original Aquabats members Corey "Chainsaw" Pollock and Boyd "Catboy" Terry, as well as from fellow musicians Warren Fitzgerald and Art Mitchell of the band Supernova.
Despite having been originally announced as part of The Hub's 2011 Fall line-up, production delays postponed Super Show!s premiere to early 2012. The series' marketing campaign began in December 2011, with a later announcement of an official premiere date confirmed for March 3, 2012. Following a non-consecutive run of 13 episodes, the first-season finale aired on June 16, 2012.
Season two
On October 16, 2012, The Aquabats and The Hub confirmed production on new episodes of Super Show! through the social networking sites Facebook and Twitter, announcing a tentative debut date of Spring 2013. Principal photography on season two began on October 22 and wrapped on December 1. Unlike the first season, the majority of season two was shot in and around Salt Lake City, Utah, which Jacobs explained was considerably less expensive than shooting in California.
While no changes were made to Super Shows creative team, in December 2012 it was announced that season two would introduce the series' first guest director, musician and comic book writer Gerard Way, who co-directed and co-wrote the season finale "The AntiBats!" with Jacobs and deVilliers. Way's involvement with the series was heavily covered by the music press in the wake of the March 2013 break-up of his popular alternative rock band My Chemical Romance. Among the guest stars featured in season two were professional skateboarders Tony Hawk and Eric Koston, Devo frontman and Yo Gabba Gabba! cast member Mark Mothersbaugh, internet celebrity Leslie Hall, actor Martin Starr and My Chemical Romance bassist Mikey Way.
On December 2, 2012, deVilliers revealed on his Twitter account that the upcoming season would consist of only five new episodes, in what he called more "season 1.5" than a "season 2", though mentioned the possibility of more being made in the future. On May 1, 2013, it was announced through Entertainment Weekly that the series' second season would begin airing on June 1. After a run of only five episodes, the season concluded on June 29, 2013.
2013–2014 specials
On August 22, 2013, series performer Chad Larson confirmed via Twitter that three additional episodes of Super Show! were being filmed near the end of the year, "and maybe more next". Principal photography on these episodes eventually began in Utah in early October. Throughout the month, The Aquabats posted numerous pictures of production on the new episodes on their Twitter and Instagram accounts, some of which revealed production code numbers of 301, 302 and 303, ostensibly indicating what would be a third season. Though these numbers were later verified by the Internet Movie Database, a November press release from The Hub explicitly referred to these three episodes as "specials".
The first of these specials, "Christmas with The Aquabats!", aired on December 21, featuring comedians Robert Smigel and Matt Walsh in guest roles. The second of these episodes, "The Shark Fighter!" (based on The Aquabats' song of the same name), featuring comedian Rhys Darby, aired the following week on December 28, while the final special "Kitty Litter!" aired on January 18, 2014. "Kitty Litter!" was helmed by another guest director, Munn Powell, best known for his work as cinematographer on the Jared and Jerusha Hess films Napoleon Dynamite and Gentlemen Broncos.
Following this short run of episodes, there was no confirmation by either The Hub or The Aquabats as to the production of any future episodes. In a December 2013 interview, Christian Jacobs acknowledged the network's unusually small order of episodes but didn't elaborate on any possible reasoning. In the same interview, he stated that the band had initially prepared for another order of 13 episodes, having written as many scripts for potential future episodes.
On May 1, 2014, the nominees for the 2014 Daytime Emmy Awards were announced, revealing that Super Show! had been nominated for five awards in four categories, including the award for Best Writing in a Children's Series for the episode "The AntiBats!". The awards ceremony was held on June 22, 2014, where the series ultimately won the award for Best Stunt Coordination for stuntman Skip Carlson.
Cancellation by The Hub and hiatus
In mid-2014, it was announced in entertainment press that Hasbro and Discovery had been in the process of rebranding The Hub following what they saw to be disappointing returns for the channel, changes which included the departure of CEO Margaret Loesch, who was instrumental in acquiring Super Show! as a series. In a Huffington Post feature about The Aquabats prior to the band's appearance at the 2014 San Diego Comic-Con, it was revealed that The Hub had opted not to renew Super Show! for a third season, effectively cancelling the series.
Jacobs admitted he was surprised by this turn of events, noting "Everything we heard was that the show has been a real Cinderella story for the Hub and that it was rating really well with viewers. We just assumed that we'd eventually go back into production or at least get picked up for Season 3", but ultimately concluded "it is what it is" in regard to the network's decision. Despite this, Jacobs remained optimistic about the series' future, saying "Given that we now live in a world where people are streaming TV shows directly onto their iPhones & computers, and given that companies like Netflix & Yahoo! are now picking up so much new content for their customers...I just find it hard to believe that The Aquabats! Super Show! is really over. I mean, we haven't even made any toys yet". He concluded by stating "It took us almost 15 years to get that TV series made. And even though we've got a bunch more concert dates lined up for the rest of this year, our first priority is to find a new home for The Aquabats! Super Show!".
On March 31, 2015, the nominees for the 42nd annual Daytime Emmy Awards were announced, with Super Show! earning nominations for Best SFX Mixer (Blaine Stewart) and Best Stunt Coordinator (Braxton McAllister).
On June 27, 2015, The Aquabats screened the entire first season of Super Show! before a sold-out crowd at The Frida Cinema in downtown Santa Ana, which was accompanied by a live performance by the band and Q&A sessions with The Aquabats and numerous members of the cast and crew. A similar presentation of the entire second season – including the three additional specials – took place at The Art Theater in Long Beach on December 16, 2017, coinciding with the release of the second season Blu-ray.
Bring Back The Aquabats! Kickstarter campaign
Following weeks of teasing a major announcement, The Aquabats launched a Kickstarter campaign on July 31, 2018 to help finance the return of The Aquabats! Super Show! as well as new studio albums from the band at a minimum projected cost of $1.1 million. The Aquabats promoted their campaign with a video featuring a slew of celebrity cameos, including Super Show! guest stars "Weird Al" Yankovic, Robert Smigel (as Triumph the Insult Comic Dog), Matt Chapman (as Homestar Runner and Strong Bad), former Aquabats member Travis Barker, Tony Kanal, Tom Dumont, Oscar Nunez, Kate Micucci, Blake Anderson, Imagine Dragons, Felicia Day and Tom Lennon, all of whom appeared in The Aquabats' trademark uniforms and spoke the Kickstarter's promotional slogan "I am The Aquabats"/"We are The Aquabats". Most prominently featured, however, was comedian Jack Black, who was later confirmed by the campaign's press releases to act as executive producer for the series' return.
Along with their Kickstarter, the band began releasing a series of Super Show! "mini-episodes", depicting the MC Bat Commander's metafictional quest to reunite the estranged Aquabats following the series' cancellation. The band confirmed that as the Kickstarter progresses, further "mini-episodes" will be released to both promote the campaign as well as act as a continuation of Super Show!.
By August 28, mere days before the campaign's end date of September 1, The Aquabats' Kickstarter had raised only $601,629 of its projected $1.1 million goal. The funding was subsequently cancelled and the campaign was rebooted the same day with a smaller goal of $100,000 to instead finance one new album and the continued production of the Super Show!! "mini-episodes". The project's goal was met within minutes.
Music
Original music for The Aquabats! Super Show! was primarily composed and performed by The Aquabats themselves, with additional scoring on most episodes provided by Matthew Gorney, Warren Fitzgerald or individual credits for Aquabats members James R. Briggs, Jr., Richard Falomir and Ian Fowles. Fitzgerald, guitarist for punk rock band The Vandals and former member of Oingo Boingo, acted as the series' music supervisor. The theme song to Super Show!, "Super Show Theme Song!", was co-written by The Aquabats and Fitzgerald.
Whereas most musically oriented shows like The Monkees typically break the narrative of an episode for a music video performance of a standalone song, each episode of Super Show! typically features one or two unique songs that tied directly into the plot, usually about and performed during the events of a particular scene. Most of these songs are rather brief, averaging a running time of just under a minute; Jacobs stated that many of the show's original songs were recorded as full-length pieces but trimmed down for inclusion in an episode, simply due to the show "trying to pack so much into 22 minutes".
Shortly after Super Show!s premiere, Jacobs confirmed plans to eventually release the series' original full-length songs as a soundtrack album. However, these plans wouldn't fully come to fruition until 2019; in a 2018 interview, Jacobs retrospectively revealed that the album had been long completed but the band "hadn't had all the rights tied up" until then. The first original and full-length recordings from the series' first season debuted in July 2017, when "Burger Rain" and "Beat Fishin'" were released as a tour-exclusive 7" single. Songs from the series' first season were eventually compiled as The Aquabats! Super Show! Television Soundtrack: Volume One, which was released digitally in March 2019 and then onto physical media the following June, where it became The Aquabats' highest-charting album to date, debuting at the top of Billboards Top Heatseekers chart and at 165 on the Billboard 200.
Cast and characters
See: List of The Aquabats! Super Show! characters
The Aquabats! Super Show! stars and is based upon fictionalized versions of the then-current (since 2006) line-up of the California comedy rock band The Aquabats. Adapting the backstory the band has used for the entirety of their professional career, Super Show! depicts The Aquabats as a group of bumbling, out-of-shape superheroes on a self-appointed mission to fight the forces of evil, presented in both live-action and animated segments. The five members of The Aquabats are:
The MC Bat Commander (played and voiced by Christian Jacobs) – The Aquabats' singer and de facto leader of the team. Though he doesn't have any superpowers of his own and is often quite stubborn and naive, the Commander is shown to be an effective strategist whose sharp leadership skills, bravery and determination regularly drive the band towards victory.
Crash McLarson (played and voiced by Chad Larson) – The band's bass guitarist, who has the frequently uncontrollable ability to grow upwards of 100 feet in size when under emotional stress. Despite being the largest and strongest of The Aquabats, Crash has a gentle, childlike demeanor bordering on slight dim-wittedness, and as such is usually the most cowardly member of the team.
Jimmy the Robot (played and voiced by James R. Briggs, Jr.) – The Aquabats' keyboardist. As his name implies, Jimmy is an android whose mechanical body houses a variety of built-in gadgets and weaponry, plus a comprehensive knowledge database which earns him the position of the group's resident scientist. Being a robot, Jimmy is generally perplexed by human emotions and behavior.
Ricky Fitness (played and voiced by Richard Falomir) – the band's drummer, Ricky possesses the power of super speed. Being the most physically fit and health-conscious member of The Aquabats, some of the series' running gags revolve around Ricky's status as a handsome ladies' man and his fondness for "fresh, healthy veggies" in contrast to the rest of the team's voracious affinity for junk food.
EagleBones Falconhawk (played and voiced by Ian Fowles) – The Aquabats' guitarist. The cocky and boyish maverick of the team, EagleBones is highly proficient on his custom weaponized electric guitar which shoots lasers from its headstock. Following a spiritual encounter early in season one, EagleBones also has the gift of second sight and is accompanied by "The Dude", an invisible spirit eagle whom he summons to aide The Aquabats in battle.
Voice actor and writer Mr. Lawrence provided the minimal narration for both seasons of Super Show!s live-action segments, while staff writer Kyle McCulloch narrated the first season's animated segments.
Guest stars and recurring characters
Though each episode of the series introduced a new villain, ally and/or celebrity cameo, Super Show! never featured any major recurring characters throughout its run. However, every episode of the show included a very brief appearance by a character fans dubbed the "Fox Man", a man in a cheap-looking fox costume played by visual effects supervisor Joel Fox, who would appear hidden in the background of a random scene as an Easter egg for viewers to spot, although his character was never explained within the context of the series.
Comedy musician "Weird Al" Yankovic and comedian Paul Rust were the only two guest actors to appear in two episodes: Yankovic played two different roles as the President of the United States and superhero SuperMagic PowerMan! (in a 2012 interview, Jacobs alluded to the two possibly being the same character, though this isn't implied within the series), while Rust played a boorish slacker named Ronmark, first appearing in live-action in a first-season episode and subsequently lending his voice to a mutated monster version of the character in part of a second-season episode.
Episodes
Distribution
International broadcast
Outside of North America, The Aquabats! Super Show! broadcast in Australia on the children's public broadcasting channel ABC3 and in the United Kingdom on the children's network CITV.
Home media
Coinciding with the run of the first season, each new episode of The Aquabats! Super Show! was released through the iTunes Store for digital download. Prior to the series debut, a season pass was made available for purchase to enable viewers to automatically receive a download of each new episode on its airdate. The first season of Super Show! was added to the video streaming service Netflix on December 1, 2012, later being added to Hulu on December 21.
Unlike the first season, the series' second season was not made available for iTunes pre-order, nor were episodes released for purchase. Though each episode was briefly streamed on The Hub's official website, none of the seasons' episodes were made available on Hulu, Netflix or similar streaming services.
Shout! Factory had the DVD publishing rights for The Aquabats! Super Show! within Region 1 for release of the first season. The company first announced their acquisition of the series and plans for a future DVD in a press release dated August 6, 2012, though did not initially confirm a set release date until several months later. On May 21, 2013, the first season of Super Show! was released on a two-disc DVD set.
On November 22, 2017, in conjunction with their announcement of a season two theatrical screening, The Aquabats confirmed an independent Blu-ray release for season two, including the three specials often considered a "season three". On December 5, pre-orders were launched on The Aquabats' merchandising site for an official release date of December 22, though copies were first made for public sale at the second season theatrical screening on December 16.
Starting in December 2014, The Aquabats gradually began uploading the series' full episodes onto their official YouTube channel. As of August 2019, all 21 episodes of Super Show! and its pilot episode have been publicly uploaded to their account.
Critical reception
Critical response to The Aquabats! Super Show! was predominantly positive, with most reviewers praising the series' intentionally campy tone and offbeat humor. The Onions The A.V. Club gave the series premiere an A− rating, describing it as "a loving homage to basically everything ever done by the brothers Krofft": "the show adeptly flips from humor to melodrama to action, providing some awesomely cheap special effects, goofy songs, and gags that range from slapstick to sublime", summarizing "there's so much here that both kids and parents will be able to enjoy the proceedings on their own respective levels and rarely find themselves bored".
Brian Lowry of Variety wrote "you don't have to laugh at everything to admire the effort and sheer silliness", calling the show a "goofy and nostalgic" throwback to the "children's TV of baby boomers' youth, down to crappy production values and awful-looking 'monsters' that work to its advantage". He summarized "Although this Hub series at times feels like an SNL skit stretched to a half-hour, its sly mix of music, live-action crime-fighting, cartoons and mock ads ought to develop a cult following—and might be more popular with parents, at least those with the geek gene, than their kids".
Technology magazine Wired was consistently positive towards the series, calling it both "wonderfully strange" and "delightfully deranged", writing "[f]illed with self-deprecating music videos, toon interludes and ludicrous villains, The Aquabats! Super Show! has become one of television's strangely comforting finds".
Common Sense Media, who review shows based on age-appropriate content, gave Super Show! a rating of 4 out of 5 stars, calling it "demented and manic...fun by sheer dint of how many jokes, visual and otherwise, are thrown at the screen, both those calculated to appeal to kids and adults". The site praised the series for its lighter and sillier tone in comparison to more violent live-action superhero fare, and considered the "kind-hearted" Aquabats to be relatively positive role models. However, the reviewer suggested the show's violence and creatures may be too intense for very young children, and pointed out a distinct lack of central female characters.
Neil Genzlinger of The New York Times offered a more indifferent opinion, calling The Aquabats "indescribably odd" and the series "frenetic, semicoherent and generally harmless. Also somewhat hallucinogenic", noting Super Show!s writing "may be over the heads of the 2-to-12 set", suggesting its most receptive audience might be "the college drinking-game crowd".
Awards and nominations
The Aquabats! Super Show! was nominated for the following awards:
Daytime Emmy Award
References
External links
Official website of The Aquabats
The Aquabats
2010s American children's television series
2010s American musical comedy television series
2010s American satirical television series
2010s American sketch comedy television series
2010s American superhero comedy television series
2012 American television series debuts
2014 American television series endings
American children's adventure television series
American children's musical television series
American television series with live action and animation
Children's sketch comedy
English-language television shows
Television series by Fremantle (company)
Television shows set in Orange County, California
American television shows featuring puppetry
Discovery Family original programming | true | [
"Forever Young is Kaysha's album released 2009.\n\nTrack list\n\n Anti Bad Music Police\n Be With You\n Digital Sexyness\n Duro\n Fanta & Avocado\n Forever Young Intro\n Funky Makaku\n Glorious Beautiful\n Heaven\n Hey Girl\n I Give You the Music\n I Still Love You\n Joachim\n Kota Na Piste\n Les Belles Histoires D'amour\n Love You Need You\n Loving and Kissing\n Make More Dollars\n Nobody Else\n On Veut Juste Danser\n Once Again\n Outro\n Paradisio / Inferno\n Pour Toujours\n Pure\n Si Tu T'en Vas\n Simple Pleasures\n Tell Me What We Waiting For\n That African Shit\n The Sweetest Thing\n The Way You Move\n Toi Et Moi\n U My Bb\n Yes You Can\n You + Me\n You're My Baby Girl\n\n2009 albums",
"\"Tell Me What You Want Me to Do\" is the title of a number-one R&B single by singer Tevin Campbell. To date, the single is Campbell's biggest hit peaking at number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and spending one week at number-one on the US R&B chart. The hit song is also Tevin's one and only Adult Contemporary hit, where it peaked at number 43. The song showcases Campbell's four-octave vocal range from a low note of E2 to a D#6 during the bridge of the song.\n\nTrack listings\nUS 7\" vinyl\nA \"Tell Me What You Want Me to Do\" (edit) – 4:16\t\nB \"Tell Me What You Want Me to Do\" (instrumental) – 5:00\n\n12\" vinyl\nA \"Tell Me What You Want Me to Do\" (edit) – 4:16\t\nB \"Tell Me What You Want Me to Do\" (album version) – 5:02\n\nUK CD\n \"Tell Me What You Want Me to Do\" – 4:16\n \"Goodbye\" (7\" Remix Edit) – 3:48\n \"Goodbye\" (Sidub and Listen) – 4:58\n \"Goodbye\" (Tevin's Dub Pt 1 & 2) – 6:53\n\nJapan CD\n \"Tell Me What You Want Me to Do\" – 4:10\n \"Tell Me What You Want Me to Do\" (instrumental version) – 4:10\n\nGermany CD\n \"Tell Me What You Want Me to Do\" (edit) – 4:10\n \"Just Ask Me\" (featuring Chubb Rock) – 4:07\n \"Tomorrow\" (A Better You, Better Me) – 4:46\n\nCharts\n\nWeekly charts\n\nYear-end charts\n\nSee also\nList of number-one R&B singles of 1992 (U.S.)\n\nReferences\n\nTevin Campbell songs\n1991 singles\n1991 songs\nSongs written by Tevin Campbell\nSongs written by Narada Michael Walden\nSong recordings produced by Narada Michael Walden\nWarner Records singles\nContemporary R&B ballads\nPop ballads\nSoul ballads\n1990s ballads"
]
|
[
"The Aquabats! Super Show!",
"Premise",
"what can you tell me about their premise?",
"The Aquabats! Super Show! is centered around the adventures of The Aquabats,",
"what kind of adventures?",
"a group of superhero rock musicians who travel the countryside on a self-appointed mission to fight evil and \"destroy boredom\",",
"what else do the super heroes do?",
"\", protecting the world from the villains and creatures who threaten to destroy it while aiming to become a famous rock and roll band in their own right.",
"who were the members of Aquabats?",
"The Aquabats consist of singer The MC Bat Commander (Christian Jacobs), the swaggering leader of the group;",
"who is the leader?",
"The MC Bat Commander (Christian Jacobs), the swaggering leader of the group;",
"who else was in the group?",
"bassist Crash McLarson (Chad Larson), who can grow up to 100 feet in size; drummer Ricky Fitness (Richard Falomir), who has the power of super speed;",
"how did they use their powers when performing?",
"The Aquabats are quite bumbling, disorganized, and sometimes cowardly when faced with danger;",
"who did they fight with?",
"\", protecting the world from the villains and creatures who threaten to destroy it",
"do they talk about how they joined the group?",
"The Aquabats' origin story was left intentionally vague throughout the series, a choice Jacobs explains was done for the sake of the viewer's imagination,",
"were they popular?",
"I don't know.",
"what else can you tell me about them?",
"each member of The Aquabats shares their memory of how they joined the band via animated flashback sequences; however, all of these flashbacks directly and intentionally contradict each other,"
]
| C_4cdf6386fc074258b24b5e00bbcdec23_1 | what are some of the flashbacks? | 12 | what are some of the flashbacks of each member of the The Aquabats about? | The Aquabats! Super Show! | Chronicled in both live-action and animated segments, The Aquabats! Super Show! is centered around the adventures of The Aquabats, a group of superhero rock musicians who travel the countryside on a self-appointed mission to fight evil and "destroy boredom", protecting the world from the villains and creatures who threaten to destroy it while aiming to become a famous rock and roll band in their own right. The Aquabats consist of singer The MC Bat Commander (Christian Jacobs), the swaggering leader of the group; bassist Crash McLarson (Chad Larson), who can grow up to 100 feet in size; drummer Ricky Fitness (Richard Falomir), who has the power of super speed; guitarist EagleBones Falconhawk (Ian Fowles), who's armed with a laser-shooting electric guitar; and keyboardist Jimmy the Robot (James R. Briggs, Jr.), an android. Despite their superhuman strengths and abilities, The Aquabats are quite bumbling, disorganized, and sometimes cowardly when faced with danger; this has in fact led them to be labeled "the world's most inept superheroes". The band lives and travels by way of their "Battletram", a modified recreational vehicle which, despite its small exterior, has an implausibly massive interior (similar to the TARDIS from Doctor Who or The Big Bologna from The Kids From C.A.P.E.R.), which contains, among many things, a science lab, a command center, and a living room. The Aquabats' origin story was left intentionally vague throughout the series, a choice Jacobs explains was done for the sake of the viewer's imagination, as kids are more accepting of the inherent absurdity of the premise than adults tend to be: "'There's five guys. This is what each of the five guys does. There are monsters. They're gonna try to fight them'. It's so simple. And I think that's why it's so awesome with kids--they just take it and run with it". In the first five episodes of season two, each member of The Aquabats shares their memory of how they joined the band via animated flashback sequences; however, all of these flashbacks directly and intentionally contradict each other, leaving it unknown which--if any--could be considered officially canonical. CANNOTANSWER | member of The Aquabats shares their memory of how they joined the band via animated flashback sequences; | The Aquabats! Super Show! is an American action-comedy musical television series which aired from March 3, 2012 to January 8, 2014 on The Hub Network and resumed as an independent YouTube web series in September 2019. The series was created by Christian Jacobs, and Scott Schultz, both the creators of the Nick Jr. show Yo Gabba Gabba!, and Jason deVilliers.
Based on the superhero mythology of The Aquabats, a real-life comedy rock band which series co-creator and lead singer Jacobs formed in 1994, The Aquabats! Super Show! follows the comic adventures of a fictionalized version of the band, a musical group of amateur superheroes, as they haphazardly defend the world from a variety of villains and monsters. Styled similarly to the campy aesthetics of 1960s and 1970s children's television and Japanese tokusatsu, Super Show! utilizes various mediums of visual styles and special effects, mixing live-action storylines with cartoon shorts, parody advertisements and musical interludes.
The series' first season concluded on June 16, 2012 following a run of 13 episodes, having met with a largely positive critical reception, consistently high ratings for the channel and a Daytime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Children's Series. The series' second season consisted of an initial five episodes which aired through June 2013, with three additional episodes airing in late December and January 2014, receiving similar acclaim and a further seven Daytime Emmy nominations, ultimately winning one for Best Stunt Coordination. In June 2014, co-creator Jacobs officially announced the series' cancellation, following news of The Hub's financial losses which led to the network's rebranding as Discovery Family later that October.
In July 2018, The Aquabats launched a successful Kickstarter to help independently finance new episodes of The Aquabats! Super Show!, promoting the campaign with a series of YouTube-exclusive mini-episodes continuing the original series' storyline. On September 28, 2019, The Aquabats premiered the first installment of these new episodes, now a biweekly YouTube series entitled The Aquabats! RadVentures!, though still retaining Super Show!s theme song and title card.
Series overview
Premise
Chronicled in both live-action and animated segments, The Aquabats! Super Show! is centered around the adventures of The Aquabats, a group of superhero rock musicians who travel the countryside on a self-appointed mission to fight evil and "destroy boredom", protecting the world from the villains and creatures who threaten to destroy it while aiming to become a famous rock and roll band in their own right.
The Aquabats consist of singer The MC Bat Commander (Christian Jacobs), the swaggering leader of the group; bassist Crash McLarson (Chad Larson), who can grow up to 100 feet in size; drummer Ricky Fitness (Richard Falomir), who has the power of super speed; guitarist EagleBones Falconhawk (Ian Fowles), who's armed with a laser-shooting electric guitar; and keyboardist Jimmy the Robot (James R. Briggs, Jr.), an android. Despite their superhuman strengths and abilities, The Aquabats are quite bumbling, disorganized, and sometimes cowardly when faced with danger; this has in fact led them to be labeled "the world's most inept superheroes". The band lives and travels by way of their "Battletram", a modified classic GMC motorhome which, despite its small exterior, has an implausibly massive interior (similar to the TARDIS from Doctor Who or The Big Bologna from The Kids From C.A.P.E.R.), which contains, among many things, a science lab, a command center, and a living room.
The Aquabats' origin story was left intentionally vague throughout the series, a choice Jacobs explains was done for the sake of the viewer's imagination, as he felt kids were more accepting of the inherent absurdity of the premise than adults tend to be: "'There's five guys. This is what each of the five guys does. There are monsters. They're gonna try to fight them'. It's so simple. And I think that's why it's so awesome with kids—they just take it and run with it". In the first five episodes of season two, each member of The Aquabats shares their memory of how they joined the band via animated flashback sequences; however, all of these flashbacks directly and intentionally contradict each other, leaving it unknown which—if any—could be considered officially canonical.
Format and influences
The Aquabats! Super Show! juxtaposes both live-action and animated segments starring The Aquabats, interwoven with various tangential skits and cartoon interstitials. The live-action storylines are the primary focus of each episode, following a self-contained villain of the week formula. In the first season, each episode featured brief anime-styled cartoon shorts which one of the characters would introduce at a random point of the show, often by finding "A Cartoon" (represented by a miniature television set) in an absurd location. Unlike the live-action segments, these cartoons followed a serialized story arc, with each installment ending in a cliffhanger to be resolved in the next episode. In season two, this format was replaced with a series of animated flashbacks recounting the origins of The Aquabats, each by a different animation studio and in a different animation style. Between these segments are pantomime cartoon shorts starring "Lil' Bat", The Aquabats' anthropomorphic bat mascot, and live-action parody commercials for outlandish fictional products, the latter of which has long been a staple of The Aquabats' multi-media stage shows.
Jacobs says the concept behind Super Show! was something he had always dreamed of doing, making a "campy, live-action, funky kid's show" in the vein of the 1960s and 1970s television that he and the rest of the series' producers had grown up with. While the show pays homage to many facets of pop culture, Jacobs has named the 1960s Batman television series as the primary influence on Super Show!s "obviously silly" tone and visual style, ranging from set design to the trademark use of dutch angles for villain scenes. Other notable influences Jacobs has repeatedly mentioned include the works of Sid and Marty Krofft and Hanna-Barbera, Japanese tokusatsu series such as Ultraman and Johnny Sokko And His Flying Robot, the Shaw Brothers and Hong Kong cinema, and shows including Danger Island, Star Trek, The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, and Pee-wee's Playhouse, noting "there's a good 30 years worth of television culture packed into these 22-minute episodes".
Demographic
As The Hub's key demographic were children aged 6 to 12, Super Show! was ostensibly targeted towards said age group, though Jacobs has stated that the series primarily aimed to appeal to an all-ages crowd, with the intent of creating entertainment that both kids and parents can watch and enjoy together or separately. In interviews prior to the series' premiere, he explained that this was merely an extension of The Aquabats' own family-friendly ethos: "There's just obviously something about the costumes and being superheroes that really appeals to younger kids, and I think we always knew that as a band...I think we'll want to put things in [the show] for an older audience, because we realize we have an older audience, but then also we want the young kids, to not have it go over their heads".
Production history
History and previous attempts at a series
In 1994, musicians Christian Jacobs, Chad Larson and former member Boyd Terry formed The Aquabats in Brea, California. Influenced as much by cartoons and camp television as theatrical bands like Devo and Oingo Boingo, The Aquabats gained instant notoriety in the Orange County music scene for their eccentric persona in which they claimed to be a band of superheroes on a quest to save the world and their elaborate stage shows which regularly featured scripted fights with costumed villains alongside similar stunts and comedy sketches.
The Aquabats' second studio album, 1997's The Fury of The Aquabats!, proved to be a minor commercial breakthrough for the group, charting on the Billboard 200 and bringing them exposure through such venues as MTV, leading Jacobs – a former child actor with ties in the industry – to develop the concept of adapting the band's mythology for television. In 1998, Buena Vista Television helped produce a live-action mini-pilot directed by comedian Bobcat Goldthwait titled simply The Aquabats!, following the comic misadventures of the then-eight member band in an over-the-top camp style similar to Saturday morning cartoon shows. The pilot, which has yet to be made available for public viewing, failed to generate any network interest and was ultimately even disowned by the band themselves.
Undeterred, The Aquabats made an attempt at a second pilot the following year, using a music video budget granted by their record label Goldenvoice Records for their 1999 album The Aquabats vs. the Floating Eye of Death!. Independently directed and produced by Jacobs and his creative partner Scott Schultz, the result was a five-minute promo video entitled The Aquabats in Color!. In contrast to the wackier tone of the previous pilot, The Aquabats in Color! was a more action-oriented superhero series modeled after Japanese tokusatsu shows such as Kamen Rider. According to Jacobs, the Fox Family Channel reportedly expressed interest in the series and ordered production on a proper pilot episode, though following the channel's acquisition by Disney in 2001, the project was cancelled.
The Aquabats! Super Show! pilot (2008)
In 2005, Jacobs and Schultz formed the Orange County-based production company The Magic Store, focusing on creating family-oriented television entertainment. One of the company's independently produced pilots, the children's television series Yo Gabba Gabba!, was eventually picked up as a series by Viacoms Nick Jr. channel, premiering in August 2007 and ultimately becoming an award-winning and critically acclaimed international success. In the wake of the series' popularity, Jacobs and Schultz persuaded Yo Gabba Gabba!s joint production company Wild Brain to help produce a new pilot based around The Aquabats in conjuncture with The Magic Store.
Again creatively spearheaded by Jacobs and Schultz, The Aquabats' third pilot, titled The Aquabats! Super Show!, was shot on location throughout southern California in late 2007 and early 2008. Part of this filming took place at a free invitation-only concert for members of the band's official fan club at the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles on January 12, 2008. While The Aquabats' previous pilots were short, live-action promotional videos, The Aquabats! Super Show! was a fully realized 22-minute episode featuring two separate storylines based on the adventures of The Aquabats, one live-action and one animated, and interspersed with parody commercials and live footage of the band. Speaking on the decision to structure the show in such a varied format, Jacobs said "[w]e did that for a strategic reason – some networks like cartoons more than other networks. We wanted to say, 'this could be both shows'."
Following a period of post-production, The Aquabats began widely self-promoting Super Show! in June 2008, redesigning their website to promote the pilot and releasing a teaser trailer and several exclusive clips through an official Super Show! YouTube channel. On July 25, 2008, the band screened the full pilot at a concert in San Diego held during the weekend of the San Diego Comic-Con, while a segment of the episode was hosted on Boing Boing the same day. In 2009, Cartoon Network allegedly picked the series up for a run of 22 episodes, though following major staff changes within the company—which, according to Jacobs, included the termination of the executives who had green-lighted Super Show!—the project was again cancelled.
The Hub and season one
After several more unsuccessful network pitches into the 2010s, The Aquabats! Super Show! was finally picked up as a series by family cable channel The Hub, a joint venture between Hasbro and Discovery which launched in 2010 as a replacement for Discovery Kids. The Hub formally announced the series in a press release on March 23, 2011, revealing Super Show! would be given a first season run of 13 episodes, produced in conjuncture with FremantleMedia. In promotion of the series, The Aquabats appeared as part of a panel at the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con where they discussed their initial plans for the show, while The Hub sponsored an Aquabats concert held at the nearby House of Blues during the same weekend.
Production on season one of Super Show! officially began in May 2011. The entirety of the first season was shot within and around The Aquabats' hometown of Orange County, California; according to the first season DVD audio commentary, episodes were shot on location in the cities of Irvine, Silverado, Yorba Linda, Huntington Beach and Fullerton, while a private sound stage in Santa Ana was used for interior shots of the Battletram. A public Aquabats concert held at The Glass House club in Pomona on November 5, 2011 was also filmed to provide live footage of the band which is featured in the series' opening credits montage and several individual episodes.
Much of Super Show!s staff consist of friends and colleagues of The Aquabats who've previously worked with the band on various projects, ranging from members of Yo Gabba Gabba!s production team to fellow musicians within the southern California music scene. Among the more notable examples include Dallas McLaughlin and Matthew Gorney, both members of the San Diego hip hop band Bad Credit, who prominently served as writers, composers and performers, Warren Fitzgerald, guitarist for The Vandals, who was hired as a writer and music director, internet sketch comedy group Mega64 were commissioned to produce original material, primarily the series' parody commercials, and Japanese artist Pey, who had designed much of The Aquabats' promotional art and merchandise during the 2000s, was hired to design the season's animated segments. Additionally, several industry professionals were brought in to help work on the show: Dani Michaeli, a staff writer on SpongeBob SquarePants, was hired as the series' story editor, while Matt Chapman, co-creator of the internet Flash cartoon Homestar Runner, acted as a writer, director and actor on several episodes. As none of the members besides Jacobs had any previous acting experience, comedian Matt Walsh of the Upright Citizens Brigade was brought in to help teach The Aquabats comedic acting and timing.
In further homage to the original Batman series, Super Show! features a variety of celebrity cameo appearances. The series' first season included appearances from actors Jon Heder, Lou Diamond Phillips and Samm Levine, comedians Rip Taylor, Paul Scheer and Paul Rust, and comedy musician "Weird Al" Yankovic, who appeared in two episodes as different characters. The first season also included several "Easter egg" cameos from original Aquabats members Corey "Chainsaw" Pollock and Boyd "Catboy" Terry, as well as from fellow musicians Warren Fitzgerald and Art Mitchell of the band Supernova.
Despite having been originally announced as part of The Hub's 2011 Fall line-up, production delays postponed Super Show!s premiere to early 2012. The series' marketing campaign began in December 2011, with a later announcement of an official premiere date confirmed for March 3, 2012. Following a non-consecutive run of 13 episodes, the first-season finale aired on June 16, 2012.
Season two
On October 16, 2012, The Aquabats and The Hub confirmed production on new episodes of Super Show! through the social networking sites Facebook and Twitter, announcing a tentative debut date of Spring 2013. Principal photography on season two began on October 22 and wrapped on December 1. Unlike the first season, the majority of season two was shot in and around Salt Lake City, Utah, which Jacobs explained was considerably less expensive than shooting in California.
While no changes were made to Super Shows creative team, in December 2012 it was announced that season two would introduce the series' first guest director, musician and comic book writer Gerard Way, who co-directed and co-wrote the season finale "The AntiBats!" with Jacobs and deVilliers. Way's involvement with the series was heavily covered by the music press in the wake of the March 2013 break-up of his popular alternative rock band My Chemical Romance. Among the guest stars featured in season two were professional skateboarders Tony Hawk and Eric Koston, Devo frontman and Yo Gabba Gabba! cast member Mark Mothersbaugh, internet celebrity Leslie Hall, actor Martin Starr and My Chemical Romance bassist Mikey Way.
On December 2, 2012, deVilliers revealed on his Twitter account that the upcoming season would consist of only five new episodes, in what he called more "season 1.5" than a "season 2", though mentioned the possibility of more being made in the future. On May 1, 2013, it was announced through Entertainment Weekly that the series' second season would begin airing on June 1. After a run of only five episodes, the season concluded on June 29, 2013.
2013–2014 specials
On August 22, 2013, series performer Chad Larson confirmed via Twitter that three additional episodes of Super Show! were being filmed near the end of the year, "and maybe more next". Principal photography on these episodes eventually began in Utah in early October. Throughout the month, The Aquabats posted numerous pictures of production on the new episodes on their Twitter and Instagram accounts, some of which revealed production code numbers of 301, 302 and 303, ostensibly indicating what would be a third season. Though these numbers were later verified by the Internet Movie Database, a November press release from The Hub explicitly referred to these three episodes as "specials".
The first of these specials, "Christmas with The Aquabats!", aired on December 21, featuring comedians Robert Smigel and Matt Walsh in guest roles. The second of these episodes, "The Shark Fighter!" (based on The Aquabats' song of the same name), featuring comedian Rhys Darby, aired the following week on December 28, while the final special "Kitty Litter!" aired on January 18, 2014. "Kitty Litter!" was helmed by another guest director, Munn Powell, best known for his work as cinematographer on the Jared and Jerusha Hess films Napoleon Dynamite and Gentlemen Broncos.
Following this short run of episodes, there was no confirmation by either The Hub or The Aquabats as to the production of any future episodes. In a December 2013 interview, Christian Jacobs acknowledged the network's unusually small order of episodes but didn't elaborate on any possible reasoning. In the same interview, he stated that the band had initially prepared for another order of 13 episodes, having written as many scripts for potential future episodes.
On May 1, 2014, the nominees for the 2014 Daytime Emmy Awards were announced, revealing that Super Show! had been nominated for five awards in four categories, including the award for Best Writing in a Children's Series for the episode "The AntiBats!". The awards ceremony was held on June 22, 2014, where the series ultimately won the award for Best Stunt Coordination for stuntman Skip Carlson.
Cancellation by The Hub and hiatus
In mid-2014, it was announced in entertainment press that Hasbro and Discovery had been in the process of rebranding The Hub following what they saw to be disappointing returns for the channel, changes which included the departure of CEO Margaret Loesch, who was instrumental in acquiring Super Show! as a series. In a Huffington Post feature about The Aquabats prior to the band's appearance at the 2014 San Diego Comic-Con, it was revealed that The Hub had opted not to renew Super Show! for a third season, effectively cancelling the series.
Jacobs admitted he was surprised by this turn of events, noting "Everything we heard was that the show has been a real Cinderella story for the Hub and that it was rating really well with viewers. We just assumed that we'd eventually go back into production or at least get picked up for Season 3", but ultimately concluded "it is what it is" in regard to the network's decision. Despite this, Jacobs remained optimistic about the series' future, saying "Given that we now live in a world where people are streaming TV shows directly onto their iPhones & computers, and given that companies like Netflix & Yahoo! are now picking up so much new content for their customers...I just find it hard to believe that The Aquabats! Super Show! is really over. I mean, we haven't even made any toys yet". He concluded by stating "It took us almost 15 years to get that TV series made. And even though we've got a bunch more concert dates lined up for the rest of this year, our first priority is to find a new home for The Aquabats! Super Show!".
On March 31, 2015, the nominees for the 42nd annual Daytime Emmy Awards were announced, with Super Show! earning nominations for Best SFX Mixer (Blaine Stewart) and Best Stunt Coordinator (Braxton McAllister).
On June 27, 2015, The Aquabats screened the entire first season of Super Show! before a sold-out crowd at The Frida Cinema in downtown Santa Ana, which was accompanied by a live performance by the band and Q&A sessions with The Aquabats and numerous members of the cast and crew. A similar presentation of the entire second season – including the three additional specials – took place at The Art Theater in Long Beach on December 16, 2017, coinciding with the release of the second season Blu-ray.
Bring Back The Aquabats! Kickstarter campaign
Following weeks of teasing a major announcement, The Aquabats launched a Kickstarter campaign on July 31, 2018 to help finance the return of The Aquabats! Super Show! as well as new studio albums from the band at a minimum projected cost of $1.1 million. The Aquabats promoted their campaign with a video featuring a slew of celebrity cameos, including Super Show! guest stars "Weird Al" Yankovic, Robert Smigel (as Triumph the Insult Comic Dog), Matt Chapman (as Homestar Runner and Strong Bad), former Aquabats member Travis Barker, Tony Kanal, Tom Dumont, Oscar Nunez, Kate Micucci, Blake Anderson, Imagine Dragons, Felicia Day and Tom Lennon, all of whom appeared in The Aquabats' trademark uniforms and spoke the Kickstarter's promotional slogan "I am The Aquabats"/"We are The Aquabats". Most prominently featured, however, was comedian Jack Black, who was later confirmed by the campaign's press releases to act as executive producer for the series' return.
Along with their Kickstarter, the band began releasing a series of Super Show! "mini-episodes", depicting the MC Bat Commander's metafictional quest to reunite the estranged Aquabats following the series' cancellation. The band confirmed that as the Kickstarter progresses, further "mini-episodes" will be released to both promote the campaign as well as act as a continuation of Super Show!.
By August 28, mere days before the campaign's end date of September 1, The Aquabats' Kickstarter had raised only $601,629 of its projected $1.1 million goal. The funding was subsequently cancelled and the campaign was rebooted the same day with a smaller goal of $100,000 to instead finance one new album and the continued production of the Super Show!! "mini-episodes". The project's goal was met within minutes.
Music
Original music for The Aquabats! Super Show! was primarily composed and performed by The Aquabats themselves, with additional scoring on most episodes provided by Matthew Gorney, Warren Fitzgerald or individual credits for Aquabats members James R. Briggs, Jr., Richard Falomir and Ian Fowles. Fitzgerald, guitarist for punk rock band The Vandals and former member of Oingo Boingo, acted as the series' music supervisor. The theme song to Super Show!, "Super Show Theme Song!", was co-written by The Aquabats and Fitzgerald.
Whereas most musically oriented shows like The Monkees typically break the narrative of an episode for a music video performance of a standalone song, each episode of Super Show! typically features one or two unique songs that tied directly into the plot, usually about and performed during the events of a particular scene. Most of these songs are rather brief, averaging a running time of just under a minute; Jacobs stated that many of the show's original songs were recorded as full-length pieces but trimmed down for inclusion in an episode, simply due to the show "trying to pack so much into 22 minutes".
Shortly after Super Show!s premiere, Jacobs confirmed plans to eventually release the series' original full-length songs as a soundtrack album. However, these plans wouldn't fully come to fruition until 2019; in a 2018 interview, Jacobs retrospectively revealed that the album had been long completed but the band "hadn't had all the rights tied up" until then. The first original and full-length recordings from the series' first season debuted in July 2017, when "Burger Rain" and "Beat Fishin'" were released as a tour-exclusive 7" single. Songs from the series' first season were eventually compiled as The Aquabats! Super Show! Television Soundtrack: Volume One, which was released digitally in March 2019 and then onto physical media the following June, where it became The Aquabats' highest-charting album to date, debuting at the top of Billboards Top Heatseekers chart and at 165 on the Billboard 200.
Cast and characters
See: List of The Aquabats! Super Show! characters
The Aquabats! Super Show! stars and is based upon fictionalized versions of the then-current (since 2006) line-up of the California comedy rock band The Aquabats. Adapting the backstory the band has used for the entirety of their professional career, Super Show! depicts The Aquabats as a group of bumbling, out-of-shape superheroes on a self-appointed mission to fight the forces of evil, presented in both live-action and animated segments. The five members of The Aquabats are:
The MC Bat Commander (played and voiced by Christian Jacobs) – The Aquabats' singer and de facto leader of the team. Though he doesn't have any superpowers of his own and is often quite stubborn and naive, the Commander is shown to be an effective strategist whose sharp leadership skills, bravery and determination regularly drive the band towards victory.
Crash McLarson (played and voiced by Chad Larson) – The band's bass guitarist, who has the frequently uncontrollable ability to grow upwards of 100 feet in size when under emotional stress. Despite being the largest and strongest of The Aquabats, Crash has a gentle, childlike demeanor bordering on slight dim-wittedness, and as such is usually the most cowardly member of the team.
Jimmy the Robot (played and voiced by James R. Briggs, Jr.) – The Aquabats' keyboardist. As his name implies, Jimmy is an android whose mechanical body houses a variety of built-in gadgets and weaponry, plus a comprehensive knowledge database which earns him the position of the group's resident scientist. Being a robot, Jimmy is generally perplexed by human emotions and behavior.
Ricky Fitness (played and voiced by Richard Falomir) – the band's drummer, Ricky possesses the power of super speed. Being the most physically fit and health-conscious member of The Aquabats, some of the series' running gags revolve around Ricky's status as a handsome ladies' man and his fondness for "fresh, healthy veggies" in contrast to the rest of the team's voracious affinity for junk food.
EagleBones Falconhawk (played and voiced by Ian Fowles) – The Aquabats' guitarist. The cocky and boyish maverick of the team, EagleBones is highly proficient on his custom weaponized electric guitar which shoots lasers from its headstock. Following a spiritual encounter early in season one, EagleBones also has the gift of second sight and is accompanied by "The Dude", an invisible spirit eagle whom he summons to aide The Aquabats in battle.
Voice actor and writer Mr. Lawrence provided the minimal narration for both seasons of Super Show!s live-action segments, while staff writer Kyle McCulloch narrated the first season's animated segments.
Guest stars and recurring characters
Though each episode of the series introduced a new villain, ally and/or celebrity cameo, Super Show! never featured any major recurring characters throughout its run. However, every episode of the show included a very brief appearance by a character fans dubbed the "Fox Man", a man in a cheap-looking fox costume played by visual effects supervisor Joel Fox, who would appear hidden in the background of a random scene as an Easter egg for viewers to spot, although his character was never explained within the context of the series.
Comedy musician "Weird Al" Yankovic and comedian Paul Rust were the only two guest actors to appear in two episodes: Yankovic played two different roles as the President of the United States and superhero SuperMagic PowerMan! (in a 2012 interview, Jacobs alluded to the two possibly being the same character, though this isn't implied within the series), while Rust played a boorish slacker named Ronmark, first appearing in live-action in a first-season episode and subsequently lending his voice to a mutated monster version of the character in part of a second-season episode.
Episodes
Distribution
International broadcast
Outside of North America, The Aquabats! Super Show! broadcast in Australia on the children's public broadcasting channel ABC3 and in the United Kingdom on the children's network CITV.
Home media
Coinciding with the run of the first season, each new episode of The Aquabats! Super Show! was released through the iTunes Store for digital download. Prior to the series debut, a season pass was made available for purchase to enable viewers to automatically receive a download of each new episode on its airdate. The first season of Super Show! was added to the video streaming service Netflix on December 1, 2012, later being added to Hulu on December 21.
Unlike the first season, the series' second season was not made available for iTunes pre-order, nor were episodes released for purchase. Though each episode was briefly streamed on The Hub's official website, none of the seasons' episodes were made available on Hulu, Netflix or similar streaming services.
Shout! Factory had the DVD publishing rights for The Aquabats! Super Show! within Region 1 for release of the first season. The company first announced their acquisition of the series and plans for a future DVD in a press release dated August 6, 2012, though did not initially confirm a set release date until several months later. On May 21, 2013, the first season of Super Show! was released on a two-disc DVD set.
On November 22, 2017, in conjunction with their announcement of a season two theatrical screening, The Aquabats confirmed an independent Blu-ray release for season two, including the three specials often considered a "season three". On December 5, pre-orders were launched on The Aquabats' merchandising site for an official release date of December 22, though copies were first made for public sale at the second season theatrical screening on December 16.
Starting in December 2014, The Aquabats gradually began uploading the series' full episodes onto their official YouTube channel. As of August 2019, all 21 episodes of Super Show! and its pilot episode have been publicly uploaded to their account.
Critical reception
Critical response to The Aquabats! Super Show! was predominantly positive, with most reviewers praising the series' intentionally campy tone and offbeat humor. The Onions The A.V. Club gave the series premiere an A− rating, describing it as "a loving homage to basically everything ever done by the brothers Krofft": "the show adeptly flips from humor to melodrama to action, providing some awesomely cheap special effects, goofy songs, and gags that range from slapstick to sublime", summarizing "there's so much here that both kids and parents will be able to enjoy the proceedings on their own respective levels and rarely find themselves bored".
Brian Lowry of Variety wrote "you don't have to laugh at everything to admire the effort and sheer silliness", calling the show a "goofy and nostalgic" throwback to the "children's TV of baby boomers' youth, down to crappy production values and awful-looking 'monsters' that work to its advantage". He summarized "Although this Hub series at times feels like an SNL skit stretched to a half-hour, its sly mix of music, live-action crime-fighting, cartoons and mock ads ought to develop a cult following—and might be more popular with parents, at least those with the geek gene, than their kids".
Technology magazine Wired was consistently positive towards the series, calling it both "wonderfully strange" and "delightfully deranged", writing "[f]illed with self-deprecating music videos, toon interludes and ludicrous villains, The Aquabats! Super Show! has become one of television's strangely comforting finds".
Common Sense Media, who review shows based on age-appropriate content, gave Super Show! a rating of 4 out of 5 stars, calling it "demented and manic...fun by sheer dint of how many jokes, visual and otherwise, are thrown at the screen, both those calculated to appeal to kids and adults". The site praised the series for its lighter and sillier tone in comparison to more violent live-action superhero fare, and considered the "kind-hearted" Aquabats to be relatively positive role models. However, the reviewer suggested the show's violence and creatures may be too intense for very young children, and pointed out a distinct lack of central female characters.
Neil Genzlinger of The New York Times offered a more indifferent opinion, calling The Aquabats "indescribably odd" and the series "frenetic, semicoherent and generally harmless. Also somewhat hallucinogenic", noting Super Show!s writing "may be over the heads of the 2-to-12 set", suggesting its most receptive audience might be "the college drinking-game crowd".
Awards and nominations
The Aquabats! Super Show! was nominated for the following awards:
Daytime Emmy Award
References
External links
Official website of The Aquabats
The Aquabats
2010s American children's television series
2010s American musical comedy television series
2010s American satirical television series
2010s American sketch comedy television series
2010s American superhero comedy television series
2012 American television series debuts
2014 American television series endings
American children's adventure television series
American children's musical television series
American television series with live action and animation
Children's sketch comedy
English-language television shows
Television series by Fremantle (company)
Television shows set in Orange County, California
American television shows featuring puppetry
Discovery Family original programming | true | [
"A flashback (sometimes called an analepsis) is an interjected scene that takes the narrative back in time from the current point in the story. Flashbacks are often used to recount events that happened before the story's primary sequence of events to fill in crucial backstory. In the opposite direction, a flashforward (or prolepsis) reveals events that will occur in the future. Both flashback and flashforward are used to cohere a story, develop a character, or add structure to the narrative. In literature, internal analepsis is a flashback to an earlier point in the narrative; external analepsis is a flashback to a time before the narrative started.\n\nIn film, flashbacks depict the subjective experience of a character by showing a memory of a previous event and they are often used to \"resolve an enigma\". Flashbacks are important in film noir and melodrama films. In films and television, several camera techniques, editing approaches and special effects have evolved to alert the viewer that the action shown is a flashback or flashforward; for example, the edges of the picture may be deliberately blurred, photography may be jarring or choppy, or unusual coloration or sepia tone, or monochrome when most of the story is in full color, may be used. The scene may fade or dissolve, often with the camera focused on the face of the character and there is typically a voice-over by a narrator (who is often, but not always, the character who is experiencing the memory).\n\nNotable examples\n\nLiterature\nAn early example of analepsis is in the Ramayana and Mahabharata, where the main story is narrated through a frame story set at a later time. Another early use of this device in a murder mystery was in \"The Three Apples\", an Arabian Nights tale. The story begins with the discovery of a young woman's dead body. After the murderer later reveals himself, he narrates his reasons for the murder in a series of flashbacks leading up to the discovery of her dead body at the beginning of the story. Flashbacks are also employed in several other Arabian Nights tales such as \"Sinbad the Sailor\" and \"The City of Brass\".\n\nAnalepsis was used extensively by author Ford Madox Ford, and by poet, author, historian and mythologist Robert Graves. The 1927 book The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder is the progenitor of the modern disaster epic in literature and film-making, where a single disaster intertwines the victims, whose lives are then explored by means of flashbacks of events leading up to the disaster. Analepsis is also used in Night by Elie Wiesel. If flashbacks are extensive and in chronological order, one can say that these form the present of the story, while the rest of the story consists of flash forwards. If flashbacks are presented in non-chronological order, the time at which the story takes place can be ambiguous: An example of such an occurrence is in Slaughterhouse-Five where the narrative jumps back and forth in time, so there is no actual present time line. Os Lusíadas is a story about voyage of Vasco da Gama to India and back. The narration starts when they were arriving in Africa but it quickly flashes back to the beginning of the story which is when they were leaving Portugal.\n\nThe Harry Potter series employs a magical device called a Pensieve, which changes the nature of flashbacks from a mere narrative device to an event directly experienced by the characters, who are thus able to provide commentary.\n\nFilm\nThe creator of the flashback technique in cinema was Histoire d’un crime directed by Ferdinand Zecca in 1901. Flashbacks were first employed during the sound era in Rouben Mamoulian's 1931 film City Streets, but were rare until about 1939 when, in William Wyler's Wuthering Heights as in Emily Brontë's original novel, the housekeeper Ellen narrates the main story to overnight visitor Mr. Lockwood, who has witnessed Heathcliff's frantic pursuit of what is apparently a ghost. More famously, also in 1939, Marcel Carné's film Le Jour Se Lève is told almost entirely through flashback: the story starts with the murder of a man in a hotel. While the murderer, played by Jean Gabin, is surrounded by the police, several flashbacks tell the story of why he killed the man at the beginning of the film.\n\nOne of the most famous examples of a flashback is in the Orson Welles' film Citizen Kane (1941). The protagonist, Charles Foster Kane, dies at the beginning, uttering the word Rosebud. The remainder of the film is framed by a reporter's interviewing Kane's friends and associates, in a futile effort to discover what the word meant to Kane. As the interviews proceed, pieces of Kane's life unfold in flashback, but Welles' use of such unconventional flashbacks was thought to have been influenced by William K. Howard's The Power and the Glory. Lubitsch used a flashback in Heaven Can Wait (1943) which tells the story of Henry Van Cleve. Though usually used to clarify plot or backstory, flashbacks can also act as an unreliable narrator. The multiple and contradictory staged reconstructions of a crime in Errol Morris's 1988 documentary The Thin Blue Line are presented as flashbacks based on divergent testimony. Akira Kurosawa's 1950 Rashomon does this in the most celebrated fictional use of contested multiple testimonies.\n\nSometimes a flashback is inserted into a film even though there was none in the original source from which the film was adapted. The 1956 film version of Rodgers and Hammerstein's stage musical Carousel used a flashback device which somewhat takes the impact away from a very dramatic plot development later in the film. This was done because the plot of Carousel was then considered unusually strong for a film musical. In the film version of Camelot (1967), according to Alan Jay Lerner, a flashback was added not to soften the blow of a later plot development but because the stage show had been criticized for shifting too abruptly in tone from near-comedy to tragedy.\n\nIn Billy Wilder's film noir Double Indemnity (1944), a flashback from the main character is used to provide a confession to his fraudulent and criminal activities. Fish & Cat is the first single-shot movie with several flashbacks.\n\nA good example of both flashback and flashforward is the first scene of La Jetée (1962). As we learn a few minutes later, what we are seeing in that scene is a flashback to the past, since the present of the film's diegesis is a time directly following World War III. However, as we learn at the very end of the film, that scene also doubles as a prolepsis, since the dying man the boy is seeing is, in fact, himself. In other words, he is proleptically seeing his own death. We thus have an analepsis and prolepsis in the very same scene.\n\nOccasionally, a story may contain a flashback within a flashback, with the earliest known example appearing in Jacques Feyder's L'Atlantide. Little Annie Rooney (1925) contains a flashback scene in a Chinese laundry, with a flashback within that flashback in the corner of the screen. In John Ford's The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), the main action of the film is told in flashback, with the scene of Liberty Valance's murder occurring as a flashback within that flashback. Other examples that contains flashbacks within flashbacks are the 1968 Japanese film Lone Wolf Isazo and 2004's The Phantom of the Opera, where almost the entire film (set in 1870) is told as a flashback from 1919 (in black-and-white) and contains other flashbacks; for example, Madame Giry rescuing the Phantom from a freak show. An extremely convoluted story may contain flashbacks within flashbacks within flashbacks, as in Six Degrees of Separation, Passage to Marseille, and The Locket. \n\nThis technique is a hallmark of Kannada movie director Upendra. He has employed this technique in his movies - Om (1995), A(1998) and the futuristic flick Super (2010) - set in 2030 containing multiple flashbacks ranging from 2010 to 2015 depicting a Utopian India.\n\nSatyajit Ray experimented with flashbacks in The Adversary (Pratidwandi, 1972), pioneering the technique of photo-negative flashbacks. He also uses flashbacks in other films such as Nayak (1966), Kapurush- O - Mahapurush ( 1965), Aranyer Din Ratri (1970), Jalsaghar(1959). In fact, in Nayak, the entire film proceeds in a non linear narrative which explores the Hero (Arindam's) past through seven flashbacks and two dreams. He also uses extensive flashbacks in the Kanchenjunga (1962).\n\nQuentin Tarantino makes extensive use of the flashback and flashforward in many of his films. In Reservoir Dogs (1992), for example, scenes of the story present are intercut with various flashbacks to give each character's backstory and motivation additional context. In Pulp Fiction (1994), which uses a highly nonlinear narrative, traditional flashback is also used in the sequence titled \"The Gold Watch\". Other films, such as his two-part Kill Bill (Part I 2003, Part II 2004), also feature a narrative that bounces between present time and flashbacks.\n\nTelevision\nThe television series Quantico, Kung Fu, Psych, How I Met Your Mother, Grounded for Life, Once Upon a Time, and I Didn't Do It use flashbacks in every episode. Flashbacks were also a predominant feature of the television shows Lost, Arrow, Phineas and Ferb, Orange Is the New Black, 13 Reasons Why, Elite and Quicksand. Many detective shows routinely use flashback in the last act to reveal the culprit's plot, e.g. Murder, She Wrote, Banacek, Columbo.\n\nThe anime Inuyasha uses flashbacks that take one back half a century ago in the two-part episode \"The Tragic Love Song of Destiny\" in the sixth season narrated by the elderly younger sister of Lady Kikyo, Lady Kaede; Episodes 147 and 148.\n\nIn Princess Half-Demon, the ongoing spinoff to the anime stated above, the premiere takes us back eighteen years ago, five months since the conclusion of the original series' seventh season. Episode Fifteen \"Farewell Under the Lunar Eclipse\" is narrated by Riku that explains what had happened before and right after the Half-Demon Princesses were born; namely where Inuyasha and nineteen-year-old Kagome Higurashi had ended up, trapped within the Black Pearl at the border of the Afterlife for fourteen long years. Some months later, flashbacks that are memories belonging to Jaken (\"The Silver-Scale Curse\") and Hachimon (\"Battle of the Moon, Part 1\") eventually come. \n\nThe 2D hand-drawn animated show Tangled (later renamed Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure) for its second and third seasons) began showing flashbacks set a quarter of a century ago in the Dark Kingdom, where the heavenly Moonstone resides within for hundreds of years in the second season's premiere \"Beyond the Walls of Corona\", \"Rapunzel and the Great Tree\" and the finale \"Destinies Collide.\"\n\nReferences\n\nPattison, Darcy. Writing Flashbacks. When and why to include a flashback and tips on writing a flashback.\n\nLiterary concepts\nNarrative techniques\nPlot (narrative)",
"Battlestar Galactica: Razor Flashbacks is a collective title given to a series of seven \"webisodes\" released in late 2007 in lead up to the television movie Battlestar Galactica: Razor via the world wide web and weekly airing. According to Ronald D. Moore, the Razor Flashbacks, in contrast to both The Resistance and The Face of the Enemy webseries, should technically be considered as featurettes. 'The distinction between the two is that webisodes were new material created specifically for the internet, while the featurettes are really little more than deleted scenes from Razor. Despite this, the series is still often referred to as being a series of webisodes due to their separate release.\n\nThe final scene, \"Escape\", featuring Edward James Olmos as the older Adama, is omitted in both the television and extended DVD versions of Razor. Otherwise, the flashbacks from \"The Lab\" onwards were directly integrated into the TV version, while the DVD edition included all of the remaining episodes except \"Day 4,571\" and \"The Hangar\". All webisodes are available for individual viewing on the Region 1, 2 and 4 DVD sets of Razor as a special feature, and are included in \"The Complete Series\" DVD and Blu-ray box sets. The webisodes are also available as free downloads on the Xbox Live Marketplace, some of which are featured in high-definition 720p resolution.\n\nPlot\nThe series is set during the final stages of the First Cylon War. It focuses on a younger William \"Husker\" Adama in his fighter pilot days aboard Galactica while on an important mission to uncover the Cylons' “super weapon” on a mysterious icy planet.\n\nThe webisode series starts on the 4,571st day of the war (about 40 years before the destruction of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol). While Galactica is fighting Cylon threats, Adama faces his own problems when he discovers his lover has been gravely injured after her raptor is attacked by the Cylons. Adama soon finds himself swung into action shooting down Cylon raiders, but after a head-on collision with a raider, ejects and lands on the nearby planet, only to be confronted by the unexpected reality of what the Cylons have been working on.\n\nWebisodes\n\nCast\n Young Lt. William \"Husker\" Adama, played by Nico Cortez\n Aaron Doral, played by Matthew Bennett\n Ops Officer, played by Chris Bradford\n Hybrid, played by Campbell Lane\n Banzai (squad leader), played by Jacob Blair\n Lt. Jaycie McGavin, played by Allison Warnyca\n Frightened man, played by Ben Cotton\n Commander William Adama, 40 years after the war and just prior to the destruction of the colonies, played by Edward James Olmos (\"Escape\" only)\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nRazor Flashbacks at the Battlestar Wiki\nRazor Flashbacks at IMDB\n\n2007 web series debuts\n2007 web series endings\nRazor Flashbacks\nRazor Flashbacks\nAmerican science fiction web series"
]
|
[
"Stephen Larkham",
"Later career"
]
| C_b95e422a80f54efeb7ffe6eeda4dd749_0 | What did Larkham do in his later career? | 1 | What did Larkham do in his later career? | Stephen Larkham | Larkham was an important part of the Australian 2003 World Cup squad which lost in the tournament final to England. He has suffered greatly from injuries through his career, especially to his knees and right elbow. Despite these he remained a competent defender in spite of his relatively light frame. He was also tried at inside centre by John Connolly for one test against Wales 2006 but the experiment was not regarded a success and he never played there again. He was famous for forming a long-standing half-back partnership with George Gregan, both of whom were foundation players with the ACT Brumbies rugby franchise. When both retired after the 2007 World Cup, not only were they the two most-capped Wallabies, but they played in more Tests than any other scrum-half/fly-half combination in history, with 79 appearances together. So important were they to the team that in 2007 at Bruce Stadium (Canberra Stadium), a new stand was unveiled as the "Gregan-Larkham Stand" in honour of both players and their combination to the team. He played his last test against Japan in the 2007 World Cup before a knee injury sidelined him, which effectively ended his Test career as Australia were then knocked out of the competition before he could return. On 14 May 2007, despite larger offers from French and English teams, Larkham signed a contract with Edinburgh Rugby in Scotland to join them after the 2007 World Cup; however; this deal subsequently fell through, reportedly because the Scottish Rugby Union would not fund the deal. Newly promoted Leeds expressed an interest, as did the Welsh side, the Dragons. However, in January 2008 it was announced that he will join Ricoh Black Rams of Japan. Larkham played for the ACT Veterans Rugby Club at the World Vintage Rugby Carnival in Hawaii in September 2012. During this carnival he also played as a reserve for an old boys team from Brazil who, not realising who he was, asked him to play second row because he was tall. Despite his other commitments, Larkham occasionally still plays with the ACT Veterans to help them raise funds for the charities they support. On 18 February 2018, he received the GENLEC Player of the Day jacket for his great play and sportsmanship in the Clare Holland Cup charity match. CANNOTANSWER | Larkham played for the ACT Veterans Rugby Club at the World Vintage Rugby Carnival in Hawaii in September 2012. | Stephen Larkham (born 29 May 1974) is a retired Australian rugby union professional player, currently in the role of senior coach for Irish provincial side Munster, who compete in the United Rugby Championship and Champions Cup. He spent his career with the Brumbies in Super Rugby, for whom he played from the inception of the professional Super 12 in 1996 through 2007. He is best known for his long tenure with the Wallabies at international level, for whom he played 102 times. After initial selection at fullback from 1996 to 1997, Larkham was the first-choice Australian fly-half from 1997 to 2007, playing in the 1999, 2003 and 2007 Rugby World Cups. He is married to Jacqueline and has two children, Jaimee and Tiahna.
Playing career
Having started his career as a fullback, Larkham developed into one of the greatest fly-halves in the history of Australian rugby, being named in 2005 at the position in Australia's team of the decade (the "decade" being the first 10 years of professional rugby union). At his peak, Larkham was one of the best flyhalves in world rugby, with reputation as an elusive runner and the lynchpin of a potent backline.
He first gained notice in 1995 when he was plucked from reserve grade club rugby to represent ACT in the Super 12 as a utility back in the Brumbies squad, playing a number of Super 12 games before attracting the attention of the national selectors. Larkham made his test debut as a reserve against Wales in Sydney in 1996 when he replaced injured Ben Tune on the wing, and then joined the Wallabies on their undefeated tour of Europe. In 1997, Larkham proved more than a capable replacement at fullback for the injured Matt Burke, with a two-try effort in the Wallabies final Test against Scotland at Murrayfield. On 16 January 2008 Larkham signed a three-year contract with Japanese club Ricoh Black Rams. After two full seasons in Japan, Larkham negotiated an early release in order to return to Australia. He played in Japan for the first half of the 2010–11 Top League season playing for the Ricoh Black Rams in Japan and then returned to Canberra in November 2010 to take up the role of attack coach for the Brumbies.
Fullback to Fly Half transition
Larkham's conversion from fullback to flyhalf is now hailed as a Rod Macqueen masterstroke that put the Wallabies on track to win the 1999 Rugby World Cup. This was initially a controversial selection as his tactical kicking was regarded as too weak for the position; however, his ability to get the Australian back line going and to slide through gaps himself quickly ended the debate. Simon Poidevin while commenting for Australian TV remarked during the third test against the All Blacks in 1998 that "anyone who thinks (Larkham) is a dud flyhalf needs their head read" (i.e. is wrong) and this was eventually accepted to be correct.
1999 Rugby World Cup drop-goal
Larkham's famous 48m-drop goal to seal victory over South Africa in extra time of the 1999 Rugby World Cup semi-final has gone down in rugby folklore as the defining moment in the Wallabies' victorious Rugby World Cup campaign. South Africa had got to the semi final largely through the efforts of Jannie de Beer kicking five drop goals in their previous match. By contrast not one of the Australian players on the team had to that date ever scored a drop goal at test level. The fact that Larkham had quite a badly injured knee through the match caused Steve Smith to remark incredulously while calling the game for English ITV "He can barely stand on that leg and yet he just thwacked it over."
The feat was even more remarkable as Larkham's eyesight was very poor at the time. Since 1999 he has had laser surgery to correct his vision, however at the time he could not see the goal posts clearly.
Following Australia's victory over France in the World Cup final, several television commercials aired in Australia humorously mocking Larkham's lack of kicking prowess. The commercial featured current & former teammates, junior and senior coaches (including former Australian coach Rod MacQueen) and even Australian rugby icons (such as Phil Kearns) expressing their astonishment that Larkham managed to score.
The commercial begins with Larkham's school coaches saying he was a poor kicker, and had never successfully scored a drop-goal in a match. The climax of the commercial features then-captain John Eales, as well as Matt Burke, Kearns and MacQueen each saying "Don't kick it!" as footage of the moment is replayed. The commercial is available to view on YouTube.
Later career
Larkham was an important part of the Australian 2003 World Cup squad which lost in the tournament final to England. He has suffered greatly from injuries through his career, especially to his knees and right elbow. Despite these he remained a competent defender in spite of his relatively light frame. He was also tried at inside centre by John Connolly for one test against Wales 2006 but the experiment was not regarded a success and he never played there again.
He was famous for forming a long-standing half-back partnership with George Gregan, both of whom were foundation players with the ACT Brumbies rugby franchise. When both retired after the 2007 World Cup, not only were they the two most-capped Wallabies, but they played in more Tests than any other scrum-half/fly-half combination in history, with 79 appearances together. So important were they to the team that in 2007 at Bruce Stadium (Canberra Stadium), a new stand was unveiled as the "Gregan-Larkham Stand" in honour of both players and their combination to the team.
He played his last test against Japan in the 2007 World Cup before a knee injury sidelined him, which effectively ended his Test career as Australia were then knocked out of the competition before he could return.
On 14 May 2007, despite larger offers from French and English teams, Larkham signed a contract with Edinburgh Rugby in Scotland to join them after the 2007 World Cup; however; this deal subsequently fell through, reportedly because the Scottish Rugby Union would not fund the deal. Newly promoted Leeds expressed an interest, as did the Welsh side, the Dragons. However, in January 2008 it was announced that he will join Ricoh Black Rams of Japan.
Larkham played for the ACT Veterans Rugby Club at the World Vintage Rugby Carnival in Hawaii in September 2012. During this carnival he also played as a reserve for an old boys team from Brazil who, not realising who he was, asked him to play second row because he was tall. Despite his other commitments, Larkham occasionally still plays with the ACT Veterans to help them raise funds for the charities they support. On 18 February 2018, he received the GENLEC Player of the Day jacket for his great play and sportsmanship in the Clare Holland Cup charity match.
Coaching
Brumbies and Australia
In 2010, Larkham returned to the Brumbies ahead of the 2011 Super Rugby season to take up the role of attack coach. He worked under the head coach of Tony Rea who left the franchise at the end of that season. Larkham and newly appointed head coach Jake White made a formidable duo, as during the 2012 Super Rugby season, the Brumbies went from being the fourth best Australian franchise to the second best behind the Queensland Reds. Larkham's attacking influence saw the Brumbies pick up 5 bonus points wins, and an overall better point difference in favor of for. He guided Matt Toomua and Christian Lealiifano to world class fly-half options, which helped the Brumbies secure the top Australian conference position during the 2013 Super Rugby season, finishing second overall losing in the final to the Chiefs 27–22. In 2014, Jake White dramatically resigned as head coach, with Larkham and Laurie Fisher being appointed joint coaches for that season. They finished second in the Australian conference and fourth in the standings after the regular season. They faced the Waratahs in the Semi-final, losing 26–8 in Sydney.
In 2015, Fisher left his role to join Gloucester, with Stephen being appointed head coach. In Larkhams's debut season as head coach, he led the Brumbies to the Semi-Final of the 2015 Super Rugby season, finishing sixth in the overall standings at the end of the regular season. The Brumbies finished with 9 out of 16 wins, which included 3 wins over South African opposition and 2 wins over New Zealand opposition. The season also included a 29–0 win over the Queensland Reds in Brisbane, to make the Brumbies the first team to have held a team scoreless twice against the same opponent. During the qualifier round, the Brumbies convincingly beat the Stormers in Cape Town 39–19, to set up an away semi-finals against first seeds Hurricanes. The Brumbies lost this match 29–9 to be eliminated from Champions contention.
On 27 February 2015, newly appointed Wallabies coach Michael Cheika appointed Larkham as the backs and attack coach for the national side for the 2015 Rugby World Cup. That campaign saw a marked improvement in the team's performance, with the Australians winning the shortened Rugby Championship competition that year, going on to eliminate World Cup hosts England in pool play, and contesting the final against New Zealand (losing 34–17). Larkham remained with the national side until February 2019, when he was controversially sacked by Cheika after coming under intense pressure following a number of years of poor results.
Munster
Larkham joined Irish provincial side Munster as their senior coach ahead of the northern hemisphere 2019–20 season, where he works alongside head coach Johann van Graan, defence coach JP Ferreira and forwards coach Graham Rowntree. Larkham will leave Munster upon the conclusion of the 2021–22 season to return to his native Australia.
Return to Brumbies
Larkham will return to Brumbies in July 2022 to take up the position of head coach for the 2023 and 2024 Super Rugby Pacific seasons.
Honours
Larkham was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 2012. He was admitted to the World Rugby Hall of Fame in 2018.
See also
Brumbies
Wallabies
Wallaby Team of the Decade
List of rugby union test caps leaders
ACT Veterans Rugby Club
References
External links
itsrugby.co.uk stats
Brumbies Profile
Wallabies Profile
Remembering Bernie, a tribute to Stephen Larkham
Ricoh unveils Larkham - Daily Yomiuri, 14 February 2008
1974 births
Living people
Australian rugby union players
Australian rugby union coaches
Australia international rugby union players
Brumbies coaches
Brumbies players
Barbarian F.C. players
Munster Rugby non-playing staff
People from the Australian Capital Territory
Black Rams Tokyo players
Rugby union fly-halves
Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees
World Rugby Hall of Fame inductees | true | [
"Larkham Motor Sport was a motorsport team contesting the V8 Supercar Championship between 1995 and 2005.\n\nHistory \nLarkham Motor Sport was formed in 1990 with the intent of furthering Mark Larkham's career after he won the 1989 Australian Formula Ford Championship. After originally running a Ford EA Falcon in the Australian Production Car Championship with little success, Larkham returned to open wheelers and purchased a Ralt RT20 Formula Holden to run in the 1991 Australian Drivers' Championship. Finishing third he created a rivalry with series champion Mark Skaife which would continue for much of the next decade. For 1992 a relaxation in the rules governing what Formula Holden cars could be built from saw Larkham be the first to import a carbon-fibre constructed racing car to Australia in a Reynard 90D, adapted to the regulations by team mechanic Sam Michael. Using this car Larkham would spend the next two seasons as runner-up to Skaife. After the 1993 season Larkham sold his car and spent 18 months planning his return to racing.\n\nV8 Supercars\nWith support from Mitre 10, Ford and Yokohama, Larkham entered V8 Supercars with a Ford Falcon EF debuting at round 3 of the 1995 Australian Touring Car Championship. Rather than purchasing a car from a larger team, the team elected to build its own car. The design was quite different from other cars of the era, with some open-wheel style thinking incorporated into its design. Although ultimately unsuccessful, the concept would later be adopted by other teams.\n\nFor 1997, Larkham concluded a deal to race a customer Stone Brothers Racing Falcon EL on Bridgestone tyres. After a third-place finish at the Bathurst 1000, in 1998, Larkham won at the non-championship Indy Surfers Paradise race.\n\nFor 1999, while still having an association with Stone Brothers Racing, including racing a Falcon AU built by them, Larkham again went out on his own. At the end of 2000, Mitre 10 concluded it sponsorship. After a series of short term deals in 2001, Orrcon Steel joined as title sponsor in 2002.\n\nIn 2003, the team expanded to two cars with Jason Bargwanna joining. At the end of 2003 Larkham retired and was replaced by Mark Winterbottom. In October 2005, the team announced that Bargwanna and Winterbottom had been re-signed for the 2006 season. However within a month, Larkham had accepted an offer from Ford Performance Racing to buy-out Winterbottom's contract. Larkham also accepted an offer from V8 Supercars to purchase his RECs as part of its plan to reduce the size of the grid. Bargwanna and Orrcon joined WPS Racing with Mark Larkham becoming the team manager for a brief period.\n\nDrivers\n\nReferences\n\nAustralian auto racing teams\nAuto racing teams established in 1990\nSports clubs disestablished in 2005\nSports teams in Queensland\nSupercars Championship teams\n1990 establishments in Australia\n2005 disestablishments in Australia",
"Mark \"Larko\" Larkham (born 29 December 1963 in Griffith) is a retired Australian racing driver, former racing team owner and television commentator.\n\nOpen wheelers\n\nMark Larkham's first impressions on the national racing spotlight was finishing fifth in the 1988 Motorcraft Formula Ford Driver to Europe Series. The following year with the support of the front running Coffey Ford team, Larkham won the 1989 series creating an early rivalry with Russell Ingall. This was highlighted by their first corner clash at Mallala where Larkham and Ingall collided.\n\nForming his own Larkham Motor Sport team, Larkham made a brief attempt at running a Ford EA Falcon in the 1991 Australian Production Car Championship and returned to open-wheelers at the wheel of a Ralt RT20 in Formula Brabham. In his first season Larkham finished third in the 1991 Australian Drivers' Championship and was the only driver to take a win away from Mark Skaife. The following year Larkham imported a Reynard 90D, the first driver to exploit the relaxation of Formula Brabham rules which had previously prevented cars constructed of carbon-fibre. It was not enough to defeat Skaife however and Larkham ended runner up.\n\nIn 1993 Larkham again raced head-to-head with Skaife, now also sporting a carbon-fibre car, and again Larkham lost the title to Skaife. Larkham did however claim Formula Brabham's first international event, the 1993 Indonesian Grand Prix.\n\nTouring cars\nLarkham's first foray into touring car racing came at the 1989 Pepsi 300 at the Oran Park Raceway in Sydney where he was to co-drive a Ford Sierra RS500 with nine time Bathurst winner Peter Brock. Brock qualified the car on pole, but Larkham didn't get to drive as the car was retired with a suspected blown head gasket after only 13 of the 100 laps. Larkham stayed with the Mobil 1 Racing team for the 1989 .05 – 500 at Sandown where he was to drive the team's second Sierra alongside Brad Jones. After Brock's own car again failed to finish (after leading the first third of the race), the team boss joined Jones and Larkham in the #105 car, going on to finish 7th outright. Larkham missed a place in the team for that years Tooheys 1000 at Bathurst when the team was joined by British Sierra expert Andy Rouse. The Brock team had switched to Sierra's at the start of 1989 using car's purchased from Rouse with part of the deal being that the multiple BTCC winner would be Brock's co-driver at Bathurst. Co-driving with Jones in the car Larkham drove at Sandown was young Kiwi hotshot Paul Radisich who unlike Larkham had previous Bathurst experience. Larkham would not make his Bathurst debut for another 6 years.\n\nLarkham spent the next four years driving Formula Holden/Brabham before spending 1994 out of the sport. Larkham's team then stepped into 5.0L Touring Cars in 1995 with a Ford EF Falcon using an innovative car design, bringing their open wheel experience and principles to touring car racing, though the team had a troubled season and failed to score a single point. Some of their innovations spread across the sport however. The team gradually improved, a highlight was third place at the 1997 Primus 1000 Classic at Bathurst, working themselves into a position where it could attract international quality co-drivers. By 1998 much of vehicle preparation was being handled by Stone Brothers Racing, promoting Larkham into a race winning combination, the win finally coming at the 1998 Surfers Paradise Indycar event. 1999 continued improved performances with Larkham taking pole position at the Bathurst 1000. During this time Larkham also first served on the board of TEGA.\n\nIn 2003 the team expanded to a second car with 2000 Bathurst 1000 winner Jason Bargwanna taking on lead driving role. Larkham scaled back his driving involvement with 2003 V8 Development Series winner Mark Winterbottom taking Larkham's place as full-time driver. Larkham's final racing drive was at the 2004 Bathurst 1000. After the 2005 season Larkham Motor Sport was sold into the WPS Racing, with Larkham taking over team management role with WPS, however this did not last the season and Larkham retired from the sport.\n\nTelevision\n\nLarkham returned to the sport as part of Channel 7's television broadcast coverage of V8 Supercar. Larkham has been used as their on air technical guru, explaining to the wider audience V8 Supercar's intricacies. Larkham also acts as one of the pit reporters during the races. Larkham also acts as frequent guest and occasional co-host with Neil Crompton and Mark Skaife of V8 Xtra program.\n\nFor 2015, the television rights for V8 Supercars moved from Channel 7 to a split deal between Network Ten and Foxtel, and Larkham moved from Channel 7 to Network Ten. He remains involved with their V8 Supercars coverage along with Matt White, as well as being a specialist on the motorsports panel show RPM\n\nLarkham also serves on the board of the Australian Institute for Motor Sport Safety.\n\nCareer results\n\nComplete Bathurst 1000 results\n\nReferences\n\n1963 births\nAustralian Touring Car Championship drivers\nFormula Ford drivers\nFormula Holden drivers\nLiving people\nMotorsport announcers\nPeople from Benalla\nRacing drivers from Victoria (Australia)\nSupercars Championship drivers"
]
|
[
"Stephen Larkham",
"Later career",
"What did Larkham do in his later career?",
"Larkham played for the ACT Veterans Rugby Club at the World Vintage Rugby Carnival in Hawaii in September 2012."
]
| C_b95e422a80f54efeb7ffe6eeda4dd749_0 | Does he still play with them? | 2 | Does Larkham still play with the ACT Veterans Rugby Club? | Stephen Larkham | Larkham was an important part of the Australian 2003 World Cup squad which lost in the tournament final to England. He has suffered greatly from injuries through his career, especially to his knees and right elbow. Despite these he remained a competent defender in spite of his relatively light frame. He was also tried at inside centre by John Connolly for one test against Wales 2006 but the experiment was not regarded a success and he never played there again. He was famous for forming a long-standing half-back partnership with George Gregan, both of whom were foundation players with the ACT Brumbies rugby franchise. When both retired after the 2007 World Cup, not only were they the two most-capped Wallabies, but they played in more Tests than any other scrum-half/fly-half combination in history, with 79 appearances together. So important were they to the team that in 2007 at Bruce Stadium (Canberra Stadium), a new stand was unveiled as the "Gregan-Larkham Stand" in honour of both players and their combination to the team. He played his last test against Japan in the 2007 World Cup before a knee injury sidelined him, which effectively ended his Test career as Australia were then knocked out of the competition before he could return. On 14 May 2007, despite larger offers from French and English teams, Larkham signed a contract with Edinburgh Rugby in Scotland to join them after the 2007 World Cup; however; this deal subsequently fell through, reportedly because the Scottish Rugby Union would not fund the deal. Newly promoted Leeds expressed an interest, as did the Welsh side, the Dragons. However, in January 2008 it was announced that he will join Ricoh Black Rams of Japan. Larkham played for the ACT Veterans Rugby Club at the World Vintage Rugby Carnival in Hawaii in September 2012. During this carnival he also played as a reserve for an old boys team from Brazil who, not realising who he was, asked him to play second row because he was tall. Despite his other commitments, Larkham occasionally still plays with the ACT Veterans to help them raise funds for the charities they support. On 18 February 2018, he received the GENLEC Player of the Day jacket for his great play and sportsmanship in the Clare Holland Cup charity match. CANNOTANSWER | Despite his other commitments, Larkham occasionally still plays with the ACT Veterans to help them raise funds for the charities they support. | Stephen Larkham (born 29 May 1974) is a retired Australian rugby union professional player, currently in the role of senior coach for Irish provincial side Munster, who compete in the United Rugby Championship and Champions Cup. He spent his career with the Brumbies in Super Rugby, for whom he played from the inception of the professional Super 12 in 1996 through 2007. He is best known for his long tenure with the Wallabies at international level, for whom he played 102 times. After initial selection at fullback from 1996 to 1997, Larkham was the first-choice Australian fly-half from 1997 to 2007, playing in the 1999, 2003 and 2007 Rugby World Cups. He is married to Jacqueline and has two children, Jaimee and Tiahna.
Playing career
Having started his career as a fullback, Larkham developed into one of the greatest fly-halves in the history of Australian rugby, being named in 2005 at the position in Australia's team of the decade (the "decade" being the first 10 years of professional rugby union). At his peak, Larkham was one of the best flyhalves in world rugby, with reputation as an elusive runner and the lynchpin of a potent backline.
He first gained notice in 1995 when he was plucked from reserve grade club rugby to represent ACT in the Super 12 as a utility back in the Brumbies squad, playing a number of Super 12 games before attracting the attention of the national selectors. Larkham made his test debut as a reserve against Wales in Sydney in 1996 when he replaced injured Ben Tune on the wing, and then joined the Wallabies on their undefeated tour of Europe. In 1997, Larkham proved more than a capable replacement at fullback for the injured Matt Burke, with a two-try effort in the Wallabies final Test against Scotland at Murrayfield. On 16 January 2008 Larkham signed a three-year contract with Japanese club Ricoh Black Rams. After two full seasons in Japan, Larkham negotiated an early release in order to return to Australia. He played in Japan for the first half of the 2010–11 Top League season playing for the Ricoh Black Rams in Japan and then returned to Canberra in November 2010 to take up the role of attack coach for the Brumbies.
Fullback to Fly Half transition
Larkham's conversion from fullback to flyhalf is now hailed as a Rod Macqueen masterstroke that put the Wallabies on track to win the 1999 Rugby World Cup. This was initially a controversial selection as his tactical kicking was regarded as too weak for the position; however, his ability to get the Australian back line going and to slide through gaps himself quickly ended the debate. Simon Poidevin while commenting for Australian TV remarked during the third test against the All Blacks in 1998 that "anyone who thinks (Larkham) is a dud flyhalf needs their head read" (i.e. is wrong) and this was eventually accepted to be correct.
1999 Rugby World Cup drop-goal
Larkham's famous 48m-drop goal to seal victory over South Africa in extra time of the 1999 Rugby World Cup semi-final has gone down in rugby folklore as the defining moment in the Wallabies' victorious Rugby World Cup campaign. South Africa had got to the semi final largely through the efforts of Jannie de Beer kicking five drop goals in their previous match. By contrast not one of the Australian players on the team had to that date ever scored a drop goal at test level. The fact that Larkham had quite a badly injured knee through the match caused Steve Smith to remark incredulously while calling the game for English ITV "He can barely stand on that leg and yet he just thwacked it over."
The feat was even more remarkable as Larkham's eyesight was very poor at the time. Since 1999 he has had laser surgery to correct his vision, however at the time he could not see the goal posts clearly.
Following Australia's victory over France in the World Cup final, several television commercials aired in Australia humorously mocking Larkham's lack of kicking prowess. The commercial featured current & former teammates, junior and senior coaches (including former Australian coach Rod MacQueen) and even Australian rugby icons (such as Phil Kearns) expressing their astonishment that Larkham managed to score.
The commercial begins with Larkham's school coaches saying he was a poor kicker, and had never successfully scored a drop-goal in a match. The climax of the commercial features then-captain John Eales, as well as Matt Burke, Kearns and MacQueen each saying "Don't kick it!" as footage of the moment is replayed. The commercial is available to view on YouTube.
Later career
Larkham was an important part of the Australian 2003 World Cup squad which lost in the tournament final to England. He has suffered greatly from injuries through his career, especially to his knees and right elbow. Despite these he remained a competent defender in spite of his relatively light frame. He was also tried at inside centre by John Connolly for one test against Wales 2006 but the experiment was not regarded a success and he never played there again.
He was famous for forming a long-standing half-back partnership with George Gregan, both of whom were foundation players with the ACT Brumbies rugby franchise. When both retired after the 2007 World Cup, not only were they the two most-capped Wallabies, but they played in more Tests than any other scrum-half/fly-half combination in history, with 79 appearances together. So important were they to the team that in 2007 at Bruce Stadium (Canberra Stadium), a new stand was unveiled as the "Gregan-Larkham Stand" in honour of both players and their combination to the team.
He played his last test against Japan in the 2007 World Cup before a knee injury sidelined him, which effectively ended his Test career as Australia were then knocked out of the competition before he could return.
On 14 May 2007, despite larger offers from French and English teams, Larkham signed a contract with Edinburgh Rugby in Scotland to join them after the 2007 World Cup; however; this deal subsequently fell through, reportedly because the Scottish Rugby Union would not fund the deal. Newly promoted Leeds expressed an interest, as did the Welsh side, the Dragons. However, in January 2008 it was announced that he will join Ricoh Black Rams of Japan.
Larkham played for the ACT Veterans Rugby Club at the World Vintage Rugby Carnival in Hawaii in September 2012. During this carnival he also played as a reserve for an old boys team from Brazil who, not realising who he was, asked him to play second row because he was tall. Despite his other commitments, Larkham occasionally still plays with the ACT Veterans to help them raise funds for the charities they support. On 18 February 2018, he received the GENLEC Player of the Day jacket for his great play and sportsmanship in the Clare Holland Cup charity match.
Coaching
Brumbies and Australia
In 2010, Larkham returned to the Brumbies ahead of the 2011 Super Rugby season to take up the role of attack coach. He worked under the head coach of Tony Rea who left the franchise at the end of that season. Larkham and newly appointed head coach Jake White made a formidable duo, as during the 2012 Super Rugby season, the Brumbies went from being the fourth best Australian franchise to the second best behind the Queensland Reds. Larkham's attacking influence saw the Brumbies pick up 5 bonus points wins, and an overall better point difference in favor of for. He guided Matt Toomua and Christian Lealiifano to world class fly-half options, which helped the Brumbies secure the top Australian conference position during the 2013 Super Rugby season, finishing second overall losing in the final to the Chiefs 27–22. In 2014, Jake White dramatically resigned as head coach, with Larkham and Laurie Fisher being appointed joint coaches for that season. They finished second in the Australian conference and fourth in the standings after the regular season. They faced the Waratahs in the Semi-final, losing 26–8 in Sydney.
In 2015, Fisher left his role to join Gloucester, with Stephen being appointed head coach. In Larkhams's debut season as head coach, he led the Brumbies to the Semi-Final of the 2015 Super Rugby season, finishing sixth in the overall standings at the end of the regular season. The Brumbies finished with 9 out of 16 wins, which included 3 wins over South African opposition and 2 wins over New Zealand opposition. The season also included a 29–0 win over the Queensland Reds in Brisbane, to make the Brumbies the first team to have held a team scoreless twice against the same opponent. During the qualifier round, the Brumbies convincingly beat the Stormers in Cape Town 39–19, to set up an away semi-finals against first seeds Hurricanes. The Brumbies lost this match 29–9 to be eliminated from Champions contention.
On 27 February 2015, newly appointed Wallabies coach Michael Cheika appointed Larkham as the backs and attack coach for the national side for the 2015 Rugby World Cup. That campaign saw a marked improvement in the team's performance, with the Australians winning the shortened Rugby Championship competition that year, going on to eliminate World Cup hosts England in pool play, and contesting the final against New Zealand (losing 34–17). Larkham remained with the national side until February 2019, when he was controversially sacked by Cheika after coming under intense pressure following a number of years of poor results.
Munster
Larkham joined Irish provincial side Munster as their senior coach ahead of the northern hemisphere 2019–20 season, where he works alongside head coach Johann van Graan, defence coach JP Ferreira and forwards coach Graham Rowntree. Larkham will leave Munster upon the conclusion of the 2021–22 season to return to his native Australia.
Return to Brumbies
Larkham will return to Brumbies in July 2022 to take up the position of head coach for the 2023 and 2024 Super Rugby Pacific seasons.
Honours
Larkham was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 2012. He was admitted to the World Rugby Hall of Fame in 2018.
See also
Brumbies
Wallabies
Wallaby Team of the Decade
List of rugby union test caps leaders
ACT Veterans Rugby Club
References
External links
itsrugby.co.uk stats
Brumbies Profile
Wallabies Profile
Remembering Bernie, a tribute to Stephen Larkham
Ricoh unveils Larkham - Daily Yomiuri, 14 February 2008
1974 births
Living people
Australian rugby union players
Australian rugby union coaches
Australia international rugby union players
Brumbies coaches
Brumbies players
Barbarian F.C. players
Munster Rugby non-playing staff
People from the Australian Capital Territory
Black Rams Tokyo players
Rugby union fly-halves
Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees
World Rugby Hall of Fame inductees | true | [
"Water Drops on Burning Rocks () is a 2000 French drama film directed by François Ozon. The film is based on a German play by Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Tropfen auf heiße Steine.\n\nPlot\n\nAct 1\nA 50-year-old business man Léopold (Bernard Giraudeau) arrives home with 20-year-old Franz (Malik Zidi), whom he has just met. Franz is not quite sure why he agreed to come home with Léopold as he is supposed to be meeting his fiancée Anna, but he accepts drinks from Léopold and they begin to get to know each other. Franz tells Léopold that he is not sure whether or not he loves Anna, that he does not really enjoy sex with her, finding more pleasure in books, theatre and life in general. Léopold asks him if he has ever slept with a man. Franz says he has not, but describes a dream where a man comes into his bedroom in an overcoat and has sex with him. Léopold says that although he once lived with a woman for seven years, he has always found sex with men more exciting. They kiss, and Léopold tells Franz to get undressed and into bed. He then appears beside the bed in an overcoat ready to re-enact Franz's dream.\n\nAct 2\nSix months later, Franz is living happily with Léopold. He stays at home while Léopold goes on business trips. When Léopold returns, Franz tends to his every need and has become very passive. Léopold has become very domineering. The two men spend a great deal of time arguing and Franz worries about Léopold leaving him, but they still have a satisfying physical relationship. One night, Léopold, feeling melancholic, confesses that he believes he has driven one of his customers to commit suicide. Franz, unsure how to comfort Léopold, seduces him, and they perform the role-play from their first night together, this time with roles reversed.\n\nAct 3\nFranz and Léopold are still enjoying sex together, but the animosity between them is growing. Franz threatens to leave, but he does not. When Léopold is away on business, Franz is bored and depressed. He finds a gun and imagines shooting himself. One day his ex-fiancée Anna (Ludivine Sagnier) visits. She sees how unhappy he is and tells him that she still loves him and wants to be with him. They kiss, and Franz acts out the man-in-the-overcoat sequence with her.\n\nAct 4\nFranz and Anna have been sleeping together in Léopold's apartment for two days. She has convinced him to leave and happily talks about the children they will have together. Although he still loves Léopold, Franz agrees that he should leave. Léopold returns from work early and finds them packing. When Anna tells him that Franz is leaving, Léopold just laughs and tells Franz to get them some coffee. Léopold's ex-girlfriend Véra (Anna Levine) arrives and Léopold introduces her, explaining that she is a trans woman. Véra is still in love with Léopold. He then tells them that Véra used to like being tied up, and that Franz likes it too. Franz, angry at being humiliated by the older man, says they are leaving, but Anna wants to stay. Léopold wants them all to have fun together. Léopold starts ordering the two women about. They are excited and start getting him whatever he wants. Franz is disgusted. Léopold tells him that although he does not need Franz, Franz needs him. When Léopold and the women go to the bedroom. Franz goes to join them but changes his mind. He fantasises about murdering Léopold. In the bedroom, Véra realises that the other two do not need her and leaves them to it.\n\nShe finds Franz lying on the floor crying. She tells him that she is Léopold's \"creature\", that after he stopped desiring her, she had a sex change operation for him. This worked for a while but Léopold eventually left Véra. Franz tells her that she is still beautiful, and they make love. Despite the fact that they both love Léopold, she suggests that they get together. Franz tells her that it is too late. He has taken some poison and is dying. He says that he is Léopold's creature too.\n\nFranz dies. When Véra tells Léopold, he seems unconcerned. Anna is shocked and upset to lose the father of her future children, but when Léopold tells her to get back into bed, she does. Léopold asks Véra to join them in bed, telling her that although he does not need her, she needs him. She tries to jump out of the window, but cannot open it.\n\nCast\n Bernard Giraudeau as Léopold\n Malik Zidi as Franz\n Ludivine Sagnier as Anna\n Anna Levine as Véra\n\nMusic\nMusic featured in the film includes:\n \"Träume\", performed by Françoise Hardy\n Symphonie n°4 en sol majeur, by Gustav Mahler\n Requiem, 1. Dies Irae, by Giuseppe Verdi\n Zadok the Priest, by George Frideric Handel\n \"Tanze Samba mit Mir\", performed by Tony Holiday\n\nReception\nOn Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 75% based on reviews from 24 critics. On Metacritic it has a score of 73% based on reviews from 23 critics, indicating \"generally favorable reviews\".\n\nAwards\n Berlin Film Festival (Germany)\n Won: Teddy Award for Best Feature Film (François Ozon)\n Nominated: Golden Berlin Bear (François Ozon)\n César Awards (France)\n Nominated: Most Promising Actor (Malik Zidi)\n New York Lesbian and Gay Film Festival (USA)\n Won: Best Feature (François Ozon)\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n \n\n2000 films\nMale bisexuality in film\n2000 drama films\nFrench films based on plays\nFrench films\n2000s French-language films\n2000s German-language films\nFrench LGBT-related films\nFilms directed by François Ozon\nFrench drama films\n2000 LGBT-related films\nFilms produced by Alain Sarde\nFilms about trans women\nLGBT-related drama films\n2000s multilingual films\nFrench multilingual films",
"Seascape is a two-act play by American playwright Edward Albee. He completed it in 1974, having first developed it in 1967 as a short play entitled Life, the first half of a projected double bill with another play called Death (which later became All Over). Seascape won the 1975 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.\n\nProductions\nThe play opened on Broadway at the Sam S. Shubert Theatre on January 26, 1975 and closed on March 22, 1975 after 65 performances. Directed by Albee, the cast starred Deborah Kerr (Nancy), Barry Nelson (Charlie), Maureen Anderman (Sarah) and Frank Langella (Leslie). Langella won the 1975 Tony Award, Featured Actor in a Play. The play was nominated for the 1975 Tony Award, Play and Lighting Design (Play or Musical)\t(James Tilton).\n\nThe original three-act version of the play ran in Europe. Albee \"jettisoned a large section of the play\" during the out of town tryout in Baltimore, prior to the Broadway premiere.\n\nAlbee received his second Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1975 for the play.\n\nSeascape was revived on Broadway by Lincoln Center Theater at the Booth Theatre on October 28, 2005 (previews) and closed on January 8, 2006 after 27 previews and 55 performances. Directed by Mark Lamos, the cast starred George Grizzard (Charlie), Frances Sternhagen (Nancy), Elizabeth Marvel (Sarah), and Frederick Weller (Leslie). The sets were by Michael Yeargan, costumes by Catherine Zuber, and lighting by Peter Kaczorowski.\n\nThe original three-act version received its American premiere in Boston in a production by Zeitgeist Stage Company at the Boston Center for the Arts Plaza Theater in October 2008 through a special arrangement with the playwright. The director was David J. Miller, with lights by Jeff Adelberg, costumes by Fabian Aguilar, fights & movement by Meron Langsner, and sound by Walter Eduardo. The cast consisted of Michelle Dowd as Nancy (who won an IRNE Award for Best Actress for the role), Peter Brown as Charlie, Claude Del as Leslie, and Emma Goodman as Sarah. The original second act is set entirely underwater.\n\nOverview\nLike many of Albee's plays, Seascape focuses on communication in interpersonal relationships, in this case between couples. Albee's first successful play, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1962), and his first Pulitzer Prize-winning play, A Delicate Balance (1966), are also concerned with this topic. Seascape is different from these dramas on several counts. Seascape is not strictly a drama but, according to various critics, has elements of comedy, fantasy, satire and absurdism.\n\nIn Seascape, Nancy and Charlie, an American couple on the verge of the major life change of retirement, are having problems in their relationship. They are discussing these matters on the beach when another couple appears, two human-sized lizards named Leslie and Sarah who speak and act like people. The lizards have evolved to such a degree that they no longer feel at home in the sea and are compelled to seek life on the land. What the lizards experience with Nancy and Charlie nearly drives them back to the sea, but with an offer of help from the human couple, they decide to stay.\n\nThis relatively happy ending is not common in many of Albee's previous plays, and some critics find it refreshing. Before Albee won the Pulitzer Prize for drama for Seascape, however, many critics reacted negatively to the first production. Only a few had generally positive responses. One was Clive Barnes of The New York Times who writes, \"What Mr. Albee has given us here is a play of great density, with many interesting emotional and intellectual reverberations.\" The Nation's Harold Clurman places Seascape in a positive context in terms of Albee's development as a playwright. He believes, \"It is his most relaxed play, a 'philosophical' whimsy.\"\n\nThe nod to absurdism is not only found in having half the cast being human/lizards but also in a few staging elements. For example, several times throughout the play a jet flies above, and each time Nancy and Charlie repeat the same dialog for two or three lines.\n\nSummary\n\nAct I\nSeascape opens on a beach. An older couple, Nancy and Charlie, has finished a picnic lunch. As Nancy cleans up, the noise of a jet flying low engulfs the stage. Charlie predicts that a jet will someday smash into a dune.\n\nNancy expresses her desire to be near the water forever. She loves everything about it and would like to travel from beach to beach. Charlie responds negatively to her dreams. He does not want to do anything or go anywhere.\n\nCharlie's attitude angers Nancy. She points out that life is short. She threatens to have adventures on her own. Charlie's attitude changes after Nancy's outburst, and she retreats from her plan a bit. She is content to enjoy the moment.\n\nAfter another jet passes by, Nancy reminds Charlie about his childhood desire to live under the water. Charlie tells her how he would sink to the bottom of a pool or lake and sit there until he had to breathe. Nancy encourages him to do this again and get in touch with his youth. Charlie refuses, embarrassed by her insistence.\n\nNancy changes the subject to their sex life. She tells him about a time in their marriage when she thought of divorcing him. There was tension, and she suspected that he was having an affair. Charlie denies this, and Nancy accepts his word.\n\nNancy encourages him to sink under the water again and to show her how he did it. Charlie again refuses and turns the conversation to her. He tells her that she was a good wife. Nancy says the same about him, listing the many ways in which he was a good husband. When she is done, she is bitter because the \"good life\" they have had seems limited to her. Charlie is hurt by her attitude. They argue. Nancy is still angry that his only interest is to rest, while she wants to experience new things.\n\nDuring a pause at the end of their heated argument, Leslie, a human-sized male lizard, takes a peek at them. Nancy tries to get Charlie to help write postcards, but he declines. Leslie peeks at them again, this time with his female mate, Sarah. Nancy sees the lizards and is intrigued. Charlie is afraid.\n\nCharlie demands that Nancy find him something to defend them with. When she can only find a small, thin stick, Charlie is peeved. Nancy remains interested in the lizards, but when Leslie clears his throat, she fears the lizards might hurt them.\n\nWhen Leslie waves his large stick, Nancy and Charlie admit their love for each other, Nancy more reluctantly than Charlie. As Leslie and Sarah move forward, another jet flies by and scares them away. Charlie tries to blame the whole episode on bad liver paste sandwiches. He believes they are dead from food poisoning. Nancy ridicules the idea.\n\nNancy is pleased when Leslie and Sarah return. To protect themselves, Nancy believes they should show submission by lying on their backs with their legs and arms up, as a dog would. Charlie assumes the position, though with great reluctance.\n\nAct II \n\nAct II opens where act I ended. Leslie and Sarah are unsure about Nancy and Charlie's submissive stance. When Leslie and Sarah approach, Charlie threatens to scream. Nancy is much calmer. Leslie pokes Charlie and Nancy in the side, but neither one moves. Leslie and Sarah decide that Nancy and Charlie are relatively harmless.\n\nCharlie is unsure about the creatures, while Nancy is fascinated by everything about them. Leslie and Sarah decide to approach them again. Leslie pokes Charlie hard, causing Charlie to speak. Leslie replies several times, but Charlie will not speak to the creature. Nancy finally sits up and greets Sarah. Charlie only says hello after Nancy encourages him.\n\nSarah and Nancy believe that the tension has been defused, but Leslie and Charlie are still uncertain of each other. With Nancy's prodding, Charlie assures Leslie that they are not unfriendly. Though Leslie and Sarah speak English, they do not understand many of the words and ideas that Charlie and Nancy use.\n\nNancy tries to shake Leslie's flipper, but Leslie cannot grasp the concept. Nancy and Charlie explain the concept of the handshake, as well as their differing anatomy. The lizards have only legs and flippers. Nancy finally shakes hands with the lizards. Charlie tries to shake hands with Leslie, but Leslie is still uncertain about him. Leslie and Charlie talk about their differences. Leslie asks about their clothing. Among other things, Nancy tells them that clothes cover their sexual organs.\n\nThis leads to a discussion of the humans' sex organs, especially Nancy's breasts. The lizards do not have these organs. Nancy shows Sarah, who is fascinated. Leslie also wants to see, but Charlie is uncomfortable with the idea. To change the subject, Charlie asks about their children. Sarah and Leslie have produced seven thousand eggs. Leslie is appalled when he learns that the humans do not lay eggs. Nancy explains human gestation and that they have three children.\n\nWhen Nancy tells them that they keep their children for many years, she also explains the concept of love. This and all other emotions are foreign concepts to the lizards. Charlie asks how Sarah and Leslie became paired. Leslie fought off other lizards when Sarah reached her maturity and started to mate. He wanted her, but emotions did not play a role.\n\nCharlie brings up the idea of disloyalty in Leslie and Sarah's relationship. This upsets Nancy. The issue also confuses Sarah and Leslie. Charlie is nearly attacked by Leslie when he angrily compares the male lizard to a fish. The women calm the men down and Leslie explains his disdainful attitude toward fish. They discuss the ideas of prejudice and difference.\n\nSarah looks up and sees birds flying by. Leslie becomes defensive. Nancy explains to Sarah that the birds are seagulls. The females compare them to underwater rays. Nancy tells Sarah that she has seen photographs of rays. Nancy and Charlie cannot explain what photography is to her, so Sarah believes they are insulting her. When Leslie returns, Sarah explains what has happened.\n\nAbruptly changing the subject, Nancy declares that Charlie believes that they are dead. She continues to dig into Charlie, sarcastically saying that no wonders are possible. Leslie and Sarah catch on to her meaning, to some degree, but Leslie is confused by the idea that reality is an illusion. When Leslie asks Charlie to explain it, Charlie becomes angry.\n\nAfter Nancy calms him down, another jet flies by. Leslie and Sarah are fearful. Nancy and Charlie explain the idea of the airplane. Charlie talks about other machines including those that go undersea. Nancy tells the lizards about the times in Charlie's youth when he would sink under water and stay there. Angry at Nancy, Charlie changes the subject and asks the lizards why they came out of the sea in the first place. They do not know, other than they have changed somehow and do not belong there anymore.\n\nThis prompts Charlie to explain the idea of evolution, but Leslie and Sarah do not understand it fully. The lizards can only think in terms of themselves. When Sarah asks if progress is good, Charlie is uncertain. Every term and idea has to be explained to the lizards, leading to more frustration for Charlie, as well as Leslie and Sarah.\n\nCharlie asks Sarah what she would do if Leslie went away and did not come back. Nancy becomes angry at him for asking. Sarah is upset by the question and wants to go back to the sea. Leslie hits and chokes Charlie for making Sarah cry. Leslie and Sarah decide to go back. Nancy tells them to stay because eventually they will have to come back. Nancy, and to some degree Charlie, offer their help. Leslie accepts their offer.\n\nCharacter Analysis\n\nCharlie\nCharlie is married to Nancy and is part of the human couple at the center of the play. Unlike his wife, Charlie is fearful and passive. While Nancy wants to have an active retirement, Charlie wants to rest and do nothing. He does not understand his wife's need to connect with the past and explore the world they have not seen. Charlie admits to having a more adventurous spirit in his youth. He would release his breath and sink to the bottom of pools or other bodies of water until he had to rise to breathe again. Charlie liked to do this then but has no desire to do it now. He is content with the way things currently are in his life and does not like to be challenged.\n\nIt is Nancy who first antagonizes him. Nancy's idea about living at different beaches for the rest of their lives is distasteful to him. He will not let her push him into even considering such a lifestyle. Nancy later tells him, much to his surprise, that she considered divorcing him a long time ago because she believed he was having an affair. Charlie tells her he did not have such a liaison, and she believes him. Charlie was happy with the way his life with Nancy was and still is. Their disagreements over this matter are overshadowed by the appearance of the lizards.\n\nIf Charlie is uncomfortable with Nancy and her desires, he has bigger problems with the lizards. At first, he insists that they are a death hallucination caused by rotten liver paste sandwiches. While the creatures intrigue Nancy, Charlie continually acts with fear and resistance. He follows his wife's lead on posing submissively when the creatures first approach, but he will not respond to them until she orders him to. Even after the ice has been broken, Charlie remains uncertain about the creatures and their intentions. Leslie and Sarah's ignorance on many things (emotions, anatomy, etc.) adds to Charlie's negative attitude. When he has to explain these ideas to them, he is easily frustrated and often condescending. He drives Leslie to beat and choke him. Yet at the end, Charlie agrees with Nancy that the lizards have to stay on land and not go back into the water. Though he helps because Nancy will do it whether or not he agrees, Charlie does offer to take them by the hand.\n\nNancy\nNancy is the female half of the human couple in the play; she is married to Charlie. Unlike her husband, Nancy is vibrant and curious about the world. When the play opens, she wants to live at the beach forever. Now that her children are grown, Nancy wants to have adventures. Charlie does not share her desires and does his best to discourage them. Despite Charlie's negative attitude, Nancy remains open to what comes her way, including the lizards.\n\nNancy's relationship with Charlie is somewhat strained. Nancy is angry at Charlie's passivity. Her attempts to encourage Charlie to sink underwater as he did as a child meet with a negative response. This frustrates her. Over the course of the first act, it is revealed that she once considered divorcing him because she believed that he was having an affair. Though she readily accepts his word when he says he did not, she does not think the \"good life\" they had together has been all that it could be. Still, Nancy remains loyal to Charlie. While she threatens to have adventures on her own, she does nothing about it.\n\nWhen the lizards approach them, Nancy is fascinated but a little afraid. She remains close to Charlie. Though she does not agree with him, she does find him a small stick to use as a defense. It is Nancy who comes up with the idea of lying down in a submissive posture when Leslie and Sarah come near. Charlie follows Nancy's directions in most of the dealings with the lizards. After it becomes clear that the lizards will not harm them, Nancy is excited by their presence. She does everything she can to learn about them and make a connection with them. She wants to shake hands with them first.\n\nCharlie is uncomfortable with the lengths to which his wife goes to connect with the lizards. Because Sarah has never seen a mammal's mammaries, Nancy shows Sarah her breasts and explains their function. Nancy would also have shown Leslie except for Charlie's protestations. While Nancy does become a bit frustrated with the lizards' intellectual limitations, she becomes increasingly annoyed with Charlie's condescending attitude toward them. Yet, when the lizards want to go back—after Charlie drives Sarah to tears, and Leslie beats him up—Nancy wants them to stay and offers them help. This experience has given Nancy the excitement she craves, and she ensures that it continues.\n\nLeslie\nLeslie is the male lizard who appears at the end of act I. Like Charlie, Leslie is a bit more fearful, defensive, and mistrusting than his mate. It is he who first watches the human couple. Leslie is also the first to approach Nancy and Charlie, poking them in the side. When Charlie does not reply right away, Leslie becomes frustrated. While Leslie's guard remains high, especially around Charlie, for most of the play, he is also curious, much more so than his human male counterpart.\n\nBoth Leslie and Sarah speak English, though they do not understand many words and concepts of human life. Leslie does not know what emotions are, what cooking or clothing is, or what the names of limbs are. When Nancy tries to shake hands with him, he is completely unfamiliar with and mistrustful of the process. Though Leslie wants to understand for the most part, he becomes impatient when the humans cannot easily explain complex things like love or consciousness.\n\nThough Leslie does not possess or understand some human ideas like love, he does have prejudices against others. Charlie tries and fails to explain what bigotry is to the lizard after Leslie speaks badly of fish. Leslie thinks they are dirty and too numerous. He also looks down on humans because they do not lay eggs. Yet Leslie also has some empathy for the humans. Leslie knows that he and Sarah must look odd to Charlie and Nancy. He also understands that Charlie is being difficult when Nancy mentions that her husband thinks they are dead and that this situation is some sort of hallucination.\n\nLeslie acts most often on instinct, like an animal. When birds and jets fly overhead, he runs to find an escape route. Leslie is very protective of Sarah. When Charlie hurts Sarah—asking her what she would do if Leslie left and never came back—Leslie attacks him. After hitting him, Leslie nearly chokes him until the females intercede. After the incident, Leslie decides that he and Sarah will go back into the sea, to escape this threat. When Nancy tells him that they will have to come back eventually and offers them help, it is Leslie who accepts this fate.\n\nSarah\nSarah is the female half of the lizard couple, the mate of Leslie. Like her mate, Sarah is cautious and fearful around the humans. Yet like Nancy, she is curious about them and tries to make a connection. Though Sarah defers to Leslie much more than Nancy does to Charlie, she does play a buffer role between the couples. Leslie often consults Sarah on what he should do and what she thinks about the humans and the situation at hand. At first, Sarah urges wanness, but she also emphasizes the importance of contact.\n\nThough Sarah is more deferential than Nancy, she does assert herself to Leslie when an experience is important. For example, she insists on accompanying Leslie when he approaches the humans in act II after they have taken their submissive pose. Sarah wants to see everything for herself. Most of the new things she encounters intrigue her: the handshakes; Nancy's breasts; human gestation; and the birds flying above them, among other things. But she is also fearful. The jets frighten her, as does Charlie when he asks her what she would do if Leslie went away and never came back. Like Leslie, Sarah does not grasp many human concepts like emotions and nonaquatic animals, though she tries.\n\nSarah is also more open to explaining their way of life to the humans than her husband is. Leslie tries to curb her, but Sarah says what she believes she should say. Sarah does not fully share Leslie's prejudices and tries to make the humans understand her. For example, Sarah shares information on their reproduction and how she and Leslie met. It is also Sarah who tells the humans why they decided to come out of the sea. Leslie is reluctant to part with this information.\n\nAfter Charlie asks a question that makes her cry, Sarah wants to go back into the sea. Leslie agrees with her. Later, Sarah intercedes when Leslie tries to beat up Charlie over it. Though Sarah wants to return to their home, Leslie decides, with Nancy's help, to stay.\n\nThemes\n\nCommunication and Understanding\nAt the thematic center of Seascape are issues related to communication and understanding. Though all of the characters speak English, when each of the four tries to communicate with the others, only varied success is achieved. The theme of communication takes on several forms in the play.\n\nFirst, there is the communication between each member of a couple with their respective mate. Nancy tries to engage her husband, Charlie, in a mutually beneficial discussion about her needs and their future, but he derides her ideas. Nancy wants to explore and be adventurous in their retirement, while Charlie wants to rest and do nothing. Throughout the play, their inability to communicate and understand each other's wants and needs creates tension and hostility.\n\nLeslie and Sarah have fewer problems communicating. Leslie is dominant in their relationship, and Sarah is generally content to play a subservient role. Leslie consults Sarah on most decisions and generally respects her input. Sarah speaks up when she feels Leslie is acting inappropriately, and Leslie usually listens.\n\nThe other significant form of communication is between the two couples and is different between the genders. Nancy is very curious about and open with the lizards. Though she does become slightly frustrated by their limitations, she tries to help them by explaining aspects of human life they do not understand. Her general kindness toward them and offer of help when the lizards are deciding whether to stay on land or to go back to the sea influences their decision. Charlie is less forthcoming and more suspicious. He has a hard time accepting the lizards and quickly becomes testy when they do not understand his explanations.\n\nThe lizards' communication is somewhat similar to their human counterparts. Like Nancy, Sarah is more open to the humans and more interested in their world. She is also emotional, and when Charlie asks her a question that is hard for her to understand (what she would do if Leslie disappeared), she becomes distraught, leading to a confrontation. Leslie shares Charlie's attitude; he does not trust the humans and regards most everything they say with skepticism. Despite these problems, at the end of the play, some measure of trust is reached between all of them. Leslie decides that he and Sarah will stay on land when Nancy and Charlie, albeit reluctantly, offer to help them.\n\nEvolution and Progress \nAnother prominent theme in Seascape is that of evolution and progress. This theme manifests itself in several ways in the play. One is subtle. The relationship of Nancy and Charlie is in the process of evolution. They are on the verge of a major life change, retirement. Charlie would like to use this time to rest and do nothing. Nancy sees this desire as regression rather than evolution. Her family responsibilities fulfilled, Nancy wants to explore the world, perhaps moving from beach to beach, meeting new people and having new experiences. The couple's relationship will change, and Nancy tries to move it forward. Charlie wants things to stay the same.\n\nEvolution has a different meaning in terms of the lizards. Leslie and Sarah are literally evolving. They were creatures that lived in the sea but apparently developed beyond their species. They were compelled to move to the land, though they do not really understand why. Though Leslie and Sarah are somewhat fearful of the change, they do accept the help that Nancy, enthusiastically, and Charlie, reluctantly, give them. At the end of the play, rather than go back into the sea where they might feel safer, they remain on land.\n\nAlienation \n\nA more subtle undercurrent in Seascape is the idea of alienation. In terms of this play, to be alienated means to feel withdrawn or exist in an unfriendly environment. Alienation was one of the reasons that Leslie and Sarah left the sea. In act II, Sarah tells the humans, \"It wasn't ... comfortable anymore. I mean after all, you make your nest, and accept a whole ... array ... of things ... and ... we didn' t feel we belonged there anymore.\" It could be argued that this alienation was a step in their evolution. Nancy and, to some degree, Charlie also feel alienated in their lives. In act I, Nancy describes several ways in which she feels alienated, mostly in her relationship with Charlie. She does not share his views on what their life was, is, and could be; she wants to do more than retire. Though not as vocal, Charlie, in turn, feels alienated from her because of her curiosity and her desires. The strains caused by alienation affect the direction of the characters and the action of the play.\n\nStyle\n\nSetting\nSeascape is set on a beach in a time contemporary with the writing of the play. Though it is unstated in the text, several critics have assumed that the action takes place somewhere on the east coast of the United States. All of the play is confined to one afternoon. This physical setting emphasizes the transitional state of the characters' lives. It is one of many symbols in the play.\n\nFantasy\nThere is critical debate over exactly what genre of play Seascape is. Some believe it is a comedy, while others see it as absurdist, satirical, or allegorical. Most agree that an element of fantasy is involved. While Nancy and Charlie are humans and act accordingly, Leslie and Sarah are fantastic creations. They are human-sized lizards that have left their life in the sea to live on land. They speak perfect English and understand some aspects of human life. Charlie has a hard time accepting that they are real. He wants to believe that he and Nancy see them because they are suffering from food poisoning or are dead. In terms of the play Leslie and Sarah are very real, a fact that Nancy immediately grasps and embraces. The fantasy aspect of the play creates dramatic irony and allows issues such as progress, values, and differences to be discussed.\n\nSymbolism\nMany symbols are employed by Albee to underscore the action and themes of Seascape. The most obvious symbols are the lizard characters, Leslie and Sarah. Because these are anthropomorphic creatures (that is, animals with human qualities), they can be used to illustrate Albee's ideas about humans and their relationships. Leslie and Sarah represent many things, including a literal depiction of evolution and progress and an ideal of a relationship that works in stark contrast to Nancy and Charlie's relationship.\n\nThe setting is symbolic. The beach—where land and sea meet—represents a place of transition. In earth's distant history creatures emerged from the sea to live on land, as Leslie and Sarah do in the course of the play. Changes for all four characters are taking place at the beach. Another symbol is the jet planes that zoom overhead. The jets are a mixed symbol. They are described to Sarah as the mechanical evolution of the seagulls that fascinate her. Yet Charlie worries that a jet will one day crash into the dune—a temporary if not symbolic end to evolution. The jets also scare both Sarah and Leslie. But the jets continue to fly and never crash, and the lizards decide to embrace their own evolution. Though feared by everyone but Nancy in Seascape, positive change holds as a symbolic theme of the play.\n\nNotes\n\nReferences\n\nFurther reading\n\nExternal links\n \n \n \n\n1975 plays\nBroadway plays\nPlays by Edward Albee\nPulitzer Prize for Drama-winning works\nPlays set in the United States\nAbsurdist fiction"
]
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[
"Stephen Larkham",
"Later career",
"What did Larkham do in his later career?",
"Larkham played for the ACT Veterans Rugby Club at the World Vintage Rugby Carnival in Hawaii in September 2012.",
"Does he still play with them?",
"Despite his other commitments, Larkham occasionally still plays with the ACT Veterans to help them raise funds for the charities they support."
]
| C_b95e422a80f54efeb7ffe6eeda4dd749_0 | Did he win any awards or recognition in his later career? | 3 | Did Larkham win any awards or recognition in his later career? | Stephen Larkham | Larkham was an important part of the Australian 2003 World Cup squad which lost in the tournament final to England. He has suffered greatly from injuries through his career, especially to his knees and right elbow. Despite these he remained a competent defender in spite of his relatively light frame. He was also tried at inside centre by John Connolly for one test against Wales 2006 but the experiment was not regarded a success and he never played there again. He was famous for forming a long-standing half-back partnership with George Gregan, both of whom were foundation players with the ACT Brumbies rugby franchise. When both retired after the 2007 World Cup, not only were they the two most-capped Wallabies, but they played in more Tests than any other scrum-half/fly-half combination in history, with 79 appearances together. So important were they to the team that in 2007 at Bruce Stadium (Canberra Stadium), a new stand was unveiled as the "Gregan-Larkham Stand" in honour of both players and their combination to the team. He played his last test against Japan in the 2007 World Cup before a knee injury sidelined him, which effectively ended his Test career as Australia were then knocked out of the competition before he could return. On 14 May 2007, despite larger offers from French and English teams, Larkham signed a contract with Edinburgh Rugby in Scotland to join them after the 2007 World Cup; however; this deal subsequently fell through, reportedly because the Scottish Rugby Union would not fund the deal. Newly promoted Leeds expressed an interest, as did the Welsh side, the Dragons. However, in January 2008 it was announced that he will join Ricoh Black Rams of Japan. Larkham played for the ACT Veterans Rugby Club at the World Vintage Rugby Carnival in Hawaii in September 2012. During this carnival he also played as a reserve for an old boys team from Brazil who, not realising who he was, asked him to play second row because he was tall. Despite his other commitments, Larkham occasionally still plays with the ACT Veterans to help them raise funds for the charities they support. On 18 February 2018, he received the GENLEC Player of the Day jacket for his great play and sportsmanship in the Clare Holland Cup charity match. CANNOTANSWER | On 18 February 2018, he received the GENLEC Player of the Day jacket for his great play and sportsmanship in the Clare Holland Cup charity match. | Stephen Larkham (born 29 May 1974) is a retired Australian rugby union professional player, currently in the role of senior coach for Irish provincial side Munster, who compete in the United Rugby Championship and Champions Cup. He spent his career with the Brumbies in Super Rugby, for whom he played from the inception of the professional Super 12 in 1996 through 2007. He is best known for his long tenure with the Wallabies at international level, for whom he played 102 times. After initial selection at fullback from 1996 to 1997, Larkham was the first-choice Australian fly-half from 1997 to 2007, playing in the 1999, 2003 and 2007 Rugby World Cups. He is married to Jacqueline and has two children, Jaimee and Tiahna.
Playing career
Having started his career as a fullback, Larkham developed into one of the greatest fly-halves in the history of Australian rugby, being named in 2005 at the position in Australia's team of the decade (the "decade" being the first 10 years of professional rugby union). At his peak, Larkham was one of the best flyhalves in world rugby, with reputation as an elusive runner and the lynchpin of a potent backline.
He first gained notice in 1995 when he was plucked from reserve grade club rugby to represent ACT in the Super 12 as a utility back in the Brumbies squad, playing a number of Super 12 games before attracting the attention of the national selectors. Larkham made his test debut as a reserve against Wales in Sydney in 1996 when he replaced injured Ben Tune on the wing, and then joined the Wallabies on their undefeated tour of Europe. In 1997, Larkham proved more than a capable replacement at fullback for the injured Matt Burke, with a two-try effort in the Wallabies final Test against Scotland at Murrayfield. On 16 January 2008 Larkham signed a three-year contract with Japanese club Ricoh Black Rams. After two full seasons in Japan, Larkham negotiated an early release in order to return to Australia. He played in Japan for the first half of the 2010–11 Top League season playing for the Ricoh Black Rams in Japan and then returned to Canberra in November 2010 to take up the role of attack coach for the Brumbies.
Fullback to Fly Half transition
Larkham's conversion from fullback to flyhalf is now hailed as a Rod Macqueen masterstroke that put the Wallabies on track to win the 1999 Rugby World Cup. This was initially a controversial selection as his tactical kicking was regarded as too weak for the position; however, his ability to get the Australian back line going and to slide through gaps himself quickly ended the debate. Simon Poidevin while commenting for Australian TV remarked during the third test against the All Blacks in 1998 that "anyone who thinks (Larkham) is a dud flyhalf needs their head read" (i.e. is wrong) and this was eventually accepted to be correct.
1999 Rugby World Cup drop-goal
Larkham's famous 48m-drop goal to seal victory over South Africa in extra time of the 1999 Rugby World Cup semi-final has gone down in rugby folklore as the defining moment in the Wallabies' victorious Rugby World Cup campaign. South Africa had got to the semi final largely through the efforts of Jannie de Beer kicking five drop goals in their previous match. By contrast not one of the Australian players on the team had to that date ever scored a drop goal at test level. The fact that Larkham had quite a badly injured knee through the match caused Steve Smith to remark incredulously while calling the game for English ITV "He can barely stand on that leg and yet he just thwacked it over."
The feat was even more remarkable as Larkham's eyesight was very poor at the time. Since 1999 he has had laser surgery to correct his vision, however at the time he could not see the goal posts clearly.
Following Australia's victory over France in the World Cup final, several television commercials aired in Australia humorously mocking Larkham's lack of kicking prowess. The commercial featured current & former teammates, junior and senior coaches (including former Australian coach Rod MacQueen) and even Australian rugby icons (such as Phil Kearns) expressing their astonishment that Larkham managed to score.
The commercial begins with Larkham's school coaches saying he was a poor kicker, and had never successfully scored a drop-goal in a match. The climax of the commercial features then-captain John Eales, as well as Matt Burke, Kearns and MacQueen each saying "Don't kick it!" as footage of the moment is replayed. The commercial is available to view on YouTube.
Later career
Larkham was an important part of the Australian 2003 World Cup squad which lost in the tournament final to England. He has suffered greatly from injuries through his career, especially to his knees and right elbow. Despite these he remained a competent defender in spite of his relatively light frame. He was also tried at inside centre by John Connolly for one test against Wales 2006 but the experiment was not regarded a success and he never played there again.
He was famous for forming a long-standing half-back partnership with George Gregan, both of whom were foundation players with the ACT Brumbies rugby franchise. When both retired after the 2007 World Cup, not only were they the two most-capped Wallabies, but they played in more Tests than any other scrum-half/fly-half combination in history, with 79 appearances together. So important were they to the team that in 2007 at Bruce Stadium (Canberra Stadium), a new stand was unveiled as the "Gregan-Larkham Stand" in honour of both players and their combination to the team.
He played his last test against Japan in the 2007 World Cup before a knee injury sidelined him, which effectively ended his Test career as Australia were then knocked out of the competition before he could return.
On 14 May 2007, despite larger offers from French and English teams, Larkham signed a contract with Edinburgh Rugby in Scotland to join them after the 2007 World Cup; however; this deal subsequently fell through, reportedly because the Scottish Rugby Union would not fund the deal. Newly promoted Leeds expressed an interest, as did the Welsh side, the Dragons. However, in January 2008 it was announced that he will join Ricoh Black Rams of Japan.
Larkham played for the ACT Veterans Rugby Club at the World Vintage Rugby Carnival in Hawaii in September 2012. During this carnival he also played as a reserve for an old boys team from Brazil who, not realising who he was, asked him to play second row because he was tall. Despite his other commitments, Larkham occasionally still plays with the ACT Veterans to help them raise funds for the charities they support. On 18 February 2018, he received the GENLEC Player of the Day jacket for his great play and sportsmanship in the Clare Holland Cup charity match.
Coaching
Brumbies and Australia
In 2010, Larkham returned to the Brumbies ahead of the 2011 Super Rugby season to take up the role of attack coach. He worked under the head coach of Tony Rea who left the franchise at the end of that season. Larkham and newly appointed head coach Jake White made a formidable duo, as during the 2012 Super Rugby season, the Brumbies went from being the fourth best Australian franchise to the second best behind the Queensland Reds. Larkham's attacking influence saw the Brumbies pick up 5 bonus points wins, and an overall better point difference in favor of for. He guided Matt Toomua and Christian Lealiifano to world class fly-half options, which helped the Brumbies secure the top Australian conference position during the 2013 Super Rugby season, finishing second overall losing in the final to the Chiefs 27–22. In 2014, Jake White dramatically resigned as head coach, with Larkham and Laurie Fisher being appointed joint coaches for that season. They finished second in the Australian conference and fourth in the standings after the regular season. They faced the Waratahs in the Semi-final, losing 26–8 in Sydney.
In 2015, Fisher left his role to join Gloucester, with Stephen being appointed head coach. In Larkhams's debut season as head coach, he led the Brumbies to the Semi-Final of the 2015 Super Rugby season, finishing sixth in the overall standings at the end of the regular season. The Brumbies finished with 9 out of 16 wins, which included 3 wins over South African opposition and 2 wins over New Zealand opposition. The season also included a 29–0 win over the Queensland Reds in Brisbane, to make the Brumbies the first team to have held a team scoreless twice against the same opponent. During the qualifier round, the Brumbies convincingly beat the Stormers in Cape Town 39–19, to set up an away semi-finals against first seeds Hurricanes. The Brumbies lost this match 29–9 to be eliminated from Champions contention.
On 27 February 2015, newly appointed Wallabies coach Michael Cheika appointed Larkham as the backs and attack coach for the national side for the 2015 Rugby World Cup. That campaign saw a marked improvement in the team's performance, with the Australians winning the shortened Rugby Championship competition that year, going on to eliminate World Cup hosts England in pool play, and contesting the final against New Zealand (losing 34–17). Larkham remained with the national side until February 2019, when he was controversially sacked by Cheika after coming under intense pressure following a number of years of poor results.
Munster
Larkham joined Irish provincial side Munster as their senior coach ahead of the northern hemisphere 2019–20 season, where he works alongside head coach Johann van Graan, defence coach JP Ferreira and forwards coach Graham Rowntree. Larkham will leave Munster upon the conclusion of the 2021–22 season to return to his native Australia.
Return to Brumbies
Larkham will return to Brumbies in July 2022 to take up the position of head coach for the 2023 and 2024 Super Rugby Pacific seasons.
Honours
Larkham was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 2012. He was admitted to the World Rugby Hall of Fame in 2018.
See also
Brumbies
Wallabies
Wallaby Team of the Decade
List of rugby union test caps leaders
ACT Veterans Rugby Club
References
External links
itsrugby.co.uk stats
Brumbies Profile
Wallabies Profile
Remembering Bernie, a tribute to Stephen Larkham
Ricoh unveils Larkham - Daily Yomiuri, 14 February 2008
1974 births
Living people
Australian rugby union players
Australian rugby union coaches
Australia international rugby union players
Brumbies coaches
Brumbies players
Barbarian F.C. players
Munster Rugby non-playing staff
People from the Australian Capital Territory
Black Rams Tokyo players
Rugby union fly-halves
Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees
World Rugby Hall of Fame inductees | true | [
"is a Japanese professional shogi player, ranked 9-dan. He is a former director of the Japanese Shogi Association, and is currently serving as an executive director.\n \nHe was the challenger for the Meijin title in 1995 against Yoshiharu Habu. Habu retained the title.\n\nEarly life\nTaku Morishita was born in Kokura, Kitakyushu on July 10, 1966. In September 1978, he entered the Japan Shogi Association's apprentice school at the rank of 6-kyū under guidance of shogi professional . He was promoted to the 1-dan in June 1981, and obtained professional status and the rank of 4-dan in September 1983.\n\nShogi professional\nIn 1985, Morishita advanced to the championship match of the 16th tournament, but lost to Keita Inoue 2 games to 1. Five years later in October 1990, Morishita faced in the championship match of 21st Shinjin-Ō tournament, winning 2 games to 1 for his first tournament championship as a professional. The following year, Morishita met Toshiyuki Moriuchi in the championship match of the 22nd Shinjin-Ō tournament, but lost 2 games to none.\n\nMorishita made his first appearance in a major title match in 1990 when he challenged Nobuyuki Yashiki for the 57th Kisei title, but lost the match 3 games to 1.\n\nIn 1991, Morishita earned the right to challenge Koji Tanigawa for the 4th Ryūō title. Game 1 was played in Bangkok and ended in impasse. The match was tied at two wins apiece after five games, but Tanigawa won the next two games to defend his title 4 games to 2.\n\nIn 2007, Morishita defeated Moriuchi to win the 28th tournament. The following year he defeated Kōichi Fukaura to win the 29th Nihon Series tournament and repeat as champion.\n\nIn August 2010, Morishita defeated Takeshi Kawakami in a preliminary round game of the 4th tournament to become the fourteenth professional shogi player to win 800 official games.\n\nJSA director\nMorishita was elected to the Japan Shogi Association's board of directors as a director at the association's 56th General Meeting for a two-year term on May 26, 2005.\n\nHe was elected to the board once again in May 2017 as an executive director, and then re-elected for another two-year term in June 2019.\n\nPromotion history\nThe promotion history for Morishita is as follows:\n1978: 6-kyū\n1981: 1-dan\n1983, September 21: 4-dan\n1987, January 14: 5-dan\n1989, October 3: 6-dan\n1992, July 10: 7-dan\n1994, April 1: 8-dan\n2003, December 12: 9-dan\n\nTitles and other championships\nMorishita has appeared in major title matches a total of six times, but has not won any major titles. He has, however, won eight non-major shogi championships during his career.\n\nAwards and honors\nMorishita has received a number of awards and honors throughout his career for his accomplishments both on an off the shogi board. These include the Annual Shogi Awards given out by the JSA for performance in official games as well as other JSA awards for career accomplishments.\n\nAnnual Shogi Awards\n15th Annual Awards (April 1987March 1988): Best New Player\n17th Annual Awards (April 1989March 1990): Fighting-spirit\n18th Annual Awards (April 1990March 1991): Best Winning Percentage, Most Games Won, Most Games Played, Distinguished Service Award\n19th Annual Awards (April 1991March 1992): Technique Award\n22nd Annual Awards (April 1994March 1995): Technique Award\n\nOther awards\n2000: Shogi Honor Fighting-spirit Award (Awarded by JSA in recognition of winning 600 official games as a professional)\n2008: 25 Years Service Award (Awarded by the JSA in recognition of being an active professional for twenty-five years)\n2010: Shogi Honor Fighting-spirit Award (Awarded by JSA in recognition of winning 800 official games as a professional)\n\nYear-end prize money and game fee ranking\nMorishita has finished in the \"Top 10\" of the JSA's a number of times since 1993.\n\nNote: All amounts are given in Japanese yen and include prize money and fees earned from official tournaments and games held from January 1 to December 31.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nShogiHub: Professional Player Info · Morishita, Taku\n\n1966 births\nJapanese shogi players\nLiving people\nProfessional shogi players\nPeople from Kitakyushu\nProfessional shogi players from Fukuoka Prefecture\nRecipients of the Kōzō Masuda Award\nShinjin-Ō",
"is a Japanese professional shogi player, ranked 9-dan. He is a former major title holder, having won the Ōi, Kisei, Kiō and Ōshō titles throughout his career.\n\nEarly life\nGōda was born on March 17, 1971, in Suginami, Tokyo. He learned how to play shogi from his father when he was three years old.\n\nIn December 1982, he entered the Japan Shogi Association's apprentice school at the rank of 6-kyū under guidance of shogi professional . He was promoted to the rank of apprentice professional 1-dan in May 1985, and obtained professional status and the rank of 4-dan in February 1990.\n\nShogi professional\nGōda's first appearance in a major title match came in May 1992 when he challenged Kōji Tanigawa for the 60th Kisei title. Although Goda lost the match 3 games to 1, he was at the time only the second 4-dan to be the challenger for a major title. Later in September of that same year, Gōda and Tanigawa met once again in the 33rd Ōi title match, with Gōda winning the match 4 games to 2 to become the first 4-dan to win a major title. In December 1992, Gōda met Tanigawa for the third time in the 61st Kisei title match, with Tanigawa winning by the score of 3 games to 0, with one game ending in impasse.\n\nOn October 3, 2007, Gōda defeated to become the 36th shogi professional to win 600 official games. and on October 17, 2015, he defeated Masayuki Toyoshima to become the 18th shogi professional to win 800 official games.\n\nPromotion history\nGōda's promotion history is as follows:\n 1982: 6-kyū\n 1985: 1-dan\n 1990, April 1: 4-dan\n 1992, October 1: 5-dan\n 1995, November 20: 6-dan\n 1998, April 1: 7-dan\n 1999, April 1: 8-dan\n 2001, August 6: 9-dan\n\nTitles and other championships\nGōda has appeared in major title matches a total of eighteen times, and has won six major titles. In addition to major titles, Gōda has won seven other shogi championships during his career.\n\nMajor titles\n\nOther championships\n\nNote: Tournaments marked with an asterisk (*) are no longer held.\n\nAwards and honors\nGōda has received a number of awards and honors throughout his career for his accomplishments both on an off the shogi board. These include awards given out annually by the JSA for performance in official games as well as other JSA awards for career accomplishments, and awards received from governmental organizations, etc. for contributions made to Japanese society.\n\nAnnual shogi awards\n20th Annual Awards (April 1992March 1993): Best New Player, Distinguished Service Award\n22nd Annual Awards (April 1994March 1995): Most Games Won, Most Games Played, Distinguished Service Award\n23rd Annual Awards (April 1995March 1996): Distinguished Service Award\n25th Annual Awards (April 1997March 1998): Best Winning Percentage, Most Games Won, Most Games Played, Fighting-spirit Award\n26th Annual Awards (April 1998March 1999): Fighting-spirit Award\n29th Annual Awards (April 2001March 2002): Distinguished Service Award\n39th Annual Awards (April 2011March 2012): Fighting-spirit Award\n41st Annual Awards (April 2013March 2014): Fighting-spirit Award\n42nd Annual Awards (April 2014March 2015): Fighting-spirit Award\n\nOther awards\n2007: Shogi Honor Award (Awarded by the JSA in recognition of winning 600 official games as a professional)\n2015: 25 Years Service Award (Awarded by the JSA in recognition of being an active professional for twenty-five years), Shogi Honor Fighting-spirit Award (Awarded by JSA in recognition of winning 800 official games as a professional)\n\nYear-end shogi prize money and game fee ranking\nGōda has finished in the \"Top 10\" of the JSA's eighteen times since 1993.\n\nNotes\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nShogiHub: Professional Player Info · Goda, Masataka\n\n1971 births\nJapanese shogi players\nLiving people\nProfessional shogi players\nProfessional shogi players from Tokyo\nKisei (shogi)\nŌi (shogi)\nKiō\nŌshō\nPeople from Suginami\nGinga"
]
|
[
"Stephen Larkham",
"Later career",
"What did Larkham do in his later career?",
"Larkham played for the ACT Veterans Rugby Club at the World Vintage Rugby Carnival in Hawaii in September 2012.",
"Does he still play with them?",
"Despite his other commitments, Larkham occasionally still plays with the ACT Veterans to help them raise funds for the charities they support.",
"Did he win any awards or recognition in his later career?",
"On 18 February 2018, he received the GENLEC Player of the Day jacket for his great play and sportsmanship in the Clare Holland Cup charity match."
]
| C_b95e422a80f54efeb7ffe6eeda4dd749_0 | What other awards did he win? | 4 | Other than the GENLEC Player of the Day jacket, what other awards did Larkham win? | Stephen Larkham | Larkham was an important part of the Australian 2003 World Cup squad which lost in the tournament final to England. He has suffered greatly from injuries through his career, especially to his knees and right elbow. Despite these he remained a competent defender in spite of his relatively light frame. He was also tried at inside centre by John Connolly for one test against Wales 2006 but the experiment was not regarded a success and he never played there again. He was famous for forming a long-standing half-back partnership with George Gregan, both of whom were foundation players with the ACT Brumbies rugby franchise. When both retired after the 2007 World Cup, not only were they the two most-capped Wallabies, but they played in more Tests than any other scrum-half/fly-half combination in history, with 79 appearances together. So important were they to the team that in 2007 at Bruce Stadium (Canberra Stadium), a new stand was unveiled as the "Gregan-Larkham Stand" in honour of both players and their combination to the team. He played his last test against Japan in the 2007 World Cup before a knee injury sidelined him, which effectively ended his Test career as Australia were then knocked out of the competition before he could return. On 14 May 2007, despite larger offers from French and English teams, Larkham signed a contract with Edinburgh Rugby in Scotland to join them after the 2007 World Cup; however; this deal subsequently fell through, reportedly because the Scottish Rugby Union would not fund the deal. Newly promoted Leeds expressed an interest, as did the Welsh side, the Dragons. However, in January 2008 it was announced that he will join Ricoh Black Rams of Japan. Larkham played for the ACT Veterans Rugby Club at the World Vintage Rugby Carnival in Hawaii in September 2012. During this carnival he also played as a reserve for an old boys team from Brazil who, not realising who he was, asked him to play second row because he was tall. Despite his other commitments, Larkham occasionally still plays with the ACT Veterans to help them raise funds for the charities they support. On 18 February 2018, he received the GENLEC Player of the Day jacket for his great play and sportsmanship in the Clare Holland Cup charity match. CANNOTANSWER | a new stand was unveiled as the "Gregan-Larkham Stand" in honour of both players and their combination to the team. | Stephen Larkham (born 29 May 1974) is a retired Australian rugby union professional player, currently in the role of senior coach for Irish provincial side Munster, who compete in the United Rugby Championship and Champions Cup. He spent his career with the Brumbies in Super Rugby, for whom he played from the inception of the professional Super 12 in 1996 through 2007. He is best known for his long tenure with the Wallabies at international level, for whom he played 102 times. After initial selection at fullback from 1996 to 1997, Larkham was the first-choice Australian fly-half from 1997 to 2007, playing in the 1999, 2003 and 2007 Rugby World Cups. He is married to Jacqueline and has two children, Jaimee and Tiahna.
Playing career
Having started his career as a fullback, Larkham developed into one of the greatest fly-halves in the history of Australian rugby, being named in 2005 at the position in Australia's team of the decade (the "decade" being the first 10 years of professional rugby union). At his peak, Larkham was one of the best flyhalves in world rugby, with reputation as an elusive runner and the lynchpin of a potent backline.
He first gained notice in 1995 when he was plucked from reserve grade club rugby to represent ACT in the Super 12 as a utility back in the Brumbies squad, playing a number of Super 12 games before attracting the attention of the national selectors. Larkham made his test debut as a reserve against Wales in Sydney in 1996 when he replaced injured Ben Tune on the wing, and then joined the Wallabies on their undefeated tour of Europe. In 1997, Larkham proved more than a capable replacement at fullback for the injured Matt Burke, with a two-try effort in the Wallabies final Test against Scotland at Murrayfield. On 16 January 2008 Larkham signed a three-year contract with Japanese club Ricoh Black Rams. After two full seasons in Japan, Larkham negotiated an early release in order to return to Australia. He played in Japan for the first half of the 2010–11 Top League season playing for the Ricoh Black Rams in Japan and then returned to Canberra in November 2010 to take up the role of attack coach for the Brumbies.
Fullback to Fly Half transition
Larkham's conversion from fullback to flyhalf is now hailed as a Rod Macqueen masterstroke that put the Wallabies on track to win the 1999 Rugby World Cup. This was initially a controversial selection as his tactical kicking was regarded as too weak for the position; however, his ability to get the Australian back line going and to slide through gaps himself quickly ended the debate. Simon Poidevin while commenting for Australian TV remarked during the third test against the All Blacks in 1998 that "anyone who thinks (Larkham) is a dud flyhalf needs their head read" (i.e. is wrong) and this was eventually accepted to be correct.
1999 Rugby World Cup drop-goal
Larkham's famous 48m-drop goal to seal victory over South Africa in extra time of the 1999 Rugby World Cup semi-final has gone down in rugby folklore as the defining moment in the Wallabies' victorious Rugby World Cup campaign. South Africa had got to the semi final largely through the efforts of Jannie de Beer kicking five drop goals in their previous match. By contrast not one of the Australian players on the team had to that date ever scored a drop goal at test level. The fact that Larkham had quite a badly injured knee through the match caused Steve Smith to remark incredulously while calling the game for English ITV "He can barely stand on that leg and yet he just thwacked it over."
The feat was even more remarkable as Larkham's eyesight was very poor at the time. Since 1999 he has had laser surgery to correct his vision, however at the time he could not see the goal posts clearly.
Following Australia's victory over France in the World Cup final, several television commercials aired in Australia humorously mocking Larkham's lack of kicking prowess. The commercial featured current & former teammates, junior and senior coaches (including former Australian coach Rod MacQueen) and even Australian rugby icons (such as Phil Kearns) expressing their astonishment that Larkham managed to score.
The commercial begins with Larkham's school coaches saying he was a poor kicker, and had never successfully scored a drop-goal in a match. The climax of the commercial features then-captain John Eales, as well as Matt Burke, Kearns and MacQueen each saying "Don't kick it!" as footage of the moment is replayed. The commercial is available to view on YouTube.
Later career
Larkham was an important part of the Australian 2003 World Cup squad which lost in the tournament final to England. He has suffered greatly from injuries through his career, especially to his knees and right elbow. Despite these he remained a competent defender in spite of his relatively light frame. He was also tried at inside centre by John Connolly for one test against Wales 2006 but the experiment was not regarded a success and he never played there again.
He was famous for forming a long-standing half-back partnership with George Gregan, both of whom were foundation players with the ACT Brumbies rugby franchise. When both retired after the 2007 World Cup, not only were they the two most-capped Wallabies, but they played in more Tests than any other scrum-half/fly-half combination in history, with 79 appearances together. So important were they to the team that in 2007 at Bruce Stadium (Canberra Stadium), a new stand was unveiled as the "Gregan-Larkham Stand" in honour of both players and their combination to the team.
He played his last test against Japan in the 2007 World Cup before a knee injury sidelined him, which effectively ended his Test career as Australia were then knocked out of the competition before he could return.
On 14 May 2007, despite larger offers from French and English teams, Larkham signed a contract with Edinburgh Rugby in Scotland to join them after the 2007 World Cup; however; this deal subsequently fell through, reportedly because the Scottish Rugby Union would not fund the deal. Newly promoted Leeds expressed an interest, as did the Welsh side, the Dragons. However, in January 2008 it was announced that he will join Ricoh Black Rams of Japan.
Larkham played for the ACT Veterans Rugby Club at the World Vintage Rugby Carnival in Hawaii in September 2012. During this carnival he also played as a reserve for an old boys team from Brazil who, not realising who he was, asked him to play second row because he was tall. Despite his other commitments, Larkham occasionally still plays with the ACT Veterans to help them raise funds for the charities they support. On 18 February 2018, he received the GENLEC Player of the Day jacket for his great play and sportsmanship in the Clare Holland Cup charity match.
Coaching
Brumbies and Australia
In 2010, Larkham returned to the Brumbies ahead of the 2011 Super Rugby season to take up the role of attack coach. He worked under the head coach of Tony Rea who left the franchise at the end of that season. Larkham and newly appointed head coach Jake White made a formidable duo, as during the 2012 Super Rugby season, the Brumbies went from being the fourth best Australian franchise to the second best behind the Queensland Reds. Larkham's attacking influence saw the Brumbies pick up 5 bonus points wins, and an overall better point difference in favor of for. He guided Matt Toomua and Christian Lealiifano to world class fly-half options, which helped the Brumbies secure the top Australian conference position during the 2013 Super Rugby season, finishing second overall losing in the final to the Chiefs 27–22. In 2014, Jake White dramatically resigned as head coach, with Larkham and Laurie Fisher being appointed joint coaches for that season. They finished second in the Australian conference and fourth in the standings after the regular season. They faced the Waratahs in the Semi-final, losing 26–8 in Sydney.
In 2015, Fisher left his role to join Gloucester, with Stephen being appointed head coach. In Larkhams's debut season as head coach, he led the Brumbies to the Semi-Final of the 2015 Super Rugby season, finishing sixth in the overall standings at the end of the regular season. The Brumbies finished with 9 out of 16 wins, which included 3 wins over South African opposition and 2 wins over New Zealand opposition. The season also included a 29–0 win over the Queensland Reds in Brisbane, to make the Brumbies the first team to have held a team scoreless twice against the same opponent. During the qualifier round, the Brumbies convincingly beat the Stormers in Cape Town 39–19, to set up an away semi-finals against first seeds Hurricanes. The Brumbies lost this match 29–9 to be eliminated from Champions contention.
On 27 February 2015, newly appointed Wallabies coach Michael Cheika appointed Larkham as the backs and attack coach for the national side for the 2015 Rugby World Cup. That campaign saw a marked improvement in the team's performance, with the Australians winning the shortened Rugby Championship competition that year, going on to eliminate World Cup hosts England in pool play, and contesting the final against New Zealand (losing 34–17). Larkham remained with the national side until February 2019, when he was controversially sacked by Cheika after coming under intense pressure following a number of years of poor results.
Munster
Larkham joined Irish provincial side Munster as their senior coach ahead of the northern hemisphere 2019–20 season, where he works alongside head coach Johann van Graan, defence coach JP Ferreira and forwards coach Graham Rowntree. Larkham will leave Munster upon the conclusion of the 2021–22 season to return to his native Australia.
Return to Brumbies
Larkham will return to Brumbies in July 2022 to take up the position of head coach for the 2023 and 2024 Super Rugby Pacific seasons.
Honours
Larkham was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 2012. He was admitted to the World Rugby Hall of Fame in 2018.
See also
Brumbies
Wallabies
Wallaby Team of the Decade
List of rugby union test caps leaders
ACT Veterans Rugby Club
References
External links
itsrugby.co.uk stats
Brumbies Profile
Wallabies Profile
Remembering Bernie, a tribute to Stephen Larkham
Ricoh unveils Larkham - Daily Yomiuri, 14 February 2008
1974 births
Living people
Australian rugby union players
Australian rugby union coaches
Australia international rugby union players
Brumbies coaches
Brumbies players
Barbarian F.C. players
Munster Rugby non-playing staff
People from the Australian Capital Territory
Black Rams Tokyo players
Rugby union fly-halves
Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees
World Rugby Hall of Fame inductees | true | [
"Ricky Gervais ( ; born 25 June 1961) is an English comedian, actor, writer, producer, and director. He is best known for co-creating, writing, and acting in the British television series The Office (2001–2003). He has won seven BAFTA Awards, five British Comedy Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, and the Rose d'Or twice (2006 and 2019), as well as a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination. In 2007, he was placed at No. 11 on Channel 4's 100 Greatest Stand-Ups and at No. 3 on the updated 2010 list. In 2010, he was named on the Time 100 list of the world's most influential people. In 2002 he was nominated to be Britain's Funniest Man but did not win the award, he did however beat some gangsters up in a pub when an old man was being hassled, against the odds.\n\nMajor awards\n\nPrimetime Emmy Awards\n\nGolden Globe Awards\n\nBAFTA Television Awards\n\nScreen Actors Guild Awards\n\nWriters Guild of America Awards\n\nProducers Guild of America Awards\n\nOther awards\n\nBritannia Awards\n\nBritish Comedy Guide Awards\n\nBritish Comedy Awards\n\nBroadcasting Press Guild Awards\n\nEvening Standard British Film Awards\n\nSatellite Award\n\nTelevision Critics Association Awards\n\nReferences \n\nLists of awards received by actor",
"The following is a list of awards and nominations received by Welsh actor and director Anthony Hopkins. \n\nHe is an Oscar-winning actor, having received six Academy award nominations winning two of these for Best Actor for his performance as Hannibal Lecter in the Jonathan Demme thriller The Silence of the Lambs (1991) and for his performance as Anthony in Florian Zeller's drama The Father (2020). He also was nominated for his performances as in James Ivory's The Remains of the Day (1993), Richard Nixon in Oliver Stone's drama Nixon (1995), John Quincy Adams in Amistad (1997), and Pope Benedict XVI in the Fernando Meirelles drama The Two Popes (2019). \n\nFor his work on film and television, he has received eight Golden Globe award nominations. In 2006 he was honored with the Cecil B. DeMille award for his lifetime achievement in the entertainment industry. He has received six Primetime Emmy award nominations winning two—one in 1976 for his performance as Richard Hauptmann in The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case and the other in 1981 for his performance as Adolf Hitler in The Bunker, as well as seven Screen Actors Guild award nominations all of which have been respectively lost.\n\nMajor associations\n\nAcademy Awards \n2 wins out of 6 nominations\n\nBAFTA Awards \n4 wins (and one honorary award) out of 9 nominations\n\nEmmy Awards \n2 wins out of 6 nominations\n\nGolden Globe Awards \n0 wins (and one honorary award) out of 8 nominations\n\nOlivier Awards \n1 win out of 2 nominations\n\nScreen Actors Guild Awards \n0 wins out of 7 nominations\n\nAudience awards\n\nMTV Movie + TV awards \n0 wins out of 2 nominations\n\nPeople's Choice awards \n0 wins out of 1 nomination\n\nCritic and association awards\n\nAlliance of Women Film Journalists awards \n1 win out of 2 nominations\n\nBoston Society of Film Critics awards \n1 win out of 1 nomination\n\nCableACE awards \n1 win out of 2 nominations\n\nChicago Film Critics Association awards \n1 win out of 5 nominations\n\nCritics' Choice awards \n1 win out of 4 nominations\n\nDallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association awards \n2 wins out of 2 nominations\n\nKansas City Film Critics Circle awards \n2 wins out of 2 nominations\n\nLondon Critics Circle Film awards \n1 win out of 5 nominations\n\nLos Angeles Film Critics Association awards \n1 win out of 2 nominations\n\nNational Board of Review awards \n2 wins out of 2 nominations\n\nNational Society of Film Critics awards \n0 wins out of 1 nomination\n\nNew York Film Critics Circle awards \n1 win out of 3 nominations\n\nOnline Film & Television Association awards \n1 win out of 3 nominations\n\nOnline Film Critics Society awards \n0 wins out of 1 nomination\n\nPhoenix Film Critics Society awards \n0 wins out of 1 nomination\n\nSoutheastern Film Critics Association awards \n1 win out of 2 nominations\n\nSt. Louis Film Critics Association awards \n1 win out of 2 nomination\n\nWomen's Image Network awards \n0 wins out of 1 nomination\n\nFilm festival awards\n\nHollywood Film Festival awards \n2 wins out of 2 nominations\n\nLocarno International Film Festival awards \n1 win out of 2 nominations\n\nMethod Fest awards \n0 wins out of 1 nomination\n\nMoscow International Film Festival awards \n1 win out of 1 nomination\n\nSan Sebastian International Film Festival awards \n1 win out of 1 nomination\n\nSanta Barbara International Film Festival awards \n1 win out of 1 nomination\n\nShoWest Convention awards \n1 win out of 1 nomination\n\nSitges - Catalonian International Film Festival awards \n0 wins out of 1 nomination\n\nUSA Film Festival awards \n1 win out of 1 nomination\n\nVirginia Film Festival awards \n1 win out of 1 nomination\n\nInternational awards\n\nBAFTA/LA Britannia awards \n1 win out of 1 nominations\n\nDavid di Donatello awards \n1 win out of 2 nominations\n\nEuropean Film Awards \n1 win out of 1 nomination\n\nEvening Standard British Film awards \n1 win out of 1 nomination\n\nJupiter awards \n0 wins out of 1 nomination\n\nNew Zealand Screen awards \n1 win out of 1 nomination\n\nSant Jordi awards \n1 win out of 1 nomination\n\nYoga awards \n1 win out of 1 nomination\n\nMiscellaneous awards\n\n20/20 awards \n1 win out of 3 nominations\n\nAARP Movies for Grownups awards \n1 win out of 4 nominations\n\nFangoria Chainsaw awards \n3 wins out of 4 nominations\n\nGolden Raspberry awards \n0 wins out of 2 nominations\n\nHasty Pudding Theatricals awards \n1 win out of 1 nomination\n\nMovieGuide awards \n0 wins out of 1 nomination\n\nSatellite awards \n0 wins out of 1 nomination\n\nSaturn awards \n1 win out of 5 nominations\n\nWalk of Fame \n1 win out of 1 nomination\n\nWestern Heritage awards \n1 win out of 1 nomination\n\nReferences\n\nHopkins, Anthony"
]
|
[
"Stephen Larkham",
"Later career",
"What did Larkham do in his later career?",
"Larkham played for the ACT Veterans Rugby Club at the World Vintage Rugby Carnival in Hawaii in September 2012.",
"Does he still play with them?",
"Despite his other commitments, Larkham occasionally still plays with the ACT Veterans to help them raise funds for the charities they support.",
"Did he win any awards or recognition in his later career?",
"On 18 February 2018, he received the GENLEC Player of the Day jacket for his great play and sportsmanship in the Clare Holland Cup charity match.",
"What other awards did he win?",
"a new stand was unveiled as the \"Gregan-Larkham Stand\" in honour of both players and their combination to the team."
]
| C_b95e422a80f54efeb7ffe6eeda4dd749_0 | Did he participate in any World Cups in his later career? | 5 | Did Larkham participate in any World Cups in his later career? | Stephen Larkham | Larkham was an important part of the Australian 2003 World Cup squad which lost in the tournament final to England. He has suffered greatly from injuries through his career, especially to his knees and right elbow. Despite these he remained a competent defender in spite of his relatively light frame. He was also tried at inside centre by John Connolly for one test against Wales 2006 but the experiment was not regarded a success and he never played there again. He was famous for forming a long-standing half-back partnership with George Gregan, both of whom were foundation players with the ACT Brumbies rugby franchise. When both retired after the 2007 World Cup, not only were they the two most-capped Wallabies, but they played in more Tests than any other scrum-half/fly-half combination in history, with 79 appearances together. So important were they to the team that in 2007 at Bruce Stadium (Canberra Stadium), a new stand was unveiled as the "Gregan-Larkham Stand" in honour of both players and their combination to the team. He played his last test against Japan in the 2007 World Cup before a knee injury sidelined him, which effectively ended his Test career as Australia were then knocked out of the competition before he could return. On 14 May 2007, despite larger offers from French and English teams, Larkham signed a contract with Edinburgh Rugby in Scotland to join them after the 2007 World Cup; however; this deal subsequently fell through, reportedly because the Scottish Rugby Union would not fund the deal. Newly promoted Leeds expressed an interest, as did the Welsh side, the Dragons. However, in January 2008 it was announced that he will join Ricoh Black Rams of Japan. Larkham played for the ACT Veterans Rugby Club at the World Vintage Rugby Carnival in Hawaii in September 2012. During this carnival he also played as a reserve for an old boys team from Brazil who, not realising who he was, asked him to play second row because he was tall. Despite his other commitments, Larkham occasionally still plays with the ACT Veterans to help them raise funds for the charities they support. On 18 February 2018, he received the GENLEC Player of the Day jacket for his great play and sportsmanship in the Clare Holland Cup charity match. CANNOTANSWER | He played his last test against Japan in the 2007 World Cup before a knee injury sidelined him, | Stephen Larkham (born 29 May 1974) is a retired Australian rugby union professional player, currently in the role of senior coach for Irish provincial side Munster, who compete in the United Rugby Championship and Champions Cup. He spent his career with the Brumbies in Super Rugby, for whom he played from the inception of the professional Super 12 in 1996 through 2007. He is best known for his long tenure with the Wallabies at international level, for whom he played 102 times. After initial selection at fullback from 1996 to 1997, Larkham was the first-choice Australian fly-half from 1997 to 2007, playing in the 1999, 2003 and 2007 Rugby World Cups. He is married to Jacqueline and has two children, Jaimee and Tiahna.
Playing career
Having started his career as a fullback, Larkham developed into one of the greatest fly-halves in the history of Australian rugby, being named in 2005 at the position in Australia's team of the decade (the "decade" being the first 10 years of professional rugby union). At his peak, Larkham was one of the best flyhalves in world rugby, with reputation as an elusive runner and the lynchpin of a potent backline.
He first gained notice in 1995 when he was plucked from reserve grade club rugby to represent ACT in the Super 12 as a utility back in the Brumbies squad, playing a number of Super 12 games before attracting the attention of the national selectors. Larkham made his test debut as a reserve against Wales in Sydney in 1996 when he replaced injured Ben Tune on the wing, and then joined the Wallabies on their undefeated tour of Europe. In 1997, Larkham proved more than a capable replacement at fullback for the injured Matt Burke, with a two-try effort in the Wallabies final Test against Scotland at Murrayfield. On 16 January 2008 Larkham signed a three-year contract with Japanese club Ricoh Black Rams. After two full seasons in Japan, Larkham negotiated an early release in order to return to Australia. He played in Japan for the first half of the 2010–11 Top League season playing for the Ricoh Black Rams in Japan and then returned to Canberra in November 2010 to take up the role of attack coach for the Brumbies.
Fullback to Fly Half transition
Larkham's conversion from fullback to flyhalf is now hailed as a Rod Macqueen masterstroke that put the Wallabies on track to win the 1999 Rugby World Cup. This was initially a controversial selection as his tactical kicking was regarded as too weak for the position; however, his ability to get the Australian back line going and to slide through gaps himself quickly ended the debate. Simon Poidevin while commenting for Australian TV remarked during the third test against the All Blacks in 1998 that "anyone who thinks (Larkham) is a dud flyhalf needs their head read" (i.e. is wrong) and this was eventually accepted to be correct.
1999 Rugby World Cup drop-goal
Larkham's famous 48m-drop goal to seal victory over South Africa in extra time of the 1999 Rugby World Cup semi-final has gone down in rugby folklore as the defining moment in the Wallabies' victorious Rugby World Cup campaign. South Africa had got to the semi final largely through the efforts of Jannie de Beer kicking five drop goals in their previous match. By contrast not one of the Australian players on the team had to that date ever scored a drop goal at test level. The fact that Larkham had quite a badly injured knee through the match caused Steve Smith to remark incredulously while calling the game for English ITV "He can barely stand on that leg and yet he just thwacked it over."
The feat was even more remarkable as Larkham's eyesight was very poor at the time. Since 1999 he has had laser surgery to correct his vision, however at the time he could not see the goal posts clearly.
Following Australia's victory over France in the World Cup final, several television commercials aired in Australia humorously mocking Larkham's lack of kicking prowess. The commercial featured current & former teammates, junior and senior coaches (including former Australian coach Rod MacQueen) and even Australian rugby icons (such as Phil Kearns) expressing their astonishment that Larkham managed to score.
The commercial begins with Larkham's school coaches saying he was a poor kicker, and had never successfully scored a drop-goal in a match. The climax of the commercial features then-captain John Eales, as well as Matt Burke, Kearns and MacQueen each saying "Don't kick it!" as footage of the moment is replayed. The commercial is available to view on YouTube.
Later career
Larkham was an important part of the Australian 2003 World Cup squad which lost in the tournament final to England. He has suffered greatly from injuries through his career, especially to his knees and right elbow. Despite these he remained a competent defender in spite of his relatively light frame. He was also tried at inside centre by John Connolly for one test against Wales 2006 but the experiment was not regarded a success and he never played there again.
He was famous for forming a long-standing half-back partnership with George Gregan, both of whom were foundation players with the ACT Brumbies rugby franchise. When both retired after the 2007 World Cup, not only were they the two most-capped Wallabies, but they played in more Tests than any other scrum-half/fly-half combination in history, with 79 appearances together. So important were they to the team that in 2007 at Bruce Stadium (Canberra Stadium), a new stand was unveiled as the "Gregan-Larkham Stand" in honour of both players and their combination to the team.
He played his last test against Japan in the 2007 World Cup before a knee injury sidelined him, which effectively ended his Test career as Australia were then knocked out of the competition before he could return.
On 14 May 2007, despite larger offers from French and English teams, Larkham signed a contract with Edinburgh Rugby in Scotland to join them after the 2007 World Cup; however; this deal subsequently fell through, reportedly because the Scottish Rugby Union would not fund the deal. Newly promoted Leeds expressed an interest, as did the Welsh side, the Dragons. However, in January 2008 it was announced that he will join Ricoh Black Rams of Japan.
Larkham played for the ACT Veterans Rugby Club at the World Vintage Rugby Carnival in Hawaii in September 2012. During this carnival he also played as a reserve for an old boys team from Brazil who, not realising who he was, asked him to play second row because he was tall. Despite his other commitments, Larkham occasionally still plays with the ACT Veterans to help them raise funds for the charities they support. On 18 February 2018, he received the GENLEC Player of the Day jacket for his great play and sportsmanship in the Clare Holland Cup charity match.
Coaching
Brumbies and Australia
In 2010, Larkham returned to the Brumbies ahead of the 2011 Super Rugby season to take up the role of attack coach. He worked under the head coach of Tony Rea who left the franchise at the end of that season. Larkham and newly appointed head coach Jake White made a formidable duo, as during the 2012 Super Rugby season, the Brumbies went from being the fourth best Australian franchise to the second best behind the Queensland Reds. Larkham's attacking influence saw the Brumbies pick up 5 bonus points wins, and an overall better point difference in favor of for. He guided Matt Toomua and Christian Lealiifano to world class fly-half options, which helped the Brumbies secure the top Australian conference position during the 2013 Super Rugby season, finishing second overall losing in the final to the Chiefs 27–22. In 2014, Jake White dramatically resigned as head coach, with Larkham and Laurie Fisher being appointed joint coaches for that season. They finished second in the Australian conference and fourth in the standings after the regular season. They faced the Waratahs in the Semi-final, losing 26–8 in Sydney.
In 2015, Fisher left his role to join Gloucester, with Stephen being appointed head coach. In Larkhams's debut season as head coach, he led the Brumbies to the Semi-Final of the 2015 Super Rugby season, finishing sixth in the overall standings at the end of the regular season. The Brumbies finished with 9 out of 16 wins, which included 3 wins over South African opposition and 2 wins over New Zealand opposition. The season also included a 29–0 win over the Queensland Reds in Brisbane, to make the Brumbies the first team to have held a team scoreless twice against the same opponent. During the qualifier round, the Brumbies convincingly beat the Stormers in Cape Town 39–19, to set up an away semi-finals against first seeds Hurricanes. The Brumbies lost this match 29–9 to be eliminated from Champions contention.
On 27 February 2015, newly appointed Wallabies coach Michael Cheika appointed Larkham as the backs and attack coach for the national side for the 2015 Rugby World Cup. That campaign saw a marked improvement in the team's performance, with the Australians winning the shortened Rugby Championship competition that year, going on to eliminate World Cup hosts England in pool play, and contesting the final against New Zealand (losing 34–17). Larkham remained with the national side until February 2019, when he was controversially sacked by Cheika after coming under intense pressure following a number of years of poor results.
Munster
Larkham joined Irish provincial side Munster as their senior coach ahead of the northern hemisphere 2019–20 season, where he works alongside head coach Johann van Graan, defence coach JP Ferreira and forwards coach Graham Rowntree. Larkham will leave Munster upon the conclusion of the 2021–22 season to return to his native Australia.
Return to Brumbies
Larkham will return to Brumbies in July 2022 to take up the position of head coach for the 2023 and 2024 Super Rugby Pacific seasons.
Honours
Larkham was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 2012. He was admitted to the World Rugby Hall of Fame in 2018.
See also
Brumbies
Wallabies
Wallaby Team of the Decade
List of rugby union test caps leaders
ACT Veterans Rugby Club
References
External links
itsrugby.co.uk stats
Brumbies Profile
Wallabies Profile
Remembering Bernie, a tribute to Stephen Larkham
Ricoh unveils Larkham - Daily Yomiuri, 14 February 2008
1974 births
Living people
Australian rugby union players
Australian rugby union coaches
Australia international rugby union players
Brumbies coaches
Brumbies players
Barbarian F.C. players
Munster Rugby non-playing staff
People from the Australian Capital Territory
Black Rams Tokyo players
Rugby union fly-halves
Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees
World Rugby Hall of Fame inductees | true | [
"Auguste \"Gust\" Hellemans (21 June 1907 in Kapelle-op-den-Bos, Belgium – 4 May 1992 in Berchem-Sainte-Agathe, Belgium), was a Belgian footballer.\n\nBiography \nHe played as a midfielder for KV Mechelen and Belgium. He was part of Belgium's team at the 1928 Summer Olympics, but he did not play in any matches. He also played in the World Cups of 1930 in Uruguay and 1934 in Italy. He finished his career in 1947, at RAA Louviéroise. After the war, he coached for a number of seasons at K. Patro Eisden Maasmechelen.\n\nHonours \n International from 1928 to 1934 (28 caps)\n Participation at the Olympic Games in 1928 (1 match)\n Participation at the World Cups of 1930 (2 matches) and 1934 (1 match)\n Belgian D2 Champions in 1928 with KV Mechelen\n Top goalscorer in Belgian D2 in 1933\n\nReferences \n\nBelgian footballers\nBelgium international footballers\n1930 FIFA World Cup players\n1934 FIFA World Cup players\nK.V. Mechelen players\nR.A.A. Louviéroise players\nBelgian football managers\nK. Patro Eisden Maasmechelen managers\n1907 births\n1992 deaths\nFootballers at the 1928 Summer Olympics\nAssociation football midfielders\nOlympic footballers of Belgium",
"Leonid Alfonsovich Ostrovski (, , ; 17 January 1936 in Riga – 17 April 2001 in Kyiv) was a Soviet football player and manager of Jewish origin.\n\nHonours\n Soviet Top League winner: 1960, 1966, 1967, 1968\n Soviet Cup winner: 1960, 1964, 1966\n\nInternational career\nOstrovski made his debut for the national team on 18 November 1961 in a friendly against Argentina (he was selected for the 1958 FIFA World Cup squad, but did not play in any games at the tournament).\n\nHe played in two World Cups: 1962 and 1966. He was the only footballer from Latvia for the Soviet Union in the World Cups.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Profile (in Russian)\n KLISF profile\n Profile (in Russia)\n \n\n1936 births\n2001 deaths\nSportspeople from Riga\nLatvian footballers\nSoviet footballers\nSoviet Union international footballers\n1958 FIFA World Cup players\n1962 FIFA World Cup players\n1966 FIFA World Cup players\nSoviet Top League players\nFC Torpedo Moscow players\nFC Dynamo Kyiv players\nLatvian football managers\nSoviet football managers\nFC Dnipro Cherkasy managers\nJewish footballers\nLatvian Jews\nSoviet Jews\nAssociation football defenders\nFC Mashuk-KMV Pyatigorsk players"
]
|
[
"Stephen Larkham",
"Later career",
"What did Larkham do in his later career?",
"Larkham played for the ACT Veterans Rugby Club at the World Vintage Rugby Carnival in Hawaii in September 2012.",
"Does he still play with them?",
"Despite his other commitments, Larkham occasionally still plays with the ACT Veterans to help them raise funds for the charities they support.",
"Did he win any awards or recognition in his later career?",
"On 18 February 2018, he received the GENLEC Player of the Day jacket for his great play and sportsmanship in the Clare Holland Cup charity match.",
"What other awards did he win?",
"a new stand was unveiled as the \"Gregan-Larkham Stand\" in honour of both players and their combination to the team.",
"Did he participate in any World Cups in his later career?",
"He played his last test against Japan in the 2007 World Cup before a knee injury sidelined him,"
]
| C_b95e422a80f54efeb7ffe6eeda4dd749_0 | What did he do after his knee injury? | 6 | What did Larkham do after his knee injury? | Stephen Larkham | Larkham was an important part of the Australian 2003 World Cup squad which lost in the tournament final to England. He has suffered greatly from injuries through his career, especially to his knees and right elbow. Despite these he remained a competent defender in spite of his relatively light frame. He was also tried at inside centre by John Connolly for one test against Wales 2006 but the experiment was not regarded a success and he never played there again. He was famous for forming a long-standing half-back partnership with George Gregan, both of whom were foundation players with the ACT Brumbies rugby franchise. When both retired after the 2007 World Cup, not only were they the two most-capped Wallabies, but they played in more Tests than any other scrum-half/fly-half combination in history, with 79 appearances together. So important were they to the team that in 2007 at Bruce Stadium (Canberra Stadium), a new stand was unveiled as the "Gregan-Larkham Stand" in honour of both players and their combination to the team. He played his last test against Japan in the 2007 World Cup before a knee injury sidelined him, which effectively ended his Test career as Australia were then knocked out of the competition before he could return. On 14 May 2007, despite larger offers from French and English teams, Larkham signed a contract with Edinburgh Rugby in Scotland to join them after the 2007 World Cup; however; this deal subsequently fell through, reportedly because the Scottish Rugby Union would not fund the deal. Newly promoted Leeds expressed an interest, as did the Welsh side, the Dragons. However, in January 2008 it was announced that he will join Ricoh Black Rams of Japan. Larkham played for the ACT Veterans Rugby Club at the World Vintage Rugby Carnival in Hawaii in September 2012. During this carnival he also played as a reserve for an old boys team from Brazil who, not realising who he was, asked him to play second row because he was tall. Despite his other commitments, Larkham occasionally still plays with the ACT Veterans to help them raise funds for the charities they support. On 18 February 2018, he received the GENLEC Player of the Day jacket for his great play and sportsmanship in the Clare Holland Cup charity match. CANNOTANSWER | On 14 May 2007, despite larger offers from French and English teams, Larkham signed a contract with Edinburgh Rugby in Scotland | Stephen Larkham (born 29 May 1974) is a retired Australian rugby union professional player, currently in the role of senior coach for Irish provincial side Munster, who compete in the United Rugby Championship and Champions Cup. He spent his career with the Brumbies in Super Rugby, for whom he played from the inception of the professional Super 12 in 1996 through 2007. He is best known for his long tenure with the Wallabies at international level, for whom he played 102 times. After initial selection at fullback from 1996 to 1997, Larkham was the first-choice Australian fly-half from 1997 to 2007, playing in the 1999, 2003 and 2007 Rugby World Cups. He is married to Jacqueline and has two children, Jaimee and Tiahna.
Playing career
Having started his career as a fullback, Larkham developed into one of the greatest fly-halves in the history of Australian rugby, being named in 2005 at the position in Australia's team of the decade (the "decade" being the first 10 years of professional rugby union). At his peak, Larkham was one of the best flyhalves in world rugby, with reputation as an elusive runner and the lynchpin of a potent backline.
He first gained notice in 1995 when he was plucked from reserve grade club rugby to represent ACT in the Super 12 as a utility back in the Brumbies squad, playing a number of Super 12 games before attracting the attention of the national selectors. Larkham made his test debut as a reserve against Wales in Sydney in 1996 when he replaced injured Ben Tune on the wing, and then joined the Wallabies on their undefeated tour of Europe. In 1997, Larkham proved more than a capable replacement at fullback for the injured Matt Burke, with a two-try effort in the Wallabies final Test against Scotland at Murrayfield. On 16 January 2008 Larkham signed a three-year contract with Japanese club Ricoh Black Rams. After two full seasons in Japan, Larkham negotiated an early release in order to return to Australia. He played in Japan for the first half of the 2010–11 Top League season playing for the Ricoh Black Rams in Japan and then returned to Canberra in November 2010 to take up the role of attack coach for the Brumbies.
Fullback to Fly Half transition
Larkham's conversion from fullback to flyhalf is now hailed as a Rod Macqueen masterstroke that put the Wallabies on track to win the 1999 Rugby World Cup. This was initially a controversial selection as his tactical kicking was regarded as too weak for the position; however, his ability to get the Australian back line going and to slide through gaps himself quickly ended the debate. Simon Poidevin while commenting for Australian TV remarked during the third test against the All Blacks in 1998 that "anyone who thinks (Larkham) is a dud flyhalf needs their head read" (i.e. is wrong) and this was eventually accepted to be correct.
1999 Rugby World Cup drop-goal
Larkham's famous 48m-drop goal to seal victory over South Africa in extra time of the 1999 Rugby World Cup semi-final has gone down in rugby folklore as the defining moment in the Wallabies' victorious Rugby World Cup campaign. South Africa had got to the semi final largely through the efforts of Jannie de Beer kicking five drop goals in their previous match. By contrast not one of the Australian players on the team had to that date ever scored a drop goal at test level. The fact that Larkham had quite a badly injured knee through the match caused Steve Smith to remark incredulously while calling the game for English ITV "He can barely stand on that leg and yet he just thwacked it over."
The feat was even more remarkable as Larkham's eyesight was very poor at the time. Since 1999 he has had laser surgery to correct his vision, however at the time he could not see the goal posts clearly.
Following Australia's victory over France in the World Cup final, several television commercials aired in Australia humorously mocking Larkham's lack of kicking prowess. The commercial featured current & former teammates, junior and senior coaches (including former Australian coach Rod MacQueen) and even Australian rugby icons (such as Phil Kearns) expressing their astonishment that Larkham managed to score.
The commercial begins with Larkham's school coaches saying he was a poor kicker, and had never successfully scored a drop-goal in a match. The climax of the commercial features then-captain John Eales, as well as Matt Burke, Kearns and MacQueen each saying "Don't kick it!" as footage of the moment is replayed. The commercial is available to view on YouTube.
Later career
Larkham was an important part of the Australian 2003 World Cup squad which lost in the tournament final to England. He has suffered greatly from injuries through his career, especially to his knees and right elbow. Despite these he remained a competent defender in spite of his relatively light frame. He was also tried at inside centre by John Connolly for one test against Wales 2006 but the experiment was not regarded a success and he never played there again.
He was famous for forming a long-standing half-back partnership with George Gregan, both of whom were foundation players with the ACT Brumbies rugby franchise. When both retired after the 2007 World Cup, not only were they the two most-capped Wallabies, but they played in more Tests than any other scrum-half/fly-half combination in history, with 79 appearances together. So important were they to the team that in 2007 at Bruce Stadium (Canberra Stadium), a new stand was unveiled as the "Gregan-Larkham Stand" in honour of both players and their combination to the team.
He played his last test against Japan in the 2007 World Cup before a knee injury sidelined him, which effectively ended his Test career as Australia were then knocked out of the competition before he could return.
On 14 May 2007, despite larger offers from French and English teams, Larkham signed a contract with Edinburgh Rugby in Scotland to join them after the 2007 World Cup; however; this deal subsequently fell through, reportedly because the Scottish Rugby Union would not fund the deal. Newly promoted Leeds expressed an interest, as did the Welsh side, the Dragons. However, in January 2008 it was announced that he will join Ricoh Black Rams of Japan.
Larkham played for the ACT Veterans Rugby Club at the World Vintage Rugby Carnival in Hawaii in September 2012. During this carnival he also played as a reserve for an old boys team from Brazil who, not realising who he was, asked him to play second row because he was tall. Despite his other commitments, Larkham occasionally still plays with the ACT Veterans to help them raise funds for the charities they support. On 18 February 2018, he received the GENLEC Player of the Day jacket for his great play and sportsmanship in the Clare Holland Cup charity match.
Coaching
Brumbies and Australia
In 2010, Larkham returned to the Brumbies ahead of the 2011 Super Rugby season to take up the role of attack coach. He worked under the head coach of Tony Rea who left the franchise at the end of that season. Larkham and newly appointed head coach Jake White made a formidable duo, as during the 2012 Super Rugby season, the Brumbies went from being the fourth best Australian franchise to the second best behind the Queensland Reds. Larkham's attacking influence saw the Brumbies pick up 5 bonus points wins, and an overall better point difference in favor of for. He guided Matt Toomua and Christian Lealiifano to world class fly-half options, which helped the Brumbies secure the top Australian conference position during the 2013 Super Rugby season, finishing second overall losing in the final to the Chiefs 27–22. In 2014, Jake White dramatically resigned as head coach, with Larkham and Laurie Fisher being appointed joint coaches for that season. They finished second in the Australian conference and fourth in the standings after the regular season. They faced the Waratahs in the Semi-final, losing 26–8 in Sydney.
In 2015, Fisher left his role to join Gloucester, with Stephen being appointed head coach. In Larkhams's debut season as head coach, he led the Brumbies to the Semi-Final of the 2015 Super Rugby season, finishing sixth in the overall standings at the end of the regular season. The Brumbies finished with 9 out of 16 wins, which included 3 wins over South African opposition and 2 wins over New Zealand opposition. The season also included a 29–0 win over the Queensland Reds in Brisbane, to make the Brumbies the first team to have held a team scoreless twice against the same opponent. During the qualifier round, the Brumbies convincingly beat the Stormers in Cape Town 39–19, to set up an away semi-finals against first seeds Hurricanes. The Brumbies lost this match 29–9 to be eliminated from Champions contention.
On 27 February 2015, newly appointed Wallabies coach Michael Cheika appointed Larkham as the backs and attack coach for the national side for the 2015 Rugby World Cup. That campaign saw a marked improvement in the team's performance, with the Australians winning the shortened Rugby Championship competition that year, going on to eliminate World Cup hosts England in pool play, and contesting the final against New Zealand (losing 34–17). Larkham remained with the national side until February 2019, when he was controversially sacked by Cheika after coming under intense pressure following a number of years of poor results.
Munster
Larkham joined Irish provincial side Munster as their senior coach ahead of the northern hemisphere 2019–20 season, where he works alongside head coach Johann van Graan, defence coach JP Ferreira and forwards coach Graham Rowntree. Larkham will leave Munster upon the conclusion of the 2021–22 season to return to his native Australia.
Return to Brumbies
Larkham will return to Brumbies in July 2022 to take up the position of head coach for the 2023 and 2024 Super Rugby Pacific seasons.
Honours
Larkham was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 2012. He was admitted to the World Rugby Hall of Fame in 2018.
See also
Brumbies
Wallabies
Wallaby Team of the Decade
List of rugby union test caps leaders
ACT Veterans Rugby Club
References
External links
itsrugby.co.uk stats
Brumbies Profile
Wallabies Profile
Remembering Bernie, a tribute to Stephen Larkham
Ricoh unveils Larkham - Daily Yomiuri, 14 February 2008
1974 births
Living people
Australian rugby union players
Australian rugby union coaches
Australia international rugby union players
Brumbies coaches
Brumbies players
Barbarian F.C. players
Munster Rugby non-playing staff
People from the Australian Capital Territory
Black Rams Tokyo players
Rugby union fly-halves
Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees
World Rugby Hall of Fame inductees | true | [
"is a retired Japanese gymnast.\n\nHe represented Japan at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, where he won gold in the team competition.\n\nFujimoto won fame by continuing to compete in the team event right after severely injuring his right knee during his floor exercise. He scored 9.5 on the pommel horse and 9.7 on the still rings with the badly damaged knee, dismounting from the rings from eight feet above ground and keeping his balance after landing on his feet. One source has described the scene thus: that he \"raised his arms in a perfect finish before collapsing in agony\". That account, however, is erroneous.\n\nVideo of Fujimoto’s rings routine, including the dismount and immediate aftermath, is easily accessible on the internet, and it is unambiguously clear that, despite the physical agony of performing his routine and landing, he did not collapse after completing his dismount. Instead, immediately upon his landing, as Fujimoto’s knees bent to absorb the shock, his right knee started to give way, wobbling and almost collapsing. But he controlled his balance, taking a very slight hop on his left foot, bringing his feet together, straightening his legs and body to a fully upright position, and raising his arms to complete the landing posture. He then turned and walked from the apparatus, and down the steps from the competition platform. He was limping markedly, but made it back to his seat without ever collapsing.\n\nNevertheless, the dismount aggravated his already serious injury, dislocating his broken kneecap and tearing ligaments in his right leg. Doctors ordered him to withdraw from further competition or risk permanent disability. One doctor stated:\n\"How he managed to do somersaults and twists and land without collapsing in screams is beyond my comprehension.\"\n\nFujimoto stated that he had not wanted to let his team down by revealing his injury. His completing of the pommel horse and rings events enabled the team to win gold, defeating the team from the Soviet Union by a narrow margin. Later, when asked whether he would do what he did again, he replied frankly, \"No, I would not.\"\n\nFujimoto's performing in spite of serious injury was humorously alluded to in The Simpsons episode, \"Lisa's First Word\".\n\nIn 2017, Fujimoto was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame.\n\nReferences\n\n1950 births\nLiving people\nJapanese male artistic gymnasts\nGymnasts at the 1976 Summer Olympics\nOlympic gymnasts of Japan\nOlympic gold medalists for Japan\nNippon Sport Science University alumni\nOlympic medalists in gymnastics\nMedalists at the 1976 Summer Olympics",
"Martin Britt (born 17 January 1946) is an English former footballer. He played as a centre forward for West Ham United from 1961 to 1966 before injury ended his career whilst playing for Blackburn Rovers.\n\nCareer\n\nWest Ham United\nSpotted playing youth team football, for Essex and London schoolboys, by West Ham chief scout, Wally St Pier, Britt signed for West Ham in 1961. He won three England youth team caps and played in both legs of the 1963 Youth Cup final against Liverpool. Britt made his full debut for West Ham in May 1963 against Blackburn Rovers. Finding opportunities limited behind strikers Johnny Byrne and Geoff Hurst he still managed four goals from eleven appearances in season 1963–64. Serious injury then struck when during a training session he suffered what was thought to be cruciate ligament damage but later proved to be a chipped bone in the knee joint. Failing to make a single appearance the following season he did score three goals from 14 appearances the next season; mostly aided by using his left leg and avoiding jumping using his damaged right leg.\n\nBlackburn Rovers\nFinding his selection chances still limited Britt fell out with manager Ron Greenwood and, despite still carrying a bad injury to his right knee, he transferred to Blackburn Rovers in 1967 for £25,000. He made just eight appearances for Blackburn before an exploratory operation discovered a broken knee and resulted in a piece of bone being removed from his knee. He would not play another game and retired from injury aged only 21.\nUnderstandably annoyed Blackburn felt they had been ripped-off and that Britt's injury had not been fully revealed to them before his transfer. After a disagreement between the two clubs Blackburn gained some of Britt's transfer fee back. \nUnable to play he remained at Blackburn for eighteen months in a coaching capacity.\n\nLeaving football he later started his own successful textile business.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n West Ham stats\n\n1946 births\nLiving people\nPeople from Leigh-on-Sea\nEnglish footballers\nAssociation football forwards\nWest Ham United F.C. players\nBlackburn Rovers F.C. players\nEnglish Football League players"
]
|
[
"Stephen Larkham",
"Later career",
"What did Larkham do in his later career?",
"Larkham played for the ACT Veterans Rugby Club at the World Vintage Rugby Carnival in Hawaii in September 2012.",
"Does he still play with them?",
"Despite his other commitments, Larkham occasionally still plays with the ACT Veterans to help them raise funds for the charities they support.",
"Did he win any awards or recognition in his later career?",
"On 18 February 2018, he received the GENLEC Player of the Day jacket for his great play and sportsmanship in the Clare Holland Cup charity match.",
"What other awards did he win?",
"a new stand was unveiled as the \"Gregan-Larkham Stand\" in honour of both players and their combination to the team.",
"Did he participate in any World Cups in his later career?",
"He played his last test against Japan in the 2007 World Cup before a knee injury sidelined him,",
"What did he do after his knee injury?",
"On 14 May 2007, despite larger offers from French and English teams, Larkham signed a contract with Edinburgh Rugby in Scotland"
]
| C_b95e422a80f54efeb7ffe6eeda4dd749_0 | How long did he stay with Edinburgh? | 7 | How long did Larkham stay with Edinburgh? | Stephen Larkham | Larkham was an important part of the Australian 2003 World Cup squad which lost in the tournament final to England. He has suffered greatly from injuries through his career, especially to his knees and right elbow. Despite these he remained a competent defender in spite of his relatively light frame. He was also tried at inside centre by John Connolly for one test against Wales 2006 but the experiment was not regarded a success and he never played there again. He was famous for forming a long-standing half-back partnership with George Gregan, both of whom were foundation players with the ACT Brumbies rugby franchise. When both retired after the 2007 World Cup, not only were they the two most-capped Wallabies, but they played in more Tests than any other scrum-half/fly-half combination in history, with 79 appearances together. So important were they to the team that in 2007 at Bruce Stadium (Canberra Stadium), a new stand was unveiled as the "Gregan-Larkham Stand" in honour of both players and their combination to the team. He played his last test against Japan in the 2007 World Cup before a knee injury sidelined him, which effectively ended his Test career as Australia were then knocked out of the competition before he could return. On 14 May 2007, despite larger offers from French and English teams, Larkham signed a contract with Edinburgh Rugby in Scotland to join them after the 2007 World Cup; however; this deal subsequently fell through, reportedly because the Scottish Rugby Union would not fund the deal. Newly promoted Leeds expressed an interest, as did the Welsh side, the Dragons. However, in January 2008 it was announced that he will join Ricoh Black Rams of Japan. Larkham played for the ACT Veterans Rugby Club at the World Vintage Rugby Carnival in Hawaii in September 2012. During this carnival he also played as a reserve for an old boys team from Brazil who, not realising who he was, asked him to play second row because he was tall. Despite his other commitments, Larkham occasionally still plays with the ACT Veterans to help them raise funds for the charities they support. On 18 February 2018, he received the GENLEC Player of the Day jacket for his great play and sportsmanship in the Clare Holland Cup charity match. CANNOTANSWER | However, in January 2008 it was announced that he will join Ricoh Black Rams of Japan. | Stephen Larkham (born 29 May 1974) is a retired Australian rugby union professional player, currently in the role of senior coach for Irish provincial side Munster, who compete in the United Rugby Championship and Champions Cup. He spent his career with the Brumbies in Super Rugby, for whom he played from the inception of the professional Super 12 in 1996 through 2007. He is best known for his long tenure with the Wallabies at international level, for whom he played 102 times. After initial selection at fullback from 1996 to 1997, Larkham was the first-choice Australian fly-half from 1997 to 2007, playing in the 1999, 2003 and 2007 Rugby World Cups. He is married to Jacqueline and has two children, Jaimee and Tiahna.
Playing career
Having started his career as a fullback, Larkham developed into one of the greatest fly-halves in the history of Australian rugby, being named in 2005 at the position in Australia's team of the decade (the "decade" being the first 10 years of professional rugby union). At his peak, Larkham was one of the best flyhalves in world rugby, with reputation as an elusive runner and the lynchpin of a potent backline.
He first gained notice in 1995 when he was plucked from reserve grade club rugby to represent ACT in the Super 12 as a utility back in the Brumbies squad, playing a number of Super 12 games before attracting the attention of the national selectors. Larkham made his test debut as a reserve against Wales in Sydney in 1996 when he replaced injured Ben Tune on the wing, and then joined the Wallabies on their undefeated tour of Europe. In 1997, Larkham proved more than a capable replacement at fullback for the injured Matt Burke, with a two-try effort in the Wallabies final Test against Scotland at Murrayfield. On 16 January 2008 Larkham signed a three-year contract with Japanese club Ricoh Black Rams. After two full seasons in Japan, Larkham negotiated an early release in order to return to Australia. He played in Japan for the first half of the 2010–11 Top League season playing for the Ricoh Black Rams in Japan and then returned to Canberra in November 2010 to take up the role of attack coach for the Brumbies.
Fullback to Fly Half transition
Larkham's conversion from fullback to flyhalf is now hailed as a Rod Macqueen masterstroke that put the Wallabies on track to win the 1999 Rugby World Cup. This was initially a controversial selection as his tactical kicking was regarded as too weak for the position; however, his ability to get the Australian back line going and to slide through gaps himself quickly ended the debate. Simon Poidevin while commenting for Australian TV remarked during the third test against the All Blacks in 1998 that "anyone who thinks (Larkham) is a dud flyhalf needs their head read" (i.e. is wrong) and this was eventually accepted to be correct.
1999 Rugby World Cup drop-goal
Larkham's famous 48m-drop goal to seal victory over South Africa in extra time of the 1999 Rugby World Cup semi-final has gone down in rugby folklore as the defining moment in the Wallabies' victorious Rugby World Cup campaign. South Africa had got to the semi final largely through the efforts of Jannie de Beer kicking five drop goals in their previous match. By contrast not one of the Australian players on the team had to that date ever scored a drop goal at test level. The fact that Larkham had quite a badly injured knee through the match caused Steve Smith to remark incredulously while calling the game for English ITV "He can barely stand on that leg and yet he just thwacked it over."
The feat was even more remarkable as Larkham's eyesight was very poor at the time. Since 1999 he has had laser surgery to correct his vision, however at the time he could not see the goal posts clearly.
Following Australia's victory over France in the World Cup final, several television commercials aired in Australia humorously mocking Larkham's lack of kicking prowess. The commercial featured current & former teammates, junior and senior coaches (including former Australian coach Rod MacQueen) and even Australian rugby icons (such as Phil Kearns) expressing their astonishment that Larkham managed to score.
The commercial begins with Larkham's school coaches saying he was a poor kicker, and had never successfully scored a drop-goal in a match. The climax of the commercial features then-captain John Eales, as well as Matt Burke, Kearns and MacQueen each saying "Don't kick it!" as footage of the moment is replayed. The commercial is available to view on YouTube.
Later career
Larkham was an important part of the Australian 2003 World Cup squad which lost in the tournament final to England. He has suffered greatly from injuries through his career, especially to his knees and right elbow. Despite these he remained a competent defender in spite of his relatively light frame. He was also tried at inside centre by John Connolly for one test against Wales 2006 but the experiment was not regarded a success and he never played there again.
He was famous for forming a long-standing half-back partnership with George Gregan, both of whom were foundation players with the ACT Brumbies rugby franchise. When both retired after the 2007 World Cup, not only were they the two most-capped Wallabies, but they played in more Tests than any other scrum-half/fly-half combination in history, with 79 appearances together. So important were they to the team that in 2007 at Bruce Stadium (Canberra Stadium), a new stand was unveiled as the "Gregan-Larkham Stand" in honour of both players and their combination to the team.
He played his last test against Japan in the 2007 World Cup before a knee injury sidelined him, which effectively ended his Test career as Australia were then knocked out of the competition before he could return.
On 14 May 2007, despite larger offers from French and English teams, Larkham signed a contract with Edinburgh Rugby in Scotland to join them after the 2007 World Cup; however; this deal subsequently fell through, reportedly because the Scottish Rugby Union would not fund the deal. Newly promoted Leeds expressed an interest, as did the Welsh side, the Dragons. However, in January 2008 it was announced that he will join Ricoh Black Rams of Japan.
Larkham played for the ACT Veterans Rugby Club at the World Vintage Rugby Carnival in Hawaii in September 2012. During this carnival he also played as a reserve for an old boys team from Brazil who, not realising who he was, asked him to play second row because he was tall. Despite his other commitments, Larkham occasionally still plays with the ACT Veterans to help them raise funds for the charities they support. On 18 February 2018, he received the GENLEC Player of the Day jacket for his great play and sportsmanship in the Clare Holland Cup charity match.
Coaching
Brumbies and Australia
In 2010, Larkham returned to the Brumbies ahead of the 2011 Super Rugby season to take up the role of attack coach. He worked under the head coach of Tony Rea who left the franchise at the end of that season. Larkham and newly appointed head coach Jake White made a formidable duo, as during the 2012 Super Rugby season, the Brumbies went from being the fourth best Australian franchise to the second best behind the Queensland Reds. Larkham's attacking influence saw the Brumbies pick up 5 bonus points wins, and an overall better point difference in favor of for. He guided Matt Toomua and Christian Lealiifano to world class fly-half options, which helped the Brumbies secure the top Australian conference position during the 2013 Super Rugby season, finishing second overall losing in the final to the Chiefs 27–22. In 2014, Jake White dramatically resigned as head coach, with Larkham and Laurie Fisher being appointed joint coaches for that season. They finished second in the Australian conference and fourth in the standings after the regular season. They faced the Waratahs in the Semi-final, losing 26–8 in Sydney.
In 2015, Fisher left his role to join Gloucester, with Stephen being appointed head coach. In Larkhams's debut season as head coach, he led the Brumbies to the Semi-Final of the 2015 Super Rugby season, finishing sixth in the overall standings at the end of the regular season. The Brumbies finished with 9 out of 16 wins, which included 3 wins over South African opposition and 2 wins over New Zealand opposition. The season also included a 29–0 win over the Queensland Reds in Brisbane, to make the Brumbies the first team to have held a team scoreless twice against the same opponent. During the qualifier round, the Brumbies convincingly beat the Stormers in Cape Town 39–19, to set up an away semi-finals against first seeds Hurricanes. The Brumbies lost this match 29–9 to be eliminated from Champions contention.
On 27 February 2015, newly appointed Wallabies coach Michael Cheika appointed Larkham as the backs and attack coach for the national side for the 2015 Rugby World Cup. That campaign saw a marked improvement in the team's performance, with the Australians winning the shortened Rugby Championship competition that year, going on to eliminate World Cup hosts England in pool play, and contesting the final against New Zealand (losing 34–17). Larkham remained with the national side until February 2019, when he was controversially sacked by Cheika after coming under intense pressure following a number of years of poor results.
Munster
Larkham joined Irish provincial side Munster as their senior coach ahead of the northern hemisphere 2019–20 season, where he works alongside head coach Johann van Graan, defence coach JP Ferreira and forwards coach Graham Rowntree. Larkham will leave Munster upon the conclusion of the 2021–22 season to return to his native Australia.
Return to Brumbies
Larkham will return to Brumbies in July 2022 to take up the position of head coach for the 2023 and 2024 Super Rugby Pacific seasons.
Honours
Larkham was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 2012. He was admitted to the World Rugby Hall of Fame in 2018.
See also
Brumbies
Wallabies
Wallaby Team of the Decade
List of rugby union test caps leaders
ACT Veterans Rugby Club
References
External links
itsrugby.co.uk stats
Brumbies Profile
Wallabies Profile
Remembering Bernie, a tribute to Stephen Larkham
Ricoh unveils Larkham - Daily Yomiuri, 14 February 2008
1974 births
Living people
Australian rugby union players
Australian rugby union coaches
Australia international rugby union players
Brumbies coaches
Brumbies players
Barbarian F.C. players
Munster Rugby non-playing staff
People from the Australian Capital Territory
Black Rams Tokyo players
Rugby union fly-halves
Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees
World Rugby Hall of Fame inductees | true | [
"Canon Edward Joseph Hannan (1836-1891) was an Irish-born priest, mainly remembered as the founder of Hibernian Football Club in Edinburgh.\n\nLife\n\nHe was born in Ballingarry, County Limerick on 21 June 1836.\nHe was ordained as a priest in 1860.\n\nHe came to Edinburgh in 1861 on holiday and was persuaded to stay by the bishop to run the recently re-inaugurated St Patricks. During his long period in Edinburgh he did much to address the social problems of the poorer Catholics in the city, and founded a local branch of the Catholic Young Mens Society (CYMS) in 1865, which had been founded in Ireland by his uncle, Monsignor Richard B. O'Brien. In 1871 he became priest in charge at St Patricks. He did much for the inhabitants of \"Little Ireland\", the Irish community in Edinburgh, centred around the Cowgate.\nIn 1875, together with the 21 year old Michael Whelahan of the CYMS, and in part to mark the centenary of Daniel O'Connell's birth, he founded Hibernian Football Club. Hannan served as the club's first Manager and as President until his death. Despite only starting as a church club Canon Hannan did much lobbying resulting in acceptance of the team playing for the Scottish Cup in 1877, only two years after their foundation.\nHe lived in the house attached to St Patricks Church.\n\nHe died of pneumonia on 24 June 1891.\n\nHe is buried on the western path of the original part of Grange Cemetery in southern Edinburgh. The large white marble memorial was restored By Hibernian Historical Trust in 2006.\n\nReferences\n\n1836 births\n1891 deaths\nBurials at the Grange Cemetery\nPeople from County Limerick\n19th-century Irish Roman Catholic priests\nPeople associated with Edinburgh\nDeaths from pneumonia in Scotland\n19th-century Scottish Roman Catholic priests",
"Ad Lib is a comedy show consisting of ad lib conversations, usually between famous writers and comedians, each with a mutual interest.\n\nHistory \n\nAd Lib is the brainchild of Stuart Snaith, formerly Director of Comedy at BBC Worldwide and MD of 2entertain, and was launched on 21 August 2013 at the Edinburgh Festival, produced by Dan Schreiber. The opening night featured TV writer Steven Moffat (Doctor Who, Sherlock) and comedian Frank Skinner, a Doctor Who fan, compered by Scottish comedian Fred MacAulay. Ad Lib ran at Edinburgh for a further four consecutive nights, featuring Terry Pratchett with John Lloyd, John Bishop with Jason Manford and Andrew Maxwell, Neil Gaiman with Phill Jupitus and Mitch Benn, and Sarah Millican with Hannah Gadsby and Susan Calman.\n\nIn the news \n\nThe first Ad Lib event featuring Steven Moffat and Frank Skinner drew considerable media interest for Moffat's comments on two subjects: Sherlock's fall in the last episode of the series and the appointment of Peter Capaldi as the new Doctor Who. Moffat conceded that the Doctor can only regenerate 12 times (Capaldi is the 12th) but did not reveal how, or if, he intended to get round this in future. He also stated that he would be surprised if Capaldi did not play the part in his native Scottish accent.\n\nThe future \n\nAccording to the website of Ad Lib founder Stuart Snaith, he is in discussions about developing the format for television, as well as taking it live to London and America, and returning to Edinburgh in 2014.\n\nReferences \n\nEdinburgh Festival performers"
]
|
[
"Stephen Larkham",
"Later career",
"What did Larkham do in his later career?",
"Larkham played for the ACT Veterans Rugby Club at the World Vintage Rugby Carnival in Hawaii in September 2012.",
"Does he still play with them?",
"Despite his other commitments, Larkham occasionally still plays with the ACT Veterans to help them raise funds for the charities they support.",
"Did he win any awards or recognition in his later career?",
"On 18 February 2018, he received the GENLEC Player of the Day jacket for his great play and sportsmanship in the Clare Holland Cup charity match.",
"What other awards did he win?",
"a new stand was unveiled as the \"Gregan-Larkham Stand\" in honour of both players and their combination to the team.",
"Did he participate in any World Cups in his later career?",
"He played his last test against Japan in the 2007 World Cup before a knee injury sidelined him,",
"What did he do after his knee injury?",
"On 14 May 2007, despite larger offers from French and English teams, Larkham signed a contract with Edinburgh Rugby in Scotland",
"How long did he stay with Edinburgh?",
"However, in January 2008 it was announced that he will join Ricoh Black Rams of Japan."
]
| C_b95e422a80f54efeb7ffe6eeda4dd749_0 | Is there anything else interesting about Larkham's later career? | 8 | Other than playing for Edinburgh, is there anything else interesting about Larkham's later career? | Stephen Larkham | Larkham was an important part of the Australian 2003 World Cup squad which lost in the tournament final to England. He has suffered greatly from injuries through his career, especially to his knees and right elbow. Despite these he remained a competent defender in spite of his relatively light frame. He was also tried at inside centre by John Connolly for one test against Wales 2006 but the experiment was not regarded a success and he never played there again. He was famous for forming a long-standing half-back partnership with George Gregan, both of whom were foundation players with the ACT Brumbies rugby franchise. When both retired after the 2007 World Cup, not only were they the two most-capped Wallabies, but they played in more Tests than any other scrum-half/fly-half combination in history, with 79 appearances together. So important were they to the team that in 2007 at Bruce Stadium (Canberra Stadium), a new stand was unveiled as the "Gregan-Larkham Stand" in honour of both players and their combination to the team. He played his last test against Japan in the 2007 World Cup before a knee injury sidelined him, which effectively ended his Test career as Australia were then knocked out of the competition before he could return. On 14 May 2007, despite larger offers from French and English teams, Larkham signed a contract with Edinburgh Rugby in Scotland to join them after the 2007 World Cup; however; this deal subsequently fell through, reportedly because the Scottish Rugby Union would not fund the deal. Newly promoted Leeds expressed an interest, as did the Welsh side, the Dragons. However, in January 2008 it was announced that he will join Ricoh Black Rams of Japan. Larkham played for the ACT Veterans Rugby Club at the World Vintage Rugby Carnival in Hawaii in September 2012. During this carnival he also played as a reserve for an old boys team from Brazil who, not realising who he was, asked him to play second row because he was tall. Despite his other commitments, Larkham occasionally still plays with the ACT Veterans to help them raise funds for the charities they support. On 18 February 2018, he received the GENLEC Player of the Day jacket for his great play and sportsmanship in the Clare Holland Cup charity match. CANNOTANSWER | He was famous for forming a long-standing half-back partnership with George Gregan, | Stephen Larkham (born 29 May 1974) is a retired Australian rugby union professional player, currently in the role of senior coach for Irish provincial side Munster, who compete in the United Rugby Championship and Champions Cup. He spent his career with the Brumbies in Super Rugby, for whom he played from the inception of the professional Super 12 in 1996 through 2007. He is best known for his long tenure with the Wallabies at international level, for whom he played 102 times. After initial selection at fullback from 1996 to 1997, Larkham was the first-choice Australian fly-half from 1997 to 2007, playing in the 1999, 2003 and 2007 Rugby World Cups. He is married to Jacqueline and has two children, Jaimee and Tiahna.
Playing career
Having started his career as a fullback, Larkham developed into one of the greatest fly-halves in the history of Australian rugby, being named in 2005 at the position in Australia's team of the decade (the "decade" being the first 10 years of professional rugby union). At his peak, Larkham was one of the best flyhalves in world rugby, with reputation as an elusive runner and the lynchpin of a potent backline.
He first gained notice in 1995 when he was plucked from reserve grade club rugby to represent ACT in the Super 12 as a utility back in the Brumbies squad, playing a number of Super 12 games before attracting the attention of the national selectors. Larkham made his test debut as a reserve against Wales in Sydney in 1996 when he replaced injured Ben Tune on the wing, and then joined the Wallabies on their undefeated tour of Europe. In 1997, Larkham proved more than a capable replacement at fullback for the injured Matt Burke, with a two-try effort in the Wallabies final Test against Scotland at Murrayfield. On 16 January 2008 Larkham signed a three-year contract with Japanese club Ricoh Black Rams. After two full seasons in Japan, Larkham negotiated an early release in order to return to Australia. He played in Japan for the first half of the 2010–11 Top League season playing for the Ricoh Black Rams in Japan and then returned to Canberra in November 2010 to take up the role of attack coach for the Brumbies.
Fullback to Fly Half transition
Larkham's conversion from fullback to flyhalf is now hailed as a Rod Macqueen masterstroke that put the Wallabies on track to win the 1999 Rugby World Cup. This was initially a controversial selection as his tactical kicking was regarded as too weak for the position; however, his ability to get the Australian back line going and to slide through gaps himself quickly ended the debate. Simon Poidevin while commenting for Australian TV remarked during the third test against the All Blacks in 1998 that "anyone who thinks (Larkham) is a dud flyhalf needs their head read" (i.e. is wrong) and this was eventually accepted to be correct.
1999 Rugby World Cup drop-goal
Larkham's famous 48m-drop goal to seal victory over South Africa in extra time of the 1999 Rugby World Cup semi-final has gone down in rugby folklore as the defining moment in the Wallabies' victorious Rugby World Cup campaign. South Africa had got to the semi final largely through the efforts of Jannie de Beer kicking five drop goals in their previous match. By contrast not one of the Australian players on the team had to that date ever scored a drop goal at test level. The fact that Larkham had quite a badly injured knee through the match caused Steve Smith to remark incredulously while calling the game for English ITV "He can barely stand on that leg and yet he just thwacked it over."
The feat was even more remarkable as Larkham's eyesight was very poor at the time. Since 1999 he has had laser surgery to correct his vision, however at the time he could not see the goal posts clearly.
Following Australia's victory over France in the World Cup final, several television commercials aired in Australia humorously mocking Larkham's lack of kicking prowess. The commercial featured current & former teammates, junior and senior coaches (including former Australian coach Rod MacQueen) and even Australian rugby icons (such as Phil Kearns) expressing their astonishment that Larkham managed to score.
The commercial begins with Larkham's school coaches saying he was a poor kicker, and had never successfully scored a drop-goal in a match. The climax of the commercial features then-captain John Eales, as well as Matt Burke, Kearns and MacQueen each saying "Don't kick it!" as footage of the moment is replayed. The commercial is available to view on YouTube.
Later career
Larkham was an important part of the Australian 2003 World Cup squad which lost in the tournament final to England. He has suffered greatly from injuries through his career, especially to his knees and right elbow. Despite these he remained a competent defender in spite of his relatively light frame. He was also tried at inside centre by John Connolly for one test against Wales 2006 but the experiment was not regarded a success and he never played there again.
He was famous for forming a long-standing half-back partnership with George Gregan, both of whom were foundation players with the ACT Brumbies rugby franchise. When both retired after the 2007 World Cup, not only were they the two most-capped Wallabies, but they played in more Tests than any other scrum-half/fly-half combination in history, with 79 appearances together. So important were they to the team that in 2007 at Bruce Stadium (Canberra Stadium), a new stand was unveiled as the "Gregan-Larkham Stand" in honour of both players and their combination to the team.
He played his last test against Japan in the 2007 World Cup before a knee injury sidelined him, which effectively ended his Test career as Australia were then knocked out of the competition before he could return.
On 14 May 2007, despite larger offers from French and English teams, Larkham signed a contract with Edinburgh Rugby in Scotland to join them after the 2007 World Cup; however; this deal subsequently fell through, reportedly because the Scottish Rugby Union would not fund the deal. Newly promoted Leeds expressed an interest, as did the Welsh side, the Dragons. However, in January 2008 it was announced that he will join Ricoh Black Rams of Japan.
Larkham played for the ACT Veterans Rugby Club at the World Vintage Rugby Carnival in Hawaii in September 2012. During this carnival he also played as a reserve for an old boys team from Brazil who, not realising who he was, asked him to play second row because he was tall. Despite his other commitments, Larkham occasionally still plays with the ACT Veterans to help them raise funds for the charities they support. On 18 February 2018, he received the GENLEC Player of the Day jacket for his great play and sportsmanship in the Clare Holland Cup charity match.
Coaching
Brumbies and Australia
In 2010, Larkham returned to the Brumbies ahead of the 2011 Super Rugby season to take up the role of attack coach. He worked under the head coach of Tony Rea who left the franchise at the end of that season. Larkham and newly appointed head coach Jake White made a formidable duo, as during the 2012 Super Rugby season, the Brumbies went from being the fourth best Australian franchise to the second best behind the Queensland Reds. Larkham's attacking influence saw the Brumbies pick up 5 bonus points wins, and an overall better point difference in favor of for. He guided Matt Toomua and Christian Lealiifano to world class fly-half options, which helped the Brumbies secure the top Australian conference position during the 2013 Super Rugby season, finishing second overall losing in the final to the Chiefs 27–22. In 2014, Jake White dramatically resigned as head coach, with Larkham and Laurie Fisher being appointed joint coaches for that season. They finished second in the Australian conference and fourth in the standings after the regular season. They faced the Waratahs in the Semi-final, losing 26–8 in Sydney.
In 2015, Fisher left his role to join Gloucester, with Stephen being appointed head coach. In Larkhams's debut season as head coach, he led the Brumbies to the Semi-Final of the 2015 Super Rugby season, finishing sixth in the overall standings at the end of the regular season. The Brumbies finished with 9 out of 16 wins, which included 3 wins over South African opposition and 2 wins over New Zealand opposition. The season also included a 29–0 win over the Queensland Reds in Brisbane, to make the Brumbies the first team to have held a team scoreless twice against the same opponent. During the qualifier round, the Brumbies convincingly beat the Stormers in Cape Town 39–19, to set up an away semi-finals against first seeds Hurricanes. The Brumbies lost this match 29–9 to be eliminated from Champions contention.
On 27 February 2015, newly appointed Wallabies coach Michael Cheika appointed Larkham as the backs and attack coach for the national side for the 2015 Rugby World Cup. That campaign saw a marked improvement in the team's performance, with the Australians winning the shortened Rugby Championship competition that year, going on to eliminate World Cup hosts England in pool play, and contesting the final against New Zealand (losing 34–17). Larkham remained with the national side until February 2019, when he was controversially sacked by Cheika after coming under intense pressure following a number of years of poor results.
Munster
Larkham joined Irish provincial side Munster as their senior coach ahead of the northern hemisphere 2019–20 season, where he works alongside head coach Johann van Graan, defence coach JP Ferreira and forwards coach Graham Rowntree. Larkham will leave Munster upon the conclusion of the 2021–22 season to return to his native Australia.
Return to Brumbies
Larkham will return to Brumbies in July 2022 to take up the position of head coach for the 2023 and 2024 Super Rugby Pacific seasons.
Honours
Larkham was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 2012. He was admitted to the World Rugby Hall of Fame in 2018.
See also
Brumbies
Wallabies
Wallaby Team of the Decade
List of rugby union test caps leaders
ACT Veterans Rugby Club
References
External links
itsrugby.co.uk stats
Brumbies Profile
Wallabies Profile
Remembering Bernie, a tribute to Stephen Larkham
Ricoh unveils Larkham - Daily Yomiuri, 14 February 2008
1974 births
Living people
Australian rugby union players
Australian rugby union coaches
Australia international rugby union players
Brumbies coaches
Brumbies players
Barbarian F.C. players
Munster Rugby non-playing staff
People from the Australian Capital Territory
Black Rams Tokyo players
Rugby union fly-halves
Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees
World Rugby Hall of Fame inductees | true | [
"Larkham is a surname, which may refer to:\n\nBrent Larkham, Australian tennis player\nBrent Larkham, Australian musician\nDavid Larkham, art director and designer\nMark Larkham, Australian racing driver \nPeter Larkham, British professor of planning\nStephen Larkham, Australian rugby union player\nTavis Larkham, American visual effects specialist/actor\nThomas Larkham, English Puritan clergyman\nTodd Larkham, Australian tennis player\nTrevor Larkham, English cricketer\n\nReferences\n\nEnglish toponymic surnames",
"Brent Larkham (born 8 January 1972) is a former professional tennis player from Australia. He is the elder brother of Todd Larkham, who also played professional tennis.\n\nCareer\nLarkham had the best performance of his career at the 1994 Australian Open, where he made a surprise run to the third round, as a wildcard. He won his opening match against Japanese qualifier Ryuso Tsujino in straight sets and also didn't drop a set in his second round meeting with 27th ranked Amos Mansdorf. In the third round he played Martin Damm but couldn't beat the Czech, losing in four sets.\n\nAlso in 1994, Larkham made the second round of the Stella Artois Championships (Queen's), with a win over Patrick McEnroe, who was then ranked 66 in the world. He was then eliminated by Stefan Edberg.\n\nAfter retiring, due to a back injury, Larkham spent some time coaching his brother Todd and has also worked with Wayne Arthurs, Richard Fromberg and Paul Hanley. He is now head coach of the tennis program at the Australian Institute of Sports in Canberra.\n\nChallenger titles\n\nSingles: (2)\n\nDoubles: (3)\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n \n \n \n\n1972 births\nLiving people\nAustralian male tennis players\nAustralian tennis coaches\nTennis people from the Australian Capital Territory"
]
|
[
"Eraserheads",
"Mini-reunions"
]
| C_6994ef32b2dc49078e66ea6b7580d9e6_0 | Why are the reunions "mini" reunions? | 1 | Why are the reunions mini reunions? | Eraserheads | On February 28, 2007, the official launch of the book Tikman ang Langit: An Anthology on the Eraserheads (2007) was held at the second level of Powerbooks bookstore in Greenbelt 3, Makati City. The launch was accompanied by acoustic performances by Cambio (whose members include Raimund Marasigan, Buddy Zabala and Kris Gorra-Dancel), Markus Highway (Marcus Adoro's band), and Lei Bautista of Prettier Than Pink. The performers covered Eraserheads songs such as "Ligaya" (performed by Lei Bautista), "With a Smile" (also performed by Bautista) and "Magasin" (performed by Cambio with Marcus Adoro). The event was dubbed a mini-reunion of Eraserheads, with Marasigan, Zabala and Adoro performing together for the first time in four years. Buendia did not attend because of a scheduled meeting with his surgeon and the manufacturers of the stents in his heart. Tikman ang Langit is a collection of essays about Eraserheads written by fourteen journalists who are mostly fans of the band. The book itself was compiled by Melvin Calimag and Jing Garcia, with a foreword by Eraserheads producer Robin Rivera. Another mini-reunion happened in Saguijo on July 26, 2007. Visitors were startled as the venue's schedule listed "Eraserheads" as a performer along with Rivermaya and Teeth. Jugs Jugueta of Itchyworms and Kris Gorra-Dancel of Cambio played guitars, Zabala on bass, Marasigan on drums, Jett Pangan of The Dawn on vocals, and producer Robin Rivera played drums when Marasigan sang. They called themselves "Eraser X" during that night. Buendia and Adoro knew about the event but did not go there as they had other gigs as well. Pupil was in Hard Rock Cafe Makati, while Adoro had gigs with Markus Highway, although Pupil's bassist Dok Sergio was able to follow and played for Teeth. Adoro, Zabala, and Marasigan did an impromptu number at the Millennia Club called "Marooned", a production of UP bands from past and present. The song Batch 88 from "Belma en Luis", was one of the songs that was jammed by the trio. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Eraserheads (sometimes stylized as ERASƎRHEADS or ƎRASƎRHƎADS) were a Filipino alternative rock band formed in 1989. With a line-up comprising Ely Buendia, Buddy Zabala, Marcus Adoro, and Raimund Marasigan, the band became one of the most successful in the history of Filipino music. Often dubbed as "The Beatles of the Philippines", they are credited for spearheading a second wave of Manila band invasions, paving the way for a host of Filipino alternative rock bands like Rivermaya.
The band released several singles, albums, and EPs. They achieved commercial success with their third album Cutterpillow (1995), which achieved platinum status several times. They also received the Viewer's Choice Award at the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards in New York, the only Filipino artist to have received the award before the conception of the MTV Asia Awards.
History
1989–1992: Formation and early years
In 1989, two college bands from the University of the Philippines Diliman were both in search of new members for a new group. Curfew, which consisted of Buddy Zabala on bass, Raimund Marasigan on drums, and Marcus Adoro on guitars met up with Sunday School, which consisted of Ely Buendia on vocals and Raimund Marasigan as session drummer in December of the same year. Ely's first two college bands, Bluidie Tryste and Sunday School, were too unstable, so he posted an audition notice on a university message board. Only Raimund, Buddy, and Marcus showed up at the audition. According to an interview with myx, Raimund said he first auditioned as bassist while Buddy as the drummer. But they noticed that it did not sound right, the two switched places.
The four formed a new group and called themselves Eraserheads, taking inspiration from the film Eraserhead by surrealist director David Lynch. They played mostly covers, doing gigs in schools, and playing at Manila's rock club circuit, achieving little success.
The band found that they were not good at playing covers, so they concentrated on writing their own material. Their new, original songs, played live, soon earned them a cult following in the university, which gradually spread outside the campus. One of the songs, a pop song entitled, "Pare Ko", became popular, partly because of lyrics that included a few obscenities.
The band recorded a nine-song demo tape in the garage of Marasigan's provincial home (in Candelaria, Quezon) on January 26, 1991. They then shopped the demo cassette around record labels, clubs, and radio stations, hoping to have their songs reach the public. However, they were rejected at every turn, with one recording label deeming that their demo was "not pop enough". In May 1991, a professor-friend teaching Humanities, Robin Rivera, helped them re-record and mix better versions of the demo songs on a four-track DAT recorder. The new demo was named Pop-U!, titled as an irreverent response to those who turned them down.
Meanwhile, Buendia became employed as a student copywriter by BMG Records (Pilipinas) Inc. (now part of Sony BMG Music Entertainment). He worked with BMG during the day and wrote songs with the band during the night. Eventually, the songs of Buendia and the band caught the attention of BMG A&R director Vic Valenciano. Valenciano listened to the songs and then commented that they were very raw technically, but that there was something promising in them. Subsequently, BMG gave Eraserheads' songs a try. In 1992, BMG signed up the band for a three-year record deal.
1993–1997: Mainstream success
In July 1993, Eraserheads started recording their debut album called Ultraelectromagneticpop!. The album featured "Pare Ko" (My Friend), "Toyang" and "Tindahan ni Aling Nena" (The Store of Aling Nena), all of which were also present in Pop-U!. The album also featured a sanitized version of "Pare Ko" called "Walang Hiyang Pare Ko". Later in the same year, BMG initially released 5,000 copies of the album. The album became a smash hit, with the songs "Ligaya", "Pare Ko" and "Toyang" topping the charts that, by the end of the year, BMG sold 300,000 copies, and Ultraelectromagneticpop! turned sextuple platinum.
The album met some opposition as the Philippine Association of the Record Industry (PARI) attempted to censor "Pare Ko" but without success. The public was said to have found its OPM Fab Four in Eraserheads, opening the second wave of band invasion. The Eraserheadsmania was born.
In October 1994, Eraserheads released a follow-up album entitled Circus. The band said that the album aptly described their life since their debut. The album was unpredictable and unconventional compared to the OPM ballads at that time, and established the band members as songwriters and musicians. The songs varied in style and mood, ranging from euphoric and hilarious to tender and somber. In the same year, Eraserheads played during the Miss Universe Pageant which was held in Manila. On November 24, the band held their first major concert, titled "Eraserheads Jamboree," at the Folk Arts Theater (now the Tanghalang Francisco Balagtas) in Malate, Manila.
Four of the songs became successive hits: "Kailan" (When), "Magasin" (Magazine), "Alapaap" (High Clouds) and "With a Smile". Circus turned gold in just 30 days with 20,000 copies sold. Eventually, it turned quintuple platinum with 200,000 copies sold. But like ultraelectromagneticpop!, it too had its share of controversy. In August 1995, Senator Tito Sotto, who was involved in an anti-drug campaign at that time, called for a ban on the airplay and sales of "Alapaap" over an alleged promotion of drug abuse in the lyrics of the song. In response, Eraserheads denied the allegation, saying that it was just a misinterpretation, and that the song was the band's "ode to freedom", not an "ode to drug abuse".
The group's third studio album Cutterpillow, was launched an open-air concert attended by fans and followers. With Christmas barely a month over, Eraserheads opened 1996 by making history in the Philippine music scene once more. Cutterpillow turned gold, even before it hit the record stores, as a result of the pre-selling promo campaign. Soon, the band shot the music video for the song "Ang Huling El Bimbo" (The Last El Bimbo) from the album.
Later that year, the band came up with a conceptual Christmas album Fruitcake. The album is notable in that it is the first and only album of the band recorded entirely in English. This was shortly followed by a release of a companion storybook of the same title.
Also in 1995 the band was given a shot at acting when they co-starred with comedian Joey De Leon of "Eat Bulaga" in the comedy film Run Barbi Run produced by GMA Network's Cinemax Studios (now GMA Films).
1997–2002: Later years and break-up
Going International
The year 1998 was marked with a series of gigs outside of the Philippines. Eraserheads' first-ever overseas gig was at BMG Records' "Sentosa Pop Festival" in Singapore in March 1997. It was then followed by a mini U.S. tour in May. They played at the Palace in Hollywood on May 2, 1997. Then, four months later in September, they were at the Radio City Music Hall in New York to receive the coveted "Moon Man" trophy for winning the 1997 MTV Asia Viewer's Choice Award, which made Eraserheads the first-ever Filipino artists to win the award.
The promotional CD versions of "Milk and Money", "Hard to Believe" and "Andalusian Dog", was recorded in Manila and mixed at the Electric Lady Studios, New York City in September 1997. Electric Lady Studios was built by the rock legend Jimi Hendrix. The tracks soon became a part of their fifth album, Sticker Happy, released a few days after the MTV Awards. A month later, they were back in Singapore for a series of shows and appearances for MTV Asia.
In February 1998, they represented the Philippines at the annual "Asia Live Dream '98" for NHK Broadcasting in Tokyo, Japan. Then in May, they embarked on another U.S. tour, taking them from Oakland to Los Angeles and to New York. The band toured the U.S. under the Happy Box production outfit, which was formed by brothers Haro De Guzman and Levan "Schizo" De Guzman and some other friends.
August 1998 saw the release of the album Aloha Milkyway in the Asian region, and finally in the Philippines two months later. The album contains chart-topping songs that have been re-mastered, as well as five new songs.
In early 1999, they had sold-out shows in Hong Kong, Sydney, and Dubai. Their next album, Natin99, was released in May.
Between May and June 2000, they did another tour of America dubbed, "The Pop Machine Tour – USA2000", playing in locations from New York to Chicago and to California. During their tours, they also had Noel Garcia of The Pin-Ups as an addition to their expanded line-up, who played guitars, keyboards and sometimes drums. After almost two years, the much-awaited studio album, Carbon Stereoxide, was released in March 2001, featuring the tracks, "Maskara", "Playground", "Hula" and "Palamig".
Break-up
After weeks of speculation, it was confirmed that the main songwriter and lead singer, Ely Buendia, had left the band in mid-March 2002 for "reasons unknown". However, in subsequent interviews, Buendia pointed to business matters as the cause of the band's break-up. In 2021 however, Buendia later revealed revealed that the no formation of friendship with the 3 other members as the reason of the band's demise.
In PULP Magazine, Buendia's wife and manager, Diane Ventura, claimed that the breakup started with a miscommunication between Buendia and the band's roadie, the result being that Buendia and Ventura turned up late at a mall gig. This upset the roadie who snidely referred to the couple as "unprofessional". Buendia's band colleagues and crew at the gig gave Buendia "a cold shoulder", related Ventura, being under the impression that Buendia had come late deliberately. The next day, Buendia brought the incident to the attention of the band's management boss, Butch Dans, to which he allegedly reverted the blame to the roadie's "unprofessionalism". Dans, however, allegedly chose to consider the roadie's account over Buendia's without much deliberation. Dans allegedly quipped that Buendia and Ventura were "probably too high on drugs" to remember the gig's schedule. Ventura stepped in to dispute the allegation and vehemently denied that she and Buendia were even told of the schedule. The other three Eraserheads also believed the roadie's story, which disturbed Buendia because he felt betrayed by their longstanding friendship. Buendia later announced to his mates through SMS that he was quitting the group.
In another interview, Marasigan said he was eating in SM Megamall, a local shopping mall when he heard of the news. He said he was "semi-surprised" and wondered if Zabala already knew about it. Adoro told of the story now famous among Eraserheads fans about Buendia's cryptic text message. He said Buendia stated in the text message that he had already "graduated." Adoro quipped in the same interview that it was natural for Buendia to graduate first, since he was in batch '87 of their college (UP Diliman), while the rest were in batch '88.
Zabala confessed in an interview that disbanding had not been that far away from the members' minds. He said that there were many occasions when they could have disbanded but did not.
Adoro expressed the belief of some people that the band was getting too old, and that it was "selfish" for the band to continue, likely referring to comments about how it's time for other bands, besides Eraserheads, to shine. The band made it clear, though, that Buendia's departure from the band wasn't in any way violent and that there was no shouting (sigawan) or any confrontation involved.
The three remaining Eraserheads decided to continue. Within a few weeks, the "new" Eheads debuted at Hard Rock Cafe in Makati on April 19, featuring a female singer-guitarist, Kris Gorra-Dancel, from the band, Fatal Posporos. However, after a few months, Adoro had quit the band as well. The remaining members of the Eheads added Diego Mapa and Ebe Dancel to their lineup and renamed their band, "Cambio".
2003–2007: After the break-up
Tribute albums
Just a few years after the break-up, the tribute album Ultraelectromagneticjam!: The Music of the Eraserheads was released in honor of the band.
Many questioned whether the time was right for a tribute to a group that had just disbanded four years ago, with its former members still active in the music industry. Buendia had mixed feelings about the tribute album, saying that "It’s too early to be taking part in it and I don’t see myself being part of it kasi (because) I’m still doing something here...To be part of it is like acknowledging na tapos na ako (that I am finished); isa na lang akong trophy na itatago na (I'm just a trophy to be shelved). Siguro kung uugud-ugud na ako (Maybe when I'm really old), that’s the time I’m gonna look back." Ironically though, he does guest vocals in one of the tracks, "Superproxy 2k6" by the late Master Rapper Francis M.
On May 9, 2012, Star Records and Star Cinema released The Reunion: An Eraserheads Tribute Album, a tribute album of their own that accompanies the film The Reunion.
Mini-reunions
On February 28, 2007, the official launch of the book Tikman ang Langit: An Anthology on the Eraserheads (2007) was held at the second level of Powerbooks bookstore in Greenbelt 3, Makati. The launch was accompanied by acoustic performances by Cambio (whose members include Raimund Marasigan, Buddy Zabala and Kris Gorra-Dancel), Markus Highway (Marcus Adoro's band), and Lei Bautista of Prettier Than Pink. The performers covered Eraserheads songs such as "Ligaya" (performed by Lei Bautista), "With a Smile" (also performed by Bautista) and "Magasin" (performed by Cambio with Marcus Adoro). The event was dubbed a mini-reunion of Eraserheads, with Marasigan, Zabala and Adoro performing together for the first time in four years. Buendia did not attend because of a scheduled meeting with his surgeon and the manufacturers of the stents in his heart.
Tikman ang Langit is a collection of essays about Eraserheads written by fourteen journalists who are mostly fans of the band. The book itself was compiled by Melvin Calimag and Jing Garcia, with a foreword by Eraserheads producer Robin Rivera.
Another mini-reunion happened in Saguijo on July 26, 2007. Visitors were startled as the venue's schedule listed "Eraserheads" as a performer along with Rivermaya and Teeth. Jugs Jugueta of Itchyworms and Kris Gorra-Dancel of Cambio played guitars, Zabala on bass, Marasigan on drums, Jett Pangan of The Dawn on vocals, and producer Robin Rivera played drums when Marasigan sang. They called themselves "Eraser X" during that night. Buendia and Adoro knew about the event but did not go there as they had other gigs as well. Pupil was in Hard Rock Cafe Makati, while Adoro had gigs with Markus Highway, although Pupil's bassist Dok Sergio was able to follow and played for Teeth.
Adoro, Zabala, and Marasigan did an impromptu number at the Millennia Club called "Marooned", a production of UP bands from past and present. The song Batch 88 from "Belma en Luis", was one of the songs that were jammed by the trio.
2008–present: Reunion
In July 2008, it was confirmed by the members that they will be reuniting for a one-off concert to be held on August 30, 2008. Ely Buendia did affirm that the reunion will be for a night's performance only, to be sponsored by a multinational tobacco company. Buendia was quoted saying "I'm not doing this for the money but for the E-heads fans who remain loyal". The sponsors are expecting 35,000 attendees with free tickets distributed to online registrants in early August 2008. This highly awaited one-night concert was initially reported to be planned for staging at the Cultural Center of the Philippines open grounds, or alternatively, the Fort Bonifacio open grounds.
On August 22, word had broken out that Philip Morris had pulled out of the concert and that the show had been "canceled".
Anti-Tobacco forces, led by Dr. Maricar Limpin, had been active in a campaign to get Eraserheads to renounce the concert and the involvement of the tobacco giant, as Alicia Keys had done in her recent concert in Indonesia. Eraserheads never issued such an announcement. However, it was believed that the pressure exerted by the anti-tobacco forces had caused Philip Morris to end their participation in the concert.
On the evening of August 24, Raimund Marasigan issued a response to this news. Posting on the Sandwich and Cambio mailing lists, Marasigan confirmed that while Philip Morris has pulled out of the production, the concert is "most definitely" pushing through on the original date, August 30, 2008, at the Fort Bonifacio open field.
Philip Morris would no longer be involved, but the entire production had been turned over to a new producer. Furthermore, while it was previously made known through Philip Morris' announcement that the concert would be free to smokers who signed up through a promotional website known as The Red List at , the change in producers meant that tickets would no longer be free but made available to anyone who purchased them. It was later revealed that Radiohead Media Solutions, Inc., MTV Philippines, Fox International Channels Philippines, Smart Communications, Musiko Records, Greater East Asia Music & Sony BMG Music Entertainment (also known as Sony Music Philippines Inc. & BMG Rights Management) have taken over the event.
Eraserheads went onstage for their reunion concert on August 30, 2008, at The Fort Open Field, Taguig. The concert, however, was cut short halfway through a planned 30-song setlist as Buendia was rushed to the Makati Medical Hospital after experiencing chest pains. He was reported to be in stable condition. Buddy Zabala had checked on Buendia in his tent right after they went to their planned 20-minute break and saw that he already was on an oxygen mask with paramedics checking his blood pressure. As he left and came back, paramedics were already taking Buendia on an ambulance. Bandmates Zabala, Marasigan and Adoro further said that they had no idea that Buendia was already having difficulty performing. In the spirit of the reunion, Marasigan, Zabala, and Adoro went to Saguijo after the concert and they continued their sets there. Kris Gorra-Dancel, Ebe Dancel, Aia De Leon, and many other OPM artists joined them as well. During the concert, Jazz Nicolas of the Itchyworms and a close friend of the band, also joined the band and played synths, keyboards, and other back-up instruments.
MTV Philippines President Francis Lumen stated: "He had a slight attack because of stress due to the recent passing of his mother (Lisette Buendia), and their sound check which lasted till 3 a.m. today (Saturday)." Buendia's mother died of cardiac arrest on August 28 after recovering from surgery to treat her intestinal cancer. Buendia was transferred to Philippine Heart Center 10:00 p.m. of August 31 after being treated at the critical care area of the Makati Medical Center emergency room. Sony BMG reported Buendia was "stable" after suffering hypokalemia a medical condition in which the concentration of potassium in the blood is low. Buendia had been administered with a potassium intravenous fluid.
Buendia, 37, on September 1, 2008, underwent his third heart angioplasty surgery since his January, 2007 heart attack. The blood vessel operated upon was "100 percent fully restored," and Buendia was recovering in "stable condition but still under observation." On September 5, 2008, Buendia was discharged from the hospital.
On 25 October episode of Startalk, Buendia said that the reunion concert was supposed to be a "one night only" Eraserheads reunion concert. He also said that there are no talks yet for a continuation of the said concert. However, he stated that he indeed felt "bitin" (literally translated, "not satisfied") with the uncompleted concert and is open to any sequels if it would have the proper production and venue. The other three members of the band, Adoro, Zabala, and Marasigan also expressed similar views in a follow-up interview by Myx and Inquirer.
Sony-BMG Philippines, Musiko Records & Greater East Asia Music released the concert movie of the band's reunion concert on November 26, 2008.
On the January 10 edition of Supreme, a feature of The Philippine Star, it was announced that the continuation of their previous reunion concert would happen on March 7, 2009.
On January 11, this was confirmed by Marasigan through a message he posted on the Pedicab, Cambio, and Sandwich Mailing Lists.
On February 27, the band was awarded as "Myx Magna Award 2009" in the recent 4th Myx Music Awards 2009, achieving their alternative music excellence.
The band went on stage for their second reunion concert dubbed as The Final Set on March 7, 2009, at the SM Mall of Asia Concert Grounds, Pasay were approximately 100,000 people attended the sold-out concert. The concert went ahead despite the recent passing of their guest performer and friend Francis Magalona who died of acute myelogenous leukemia noon of the previous day.
World tours and other projects
The band continued to perform on sporadic worldwide tours from 2012 to 2014. Eraserheads held another reunion concert in the United States (San Francisco, Los Angeles & New Jersey) and Canada (Toronto) from October 12 to 20, 2012.
After their American Tour, the next show for the band was at the du Music Festival. Held at the Dubai Amphitheatre, UAE on April 4, 2013, the festival featured a diverse lineup of music stars including Guns N’ Roses, Train, Natalie Cole, Andrea Bocelli and other local acts. The band also featured a "fifth Eraserhead", Rommel 'Sancho' Sanchez on additional guitar duties. Rommel joined the band, too, during their 2012 North American tour. During the Dubai concert, Ely dedicated the song "Lightyears" to the OFWs.
After four months, on August 10, 2013, Eraserheads played a show in another country, Singapore. On December 27, 2013, Eraserheads and Parokya ni Edgar performed at "High Impact Asia" Meydan Racecourse, Al Meydan Road, Nad Al Sheba, Dubai, UAE.
Eraserheads performed their first major rock concert at the Eventim Apollo in London, England on April 4, 2014. This was produced by Marvin Guzman and Bernadith Marimon of Finest Workers UK Ltd in the US.
In September 2014, the band released two new songs via Esquire (Philippines edition), titled "1995" and "Sabado". This was their first release of new material in more than a decade. The magazine cover mimics the Beatles' Abbey Road cover, which was shot during the band's tour in London.
Eraserheads guested in the rebranding launch event, "A New Day", of the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company, along with its subsidiary Smart Communications. The band performed 5 encore songs and 13 main setlist songs.
In a tweet posted in January 2018, Buendia said: "Some people will never understand that people who don't get along don't work together." The statement was interpreted by Philippine Daily Inquirer and some fans as a response to calls for another reunion concert in the band's home country.
A musical adaptation of Eraserheads' discography entitled Ang Huling El Bimbo ran from July 20 to September 2, 2018 at Resorts World Manila. A second run for the musical was set for March 2019.
The band's first album was set to be rereleased in its first time on vinyl format, in November 2019. In December 2020, the band released a special edition photobook that features photos taken from the Final Set concert in 2009.
The three band members, Raimund, Buddy, and Marcus formed the band "Ultracombo" in 2019 and performed the songs of the Eraserheads. Marcus left the group on the following months after performing on a couple of gigs.
On 7 August 2021, Offshore Music proudly announces the release of the Sabado/1995 EP of the Eraserheads on all digital streaming platforms. The EP was written during their UK Tour back in 2014.
Band members
Ely Buendia – lead vocals, rhythm guitar
Buddy Zabala – bass guitar, backing vocals
Marcus Adoro – lead guitar, backing vocals
Raimund Marasigan – drums, backing vocals
Discography
Studio albums
Ultraelectromagneticpop! (1993)
Circus (1994)
Cutterpillow (1995)
Fruitcake (1996)
Sticker Happy (1997)
Natin99 (1999)
Carbon Stereoxide (2001)
EPs and demos
Pop U! (1991)
Fruitcake (1996)
Bananatype (1997)
Please Transpose EP (2003)
Sabado/1995 (2021)
Compilations
Aloha Milkyway (1998)
Eraserheads: The Singles (2001)
Eraserheads Anthology (2004)
Eraserheads Anthology 2 (2006)
International Releases
Aloha Milkyway Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia (1998)
Natin99 Hong Kong (1999)
Live albums
Eraserheads: The Reunion Concert 08.30.08 (2008)
Collaborations
1896 Ang Pagsilang (1996)
"Casa Fantastica"
Francis Magalona Happy Battle (1996)
"Unstrung Heroes" (Duet W/ Francis Magalona)
"Sapot Feat. Planet Garapata"
Ryan Cayabyab The Silver Album (1997)
"Tuwing Umuulan at Kapiling Ka"
Nescafe Open Up Party Live (2000)
"Blue Jeans"
"Pumapatak Na Naman ang Ulan"
"Tuyo Na'ng Damdamin (Feat. APO Hiking Society)"
Bandang Pinoy Lasang Hotdog (2001, re-issued 2006)
"Manila"
Gusto Ko ng Rock (2009)
"Alapaap"
Superbands (Universal Records)(2005)
Silver Shiny Jeepney (All Indie Band)
Soundtracks
Run Barbi Run (Starring Joey de Leon) (1995)
"Run Barbi Run"
DVD
The Reunion Concert – DVD (2009)
The Reunion Concert – DVD (Special Edition, 2009)
Box set/package
The Heads Set (Limited Edition) (2010) – The box set was released exclusively in Greenwich Pizza outlets, and included a free box of pizza. It contains rarities such as "Casa Fantastica", all local albums from Ultraelectromagneticpop! to Carbon Stereoxide, DVD documentary (directed by Marcus Adoro), a book and shirt designed by Cynthia Bauzon and Arnold Arre, who both collaborated with the band before. It is now out of print.
Tribute albums
Ultraelectromagneticjam!: The Music of the Eraserheads (2005)
The Reunion: An Eraserheads Tribute Album (2012)
Ang Huling El Bimbo Musical (2018)
Pop Machine: Eraserheads Tribute Album (2020)
Publications
Pillbox Volume 1 Number 1
Editor: Redel D. Ramos
Art Director: Cynthia F. Bauzon
Release: 1996
Published by: Pop Infinity Limited Laundry
© 1996 P.I.L.L. Corporation
Fruitcake
A separate companion storybook for the album Fruitcake (1996)
Story by: Eraserheads
Text by: Ely Buendia
Edited by: Jessica Zafra
Illustrated by: Cynthia F. Bauzon
Release: 1997
Published by: Anvil Publishing, Inc., Pasig
Printed by: Cacho Hermanos, Mandaluyong
© 1997 Eraserheads
Pillbox Volume 3
Editor: Marie Jamora
Art Director: Cynthia F. Bauzon
Release: 1998
Published by: BMG Records (Pilipinas) Inc.
© 1998 BMG Records (Pilipinas) Inc.
Magazine cover appearance
Esquire Magazine September Issue with CD of their two new songs (2014)
Myx Magazine "Eraserheads Reunion Concert Collectors Issue" (October–November 2008)
Pulp Magazine (2000)
Cutting Edge The FREE Magazine with Sen.Angara (1997)
Sky Surf Magazine (1997)
SM Magazine (1997)
1969 life in the Age of Internet Magazine (1997)
Mirror Magazine (1996)
Miscellaneous Magazine (1996)
Woman's Today Magazine together with Cooky Chua & Meagan Aguilar(1996)
Mr. & Ms. Magazine together with Regine Tolentino(1995)
Filmography
Run Barbi Run – starring as themselves
Wating – musical score by Eraserheads
Kuya – Marcus in a cameo role as a drug pusher
Masakit sa Dibdib – Ely Buendia in a cameo role
Tulad Ng Dati – starring Buddy as himself with Raimund Marasigan in a cameo role
San Lazaro – Ely Buendia as Manong Rex
Rakenrol – Ely Buendia in a cameo
Waiting Shed (Short Film) – Directed by Ely Buendia
The Artist Is In (Short Film) – Directed by Marcus Adoro
Manila Kingpin: The Asiong Salonga Story – Ely Buendia composed and performed the theme song La Paloma in a cameo with the boys of Hilera and veteran guitarist Nitoy Adriano, the song won as "Best Theme Song" in the 2011 Metro Manila Film Festival, the first MMFF award for Ely. The movie was also instrumental in the forming of Ely's new band, The Oktaves.
Bang Bang Alley – directed by Ely Buendia with Raquel Navarro and Yan Yuzon
Awards and nominations
References
External links
[ Allmusic Eraserheads Biography]
Eraserheads Experience
Musical groups established in 1989
Musical groups disestablished in 2002
Musical groups reestablished in 2008
Musical groups disestablished in 2014
Musical quartets
Filipino alternative rock groups
Sony BMG artists
Musical groups from Quezon City | false | [
"The Princeton Reunions are an annual college reunion event held every year on the weekend before commencement at Princeton University. Known simply as \"Reunions\", this event brings back to campus upwards of 25,000 alumni and guests for a four-day celebration featuring large outdoor tents, elaborate costumes, sporting events, alumni and faculty presentations, fireworks, and bands from rock to swing.\n\nHistory \n\nA Princeton Companion places the advent of Princeton reunions shortly after the end of the Civil War. The 1890s (especially the University's 150th anniversary in 1896) saw increasing interest, although it was not until the 1950s that Reunions took on today's level of organization, particularly with respect to on-campus housing for returning alums.\n\nThe P-rade \nThe Alumni Parade, known today as the P-rade, is the capstone of the Reunions weekend. Held on Saturday, it is the last major event — save for the fireworks display (introduced in 1996 in celebration of the 250th year since the University's founding.) The 25th Reunion class heads the parade; they are led by the Princeton University Band, which plays traditional songs such as Going Back to Nassau Hall.\n\nThe P-rade then proceeds with members of each class from oldest to youngest, accompanied by spouses, children, family members, and even pets. Alumni of the Graduate School normally take the place of the 25th reunion in the sequence. In 2000 and 2001, to celebrate the centennial of the Graduate College, the Graduate School alumni marched immediately behind the 25th Reunion class. Each year, the University president honors the oldest returning alumnus by presenting him with a silver cane donated by the class of 1923. The bearer of that cane from 2002 to 2005 was Leonard Ernst '25, and in 2001 and from 2006 to 2012, the bearer was fellow '25 graduate Malcolm Warnock, who was 107 at his final Reunion appearance in 2012. Ernst, Warnock, and most older alumni are typically chauffeured along the parade route by golf carts, but in 2001, the then-96-year-old Warnock impressed everyone by walking the last segment of the P-rade, waving his cane toward an appreciative crowd. In 2016, cane recipient Joseph Schein '37 (who received the cane again the next year), walked the entire route with the cane at age 101.\n\nClasses celebrating a major reunion (multiples of five—5th, 10th, and so on) often wear themed costumes, which have ranged from Roman legionnaires to firefighters and Uncle Sam lookalikes. Costumes and themes are often completely unrelated to Princeton or the year the class graduated.\n\nFrequently, classes will hire musical groups, such as the Mummers, local high school marching bands, and a calliope, to lead them through the parade.\n\nThe P-Rade begins on Nassau Street, enters the campus through FitzRandolph Gate in front of Nassau Hall, then proceeds through Cannon Green. Until the early 1990s, the route continued across McCosh Walk, through 1879 Arch, down Prospect Avenue, and finished on the baseball field. However, because of escalating public liability and insurance costs, the University moved the P-Rade route to stay only on the private property of the University. Some think the University also felt that too many alumni would stop off at their eating clubs on Prospect Avenue before finishing the P-Rade, and so it changed (and shortened) the route so that it does not leave campus. Currently, after crossing Cannon Green, the P-Rade proceeds down Elm Drive through the center of campus, and onto Poe Field. The Classes are arranged on both sides of the entire route, so that each cheers its elders, then falls in line to march past those younger. The P-rade ends as the graduating seniors race onto Poe Field under review of the President of the University, and are then formally welcomed as alumni/ae.\n\nClosing Ceremonies \n\nAn outdoor orchestra concert and an elaborate evening fireworks display set to music, first held to celebrate the university's 250th anniversary in 1996, but repeated every year since by popular demand, is held the Saturday evening of Reunions. This can be seen as a closing ceremony of Reunions; however, the Reunions parties do not officially end until 2 a.m. that night, and low-key brunches are often held Sunday morning, at which point Reunions Weekend fades into Commencement Weekend.\n\nUnofficially, after the tents close, the party moves to the eating clubs on Prospect Avenue and will go until sunrise, especially Saturday night.\n\nTrivia \nAs older classes march by in the P-rade, younger classes greet them by shouting an old, traditional Princeton cheer called a locomotive. The format of the cheer (for the Class of 2008, for example) is \"Hip! Hip! Rah! Rah! Rah! Tiger! Tiger! Tiger! Sis! Sis! Sis! Boom! Boom! Boom! Ah! Oh-Eight! Oh-Eight! Oh-Eight!\". The older class then traditionally returns the locomotive cheer to the younger class. This is a variant on one of the oldest college cheers, the \"Princeton Locomotive,\" dating to the late 1870s or early 1880s.\nNoted Princeton Reunions participants in 2017 included Jeff Bezos and Ted Cruz.\nNoted Princeton Reunions participants in 2014 included David E. Kelley and William Clay Ford Jr., returning for their 35th Reunion, Donald Rumsfeld, returning for his 60th Reunion, and Bill Frist, returning for his 40th.\nNoted Princeton Reunions participants in 2012 included Brooke Shields, returning for her 25th Reunion.\nNoted Princeton Reunions participants in 2005 included Ralph Nader, returning for his 50th Reunion.\nEach senior class designs and distributes a decorated (and often personalized) canvas \"beer jacket.\" Beer jackets are so named because they were originally worn to protect the wearers' clothing from beer. Since 2002, the administration has renamed these as \"Class Jackets\" for politically correct reasons, but students continue to refer to them as \"beer jackets.\" Modern incarnations are also designed with voluminous inner pockets to conceal and carry beer cans. The jackets also serve to distinguish seniors from other underclassmen, a custom that dates to the days when seniors were afforded special privileges.\nFor the 5th, 10th, 15th and 20th Reunions, each class designs a new costume. Over the years, costumes have included cowboys, tigers, astronauts, toreadors, soldiers, mountain-climbers, clowns, sailors, ANZACs, beetles, chefs, firemen, pirates, toga-clad Romans, and a 50-person-long \"centipede.\"\n At the 25th Reunion (which marches at the front of the P-rade, immediately following the University leadership and the Princeton University Band), class members receive class blazers. These range from blue blazers with a class logo to various variants of orange-and-black stripes (including a noted striped jacket worn by the parent/grandparent classes of 1933, 1958 and 1983), or various custom designs with class numerals, names of classmates and other icons.\nIn 2005, there were 74 classes in the P-rade, beginning with the Class of 1925.\nIn 2012, the Class of 1925 was once again the oldest class represented, with Malcolm Warnock '25, age 107, the recipient of the \"Class of 1923 Cane\" awarded to the oldest alumnus from the oldest returning class. Warnock returned for many Reunions, becoming the first person ever to participate in the P-Rade at his 84th, 85th, and 86th Reunions.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n\nOfficial Princeton Reunions website\nAnnual (unofficial) reports on Princeton Reunions\nPrinceton Reunions Photo Gallery\nP-rade photos from the 60's and on\nHistory of Reunions and the P-Rade\n\nPrinceton University\nReunions",
"WHY@DOLL, also known as , is a Japanese dance-pop girl duo formed in 2011. The duo consists of Chiharu Aoki and Haruna Uratani, both from Sapporo, and is managed by . WHY@DOLL moved to Tokyo in November 2013 and signed a contract with VERSIONMUSIC in 2014. The duo made its major debut with the single Magic Motion No.5 released in September 2014. After releasing three singles, one mini album and one album from VERSIONMUSIC, WHY@DOLL signed a new contract with T-Palette Records in 2016.\n\nMembers\n\nDiscography\n\nSingles\n\nMini Album\n\nAlbums\n\nReferences \n\n2011 establishments in Japan\nJapanese girl groups"
]
|
[
"Eraserheads",
"Mini-reunions",
"Why are the reunions \"mini\" reunions?",
"I don't know."
]
| C_6994ef32b2dc49078e66ea6b7580d9e6_0 | when did the first mini reunion occur? | 2 | when did the Eraserheads first mini reunion occur? | Eraserheads | On February 28, 2007, the official launch of the book Tikman ang Langit: An Anthology on the Eraserheads (2007) was held at the second level of Powerbooks bookstore in Greenbelt 3, Makati City. The launch was accompanied by acoustic performances by Cambio (whose members include Raimund Marasigan, Buddy Zabala and Kris Gorra-Dancel), Markus Highway (Marcus Adoro's band), and Lei Bautista of Prettier Than Pink. The performers covered Eraserheads songs such as "Ligaya" (performed by Lei Bautista), "With a Smile" (also performed by Bautista) and "Magasin" (performed by Cambio with Marcus Adoro). The event was dubbed a mini-reunion of Eraserheads, with Marasigan, Zabala and Adoro performing together for the first time in four years. Buendia did not attend because of a scheduled meeting with his surgeon and the manufacturers of the stents in his heart. Tikman ang Langit is a collection of essays about Eraserheads written by fourteen journalists who are mostly fans of the band. The book itself was compiled by Melvin Calimag and Jing Garcia, with a foreword by Eraserheads producer Robin Rivera. Another mini-reunion happened in Saguijo on July 26, 2007. Visitors were startled as the venue's schedule listed "Eraserheads" as a performer along with Rivermaya and Teeth. Jugs Jugueta of Itchyworms and Kris Gorra-Dancel of Cambio played guitars, Zabala on bass, Marasigan on drums, Jett Pangan of The Dawn on vocals, and producer Robin Rivera played drums when Marasigan sang. They called themselves "Eraser X" during that night. Buendia and Adoro knew about the event but did not go there as they had other gigs as well. Pupil was in Hard Rock Cafe Makati, while Adoro had gigs with Markus Highway, although Pupil's bassist Dok Sergio was able to follow and played for Teeth. Adoro, Zabala, and Marasigan did an impromptu number at the Millennia Club called "Marooned", a production of UP bands from past and present. The song Batch 88 from "Belma en Luis", was one of the songs that was jammed by the trio. CANNOTANSWER | February 28, 2007, | Eraserheads (sometimes stylized as ERASƎRHEADS or ƎRASƎRHƎADS) were a Filipino alternative rock band formed in 1989. With a line-up comprising Ely Buendia, Buddy Zabala, Marcus Adoro, and Raimund Marasigan, the band became one of the most successful in the history of Filipino music. Often dubbed as "The Beatles of the Philippines", they are credited for spearheading a second wave of Manila band invasions, paving the way for a host of Filipino alternative rock bands like Rivermaya.
The band released several singles, albums, and EPs. They achieved commercial success with their third album Cutterpillow (1995), which achieved platinum status several times. They also received the Viewer's Choice Award at the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards in New York, the only Filipino artist to have received the award before the conception of the MTV Asia Awards.
History
1989–1992: Formation and early years
In 1989, two college bands from the University of the Philippines Diliman were both in search of new members for a new group. Curfew, which consisted of Buddy Zabala on bass, Raimund Marasigan on drums, and Marcus Adoro on guitars met up with Sunday School, which consisted of Ely Buendia on vocals and Raimund Marasigan as session drummer in December of the same year. Ely's first two college bands, Bluidie Tryste and Sunday School, were too unstable, so he posted an audition notice on a university message board. Only Raimund, Buddy, and Marcus showed up at the audition. According to an interview with myx, Raimund said he first auditioned as bassist while Buddy as the drummer. But they noticed that it did not sound right, the two switched places.
The four formed a new group and called themselves Eraserheads, taking inspiration from the film Eraserhead by surrealist director David Lynch. They played mostly covers, doing gigs in schools, and playing at Manila's rock club circuit, achieving little success.
The band found that they were not good at playing covers, so they concentrated on writing their own material. Their new, original songs, played live, soon earned them a cult following in the university, which gradually spread outside the campus. One of the songs, a pop song entitled, "Pare Ko", became popular, partly because of lyrics that included a few obscenities.
The band recorded a nine-song demo tape in the garage of Marasigan's provincial home (in Candelaria, Quezon) on January 26, 1991. They then shopped the demo cassette around record labels, clubs, and radio stations, hoping to have their songs reach the public. However, they were rejected at every turn, with one recording label deeming that their demo was "not pop enough". In May 1991, a professor-friend teaching Humanities, Robin Rivera, helped them re-record and mix better versions of the demo songs on a four-track DAT recorder. The new demo was named Pop-U!, titled as an irreverent response to those who turned them down.
Meanwhile, Buendia became employed as a student copywriter by BMG Records (Pilipinas) Inc. (now part of Sony BMG Music Entertainment). He worked with BMG during the day and wrote songs with the band during the night. Eventually, the songs of Buendia and the band caught the attention of BMG A&R director Vic Valenciano. Valenciano listened to the songs and then commented that they were very raw technically, but that there was something promising in them. Subsequently, BMG gave Eraserheads' songs a try. In 1992, BMG signed up the band for a three-year record deal.
1993–1997: Mainstream success
In July 1993, Eraserheads started recording their debut album called Ultraelectromagneticpop!. The album featured "Pare Ko" (My Friend), "Toyang" and "Tindahan ni Aling Nena" (The Store of Aling Nena), all of which were also present in Pop-U!. The album also featured a sanitized version of "Pare Ko" called "Walang Hiyang Pare Ko". Later in the same year, BMG initially released 5,000 copies of the album. The album became a smash hit, with the songs "Ligaya", "Pare Ko" and "Toyang" topping the charts that, by the end of the year, BMG sold 300,000 copies, and Ultraelectromagneticpop! turned sextuple platinum.
The album met some opposition as the Philippine Association of the Record Industry (PARI) attempted to censor "Pare Ko" but without success. The public was said to have found its OPM Fab Four in Eraserheads, opening the second wave of band invasion. The Eraserheadsmania was born.
In October 1994, Eraserheads released a follow-up album entitled Circus. The band said that the album aptly described their life since their debut. The album was unpredictable and unconventional compared to the OPM ballads at that time, and established the band members as songwriters and musicians. The songs varied in style and mood, ranging from euphoric and hilarious to tender and somber. In the same year, Eraserheads played during the Miss Universe Pageant which was held in Manila. On November 24, the band held their first major concert, titled "Eraserheads Jamboree," at the Folk Arts Theater (now the Tanghalang Francisco Balagtas) in Malate, Manila.
Four of the songs became successive hits: "Kailan" (When), "Magasin" (Magazine), "Alapaap" (High Clouds) and "With a Smile". Circus turned gold in just 30 days with 20,000 copies sold. Eventually, it turned quintuple platinum with 200,000 copies sold. But like ultraelectromagneticpop!, it too had its share of controversy. In August 1995, Senator Tito Sotto, who was involved in an anti-drug campaign at that time, called for a ban on the airplay and sales of "Alapaap" over an alleged promotion of drug abuse in the lyrics of the song. In response, Eraserheads denied the allegation, saying that it was just a misinterpretation, and that the song was the band's "ode to freedom", not an "ode to drug abuse".
The group's third studio album Cutterpillow, was launched an open-air concert attended by fans and followers. With Christmas barely a month over, Eraserheads opened 1996 by making history in the Philippine music scene once more. Cutterpillow turned gold, even before it hit the record stores, as a result of the pre-selling promo campaign. Soon, the band shot the music video for the song "Ang Huling El Bimbo" (The Last El Bimbo) from the album.
Later that year, the band came up with a conceptual Christmas album Fruitcake. The album is notable in that it is the first and only album of the band recorded entirely in English. This was shortly followed by a release of a companion storybook of the same title.
Also in 1995 the band was given a shot at acting when they co-starred with comedian Joey De Leon of "Eat Bulaga" in the comedy film Run Barbi Run produced by GMA Network's Cinemax Studios (now GMA Films).
1997–2002: Later years and break-up
Going International
The year 1998 was marked with a series of gigs outside of the Philippines. Eraserheads' first-ever overseas gig was at BMG Records' "Sentosa Pop Festival" in Singapore in March 1997. It was then followed by a mini U.S. tour in May. They played at the Palace in Hollywood on May 2, 1997. Then, four months later in September, they were at the Radio City Music Hall in New York to receive the coveted "Moon Man" trophy for winning the 1997 MTV Asia Viewer's Choice Award, which made Eraserheads the first-ever Filipino artists to win the award.
The promotional CD versions of "Milk and Money", "Hard to Believe" and "Andalusian Dog", was recorded in Manila and mixed at the Electric Lady Studios, New York City in September 1997. Electric Lady Studios was built by the rock legend Jimi Hendrix. The tracks soon became a part of their fifth album, Sticker Happy, released a few days after the MTV Awards. A month later, they were back in Singapore for a series of shows and appearances for MTV Asia.
In February 1998, they represented the Philippines at the annual "Asia Live Dream '98" for NHK Broadcasting in Tokyo, Japan. Then in May, they embarked on another U.S. tour, taking them from Oakland to Los Angeles and to New York. The band toured the U.S. under the Happy Box production outfit, which was formed by brothers Haro De Guzman and Levan "Schizo" De Guzman and some other friends.
August 1998 saw the release of the album Aloha Milkyway in the Asian region, and finally in the Philippines two months later. The album contains chart-topping songs that have been re-mastered, as well as five new songs.
In early 1999, they had sold-out shows in Hong Kong, Sydney, and Dubai. Their next album, Natin99, was released in May.
Between May and June 2000, they did another tour of America dubbed, "The Pop Machine Tour – USA2000", playing in locations from New York to Chicago and to California. During their tours, they also had Noel Garcia of The Pin-Ups as an addition to their expanded line-up, who played guitars, keyboards and sometimes drums. After almost two years, the much-awaited studio album, Carbon Stereoxide, was released in March 2001, featuring the tracks, "Maskara", "Playground", "Hula" and "Palamig".
Break-up
After weeks of speculation, it was confirmed that the main songwriter and lead singer, Ely Buendia, had left the band in mid-March 2002 for "reasons unknown". However, in subsequent interviews, Buendia pointed to business matters as the cause of the band's break-up. In 2021 however, Buendia later revealed revealed that the no formation of friendship with the 3 other members as the reason of the band's demise.
In PULP Magazine, Buendia's wife and manager, Diane Ventura, claimed that the breakup started with a miscommunication between Buendia and the band's roadie, the result being that Buendia and Ventura turned up late at a mall gig. This upset the roadie who snidely referred to the couple as "unprofessional". Buendia's band colleagues and crew at the gig gave Buendia "a cold shoulder", related Ventura, being under the impression that Buendia had come late deliberately. The next day, Buendia brought the incident to the attention of the band's management boss, Butch Dans, to which he allegedly reverted the blame to the roadie's "unprofessionalism". Dans, however, allegedly chose to consider the roadie's account over Buendia's without much deliberation. Dans allegedly quipped that Buendia and Ventura were "probably too high on drugs" to remember the gig's schedule. Ventura stepped in to dispute the allegation and vehemently denied that she and Buendia were even told of the schedule. The other three Eraserheads also believed the roadie's story, which disturbed Buendia because he felt betrayed by their longstanding friendship. Buendia later announced to his mates through SMS that he was quitting the group.
In another interview, Marasigan said he was eating in SM Megamall, a local shopping mall when he heard of the news. He said he was "semi-surprised" and wondered if Zabala already knew about it. Adoro told of the story now famous among Eraserheads fans about Buendia's cryptic text message. He said Buendia stated in the text message that he had already "graduated." Adoro quipped in the same interview that it was natural for Buendia to graduate first, since he was in batch '87 of their college (UP Diliman), while the rest were in batch '88.
Zabala confessed in an interview that disbanding had not been that far away from the members' minds. He said that there were many occasions when they could have disbanded but did not.
Adoro expressed the belief of some people that the band was getting too old, and that it was "selfish" for the band to continue, likely referring to comments about how it's time for other bands, besides Eraserheads, to shine. The band made it clear, though, that Buendia's departure from the band wasn't in any way violent and that there was no shouting (sigawan) or any confrontation involved.
The three remaining Eraserheads decided to continue. Within a few weeks, the "new" Eheads debuted at Hard Rock Cafe in Makati on April 19, featuring a female singer-guitarist, Kris Gorra-Dancel, from the band, Fatal Posporos. However, after a few months, Adoro had quit the band as well. The remaining members of the Eheads added Diego Mapa and Ebe Dancel to their lineup and renamed their band, "Cambio".
2003–2007: After the break-up
Tribute albums
Just a few years after the break-up, the tribute album Ultraelectromagneticjam!: The Music of the Eraserheads was released in honor of the band.
Many questioned whether the time was right for a tribute to a group that had just disbanded four years ago, with its former members still active in the music industry. Buendia had mixed feelings about the tribute album, saying that "It’s too early to be taking part in it and I don’t see myself being part of it kasi (because) I’m still doing something here...To be part of it is like acknowledging na tapos na ako (that I am finished); isa na lang akong trophy na itatago na (I'm just a trophy to be shelved). Siguro kung uugud-ugud na ako (Maybe when I'm really old), that’s the time I’m gonna look back." Ironically though, he does guest vocals in one of the tracks, "Superproxy 2k6" by the late Master Rapper Francis M.
On May 9, 2012, Star Records and Star Cinema released The Reunion: An Eraserheads Tribute Album, a tribute album of their own that accompanies the film The Reunion.
Mini-reunions
On February 28, 2007, the official launch of the book Tikman ang Langit: An Anthology on the Eraserheads (2007) was held at the second level of Powerbooks bookstore in Greenbelt 3, Makati. The launch was accompanied by acoustic performances by Cambio (whose members include Raimund Marasigan, Buddy Zabala and Kris Gorra-Dancel), Markus Highway (Marcus Adoro's band), and Lei Bautista of Prettier Than Pink. The performers covered Eraserheads songs such as "Ligaya" (performed by Lei Bautista), "With a Smile" (also performed by Bautista) and "Magasin" (performed by Cambio with Marcus Adoro). The event was dubbed a mini-reunion of Eraserheads, with Marasigan, Zabala and Adoro performing together for the first time in four years. Buendia did not attend because of a scheduled meeting with his surgeon and the manufacturers of the stents in his heart.
Tikman ang Langit is a collection of essays about Eraserheads written by fourteen journalists who are mostly fans of the band. The book itself was compiled by Melvin Calimag and Jing Garcia, with a foreword by Eraserheads producer Robin Rivera.
Another mini-reunion happened in Saguijo on July 26, 2007. Visitors were startled as the venue's schedule listed "Eraserheads" as a performer along with Rivermaya and Teeth. Jugs Jugueta of Itchyworms and Kris Gorra-Dancel of Cambio played guitars, Zabala on bass, Marasigan on drums, Jett Pangan of The Dawn on vocals, and producer Robin Rivera played drums when Marasigan sang. They called themselves "Eraser X" during that night. Buendia and Adoro knew about the event but did not go there as they had other gigs as well. Pupil was in Hard Rock Cafe Makati, while Adoro had gigs with Markus Highway, although Pupil's bassist Dok Sergio was able to follow and played for Teeth.
Adoro, Zabala, and Marasigan did an impromptu number at the Millennia Club called "Marooned", a production of UP bands from past and present. The song Batch 88 from "Belma en Luis", was one of the songs that were jammed by the trio.
2008–present: Reunion
In July 2008, it was confirmed by the members that they will be reuniting for a one-off concert to be held on August 30, 2008. Ely Buendia did affirm that the reunion will be for a night's performance only, to be sponsored by a multinational tobacco company. Buendia was quoted saying "I'm not doing this for the money but for the E-heads fans who remain loyal". The sponsors are expecting 35,000 attendees with free tickets distributed to online registrants in early August 2008. This highly awaited one-night concert was initially reported to be planned for staging at the Cultural Center of the Philippines open grounds, or alternatively, the Fort Bonifacio open grounds.
On August 22, word had broken out that Philip Morris had pulled out of the concert and that the show had been "canceled".
Anti-Tobacco forces, led by Dr. Maricar Limpin, had been active in a campaign to get Eraserheads to renounce the concert and the involvement of the tobacco giant, as Alicia Keys had done in her recent concert in Indonesia. Eraserheads never issued such an announcement. However, it was believed that the pressure exerted by the anti-tobacco forces had caused Philip Morris to end their participation in the concert.
On the evening of August 24, Raimund Marasigan issued a response to this news. Posting on the Sandwich and Cambio mailing lists, Marasigan confirmed that while Philip Morris has pulled out of the production, the concert is "most definitely" pushing through on the original date, August 30, 2008, at the Fort Bonifacio open field.
Philip Morris would no longer be involved, but the entire production had been turned over to a new producer. Furthermore, while it was previously made known through Philip Morris' announcement that the concert would be free to smokers who signed up through a promotional website known as The Red List at , the change in producers meant that tickets would no longer be free but made available to anyone who purchased them. It was later revealed that Radiohead Media Solutions, Inc., MTV Philippines, Fox International Channels Philippines, Smart Communications, Musiko Records, Greater East Asia Music & Sony BMG Music Entertainment (also known as Sony Music Philippines Inc. & BMG Rights Management) have taken over the event.
Eraserheads went onstage for their reunion concert on August 30, 2008, at The Fort Open Field, Taguig. The concert, however, was cut short halfway through a planned 30-song setlist as Buendia was rushed to the Makati Medical Hospital after experiencing chest pains. He was reported to be in stable condition. Buddy Zabala had checked on Buendia in his tent right after they went to their planned 20-minute break and saw that he already was on an oxygen mask with paramedics checking his blood pressure. As he left and came back, paramedics were already taking Buendia on an ambulance. Bandmates Zabala, Marasigan and Adoro further said that they had no idea that Buendia was already having difficulty performing. In the spirit of the reunion, Marasigan, Zabala, and Adoro went to Saguijo after the concert and they continued their sets there. Kris Gorra-Dancel, Ebe Dancel, Aia De Leon, and many other OPM artists joined them as well. During the concert, Jazz Nicolas of the Itchyworms and a close friend of the band, also joined the band and played synths, keyboards, and other back-up instruments.
MTV Philippines President Francis Lumen stated: "He had a slight attack because of stress due to the recent passing of his mother (Lisette Buendia), and their sound check which lasted till 3 a.m. today (Saturday)." Buendia's mother died of cardiac arrest on August 28 after recovering from surgery to treat her intestinal cancer. Buendia was transferred to Philippine Heart Center 10:00 p.m. of August 31 after being treated at the critical care area of the Makati Medical Center emergency room. Sony BMG reported Buendia was "stable" after suffering hypokalemia a medical condition in which the concentration of potassium in the blood is low. Buendia had been administered with a potassium intravenous fluid.
Buendia, 37, on September 1, 2008, underwent his third heart angioplasty surgery since his January, 2007 heart attack. The blood vessel operated upon was "100 percent fully restored," and Buendia was recovering in "stable condition but still under observation." On September 5, 2008, Buendia was discharged from the hospital.
On 25 October episode of Startalk, Buendia said that the reunion concert was supposed to be a "one night only" Eraserheads reunion concert. He also said that there are no talks yet for a continuation of the said concert. However, he stated that he indeed felt "bitin" (literally translated, "not satisfied") with the uncompleted concert and is open to any sequels if it would have the proper production and venue. The other three members of the band, Adoro, Zabala, and Marasigan also expressed similar views in a follow-up interview by Myx and Inquirer.
Sony-BMG Philippines, Musiko Records & Greater East Asia Music released the concert movie of the band's reunion concert on November 26, 2008.
On the January 10 edition of Supreme, a feature of The Philippine Star, it was announced that the continuation of their previous reunion concert would happen on March 7, 2009.
On January 11, this was confirmed by Marasigan through a message he posted on the Pedicab, Cambio, and Sandwich Mailing Lists.
On February 27, the band was awarded as "Myx Magna Award 2009" in the recent 4th Myx Music Awards 2009, achieving their alternative music excellence.
The band went on stage for their second reunion concert dubbed as The Final Set on March 7, 2009, at the SM Mall of Asia Concert Grounds, Pasay were approximately 100,000 people attended the sold-out concert. The concert went ahead despite the recent passing of their guest performer and friend Francis Magalona who died of acute myelogenous leukemia noon of the previous day.
World tours and other projects
The band continued to perform on sporadic worldwide tours from 2012 to 2014. Eraserheads held another reunion concert in the United States (San Francisco, Los Angeles & New Jersey) and Canada (Toronto) from October 12 to 20, 2012.
After their American Tour, the next show for the band was at the du Music Festival. Held at the Dubai Amphitheatre, UAE on April 4, 2013, the festival featured a diverse lineup of music stars including Guns N’ Roses, Train, Natalie Cole, Andrea Bocelli and other local acts. The band also featured a "fifth Eraserhead", Rommel 'Sancho' Sanchez on additional guitar duties. Rommel joined the band, too, during their 2012 North American tour. During the Dubai concert, Ely dedicated the song "Lightyears" to the OFWs.
After four months, on August 10, 2013, Eraserheads played a show in another country, Singapore. On December 27, 2013, Eraserheads and Parokya ni Edgar performed at "High Impact Asia" Meydan Racecourse, Al Meydan Road, Nad Al Sheba, Dubai, UAE.
Eraserheads performed their first major rock concert at the Eventim Apollo in London, England on April 4, 2014. This was produced by Marvin Guzman and Bernadith Marimon of Finest Workers UK Ltd in the US.
In September 2014, the band released two new songs via Esquire (Philippines edition), titled "1995" and "Sabado". This was their first release of new material in more than a decade. The magazine cover mimics the Beatles' Abbey Road cover, which was shot during the band's tour in London.
Eraserheads guested in the rebranding launch event, "A New Day", of the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company, along with its subsidiary Smart Communications. The band performed 5 encore songs and 13 main setlist songs.
In a tweet posted in January 2018, Buendia said: "Some people will never understand that people who don't get along don't work together." The statement was interpreted by Philippine Daily Inquirer and some fans as a response to calls for another reunion concert in the band's home country.
A musical adaptation of Eraserheads' discography entitled Ang Huling El Bimbo ran from July 20 to September 2, 2018 at Resorts World Manila. A second run for the musical was set for March 2019.
The band's first album was set to be rereleased in its first time on vinyl format, in November 2019. In December 2020, the band released a special edition photobook that features photos taken from the Final Set concert in 2009.
The three band members, Raimund, Buddy, and Marcus formed the band "Ultracombo" in 2019 and performed the songs of the Eraserheads. Marcus left the group on the following months after performing on a couple of gigs.
On 7 August 2021, Offshore Music proudly announces the release of the Sabado/1995 EP of the Eraserheads on all digital streaming platforms. The EP was written during their UK Tour back in 2014.
Band members
Ely Buendia – lead vocals, rhythm guitar
Buddy Zabala – bass guitar, backing vocals
Marcus Adoro – lead guitar, backing vocals
Raimund Marasigan – drums, backing vocals
Discography
Studio albums
Ultraelectromagneticpop! (1993)
Circus (1994)
Cutterpillow (1995)
Fruitcake (1996)
Sticker Happy (1997)
Natin99 (1999)
Carbon Stereoxide (2001)
EPs and demos
Pop U! (1991)
Fruitcake (1996)
Bananatype (1997)
Please Transpose EP (2003)
Sabado/1995 (2021)
Compilations
Aloha Milkyway (1998)
Eraserheads: The Singles (2001)
Eraserheads Anthology (2004)
Eraserheads Anthology 2 (2006)
International Releases
Aloha Milkyway Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia (1998)
Natin99 Hong Kong (1999)
Live albums
Eraserheads: The Reunion Concert 08.30.08 (2008)
Collaborations
1896 Ang Pagsilang (1996)
"Casa Fantastica"
Francis Magalona Happy Battle (1996)
"Unstrung Heroes" (Duet W/ Francis Magalona)
"Sapot Feat. Planet Garapata"
Ryan Cayabyab The Silver Album (1997)
"Tuwing Umuulan at Kapiling Ka"
Nescafe Open Up Party Live (2000)
"Blue Jeans"
"Pumapatak Na Naman ang Ulan"
"Tuyo Na'ng Damdamin (Feat. APO Hiking Society)"
Bandang Pinoy Lasang Hotdog (2001, re-issued 2006)
"Manila"
Gusto Ko ng Rock (2009)
"Alapaap"
Superbands (Universal Records)(2005)
Silver Shiny Jeepney (All Indie Band)
Soundtracks
Run Barbi Run (Starring Joey de Leon) (1995)
"Run Barbi Run"
DVD
The Reunion Concert – DVD (2009)
The Reunion Concert – DVD (Special Edition, 2009)
Box set/package
The Heads Set (Limited Edition) (2010) – The box set was released exclusively in Greenwich Pizza outlets, and included a free box of pizza. It contains rarities such as "Casa Fantastica", all local albums from Ultraelectromagneticpop! to Carbon Stereoxide, DVD documentary (directed by Marcus Adoro), a book and shirt designed by Cynthia Bauzon and Arnold Arre, who both collaborated with the band before. It is now out of print.
Tribute albums
Ultraelectromagneticjam!: The Music of the Eraserheads (2005)
The Reunion: An Eraserheads Tribute Album (2012)
Ang Huling El Bimbo Musical (2018)
Pop Machine: Eraserheads Tribute Album (2020)
Publications
Pillbox Volume 1 Number 1
Editor: Redel D. Ramos
Art Director: Cynthia F. Bauzon
Release: 1996
Published by: Pop Infinity Limited Laundry
© 1996 P.I.L.L. Corporation
Fruitcake
A separate companion storybook for the album Fruitcake (1996)
Story by: Eraserheads
Text by: Ely Buendia
Edited by: Jessica Zafra
Illustrated by: Cynthia F. Bauzon
Release: 1997
Published by: Anvil Publishing, Inc., Pasig
Printed by: Cacho Hermanos, Mandaluyong
© 1997 Eraserheads
Pillbox Volume 3
Editor: Marie Jamora
Art Director: Cynthia F. Bauzon
Release: 1998
Published by: BMG Records (Pilipinas) Inc.
© 1998 BMG Records (Pilipinas) Inc.
Magazine cover appearance
Esquire Magazine September Issue with CD of their two new songs (2014)
Myx Magazine "Eraserheads Reunion Concert Collectors Issue" (October–November 2008)
Pulp Magazine (2000)
Cutting Edge The FREE Magazine with Sen.Angara (1997)
Sky Surf Magazine (1997)
SM Magazine (1997)
1969 life in the Age of Internet Magazine (1997)
Mirror Magazine (1996)
Miscellaneous Magazine (1996)
Woman's Today Magazine together with Cooky Chua & Meagan Aguilar(1996)
Mr. & Ms. Magazine together with Regine Tolentino(1995)
Filmography
Run Barbi Run – starring as themselves
Wating – musical score by Eraserheads
Kuya – Marcus in a cameo role as a drug pusher
Masakit sa Dibdib – Ely Buendia in a cameo role
Tulad Ng Dati – starring Buddy as himself with Raimund Marasigan in a cameo role
San Lazaro – Ely Buendia as Manong Rex
Rakenrol – Ely Buendia in a cameo
Waiting Shed (Short Film) – Directed by Ely Buendia
The Artist Is In (Short Film) – Directed by Marcus Adoro
Manila Kingpin: The Asiong Salonga Story – Ely Buendia composed and performed the theme song La Paloma in a cameo with the boys of Hilera and veteran guitarist Nitoy Adriano, the song won as "Best Theme Song" in the 2011 Metro Manila Film Festival, the first MMFF award for Ely. The movie was also instrumental in the forming of Ely's new band, The Oktaves.
Bang Bang Alley – directed by Ely Buendia with Raquel Navarro and Yan Yuzon
Awards and nominations
References
External links
[ Allmusic Eraserheads Biography]
Eraserheads Experience
Musical groups established in 1989
Musical groups disestablished in 2002
Musical groups reestablished in 2008
Musical groups disestablished in 2014
Musical quartets
Filipino alternative rock groups
Sony BMG artists
Musical groups from Quezon City | true | [
"Extreme's 2006 Reunion Mini-Tour was a series of three reunion concerts by hard rock band Extreme, taking place in the summer of 2006 in the New England area, in Boston, Hampton Beach, New Hampshire and Ledyard, Connecticut. Unlike in the 2004 and 2005 reunion tours, this time all original members reunited, including bassist Pat Badger.\n\nTour dates\n\nPersonnel\nGary Cherone - lead vocals\nNuno Bettencourt - lead guitar, vocals\nPat Badger - bass, backing vocals\nPaul Geary - drums\nMike Mangini - drums (special appearance during a few songs)\n\nReferences\n\n2006 concert tours\nReunion concert tours",
"Julie Nauche born 4 June 1988 in La Réunion (France) is the Regional Director of Miss Earth Reunion and Miss Earth Mauritius. To complete the organisation of these two contests, she create the Miss Earth Océan Indien Organisation.\n\nJulie Nauche is the owner of Perfect Communication company.\n\nShe was also in charge of the organisation of Princesse Réunion, a pageant for little girls aged from 7 to 11 years. The winner represented Reunion Island to the national pageant Mini-Miss France.\nDue to the ban on pageants for children under the age of 16 in France, Princesse Réunion doesn't exist anymore.\n\nPageantry\nJulie Nauche was the first ever Miss Supranational Reunion Island and represented the island at Miss Supranational 2013 pageant.\n\nReferences\n\n1988 births\nLiving people\nFrench female models\nBeauty pageant winners from Réunion"
]
|
[
"Eraserheads",
"Mini-reunions",
"Why are the reunions \"mini\" reunions?",
"I don't know.",
"when did the first mini reunion occur?",
"February 28, 2007,"
]
| C_6994ef32b2dc49078e66ea6b7580d9e6_0 | Where did that happen? | 3 | Where did first mini reunion happen? | Eraserheads | On February 28, 2007, the official launch of the book Tikman ang Langit: An Anthology on the Eraserheads (2007) was held at the second level of Powerbooks bookstore in Greenbelt 3, Makati City. The launch was accompanied by acoustic performances by Cambio (whose members include Raimund Marasigan, Buddy Zabala and Kris Gorra-Dancel), Markus Highway (Marcus Adoro's band), and Lei Bautista of Prettier Than Pink. The performers covered Eraserheads songs such as "Ligaya" (performed by Lei Bautista), "With a Smile" (also performed by Bautista) and "Magasin" (performed by Cambio with Marcus Adoro). The event was dubbed a mini-reunion of Eraserheads, with Marasigan, Zabala and Adoro performing together for the first time in four years. Buendia did not attend because of a scheduled meeting with his surgeon and the manufacturers of the stents in his heart. Tikman ang Langit is a collection of essays about Eraserheads written by fourteen journalists who are mostly fans of the band. The book itself was compiled by Melvin Calimag and Jing Garcia, with a foreword by Eraserheads producer Robin Rivera. Another mini-reunion happened in Saguijo on July 26, 2007. Visitors were startled as the venue's schedule listed "Eraserheads" as a performer along with Rivermaya and Teeth. Jugs Jugueta of Itchyworms and Kris Gorra-Dancel of Cambio played guitars, Zabala on bass, Marasigan on drums, Jett Pangan of The Dawn on vocals, and producer Robin Rivera played drums when Marasigan sang. They called themselves "Eraser X" during that night. Buendia and Adoro knew about the event but did not go there as they had other gigs as well. Pupil was in Hard Rock Cafe Makati, while Adoro had gigs with Markus Highway, although Pupil's bassist Dok Sergio was able to follow and played for Teeth. Adoro, Zabala, and Marasigan did an impromptu number at the Millennia Club called "Marooned", a production of UP bands from past and present. The song Batch 88 from "Belma en Luis", was one of the songs that was jammed by the trio. CANNOTANSWER | Greenbelt 3, Makati City. | Eraserheads (sometimes stylized as ERASƎRHEADS or ƎRASƎRHƎADS) were a Filipino alternative rock band formed in 1989. With a line-up comprising Ely Buendia, Buddy Zabala, Marcus Adoro, and Raimund Marasigan, the band became one of the most successful in the history of Filipino music. Often dubbed as "The Beatles of the Philippines", they are credited for spearheading a second wave of Manila band invasions, paving the way for a host of Filipino alternative rock bands like Rivermaya.
The band released several singles, albums, and EPs. They achieved commercial success with their third album Cutterpillow (1995), which achieved platinum status several times. They also received the Viewer's Choice Award at the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards in New York, the only Filipino artist to have received the award before the conception of the MTV Asia Awards.
History
1989–1992: Formation and early years
In 1989, two college bands from the University of the Philippines Diliman were both in search of new members for a new group. Curfew, which consisted of Buddy Zabala on bass, Raimund Marasigan on drums, and Marcus Adoro on guitars met up with Sunday School, which consisted of Ely Buendia on vocals and Raimund Marasigan as session drummer in December of the same year. Ely's first two college bands, Bluidie Tryste and Sunday School, were too unstable, so he posted an audition notice on a university message board. Only Raimund, Buddy, and Marcus showed up at the audition. According to an interview with myx, Raimund said he first auditioned as bassist while Buddy as the drummer. But they noticed that it did not sound right, the two switched places.
The four formed a new group and called themselves Eraserheads, taking inspiration from the film Eraserhead by surrealist director David Lynch. They played mostly covers, doing gigs in schools, and playing at Manila's rock club circuit, achieving little success.
The band found that they were not good at playing covers, so they concentrated on writing their own material. Their new, original songs, played live, soon earned them a cult following in the university, which gradually spread outside the campus. One of the songs, a pop song entitled, "Pare Ko", became popular, partly because of lyrics that included a few obscenities.
The band recorded a nine-song demo tape in the garage of Marasigan's provincial home (in Candelaria, Quezon) on January 26, 1991. They then shopped the demo cassette around record labels, clubs, and radio stations, hoping to have their songs reach the public. However, they were rejected at every turn, with one recording label deeming that their demo was "not pop enough". In May 1991, a professor-friend teaching Humanities, Robin Rivera, helped them re-record and mix better versions of the demo songs on a four-track DAT recorder. The new demo was named Pop-U!, titled as an irreverent response to those who turned them down.
Meanwhile, Buendia became employed as a student copywriter by BMG Records (Pilipinas) Inc. (now part of Sony BMG Music Entertainment). He worked with BMG during the day and wrote songs with the band during the night. Eventually, the songs of Buendia and the band caught the attention of BMG A&R director Vic Valenciano. Valenciano listened to the songs and then commented that they were very raw technically, but that there was something promising in them. Subsequently, BMG gave Eraserheads' songs a try. In 1992, BMG signed up the band for a three-year record deal.
1993–1997: Mainstream success
In July 1993, Eraserheads started recording their debut album called Ultraelectromagneticpop!. The album featured "Pare Ko" (My Friend), "Toyang" and "Tindahan ni Aling Nena" (The Store of Aling Nena), all of which were also present in Pop-U!. The album also featured a sanitized version of "Pare Ko" called "Walang Hiyang Pare Ko". Later in the same year, BMG initially released 5,000 copies of the album. The album became a smash hit, with the songs "Ligaya", "Pare Ko" and "Toyang" topping the charts that, by the end of the year, BMG sold 300,000 copies, and Ultraelectromagneticpop! turned sextuple platinum.
The album met some opposition as the Philippine Association of the Record Industry (PARI) attempted to censor "Pare Ko" but without success. The public was said to have found its OPM Fab Four in Eraserheads, opening the second wave of band invasion. The Eraserheadsmania was born.
In October 1994, Eraserheads released a follow-up album entitled Circus. The band said that the album aptly described their life since their debut. The album was unpredictable and unconventional compared to the OPM ballads at that time, and established the band members as songwriters and musicians. The songs varied in style and mood, ranging from euphoric and hilarious to tender and somber. In the same year, Eraserheads played during the Miss Universe Pageant which was held in Manila. On November 24, the band held their first major concert, titled "Eraserheads Jamboree," at the Folk Arts Theater (now the Tanghalang Francisco Balagtas) in Malate, Manila.
Four of the songs became successive hits: "Kailan" (When), "Magasin" (Magazine), "Alapaap" (High Clouds) and "With a Smile". Circus turned gold in just 30 days with 20,000 copies sold. Eventually, it turned quintuple platinum with 200,000 copies sold. But like ultraelectromagneticpop!, it too had its share of controversy. In August 1995, Senator Tito Sotto, who was involved in an anti-drug campaign at that time, called for a ban on the airplay and sales of "Alapaap" over an alleged promotion of drug abuse in the lyrics of the song. In response, Eraserheads denied the allegation, saying that it was just a misinterpretation, and that the song was the band's "ode to freedom", not an "ode to drug abuse".
The group's third studio album Cutterpillow, was launched an open-air concert attended by fans and followers. With Christmas barely a month over, Eraserheads opened 1996 by making history in the Philippine music scene once more. Cutterpillow turned gold, even before it hit the record stores, as a result of the pre-selling promo campaign. Soon, the band shot the music video for the song "Ang Huling El Bimbo" (The Last El Bimbo) from the album.
Later that year, the band came up with a conceptual Christmas album Fruitcake. The album is notable in that it is the first and only album of the band recorded entirely in English. This was shortly followed by a release of a companion storybook of the same title.
Also in 1995 the band was given a shot at acting when they co-starred with comedian Joey De Leon of "Eat Bulaga" in the comedy film Run Barbi Run produced by GMA Network's Cinemax Studios (now GMA Films).
1997–2002: Later years and break-up
Going International
The year 1998 was marked with a series of gigs outside of the Philippines. Eraserheads' first-ever overseas gig was at BMG Records' "Sentosa Pop Festival" in Singapore in March 1997. It was then followed by a mini U.S. tour in May. They played at the Palace in Hollywood on May 2, 1997. Then, four months later in September, they were at the Radio City Music Hall in New York to receive the coveted "Moon Man" trophy for winning the 1997 MTV Asia Viewer's Choice Award, which made Eraserheads the first-ever Filipino artists to win the award.
The promotional CD versions of "Milk and Money", "Hard to Believe" and "Andalusian Dog", was recorded in Manila and mixed at the Electric Lady Studios, New York City in September 1997. Electric Lady Studios was built by the rock legend Jimi Hendrix. The tracks soon became a part of their fifth album, Sticker Happy, released a few days after the MTV Awards. A month later, they were back in Singapore for a series of shows and appearances for MTV Asia.
In February 1998, they represented the Philippines at the annual "Asia Live Dream '98" for NHK Broadcasting in Tokyo, Japan. Then in May, they embarked on another U.S. tour, taking them from Oakland to Los Angeles and to New York. The band toured the U.S. under the Happy Box production outfit, which was formed by brothers Haro De Guzman and Levan "Schizo" De Guzman and some other friends.
August 1998 saw the release of the album Aloha Milkyway in the Asian region, and finally in the Philippines two months later. The album contains chart-topping songs that have been re-mastered, as well as five new songs.
In early 1999, they had sold-out shows in Hong Kong, Sydney, and Dubai. Their next album, Natin99, was released in May.
Between May and June 2000, they did another tour of America dubbed, "The Pop Machine Tour – USA2000", playing in locations from New York to Chicago and to California. During their tours, they also had Noel Garcia of The Pin-Ups as an addition to their expanded line-up, who played guitars, keyboards and sometimes drums. After almost two years, the much-awaited studio album, Carbon Stereoxide, was released in March 2001, featuring the tracks, "Maskara", "Playground", "Hula" and "Palamig".
Break-up
After weeks of speculation, it was confirmed that the main songwriter and lead singer, Ely Buendia, had left the band in mid-March 2002 for "reasons unknown". However, in subsequent interviews, Buendia pointed to business matters as the cause of the band's break-up. In 2021 however, Buendia later revealed revealed that the no formation of friendship with the 3 other members as the reason of the band's demise.
In PULP Magazine, Buendia's wife and manager, Diane Ventura, claimed that the breakup started with a miscommunication between Buendia and the band's roadie, the result being that Buendia and Ventura turned up late at a mall gig. This upset the roadie who snidely referred to the couple as "unprofessional". Buendia's band colleagues and crew at the gig gave Buendia "a cold shoulder", related Ventura, being under the impression that Buendia had come late deliberately. The next day, Buendia brought the incident to the attention of the band's management boss, Butch Dans, to which he allegedly reverted the blame to the roadie's "unprofessionalism". Dans, however, allegedly chose to consider the roadie's account over Buendia's without much deliberation. Dans allegedly quipped that Buendia and Ventura were "probably too high on drugs" to remember the gig's schedule. Ventura stepped in to dispute the allegation and vehemently denied that she and Buendia were even told of the schedule. The other three Eraserheads also believed the roadie's story, which disturbed Buendia because he felt betrayed by their longstanding friendship. Buendia later announced to his mates through SMS that he was quitting the group.
In another interview, Marasigan said he was eating in SM Megamall, a local shopping mall when he heard of the news. He said he was "semi-surprised" and wondered if Zabala already knew about it. Adoro told of the story now famous among Eraserheads fans about Buendia's cryptic text message. He said Buendia stated in the text message that he had already "graduated." Adoro quipped in the same interview that it was natural for Buendia to graduate first, since he was in batch '87 of their college (UP Diliman), while the rest were in batch '88.
Zabala confessed in an interview that disbanding had not been that far away from the members' minds. He said that there were many occasions when they could have disbanded but did not.
Adoro expressed the belief of some people that the band was getting too old, and that it was "selfish" for the band to continue, likely referring to comments about how it's time for other bands, besides Eraserheads, to shine. The band made it clear, though, that Buendia's departure from the band wasn't in any way violent and that there was no shouting (sigawan) or any confrontation involved.
The three remaining Eraserheads decided to continue. Within a few weeks, the "new" Eheads debuted at Hard Rock Cafe in Makati on April 19, featuring a female singer-guitarist, Kris Gorra-Dancel, from the band, Fatal Posporos. However, after a few months, Adoro had quit the band as well. The remaining members of the Eheads added Diego Mapa and Ebe Dancel to their lineup and renamed their band, "Cambio".
2003–2007: After the break-up
Tribute albums
Just a few years after the break-up, the tribute album Ultraelectromagneticjam!: The Music of the Eraserheads was released in honor of the band.
Many questioned whether the time was right for a tribute to a group that had just disbanded four years ago, with its former members still active in the music industry. Buendia had mixed feelings about the tribute album, saying that "It’s too early to be taking part in it and I don’t see myself being part of it kasi (because) I’m still doing something here...To be part of it is like acknowledging na tapos na ako (that I am finished); isa na lang akong trophy na itatago na (I'm just a trophy to be shelved). Siguro kung uugud-ugud na ako (Maybe when I'm really old), that’s the time I’m gonna look back." Ironically though, he does guest vocals in one of the tracks, "Superproxy 2k6" by the late Master Rapper Francis M.
On May 9, 2012, Star Records and Star Cinema released The Reunion: An Eraserheads Tribute Album, a tribute album of their own that accompanies the film The Reunion.
Mini-reunions
On February 28, 2007, the official launch of the book Tikman ang Langit: An Anthology on the Eraserheads (2007) was held at the second level of Powerbooks bookstore in Greenbelt 3, Makati. The launch was accompanied by acoustic performances by Cambio (whose members include Raimund Marasigan, Buddy Zabala and Kris Gorra-Dancel), Markus Highway (Marcus Adoro's band), and Lei Bautista of Prettier Than Pink. The performers covered Eraserheads songs such as "Ligaya" (performed by Lei Bautista), "With a Smile" (also performed by Bautista) and "Magasin" (performed by Cambio with Marcus Adoro). The event was dubbed a mini-reunion of Eraserheads, with Marasigan, Zabala and Adoro performing together for the first time in four years. Buendia did not attend because of a scheduled meeting with his surgeon and the manufacturers of the stents in his heart.
Tikman ang Langit is a collection of essays about Eraserheads written by fourteen journalists who are mostly fans of the band. The book itself was compiled by Melvin Calimag and Jing Garcia, with a foreword by Eraserheads producer Robin Rivera.
Another mini-reunion happened in Saguijo on July 26, 2007. Visitors were startled as the venue's schedule listed "Eraserheads" as a performer along with Rivermaya and Teeth. Jugs Jugueta of Itchyworms and Kris Gorra-Dancel of Cambio played guitars, Zabala on bass, Marasigan on drums, Jett Pangan of The Dawn on vocals, and producer Robin Rivera played drums when Marasigan sang. They called themselves "Eraser X" during that night. Buendia and Adoro knew about the event but did not go there as they had other gigs as well. Pupil was in Hard Rock Cafe Makati, while Adoro had gigs with Markus Highway, although Pupil's bassist Dok Sergio was able to follow and played for Teeth.
Adoro, Zabala, and Marasigan did an impromptu number at the Millennia Club called "Marooned", a production of UP bands from past and present. The song Batch 88 from "Belma en Luis", was one of the songs that were jammed by the trio.
2008–present: Reunion
In July 2008, it was confirmed by the members that they will be reuniting for a one-off concert to be held on August 30, 2008. Ely Buendia did affirm that the reunion will be for a night's performance only, to be sponsored by a multinational tobacco company. Buendia was quoted saying "I'm not doing this for the money but for the E-heads fans who remain loyal". The sponsors are expecting 35,000 attendees with free tickets distributed to online registrants in early August 2008. This highly awaited one-night concert was initially reported to be planned for staging at the Cultural Center of the Philippines open grounds, or alternatively, the Fort Bonifacio open grounds.
On August 22, word had broken out that Philip Morris had pulled out of the concert and that the show had been "canceled".
Anti-Tobacco forces, led by Dr. Maricar Limpin, had been active in a campaign to get Eraserheads to renounce the concert and the involvement of the tobacco giant, as Alicia Keys had done in her recent concert in Indonesia. Eraserheads never issued such an announcement. However, it was believed that the pressure exerted by the anti-tobacco forces had caused Philip Morris to end their participation in the concert.
On the evening of August 24, Raimund Marasigan issued a response to this news. Posting on the Sandwich and Cambio mailing lists, Marasigan confirmed that while Philip Morris has pulled out of the production, the concert is "most definitely" pushing through on the original date, August 30, 2008, at the Fort Bonifacio open field.
Philip Morris would no longer be involved, but the entire production had been turned over to a new producer. Furthermore, while it was previously made known through Philip Morris' announcement that the concert would be free to smokers who signed up through a promotional website known as The Red List at , the change in producers meant that tickets would no longer be free but made available to anyone who purchased them. It was later revealed that Radiohead Media Solutions, Inc., MTV Philippines, Fox International Channels Philippines, Smart Communications, Musiko Records, Greater East Asia Music & Sony BMG Music Entertainment (also known as Sony Music Philippines Inc. & BMG Rights Management) have taken over the event.
Eraserheads went onstage for their reunion concert on August 30, 2008, at The Fort Open Field, Taguig. The concert, however, was cut short halfway through a planned 30-song setlist as Buendia was rushed to the Makati Medical Hospital after experiencing chest pains. He was reported to be in stable condition. Buddy Zabala had checked on Buendia in his tent right after they went to their planned 20-minute break and saw that he already was on an oxygen mask with paramedics checking his blood pressure. As he left and came back, paramedics were already taking Buendia on an ambulance. Bandmates Zabala, Marasigan and Adoro further said that they had no idea that Buendia was already having difficulty performing. In the spirit of the reunion, Marasigan, Zabala, and Adoro went to Saguijo after the concert and they continued their sets there. Kris Gorra-Dancel, Ebe Dancel, Aia De Leon, and many other OPM artists joined them as well. During the concert, Jazz Nicolas of the Itchyworms and a close friend of the band, also joined the band and played synths, keyboards, and other back-up instruments.
MTV Philippines President Francis Lumen stated: "He had a slight attack because of stress due to the recent passing of his mother (Lisette Buendia), and their sound check which lasted till 3 a.m. today (Saturday)." Buendia's mother died of cardiac arrest on August 28 after recovering from surgery to treat her intestinal cancer. Buendia was transferred to Philippine Heart Center 10:00 p.m. of August 31 after being treated at the critical care area of the Makati Medical Center emergency room. Sony BMG reported Buendia was "stable" after suffering hypokalemia a medical condition in which the concentration of potassium in the blood is low. Buendia had been administered with a potassium intravenous fluid.
Buendia, 37, on September 1, 2008, underwent his third heart angioplasty surgery since his January, 2007 heart attack. The blood vessel operated upon was "100 percent fully restored," and Buendia was recovering in "stable condition but still under observation." On September 5, 2008, Buendia was discharged from the hospital.
On 25 October episode of Startalk, Buendia said that the reunion concert was supposed to be a "one night only" Eraserheads reunion concert. He also said that there are no talks yet for a continuation of the said concert. However, he stated that he indeed felt "bitin" (literally translated, "not satisfied") with the uncompleted concert and is open to any sequels if it would have the proper production and venue. The other three members of the band, Adoro, Zabala, and Marasigan also expressed similar views in a follow-up interview by Myx and Inquirer.
Sony-BMG Philippines, Musiko Records & Greater East Asia Music released the concert movie of the band's reunion concert on November 26, 2008.
On the January 10 edition of Supreme, a feature of The Philippine Star, it was announced that the continuation of their previous reunion concert would happen on March 7, 2009.
On January 11, this was confirmed by Marasigan through a message he posted on the Pedicab, Cambio, and Sandwich Mailing Lists.
On February 27, the band was awarded as "Myx Magna Award 2009" in the recent 4th Myx Music Awards 2009, achieving their alternative music excellence.
The band went on stage for their second reunion concert dubbed as The Final Set on March 7, 2009, at the SM Mall of Asia Concert Grounds, Pasay were approximately 100,000 people attended the sold-out concert. The concert went ahead despite the recent passing of their guest performer and friend Francis Magalona who died of acute myelogenous leukemia noon of the previous day.
World tours and other projects
The band continued to perform on sporadic worldwide tours from 2012 to 2014. Eraserheads held another reunion concert in the United States (San Francisco, Los Angeles & New Jersey) and Canada (Toronto) from October 12 to 20, 2012.
After their American Tour, the next show for the band was at the du Music Festival. Held at the Dubai Amphitheatre, UAE on April 4, 2013, the festival featured a diverse lineup of music stars including Guns N’ Roses, Train, Natalie Cole, Andrea Bocelli and other local acts. The band also featured a "fifth Eraserhead", Rommel 'Sancho' Sanchez on additional guitar duties. Rommel joined the band, too, during their 2012 North American tour. During the Dubai concert, Ely dedicated the song "Lightyears" to the OFWs.
After four months, on August 10, 2013, Eraserheads played a show in another country, Singapore. On December 27, 2013, Eraserheads and Parokya ni Edgar performed at "High Impact Asia" Meydan Racecourse, Al Meydan Road, Nad Al Sheba, Dubai, UAE.
Eraserheads performed their first major rock concert at the Eventim Apollo in London, England on April 4, 2014. This was produced by Marvin Guzman and Bernadith Marimon of Finest Workers UK Ltd in the US.
In September 2014, the band released two new songs via Esquire (Philippines edition), titled "1995" and "Sabado". This was their first release of new material in more than a decade. The magazine cover mimics the Beatles' Abbey Road cover, which was shot during the band's tour in London.
Eraserheads guested in the rebranding launch event, "A New Day", of the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company, along with its subsidiary Smart Communications. The band performed 5 encore songs and 13 main setlist songs.
In a tweet posted in January 2018, Buendia said: "Some people will never understand that people who don't get along don't work together." The statement was interpreted by Philippine Daily Inquirer and some fans as a response to calls for another reunion concert in the band's home country.
A musical adaptation of Eraserheads' discography entitled Ang Huling El Bimbo ran from July 20 to September 2, 2018 at Resorts World Manila. A second run for the musical was set for March 2019.
The band's first album was set to be rereleased in its first time on vinyl format, in November 2019. In December 2020, the band released a special edition photobook that features photos taken from the Final Set concert in 2009.
The three band members, Raimund, Buddy, and Marcus formed the band "Ultracombo" in 2019 and performed the songs of the Eraserheads. Marcus left the group on the following months after performing on a couple of gigs.
On 7 August 2021, Offshore Music proudly announces the release of the Sabado/1995 EP of the Eraserheads on all digital streaming platforms. The EP was written during their UK Tour back in 2014.
Band members
Ely Buendia – lead vocals, rhythm guitar
Buddy Zabala – bass guitar, backing vocals
Marcus Adoro – lead guitar, backing vocals
Raimund Marasigan – drums, backing vocals
Discography
Studio albums
Ultraelectromagneticpop! (1993)
Circus (1994)
Cutterpillow (1995)
Fruitcake (1996)
Sticker Happy (1997)
Natin99 (1999)
Carbon Stereoxide (2001)
EPs and demos
Pop U! (1991)
Fruitcake (1996)
Bananatype (1997)
Please Transpose EP (2003)
Sabado/1995 (2021)
Compilations
Aloha Milkyway (1998)
Eraserheads: The Singles (2001)
Eraserheads Anthology (2004)
Eraserheads Anthology 2 (2006)
International Releases
Aloha Milkyway Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia (1998)
Natin99 Hong Kong (1999)
Live albums
Eraserheads: The Reunion Concert 08.30.08 (2008)
Collaborations
1896 Ang Pagsilang (1996)
"Casa Fantastica"
Francis Magalona Happy Battle (1996)
"Unstrung Heroes" (Duet W/ Francis Magalona)
"Sapot Feat. Planet Garapata"
Ryan Cayabyab The Silver Album (1997)
"Tuwing Umuulan at Kapiling Ka"
Nescafe Open Up Party Live (2000)
"Blue Jeans"
"Pumapatak Na Naman ang Ulan"
"Tuyo Na'ng Damdamin (Feat. APO Hiking Society)"
Bandang Pinoy Lasang Hotdog (2001, re-issued 2006)
"Manila"
Gusto Ko ng Rock (2009)
"Alapaap"
Superbands (Universal Records)(2005)
Silver Shiny Jeepney (All Indie Band)
Soundtracks
Run Barbi Run (Starring Joey de Leon) (1995)
"Run Barbi Run"
DVD
The Reunion Concert – DVD (2009)
The Reunion Concert – DVD (Special Edition, 2009)
Box set/package
The Heads Set (Limited Edition) (2010) – The box set was released exclusively in Greenwich Pizza outlets, and included a free box of pizza. It contains rarities such as "Casa Fantastica", all local albums from Ultraelectromagneticpop! to Carbon Stereoxide, DVD documentary (directed by Marcus Adoro), a book and shirt designed by Cynthia Bauzon and Arnold Arre, who both collaborated with the band before. It is now out of print.
Tribute albums
Ultraelectromagneticjam!: The Music of the Eraserheads (2005)
The Reunion: An Eraserheads Tribute Album (2012)
Ang Huling El Bimbo Musical (2018)
Pop Machine: Eraserheads Tribute Album (2020)
Publications
Pillbox Volume 1 Number 1
Editor: Redel D. Ramos
Art Director: Cynthia F. Bauzon
Release: 1996
Published by: Pop Infinity Limited Laundry
© 1996 P.I.L.L. Corporation
Fruitcake
A separate companion storybook for the album Fruitcake (1996)
Story by: Eraserheads
Text by: Ely Buendia
Edited by: Jessica Zafra
Illustrated by: Cynthia F. Bauzon
Release: 1997
Published by: Anvil Publishing, Inc., Pasig
Printed by: Cacho Hermanos, Mandaluyong
© 1997 Eraserheads
Pillbox Volume 3
Editor: Marie Jamora
Art Director: Cynthia F. Bauzon
Release: 1998
Published by: BMG Records (Pilipinas) Inc.
© 1998 BMG Records (Pilipinas) Inc.
Magazine cover appearance
Esquire Magazine September Issue with CD of their two new songs (2014)
Myx Magazine "Eraserheads Reunion Concert Collectors Issue" (October–November 2008)
Pulp Magazine (2000)
Cutting Edge The FREE Magazine with Sen.Angara (1997)
Sky Surf Magazine (1997)
SM Magazine (1997)
1969 life in the Age of Internet Magazine (1997)
Mirror Magazine (1996)
Miscellaneous Magazine (1996)
Woman's Today Magazine together with Cooky Chua & Meagan Aguilar(1996)
Mr. & Ms. Magazine together with Regine Tolentino(1995)
Filmography
Run Barbi Run – starring as themselves
Wating – musical score by Eraserheads
Kuya – Marcus in a cameo role as a drug pusher
Masakit sa Dibdib – Ely Buendia in a cameo role
Tulad Ng Dati – starring Buddy as himself with Raimund Marasigan in a cameo role
San Lazaro – Ely Buendia as Manong Rex
Rakenrol – Ely Buendia in a cameo
Waiting Shed (Short Film) – Directed by Ely Buendia
The Artist Is In (Short Film) – Directed by Marcus Adoro
Manila Kingpin: The Asiong Salonga Story – Ely Buendia composed and performed the theme song La Paloma in a cameo with the boys of Hilera and veteran guitarist Nitoy Adriano, the song won as "Best Theme Song" in the 2011 Metro Manila Film Festival, the first MMFF award for Ely. The movie was also instrumental in the forming of Ely's new band, The Oktaves.
Bang Bang Alley – directed by Ely Buendia with Raquel Navarro and Yan Yuzon
Awards and nominations
References
External links
[ Allmusic Eraserheads Biography]
Eraserheads Experience
Musical groups established in 1989
Musical groups disestablished in 2002
Musical groups reestablished in 2008
Musical groups disestablished in 2014
Musical quartets
Filipino alternative rock groups
Sony BMG artists
Musical groups from Quezon City | false | [
"\"Accidents Happen\" is the fourth single to be taken from Australian singer Zoë Badwi's debut album Zoë.\n\nTrack listing\nDigital single\n Accidents Happen - 3:08\n Freefallin (Acoustic) - 2:43\n\nRemix EP\n Accidents Happen (Liam Keegan Remix) - 6:00\n Accidents Happen (I Am Sam Remix) - 7:10\n Accidents Happen (Walden Remix - 6:02\n Accidents Happen (Fabian Gray & Emanuele Remix) - 7:00\n\nMusic video\nDuring filming for the video, Badwi and the crew were \"fired upon by catapult\" by someone who lived in the street where it was filmed\n\nCharts\n\nReferences\n\n2011 singles\nZoë Badwi songs\n2011 songs",
"What Did You Think Was Going to Happen? is the debut studio album from Los Angeles band 2AM Club. It was released September 14, 2010 by RCA Records.\n\nCritical reception\n\nMatt Collar of AllMusic stated that with this album \"2AM Club reveal themselves as the best and brightest of the nu-eyed-soul set\".\n\nTrack listing\n\nOn May 31, the band released a song named \"Baseline\" that was a bonus track on What Did You Think Was Going to Happen? (sold on iTunes). It was advertised by them via Twitter, and was available for free download through a file sharing website, Hulk Share.\n\nCharts\n\nReferences\n\n2010 albums\nPop rock albums by American artists"
]
|
[
"Eraserheads",
"Mini-reunions",
"Why are the reunions \"mini\" reunions?",
"I don't know.",
"when did the first mini reunion occur?",
"February 28, 2007,",
"Where did that happen?",
"Greenbelt 3, Makati City."
]
| C_6994ef32b2dc49078e66ea6b7580d9e6_0 | Was it a concert? | 4 | Was first mini reunion a concert? | Eraserheads | On February 28, 2007, the official launch of the book Tikman ang Langit: An Anthology on the Eraserheads (2007) was held at the second level of Powerbooks bookstore in Greenbelt 3, Makati City. The launch was accompanied by acoustic performances by Cambio (whose members include Raimund Marasigan, Buddy Zabala and Kris Gorra-Dancel), Markus Highway (Marcus Adoro's band), and Lei Bautista of Prettier Than Pink. The performers covered Eraserheads songs such as "Ligaya" (performed by Lei Bautista), "With a Smile" (also performed by Bautista) and "Magasin" (performed by Cambio with Marcus Adoro). The event was dubbed a mini-reunion of Eraserheads, with Marasigan, Zabala and Adoro performing together for the first time in four years. Buendia did not attend because of a scheduled meeting with his surgeon and the manufacturers of the stents in his heart. Tikman ang Langit is a collection of essays about Eraserheads written by fourteen journalists who are mostly fans of the band. The book itself was compiled by Melvin Calimag and Jing Garcia, with a foreword by Eraserheads producer Robin Rivera. Another mini-reunion happened in Saguijo on July 26, 2007. Visitors were startled as the venue's schedule listed "Eraserheads" as a performer along with Rivermaya and Teeth. Jugs Jugueta of Itchyworms and Kris Gorra-Dancel of Cambio played guitars, Zabala on bass, Marasigan on drums, Jett Pangan of The Dawn on vocals, and producer Robin Rivera played drums when Marasigan sang. They called themselves "Eraser X" during that night. Buendia and Adoro knew about the event but did not go there as they had other gigs as well. Pupil was in Hard Rock Cafe Makati, while Adoro had gigs with Markus Highway, although Pupil's bassist Dok Sergio was able to follow and played for Teeth. Adoro, Zabala, and Marasigan did an impromptu number at the Millennia Club called "Marooned", a production of UP bands from past and present. The song Batch 88 from "Belma en Luis", was one of the songs that was jammed by the trio. CANNOTANSWER | the official launch of the book Tikman ang Langit: An Anthology on the Eraserheads (2007) was held at the second level of Powerbooks bookstore in Greenbelt 3, Makati City. | Eraserheads (sometimes stylized as ERASƎRHEADS or ƎRASƎRHƎADS) were a Filipino alternative rock band formed in 1989. With a line-up comprising Ely Buendia, Buddy Zabala, Marcus Adoro, and Raimund Marasigan, the band became one of the most successful in the history of Filipino music. Often dubbed as "The Beatles of the Philippines", they are credited for spearheading a second wave of Manila band invasions, paving the way for a host of Filipino alternative rock bands like Rivermaya.
The band released several singles, albums, and EPs. They achieved commercial success with their third album Cutterpillow (1995), which achieved platinum status several times. They also received the Viewer's Choice Award at the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards in New York, the only Filipino artist to have received the award before the conception of the MTV Asia Awards.
History
1989–1992: Formation and early years
In 1989, two college bands from the University of the Philippines Diliman were both in search of new members for a new group. Curfew, which consisted of Buddy Zabala on bass, Raimund Marasigan on drums, and Marcus Adoro on guitars met up with Sunday School, which consisted of Ely Buendia on vocals and Raimund Marasigan as session drummer in December of the same year. Ely's first two college bands, Bluidie Tryste and Sunday School, were too unstable, so he posted an audition notice on a university message board. Only Raimund, Buddy, and Marcus showed up at the audition. According to an interview with myx, Raimund said he first auditioned as bassist while Buddy as the drummer. But they noticed that it did not sound right, the two switched places.
The four formed a new group and called themselves Eraserheads, taking inspiration from the film Eraserhead by surrealist director David Lynch. They played mostly covers, doing gigs in schools, and playing at Manila's rock club circuit, achieving little success.
The band found that they were not good at playing covers, so they concentrated on writing their own material. Their new, original songs, played live, soon earned them a cult following in the university, which gradually spread outside the campus. One of the songs, a pop song entitled, "Pare Ko", became popular, partly because of lyrics that included a few obscenities.
The band recorded a nine-song demo tape in the garage of Marasigan's provincial home (in Candelaria, Quezon) on January 26, 1991. They then shopped the demo cassette around record labels, clubs, and radio stations, hoping to have their songs reach the public. However, they were rejected at every turn, with one recording label deeming that their demo was "not pop enough". In May 1991, a professor-friend teaching Humanities, Robin Rivera, helped them re-record and mix better versions of the demo songs on a four-track DAT recorder. The new demo was named Pop-U!, titled as an irreverent response to those who turned them down.
Meanwhile, Buendia became employed as a student copywriter by BMG Records (Pilipinas) Inc. (now part of Sony BMG Music Entertainment). He worked with BMG during the day and wrote songs with the band during the night. Eventually, the songs of Buendia and the band caught the attention of BMG A&R director Vic Valenciano. Valenciano listened to the songs and then commented that they were very raw technically, but that there was something promising in them. Subsequently, BMG gave Eraserheads' songs a try. In 1992, BMG signed up the band for a three-year record deal.
1993–1997: Mainstream success
In July 1993, Eraserheads started recording their debut album called Ultraelectromagneticpop!. The album featured "Pare Ko" (My Friend), "Toyang" and "Tindahan ni Aling Nena" (The Store of Aling Nena), all of which were also present in Pop-U!. The album also featured a sanitized version of "Pare Ko" called "Walang Hiyang Pare Ko". Later in the same year, BMG initially released 5,000 copies of the album. The album became a smash hit, with the songs "Ligaya", "Pare Ko" and "Toyang" topping the charts that, by the end of the year, BMG sold 300,000 copies, and Ultraelectromagneticpop! turned sextuple platinum.
The album met some opposition as the Philippine Association of the Record Industry (PARI) attempted to censor "Pare Ko" but without success. The public was said to have found its OPM Fab Four in Eraserheads, opening the second wave of band invasion. The Eraserheadsmania was born.
In October 1994, Eraserheads released a follow-up album entitled Circus. The band said that the album aptly described their life since their debut. The album was unpredictable and unconventional compared to the OPM ballads at that time, and established the band members as songwriters and musicians. The songs varied in style and mood, ranging from euphoric and hilarious to tender and somber. In the same year, Eraserheads played during the Miss Universe Pageant which was held in Manila. On November 24, the band held their first major concert, titled "Eraserheads Jamboree," at the Folk Arts Theater (now the Tanghalang Francisco Balagtas) in Malate, Manila.
Four of the songs became successive hits: "Kailan" (When), "Magasin" (Magazine), "Alapaap" (High Clouds) and "With a Smile". Circus turned gold in just 30 days with 20,000 copies sold. Eventually, it turned quintuple platinum with 200,000 copies sold. But like ultraelectromagneticpop!, it too had its share of controversy. In August 1995, Senator Tito Sotto, who was involved in an anti-drug campaign at that time, called for a ban on the airplay and sales of "Alapaap" over an alleged promotion of drug abuse in the lyrics of the song. In response, Eraserheads denied the allegation, saying that it was just a misinterpretation, and that the song was the band's "ode to freedom", not an "ode to drug abuse".
The group's third studio album Cutterpillow, was launched an open-air concert attended by fans and followers. With Christmas barely a month over, Eraserheads opened 1996 by making history in the Philippine music scene once more. Cutterpillow turned gold, even before it hit the record stores, as a result of the pre-selling promo campaign. Soon, the band shot the music video for the song "Ang Huling El Bimbo" (The Last El Bimbo) from the album.
Later that year, the band came up with a conceptual Christmas album Fruitcake. The album is notable in that it is the first and only album of the band recorded entirely in English. This was shortly followed by a release of a companion storybook of the same title.
Also in 1995 the band was given a shot at acting when they co-starred with comedian Joey De Leon of "Eat Bulaga" in the comedy film Run Barbi Run produced by GMA Network's Cinemax Studios (now GMA Films).
1997–2002: Later years and break-up
Going International
The year 1998 was marked with a series of gigs outside of the Philippines. Eraserheads' first-ever overseas gig was at BMG Records' "Sentosa Pop Festival" in Singapore in March 1997. It was then followed by a mini U.S. tour in May. They played at the Palace in Hollywood on May 2, 1997. Then, four months later in September, they were at the Radio City Music Hall in New York to receive the coveted "Moon Man" trophy for winning the 1997 MTV Asia Viewer's Choice Award, which made Eraserheads the first-ever Filipino artists to win the award.
The promotional CD versions of "Milk and Money", "Hard to Believe" and "Andalusian Dog", was recorded in Manila and mixed at the Electric Lady Studios, New York City in September 1997. Electric Lady Studios was built by the rock legend Jimi Hendrix. The tracks soon became a part of their fifth album, Sticker Happy, released a few days after the MTV Awards. A month later, they were back in Singapore for a series of shows and appearances for MTV Asia.
In February 1998, they represented the Philippines at the annual "Asia Live Dream '98" for NHK Broadcasting in Tokyo, Japan. Then in May, they embarked on another U.S. tour, taking them from Oakland to Los Angeles and to New York. The band toured the U.S. under the Happy Box production outfit, which was formed by brothers Haro De Guzman and Levan "Schizo" De Guzman and some other friends.
August 1998 saw the release of the album Aloha Milkyway in the Asian region, and finally in the Philippines two months later. The album contains chart-topping songs that have been re-mastered, as well as five new songs.
In early 1999, they had sold-out shows in Hong Kong, Sydney, and Dubai. Their next album, Natin99, was released in May.
Between May and June 2000, they did another tour of America dubbed, "The Pop Machine Tour – USA2000", playing in locations from New York to Chicago and to California. During their tours, they also had Noel Garcia of The Pin-Ups as an addition to their expanded line-up, who played guitars, keyboards and sometimes drums. After almost two years, the much-awaited studio album, Carbon Stereoxide, was released in March 2001, featuring the tracks, "Maskara", "Playground", "Hula" and "Palamig".
Break-up
After weeks of speculation, it was confirmed that the main songwriter and lead singer, Ely Buendia, had left the band in mid-March 2002 for "reasons unknown". However, in subsequent interviews, Buendia pointed to business matters as the cause of the band's break-up. In 2021 however, Buendia later revealed revealed that the no formation of friendship with the 3 other members as the reason of the band's demise.
In PULP Magazine, Buendia's wife and manager, Diane Ventura, claimed that the breakup started with a miscommunication between Buendia and the band's roadie, the result being that Buendia and Ventura turned up late at a mall gig. This upset the roadie who snidely referred to the couple as "unprofessional". Buendia's band colleagues and crew at the gig gave Buendia "a cold shoulder", related Ventura, being under the impression that Buendia had come late deliberately. The next day, Buendia brought the incident to the attention of the band's management boss, Butch Dans, to which he allegedly reverted the blame to the roadie's "unprofessionalism". Dans, however, allegedly chose to consider the roadie's account over Buendia's without much deliberation. Dans allegedly quipped that Buendia and Ventura were "probably too high on drugs" to remember the gig's schedule. Ventura stepped in to dispute the allegation and vehemently denied that she and Buendia were even told of the schedule. The other three Eraserheads also believed the roadie's story, which disturbed Buendia because he felt betrayed by their longstanding friendship. Buendia later announced to his mates through SMS that he was quitting the group.
In another interview, Marasigan said he was eating in SM Megamall, a local shopping mall when he heard of the news. He said he was "semi-surprised" and wondered if Zabala already knew about it. Adoro told of the story now famous among Eraserheads fans about Buendia's cryptic text message. He said Buendia stated in the text message that he had already "graduated." Adoro quipped in the same interview that it was natural for Buendia to graduate first, since he was in batch '87 of their college (UP Diliman), while the rest were in batch '88.
Zabala confessed in an interview that disbanding had not been that far away from the members' minds. He said that there were many occasions when they could have disbanded but did not.
Adoro expressed the belief of some people that the band was getting too old, and that it was "selfish" for the band to continue, likely referring to comments about how it's time for other bands, besides Eraserheads, to shine. The band made it clear, though, that Buendia's departure from the band wasn't in any way violent and that there was no shouting (sigawan) or any confrontation involved.
The three remaining Eraserheads decided to continue. Within a few weeks, the "new" Eheads debuted at Hard Rock Cafe in Makati on April 19, featuring a female singer-guitarist, Kris Gorra-Dancel, from the band, Fatal Posporos. However, after a few months, Adoro had quit the band as well. The remaining members of the Eheads added Diego Mapa and Ebe Dancel to their lineup and renamed their band, "Cambio".
2003–2007: After the break-up
Tribute albums
Just a few years after the break-up, the tribute album Ultraelectromagneticjam!: The Music of the Eraserheads was released in honor of the band.
Many questioned whether the time was right for a tribute to a group that had just disbanded four years ago, with its former members still active in the music industry. Buendia had mixed feelings about the tribute album, saying that "It’s too early to be taking part in it and I don’t see myself being part of it kasi (because) I’m still doing something here...To be part of it is like acknowledging na tapos na ako (that I am finished); isa na lang akong trophy na itatago na (I'm just a trophy to be shelved). Siguro kung uugud-ugud na ako (Maybe when I'm really old), that’s the time I’m gonna look back." Ironically though, he does guest vocals in one of the tracks, "Superproxy 2k6" by the late Master Rapper Francis M.
On May 9, 2012, Star Records and Star Cinema released The Reunion: An Eraserheads Tribute Album, a tribute album of their own that accompanies the film The Reunion.
Mini-reunions
On February 28, 2007, the official launch of the book Tikman ang Langit: An Anthology on the Eraserheads (2007) was held at the second level of Powerbooks bookstore in Greenbelt 3, Makati. The launch was accompanied by acoustic performances by Cambio (whose members include Raimund Marasigan, Buddy Zabala and Kris Gorra-Dancel), Markus Highway (Marcus Adoro's band), and Lei Bautista of Prettier Than Pink. The performers covered Eraserheads songs such as "Ligaya" (performed by Lei Bautista), "With a Smile" (also performed by Bautista) and "Magasin" (performed by Cambio with Marcus Adoro). The event was dubbed a mini-reunion of Eraserheads, with Marasigan, Zabala and Adoro performing together for the first time in four years. Buendia did not attend because of a scheduled meeting with his surgeon and the manufacturers of the stents in his heart.
Tikman ang Langit is a collection of essays about Eraserheads written by fourteen journalists who are mostly fans of the band. The book itself was compiled by Melvin Calimag and Jing Garcia, with a foreword by Eraserheads producer Robin Rivera.
Another mini-reunion happened in Saguijo on July 26, 2007. Visitors were startled as the venue's schedule listed "Eraserheads" as a performer along with Rivermaya and Teeth. Jugs Jugueta of Itchyworms and Kris Gorra-Dancel of Cambio played guitars, Zabala on bass, Marasigan on drums, Jett Pangan of The Dawn on vocals, and producer Robin Rivera played drums when Marasigan sang. They called themselves "Eraser X" during that night. Buendia and Adoro knew about the event but did not go there as they had other gigs as well. Pupil was in Hard Rock Cafe Makati, while Adoro had gigs with Markus Highway, although Pupil's bassist Dok Sergio was able to follow and played for Teeth.
Adoro, Zabala, and Marasigan did an impromptu number at the Millennia Club called "Marooned", a production of UP bands from past and present. The song Batch 88 from "Belma en Luis", was one of the songs that were jammed by the trio.
2008–present: Reunion
In July 2008, it was confirmed by the members that they will be reuniting for a one-off concert to be held on August 30, 2008. Ely Buendia did affirm that the reunion will be for a night's performance only, to be sponsored by a multinational tobacco company. Buendia was quoted saying "I'm not doing this for the money but for the E-heads fans who remain loyal". The sponsors are expecting 35,000 attendees with free tickets distributed to online registrants in early August 2008. This highly awaited one-night concert was initially reported to be planned for staging at the Cultural Center of the Philippines open grounds, or alternatively, the Fort Bonifacio open grounds.
On August 22, word had broken out that Philip Morris had pulled out of the concert and that the show had been "canceled".
Anti-Tobacco forces, led by Dr. Maricar Limpin, had been active in a campaign to get Eraserheads to renounce the concert and the involvement of the tobacco giant, as Alicia Keys had done in her recent concert in Indonesia. Eraserheads never issued such an announcement. However, it was believed that the pressure exerted by the anti-tobacco forces had caused Philip Morris to end their participation in the concert.
On the evening of August 24, Raimund Marasigan issued a response to this news. Posting on the Sandwich and Cambio mailing lists, Marasigan confirmed that while Philip Morris has pulled out of the production, the concert is "most definitely" pushing through on the original date, August 30, 2008, at the Fort Bonifacio open field.
Philip Morris would no longer be involved, but the entire production had been turned over to a new producer. Furthermore, while it was previously made known through Philip Morris' announcement that the concert would be free to smokers who signed up through a promotional website known as The Red List at , the change in producers meant that tickets would no longer be free but made available to anyone who purchased them. It was later revealed that Radiohead Media Solutions, Inc., MTV Philippines, Fox International Channels Philippines, Smart Communications, Musiko Records, Greater East Asia Music & Sony BMG Music Entertainment (also known as Sony Music Philippines Inc. & BMG Rights Management) have taken over the event.
Eraserheads went onstage for their reunion concert on August 30, 2008, at The Fort Open Field, Taguig. The concert, however, was cut short halfway through a planned 30-song setlist as Buendia was rushed to the Makati Medical Hospital after experiencing chest pains. He was reported to be in stable condition. Buddy Zabala had checked on Buendia in his tent right after they went to their planned 20-minute break and saw that he already was on an oxygen mask with paramedics checking his blood pressure. As he left and came back, paramedics were already taking Buendia on an ambulance. Bandmates Zabala, Marasigan and Adoro further said that they had no idea that Buendia was already having difficulty performing. In the spirit of the reunion, Marasigan, Zabala, and Adoro went to Saguijo after the concert and they continued their sets there. Kris Gorra-Dancel, Ebe Dancel, Aia De Leon, and many other OPM artists joined them as well. During the concert, Jazz Nicolas of the Itchyworms and a close friend of the band, also joined the band and played synths, keyboards, and other back-up instruments.
MTV Philippines President Francis Lumen stated: "He had a slight attack because of stress due to the recent passing of his mother (Lisette Buendia), and their sound check which lasted till 3 a.m. today (Saturday)." Buendia's mother died of cardiac arrest on August 28 after recovering from surgery to treat her intestinal cancer. Buendia was transferred to Philippine Heart Center 10:00 p.m. of August 31 after being treated at the critical care area of the Makati Medical Center emergency room. Sony BMG reported Buendia was "stable" after suffering hypokalemia a medical condition in which the concentration of potassium in the blood is low. Buendia had been administered with a potassium intravenous fluid.
Buendia, 37, on September 1, 2008, underwent his third heart angioplasty surgery since his January, 2007 heart attack. The blood vessel operated upon was "100 percent fully restored," and Buendia was recovering in "stable condition but still under observation." On September 5, 2008, Buendia was discharged from the hospital.
On 25 October episode of Startalk, Buendia said that the reunion concert was supposed to be a "one night only" Eraserheads reunion concert. He also said that there are no talks yet for a continuation of the said concert. However, he stated that he indeed felt "bitin" (literally translated, "not satisfied") with the uncompleted concert and is open to any sequels if it would have the proper production and venue. The other three members of the band, Adoro, Zabala, and Marasigan also expressed similar views in a follow-up interview by Myx and Inquirer.
Sony-BMG Philippines, Musiko Records & Greater East Asia Music released the concert movie of the band's reunion concert on November 26, 2008.
On the January 10 edition of Supreme, a feature of The Philippine Star, it was announced that the continuation of their previous reunion concert would happen on March 7, 2009.
On January 11, this was confirmed by Marasigan through a message he posted on the Pedicab, Cambio, and Sandwich Mailing Lists.
On February 27, the band was awarded as "Myx Magna Award 2009" in the recent 4th Myx Music Awards 2009, achieving their alternative music excellence.
The band went on stage for their second reunion concert dubbed as The Final Set on March 7, 2009, at the SM Mall of Asia Concert Grounds, Pasay were approximately 100,000 people attended the sold-out concert. The concert went ahead despite the recent passing of their guest performer and friend Francis Magalona who died of acute myelogenous leukemia noon of the previous day.
World tours and other projects
The band continued to perform on sporadic worldwide tours from 2012 to 2014. Eraserheads held another reunion concert in the United States (San Francisco, Los Angeles & New Jersey) and Canada (Toronto) from October 12 to 20, 2012.
After their American Tour, the next show for the band was at the du Music Festival. Held at the Dubai Amphitheatre, UAE on April 4, 2013, the festival featured a diverse lineup of music stars including Guns N’ Roses, Train, Natalie Cole, Andrea Bocelli and other local acts. The band also featured a "fifth Eraserhead", Rommel 'Sancho' Sanchez on additional guitar duties. Rommel joined the band, too, during their 2012 North American tour. During the Dubai concert, Ely dedicated the song "Lightyears" to the OFWs.
After four months, on August 10, 2013, Eraserheads played a show in another country, Singapore. On December 27, 2013, Eraserheads and Parokya ni Edgar performed at "High Impact Asia" Meydan Racecourse, Al Meydan Road, Nad Al Sheba, Dubai, UAE.
Eraserheads performed their first major rock concert at the Eventim Apollo in London, England on April 4, 2014. This was produced by Marvin Guzman and Bernadith Marimon of Finest Workers UK Ltd in the US.
In September 2014, the band released two new songs via Esquire (Philippines edition), titled "1995" and "Sabado". This was their first release of new material in more than a decade. The magazine cover mimics the Beatles' Abbey Road cover, which was shot during the band's tour in London.
Eraserheads guested in the rebranding launch event, "A New Day", of the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company, along with its subsidiary Smart Communications. The band performed 5 encore songs and 13 main setlist songs.
In a tweet posted in January 2018, Buendia said: "Some people will never understand that people who don't get along don't work together." The statement was interpreted by Philippine Daily Inquirer and some fans as a response to calls for another reunion concert in the band's home country.
A musical adaptation of Eraserheads' discography entitled Ang Huling El Bimbo ran from July 20 to September 2, 2018 at Resorts World Manila. A second run for the musical was set for March 2019.
The band's first album was set to be rereleased in its first time on vinyl format, in November 2019. In December 2020, the band released a special edition photobook that features photos taken from the Final Set concert in 2009.
The three band members, Raimund, Buddy, and Marcus formed the band "Ultracombo" in 2019 and performed the songs of the Eraserheads. Marcus left the group on the following months after performing on a couple of gigs.
On 7 August 2021, Offshore Music proudly announces the release of the Sabado/1995 EP of the Eraserheads on all digital streaming platforms. The EP was written during their UK Tour back in 2014.
Band members
Ely Buendia – lead vocals, rhythm guitar
Buddy Zabala – bass guitar, backing vocals
Marcus Adoro – lead guitar, backing vocals
Raimund Marasigan – drums, backing vocals
Discography
Studio albums
Ultraelectromagneticpop! (1993)
Circus (1994)
Cutterpillow (1995)
Fruitcake (1996)
Sticker Happy (1997)
Natin99 (1999)
Carbon Stereoxide (2001)
EPs and demos
Pop U! (1991)
Fruitcake (1996)
Bananatype (1997)
Please Transpose EP (2003)
Sabado/1995 (2021)
Compilations
Aloha Milkyway (1998)
Eraserheads: The Singles (2001)
Eraserheads Anthology (2004)
Eraserheads Anthology 2 (2006)
International Releases
Aloha Milkyway Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia (1998)
Natin99 Hong Kong (1999)
Live albums
Eraserheads: The Reunion Concert 08.30.08 (2008)
Collaborations
1896 Ang Pagsilang (1996)
"Casa Fantastica"
Francis Magalona Happy Battle (1996)
"Unstrung Heroes" (Duet W/ Francis Magalona)
"Sapot Feat. Planet Garapata"
Ryan Cayabyab The Silver Album (1997)
"Tuwing Umuulan at Kapiling Ka"
Nescafe Open Up Party Live (2000)
"Blue Jeans"
"Pumapatak Na Naman ang Ulan"
"Tuyo Na'ng Damdamin (Feat. APO Hiking Society)"
Bandang Pinoy Lasang Hotdog (2001, re-issued 2006)
"Manila"
Gusto Ko ng Rock (2009)
"Alapaap"
Superbands (Universal Records)(2005)
Silver Shiny Jeepney (All Indie Band)
Soundtracks
Run Barbi Run (Starring Joey de Leon) (1995)
"Run Barbi Run"
DVD
The Reunion Concert – DVD (2009)
The Reunion Concert – DVD (Special Edition, 2009)
Box set/package
The Heads Set (Limited Edition) (2010) – The box set was released exclusively in Greenwich Pizza outlets, and included a free box of pizza. It contains rarities such as "Casa Fantastica", all local albums from Ultraelectromagneticpop! to Carbon Stereoxide, DVD documentary (directed by Marcus Adoro), a book and shirt designed by Cynthia Bauzon and Arnold Arre, who both collaborated with the band before. It is now out of print.
Tribute albums
Ultraelectromagneticjam!: The Music of the Eraserheads (2005)
The Reunion: An Eraserheads Tribute Album (2012)
Ang Huling El Bimbo Musical (2018)
Pop Machine: Eraserheads Tribute Album (2020)
Publications
Pillbox Volume 1 Number 1
Editor: Redel D. Ramos
Art Director: Cynthia F. Bauzon
Release: 1996
Published by: Pop Infinity Limited Laundry
© 1996 P.I.L.L. Corporation
Fruitcake
A separate companion storybook for the album Fruitcake (1996)
Story by: Eraserheads
Text by: Ely Buendia
Edited by: Jessica Zafra
Illustrated by: Cynthia F. Bauzon
Release: 1997
Published by: Anvil Publishing, Inc., Pasig
Printed by: Cacho Hermanos, Mandaluyong
© 1997 Eraserheads
Pillbox Volume 3
Editor: Marie Jamora
Art Director: Cynthia F. Bauzon
Release: 1998
Published by: BMG Records (Pilipinas) Inc.
© 1998 BMG Records (Pilipinas) Inc.
Magazine cover appearance
Esquire Magazine September Issue with CD of their two new songs (2014)
Myx Magazine "Eraserheads Reunion Concert Collectors Issue" (October–November 2008)
Pulp Magazine (2000)
Cutting Edge The FREE Magazine with Sen.Angara (1997)
Sky Surf Magazine (1997)
SM Magazine (1997)
1969 life in the Age of Internet Magazine (1997)
Mirror Magazine (1996)
Miscellaneous Magazine (1996)
Woman's Today Magazine together with Cooky Chua & Meagan Aguilar(1996)
Mr. & Ms. Magazine together with Regine Tolentino(1995)
Filmography
Run Barbi Run – starring as themselves
Wating – musical score by Eraserheads
Kuya – Marcus in a cameo role as a drug pusher
Masakit sa Dibdib – Ely Buendia in a cameo role
Tulad Ng Dati – starring Buddy as himself with Raimund Marasigan in a cameo role
San Lazaro – Ely Buendia as Manong Rex
Rakenrol – Ely Buendia in a cameo
Waiting Shed (Short Film) – Directed by Ely Buendia
The Artist Is In (Short Film) – Directed by Marcus Adoro
Manila Kingpin: The Asiong Salonga Story – Ely Buendia composed and performed the theme song La Paloma in a cameo with the boys of Hilera and veteran guitarist Nitoy Adriano, the song won as "Best Theme Song" in the 2011 Metro Manila Film Festival, the first MMFF award for Ely. The movie was also instrumental in the forming of Ely's new band, The Oktaves.
Bang Bang Alley – directed by Ely Buendia with Raquel Navarro and Yan Yuzon
Awards and nominations
References
External links
[ Allmusic Eraserheads Biography]
Eraserheads Experience
Musical groups established in 1989
Musical groups disestablished in 2002
Musical groups reestablished in 2008
Musical groups disestablished in 2014
Musical quartets
Filipino alternative rock groups
Sony BMG artists
Musical groups from Quezon City | false | [
"The Lungs Tour was the first major headlining concert tour by English indie rock band Florence and the Machine, in support of their debut album, Lungs. In July 2009, upon the release of their debut album, Florence and the Machine announced a six-date concert tour of the United Kingdom. Six soon became nine as three more dates (one in Glasgow, one in Bournemouth and two more for London's Shepherd's Bush Empire) were added. Following the success of the UK tour, with most tickets selling out, mainland European dates were added in countries such as the Netherlands and Italy, where the album also achieved moderate success. The tour is also going to North America and a one-off show in Tokyo. In an interview with Nick Grimshaw, Florence mentioned that her tour was going to be brought to Australia. They also supported U2 on their U2 360° Tour in 2011.\nAfter the continued success of Lungs and its new UK chart peak of number 1, Florence Welch announced another nine-date UK and Ireland tour, entitled 'The Cosmic Love Tour'. Florence and The Machine's official website held an exclusive fan pre-sale event on 27 January 2010 and tickets were fully released on Friday, 29 January at 9 a.m. All tickets, for all dates officially sold out.\n\nFlorence's costumes were designed by Gucci during the later parts of the tour.\n\nSetlist\n\nSupport acts\n Golden Silvers (22 May 2009)\n The xx (17–29 September 2009)\n Parallels (1 November 2009)\n Voicst (Hamburg, Cologne, Berlin, Vienna, Munich and Zurich)\n Frankie & The Heartstrings (6–14 December 2009)\n The Temper Trap (6–14 December 2009)\n Sian Alice Group (20 February – 16 March 2010)\n Holy Hail (15–17 April 2010)\n Babe Shadow (5–15 May 2010)\n The Drums (5 May – 29 July 2010)\n The Naked and Famous (29 July 2010)\n\nTour dates\n\nFestivals and other miscellaneous performances\nThis concert was a part of \"London Calling at Paradiso\"\nThis concert was a part of \"Dot To Dot Festival\"\nThis concert was a part of \"Glastonbury Festival\"\nThis concert was a part of \"Camp Bestival\"\nThis concert was a part of \"Ben & Jerry's Sundae on the Common\"\nThis concert was a part of \"Standon Calling\"\nThis concert was a part of \"Underage Festival\"\nThis concert was a part of \"Reading and Leeds Festival\"\nThis concert was a part of \"Electric Picnic\"\nThis concert was a part of \"Bestival\"\nThis concert was a part of \"London Airwaves\"\nThis concert was a part of \"The Diesel XxX Party! at Matter\"\nThis concert was a part of \"Iceland Airwaves\"\nThis concert was a part of \"Moshi Moshi 10th Birthday at Matter\"\nThis concert was a part of \"NME Awards Tour 2009\"\nThis concert was a part of \"Synch Festival\"\nThis concert was a part of \"Southside Festival\"\nThis concert was a part of a show with Blur\nThis concert was a part of \"Hop Farm Festival\"\nThis concert was a part of \"Eurockéennes\"\nThis concert was a part of \"Eden Sessions\", with Paul Weller\nThis concert was a part of \"T in the Park\"\nThis concert was a part of \"Oxegen\"\nThis concert was a part of \"Lovebox Festival\"\nThis concert was a part of \"T4 on the Beach\"\nThis concert was a part of \"Vauxhall Skate\"\nThis concert was a part of \"Øyafestivalen\"\nThis concert was a part of \"Way Out West Festival\"\nThis concert was a part of \"Beatday Festival\"\nThis concert was a part of \"Pukkelpop\"\nThis concert was a part of \"Lowlands\"\n\nThis concert was a part of \"Freedom Festival\"\nThis concert was a part of \"BBC Electric Proms\"\nThis concert was a part of \"Inrockuptibles Festival\"\nThis concert was a part of \"BBC Radio 1's Mencap Little Noise Sessions\"\nThis concert was a part of \"NME Calling 2009\"\nThis concert was a part of \"T4 Stars of 2009\"\nThis concert was a part of \"St Jerome's Laneway Festival\"\nThis concert was a part of \"Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival\"\nThis concert was a part of \"Radio 1's Big Weekend\"\nThis concert was a part of \"Primavera Sound Festival\"\nThis concert was a part of \"Pinkpop Festival\"\nThis concert was a part of \"Kent University Summer Ball\"\nThis concert was a part of \"Swansea University Summer Ball\"\nThis concert was a part of \"Isle of Wight Festival\"\nThis concert was a part of \"Hurricane Festival\"\nThis concert was a part of \"Solidays at Hippodrome de Longchamp\"\nThis concert was a part of \"Hove Festival\"\nThis concert was a part of \"Roskilde Festival\"\nThis concert was a part of \"Rock Werchter\"\nThis concert was a part of \"Main Square Festival\"\nThis concert was a part of \"Optimus Alive!\"\nThis concert was a part of \"Ruisrock\"\nThis concert was a part of \"Somerset House Summer Series\"\nThis concert was a part of \"Latitude Festival\"\nThis concert was a part of \"Splendour in the Grass Sideshow \"\nThis concert was a part of \"Belsonic\"\nThis concert was a part of \"V Festival\"\nThis concert was a part of \"Voodoo Experience\"\nThe band supported U2 at this concert\n This concert was a part of \"Summerfest\"\n\nReferences\n\n2009 concert tours\n2010 concert tours\n2011 concert tours\nFlorence and the Machine concert tours",
"The Fundamental Tour (also known as Fundamental Live) was a concert tour by English electronic duo Pet Shop Boys. The tour supported the group's ninth studio album, Fundamental. Beginning in June 2006, the trek played over 100 dates in Europe, the Americas, Australia and Asia. The tour lasted over 17 months.\n\nSetlist\n\nTour dates\n\nFestivals and other miscellaneous performances\n\nThis concert was a part of \"Sommerfestival\"\nThis concert was a part of \"Zulu Rocks\"\nThis concert was a part of the \"Santander Summer Festival\"\nThis concert was a part of the \"Tower of London Music Festival\"\nThis concert was a part of the \"Liverpool Summer Pops\"\nThis concert was a part of \"VOLT Fesztivál\"\nThis concert was a part of \"Exit\"\nThis concert was a part of the \"Melt! Festival\"\nThese concerts were a part of \"Battleship Potemkin Symphonic Concerts\"\nThis concert was a part of \"Forestry Commission—Live Music\"\nThis concert was a part of the \"Eclèctic Festival\" \nThis concert was a part of \"Love Planet\"\nThis concert was a part of \"Creamfields\"\nThis concert was a part of \"Marktrock\"\n\nThis concert was a part of \"Electric Picnic\"\nThis concert was a part of \"Bestival\"\nThis concert was a part of the \"Summer of Music Festival\"\nThis concert was a part of the \"2006 Qwest Concert Series\"\nThis concert was a part of the \"Cee'd Winter Festival\"\nThese concerts were a part of \"V Festival\"\nThese concerts were a part of the \"Best of V Festival\"\nThis concert was a part of \"Bergenfest\"\nThis concert was a part of \"Fredagsrock\"\nThis concert was a part of the \"Skive Beach Party\"\nThis concert was a part of the \"Garden Party\"\nThis concert was a part of the \"Hultsfred Festival\"\nThis concert was a part of \"Músicos en la Naturaleza\" \nThis concert was a part of \"Festival di Villa Arconati\"\n\nThis concert was a part of the \"Montreux Jazz Festival\"\nThis concert was a part of the \"Eden Sessions\"\nThis concert was a part of \"Newmarket Nights\"\nThis concert was a part of \"Conceirto Freedom 2007\"\nThis concert was a part of \"Lokerse Feesten\"\nThis concert was a part of \"Singfest\"\nThese concerts were a part of the \"Summer Sonic Festival\"\nThis concert was a part of \"Fiestas del Pilar\"\nThis concert was a part of the \"Asics Music Festival\"\nThis concert was a part of the \"Festival Heineken Greenspace\"\nThis concert was a part of \"Some Days Never End\"\nThis concert was a part of the \"War Child Benefit Concert\"\n\nCancellations and rescheduled shows\n\nCast and crew\n Neil Tennant\n Chris Lowe\n\nDancers\n Nathan Holiday\n Ivan \"Swan\" Blackstock\n\nSingers\n Sylvia Mason-James\n Nick Clow\n Andy Lowe\n\nAdditional musicians\n Pete Gleadall – Musical Director & Programming\n\nBox office score data\n\nDVD release\nThe show was filmed at the Auditorio Nacional in Mexico on 14 November 2006, and was released on DVD format as Cubism in 2007.\n\nExternal links\n Pet Shop Boys – official website.\n Songs That the Pet Shop Boys Have Performed Live – Commentary by Wayne Studer, PhD Interpretations and analyses of every song written or performed by Pet Shop Boys\n\nReferences\n\n2006 concert tours\n2007 concert tours\nPet Shop Boys concert tours"
]
|
[
"Eraserheads",
"Mini-reunions",
"Why are the reunions \"mini\" reunions?",
"I don't know.",
"when did the first mini reunion occur?",
"February 28, 2007,",
"Where did that happen?",
"Greenbelt 3, Makati City.",
"Was it a concert?",
"the official launch of the book Tikman ang Langit: An Anthology on the Eraserheads (2007) was held at the second level of Powerbooks bookstore in Greenbelt 3, Makati City."
]
| C_6994ef32b2dc49078e66ea6b7580d9e6_0 | Who wrote the book? | 5 | Who wrote the Eraserheads book? | Eraserheads | On February 28, 2007, the official launch of the book Tikman ang Langit: An Anthology on the Eraserheads (2007) was held at the second level of Powerbooks bookstore in Greenbelt 3, Makati City. The launch was accompanied by acoustic performances by Cambio (whose members include Raimund Marasigan, Buddy Zabala and Kris Gorra-Dancel), Markus Highway (Marcus Adoro's band), and Lei Bautista of Prettier Than Pink. The performers covered Eraserheads songs such as "Ligaya" (performed by Lei Bautista), "With a Smile" (also performed by Bautista) and "Magasin" (performed by Cambio with Marcus Adoro). The event was dubbed a mini-reunion of Eraserheads, with Marasigan, Zabala and Adoro performing together for the first time in four years. Buendia did not attend because of a scheduled meeting with his surgeon and the manufacturers of the stents in his heart. Tikman ang Langit is a collection of essays about Eraserheads written by fourteen journalists who are mostly fans of the band. The book itself was compiled by Melvin Calimag and Jing Garcia, with a foreword by Eraserheads producer Robin Rivera. Another mini-reunion happened in Saguijo on July 26, 2007. Visitors were startled as the venue's schedule listed "Eraserheads" as a performer along with Rivermaya and Teeth. Jugs Jugueta of Itchyworms and Kris Gorra-Dancel of Cambio played guitars, Zabala on bass, Marasigan on drums, Jett Pangan of The Dawn on vocals, and producer Robin Rivera played drums when Marasigan sang. They called themselves "Eraser X" during that night. Buendia and Adoro knew about the event but did not go there as they had other gigs as well. Pupil was in Hard Rock Cafe Makati, while Adoro had gigs with Markus Highway, although Pupil's bassist Dok Sergio was able to follow and played for Teeth. Adoro, Zabala, and Marasigan did an impromptu number at the Millennia Club called "Marooned", a production of UP bands from past and present. The song Batch 88 from "Belma en Luis", was one of the songs that was jammed by the trio. CANNOTANSWER | The book itself was compiled by Melvin Calimag and Jing Garcia, | Eraserheads (sometimes stylized as ERASƎRHEADS or ƎRASƎRHƎADS) were a Filipino alternative rock band formed in 1989. With a line-up comprising Ely Buendia, Buddy Zabala, Marcus Adoro, and Raimund Marasigan, the band became one of the most successful in the history of Filipino music. Often dubbed as "The Beatles of the Philippines", they are credited for spearheading a second wave of Manila band invasions, paving the way for a host of Filipino alternative rock bands like Rivermaya.
The band released several singles, albums, and EPs. They achieved commercial success with their third album Cutterpillow (1995), which achieved platinum status several times. They also received the Viewer's Choice Award at the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards in New York, the only Filipino artist to have received the award before the conception of the MTV Asia Awards.
History
1989–1992: Formation and early years
In 1989, two college bands from the University of the Philippines Diliman were both in search of new members for a new group. Curfew, which consisted of Buddy Zabala on bass, Raimund Marasigan on drums, and Marcus Adoro on guitars met up with Sunday School, which consisted of Ely Buendia on vocals and Raimund Marasigan as session drummer in December of the same year. Ely's first two college bands, Bluidie Tryste and Sunday School, were too unstable, so he posted an audition notice on a university message board. Only Raimund, Buddy, and Marcus showed up at the audition. According to an interview with myx, Raimund said he first auditioned as bassist while Buddy as the drummer. But they noticed that it did not sound right, the two switched places.
The four formed a new group and called themselves Eraserheads, taking inspiration from the film Eraserhead by surrealist director David Lynch. They played mostly covers, doing gigs in schools, and playing at Manila's rock club circuit, achieving little success.
The band found that they were not good at playing covers, so they concentrated on writing their own material. Their new, original songs, played live, soon earned them a cult following in the university, which gradually spread outside the campus. One of the songs, a pop song entitled, "Pare Ko", became popular, partly because of lyrics that included a few obscenities.
The band recorded a nine-song demo tape in the garage of Marasigan's provincial home (in Candelaria, Quezon) on January 26, 1991. They then shopped the demo cassette around record labels, clubs, and radio stations, hoping to have their songs reach the public. However, they were rejected at every turn, with one recording label deeming that their demo was "not pop enough". In May 1991, a professor-friend teaching Humanities, Robin Rivera, helped them re-record and mix better versions of the demo songs on a four-track DAT recorder. The new demo was named Pop-U!, titled as an irreverent response to those who turned them down.
Meanwhile, Buendia became employed as a student copywriter by BMG Records (Pilipinas) Inc. (now part of Sony BMG Music Entertainment). He worked with BMG during the day and wrote songs with the band during the night. Eventually, the songs of Buendia and the band caught the attention of BMG A&R director Vic Valenciano. Valenciano listened to the songs and then commented that they were very raw technically, but that there was something promising in them. Subsequently, BMG gave Eraserheads' songs a try. In 1992, BMG signed up the band for a three-year record deal.
1993–1997: Mainstream success
In July 1993, Eraserheads started recording their debut album called Ultraelectromagneticpop!. The album featured "Pare Ko" (My Friend), "Toyang" and "Tindahan ni Aling Nena" (The Store of Aling Nena), all of which were also present in Pop-U!. The album also featured a sanitized version of "Pare Ko" called "Walang Hiyang Pare Ko". Later in the same year, BMG initially released 5,000 copies of the album. The album became a smash hit, with the songs "Ligaya", "Pare Ko" and "Toyang" topping the charts that, by the end of the year, BMG sold 300,000 copies, and Ultraelectromagneticpop! turned sextuple platinum.
The album met some opposition as the Philippine Association of the Record Industry (PARI) attempted to censor "Pare Ko" but without success. The public was said to have found its OPM Fab Four in Eraserheads, opening the second wave of band invasion. The Eraserheadsmania was born.
In October 1994, Eraserheads released a follow-up album entitled Circus. The band said that the album aptly described their life since their debut. The album was unpredictable and unconventional compared to the OPM ballads at that time, and established the band members as songwriters and musicians. The songs varied in style and mood, ranging from euphoric and hilarious to tender and somber. In the same year, Eraserheads played during the Miss Universe Pageant which was held in Manila. On November 24, the band held their first major concert, titled "Eraserheads Jamboree," at the Folk Arts Theater (now the Tanghalang Francisco Balagtas) in Malate, Manila.
Four of the songs became successive hits: "Kailan" (When), "Magasin" (Magazine), "Alapaap" (High Clouds) and "With a Smile". Circus turned gold in just 30 days with 20,000 copies sold. Eventually, it turned quintuple platinum with 200,000 copies sold. But like ultraelectromagneticpop!, it too had its share of controversy. In August 1995, Senator Tito Sotto, who was involved in an anti-drug campaign at that time, called for a ban on the airplay and sales of "Alapaap" over an alleged promotion of drug abuse in the lyrics of the song. In response, Eraserheads denied the allegation, saying that it was just a misinterpretation, and that the song was the band's "ode to freedom", not an "ode to drug abuse".
The group's third studio album Cutterpillow, was launched an open-air concert attended by fans and followers. With Christmas barely a month over, Eraserheads opened 1996 by making history in the Philippine music scene once more. Cutterpillow turned gold, even before it hit the record stores, as a result of the pre-selling promo campaign. Soon, the band shot the music video for the song "Ang Huling El Bimbo" (The Last El Bimbo) from the album.
Later that year, the band came up with a conceptual Christmas album Fruitcake. The album is notable in that it is the first and only album of the band recorded entirely in English. This was shortly followed by a release of a companion storybook of the same title.
Also in 1995 the band was given a shot at acting when they co-starred with comedian Joey De Leon of "Eat Bulaga" in the comedy film Run Barbi Run produced by GMA Network's Cinemax Studios (now GMA Films).
1997–2002: Later years and break-up
Going International
The year 1998 was marked with a series of gigs outside of the Philippines. Eraserheads' first-ever overseas gig was at BMG Records' "Sentosa Pop Festival" in Singapore in March 1997. It was then followed by a mini U.S. tour in May. They played at the Palace in Hollywood on May 2, 1997. Then, four months later in September, they were at the Radio City Music Hall in New York to receive the coveted "Moon Man" trophy for winning the 1997 MTV Asia Viewer's Choice Award, which made Eraserheads the first-ever Filipino artists to win the award.
The promotional CD versions of "Milk and Money", "Hard to Believe" and "Andalusian Dog", was recorded in Manila and mixed at the Electric Lady Studios, New York City in September 1997. Electric Lady Studios was built by the rock legend Jimi Hendrix. The tracks soon became a part of their fifth album, Sticker Happy, released a few days after the MTV Awards. A month later, they were back in Singapore for a series of shows and appearances for MTV Asia.
In February 1998, they represented the Philippines at the annual "Asia Live Dream '98" for NHK Broadcasting in Tokyo, Japan. Then in May, they embarked on another U.S. tour, taking them from Oakland to Los Angeles and to New York. The band toured the U.S. under the Happy Box production outfit, which was formed by brothers Haro De Guzman and Levan "Schizo" De Guzman and some other friends.
August 1998 saw the release of the album Aloha Milkyway in the Asian region, and finally in the Philippines two months later. The album contains chart-topping songs that have been re-mastered, as well as five new songs.
In early 1999, they had sold-out shows in Hong Kong, Sydney, and Dubai. Their next album, Natin99, was released in May.
Between May and June 2000, they did another tour of America dubbed, "The Pop Machine Tour – USA2000", playing in locations from New York to Chicago and to California. During their tours, they also had Noel Garcia of The Pin-Ups as an addition to their expanded line-up, who played guitars, keyboards and sometimes drums. After almost two years, the much-awaited studio album, Carbon Stereoxide, was released in March 2001, featuring the tracks, "Maskara", "Playground", "Hula" and "Palamig".
Break-up
After weeks of speculation, it was confirmed that the main songwriter and lead singer, Ely Buendia, had left the band in mid-March 2002 for "reasons unknown". However, in subsequent interviews, Buendia pointed to business matters as the cause of the band's break-up. In 2021 however, Buendia later revealed revealed that the no formation of friendship with the 3 other members as the reason of the band's demise.
In PULP Magazine, Buendia's wife and manager, Diane Ventura, claimed that the breakup started with a miscommunication between Buendia and the band's roadie, the result being that Buendia and Ventura turned up late at a mall gig. This upset the roadie who snidely referred to the couple as "unprofessional". Buendia's band colleagues and crew at the gig gave Buendia "a cold shoulder", related Ventura, being under the impression that Buendia had come late deliberately. The next day, Buendia brought the incident to the attention of the band's management boss, Butch Dans, to which he allegedly reverted the blame to the roadie's "unprofessionalism". Dans, however, allegedly chose to consider the roadie's account over Buendia's without much deliberation. Dans allegedly quipped that Buendia and Ventura were "probably too high on drugs" to remember the gig's schedule. Ventura stepped in to dispute the allegation and vehemently denied that she and Buendia were even told of the schedule. The other three Eraserheads also believed the roadie's story, which disturbed Buendia because he felt betrayed by their longstanding friendship. Buendia later announced to his mates through SMS that he was quitting the group.
In another interview, Marasigan said he was eating in SM Megamall, a local shopping mall when he heard of the news. He said he was "semi-surprised" and wondered if Zabala already knew about it. Adoro told of the story now famous among Eraserheads fans about Buendia's cryptic text message. He said Buendia stated in the text message that he had already "graduated." Adoro quipped in the same interview that it was natural for Buendia to graduate first, since he was in batch '87 of their college (UP Diliman), while the rest were in batch '88.
Zabala confessed in an interview that disbanding had not been that far away from the members' minds. He said that there were many occasions when they could have disbanded but did not.
Adoro expressed the belief of some people that the band was getting too old, and that it was "selfish" for the band to continue, likely referring to comments about how it's time for other bands, besides Eraserheads, to shine. The band made it clear, though, that Buendia's departure from the band wasn't in any way violent and that there was no shouting (sigawan) or any confrontation involved.
The three remaining Eraserheads decided to continue. Within a few weeks, the "new" Eheads debuted at Hard Rock Cafe in Makati on April 19, featuring a female singer-guitarist, Kris Gorra-Dancel, from the band, Fatal Posporos. However, after a few months, Adoro had quit the band as well. The remaining members of the Eheads added Diego Mapa and Ebe Dancel to their lineup and renamed their band, "Cambio".
2003–2007: After the break-up
Tribute albums
Just a few years after the break-up, the tribute album Ultraelectromagneticjam!: The Music of the Eraserheads was released in honor of the band.
Many questioned whether the time was right for a tribute to a group that had just disbanded four years ago, with its former members still active in the music industry. Buendia had mixed feelings about the tribute album, saying that "It’s too early to be taking part in it and I don’t see myself being part of it kasi (because) I’m still doing something here...To be part of it is like acknowledging na tapos na ako (that I am finished); isa na lang akong trophy na itatago na (I'm just a trophy to be shelved). Siguro kung uugud-ugud na ako (Maybe when I'm really old), that’s the time I’m gonna look back." Ironically though, he does guest vocals in one of the tracks, "Superproxy 2k6" by the late Master Rapper Francis M.
On May 9, 2012, Star Records and Star Cinema released The Reunion: An Eraserheads Tribute Album, a tribute album of their own that accompanies the film The Reunion.
Mini-reunions
On February 28, 2007, the official launch of the book Tikman ang Langit: An Anthology on the Eraserheads (2007) was held at the second level of Powerbooks bookstore in Greenbelt 3, Makati. The launch was accompanied by acoustic performances by Cambio (whose members include Raimund Marasigan, Buddy Zabala and Kris Gorra-Dancel), Markus Highway (Marcus Adoro's band), and Lei Bautista of Prettier Than Pink. The performers covered Eraserheads songs such as "Ligaya" (performed by Lei Bautista), "With a Smile" (also performed by Bautista) and "Magasin" (performed by Cambio with Marcus Adoro). The event was dubbed a mini-reunion of Eraserheads, with Marasigan, Zabala and Adoro performing together for the first time in four years. Buendia did not attend because of a scheduled meeting with his surgeon and the manufacturers of the stents in his heart.
Tikman ang Langit is a collection of essays about Eraserheads written by fourteen journalists who are mostly fans of the band. The book itself was compiled by Melvin Calimag and Jing Garcia, with a foreword by Eraserheads producer Robin Rivera.
Another mini-reunion happened in Saguijo on July 26, 2007. Visitors were startled as the venue's schedule listed "Eraserheads" as a performer along with Rivermaya and Teeth. Jugs Jugueta of Itchyworms and Kris Gorra-Dancel of Cambio played guitars, Zabala on bass, Marasigan on drums, Jett Pangan of The Dawn on vocals, and producer Robin Rivera played drums when Marasigan sang. They called themselves "Eraser X" during that night. Buendia and Adoro knew about the event but did not go there as they had other gigs as well. Pupil was in Hard Rock Cafe Makati, while Adoro had gigs with Markus Highway, although Pupil's bassist Dok Sergio was able to follow and played for Teeth.
Adoro, Zabala, and Marasigan did an impromptu number at the Millennia Club called "Marooned", a production of UP bands from past and present. The song Batch 88 from "Belma en Luis", was one of the songs that were jammed by the trio.
2008–present: Reunion
In July 2008, it was confirmed by the members that they will be reuniting for a one-off concert to be held on August 30, 2008. Ely Buendia did affirm that the reunion will be for a night's performance only, to be sponsored by a multinational tobacco company. Buendia was quoted saying "I'm not doing this for the money but for the E-heads fans who remain loyal". The sponsors are expecting 35,000 attendees with free tickets distributed to online registrants in early August 2008. This highly awaited one-night concert was initially reported to be planned for staging at the Cultural Center of the Philippines open grounds, or alternatively, the Fort Bonifacio open grounds.
On August 22, word had broken out that Philip Morris had pulled out of the concert and that the show had been "canceled".
Anti-Tobacco forces, led by Dr. Maricar Limpin, had been active in a campaign to get Eraserheads to renounce the concert and the involvement of the tobacco giant, as Alicia Keys had done in her recent concert in Indonesia. Eraserheads never issued such an announcement. However, it was believed that the pressure exerted by the anti-tobacco forces had caused Philip Morris to end their participation in the concert.
On the evening of August 24, Raimund Marasigan issued a response to this news. Posting on the Sandwich and Cambio mailing lists, Marasigan confirmed that while Philip Morris has pulled out of the production, the concert is "most definitely" pushing through on the original date, August 30, 2008, at the Fort Bonifacio open field.
Philip Morris would no longer be involved, but the entire production had been turned over to a new producer. Furthermore, while it was previously made known through Philip Morris' announcement that the concert would be free to smokers who signed up through a promotional website known as The Red List at , the change in producers meant that tickets would no longer be free but made available to anyone who purchased them. It was later revealed that Radiohead Media Solutions, Inc., MTV Philippines, Fox International Channels Philippines, Smart Communications, Musiko Records, Greater East Asia Music & Sony BMG Music Entertainment (also known as Sony Music Philippines Inc. & BMG Rights Management) have taken over the event.
Eraserheads went onstage for their reunion concert on August 30, 2008, at The Fort Open Field, Taguig. The concert, however, was cut short halfway through a planned 30-song setlist as Buendia was rushed to the Makati Medical Hospital after experiencing chest pains. He was reported to be in stable condition. Buddy Zabala had checked on Buendia in his tent right after they went to their planned 20-minute break and saw that he already was on an oxygen mask with paramedics checking his blood pressure. As he left and came back, paramedics were already taking Buendia on an ambulance. Bandmates Zabala, Marasigan and Adoro further said that they had no idea that Buendia was already having difficulty performing. In the spirit of the reunion, Marasigan, Zabala, and Adoro went to Saguijo after the concert and they continued their sets there. Kris Gorra-Dancel, Ebe Dancel, Aia De Leon, and many other OPM artists joined them as well. During the concert, Jazz Nicolas of the Itchyworms and a close friend of the band, also joined the band and played synths, keyboards, and other back-up instruments.
MTV Philippines President Francis Lumen stated: "He had a slight attack because of stress due to the recent passing of his mother (Lisette Buendia), and their sound check which lasted till 3 a.m. today (Saturday)." Buendia's mother died of cardiac arrest on August 28 after recovering from surgery to treat her intestinal cancer. Buendia was transferred to Philippine Heart Center 10:00 p.m. of August 31 after being treated at the critical care area of the Makati Medical Center emergency room. Sony BMG reported Buendia was "stable" after suffering hypokalemia a medical condition in which the concentration of potassium in the blood is low. Buendia had been administered with a potassium intravenous fluid.
Buendia, 37, on September 1, 2008, underwent his third heart angioplasty surgery since his January, 2007 heart attack. The blood vessel operated upon was "100 percent fully restored," and Buendia was recovering in "stable condition but still under observation." On September 5, 2008, Buendia was discharged from the hospital.
On 25 October episode of Startalk, Buendia said that the reunion concert was supposed to be a "one night only" Eraserheads reunion concert. He also said that there are no talks yet for a continuation of the said concert. However, he stated that he indeed felt "bitin" (literally translated, "not satisfied") with the uncompleted concert and is open to any sequels if it would have the proper production and venue. The other three members of the band, Adoro, Zabala, and Marasigan also expressed similar views in a follow-up interview by Myx and Inquirer.
Sony-BMG Philippines, Musiko Records & Greater East Asia Music released the concert movie of the band's reunion concert on November 26, 2008.
On the January 10 edition of Supreme, a feature of The Philippine Star, it was announced that the continuation of their previous reunion concert would happen on March 7, 2009.
On January 11, this was confirmed by Marasigan through a message he posted on the Pedicab, Cambio, and Sandwich Mailing Lists.
On February 27, the band was awarded as "Myx Magna Award 2009" in the recent 4th Myx Music Awards 2009, achieving their alternative music excellence.
The band went on stage for their second reunion concert dubbed as The Final Set on March 7, 2009, at the SM Mall of Asia Concert Grounds, Pasay were approximately 100,000 people attended the sold-out concert. The concert went ahead despite the recent passing of their guest performer and friend Francis Magalona who died of acute myelogenous leukemia noon of the previous day.
World tours and other projects
The band continued to perform on sporadic worldwide tours from 2012 to 2014. Eraserheads held another reunion concert in the United States (San Francisco, Los Angeles & New Jersey) and Canada (Toronto) from October 12 to 20, 2012.
After their American Tour, the next show for the band was at the du Music Festival. Held at the Dubai Amphitheatre, UAE on April 4, 2013, the festival featured a diverse lineup of music stars including Guns N’ Roses, Train, Natalie Cole, Andrea Bocelli and other local acts. The band also featured a "fifth Eraserhead", Rommel 'Sancho' Sanchez on additional guitar duties. Rommel joined the band, too, during their 2012 North American tour. During the Dubai concert, Ely dedicated the song "Lightyears" to the OFWs.
After four months, on August 10, 2013, Eraserheads played a show in another country, Singapore. On December 27, 2013, Eraserheads and Parokya ni Edgar performed at "High Impact Asia" Meydan Racecourse, Al Meydan Road, Nad Al Sheba, Dubai, UAE.
Eraserheads performed their first major rock concert at the Eventim Apollo in London, England on April 4, 2014. This was produced by Marvin Guzman and Bernadith Marimon of Finest Workers UK Ltd in the US.
In September 2014, the band released two new songs via Esquire (Philippines edition), titled "1995" and "Sabado". This was their first release of new material in more than a decade. The magazine cover mimics the Beatles' Abbey Road cover, which was shot during the band's tour in London.
Eraserheads guested in the rebranding launch event, "A New Day", of the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company, along with its subsidiary Smart Communications. The band performed 5 encore songs and 13 main setlist songs.
In a tweet posted in January 2018, Buendia said: "Some people will never understand that people who don't get along don't work together." The statement was interpreted by Philippine Daily Inquirer and some fans as a response to calls for another reunion concert in the band's home country.
A musical adaptation of Eraserheads' discography entitled Ang Huling El Bimbo ran from July 20 to September 2, 2018 at Resorts World Manila. A second run for the musical was set for March 2019.
The band's first album was set to be rereleased in its first time on vinyl format, in November 2019. In December 2020, the band released a special edition photobook that features photos taken from the Final Set concert in 2009.
The three band members, Raimund, Buddy, and Marcus formed the band "Ultracombo" in 2019 and performed the songs of the Eraserheads. Marcus left the group on the following months after performing on a couple of gigs.
On 7 August 2021, Offshore Music proudly announces the release of the Sabado/1995 EP of the Eraserheads on all digital streaming platforms. The EP was written during their UK Tour back in 2014.
Band members
Ely Buendia – lead vocals, rhythm guitar
Buddy Zabala – bass guitar, backing vocals
Marcus Adoro – lead guitar, backing vocals
Raimund Marasigan – drums, backing vocals
Discography
Studio albums
Ultraelectromagneticpop! (1993)
Circus (1994)
Cutterpillow (1995)
Fruitcake (1996)
Sticker Happy (1997)
Natin99 (1999)
Carbon Stereoxide (2001)
EPs and demos
Pop U! (1991)
Fruitcake (1996)
Bananatype (1997)
Please Transpose EP (2003)
Sabado/1995 (2021)
Compilations
Aloha Milkyway (1998)
Eraserheads: The Singles (2001)
Eraserheads Anthology (2004)
Eraserheads Anthology 2 (2006)
International Releases
Aloha Milkyway Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia (1998)
Natin99 Hong Kong (1999)
Live albums
Eraserheads: The Reunion Concert 08.30.08 (2008)
Collaborations
1896 Ang Pagsilang (1996)
"Casa Fantastica"
Francis Magalona Happy Battle (1996)
"Unstrung Heroes" (Duet W/ Francis Magalona)
"Sapot Feat. Planet Garapata"
Ryan Cayabyab The Silver Album (1997)
"Tuwing Umuulan at Kapiling Ka"
Nescafe Open Up Party Live (2000)
"Blue Jeans"
"Pumapatak Na Naman ang Ulan"
"Tuyo Na'ng Damdamin (Feat. APO Hiking Society)"
Bandang Pinoy Lasang Hotdog (2001, re-issued 2006)
"Manila"
Gusto Ko ng Rock (2009)
"Alapaap"
Superbands (Universal Records)(2005)
Silver Shiny Jeepney (All Indie Band)
Soundtracks
Run Barbi Run (Starring Joey de Leon) (1995)
"Run Barbi Run"
DVD
The Reunion Concert – DVD (2009)
The Reunion Concert – DVD (Special Edition, 2009)
Box set/package
The Heads Set (Limited Edition) (2010) – The box set was released exclusively in Greenwich Pizza outlets, and included a free box of pizza. It contains rarities such as "Casa Fantastica", all local albums from Ultraelectromagneticpop! to Carbon Stereoxide, DVD documentary (directed by Marcus Adoro), a book and shirt designed by Cynthia Bauzon and Arnold Arre, who both collaborated with the band before. It is now out of print.
Tribute albums
Ultraelectromagneticjam!: The Music of the Eraserheads (2005)
The Reunion: An Eraserheads Tribute Album (2012)
Ang Huling El Bimbo Musical (2018)
Pop Machine: Eraserheads Tribute Album (2020)
Publications
Pillbox Volume 1 Number 1
Editor: Redel D. Ramos
Art Director: Cynthia F. Bauzon
Release: 1996
Published by: Pop Infinity Limited Laundry
© 1996 P.I.L.L. Corporation
Fruitcake
A separate companion storybook for the album Fruitcake (1996)
Story by: Eraserheads
Text by: Ely Buendia
Edited by: Jessica Zafra
Illustrated by: Cynthia F. Bauzon
Release: 1997
Published by: Anvil Publishing, Inc., Pasig
Printed by: Cacho Hermanos, Mandaluyong
© 1997 Eraserheads
Pillbox Volume 3
Editor: Marie Jamora
Art Director: Cynthia F. Bauzon
Release: 1998
Published by: BMG Records (Pilipinas) Inc.
© 1998 BMG Records (Pilipinas) Inc.
Magazine cover appearance
Esquire Magazine September Issue with CD of their two new songs (2014)
Myx Magazine "Eraserheads Reunion Concert Collectors Issue" (October–November 2008)
Pulp Magazine (2000)
Cutting Edge The FREE Magazine with Sen.Angara (1997)
Sky Surf Magazine (1997)
SM Magazine (1997)
1969 life in the Age of Internet Magazine (1997)
Mirror Magazine (1996)
Miscellaneous Magazine (1996)
Woman's Today Magazine together with Cooky Chua & Meagan Aguilar(1996)
Mr. & Ms. Magazine together with Regine Tolentino(1995)
Filmography
Run Barbi Run – starring as themselves
Wating – musical score by Eraserheads
Kuya – Marcus in a cameo role as a drug pusher
Masakit sa Dibdib – Ely Buendia in a cameo role
Tulad Ng Dati – starring Buddy as himself with Raimund Marasigan in a cameo role
San Lazaro – Ely Buendia as Manong Rex
Rakenrol – Ely Buendia in a cameo
Waiting Shed (Short Film) – Directed by Ely Buendia
The Artist Is In (Short Film) – Directed by Marcus Adoro
Manila Kingpin: The Asiong Salonga Story – Ely Buendia composed and performed the theme song La Paloma in a cameo with the boys of Hilera and veteran guitarist Nitoy Adriano, the song won as "Best Theme Song" in the 2011 Metro Manila Film Festival, the first MMFF award for Ely. The movie was also instrumental in the forming of Ely's new band, The Oktaves.
Bang Bang Alley – directed by Ely Buendia with Raquel Navarro and Yan Yuzon
Awards and nominations
References
External links
[ Allmusic Eraserheads Biography]
Eraserheads Experience
Musical groups established in 1989
Musical groups disestablished in 2002
Musical groups reestablished in 2008
Musical groups disestablished in 2014
Musical quartets
Filipino alternative rock groups
Sony BMG artists
Musical groups from Quezon City | true | [
"Who Wrote the Bible? may refer to:\n\nWho Wrote the Bible?, a 1987 book by biblical scholar Richard Elliott Friedman\n Who Wrote the Bible?, a 1996 two-part episode of the TV series Mysteries of the Bible\nWho Wrote the Bible?, a 2004 documentary by theologian Robert Beckford\n\nSee also\nThe documentary hypothesis, a theory regarding the authorship of the Torah/Pentateuch, i.e. the first part of the Old Testament of the Bible\nAuthorship of the Bible",
"The Japanese and Europe: Economic and Cultural Encounters is a 1996 book by Marie Conte-Helm, published by Athlone Press. The book discusses Japanese investment and settlement in Europe, which began in the 1980s. Conte-Helm was a reader of Japanese studies at the University of Northumbria. The book's intended audience included both Japanese and Western persons.\n\nThe first two chapters discuss the history of Europe-Japan encounters. The first chapter discusses overall history that began in the 1540s, when the Portuguese encountered the Japanese, while the second chapter discusses Japan-European Community relations. The next two chapters discuss the Japanese expatriate communities that formed in Europe. There are separate sections per European country, with one section each discussing the Japanese in Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, and the United Kingdom. The last chapter, titled \"Japanization of Europe: Raw Fish, Wrestling, and 'Just-in-Time',\" discusses the effects of Japanese expatriates on European society. Mairi MacLean of Royal Holloway, University of London wrote that the book included \"something of a 'survival guide'\" for Japanese persons by describing facilities in Europe catering to Japanese.\n\nSeveral Japanese employees in Europe gave interviews that were used in the making of the book. There are 28 pages of photographs and illustrations, including advertisements, charts, maps, and newspaper articles. Ian Nish, who wrote a book review for Asian Affairs, praised them, saying they were \"well-chosen\".\n\nReception\nNish stated that the book was \"a pleasure to read\".\n\nRaymond Lamont-Brown, who wrote a book review for Contemporary Review, wrote that \"Overall the book gives a good grounding in how adjustments of European perspectives about Japan have been and continue to be made.\"\n\nSir Hugh Cortazzi, a former Ambassador of the United Kingdom to Japan, wrote in his book review that The Japanese and Europe \"is well researched, copiously illustrated and full of interesting information\".\n\nMacLean wrote that the book has too much emphasis on the illustrations, which is \"[a]t times[...]irritating\" and contributes to the \"principal flaw\" of having \"a certain superficiality\".\n\nReferences\n\nLiterature cited \n\n1996 non-fiction books\nBooks about Europe\nBooks about Japan\nBooks about race and ethnicity"
]
|
[
"Eraserheads",
"Mini-reunions",
"Why are the reunions \"mini\" reunions?",
"I don't know.",
"when did the first mini reunion occur?",
"February 28, 2007,",
"Where did that happen?",
"Greenbelt 3, Makati City.",
"Was it a concert?",
"the official launch of the book Tikman ang Langit: An Anthology on the Eraserheads (2007) was held at the second level of Powerbooks bookstore in Greenbelt 3, Makati City.",
"Who wrote the book?",
"The book itself was compiled by Melvin Calimag and Jing Garcia,"
]
| C_6994ef32b2dc49078e66ea6b7580d9e6_0 | What was the second mini reunion? | 6 | What was the Eraserheads second mini reunion? | Eraserheads | On February 28, 2007, the official launch of the book Tikman ang Langit: An Anthology on the Eraserheads (2007) was held at the second level of Powerbooks bookstore in Greenbelt 3, Makati City. The launch was accompanied by acoustic performances by Cambio (whose members include Raimund Marasigan, Buddy Zabala and Kris Gorra-Dancel), Markus Highway (Marcus Adoro's band), and Lei Bautista of Prettier Than Pink. The performers covered Eraserheads songs such as "Ligaya" (performed by Lei Bautista), "With a Smile" (also performed by Bautista) and "Magasin" (performed by Cambio with Marcus Adoro). The event was dubbed a mini-reunion of Eraserheads, with Marasigan, Zabala and Adoro performing together for the first time in four years. Buendia did not attend because of a scheduled meeting with his surgeon and the manufacturers of the stents in his heart. Tikman ang Langit is a collection of essays about Eraserheads written by fourteen journalists who are mostly fans of the band. The book itself was compiled by Melvin Calimag and Jing Garcia, with a foreword by Eraserheads producer Robin Rivera. Another mini-reunion happened in Saguijo on July 26, 2007. Visitors were startled as the venue's schedule listed "Eraserheads" as a performer along with Rivermaya and Teeth. Jugs Jugueta of Itchyworms and Kris Gorra-Dancel of Cambio played guitars, Zabala on bass, Marasigan on drums, Jett Pangan of The Dawn on vocals, and producer Robin Rivera played drums when Marasigan sang. They called themselves "Eraser X" during that night. Buendia and Adoro knew about the event but did not go there as they had other gigs as well. Pupil was in Hard Rock Cafe Makati, while Adoro had gigs with Markus Highway, although Pupil's bassist Dok Sergio was able to follow and played for Teeth. Adoro, Zabala, and Marasigan did an impromptu number at the Millennia Club called "Marooned", a production of UP bands from past and present. The song Batch 88 from "Belma en Luis", was one of the songs that was jammed by the trio. CANNOTANSWER | Another mini-reunion happened in Saguijo on July 26, 2007. | Eraserheads (sometimes stylized as ERASƎRHEADS or ƎRASƎRHƎADS) were a Filipino alternative rock band formed in 1989. With a line-up comprising Ely Buendia, Buddy Zabala, Marcus Adoro, and Raimund Marasigan, the band became one of the most successful in the history of Filipino music. Often dubbed as "The Beatles of the Philippines", they are credited for spearheading a second wave of Manila band invasions, paving the way for a host of Filipino alternative rock bands like Rivermaya.
The band released several singles, albums, and EPs. They achieved commercial success with their third album Cutterpillow (1995), which achieved platinum status several times. They also received the Viewer's Choice Award at the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards in New York, the only Filipino artist to have received the award before the conception of the MTV Asia Awards.
History
1989–1992: Formation and early years
In 1989, two college bands from the University of the Philippines Diliman were both in search of new members for a new group. Curfew, which consisted of Buddy Zabala on bass, Raimund Marasigan on drums, and Marcus Adoro on guitars met up with Sunday School, which consisted of Ely Buendia on vocals and Raimund Marasigan as session drummer in December of the same year. Ely's first two college bands, Bluidie Tryste and Sunday School, were too unstable, so he posted an audition notice on a university message board. Only Raimund, Buddy, and Marcus showed up at the audition. According to an interview with myx, Raimund said he first auditioned as bassist while Buddy as the drummer. But they noticed that it did not sound right, the two switched places.
The four formed a new group and called themselves Eraserheads, taking inspiration from the film Eraserhead by surrealist director David Lynch. They played mostly covers, doing gigs in schools, and playing at Manila's rock club circuit, achieving little success.
The band found that they were not good at playing covers, so they concentrated on writing their own material. Their new, original songs, played live, soon earned them a cult following in the university, which gradually spread outside the campus. One of the songs, a pop song entitled, "Pare Ko", became popular, partly because of lyrics that included a few obscenities.
The band recorded a nine-song demo tape in the garage of Marasigan's provincial home (in Candelaria, Quezon) on January 26, 1991. They then shopped the demo cassette around record labels, clubs, and radio stations, hoping to have their songs reach the public. However, they were rejected at every turn, with one recording label deeming that their demo was "not pop enough". In May 1991, a professor-friend teaching Humanities, Robin Rivera, helped them re-record and mix better versions of the demo songs on a four-track DAT recorder. The new demo was named Pop-U!, titled as an irreverent response to those who turned them down.
Meanwhile, Buendia became employed as a student copywriter by BMG Records (Pilipinas) Inc. (now part of Sony BMG Music Entertainment). He worked with BMG during the day and wrote songs with the band during the night. Eventually, the songs of Buendia and the band caught the attention of BMG A&R director Vic Valenciano. Valenciano listened to the songs and then commented that they were very raw technically, but that there was something promising in them. Subsequently, BMG gave Eraserheads' songs a try. In 1992, BMG signed up the band for a three-year record deal.
1993–1997: Mainstream success
In July 1993, Eraserheads started recording their debut album called Ultraelectromagneticpop!. The album featured "Pare Ko" (My Friend), "Toyang" and "Tindahan ni Aling Nena" (The Store of Aling Nena), all of which were also present in Pop-U!. The album also featured a sanitized version of "Pare Ko" called "Walang Hiyang Pare Ko". Later in the same year, BMG initially released 5,000 copies of the album. The album became a smash hit, with the songs "Ligaya", "Pare Ko" and "Toyang" topping the charts that, by the end of the year, BMG sold 300,000 copies, and Ultraelectromagneticpop! turned sextuple platinum.
The album met some opposition as the Philippine Association of the Record Industry (PARI) attempted to censor "Pare Ko" but without success. The public was said to have found its OPM Fab Four in Eraserheads, opening the second wave of band invasion. The Eraserheadsmania was born.
In October 1994, Eraserheads released a follow-up album entitled Circus. The band said that the album aptly described their life since their debut. The album was unpredictable and unconventional compared to the OPM ballads at that time, and established the band members as songwriters and musicians. The songs varied in style and mood, ranging from euphoric and hilarious to tender and somber. In the same year, Eraserheads played during the Miss Universe Pageant which was held in Manila. On November 24, the band held their first major concert, titled "Eraserheads Jamboree," at the Folk Arts Theater (now the Tanghalang Francisco Balagtas) in Malate, Manila.
Four of the songs became successive hits: "Kailan" (When), "Magasin" (Magazine), "Alapaap" (High Clouds) and "With a Smile". Circus turned gold in just 30 days with 20,000 copies sold. Eventually, it turned quintuple platinum with 200,000 copies sold. But like ultraelectromagneticpop!, it too had its share of controversy. In August 1995, Senator Tito Sotto, who was involved in an anti-drug campaign at that time, called for a ban on the airplay and sales of "Alapaap" over an alleged promotion of drug abuse in the lyrics of the song. In response, Eraserheads denied the allegation, saying that it was just a misinterpretation, and that the song was the band's "ode to freedom", not an "ode to drug abuse".
The group's third studio album Cutterpillow, was launched an open-air concert attended by fans and followers. With Christmas barely a month over, Eraserheads opened 1996 by making history in the Philippine music scene once more. Cutterpillow turned gold, even before it hit the record stores, as a result of the pre-selling promo campaign. Soon, the band shot the music video for the song "Ang Huling El Bimbo" (The Last El Bimbo) from the album.
Later that year, the band came up with a conceptual Christmas album Fruitcake. The album is notable in that it is the first and only album of the band recorded entirely in English. This was shortly followed by a release of a companion storybook of the same title.
Also in 1995 the band was given a shot at acting when they co-starred with comedian Joey De Leon of "Eat Bulaga" in the comedy film Run Barbi Run produced by GMA Network's Cinemax Studios (now GMA Films).
1997–2002: Later years and break-up
Going International
The year 1998 was marked with a series of gigs outside of the Philippines. Eraserheads' first-ever overseas gig was at BMG Records' "Sentosa Pop Festival" in Singapore in March 1997. It was then followed by a mini U.S. tour in May. They played at the Palace in Hollywood on May 2, 1997. Then, four months later in September, they were at the Radio City Music Hall in New York to receive the coveted "Moon Man" trophy for winning the 1997 MTV Asia Viewer's Choice Award, which made Eraserheads the first-ever Filipino artists to win the award.
The promotional CD versions of "Milk and Money", "Hard to Believe" and "Andalusian Dog", was recorded in Manila and mixed at the Electric Lady Studios, New York City in September 1997. Electric Lady Studios was built by the rock legend Jimi Hendrix. The tracks soon became a part of their fifth album, Sticker Happy, released a few days after the MTV Awards. A month later, they were back in Singapore for a series of shows and appearances for MTV Asia.
In February 1998, they represented the Philippines at the annual "Asia Live Dream '98" for NHK Broadcasting in Tokyo, Japan. Then in May, they embarked on another U.S. tour, taking them from Oakland to Los Angeles and to New York. The band toured the U.S. under the Happy Box production outfit, which was formed by brothers Haro De Guzman and Levan "Schizo" De Guzman and some other friends.
August 1998 saw the release of the album Aloha Milkyway in the Asian region, and finally in the Philippines two months later. The album contains chart-topping songs that have been re-mastered, as well as five new songs.
In early 1999, they had sold-out shows in Hong Kong, Sydney, and Dubai. Their next album, Natin99, was released in May.
Between May and June 2000, they did another tour of America dubbed, "The Pop Machine Tour – USA2000", playing in locations from New York to Chicago and to California. During their tours, they also had Noel Garcia of The Pin-Ups as an addition to their expanded line-up, who played guitars, keyboards and sometimes drums. After almost two years, the much-awaited studio album, Carbon Stereoxide, was released in March 2001, featuring the tracks, "Maskara", "Playground", "Hula" and "Palamig".
Break-up
After weeks of speculation, it was confirmed that the main songwriter and lead singer, Ely Buendia, had left the band in mid-March 2002 for "reasons unknown". However, in subsequent interviews, Buendia pointed to business matters as the cause of the band's break-up. In 2021 however, Buendia later revealed revealed that the no formation of friendship with the 3 other members as the reason of the band's demise.
In PULP Magazine, Buendia's wife and manager, Diane Ventura, claimed that the breakup started with a miscommunication between Buendia and the band's roadie, the result being that Buendia and Ventura turned up late at a mall gig. This upset the roadie who snidely referred to the couple as "unprofessional". Buendia's band colleagues and crew at the gig gave Buendia "a cold shoulder", related Ventura, being under the impression that Buendia had come late deliberately. The next day, Buendia brought the incident to the attention of the band's management boss, Butch Dans, to which he allegedly reverted the blame to the roadie's "unprofessionalism". Dans, however, allegedly chose to consider the roadie's account over Buendia's without much deliberation. Dans allegedly quipped that Buendia and Ventura were "probably too high on drugs" to remember the gig's schedule. Ventura stepped in to dispute the allegation and vehemently denied that she and Buendia were even told of the schedule. The other three Eraserheads also believed the roadie's story, which disturbed Buendia because he felt betrayed by their longstanding friendship. Buendia later announced to his mates through SMS that he was quitting the group.
In another interview, Marasigan said he was eating in SM Megamall, a local shopping mall when he heard of the news. He said he was "semi-surprised" and wondered if Zabala already knew about it. Adoro told of the story now famous among Eraserheads fans about Buendia's cryptic text message. He said Buendia stated in the text message that he had already "graduated." Adoro quipped in the same interview that it was natural for Buendia to graduate first, since he was in batch '87 of their college (UP Diliman), while the rest were in batch '88.
Zabala confessed in an interview that disbanding had not been that far away from the members' minds. He said that there were many occasions when they could have disbanded but did not.
Adoro expressed the belief of some people that the band was getting too old, and that it was "selfish" for the band to continue, likely referring to comments about how it's time for other bands, besides Eraserheads, to shine. The band made it clear, though, that Buendia's departure from the band wasn't in any way violent and that there was no shouting (sigawan) or any confrontation involved.
The three remaining Eraserheads decided to continue. Within a few weeks, the "new" Eheads debuted at Hard Rock Cafe in Makati on April 19, featuring a female singer-guitarist, Kris Gorra-Dancel, from the band, Fatal Posporos. However, after a few months, Adoro had quit the band as well. The remaining members of the Eheads added Diego Mapa and Ebe Dancel to their lineup and renamed their band, "Cambio".
2003–2007: After the break-up
Tribute albums
Just a few years after the break-up, the tribute album Ultraelectromagneticjam!: The Music of the Eraserheads was released in honor of the band.
Many questioned whether the time was right for a tribute to a group that had just disbanded four years ago, with its former members still active in the music industry. Buendia had mixed feelings about the tribute album, saying that "It’s too early to be taking part in it and I don’t see myself being part of it kasi (because) I’m still doing something here...To be part of it is like acknowledging na tapos na ako (that I am finished); isa na lang akong trophy na itatago na (I'm just a trophy to be shelved). Siguro kung uugud-ugud na ako (Maybe when I'm really old), that’s the time I’m gonna look back." Ironically though, he does guest vocals in one of the tracks, "Superproxy 2k6" by the late Master Rapper Francis M.
On May 9, 2012, Star Records and Star Cinema released The Reunion: An Eraserheads Tribute Album, a tribute album of their own that accompanies the film The Reunion.
Mini-reunions
On February 28, 2007, the official launch of the book Tikman ang Langit: An Anthology on the Eraserheads (2007) was held at the second level of Powerbooks bookstore in Greenbelt 3, Makati. The launch was accompanied by acoustic performances by Cambio (whose members include Raimund Marasigan, Buddy Zabala and Kris Gorra-Dancel), Markus Highway (Marcus Adoro's band), and Lei Bautista of Prettier Than Pink. The performers covered Eraserheads songs such as "Ligaya" (performed by Lei Bautista), "With a Smile" (also performed by Bautista) and "Magasin" (performed by Cambio with Marcus Adoro). The event was dubbed a mini-reunion of Eraserheads, with Marasigan, Zabala and Adoro performing together for the first time in four years. Buendia did not attend because of a scheduled meeting with his surgeon and the manufacturers of the stents in his heart.
Tikman ang Langit is a collection of essays about Eraserheads written by fourteen journalists who are mostly fans of the band. The book itself was compiled by Melvin Calimag and Jing Garcia, with a foreword by Eraserheads producer Robin Rivera.
Another mini-reunion happened in Saguijo on July 26, 2007. Visitors were startled as the venue's schedule listed "Eraserheads" as a performer along with Rivermaya and Teeth. Jugs Jugueta of Itchyworms and Kris Gorra-Dancel of Cambio played guitars, Zabala on bass, Marasigan on drums, Jett Pangan of The Dawn on vocals, and producer Robin Rivera played drums when Marasigan sang. They called themselves "Eraser X" during that night. Buendia and Adoro knew about the event but did not go there as they had other gigs as well. Pupil was in Hard Rock Cafe Makati, while Adoro had gigs with Markus Highway, although Pupil's bassist Dok Sergio was able to follow and played for Teeth.
Adoro, Zabala, and Marasigan did an impromptu number at the Millennia Club called "Marooned", a production of UP bands from past and present. The song Batch 88 from "Belma en Luis", was one of the songs that were jammed by the trio.
2008–present: Reunion
In July 2008, it was confirmed by the members that they will be reuniting for a one-off concert to be held on August 30, 2008. Ely Buendia did affirm that the reunion will be for a night's performance only, to be sponsored by a multinational tobacco company. Buendia was quoted saying "I'm not doing this for the money but for the E-heads fans who remain loyal". The sponsors are expecting 35,000 attendees with free tickets distributed to online registrants in early August 2008. This highly awaited one-night concert was initially reported to be planned for staging at the Cultural Center of the Philippines open grounds, or alternatively, the Fort Bonifacio open grounds.
On August 22, word had broken out that Philip Morris had pulled out of the concert and that the show had been "canceled".
Anti-Tobacco forces, led by Dr. Maricar Limpin, had been active in a campaign to get Eraserheads to renounce the concert and the involvement of the tobacco giant, as Alicia Keys had done in her recent concert in Indonesia. Eraserheads never issued such an announcement. However, it was believed that the pressure exerted by the anti-tobacco forces had caused Philip Morris to end their participation in the concert.
On the evening of August 24, Raimund Marasigan issued a response to this news. Posting on the Sandwich and Cambio mailing lists, Marasigan confirmed that while Philip Morris has pulled out of the production, the concert is "most definitely" pushing through on the original date, August 30, 2008, at the Fort Bonifacio open field.
Philip Morris would no longer be involved, but the entire production had been turned over to a new producer. Furthermore, while it was previously made known through Philip Morris' announcement that the concert would be free to smokers who signed up through a promotional website known as The Red List at , the change in producers meant that tickets would no longer be free but made available to anyone who purchased them. It was later revealed that Radiohead Media Solutions, Inc., MTV Philippines, Fox International Channels Philippines, Smart Communications, Musiko Records, Greater East Asia Music & Sony BMG Music Entertainment (also known as Sony Music Philippines Inc. & BMG Rights Management) have taken over the event.
Eraserheads went onstage for their reunion concert on August 30, 2008, at The Fort Open Field, Taguig. The concert, however, was cut short halfway through a planned 30-song setlist as Buendia was rushed to the Makati Medical Hospital after experiencing chest pains. He was reported to be in stable condition. Buddy Zabala had checked on Buendia in his tent right after they went to their planned 20-minute break and saw that he already was on an oxygen mask with paramedics checking his blood pressure. As he left and came back, paramedics were already taking Buendia on an ambulance. Bandmates Zabala, Marasigan and Adoro further said that they had no idea that Buendia was already having difficulty performing. In the spirit of the reunion, Marasigan, Zabala, and Adoro went to Saguijo after the concert and they continued their sets there. Kris Gorra-Dancel, Ebe Dancel, Aia De Leon, and many other OPM artists joined them as well. During the concert, Jazz Nicolas of the Itchyworms and a close friend of the band, also joined the band and played synths, keyboards, and other back-up instruments.
MTV Philippines President Francis Lumen stated: "He had a slight attack because of stress due to the recent passing of his mother (Lisette Buendia), and their sound check which lasted till 3 a.m. today (Saturday)." Buendia's mother died of cardiac arrest on August 28 after recovering from surgery to treat her intestinal cancer. Buendia was transferred to Philippine Heart Center 10:00 p.m. of August 31 after being treated at the critical care area of the Makati Medical Center emergency room. Sony BMG reported Buendia was "stable" after suffering hypokalemia a medical condition in which the concentration of potassium in the blood is low. Buendia had been administered with a potassium intravenous fluid.
Buendia, 37, on September 1, 2008, underwent his third heart angioplasty surgery since his January, 2007 heart attack. The blood vessel operated upon was "100 percent fully restored," and Buendia was recovering in "stable condition but still under observation." On September 5, 2008, Buendia was discharged from the hospital.
On 25 October episode of Startalk, Buendia said that the reunion concert was supposed to be a "one night only" Eraserheads reunion concert. He also said that there are no talks yet for a continuation of the said concert. However, he stated that he indeed felt "bitin" (literally translated, "not satisfied") with the uncompleted concert and is open to any sequels if it would have the proper production and venue. The other three members of the band, Adoro, Zabala, and Marasigan also expressed similar views in a follow-up interview by Myx and Inquirer.
Sony-BMG Philippines, Musiko Records & Greater East Asia Music released the concert movie of the band's reunion concert on November 26, 2008.
On the January 10 edition of Supreme, a feature of The Philippine Star, it was announced that the continuation of their previous reunion concert would happen on March 7, 2009.
On January 11, this was confirmed by Marasigan through a message he posted on the Pedicab, Cambio, and Sandwich Mailing Lists.
On February 27, the band was awarded as "Myx Magna Award 2009" in the recent 4th Myx Music Awards 2009, achieving their alternative music excellence.
The band went on stage for their second reunion concert dubbed as The Final Set on March 7, 2009, at the SM Mall of Asia Concert Grounds, Pasay were approximately 100,000 people attended the sold-out concert. The concert went ahead despite the recent passing of their guest performer and friend Francis Magalona who died of acute myelogenous leukemia noon of the previous day.
World tours and other projects
The band continued to perform on sporadic worldwide tours from 2012 to 2014. Eraserheads held another reunion concert in the United States (San Francisco, Los Angeles & New Jersey) and Canada (Toronto) from October 12 to 20, 2012.
After their American Tour, the next show for the band was at the du Music Festival. Held at the Dubai Amphitheatre, UAE on April 4, 2013, the festival featured a diverse lineup of music stars including Guns N’ Roses, Train, Natalie Cole, Andrea Bocelli and other local acts. The band also featured a "fifth Eraserhead", Rommel 'Sancho' Sanchez on additional guitar duties. Rommel joined the band, too, during their 2012 North American tour. During the Dubai concert, Ely dedicated the song "Lightyears" to the OFWs.
After four months, on August 10, 2013, Eraserheads played a show in another country, Singapore. On December 27, 2013, Eraserheads and Parokya ni Edgar performed at "High Impact Asia" Meydan Racecourse, Al Meydan Road, Nad Al Sheba, Dubai, UAE.
Eraserheads performed their first major rock concert at the Eventim Apollo in London, England on April 4, 2014. This was produced by Marvin Guzman and Bernadith Marimon of Finest Workers UK Ltd in the US.
In September 2014, the band released two new songs via Esquire (Philippines edition), titled "1995" and "Sabado". This was their first release of new material in more than a decade. The magazine cover mimics the Beatles' Abbey Road cover, which was shot during the band's tour in London.
Eraserheads guested in the rebranding launch event, "A New Day", of the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company, along with its subsidiary Smart Communications. The band performed 5 encore songs and 13 main setlist songs.
In a tweet posted in January 2018, Buendia said: "Some people will never understand that people who don't get along don't work together." The statement was interpreted by Philippine Daily Inquirer and some fans as a response to calls for another reunion concert in the band's home country.
A musical adaptation of Eraserheads' discography entitled Ang Huling El Bimbo ran from July 20 to September 2, 2018 at Resorts World Manila. A second run for the musical was set for March 2019.
The band's first album was set to be rereleased in its first time on vinyl format, in November 2019. In December 2020, the band released a special edition photobook that features photos taken from the Final Set concert in 2009.
The three band members, Raimund, Buddy, and Marcus formed the band "Ultracombo" in 2019 and performed the songs of the Eraserheads. Marcus left the group on the following months after performing on a couple of gigs.
On 7 August 2021, Offshore Music proudly announces the release of the Sabado/1995 EP of the Eraserheads on all digital streaming platforms. The EP was written during their UK Tour back in 2014.
Band members
Ely Buendia – lead vocals, rhythm guitar
Buddy Zabala – bass guitar, backing vocals
Marcus Adoro – lead guitar, backing vocals
Raimund Marasigan – drums, backing vocals
Discography
Studio albums
Ultraelectromagneticpop! (1993)
Circus (1994)
Cutterpillow (1995)
Fruitcake (1996)
Sticker Happy (1997)
Natin99 (1999)
Carbon Stereoxide (2001)
EPs and demos
Pop U! (1991)
Fruitcake (1996)
Bananatype (1997)
Please Transpose EP (2003)
Sabado/1995 (2021)
Compilations
Aloha Milkyway (1998)
Eraserheads: The Singles (2001)
Eraserheads Anthology (2004)
Eraserheads Anthology 2 (2006)
International Releases
Aloha Milkyway Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia (1998)
Natin99 Hong Kong (1999)
Live albums
Eraserheads: The Reunion Concert 08.30.08 (2008)
Collaborations
1896 Ang Pagsilang (1996)
"Casa Fantastica"
Francis Magalona Happy Battle (1996)
"Unstrung Heroes" (Duet W/ Francis Magalona)
"Sapot Feat. Planet Garapata"
Ryan Cayabyab The Silver Album (1997)
"Tuwing Umuulan at Kapiling Ka"
Nescafe Open Up Party Live (2000)
"Blue Jeans"
"Pumapatak Na Naman ang Ulan"
"Tuyo Na'ng Damdamin (Feat. APO Hiking Society)"
Bandang Pinoy Lasang Hotdog (2001, re-issued 2006)
"Manila"
Gusto Ko ng Rock (2009)
"Alapaap"
Superbands (Universal Records)(2005)
Silver Shiny Jeepney (All Indie Band)
Soundtracks
Run Barbi Run (Starring Joey de Leon) (1995)
"Run Barbi Run"
DVD
The Reunion Concert – DVD (2009)
The Reunion Concert – DVD (Special Edition, 2009)
Box set/package
The Heads Set (Limited Edition) (2010) – The box set was released exclusively in Greenwich Pizza outlets, and included a free box of pizza. It contains rarities such as "Casa Fantastica", all local albums from Ultraelectromagneticpop! to Carbon Stereoxide, DVD documentary (directed by Marcus Adoro), a book and shirt designed by Cynthia Bauzon and Arnold Arre, who both collaborated with the band before. It is now out of print.
Tribute albums
Ultraelectromagneticjam!: The Music of the Eraserheads (2005)
The Reunion: An Eraserheads Tribute Album (2012)
Ang Huling El Bimbo Musical (2018)
Pop Machine: Eraserheads Tribute Album (2020)
Publications
Pillbox Volume 1 Number 1
Editor: Redel D. Ramos
Art Director: Cynthia F. Bauzon
Release: 1996
Published by: Pop Infinity Limited Laundry
© 1996 P.I.L.L. Corporation
Fruitcake
A separate companion storybook for the album Fruitcake (1996)
Story by: Eraserheads
Text by: Ely Buendia
Edited by: Jessica Zafra
Illustrated by: Cynthia F. Bauzon
Release: 1997
Published by: Anvil Publishing, Inc., Pasig
Printed by: Cacho Hermanos, Mandaluyong
© 1997 Eraserheads
Pillbox Volume 3
Editor: Marie Jamora
Art Director: Cynthia F. Bauzon
Release: 1998
Published by: BMG Records (Pilipinas) Inc.
© 1998 BMG Records (Pilipinas) Inc.
Magazine cover appearance
Esquire Magazine September Issue with CD of their two new songs (2014)
Myx Magazine "Eraserheads Reunion Concert Collectors Issue" (October–November 2008)
Pulp Magazine (2000)
Cutting Edge The FREE Magazine with Sen.Angara (1997)
Sky Surf Magazine (1997)
SM Magazine (1997)
1969 life in the Age of Internet Magazine (1997)
Mirror Magazine (1996)
Miscellaneous Magazine (1996)
Woman's Today Magazine together with Cooky Chua & Meagan Aguilar(1996)
Mr. & Ms. Magazine together with Regine Tolentino(1995)
Filmography
Run Barbi Run – starring as themselves
Wating – musical score by Eraserheads
Kuya – Marcus in a cameo role as a drug pusher
Masakit sa Dibdib – Ely Buendia in a cameo role
Tulad Ng Dati – starring Buddy as himself with Raimund Marasigan in a cameo role
San Lazaro – Ely Buendia as Manong Rex
Rakenrol – Ely Buendia in a cameo
Waiting Shed (Short Film) – Directed by Ely Buendia
The Artist Is In (Short Film) – Directed by Marcus Adoro
Manila Kingpin: The Asiong Salonga Story – Ely Buendia composed and performed the theme song La Paloma in a cameo with the boys of Hilera and veteran guitarist Nitoy Adriano, the song won as "Best Theme Song" in the 2011 Metro Manila Film Festival, the first MMFF award for Ely. The movie was also instrumental in the forming of Ely's new band, The Oktaves.
Bang Bang Alley – directed by Ely Buendia with Raquel Navarro and Yan Yuzon
Awards and nominations
References
External links
[ Allmusic Eraserheads Biography]
Eraserheads Experience
Musical groups established in 1989
Musical groups disestablished in 2002
Musical groups reestablished in 2008
Musical groups disestablished in 2014
Musical quartets
Filipino alternative rock groups
Sony BMG artists
Musical groups from Quezon City | true | [
"Julie Nauche born 4 June 1988 in La Réunion (France) is the Regional Director of Miss Earth Reunion and Miss Earth Mauritius. To complete the organisation of these two contests, she create the Miss Earth Océan Indien Organisation.\n\nJulie Nauche is the owner of Perfect Communication company.\n\nShe was also in charge of the organisation of Princesse Réunion, a pageant for little girls aged from 7 to 11 years. The winner represented Reunion Island to the national pageant Mini-Miss France.\nDue to the ban on pageants for children under the age of 16 in France, Princesse Réunion doesn't exist anymore.\n\nPageantry\nJulie Nauche was the first ever Miss Supranational Reunion Island and represented the island at Miss Supranational 2013 pageant.\n\nReferences\n\n1988 births\nLiving people\nFrench female models\nBeauty pageant winners from Réunion",
"Extreme's 2006 Reunion Mini-Tour was a series of three reunion concerts by hard rock band Extreme, taking place in the summer of 2006 in the New England area, in Boston, Hampton Beach, New Hampshire and Ledyard, Connecticut. Unlike in the 2004 and 2005 reunion tours, this time all original members reunited, including bassist Pat Badger.\n\nTour dates\n\nPersonnel\nGary Cherone - lead vocals\nNuno Bettencourt - lead guitar, vocals\nPat Badger - bass, backing vocals\nPaul Geary - drums\nMike Mangini - drums (special appearance during a few songs)\n\nReferences\n\n2006 concert tours\nReunion concert tours"
]
|
[
"Israel Finkelstein",
"The Northern Kingdom"
]
| C_4d673f03f1d64a48b4323c3fe9d3cda7_0 | What did he do in The Northern Kingodm | 1 | What did Israel Finkelstein do in The Northern Kingodm? | Israel Finkelstein | Finkelstein dealt with a variety of themes related to the archeology and history of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. He proposed that the first North Israelite territorial polity emerged in the Gibeon-Bethel plateau in the late Iron I and early Iron IIA. He found archaeological evidence for this in the system of fortified sites, such as Tell en-Nasbeh, Khirbet ed-Dawwara, et-Tell ("Ai") and Gibeon. Historical evidence for the existence of this polity can be found in the campaign of Pharaoh Sheshoqn I in this region in the middle-to-second half of the 10th century BCE. According to Finkelstein, positive memories in the Bible of the House of Saul, which originated from the North, represent this early Israelite entity. He suggested that this north Israelite polity ruled over much of the territory of the highlands, that it presented a threat to the interests of Egypt of the 22nd Dynasty in Canaan, and that it was taken over during the campaign of Sheshonq I. Finkelstein proposed that in its early days, the Northern Kingdom (Jeroboam I and his successors) ruled over the Samaria Highlands, the western slopes of the Gilead and the area of the Jezreel Valley. The expansion of Israel further to the north came during the days of the Omride Dynasty in the first half of the 9th century BCE, and even more so in the time of Jeroboam II in the first half of the 8th century BCE. Finkelstein described the special features of "Omride Architecture" and, with his Megiddo team, dealt with different subjects related to the material culture of the Northern Kingdom, such as metallurgy and cult practices. Finkelstein also reflected on biblical traditions related to the Northern Kingdom, such as the Jacob cycle in Genesis (a study carried out with Thomas Romer), the Exodus tradition, the heroic stories in the Book of Judges and remnants of royal traditions in the Books of Samuel and Kings. He suggested that these North Israelite traditions were first committed to writing in the days of Jeroboam II (first half of the 8th century BCE), that they were brought to Judah with Israelite refugees after the takeover of Israel by Assyria, and that they were later incorporated into the Judahite-dominated Bible. Finkelstein sees the biblical genre of deploying "history" in the service of royal ideology as emerging from Israel (the North) of the 8th century BCE. CANNOTANSWER | Finkelstein dealt with a variety of themes related to the archeology and history of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. | Israel Finkelstein (, born March 29, 1949) is an Israeli archaeologist, professor emeritus at Tel Aviv University. Finkelstein is active in the archaeology of the Levant and is an applicant of archaeological data in reconstructing biblical history. He is also known for applying the exact and life sciences in archaeological and historical reconstruction. Finkelstein is the current excavator of Megiddo, a key site for the study of the Bronze and Iron Ages in the Levant.
Finkelstein is a member of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities and an associé étranger of the French Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres. Finkelstein has received several noteworthy academic and writing awards. In 2005, he won the Dan David Prize for his revision of the history of Israel in the 10th and 9th centuries BCE. In 2009 he was named chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Minister of Culture, and in 2010, received a doctorate honoris causa from the University of Lausanne. He is a member of the selection committee of the Shanghai Archaeology Forum, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
Among Finkelstein's books are The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of its Sacred Texts (2001) and David and Solomon: In Search of the Bible's Sacred Kings and the Roots of the Western Tradition (2006), both written with Neil Asher Silberman. Also he wrote the textbooks on the emergence of Ancient Israel, titled The Archaeology of the Israelite Settlement (1988); on the archaeology and history of the arid zones of the Levant, titled Living on the Fringe (1995); and on the Northern Kingdom of Israel, titled The Forgotten Kingdom (2013).
Background
Family
Israel Finkelstein was born to an Ashkenazi Jewish family in Tel Aviv, Israel, on March 29, 1949. His parents were Zvi (Grisha) Finkelstein (born 1908) and Miriam Finkelstein (maiden name Ellenhorn, born 1910). His great grandfather on his mother's side, Shlomo Ellenhorn, came to Palestine from Grodno (today in Belarus) in the 1850s and settled in Hebron. He was one of the first physicians in the Bikur Cholim Hospital in Jerusalem, and is listed among the group of people who purchased the land in 1878 in order to establish Petah Tikva – the first modern Jewish settlement in Palestine outside the four holy cities. Finkelstein's grandfather, Israel Jacob Ellenhorn, was the first pharmacist in Petah Tikva.
Finkelstein’s father was born in Melitopol (Ukraine). He came to Palestine with his family in 1920. He was in the orange-growing business and was active in the sports organisations of Israel. He served as vice chairman of the Israel Football Association, chairman of Maccabi Israel and was a member of the Israel Olympic Committee.
Finkelstein is married to Joelle (maiden name Cohen). They are the parents of two daughters – Adar (born 1992) and Sarai (born 1996).
Education
Israel Finkelstein attended the PICA elementary school (1956–1963) and Ahad Ha'am High School (1963–1967), both in Petah Tikva. He then served in the Israel Defense Forces (1967–1970). He studied archaeology and Near Eastern civilizations, and geography at Tel Aviv University, receiving his BA in 1974. While there, Finkelstein was a student of Prof. Yohanan Aharoni. He continued as a research student under the supervision of Prof. Moshe Kochavi, receiving his MA in 1978 (thesis on Rural Settlement in the Yarkon Basin in the Iron Age and Persian-Hellenistic Periods). He graduated as a PhD in 1983 with a thesis titled "The Izbet Sartah Excavations and the Israelite Settlement in the Hill Country".
Academic career
From 1976 to 1990, Finkelstein taught at the Department of Land of Israel Studies, Bar-Ilan University, beginning as a teaching assistant. He spent the academic year of 1983–84 in a research group led by Prof. Yigael Yadin in the Institute of Advanced Studies in the Hebrew University, Jerusalem. In 1986 and 1987, Finkelstein taught at the Department for Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, University of Chicago. In 1987 he was appointed an associate professor with tenure at Bar-Ilan University and in 1990 moved to the Department of Archaeology and Ancient Near Eastern Civilizations at Tel Aviv University. In 1992/93 Finkelstein spent a sabbatical year as a visiting scholar at the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, Harvard University. Since 1992, he has been a Full Professor at Tel Aviv University. He served as the chairperson of the Department of Archaeology and Near Eastern Studies (1994–98) and as Director of The Sonia and Marco Nadler Institute of Archaeology (1996–2003). In 1998–99 Finkelstein was a visiting scholar in the Centre de Recherche d’Archéologie Orientale and the École Pratique des Hautes Études in the Sorbonne, Paris.
Finkelstein delivered series of lectures on the history and archaeology of Ancient Israel at the Texas Christian University (2002), the University of Buenos Aires (2011), the College de France in Paris (2012) and the Methodist University of São Paulo (2015), the Tokyo Christian University (2017), the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome (2017) and the University of Zurich (2018). Finkelstein has read over 100 papers in international conferences and given numerous talks in universities around the globe.
Finkelstein has been the Editor of Tel Aviv, the journal of the Institute of Archaeology of Tel Aviv University, since 2008 and Executive Editor of the Monograph Series by the Institute of Archaeology, Tel Aviv University, since 2005. He is a member of editorial boards, including the Palestine Exploration Quarterly and the Archaeology and Biblical Studies series of the Society of Biblical Literature.
Fieldwork
Finkelstein was trained as a field archaeologist in the excavations of Tel Beer Sheva (1971, Director: Yohanan Aharoni) and Tel Aphek (1973–1978, Directors: Moshe Kochavi and Pirhiya Beck). Starting in 1976, he carried out his own fieldwork in a variety of sites and regions:
Past excavations and surveys
‘Izbet Sartah, 1976–1978: Field Director (under Prof. Moshe Kochavi) of excavations at ‘Izbet Sartah, an Iron I-Iron IIA village-site near Rosh Ha‘ayin, east of Tel Aviv. For the results see: I. Finkelstein, Izbet Sartah: An Early Iron Age Site near Rosh Ha‘ayin, Israel, Oxford 1986 (BAR International Series 299).
Southern Sinai, 1976–1978: Surveys of Byzantine monastic remains in southern Sinai. For the results see: I. Finkelstein, Byzantine Monastic Remains in Southern Sinai, Dumbarton Oaks Papers 39 (1985), pp. 39–75.
Bene Beraq, 1977: Director of salvage excavations at the mound of ancient Bene Beraq near Tel Aviv. For the results see: I. Finkelstein, Soundings at Ancient Bene-Beraq, ‘Atiqot 10 (1990), pp. 29–40 (Hebrew).
Tel Ira, 1980: Co-Director of the excavations of the Iron II site of Tel Ira in the Beer-sheba Valley (together with I. Beit-Arieh and B. Cresson). For the results see: I. Finkelstein and I. Beit-Arieh, Area E, in I. Beit-Arieh (ed.), Tel Ira: A Stronghold in the Biblical Negev (monograph Series of the Institute of Archaeology Tel Aviv University 15), Tel Aviv 1999, pp. 67–96.
Shiloh, 1981–1984: Director of the excavations at biblical Shiloh in the highlands north of Jerusalem. The site features Middle Bronze, Late Bronze and Iron I remains. For the results see: I. Finkelstein (ed.), Shiloh: The Archaeology of a Biblical Site (Monograph Series of the Institute of Archaeology Tel Aviv University 10), Tel Aviv 1993.
Southern Samaria Survey, 1981–1987: Director of the survey, ca. 1000 km2. in the highlands north of Jerusalem. For the results see: I. Finkelstein, Z. Lederman and S. Bunimovitz, Highlands of Many Cultures, The Southern Samaria Survey, The Sites (Monograph Series of the Institute of Archaeology Tel Aviv University 14). Tel Aviv
Khirbet ed-Dawwara, 1985–86: Director, excavations at Khirbet ed-Dawwara, an Iron I-early Iron IIA site in the desert fringe northeast of Jerusalem. For the results see: I. Finkelstein, Excavations at Kh. ed-Dawwara: An Iron Age Site Northeast of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv 17 (1990), pp. 163–208.
Dhahr Mirzbaneh, 1987: Sounding at the Intermediate Bronze site of Dhahr Mirzbaneh in the desert fringe northeast of Jerusalem. For the results see: I. Finkelstein, The Central Hill Country in the Intermediate Bronze Age, Israel Exploration Journal 41 (1991), pp. 19–45.
Present excavations
Megiddo, 1994–present: co-Director, the Megiddo Excavations (1994–2012 with David Ussishkin, since 2014 with Matthew J. Adams and Mario A.S. Martin). Megiddo is considered as one of the most important Bronze and Iron Age sites in the Levant. For the results see: I. Finkelstein, D. Ussishkin and B. Halpern (eds.), Megiddo III: The 1992–1996 Seasons (Monograph Series of the Institute of Archaeology Tel Aviv University 18). Tel Aviv 2000. I. Finkelstein, D. Ussishkin and B. Halpern (eds.), Megiddo IV: The 1998–2002 Seasons (Monograph Series of the Institute of Archaeology Tel Aviv University 24), Tel Aviv 2006. I. Finkelstein, D. Ussishkin and E.H. Cline (editors), Megiddo V: The 2004–2008 Seasons (Monograph Series of the Institute of Archaeology Tel Aviv University 31), Winona Lake 2013. I. Finkelstein, M.A.S. Martin and M.J. Adams (eds.), Megiddo VI: The 2010–2014 Seasons (forthcoming).
The Negev Highlands, 2006–present: co-Director of excavations in the Iron Age sites of Atar Haroa and Nahal Boqer, and the Intermediate Bronze Age sites of Mashabe Sade and En Ziq (with Ruth Shahack-Gross). For the results see: R. Shahack-Gross and I. Finkelstein, Settlement Oscillations in the Negev Highlands Revisited: The Impact of Microarchaeological Methods, Radiocarbon 57/2 (2015), pp. 253–264.
Kiriath-Jearim, 2017–present: co-Director, the Shmunis Family excavations at Kiriath-Jearim – a biblical site in the highlands west of Jerusalem associated with the Ark Narrative in the Book of Samuel (with Christophe Nicolle and Thomas Römer, the College de France).
Other projects
In the past
1997–2002: Petrographic study of the Amarna tablets (with Yuval Goren and Nadav Na'aman). For the results see: Y. Goren, I. Finkelstein and N. Na'aman, Inscribed in Clay: Provenance Study of the Amarna Letters and other Ancient Near Eastern Texts (Monograph Series of the Institute of Archaeology Tel Aviv University 23), Tel Aviv 2004.
2009–2014: Principal Investigator of a European Research Council-funded project titled Reconstructing Ancient Israel: The Exact and Life Sciences Perspectives (with Steve Weiner, Weizmann Institute of Science, co-Principal Investigator). The project was organized into 10 tracks: Radiocarbon dating, ancient DNA, geoarchaeology, paleoclimate, petrography, metallurgy, daily mathematics, advanced imaging of ostraca, residue analysis and archaeozoology. Over 40 scholars, advanced students and post-docs were involved in the project. Samples were taken from a large number of sites in Israel and Greece. For the results see: I. Finkelstein, S. Weiner and E. Boaretto (eds.), Reconstructing Ancient Israel: The Exact and Life Sciences Perspectives, special issue of Radiocarbon (57/2), 2015, with a list of all publications until 2015.
Paleoclimate of the Levant (2009-2019), with Dafna Langgut (Tel Aviv University) and Thomas Litt (University of Bonn).
The Archaeological and Historical Realities behind the Pentateuch (2016-2019), with Konrad Schmid (University of Zurich), Thomas Römer and Christophe Nihan (University of Lausanne) and Oded Lipschits (Tel Aviv University).
Ongoing research projects
Geoarchaeological Investigations in the Negev Highlands (2006-) with Ruth Shahack-Gross (University of Haifa).
Iron Age Hebrew Ostraca in the Silicon Age: Computerized Paleography (2008-), directed with Eli Piasetzky (Tel Aviv University). For results see list of publications in http://www-nuclear.tau.ac.il/~eip/ostraca/Publications/Publications.html
Ancient DNA, animals and Humans (2009-), with Meirav Meiri (Tel Aviv University); current cooperation with Joseph Maran and Philipp Stockhammer (Universities of Heidelberg and Munich), Liran Carmel (Hebrew University) and David Reich (Harvard University).
Scholarly contributions
Finkelstein has written on a variety of topics, including the archaeology of the Bronze Age and the exact and life sciences contribution to archaeology. Much of his work has been devoted to the Iron Age and, more specifically, to questions related to the history of Ancient Israel.
The Emergence of Ancient Israel
The classical theories on the emergence of Israel viewed the process as a unique event in the history of the region. Finkelstein suggested that we are dealing with a long-term process of a cyclical nature. He demonstrated that the wave of settlement in the highlands in the Iron Age I (ca. 1150-950 BCE) was the last in a series of such demographic developments – the first had taken place in the Early Bronze and the second in the Middle Bronze. The periods between these peaks were characterized by low settlement activity. Finkelstein explained these oscillations as representing changes along the sedentary/ pastoral-nomadic continuum, which were caused by socioeconomic and political dynamics. Hence, a big portion of the people who settled in the highlands in the early Iron Age were locals of a pastoral-nomadic background. Others, who originated from local sedentary background, moved to the highlands as a result of the Bronze Age collapse – which in turn was related to a long period of dry climate in ca. 1250-1100 BCE. Since eventually these groups formed the Northern Kingdom of Israel, they can be labeled "Israelites" as early as their initial settlement process. The same holds true for the contemporary settlement process in Transjordan and western Syria, which brought about the rise of Moab, Ammon and the Aramean kingdoms of the later phases of the Iron Age.
Finkelstein regards the biblical account on the Conquest of Canaan in the Book of Joshua as an ideological manifesto of the Deuteronomistic author/s of the late 7th century BCE, describing a "conquest to be" under King Josiah of Judah rather than a historical event at the end of the Bronze Age. He proposed that the original Conquest Account may have originated in the Northern Kingdom of Israel in the early 8th century BCE; it could have been influenced by memories of the turmoil that had taken place in the lowlands in the late Iron I (10th century BCE), rather than the end of the Late Bronze Age (late 12th century BCE).
The Low Chronology
Until the 1990s, the chronology of the Iron Age in the Levant had been anchored in the biblical account of the great United Monarchy of David and Solomon. Accordingly, the Iron I ended ca. 1000 BCE and the Iron IIA was dated from 1000 BCE until the campaign of Pharaoh Sheshonq I (biblical Shishak) ca. 925 BCE. The two Iron IIA palaces at Megiddo were conceived as the material manifestation for the Solomonic Empire. While preparing for the excavations at Megiddo in the early 1990s, Finkelstein noticed difficulties in this scheme. Noteworthy among them is the appearance of similar traits of material culture at Megiddo in a layer that was dated to the time of King Solomon in the middle of the 10th century, and at Samaria and Jezreel in contexts dated to the time of the Omride Dynasty (of the Northern Kingdom of Israel) in the early 9th century BCE. To resolve these difficulties, Finkelstein proposed to "lower" the dates of the Iron Age strata in the Levant by several decades.
According to Finkelstein's Low Chronology, the Iron Age I lasted until the middle of the 10th century BCE, while the Iron IIA is dated between the middle of the 10th century and ca. 800 BCE, if not slightly later. This means that the Megiddo palaces and other features which had traditionally been attributed to the time of King Solomon – features which date to the late Iron IIA – should indeed be associated with the endeavors of the Omride Dynasty in the first half of the 9th century BCE. A big debate ensued. Starting in the late 1990s, the focus of the discussion shifted to the interpretation of radiocarbon determinations for organic samples from key sites, such as Tel Rehov and Megiddo. All in all, the radiocarbon results put the Iron I/IIA transition ca. the middle of the 10th century (rather than 1000 BCE as had traditionally been proposed), and the Iron IIA/B transition in the early days of the 8th century (rather than ca. 925 BCE).
In parallel, and not directly connected, Finkelstein dealt with the chronology of Philistine pottery of the Iron Age I. The traditional theory fixed the appearance of Philistine pottery – and hence the settlement of the Philistines in the southern coastal plain of the Levant – in accordance with the confrontation between Ramses III and the Sea Peoples in the early 12th century BCE. In other words, Philistine pottery appears during the last phase of Egyptian rule in Canaan. Finkelstein proposed that the locally-made Monochrome pottery known from several sites in Philistia, which is widely understood as representing the earliest phase of Philistine settlement, should be dated after the withdrawal of Egypt from Canaan in the 1130s.
Finkelstein sees the biblical description of the time of David and Solomon as multilayered. He acknowledges the historicity of the founders of the Davidic Dynasty, places them in the 10th century BCE, and considers the possibility that the description of the rise of David to power conceals old memories of his activity as a leader of an Apiru-band that was active in the southern fringe of Judah. Yet, he sees the description of a great United Monarchy as an ideological construct that represents the ideology of late-monarchic author/s in the late 7th century BCE, first and foremost the pan-Israelite ideology of the days of King Josiah of Judah. According to him, the historical David and Solomon ruled over a small territory in the southern highlands – a territory not very different from that of Jerusalem of the Late Bronze Age. Finkelstein sees much of the description of King Solomon as representing realities from late monarchic times: First, from the later days of the Northern Kingdom (for instance, the reference to Megiddo, Hazor and Gezer in and to the stables, horses and chariots of Solomon). Second, from the time of King Manasseh of Judah in the early 7th century BCE, under Assyrian domination (for instance, the visit of the Queen of Sheba in Jerusalem). He understands the description of the Philistines in the Bible as portraying realities in Philistia in late-monarchic times.
"New Canaan"
Following the results of the excavations at Megiddo, Finkelstein argued that the material culture of the Iron I in the northern valleys continues that of the Late Bronze Age. In other words, the collapse of the Late Bronze city-states under Egyptian domination in the late 12th century BCE was followed by revival of some of the same centers and rise of others in the Iron I. He termed this phenomenon "New Canaan". Accordingly, the major break in the material culture of Canaan took place at the end of the Iron I in the 10th century BCE rather than the end of the Late Bronze Age. Finkelstein associated the violent destruction of the revived city-states with the expansion of the highlanders (early Israelites). He suggested that memories of the turmoil in the lowlands in the late Iron I can be found in northern traditions regarding skirmishes with Canaanite cities which appear in the heroic stories in the Book of Judges.
The Northern Kingdom
Finkelstein dealt with a variety of themes related to the archeology and history of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. He proposed that the first North Israelite territorial polity emerged in the Gibeon-Bethel plateau in the late Iron I and early Iron IIA. He found archaeological evidence for this in the system of fortified sites, such as Tell en-Nasbeh, Khirbet ed-Dawwara, et-Tell ("Ai") and Gibeon. Historical evidence for the existence of this polity can be found in the campaign of Pharaoh Sheshonq I in this region in the middle-to-second half of the 10th century BCE. According to Finkelstein, positive memories in the Bible of the House of Saul, which originated from the North, represent this early Israelite entity. He suggested that this north Israelite polity ruled over much of the territory of the highlands, that it presented a threat to the interests of Egypt of the 22nd Dynasty in Canaan, and that it was taken over during the campaign of Sheshonq I.
Finkelstein proposed that in its early days, the Northern Kingdom (Jeroboam I and his successors) ruled over the Samaria Highlands, the western slopes of the Gilead and the area of the Jezreel Valley. The expansion of Israel further to the north came during the days of the Omride Dynasty in the first half of the 9th century BCE, and even more so in the time of Jeroboam II in the first half of the 8th century BCE. Finkelstein described the special features of Omride architecture and, with his Megiddo team, dealt with different subjects related to the material culture of the Northern Kingdom, such as metallurgy and cult practices.
Finkelstein also reflected on biblical traditions related to the Northern Kingdom, such as the Jacob cycle in Genesis (a study carried out with Thomas Römer), the Exodus tradition, the heroic stories in the Book of Judges and remnants of royal traditions in the Books of Samuel and Kings. He suggested that these North Israelite traditions were first committed to writing in the days of Jeroboam II (first half of the 8th century BCE), that they were brought to Judah with Israelite refugees after the takeover of Israel by Assyria, and that they were later incorporated into the Judahite-dominated Bible. Finkelstein sees the biblical genre of deploying "history" in the service of royal ideology as emerging from Israel (the North) of the 8th century BCE.
Archaeology and history of Jerusalem
Finkelstein has recently dealt with the location of the ancient mound of Jerusalem (with Ido Koch and Oded Lipschits). The conventional wisdom sees that "City of David" ridge as the location of the original settlement of Jerusalem. Finkelstein and his colleagues argued that the "City of David" ridge does not have the silhouette of a mound; that it is located in topographical inferiority relative to the surrounding area; and that the archaeological record of the ridge does not include periods of habitation attested in reliable textual records. According to them, the most suitable location for the core of ancient Jerusalem is the Temple Mount. The large area of the Herodian platform (today's Harem esh-Sharif) may conceal a mound of five hectares and more, which – similar to other capital cities in the Levant – included both the royal compound and habitation quarters. Locating the mound of Ancient Jerusalem on the Temple Mount resolves many of the difficulties pertaining to the "City of David" ridge.
According to Finkelstein, the history of Jerusalem in biblical times should be viewed in terms of three main phases:
Firstly, until the 9th century BCE, Jerusalem was restricted to the mound on the Temple Mount and ruled over a modest area in the southern highlands. Accordingly, Jerusalem of the time of David and Solomon can be compared to Jerusalem of the Amarna period in the 14th century BCE: it had the size of a typical highlands mound (for instance, Shechem), ruled over a restricted area, but still had impact beyond the highlands.
Secondly, the first expansion of Jerusalem came in the 9th century BCE, perhaps in its second half, when the town grew significantly in a southerly direction. Remains of the Iron IIA were unearthed south of al-Aqsa Mosque, above the Gihon Spring and to the south of the Dung Gate of the Old City. In parallel to this development, Judah expanded to the Shephelah in the west and Beer-sheba Valley in the south, and for the first time became a territorial kingdom rather than a city-state restricted to the highlands.
Thirdly, the most impressive phase in the settlement history of Jerusalem commenced in the late 8th century BCE and lasted until its destruction by the Babylonians in 586 BCE. At that time Jerusalem expanded dramatically, to include the entire "City of David" ridge, as well as the "Western Hill" (the Armenian and Jewish Quarter of today's Old City). This expansion was the result of the arrival of Israelite refugees after the demise of the Northern Kingdom in 722-720 BCE. These groups brought with them traits of Northern material culture, and more important – their foundation myths, royal traditions and heroic stories. These Northern traditions were later incorporated into the Judahite Bible.
Jerusalem and Yehud/Judea of the Persian and Hellenistic periods
Finkelstein noted that in the Persian Period, Jerusalem was limited to the mound on the Temple Mount – and even there was sparsely settled – and that Yehud of that time was also thinly settled. As the description of the construction of the wall of Jerusalem in Nehemiah 3 must relate to the big city (extending beyond the old mound on the Temple Mount), it probably portrays the construction of the fortifications by the Hasmoneans.
Finkelstein further noted that many of the sites mentioned in the lists of returnees in Ezra and Nehemiah were not inhabited in the Persian Period and hence sees these lists as reflecting the demographic situation in days of the Hasmoneans. The same holds true, in his opinion, for the genealogies in 1 Chronicles. Finkelstein then looked into the accounts of Judahite monarchs in 2 Chronicles, which do not appear in Kings. He called attention to similarities between these texts and 1 Maccabees, and proposed to understand Chronicles as representing legitimacy needs of the Hasmoneans. This means that at least 2 Chronicles dates to the late 2nd century BCE, probably to the days of John Hyrcanus.
Published works
Books
In addition to the reports of excavations cited above:
Sinai in Antiquity, Tel Aviv 1980 (ed., with Zeev Meshel, Hebrew)
The Archaeology of the Israelite Settlement, Jerusalem 1988,
Archaeological Survey of the Hill Country of Benjamin, Jerusalem 1993, (ed., with Yitzhak Magen)
From Nomadism to Monarchy: Archaeological and Historical Aspects of Early Israel, Jerusalem 1994, (ed., with Nadav Na'aman)
Living on the Fringe: The Archaeology and History of the Negev, Sinai and Neighbouring Regions in the Bronze and Iron Ages, Sheffield 1995,
The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred Texts, New York 2001 (with Neil Asher Silberman). Translated to 12 languages.
David and Solomon: In Search of the Bible's Sacred Kings and the Roots of the Western Tradition, New York 2006, (with Neil Asher Silberman). Translated to six languages.
The Quest for the Historical Israel: Debating Archeology and the History of Early Israel, Atlanta 2007, (with Amihai Mazar)
Un archéologue au pays de la Bible, Paris 2008,
The Forgotten Kingdom. The Archaeology and History of Northern Israel, Atlanta 2013, . Translated to four languages.
Hasmonean Realities behind Ezra, Nehemiah and Chronicles, Atlanta 2018.
Co-editor of three festschrifts – for Nadav Na'aman, David Ussishkin and Benjamin Sass.
Articles
About 400 scholarly articles; for many of them see: https://telaviv.academia.edu/IsraelFinkelstein
Festschrift
Bene Israel: Studies in the Archaeology of Israel and the Levant during the Bronze and Iron Ages in Honour of Israel Finkelstein, Leiden and London 2008 (eds. Alexander Fantalkin and Assaf Yasur-Landau).
Rethinking Israel: Studies in the History and Archaeology of Ancient Israel in Honor of Israel Finkelstein, Winona Lake 2017 (eds. Oded Lipschits, Yuval Gadot and Matthew J. Adams).
The Shmunis Family Conversations in the Archaeology and History of Ancient Israel with Israel Finkelstein
The Shmunis Family Conversations in the Archaeology and History of Ancient Israel with Israel Finkelstein series is a YouTube series hosted by the W.F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research's Albright Live YouTube Channel. As of September 2021, 26 episodes have been released. The series is set as an interview-style conversation between Albright Institute Director Matthew J. Adams and archaeologist Israel Finkelstein. Episodes cover the rise of Ancient Israel as evidenced by archaeology, ancient Near Eastern textual sources, the Bible, and archaeology from the Late Bronze Age through the Hellenistic Period. The episodes are written and directed by Israel Finkelstein and Matthew J. Adams with cinematography and editing by Yuval Pan. The series is Produced by Djehuti Productions and the Albright Institute with a grant from the Shmunis Family Foundation.
Awards and recognition
Finkelstein is the Laureate of the Dan David Prize in 2005. The select committee noted that he is "widely regarded as a leading scholar in the archaeology of the Levant and as a foremost applicant of archaeological knowledge to reconstructing biblical Israelite history. He excels at creatively forging links between archaeology and the exact sciences and he has revolutionized many of these fields. … Finkelstein has had an impact on radically revising the history of Israel in the 10th and 9th centuries BCE. He has transformed the study of history and archaeology in Israeli universities, moving from a ‘monumental’ to a ‘systemic’ study of the archaeological evidence. He has taken what was becoming a rather staid and conservative discipline, with everyone in general agreement as to interpretation of excavation results, and has turned things upside down. … The study of these periods is never again going to be what it once was. … Israel Finkelstein has proven to be creative, generating scholarship no less than discussion, launching ideas and stimulating debates, fearlessly but with imagination and grace."
In 2014, Finkelstein was awarded the Prix Delalande Guérineau: Institut de France, l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, for his book Le Royaume biblique oublié (The Forgotten Kingdom).
He is the recipient of the MacAllister Field Archaeology Award 2017 (The American Schools of Oriental Research).
His other awards include the French decoration of Chevalier de l’ordre des Arts et des Lettres, (2009) and the Doctorat honoris causa of the University of Lausanne (2010).
Criticism
Finkelstein's theories about Saul, David and Solomon have been criticized by fellow archaeologists. Amihai Mazar described Finkelstein's Low Chronology proposal as "premature and unacceptable". Amnon Ben-Tor accused him of employing a “double standard”, citing the biblical text where it suited him and deploring its use where it did not. Other criticisms came from William G. Dever (who dismissed the Low Chronology as "idiosyncratic"), Lawrence Stager, Doron Ben-Ami, Raz Kletter and Anabel Zarzeki-Peleg. David Ussishkin, despite agreeing with many of Finkelstein's theories about the United Monarchy, has also shown doubts and reservations about Finkelstein's Low Chronology.
Writing in the Biblical Archaeology Review and subsequently in the Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, William G. Dever described The Bible Unearthed as a "convoluted story", writing that "This clever, trendy work may deceive lay readers". Evangelical Christian biblical scholar Kenneth Kitchen was also critical of the book, writing that "[A] careful critical perusal of this work—which certainly has much to say about both archaeology and the biblical writings—reveals that we are dealing very largely with a work of imaginative fiction, not a serious or reliable account of the subject", and "Their treatment of the exodus is among the most factually ignorant and misleading that this writer has ever read." Another evangelical, Richard Hess, also being critical, wrote that "The authors always present their interpretation of the archaeological data but do not mention or interact with contemporary alternative approaches. Thus the book is ideologically driven and controlled."
A 2004 debate between Finkelstein and William G. Dever, mediated by Hershel Shanks (editor of the Biblical Archaeology Review), quickly degenerated into insults, with Dever calling Finkelstein "idiosyncratic and doctrinaire" and Finkelstein dismissing Dever as a "jealous academic parasite". Dever later accused Finkelstein of supporting post-Zionism, to which Finkelstein replied by accusing Dever of being "a biblical literalist disguised as a liberal". Shanks described the exchange between the two as "embarassing".
Following the publication of The Forgotten Kingdom, Dever once again harshly criticized Finkelstein: writing in the Biblical Archaeology Review, he described Finkelstein as "a magician and a showman". He stated that the book was full of "numerous errors, misrepresentations, over-simplifications and contradictions". Another, more moderate, review was written on the same magazine by Aaron Burke: while Burke described Finkelstein's book as "ambitious" and praised its literary style, he did not accept Finkelstein's conclusions. He stated that the book engages in several speculations that cannot be proved by archeology, biblical and extra-biblical sources. He also criticized Finkelstein for persistently trying to downgrade the role of David in the development of ancient Israel.
Other landmarks
Selected as one of the 10 most influential researchers in the history of archaeology in the Levant (a Swiss publication, 1993).
Invited to the Salon du Livre in Paris, 2008. Two public debates there: with the French philosopher Armand Abécassis on La Bible et la Terre Sainte, and with the Israeli author Meir Shalev on la Bible de l’ecrivain et la Bible de l’archeologue.
Keynote address in the Annual Meeting of the American Schools of Oriental Research, Nashville 2000.
A ca. 50 pages profile chapter in J.-F. Mondot’s Une Bible pour deux mémoires (Paris 2006).
Invited lecture in the special symposium celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Weizmann Institute (together with Nobel Prize laureates Ada Yonath and Daniel Kahneman, and Lord Wilson, 2009).
Keynote address in the Symposium of Mediterranean Archaeology, Florence 2012.
Two lectures in the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres, Paris, May 2012 and February 2016.
Public lectures in events at universities such as the University of Chicago, Heidelberg University (2014) and Princeton University.
Joint session of the American Schools of Oriental Research and Society of Biblical Literature titled Rethinking Israel – celebrating the publication of Rethinking Israel, Studies in the History and Archaeology of Ancient Israel in Honr of Israel Finkelstein, Boston 2017.
Conversation with Israel Finkelstein and Thomas Romer, central evening event in the International Meeting of the Society for Biblical Literature, Rome, July 2019.
References
External links
Finkelstein's personal website: https://israelfinkelstein.wordpress.com/
The Megiddo Expedition: https://megiddoexpedition.wordpress.com/
The Kiriath-Jearim excavations: https://kiriathjearim.wordpress.com/
The digitized epigraphy website: http://www-nuclear.tau.ac.il/~eip/ostraca/Home/Home.html
Finkelstein's scholarly articles on academia.edu: https://telaviv.academia.edu/IsraelFinkelstein
The Dan David prize, 2005: http://www.dandavidprize.org/laureates/2005/77-past-archaeology/173-prof-israel-finkelstein
The Shmunis Family Conversations in the Archaeology and History of Ancient Israel with Israel Finkelstein, 2020–2021: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvm7MPUI_WJclpUfZgCw1Tfd_cyT4Fh-f
1949 births
Living people
20th-century archaeologists
20th-century Israeli male writers
21st-century archaeologists
21st-century Israeli male writers
Biblical archaeologists
Historical geographers
Israeli archaeologists
Israeli Ashkenazi Jews
Israeli people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent
Tel Aviv University faculty | true | [
"\"What Did I Do to You?\" is a song recorded by British singer Lisa Stansfield for her 1989 album, Affection. It was written by Stansfield, Ian Devaney and Andy Morris, and produced by Devaney and Morris. The song was released as the fourth European single on 30 April 1990. It included three previously unreleased songs written by Stansfield, Devaney and Morris: \"My Apple Heart,\" \"Lay Me Down\" and \"Something's Happenin'.\" \"What Did I Do to You?\" was remixed by Mark Saunders and by the Grammy Award-winning American house music DJ and producer, David Morales. The single became a top forty hit in the European countries reaching number eighteen in Finland, number twenty in Ireland and number twenty-five in the United Kingdom. \"What Did I Do to You?\" was also released in Japan.\n\nIn 2014, the remixes of \"What Did I Do to You?\" were included on the deluxe 2CD + DVD re-release of Affection and on People Hold On ... The Remix Anthology. They were also featured on The Collection 1989–2003 box set (2014), including previously unreleased Red Zone Mix by David Morales.\n\nCritical reception\nThe song received positive reviews from music critics. Matthew Hocter from Albumism viewed it as a \"upbeat offering\". David Giles from Music Week said it is \"beautifully performed\" by Stansfield. A reviewer from Reading Eagle wrote that \"What Did I Do to You?\" \"would be right at home on the \"Saturday Night Fever\" soundtrack.\"\n\nMusic video\nA music video was produced to promote the single, directed by Philip Richardson, who had previously directed the videos for \"All Around the World\" and \"Live Together\". It features Stansfield with her kiss curls, dressed in a white outfit and performing with her band on a stage in front of a jumping audience. The video was later published on Stansfield's official YouTube channel in November 2009. It has amassed more than 1,6 million views as of October 2021.\n\nTrack listings\n\n European/UK 7\" single\n\"What Did I Do to You?\" (Mark Saunders Remix Edit) – 4:20\n\"Something's Happenin'\" – 3:59\n\n European/UK/Japanese CD single\n\"What Did I Do to You?\" (Mark Saunders Remix Edit) – 4:20\n\"My Apple Heart\" – 5:19\n\"Lay Me Down\" – 4:17\n\"Something's Happenin'\" – 3:59\n\n UK 10\" single\n\"What Did I Do to You?\" (Mark Saunders Remix) – 5:52\n\"My Apple Heart\" – 5:19\n\"Lay Me Down\" – 4:17\n\"Something's Happenin'\" – 3:59\n\n European/UK 12\" single\n\"What Did I Do to You?\" (Morales Mix) – 7:59\n\"My Apple Heart\" – 4:22\n\"Lay Me Down\" – 3:19\n\"Something's Happenin'\" – 3:15\n\n UK 12\" promotional single\n\"What Did I Do to You?\" (Morales Mix) – 7:59\n\"What Did I Do to You?\" (Anti Poll Tax Dub) – 6:31\n\n Other remixes\n\"What Did I Do to You?\" (Red Zone Mix) – 7:45\n\nCharts\n\nReferences\n\nLisa Stansfield songs\n1990 singles\nSongs written by Lisa Stansfield\n1989 songs\nArista Records singles\nSongs written by Ian Devaney\nSongs written by Andy Morris (musician)",
"A referendum on the islands' status was held in the Northern Mariana Islands on 9 November 1969. For the fourth time since 1958 a majority of voters supported integration with Guam. However, a referendum held in Guam on 4 November on integration with the Northern Mariana Islands had been rejected by 58% of Guamanian voters.\n\nBackground\nPrevious referendums on either integration with Guam or the islands' status had been held in 1958, 1961 and 1963. On each occasion a majority had been in favor of integration. However, the proposal remained unfulfilled.\n\nThe 1969 referendum was organized by the local Parliament, and was held prior to a visit by a United Nations commission in early 1970.\n\nResults\nVoters were given five options:\nDo you want to become U.S. Citizen within the political framework of the Territory of Guam?\nDo you want independence?\nDo you want to become an unincorporated Territory of the United States?\nDo want to free associate with the United States?\nWhat other form of government do you want?\n\nReferences\n\nNorthern Mariana\n1969 in the Northern Mariana Islands\n1969\n1969\nNorthern Marianas"
]
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[
"Israel Finkelstein",
"The Northern Kingdom",
"What did he do in The Northern Kingodm",
"Finkelstein dealt with a variety of themes related to the archeology and history of the Northern Kingdom of Israel."
]
| C_4d673f03f1d64a48b4323c3fe9d3cda7_0 | What time of archeology themes did he deal with | 2 | What time of archeology themes did Israel Finkelstein deal with? | Israel Finkelstein | Finkelstein dealt with a variety of themes related to the archeology and history of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. He proposed that the first North Israelite territorial polity emerged in the Gibeon-Bethel plateau in the late Iron I and early Iron IIA. He found archaeological evidence for this in the system of fortified sites, such as Tell en-Nasbeh, Khirbet ed-Dawwara, et-Tell ("Ai") and Gibeon. Historical evidence for the existence of this polity can be found in the campaign of Pharaoh Sheshoqn I in this region in the middle-to-second half of the 10th century BCE. According to Finkelstein, positive memories in the Bible of the House of Saul, which originated from the North, represent this early Israelite entity. He suggested that this north Israelite polity ruled over much of the territory of the highlands, that it presented a threat to the interests of Egypt of the 22nd Dynasty in Canaan, and that it was taken over during the campaign of Sheshonq I. Finkelstein proposed that in its early days, the Northern Kingdom (Jeroboam I and his successors) ruled over the Samaria Highlands, the western slopes of the Gilead and the area of the Jezreel Valley. The expansion of Israel further to the north came during the days of the Omride Dynasty in the first half of the 9th century BCE, and even more so in the time of Jeroboam II in the first half of the 8th century BCE. Finkelstein described the special features of "Omride Architecture" and, with his Megiddo team, dealt with different subjects related to the material culture of the Northern Kingdom, such as metallurgy and cult practices. Finkelstein also reflected on biblical traditions related to the Northern Kingdom, such as the Jacob cycle in Genesis (a study carried out with Thomas Romer), the Exodus tradition, the heroic stories in the Book of Judges and remnants of royal traditions in the Books of Samuel and Kings. He suggested that these North Israelite traditions were first committed to writing in the days of Jeroboam II (first half of the 8th century BCE), that they were brought to Judah with Israelite refugees after the takeover of Israel by Assyria, and that they were later incorporated into the Judahite-dominated Bible. Finkelstein sees the biblical genre of deploying "history" in the service of royal ideology as emerging from Israel (the North) of the 8th century BCE. CANNOTANSWER | Israel. He proposed that the first North Israelite territorial polity emerged in the Gibeon-Bethel plateau in the late Iron I and early Iron IIA. | Israel Finkelstein (, born March 29, 1949) is an Israeli archaeologist, professor emeritus at Tel Aviv University. Finkelstein is active in the archaeology of the Levant and is an applicant of archaeological data in reconstructing biblical history. He is also known for applying the exact and life sciences in archaeological and historical reconstruction. Finkelstein is the current excavator of Megiddo, a key site for the study of the Bronze and Iron Ages in the Levant.
Finkelstein is a member of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities and an associé étranger of the French Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres. Finkelstein has received several noteworthy academic and writing awards. In 2005, he won the Dan David Prize for his revision of the history of Israel in the 10th and 9th centuries BCE. In 2009 he was named chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Minister of Culture, and in 2010, received a doctorate honoris causa from the University of Lausanne. He is a member of the selection committee of the Shanghai Archaeology Forum, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
Among Finkelstein's books are The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of its Sacred Texts (2001) and David and Solomon: In Search of the Bible's Sacred Kings and the Roots of the Western Tradition (2006), both written with Neil Asher Silberman. Also he wrote the textbooks on the emergence of Ancient Israel, titled The Archaeology of the Israelite Settlement (1988); on the archaeology and history of the arid zones of the Levant, titled Living on the Fringe (1995); and on the Northern Kingdom of Israel, titled The Forgotten Kingdom (2013).
Background
Family
Israel Finkelstein was born to an Ashkenazi Jewish family in Tel Aviv, Israel, on March 29, 1949. His parents were Zvi (Grisha) Finkelstein (born 1908) and Miriam Finkelstein (maiden name Ellenhorn, born 1910). His great grandfather on his mother's side, Shlomo Ellenhorn, came to Palestine from Grodno (today in Belarus) in the 1850s and settled in Hebron. He was one of the first physicians in the Bikur Cholim Hospital in Jerusalem, and is listed among the group of people who purchased the land in 1878 in order to establish Petah Tikva – the first modern Jewish settlement in Palestine outside the four holy cities. Finkelstein's grandfather, Israel Jacob Ellenhorn, was the first pharmacist in Petah Tikva.
Finkelstein’s father was born in Melitopol (Ukraine). He came to Palestine with his family in 1920. He was in the orange-growing business and was active in the sports organisations of Israel. He served as vice chairman of the Israel Football Association, chairman of Maccabi Israel and was a member of the Israel Olympic Committee.
Finkelstein is married to Joelle (maiden name Cohen). They are the parents of two daughters – Adar (born 1992) and Sarai (born 1996).
Education
Israel Finkelstein attended the PICA elementary school (1956–1963) and Ahad Ha'am High School (1963–1967), both in Petah Tikva. He then served in the Israel Defense Forces (1967–1970). He studied archaeology and Near Eastern civilizations, and geography at Tel Aviv University, receiving his BA in 1974. While there, Finkelstein was a student of Prof. Yohanan Aharoni. He continued as a research student under the supervision of Prof. Moshe Kochavi, receiving his MA in 1978 (thesis on Rural Settlement in the Yarkon Basin in the Iron Age and Persian-Hellenistic Periods). He graduated as a PhD in 1983 with a thesis titled "The Izbet Sartah Excavations and the Israelite Settlement in the Hill Country".
Academic career
From 1976 to 1990, Finkelstein taught at the Department of Land of Israel Studies, Bar-Ilan University, beginning as a teaching assistant. He spent the academic year of 1983–84 in a research group led by Prof. Yigael Yadin in the Institute of Advanced Studies in the Hebrew University, Jerusalem. In 1986 and 1987, Finkelstein taught at the Department for Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, University of Chicago. In 1987 he was appointed an associate professor with tenure at Bar-Ilan University and in 1990 moved to the Department of Archaeology and Ancient Near Eastern Civilizations at Tel Aviv University. In 1992/93 Finkelstein spent a sabbatical year as a visiting scholar at the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, Harvard University. Since 1992, he has been a Full Professor at Tel Aviv University. He served as the chairperson of the Department of Archaeology and Near Eastern Studies (1994–98) and as Director of The Sonia and Marco Nadler Institute of Archaeology (1996–2003). In 1998–99 Finkelstein was a visiting scholar in the Centre de Recherche d’Archéologie Orientale and the École Pratique des Hautes Études in the Sorbonne, Paris.
Finkelstein delivered series of lectures on the history and archaeology of Ancient Israel at the Texas Christian University (2002), the University of Buenos Aires (2011), the College de France in Paris (2012) and the Methodist University of São Paulo (2015), the Tokyo Christian University (2017), the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome (2017) and the University of Zurich (2018). Finkelstein has read over 100 papers in international conferences and given numerous talks in universities around the globe.
Finkelstein has been the Editor of Tel Aviv, the journal of the Institute of Archaeology of Tel Aviv University, since 2008 and Executive Editor of the Monograph Series by the Institute of Archaeology, Tel Aviv University, since 2005. He is a member of editorial boards, including the Palestine Exploration Quarterly and the Archaeology and Biblical Studies series of the Society of Biblical Literature.
Fieldwork
Finkelstein was trained as a field archaeologist in the excavations of Tel Beer Sheva (1971, Director: Yohanan Aharoni) and Tel Aphek (1973–1978, Directors: Moshe Kochavi and Pirhiya Beck). Starting in 1976, he carried out his own fieldwork in a variety of sites and regions:
Past excavations and surveys
‘Izbet Sartah, 1976–1978: Field Director (under Prof. Moshe Kochavi) of excavations at ‘Izbet Sartah, an Iron I-Iron IIA village-site near Rosh Ha‘ayin, east of Tel Aviv. For the results see: I. Finkelstein, Izbet Sartah: An Early Iron Age Site near Rosh Ha‘ayin, Israel, Oxford 1986 (BAR International Series 299).
Southern Sinai, 1976–1978: Surveys of Byzantine monastic remains in southern Sinai. For the results see: I. Finkelstein, Byzantine Monastic Remains in Southern Sinai, Dumbarton Oaks Papers 39 (1985), pp. 39–75.
Bene Beraq, 1977: Director of salvage excavations at the mound of ancient Bene Beraq near Tel Aviv. For the results see: I. Finkelstein, Soundings at Ancient Bene-Beraq, ‘Atiqot 10 (1990), pp. 29–40 (Hebrew).
Tel Ira, 1980: Co-Director of the excavations of the Iron II site of Tel Ira in the Beer-sheba Valley (together with I. Beit-Arieh and B. Cresson). For the results see: I. Finkelstein and I. Beit-Arieh, Area E, in I. Beit-Arieh (ed.), Tel Ira: A Stronghold in the Biblical Negev (monograph Series of the Institute of Archaeology Tel Aviv University 15), Tel Aviv 1999, pp. 67–96.
Shiloh, 1981–1984: Director of the excavations at biblical Shiloh in the highlands north of Jerusalem. The site features Middle Bronze, Late Bronze and Iron I remains. For the results see: I. Finkelstein (ed.), Shiloh: The Archaeology of a Biblical Site (Monograph Series of the Institute of Archaeology Tel Aviv University 10), Tel Aviv 1993.
Southern Samaria Survey, 1981–1987: Director of the survey, ca. 1000 km2. in the highlands north of Jerusalem. For the results see: I. Finkelstein, Z. Lederman and S. Bunimovitz, Highlands of Many Cultures, The Southern Samaria Survey, The Sites (Monograph Series of the Institute of Archaeology Tel Aviv University 14). Tel Aviv
Khirbet ed-Dawwara, 1985–86: Director, excavations at Khirbet ed-Dawwara, an Iron I-early Iron IIA site in the desert fringe northeast of Jerusalem. For the results see: I. Finkelstein, Excavations at Kh. ed-Dawwara: An Iron Age Site Northeast of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv 17 (1990), pp. 163–208.
Dhahr Mirzbaneh, 1987: Sounding at the Intermediate Bronze site of Dhahr Mirzbaneh in the desert fringe northeast of Jerusalem. For the results see: I. Finkelstein, The Central Hill Country in the Intermediate Bronze Age, Israel Exploration Journal 41 (1991), pp. 19–45.
Present excavations
Megiddo, 1994–present: co-Director, the Megiddo Excavations (1994–2012 with David Ussishkin, since 2014 with Matthew J. Adams and Mario A.S. Martin). Megiddo is considered as one of the most important Bronze and Iron Age sites in the Levant. For the results see: I. Finkelstein, D. Ussishkin and B. Halpern (eds.), Megiddo III: The 1992–1996 Seasons (Monograph Series of the Institute of Archaeology Tel Aviv University 18). Tel Aviv 2000. I. Finkelstein, D. Ussishkin and B. Halpern (eds.), Megiddo IV: The 1998–2002 Seasons (Monograph Series of the Institute of Archaeology Tel Aviv University 24), Tel Aviv 2006. I. Finkelstein, D. Ussishkin and E.H. Cline (editors), Megiddo V: The 2004–2008 Seasons (Monograph Series of the Institute of Archaeology Tel Aviv University 31), Winona Lake 2013. I. Finkelstein, M.A.S. Martin and M.J. Adams (eds.), Megiddo VI: The 2010–2014 Seasons (forthcoming).
The Negev Highlands, 2006–present: co-Director of excavations in the Iron Age sites of Atar Haroa and Nahal Boqer, and the Intermediate Bronze Age sites of Mashabe Sade and En Ziq (with Ruth Shahack-Gross). For the results see: R. Shahack-Gross and I. Finkelstein, Settlement Oscillations in the Negev Highlands Revisited: The Impact of Microarchaeological Methods, Radiocarbon 57/2 (2015), pp. 253–264.
Kiriath-Jearim, 2017–present: co-Director, the Shmunis Family excavations at Kiriath-Jearim – a biblical site in the highlands west of Jerusalem associated with the Ark Narrative in the Book of Samuel (with Christophe Nicolle and Thomas Römer, the College de France).
Other projects
In the past
1997–2002: Petrographic study of the Amarna tablets (with Yuval Goren and Nadav Na'aman). For the results see: Y. Goren, I. Finkelstein and N. Na'aman, Inscribed in Clay: Provenance Study of the Amarna Letters and other Ancient Near Eastern Texts (Monograph Series of the Institute of Archaeology Tel Aviv University 23), Tel Aviv 2004.
2009–2014: Principal Investigator of a European Research Council-funded project titled Reconstructing Ancient Israel: The Exact and Life Sciences Perspectives (with Steve Weiner, Weizmann Institute of Science, co-Principal Investigator). The project was organized into 10 tracks: Radiocarbon dating, ancient DNA, geoarchaeology, paleoclimate, petrography, metallurgy, daily mathematics, advanced imaging of ostraca, residue analysis and archaeozoology. Over 40 scholars, advanced students and post-docs were involved in the project. Samples were taken from a large number of sites in Israel and Greece. For the results see: I. Finkelstein, S. Weiner and E. Boaretto (eds.), Reconstructing Ancient Israel: The Exact and Life Sciences Perspectives, special issue of Radiocarbon (57/2), 2015, with a list of all publications until 2015.
Paleoclimate of the Levant (2009-2019), with Dafna Langgut (Tel Aviv University) and Thomas Litt (University of Bonn).
The Archaeological and Historical Realities behind the Pentateuch (2016-2019), with Konrad Schmid (University of Zurich), Thomas Römer and Christophe Nihan (University of Lausanne) and Oded Lipschits (Tel Aviv University).
Ongoing research projects
Geoarchaeological Investigations in the Negev Highlands (2006-) with Ruth Shahack-Gross (University of Haifa).
Iron Age Hebrew Ostraca in the Silicon Age: Computerized Paleography (2008-), directed with Eli Piasetzky (Tel Aviv University). For results see list of publications in http://www-nuclear.tau.ac.il/~eip/ostraca/Publications/Publications.html
Ancient DNA, animals and Humans (2009-), with Meirav Meiri (Tel Aviv University); current cooperation with Joseph Maran and Philipp Stockhammer (Universities of Heidelberg and Munich), Liran Carmel (Hebrew University) and David Reich (Harvard University).
Scholarly contributions
Finkelstein has written on a variety of topics, including the archaeology of the Bronze Age and the exact and life sciences contribution to archaeology. Much of his work has been devoted to the Iron Age and, more specifically, to questions related to the history of Ancient Israel.
The Emergence of Ancient Israel
The classical theories on the emergence of Israel viewed the process as a unique event in the history of the region. Finkelstein suggested that we are dealing with a long-term process of a cyclical nature. He demonstrated that the wave of settlement in the highlands in the Iron Age I (ca. 1150-950 BCE) was the last in a series of such demographic developments – the first had taken place in the Early Bronze and the second in the Middle Bronze. The periods between these peaks were characterized by low settlement activity. Finkelstein explained these oscillations as representing changes along the sedentary/ pastoral-nomadic continuum, which were caused by socioeconomic and political dynamics. Hence, a big portion of the people who settled in the highlands in the early Iron Age were locals of a pastoral-nomadic background. Others, who originated from local sedentary background, moved to the highlands as a result of the Bronze Age collapse – which in turn was related to a long period of dry climate in ca. 1250-1100 BCE. Since eventually these groups formed the Northern Kingdom of Israel, they can be labeled "Israelites" as early as their initial settlement process. The same holds true for the contemporary settlement process in Transjordan and western Syria, which brought about the rise of Moab, Ammon and the Aramean kingdoms of the later phases of the Iron Age.
Finkelstein regards the biblical account on the Conquest of Canaan in the Book of Joshua as an ideological manifesto of the Deuteronomistic author/s of the late 7th century BCE, describing a "conquest to be" under King Josiah of Judah rather than a historical event at the end of the Bronze Age. He proposed that the original Conquest Account may have originated in the Northern Kingdom of Israel in the early 8th century BCE; it could have been influenced by memories of the turmoil that had taken place in the lowlands in the late Iron I (10th century BCE), rather than the end of the Late Bronze Age (late 12th century BCE).
The Low Chronology
Until the 1990s, the chronology of the Iron Age in the Levant had been anchored in the biblical account of the great United Monarchy of David and Solomon. Accordingly, the Iron I ended ca. 1000 BCE and the Iron IIA was dated from 1000 BCE until the campaign of Pharaoh Sheshonq I (biblical Shishak) ca. 925 BCE. The two Iron IIA palaces at Megiddo were conceived as the material manifestation for the Solomonic Empire. While preparing for the excavations at Megiddo in the early 1990s, Finkelstein noticed difficulties in this scheme. Noteworthy among them is the appearance of similar traits of material culture at Megiddo in a layer that was dated to the time of King Solomon in the middle of the 10th century, and at Samaria and Jezreel in contexts dated to the time of the Omride Dynasty (of the Northern Kingdom of Israel) in the early 9th century BCE. To resolve these difficulties, Finkelstein proposed to "lower" the dates of the Iron Age strata in the Levant by several decades.
According to Finkelstein's Low Chronology, the Iron Age I lasted until the middle of the 10th century BCE, while the Iron IIA is dated between the middle of the 10th century and ca. 800 BCE, if not slightly later. This means that the Megiddo palaces and other features which had traditionally been attributed to the time of King Solomon – features which date to the late Iron IIA – should indeed be associated with the endeavors of the Omride Dynasty in the first half of the 9th century BCE. A big debate ensued. Starting in the late 1990s, the focus of the discussion shifted to the interpretation of radiocarbon determinations for organic samples from key sites, such as Tel Rehov and Megiddo. All in all, the radiocarbon results put the Iron I/IIA transition ca. the middle of the 10th century (rather than 1000 BCE as had traditionally been proposed), and the Iron IIA/B transition in the early days of the 8th century (rather than ca. 925 BCE).
In parallel, and not directly connected, Finkelstein dealt with the chronology of Philistine pottery of the Iron Age I. The traditional theory fixed the appearance of Philistine pottery – and hence the settlement of the Philistines in the southern coastal plain of the Levant – in accordance with the confrontation between Ramses III and the Sea Peoples in the early 12th century BCE. In other words, Philistine pottery appears during the last phase of Egyptian rule in Canaan. Finkelstein proposed that the locally-made Monochrome pottery known from several sites in Philistia, which is widely understood as representing the earliest phase of Philistine settlement, should be dated after the withdrawal of Egypt from Canaan in the 1130s.
Finkelstein sees the biblical description of the time of David and Solomon as multilayered. He acknowledges the historicity of the founders of the Davidic Dynasty, places them in the 10th century BCE, and considers the possibility that the description of the rise of David to power conceals old memories of his activity as a leader of an Apiru-band that was active in the southern fringe of Judah. Yet, he sees the description of a great United Monarchy as an ideological construct that represents the ideology of late-monarchic author/s in the late 7th century BCE, first and foremost the pan-Israelite ideology of the days of King Josiah of Judah. According to him, the historical David and Solomon ruled over a small territory in the southern highlands – a territory not very different from that of Jerusalem of the Late Bronze Age. Finkelstein sees much of the description of King Solomon as representing realities from late monarchic times: First, from the later days of the Northern Kingdom (for instance, the reference to Megiddo, Hazor and Gezer in and to the stables, horses and chariots of Solomon). Second, from the time of King Manasseh of Judah in the early 7th century BCE, under Assyrian domination (for instance, the visit of the Queen of Sheba in Jerusalem). He understands the description of the Philistines in the Bible as portraying realities in Philistia in late-monarchic times.
"New Canaan"
Following the results of the excavations at Megiddo, Finkelstein argued that the material culture of the Iron I in the northern valleys continues that of the Late Bronze Age. In other words, the collapse of the Late Bronze city-states under Egyptian domination in the late 12th century BCE was followed by revival of some of the same centers and rise of others in the Iron I. He termed this phenomenon "New Canaan". Accordingly, the major break in the material culture of Canaan took place at the end of the Iron I in the 10th century BCE rather than the end of the Late Bronze Age. Finkelstein associated the violent destruction of the revived city-states with the expansion of the highlanders (early Israelites). He suggested that memories of the turmoil in the lowlands in the late Iron I can be found in northern traditions regarding skirmishes with Canaanite cities which appear in the heroic stories in the Book of Judges.
The Northern Kingdom
Finkelstein dealt with a variety of themes related to the archeology and history of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. He proposed that the first North Israelite territorial polity emerged in the Gibeon-Bethel plateau in the late Iron I and early Iron IIA. He found archaeological evidence for this in the system of fortified sites, such as Tell en-Nasbeh, Khirbet ed-Dawwara, et-Tell ("Ai") and Gibeon. Historical evidence for the existence of this polity can be found in the campaign of Pharaoh Sheshonq I in this region in the middle-to-second half of the 10th century BCE. According to Finkelstein, positive memories in the Bible of the House of Saul, which originated from the North, represent this early Israelite entity. He suggested that this north Israelite polity ruled over much of the territory of the highlands, that it presented a threat to the interests of Egypt of the 22nd Dynasty in Canaan, and that it was taken over during the campaign of Sheshonq I.
Finkelstein proposed that in its early days, the Northern Kingdom (Jeroboam I and his successors) ruled over the Samaria Highlands, the western slopes of the Gilead and the area of the Jezreel Valley. The expansion of Israel further to the north came during the days of the Omride Dynasty in the first half of the 9th century BCE, and even more so in the time of Jeroboam II in the first half of the 8th century BCE. Finkelstein described the special features of Omride architecture and, with his Megiddo team, dealt with different subjects related to the material culture of the Northern Kingdom, such as metallurgy and cult practices.
Finkelstein also reflected on biblical traditions related to the Northern Kingdom, such as the Jacob cycle in Genesis (a study carried out with Thomas Römer), the Exodus tradition, the heroic stories in the Book of Judges and remnants of royal traditions in the Books of Samuel and Kings. He suggested that these North Israelite traditions were first committed to writing in the days of Jeroboam II (first half of the 8th century BCE), that they were brought to Judah with Israelite refugees after the takeover of Israel by Assyria, and that they were later incorporated into the Judahite-dominated Bible. Finkelstein sees the biblical genre of deploying "history" in the service of royal ideology as emerging from Israel (the North) of the 8th century BCE.
Archaeology and history of Jerusalem
Finkelstein has recently dealt with the location of the ancient mound of Jerusalem (with Ido Koch and Oded Lipschits). The conventional wisdom sees that "City of David" ridge as the location of the original settlement of Jerusalem. Finkelstein and his colleagues argued that the "City of David" ridge does not have the silhouette of a mound; that it is located in topographical inferiority relative to the surrounding area; and that the archaeological record of the ridge does not include periods of habitation attested in reliable textual records. According to them, the most suitable location for the core of ancient Jerusalem is the Temple Mount. The large area of the Herodian platform (today's Harem esh-Sharif) may conceal a mound of five hectares and more, which – similar to other capital cities in the Levant – included both the royal compound and habitation quarters. Locating the mound of Ancient Jerusalem on the Temple Mount resolves many of the difficulties pertaining to the "City of David" ridge.
According to Finkelstein, the history of Jerusalem in biblical times should be viewed in terms of three main phases:
Firstly, until the 9th century BCE, Jerusalem was restricted to the mound on the Temple Mount and ruled over a modest area in the southern highlands. Accordingly, Jerusalem of the time of David and Solomon can be compared to Jerusalem of the Amarna period in the 14th century BCE: it had the size of a typical highlands mound (for instance, Shechem), ruled over a restricted area, but still had impact beyond the highlands.
Secondly, the first expansion of Jerusalem came in the 9th century BCE, perhaps in its second half, when the town grew significantly in a southerly direction. Remains of the Iron IIA were unearthed south of al-Aqsa Mosque, above the Gihon Spring and to the south of the Dung Gate of the Old City. In parallel to this development, Judah expanded to the Shephelah in the west and Beer-sheba Valley in the south, and for the first time became a territorial kingdom rather than a city-state restricted to the highlands.
Thirdly, the most impressive phase in the settlement history of Jerusalem commenced in the late 8th century BCE and lasted until its destruction by the Babylonians in 586 BCE. At that time Jerusalem expanded dramatically, to include the entire "City of David" ridge, as well as the "Western Hill" (the Armenian and Jewish Quarter of today's Old City). This expansion was the result of the arrival of Israelite refugees after the demise of the Northern Kingdom in 722-720 BCE. These groups brought with them traits of Northern material culture, and more important – their foundation myths, royal traditions and heroic stories. These Northern traditions were later incorporated into the Judahite Bible.
Jerusalem and Yehud/Judea of the Persian and Hellenistic periods
Finkelstein noted that in the Persian Period, Jerusalem was limited to the mound on the Temple Mount – and even there was sparsely settled – and that Yehud of that time was also thinly settled. As the description of the construction of the wall of Jerusalem in Nehemiah 3 must relate to the big city (extending beyond the old mound on the Temple Mount), it probably portrays the construction of the fortifications by the Hasmoneans.
Finkelstein further noted that many of the sites mentioned in the lists of returnees in Ezra and Nehemiah were not inhabited in the Persian Period and hence sees these lists as reflecting the demographic situation in days of the Hasmoneans. The same holds true, in his opinion, for the genealogies in 1 Chronicles. Finkelstein then looked into the accounts of Judahite monarchs in 2 Chronicles, which do not appear in Kings. He called attention to similarities between these texts and 1 Maccabees, and proposed to understand Chronicles as representing legitimacy needs of the Hasmoneans. This means that at least 2 Chronicles dates to the late 2nd century BCE, probably to the days of John Hyrcanus.
Published works
Books
In addition to the reports of excavations cited above:
Sinai in Antiquity, Tel Aviv 1980 (ed., with Zeev Meshel, Hebrew)
The Archaeology of the Israelite Settlement, Jerusalem 1988,
Archaeological Survey of the Hill Country of Benjamin, Jerusalem 1993, (ed., with Yitzhak Magen)
From Nomadism to Monarchy: Archaeological and Historical Aspects of Early Israel, Jerusalem 1994, (ed., with Nadav Na'aman)
Living on the Fringe: The Archaeology and History of the Negev, Sinai and Neighbouring Regions in the Bronze and Iron Ages, Sheffield 1995,
The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred Texts, New York 2001 (with Neil Asher Silberman). Translated to 12 languages.
David and Solomon: In Search of the Bible's Sacred Kings and the Roots of the Western Tradition, New York 2006, (with Neil Asher Silberman). Translated to six languages.
The Quest for the Historical Israel: Debating Archeology and the History of Early Israel, Atlanta 2007, (with Amihai Mazar)
Un archéologue au pays de la Bible, Paris 2008,
The Forgotten Kingdom. The Archaeology and History of Northern Israel, Atlanta 2013, . Translated to four languages.
Hasmonean Realities behind Ezra, Nehemiah and Chronicles, Atlanta 2018.
Co-editor of three festschrifts – for Nadav Na'aman, David Ussishkin and Benjamin Sass.
Articles
About 400 scholarly articles; for many of them see: https://telaviv.academia.edu/IsraelFinkelstein
Festschrift
Bene Israel: Studies in the Archaeology of Israel and the Levant during the Bronze and Iron Ages in Honour of Israel Finkelstein, Leiden and London 2008 (eds. Alexander Fantalkin and Assaf Yasur-Landau).
Rethinking Israel: Studies in the History and Archaeology of Ancient Israel in Honor of Israel Finkelstein, Winona Lake 2017 (eds. Oded Lipschits, Yuval Gadot and Matthew J. Adams).
The Shmunis Family Conversations in the Archaeology and History of Ancient Israel with Israel Finkelstein
The Shmunis Family Conversations in the Archaeology and History of Ancient Israel with Israel Finkelstein series is a YouTube series hosted by the W.F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research's Albright Live YouTube Channel. As of September 2021, 26 episodes have been released. The series is set as an interview-style conversation between Albright Institute Director Matthew J. Adams and archaeologist Israel Finkelstein. Episodes cover the rise of Ancient Israel as evidenced by archaeology, ancient Near Eastern textual sources, the Bible, and archaeology from the Late Bronze Age through the Hellenistic Period. The episodes are written and directed by Israel Finkelstein and Matthew J. Adams with cinematography and editing by Yuval Pan. The series is Produced by Djehuti Productions and the Albright Institute with a grant from the Shmunis Family Foundation.
Awards and recognition
Finkelstein is the Laureate of the Dan David Prize in 2005. The select committee noted that he is "widely regarded as a leading scholar in the archaeology of the Levant and as a foremost applicant of archaeological knowledge to reconstructing biblical Israelite history. He excels at creatively forging links between archaeology and the exact sciences and he has revolutionized many of these fields. … Finkelstein has had an impact on radically revising the history of Israel in the 10th and 9th centuries BCE. He has transformed the study of history and archaeology in Israeli universities, moving from a ‘monumental’ to a ‘systemic’ study of the archaeological evidence. He has taken what was becoming a rather staid and conservative discipline, with everyone in general agreement as to interpretation of excavation results, and has turned things upside down. … The study of these periods is never again going to be what it once was. … Israel Finkelstein has proven to be creative, generating scholarship no less than discussion, launching ideas and stimulating debates, fearlessly but with imagination and grace."
In 2014, Finkelstein was awarded the Prix Delalande Guérineau: Institut de France, l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, for his book Le Royaume biblique oublié (The Forgotten Kingdom).
He is the recipient of the MacAllister Field Archaeology Award 2017 (The American Schools of Oriental Research).
His other awards include the French decoration of Chevalier de l’ordre des Arts et des Lettres, (2009) and the Doctorat honoris causa of the University of Lausanne (2010).
Criticism
Finkelstein's theories about Saul, David and Solomon have been criticized by fellow archaeologists. Amihai Mazar described Finkelstein's Low Chronology proposal as "premature and unacceptable". Amnon Ben-Tor accused him of employing a “double standard”, citing the biblical text where it suited him and deploring its use where it did not. Other criticisms came from William G. Dever (who dismissed the Low Chronology as "idiosyncratic"), Lawrence Stager, Doron Ben-Ami, Raz Kletter and Anabel Zarzeki-Peleg. David Ussishkin, despite agreeing with many of Finkelstein's theories about the United Monarchy, has also shown doubts and reservations about Finkelstein's Low Chronology.
Writing in the Biblical Archaeology Review and subsequently in the Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, William G. Dever described The Bible Unearthed as a "convoluted story", writing that "This clever, trendy work may deceive lay readers". Evangelical Christian biblical scholar Kenneth Kitchen was also critical of the book, writing that "[A] careful critical perusal of this work—which certainly has much to say about both archaeology and the biblical writings—reveals that we are dealing very largely with a work of imaginative fiction, not a serious or reliable account of the subject", and "Their treatment of the exodus is among the most factually ignorant and misleading that this writer has ever read." Another evangelical, Richard Hess, also being critical, wrote that "The authors always present their interpretation of the archaeological data but do not mention or interact with contemporary alternative approaches. Thus the book is ideologically driven and controlled."
A 2004 debate between Finkelstein and William G. Dever, mediated by Hershel Shanks (editor of the Biblical Archaeology Review), quickly degenerated into insults, with Dever calling Finkelstein "idiosyncratic and doctrinaire" and Finkelstein dismissing Dever as a "jealous academic parasite". Dever later accused Finkelstein of supporting post-Zionism, to which Finkelstein replied by accusing Dever of being "a biblical literalist disguised as a liberal". Shanks described the exchange between the two as "embarassing".
Following the publication of The Forgotten Kingdom, Dever once again harshly criticized Finkelstein: writing in the Biblical Archaeology Review, he described Finkelstein as "a magician and a showman". He stated that the book was full of "numerous errors, misrepresentations, over-simplifications and contradictions". Another, more moderate, review was written on the same magazine by Aaron Burke: while Burke described Finkelstein's book as "ambitious" and praised its literary style, he did not accept Finkelstein's conclusions. He stated that the book engages in several speculations that cannot be proved by archeology, biblical and extra-biblical sources. He also criticized Finkelstein for persistently trying to downgrade the role of David in the development of ancient Israel.
Other landmarks
Selected as one of the 10 most influential researchers in the history of archaeology in the Levant (a Swiss publication, 1993).
Invited to the Salon du Livre in Paris, 2008. Two public debates there: with the French philosopher Armand Abécassis on La Bible et la Terre Sainte, and with the Israeli author Meir Shalev on la Bible de l’ecrivain et la Bible de l’archeologue.
Keynote address in the Annual Meeting of the American Schools of Oriental Research, Nashville 2000.
A ca. 50 pages profile chapter in J.-F. Mondot’s Une Bible pour deux mémoires (Paris 2006).
Invited lecture in the special symposium celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Weizmann Institute (together with Nobel Prize laureates Ada Yonath and Daniel Kahneman, and Lord Wilson, 2009).
Keynote address in the Symposium of Mediterranean Archaeology, Florence 2012.
Two lectures in the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres, Paris, May 2012 and February 2016.
Public lectures in events at universities such as the University of Chicago, Heidelberg University (2014) and Princeton University.
Joint session of the American Schools of Oriental Research and Society of Biblical Literature titled Rethinking Israel – celebrating the publication of Rethinking Israel, Studies in the History and Archaeology of Ancient Israel in Honr of Israel Finkelstein, Boston 2017.
Conversation with Israel Finkelstein and Thomas Romer, central evening event in the International Meeting of the Society for Biblical Literature, Rome, July 2019.
References
External links
Finkelstein's personal website: https://israelfinkelstein.wordpress.com/
The Megiddo Expedition: https://megiddoexpedition.wordpress.com/
The Kiriath-Jearim excavations: https://kiriathjearim.wordpress.com/
The digitized epigraphy website: http://www-nuclear.tau.ac.il/~eip/ostraca/Home/Home.html
Finkelstein's scholarly articles on academia.edu: https://telaviv.academia.edu/IsraelFinkelstein
The Dan David prize, 2005: http://www.dandavidprize.org/laureates/2005/77-past-archaeology/173-prof-israel-finkelstein
The Shmunis Family Conversations in the Archaeology and History of Ancient Israel with Israel Finkelstein, 2020–2021: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvm7MPUI_WJclpUfZgCw1Tfd_cyT4Fh-f
1949 births
Living people
20th-century archaeologists
20th-century Israeli male writers
21st-century archaeologists
21st-century Israeli male writers
Biblical archaeologists
Historical geographers
Israeli archaeologists
Israeli Ashkenazi Jews
Israeli people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent
Tel Aviv University faculty | true | [
"Mundardjito (8 November 1936 – 2 July 2021) was an Indonesian archeologist.\n\nBiography\nMundardjito has been a permanent lecturer from 1964 to 2001 at the University of Indonesia and was Chair of the UI Archeology Department from 1970 to 1972. He also served as Assistant Dean III of the UI Faculty of Letters from 1972 to 1976. He was appointed Professor of UI in 2001 and in 2001 decided to retire at the age of 65.\n\nMundardjito has introduced the methodology and theory of archeology in Indonesia as well as developed a new branch of archeology, namely ecological and spatial archeology in 1993, which he introduced in his dissertation. In addition to this, Mundardjito also became one of the compilers of the Archaeological Code of Ethics in 1997 at the meeting of the Indonesian Archaeological Experts Association (IAAI), which he founded on February 4, 1976 with his colleagues.\n\nReferences\n\n1936 births\n2021 deaths\nIndonesian archaeologists\nUniversity of Indonesia faculty",
"Marco Milanese (27 October 1958 ) is an Italian archeologist. He graduated in archeology in 1981 from the University of Genoa. In 1983 he won the 3rd edition of the Bretschneider's Erma International Archeology Prize in Rome, with the work Scavi nell'oppidum pre-romano di Genova.\nIn 1987 he obtained his PhD in archeology at the University of Pisa, Siena and Florence. Since 1992 he has been teaching, as associate professor, in archaeological research methodologies and medieval archeology at the Universities of Sassari, Genoa, Arezzo and Pisa. Since 2003 he has been full professor in Sassari.\n\nPublications \n with Giovanni Aliprandi, La Ceramica Europea Introduzione alla tecnologia alla storia e all'arte, Editore: ECIG Edizioni culturali internazionali Genova, (1986) \nwith Riccardo Francovich, Lo Scavo archeologico di Montarrenti e i problemi dell'incastellamento medievale. Esperienze a confronto, Firenze \nGenova romana. Mercato e città dalla tarda età repubblicana a Diocleziano dagli scavi del colle di Castello (Genova-San Silvestro), Ed. L'Erma di Bretschneider, Roma, 1993 \nStudi e ricerche sul villaggio medievale di Geridu. Miscellanea 1996-2001, QUAVAS - Quaderni del Centro di Documentazione dei Villaggi Abbandonati della Sardegna, 2004 \n Alghero. Archeologia di una città medievale, Sassari. 2013\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\nPeople from Genoa\nItalian archaeologists\n1958 births\nLiving people"
]
|
[
"Israel Finkelstein",
"The Northern Kingdom",
"What did he do in The Northern Kingodm",
"Finkelstein dealt with a variety of themes related to the archeology and history of the Northern Kingdom of Israel.",
"What time of archeology themes did he deal with",
"Israel. He proposed that the first North Israelite territorial polity emerged in the Gibeon-Bethel plateau in the late Iron I and early Iron IIA."
]
| C_4d673f03f1d64a48b4323c3fe9d3cda7_0 | Are there any other interesting aspects about this article? | 3 | Are there any other interesting aspects about Israel Finkelstein other than his proposal that the first North Israelite territorial polity emerged in the Gibeon-Bethel plateau in the late Iron I and early Iron IIA? | Israel Finkelstein | Finkelstein dealt with a variety of themes related to the archeology and history of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. He proposed that the first North Israelite territorial polity emerged in the Gibeon-Bethel plateau in the late Iron I and early Iron IIA. He found archaeological evidence for this in the system of fortified sites, such as Tell en-Nasbeh, Khirbet ed-Dawwara, et-Tell ("Ai") and Gibeon. Historical evidence for the existence of this polity can be found in the campaign of Pharaoh Sheshoqn I in this region in the middle-to-second half of the 10th century BCE. According to Finkelstein, positive memories in the Bible of the House of Saul, which originated from the North, represent this early Israelite entity. He suggested that this north Israelite polity ruled over much of the territory of the highlands, that it presented a threat to the interests of Egypt of the 22nd Dynasty in Canaan, and that it was taken over during the campaign of Sheshonq I. Finkelstein proposed that in its early days, the Northern Kingdom (Jeroboam I and his successors) ruled over the Samaria Highlands, the western slopes of the Gilead and the area of the Jezreel Valley. The expansion of Israel further to the north came during the days of the Omride Dynasty in the first half of the 9th century BCE, and even more so in the time of Jeroboam II in the first half of the 8th century BCE. Finkelstein described the special features of "Omride Architecture" and, with his Megiddo team, dealt with different subjects related to the material culture of the Northern Kingdom, such as metallurgy and cult practices. Finkelstein also reflected on biblical traditions related to the Northern Kingdom, such as the Jacob cycle in Genesis (a study carried out with Thomas Romer), the Exodus tradition, the heroic stories in the Book of Judges and remnants of royal traditions in the Books of Samuel and Kings. He suggested that these North Israelite traditions were first committed to writing in the days of Jeroboam II (first half of the 8th century BCE), that they were brought to Judah with Israelite refugees after the takeover of Israel by Assyria, and that they were later incorporated into the Judahite-dominated Bible. Finkelstein sees the biblical genre of deploying "history" in the service of royal ideology as emerging from Israel (the North) of the 8th century BCE. CANNOTANSWER | Finkelstein proposed that in its early days, the Northern Kingdom (Jeroboam I and his successors) ruled over the Samaria Highlands, the western slopes of the Gilead | Israel Finkelstein (, born March 29, 1949) is an Israeli archaeologist, professor emeritus at Tel Aviv University. Finkelstein is active in the archaeology of the Levant and is an applicant of archaeological data in reconstructing biblical history. He is also known for applying the exact and life sciences in archaeological and historical reconstruction. Finkelstein is the current excavator of Megiddo, a key site for the study of the Bronze and Iron Ages in the Levant.
Finkelstein is a member of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities and an associé étranger of the French Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres. Finkelstein has received several noteworthy academic and writing awards. In 2005, he won the Dan David Prize for his revision of the history of Israel in the 10th and 9th centuries BCE. In 2009 he was named chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Minister of Culture, and in 2010, received a doctorate honoris causa from the University of Lausanne. He is a member of the selection committee of the Shanghai Archaeology Forum, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
Among Finkelstein's books are The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of its Sacred Texts (2001) and David and Solomon: In Search of the Bible's Sacred Kings and the Roots of the Western Tradition (2006), both written with Neil Asher Silberman. Also he wrote the textbooks on the emergence of Ancient Israel, titled The Archaeology of the Israelite Settlement (1988); on the archaeology and history of the arid zones of the Levant, titled Living on the Fringe (1995); and on the Northern Kingdom of Israel, titled The Forgotten Kingdom (2013).
Background
Family
Israel Finkelstein was born to an Ashkenazi Jewish family in Tel Aviv, Israel, on March 29, 1949. His parents were Zvi (Grisha) Finkelstein (born 1908) and Miriam Finkelstein (maiden name Ellenhorn, born 1910). His great grandfather on his mother's side, Shlomo Ellenhorn, came to Palestine from Grodno (today in Belarus) in the 1850s and settled in Hebron. He was one of the first physicians in the Bikur Cholim Hospital in Jerusalem, and is listed among the group of people who purchased the land in 1878 in order to establish Petah Tikva – the first modern Jewish settlement in Palestine outside the four holy cities. Finkelstein's grandfather, Israel Jacob Ellenhorn, was the first pharmacist in Petah Tikva.
Finkelstein’s father was born in Melitopol (Ukraine). He came to Palestine with his family in 1920. He was in the orange-growing business and was active in the sports organisations of Israel. He served as vice chairman of the Israel Football Association, chairman of Maccabi Israel and was a member of the Israel Olympic Committee.
Finkelstein is married to Joelle (maiden name Cohen). They are the parents of two daughters – Adar (born 1992) and Sarai (born 1996).
Education
Israel Finkelstein attended the PICA elementary school (1956–1963) and Ahad Ha'am High School (1963–1967), both in Petah Tikva. He then served in the Israel Defense Forces (1967–1970). He studied archaeology and Near Eastern civilizations, and geography at Tel Aviv University, receiving his BA in 1974. While there, Finkelstein was a student of Prof. Yohanan Aharoni. He continued as a research student under the supervision of Prof. Moshe Kochavi, receiving his MA in 1978 (thesis on Rural Settlement in the Yarkon Basin in the Iron Age and Persian-Hellenistic Periods). He graduated as a PhD in 1983 with a thesis titled "The Izbet Sartah Excavations and the Israelite Settlement in the Hill Country".
Academic career
From 1976 to 1990, Finkelstein taught at the Department of Land of Israel Studies, Bar-Ilan University, beginning as a teaching assistant. He spent the academic year of 1983–84 in a research group led by Prof. Yigael Yadin in the Institute of Advanced Studies in the Hebrew University, Jerusalem. In 1986 and 1987, Finkelstein taught at the Department for Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, University of Chicago. In 1987 he was appointed an associate professor with tenure at Bar-Ilan University and in 1990 moved to the Department of Archaeology and Ancient Near Eastern Civilizations at Tel Aviv University. In 1992/93 Finkelstein spent a sabbatical year as a visiting scholar at the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, Harvard University. Since 1992, he has been a Full Professor at Tel Aviv University. He served as the chairperson of the Department of Archaeology and Near Eastern Studies (1994–98) and as Director of The Sonia and Marco Nadler Institute of Archaeology (1996–2003). In 1998–99 Finkelstein was a visiting scholar in the Centre de Recherche d’Archéologie Orientale and the École Pratique des Hautes Études in the Sorbonne, Paris.
Finkelstein delivered series of lectures on the history and archaeology of Ancient Israel at the Texas Christian University (2002), the University of Buenos Aires (2011), the College de France in Paris (2012) and the Methodist University of São Paulo (2015), the Tokyo Christian University (2017), the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome (2017) and the University of Zurich (2018). Finkelstein has read over 100 papers in international conferences and given numerous talks in universities around the globe.
Finkelstein has been the Editor of Tel Aviv, the journal of the Institute of Archaeology of Tel Aviv University, since 2008 and Executive Editor of the Monograph Series by the Institute of Archaeology, Tel Aviv University, since 2005. He is a member of editorial boards, including the Palestine Exploration Quarterly and the Archaeology and Biblical Studies series of the Society of Biblical Literature.
Fieldwork
Finkelstein was trained as a field archaeologist in the excavations of Tel Beer Sheva (1971, Director: Yohanan Aharoni) and Tel Aphek (1973–1978, Directors: Moshe Kochavi and Pirhiya Beck). Starting in 1976, he carried out his own fieldwork in a variety of sites and regions:
Past excavations and surveys
‘Izbet Sartah, 1976–1978: Field Director (under Prof. Moshe Kochavi) of excavations at ‘Izbet Sartah, an Iron I-Iron IIA village-site near Rosh Ha‘ayin, east of Tel Aviv. For the results see: I. Finkelstein, Izbet Sartah: An Early Iron Age Site near Rosh Ha‘ayin, Israel, Oxford 1986 (BAR International Series 299).
Southern Sinai, 1976–1978: Surveys of Byzantine monastic remains in southern Sinai. For the results see: I. Finkelstein, Byzantine Monastic Remains in Southern Sinai, Dumbarton Oaks Papers 39 (1985), pp. 39–75.
Bene Beraq, 1977: Director of salvage excavations at the mound of ancient Bene Beraq near Tel Aviv. For the results see: I. Finkelstein, Soundings at Ancient Bene-Beraq, ‘Atiqot 10 (1990), pp. 29–40 (Hebrew).
Tel Ira, 1980: Co-Director of the excavations of the Iron II site of Tel Ira in the Beer-sheba Valley (together with I. Beit-Arieh and B. Cresson). For the results see: I. Finkelstein and I. Beit-Arieh, Area E, in I. Beit-Arieh (ed.), Tel Ira: A Stronghold in the Biblical Negev (monograph Series of the Institute of Archaeology Tel Aviv University 15), Tel Aviv 1999, pp. 67–96.
Shiloh, 1981–1984: Director of the excavations at biblical Shiloh in the highlands north of Jerusalem. The site features Middle Bronze, Late Bronze and Iron I remains. For the results see: I. Finkelstein (ed.), Shiloh: The Archaeology of a Biblical Site (Monograph Series of the Institute of Archaeology Tel Aviv University 10), Tel Aviv 1993.
Southern Samaria Survey, 1981–1987: Director of the survey, ca. 1000 km2. in the highlands north of Jerusalem. For the results see: I. Finkelstein, Z. Lederman and S. Bunimovitz, Highlands of Many Cultures, The Southern Samaria Survey, The Sites (Monograph Series of the Institute of Archaeology Tel Aviv University 14). Tel Aviv
Khirbet ed-Dawwara, 1985–86: Director, excavations at Khirbet ed-Dawwara, an Iron I-early Iron IIA site in the desert fringe northeast of Jerusalem. For the results see: I. Finkelstein, Excavations at Kh. ed-Dawwara: An Iron Age Site Northeast of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv 17 (1990), pp. 163–208.
Dhahr Mirzbaneh, 1987: Sounding at the Intermediate Bronze site of Dhahr Mirzbaneh in the desert fringe northeast of Jerusalem. For the results see: I. Finkelstein, The Central Hill Country in the Intermediate Bronze Age, Israel Exploration Journal 41 (1991), pp. 19–45.
Present excavations
Megiddo, 1994–present: co-Director, the Megiddo Excavations (1994–2012 with David Ussishkin, since 2014 with Matthew J. Adams and Mario A.S. Martin). Megiddo is considered as one of the most important Bronze and Iron Age sites in the Levant. For the results see: I. Finkelstein, D. Ussishkin and B. Halpern (eds.), Megiddo III: The 1992–1996 Seasons (Monograph Series of the Institute of Archaeology Tel Aviv University 18). Tel Aviv 2000. I. Finkelstein, D. Ussishkin and B. Halpern (eds.), Megiddo IV: The 1998–2002 Seasons (Monograph Series of the Institute of Archaeology Tel Aviv University 24), Tel Aviv 2006. I. Finkelstein, D. Ussishkin and E.H. Cline (editors), Megiddo V: The 2004–2008 Seasons (Monograph Series of the Institute of Archaeology Tel Aviv University 31), Winona Lake 2013. I. Finkelstein, M.A.S. Martin and M.J. Adams (eds.), Megiddo VI: The 2010–2014 Seasons (forthcoming).
The Negev Highlands, 2006–present: co-Director of excavations in the Iron Age sites of Atar Haroa and Nahal Boqer, and the Intermediate Bronze Age sites of Mashabe Sade and En Ziq (with Ruth Shahack-Gross). For the results see: R. Shahack-Gross and I. Finkelstein, Settlement Oscillations in the Negev Highlands Revisited: The Impact of Microarchaeological Methods, Radiocarbon 57/2 (2015), pp. 253–264.
Kiriath-Jearim, 2017–present: co-Director, the Shmunis Family excavations at Kiriath-Jearim – a biblical site in the highlands west of Jerusalem associated with the Ark Narrative in the Book of Samuel (with Christophe Nicolle and Thomas Römer, the College de France).
Other projects
In the past
1997–2002: Petrographic study of the Amarna tablets (with Yuval Goren and Nadav Na'aman). For the results see: Y. Goren, I. Finkelstein and N. Na'aman, Inscribed in Clay: Provenance Study of the Amarna Letters and other Ancient Near Eastern Texts (Monograph Series of the Institute of Archaeology Tel Aviv University 23), Tel Aviv 2004.
2009–2014: Principal Investigator of a European Research Council-funded project titled Reconstructing Ancient Israel: The Exact and Life Sciences Perspectives (with Steve Weiner, Weizmann Institute of Science, co-Principal Investigator). The project was organized into 10 tracks: Radiocarbon dating, ancient DNA, geoarchaeology, paleoclimate, petrography, metallurgy, daily mathematics, advanced imaging of ostraca, residue analysis and archaeozoology. Over 40 scholars, advanced students and post-docs were involved in the project. Samples were taken from a large number of sites in Israel and Greece. For the results see: I. Finkelstein, S. Weiner and E. Boaretto (eds.), Reconstructing Ancient Israel: The Exact and Life Sciences Perspectives, special issue of Radiocarbon (57/2), 2015, with a list of all publications until 2015.
Paleoclimate of the Levant (2009-2019), with Dafna Langgut (Tel Aviv University) and Thomas Litt (University of Bonn).
The Archaeological and Historical Realities behind the Pentateuch (2016-2019), with Konrad Schmid (University of Zurich), Thomas Römer and Christophe Nihan (University of Lausanne) and Oded Lipschits (Tel Aviv University).
Ongoing research projects
Geoarchaeological Investigations in the Negev Highlands (2006-) with Ruth Shahack-Gross (University of Haifa).
Iron Age Hebrew Ostraca in the Silicon Age: Computerized Paleography (2008-), directed with Eli Piasetzky (Tel Aviv University). For results see list of publications in http://www-nuclear.tau.ac.il/~eip/ostraca/Publications/Publications.html
Ancient DNA, animals and Humans (2009-), with Meirav Meiri (Tel Aviv University); current cooperation with Joseph Maran and Philipp Stockhammer (Universities of Heidelberg and Munich), Liran Carmel (Hebrew University) and David Reich (Harvard University).
Scholarly contributions
Finkelstein has written on a variety of topics, including the archaeology of the Bronze Age and the exact and life sciences contribution to archaeology. Much of his work has been devoted to the Iron Age and, more specifically, to questions related to the history of Ancient Israel.
The Emergence of Ancient Israel
The classical theories on the emergence of Israel viewed the process as a unique event in the history of the region. Finkelstein suggested that we are dealing with a long-term process of a cyclical nature. He demonstrated that the wave of settlement in the highlands in the Iron Age I (ca. 1150-950 BCE) was the last in a series of such demographic developments – the first had taken place in the Early Bronze and the second in the Middle Bronze. The periods between these peaks were characterized by low settlement activity. Finkelstein explained these oscillations as representing changes along the sedentary/ pastoral-nomadic continuum, which were caused by socioeconomic and political dynamics. Hence, a big portion of the people who settled in the highlands in the early Iron Age were locals of a pastoral-nomadic background. Others, who originated from local sedentary background, moved to the highlands as a result of the Bronze Age collapse – which in turn was related to a long period of dry climate in ca. 1250-1100 BCE. Since eventually these groups formed the Northern Kingdom of Israel, they can be labeled "Israelites" as early as their initial settlement process. The same holds true for the contemporary settlement process in Transjordan and western Syria, which brought about the rise of Moab, Ammon and the Aramean kingdoms of the later phases of the Iron Age.
Finkelstein regards the biblical account on the Conquest of Canaan in the Book of Joshua as an ideological manifesto of the Deuteronomistic author/s of the late 7th century BCE, describing a "conquest to be" under King Josiah of Judah rather than a historical event at the end of the Bronze Age. He proposed that the original Conquest Account may have originated in the Northern Kingdom of Israel in the early 8th century BCE; it could have been influenced by memories of the turmoil that had taken place in the lowlands in the late Iron I (10th century BCE), rather than the end of the Late Bronze Age (late 12th century BCE).
The Low Chronology
Until the 1990s, the chronology of the Iron Age in the Levant had been anchored in the biblical account of the great United Monarchy of David and Solomon. Accordingly, the Iron I ended ca. 1000 BCE and the Iron IIA was dated from 1000 BCE until the campaign of Pharaoh Sheshonq I (biblical Shishak) ca. 925 BCE. The two Iron IIA palaces at Megiddo were conceived as the material manifestation for the Solomonic Empire. While preparing for the excavations at Megiddo in the early 1990s, Finkelstein noticed difficulties in this scheme. Noteworthy among them is the appearance of similar traits of material culture at Megiddo in a layer that was dated to the time of King Solomon in the middle of the 10th century, and at Samaria and Jezreel in contexts dated to the time of the Omride Dynasty (of the Northern Kingdom of Israel) in the early 9th century BCE. To resolve these difficulties, Finkelstein proposed to "lower" the dates of the Iron Age strata in the Levant by several decades.
According to Finkelstein's Low Chronology, the Iron Age I lasted until the middle of the 10th century BCE, while the Iron IIA is dated between the middle of the 10th century and ca. 800 BCE, if not slightly later. This means that the Megiddo palaces and other features which had traditionally been attributed to the time of King Solomon – features which date to the late Iron IIA – should indeed be associated with the endeavors of the Omride Dynasty in the first half of the 9th century BCE. A big debate ensued. Starting in the late 1990s, the focus of the discussion shifted to the interpretation of radiocarbon determinations for organic samples from key sites, such as Tel Rehov and Megiddo. All in all, the radiocarbon results put the Iron I/IIA transition ca. the middle of the 10th century (rather than 1000 BCE as had traditionally been proposed), and the Iron IIA/B transition in the early days of the 8th century (rather than ca. 925 BCE).
In parallel, and not directly connected, Finkelstein dealt with the chronology of Philistine pottery of the Iron Age I. The traditional theory fixed the appearance of Philistine pottery – and hence the settlement of the Philistines in the southern coastal plain of the Levant – in accordance with the confrontation between Ramses III and the Sea Peoples in the early 12th century BCE. In other words, Philistine pottery appears during the last phase of Egyptian rule in Canaan. Finkelstein proposed that the locally-made Monochrome pottery known from several sites in Philistia, which is widely understood as representing the earliest phase of Philistine settlement, should be dated after the withdrawal of Egypt from Canaan in the 1130s.
Finkelstein sees the biblical description of the time of David and Solomon as multilayered. He acknowledges the historicity of the founders of the Davidic Dynasty, places them in the 10th century BCE, and considers the possibility that the description of the rise of David to power conceals old memories of his activity as a leader of an Apiru-band that was active in the southern fringe of Judah. Yet, he sees the description of a great United Monarchy as an ideological construct that represents the ideology of late-monarchic author/s in the late 7th century BCE, first and foremost the pan-Israelite ideology of the days of King Josiah of Judah. According to him, the historical David and Solomon ruled over a small territory in the southern highlands – a territory not very different from that of Jerusalem of the Late Bronze Age. Finkelstein sees much of the description of King Solomon as representing realities from late monarchic times: First, from the later days of the Northern Kingdom (for instance, the reference to Megiddo, Hazor and Gezer in and to the stables, horses and chariots of Solomon). Second, from the time of King Manasseh of Judah in the early 7th century BCE, under Assyrian domination (for instance, the visit of the Queen of Sheba in Jerusalem). He understands the description of the Philistines in the Bible as portraying realities in Philistia in late-monarchic times.
"New Canaan"
Following the results of the excavations at Megiddo, Finkelstein argued that the material culture of the Iron I in the northern valleys continues that of the Late Bronze Age. In other words, the collapse of the Late Bronze city-states under Egyptian domination in the late 12th century BCE was followed by revival of some of the same centers and rise of others in the Iron I. He termed this phenomenon "New Canaan". Accordingly, the major break in the material culture of Canaan took place at the end of the Iron I in the 10th century BCE rather than the end of the Late Bronze Age. Finkelstein associated the violent destruction of the revived city-states with the expansion of the highlanders (early Israelites). He suggested that memories of the turmoil in the lowlands in the late Iron I can be found in northern traditions regarding skirmishes with Canaanite cities which appear in the heroic stories in the Book of Judges.
The Northern Kingdom
Finkelstein dealt with a variety of themes related to the archeology and history of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. He proposed that the first North Israelite territorial polity emerged in the Gibeon-Bethel plateau in the late Iron I and early Iron IIA. He found archaeological evidence for this in the system of fortified sites, such as Tell en-Nasbeh, Khirbet ed-Dawwara, et-Tell ("Ai") and Gibeon. Historical evidence for the existence of this polity can be found in the campaign of Pharaoh Sheshonq I in this region in the middle-to-second half of the 10th century BCE. According to Finkelstein, positive memories in the Bible of the House of Saul, which originated from the North, represent this early Israelite entity. He suggested that this north Israelite polity ruled over much of the territory of the highlands, that it presented a threat to the interests of Egypt of the 22nd Dynasty in Canaan, and that it was taken over during the campaign of Sheshonq I.
Finkelstein proposed that in its early days, the Northern Kingdom (Jeroboam I and his successors) ruled over the Samaria Highlands, the western slopes of the Gilead and the area of the Jezreel Valley. The expansion of Israel further to the north came during the days of the Omride Dynasty in the first half of the 9th century BCE, and even more so in the time of Jeroboam II in the first half of the 8th century BCE. Finkelstein described the special features of Omride architecture and, with his Megiddo team, dealt with different subjects related to the material culture of the Northern Kingdom, such as metallurgy and cult practices.
Finkelstein also reflected on biblical traditions related to the Northern Kingdom, such as the Jacob cycle in Genesis (a study carried out with Thomas Römer), the Exodus tradition, the heroic stories in the Book of Judges and remnants of royal traditions in the Books of Samuel and Kings. He suggested that these North Israelite traditions were first committed to writing in the days of Jeroboam II (first half of the 8th century BCE), that they were brought to Judah with Israelite refugees after the takeover of Israel by Assyria, and that they were later incorporated into the Judahite-dominated Bible. Finkelstein sees the biblical genre of deploying "history" in the service of royal ideology as emerging from Israel (the North) of the 8th century BCE.
Archaeology and history of Jerusalem
Finkelstein has recently dealt with the location of the ancient mound of Jerusalem (with Ido Koch and Oded Lipschits). The conventional wisdom sees that "City of David" ridge as the location of the original settlement of Jerusalem. Finkelstein and his colleagues argued that the "City of David" ridge does not have the silhouette of a mound; that it is located in topographical inferiority relative to the surrounding area; and that the archaeological record of the ridge does not include periods of habitation attested in reliable textual records. According to them, the most suitable location for the core of ancient Jerusalem is the Temple Mount. The large area of the Herodian platform (today's Harem esh-Sharif) may conceal a mound of five hectares and more, which – similar to other capital cities in the Levant – included both the royal compound and habitation quarters. Locating the mound of Ancient Jerusalem on the Temple Mount resolves many of the difficulties pertaining to the "City of David" ridge.
According to Finkelstein, the history of Jerusalem in biblical times should be viewed in terms of three main phases:
Firstly, until the 9th century BCE, Jerusalem was restricted to the mound on the Temple Mount and ruled over a modest area in the southern highlands. Accordingly, Jerusalem of the time of David and Solomon can be compared to Jerusalem of the Amarna period in the 14th century BCE: it had the size of a typical highlands mound (for instance, Shechem), ruled over a restricted area, but still had impact beyond the highlands.
Secondly, the first expansion of Jerusalem came in the 9th century BCE, perhaps in its second half, when the town grew significantly in a southerly direction. Remains of the Iron IIA were unearthed south of al-Aqsa Mosque, above the Gihon Spring and to the south of the Dung Gate of the Old City. In parallel to this development, Judah expanded to the Shephelah in the west and Beer-sheba Valley in the south, and for the first time became a territorial kingdom rather than a city-state restricted to the highlands.
Thirdly, the most impressive phase in the settlement history of Jerusalem commenced in the late 8th century BCE and lasted until its destruction by the Babylonians in 586 BCE. At that time Jerusalem expanded dramatically, to include the entire "City of David" ridge, as well as the "Western Hill" (the Armenian and Jewish Quarter of today's Old City). This expansion was the result of the arrival of Israelite refugees after the demise of the Northern Kingdom in 722-720 BCE. These groups brought with them traits of Northern material culture, and more important – their foundation myths, royal traditions and heroic stories. These Northern traditions were later incorporated into the Judahite Bible.
Jerusalem and Yehud/Judea of the Persian and Hellenistic periods
Finkelstein noted that in the Persian Period, Jerusalem was limited to the mound on the Temple Mount – and even there was sparsely settled – and that Yehud of that time was also thinly settled. As the description of the construction of the wall of Jerusalem in Nehemiah 3 must relate to the big city (extending beyond the old mound on the Temple Mount), it probably portrays the construction of the fortifications by the Hasmoneans.
Finkelstein further noted that many of the sites mentioned in the lists of returnees in Ezra and Nehemiah were not inhabited in the Persian Period and hence sees these lists as reflecting the demographic situation in days of the Hasmoneans. The same holds true, in his opinion, for the genealogies in 1 Chronicles. Finkelstein then looked into the accounts of Judahite monarchs in 2 Chronicles, which do not appear in Kings. He called attention to similarities between these texts and 1 Maccabees, and proposed to understand Chronicles as representing legitimacy needs of the Hasmoneans. This means that at least 2 Chronicles dates to the late 2nd century BCE, probably to the days of John Hyrcanus.
Published works
Books
In addition to the reports of excavations cited above:
Sinai in Antiquity, Tel Aviv 1980 (ed., with Zeev Meshel, Hebrew)
The Archaeology of the Israelite Settlement, Jerusalem 1988,
Archaeological Survey of the Hill Country of Benjamin, Jerusalem 1993, (ed., with Yitzhak Magen)
From Nomadism to Monarchy: Archaeological and Historical Aspects of Early Israel, Jerusalem 1994, (ed., with Nadav Na'aman)
Living on the Fringe: The Archaeology and History of the Negev, Sinai and Neighbouring Regions in the Bronze and Iron Ages, Sheffield 1995,
The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred Texts, New York 2001 (with Neil Asher Silberman). Translated to 12 languages.
David and Solomon: In Search of the Bible's Sacred Kings and the Roots of the Western Tradition, New York 2006, (with Neil Asher Silberman). Translated to six languages.
The Quest for the Historical Israel: Debating Archeology and the History of Early Israel, Atlanta 2007, (with Amihai Mazar)
Un archéologue au pays de la Bible, Paris 2008,
The Forgotten Kingdom. The Archaeology and History of Northern Israel, Atlanta 2013, . Translated to four languages.
Hasmonean Realities behind Ezra, Nehemiah and Chronicles, Atlanta 2018.
Co-editor of three festschrifts – for Nadav Na'aman, David Ussishkin and Benjamin Sass.
Articles
About 400 scholarly articles; for many of them see: https://telaviv.academia.edu/IsraelFinkelstein
Festschrift
Bene Israel: Studies in the Archaeology of Israel and the Levant during the Bronze and Iron Ages in Honour of Israel Finkelstein, Leiden and London 2008 (eds. Alexander Fantalkin and Assaf Yasur-Landau).
Rethinking Israel: Studies in the History and Archaeology of Ancient Israel in Honor of Israel Finkelstein, Winona Lake 2017 (eds. Oded Lipschits, Yuval Gadot and Matthew J. Adams).
The Shmunis Family Conversations in the Archaeology and History of Ancient Israel with Israel Finkelstein
The Shmunis Family Conversations in the Archaeology and History of Ancient Israel with Israel Finkelstein series is a YouTube series hosted by the W.F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research's Albright Live YouTube Channel. As of September 2021, 26 episodes have been released. The series is set as an interview-style conversation between Albright Institute Director Matthew J. Adams and archaeologist Israel Finkelstein. Episodes cover the rise of Ancient Israel as evidenced by archaeology, ancient Near Eastern textual sources, the Bible, and archaeology from the Late Bronze Age through the Hellenistic Period. The episodes are written and directed by Israel Finkelstein and Matthew J. Adams with cinematography and editing by Yuval Pan. The series is Produced by Djehuti Productions and the Albright Institute with a grant from the Shmunis Family Foundation.
Awards and recognition
Finkelstein is the Laureate of the Dan David Prize in 2005. The select committee noted that he is "widely regarded as a leading scholar in the archaeology of the Levant and as a foremost applicant of archaeological knowledge to reconstructing biblical Israelite history. He excels at creatively forging links between archaeology and the exact sciences and he has revolutionized many of these fields. … Finkelstein has had an impact on radically revising the history of Israel in the 10th and 9th centuries BCE. He has transformed the study of history and archaeology in Israeli universities, moving from a ‘monumental’ to a ‘systemic’ study of the archaeological evidence. He has taken what was becoming a rather staid and conservative discipline, with everyone in general agreement as to interpretation of excavation results, and has turned things upside down. … The study of these periods is never again going to be what it once was. … Israel Finkelstein has proven to be creative, generating scholarship no less than discussion, launching ideas and stimulating debates, fearlessly but with imagination and grace."
In 2014, Finkelstein was awarded the Prix Delalande Guérineau: Institut de France, l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, for his book Le Royaume biblique oublié (The Forgotten Kingdom).
He is the recipient of the MacAllister Field Archaeology Award 2017 (The American Schools of Oriental Research).
His other awards include the French decoration of Chevalier de l’ordre des Arts et des Lettres, (2009) and the Doctorat honoris causa of the University of Lausanne (2010).
Criticism
Finkelstein's theories about Saul, David and Solomon have been criticized by fellow archaeologists. Amihai Mazar described Finkelstein's Low Chronology proposal as "premature and unacceptable". Amnon Ben-Tor accused him of employing a “double standard”, citing the biblical text where it suited him and deploring its use where it did not. Other criticisms came from William G. Dever (who dismissed the Low Chronology as "idiosyncratic"), Lawrence Stager, Doron Ben-Ami, Raz Kletter and Anabel Zarzeki-Peleg. David Ussishkin, despite agreeing with many of Finkelstein's theories about the United Monarchy, has also shown doubts and reservations about Finkelstein's Low Chronology.
Writing in the Biblical Archaeology Review and subsequently in the Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, William G. Dever described The Bible Unearthed as a "convoluted story", writing that "This clever, trendy work may deceive lay readers". Evangelical Christian biblical scholar Kenneth Kitchen was also critical of the book, writing that "[A] careful critical perusal of this work—which certainly has much to say about both archaeology and the biblical writings—reveals that we are dealing very largely with a work of imaginative fiction, not a serious or reliable account of the subject", and "Their treatment of the exodus is among the most factually ignorant and misleading that this writer has ever read." Another evangelical, Richard Hess, also being critical, wrote that "The authors always present their interpretation of the archaeological data but do not mention or interact with contemporary alternative approaches. Thus the book is ideologically driven and controlled."
A 2004 debate between Finkelstein and William G. Dever, mediated by Hershel Shanks (editor of the Biblical Archaeology Review), quickly degenerated into insults, with Dever calling Finkelstein "idiosyncratic and doctrinaire" and Finkelstein dismissing Dever as a "jealous academic parasite". Dever later accused Finkelstein of supporting post-Zionism, to which Finkelstein replied by accusing Dever of being "a biblical literalist disguised as a liberal". Shanks described the exchange between the two as "embarassing".
Following the publication of The Forgotten Kingdom, Dever once again harshly criticized Finkelstein: writing in the Biblical Archaeology Review, he described Finkelstein as "a magician and a showman". He stated that the book was full of "numerous errors, misrepresentations, over-simplifications and contradictions". Another, more moderate, review was written on the same magazine by Aaron Burke: while Burke described Finkelstein's book as "ambitious" and praised its literary style, he did not accept Finkelstein's conclusions. He stated that the book engages in several speculations that cannot be proved by archeology, biblical and extra-biblical sources. He also criticized Finkelstein for persistently trying to downgrade the role of David in the development of ancient Israel.
Other landmarks
Selected as one of the 10 most influential researchers in the history of archaeology in the Levant (a Swiss publication, 1993).
Invited to the Salon du Livre in Paris, 2008. Two public debates there: with the French philosopher Armand Abécassis on La Bible et la Terre Sainte, and with the Israeli author Meir Shalev on la Bible de l’ecrivain et la Bible de l’archeologue.
Keynote address in the Annual Meeting of the American Schools of Oriental Research, Nashville 2000.
A ca. 50 pages profile chapter in J.-F. Mondot’s Une Bible pour deux mémoires (Paris 2006).
Invited lecture in the special symposium celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Weizmann Institute (together with Nobel Prize laureates Ada Yonath and Daniel Kahneman, and Lord Wilson, 2009).
Keynote address in the Symposium of Mediterranean Archaeology, Florence 2012.
Two lectures in the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres, Paris, May 2012 and February 2016.
Public lectures in events at universities such as the University of Chicago, Heidelberg University (2014) and Princeton University.
Joint session of the American Schools of Oriental Research and Society of Biblical Literature titled Rethinking Israel – celebrating the publication of Rethinking Israel, Studies in the History and Archaeology of Ancient Israel in Honr of Israel Finkelstein, Boston 2017.
Conversation with Israel Finkelstein and Thomas Romer, central evening event in the International Meeting of the Society for Biblical Literature, Rome, July 2019.
References
External links
Finkelstein's personal website: https://israelfinkelstein.wordpress.com/
The Megiddo Expedition: https://megiddoexpedition.wordpress.com/
The Kiriath-Jearim excavations: https://kiriathjearim.wordpress.com/
The digitized epigraphy website: http://www-nuclear.tau.ac.il/~eip/ostraca/Home/Home.html
Finkelstein's scholarly articles on academia.edu: https://telaviv.academia.edu/IsraelFinkelstein
The Dan David prize, 2005: http://www.dandavidprize.org/laureates/2005/77-past-archaeology/173-prof-israel-finkelstein
The Shmunis Family Conversations in the Archaeology and History of Ancient Israel with Israel Finkelstein, 2020–2021: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvm7MPUI_WJclpUfZgCw1Tfd_cyT4Fh-f
1949 births
Living people
20th-century archaeologists
20th-century Israeli male writers
21st-century archaeologists
21st-century Israeli male writers
Biblical archaeologists
Historical geographers
Israeli archaeologists
Israeli Ashkenazi Jews
Israeli people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent
Tel Aviv University faculty | true | [
"Přírodní park Třebíčsko (before Oblast klidu Třebíčsko) is a natural park near Třebíč in the Czech Republic. There are many interesting plants. The park was founded in 1983.\n\nKobylinec and Ptáčovský kopeček\n\nKobylinec is a natural monument situated ca 0,5 km from the village of Trnava.\nThe area of this monument is 0,44 ha. Pulsatilla grandis can be found here and in the Ptáčovský kopeček park near Ptáčov near Třebíč. Both monuments are very popular for tourists.\n\nPonds\n\nIn the natural park there are some interesting ponds such as Velký Bor, Malý Bor, Buršík near Přeckov and a brook Březinka. Dams on the brook are examples of European beaver activity.\n\nSyenitové skály near Pocoucov\n\nSyenitové skály (rocks of syenit) near Pocoucov is one of famed locations. There are interesting granite boulders. The area of the reservation is 0,77 ha.\n\nExternal links\nParts of this article or all article was translated from Czech. The original article is :cs:Přírodní park Třebíčsko.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nNature near the village Trnava which is there\n\nTřebíč\nParks in the Czech Republic\nTourist attractions in the Vysočina Region",
"Damn Interesting is an independent website founded by Alan Bellows in 2005. The website presents true stories from science, history, and psychology, primarily as long-form articles, often illustrated with original artwork. Works are written by various authors, and published at irregular intervals. The website openly rejects advertising, relying on reader and listener donations to cover operating costs.\n\nAs of October 2012, each article is also published as a podcast under the same name. In November 2019, a second podcast was launched under the title Damn Interesting Week, featuring unscripted commentary on an assortment of news articles featured on the website's \"Curated Links\" section that week. In mid-2020, a third podcast called Damn Interesting Curio Cabinet began highlighting the website's periodic short-form articles in the same radioplay format as the original podcast.\n\nIn July 2009, Damn Interesting published the print book Alien Hand Syndrome through Workman Publishing. It contains some favorites from the site and some exclusive content.\n\nAwards and recognition \nIn August 2007, PC Magazine named Damn Interesting one of the \"Top 100 Undiscovered Web Sites\".\nThe article \"The Zero-Armed Bandit\" by Alan Bellows won a 2015 Sidney Award from David Brooks in The New York Times.\nThe article \"Ghoulish Acts and Dastardly Deeds\" by Alan Bellows was cited as \"nonfiction journalism from 2017 that will stand the test of time\" by Conor Friedersdorf in The Atlantic.\nThe article \"Dupes and Duplicity\" by Jennifer Lee Noonan won a 2020 Sidney Award from David Brooks in the New York Times.\n\nAccusing The Dollop of plagiarism \n\nOn July 9, 2015, Bellows posted an open letter accusing The Dollop, a comedy podcast about history, of plagiarism due to their repeated use of verbatim text from Damn Interesting articles without permission or attribution. Dave Anthony, the writer of The Dollop, responded on reddit, admitting to using Damn Interesting content, but claiming that the use was protected by fair use, and that \"historical facts are not copyrightable.\" In an article about the controversy on Plagiarism Today, Jonathan Bailey concluded, \"Any way one looks at it, The Dollop failed its ethical obligations to all of the people, not just those writing for Damn Interesting, who put in the time, energy and expertise into writing the original content upon which their show is based.\"\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n Official website\n\n2005 podcast debuts"
]
|
[
"Israel Finkelstein",
"The Northern Kingdom",
"What did he do in The Northern Kingodm",
"Finkelstein dealt with a variety of themes related to the archeology and history of the Northern Kingdom of Israel.",
"What time of archeology themes did he deal with",
"Israel. He proposed that the first North Israelite territorial polity emerged in the Gibeon-Bethel plateau in the late Iron I and early Iron IIA.",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"Finkelstein proposed that in its early days, the Northern Kingdom (Jeroboam I and his successors) ruled over the Samaria Highlands, the western slopes of the Gilead"
]
| C_4d673f03f1d64a48b4323c3fe9d3cda7_0 | Is he still teaching | 4 | Is Israel Finkelstein still teaching? | Israel Finkelstein | Finkelstein dealt with a variety of themes related to the archeology and history of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. He proposed that the first North Israelite territorial polity emerged in the Gibeon-Bethel plateau in the late Iron I and early Iron IIA. He found archaeological evidence for this in the system of fortified sites, such as Tell en-Nasbeh, Khirbet ed-Dawwara, et-Tell ("Ai") and Gibeon. Historical evidence for the existence of this polity can be found in the campaign of Pharaoh Sheshoqn I in this region in the middle-to-second half of the 10th century BCE. According to Finkelstein, positive memories in the Bible of the House of Saul, which originated from the North, represent this early Israelite entity. He suggested that this north Israelite polity ruled over much of the territory of the highlands, that it presented a threat to the interests of Egypt of the 22nd Dynasty in Canaan, and that it was taken over during the campaign of Sheshonq I. Finkelstein proposed that in its early days, the Northern Kingdom (Jeroboam I and his successors) ruled over the Samaria Highlands, the western slopes of the Gilead and the area of the Jezreel Valley. The expansion of Israel further to the north came during the days of the Omride Dynasty in the first half of the 9th century BCE, and even more so in the time of Jeroboam II in the first half of the 8th century BCE. Finkelstein described the special features of "Omride Architecture" and, with his Megiddo team, dealt with different subjects related to the material culture of the Northern Kingdom, such as metallurgy and cult practices. Finkelstein also reflected on biblical traditions related to the Northern Kingdom, such as the Jacob cycle in Genesis (a study carried out with Thomas Romer), the Exodus tradition, the heroic stories in the Book of Judges and remnants of royal traditions in the Books of Samuel and Kings. He suggested that these North Israelite traditions were first committed to writing in the days of Jeroboam II (first half of the 8th century BCE), that they were brought to Judah with Israelite refugees after the takeover of Israel by Assyria, and that they were later incorporated into the Judahite-dominated Bible. Finkelstein sees the biblical genre of deploying "history" in the service of royal ideology as emerging from Israel (the North) of the 8th century BCE. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Israel Finkelstein (, born March 29, 1949) is an Israeli archaeologist, professor emeritus at Tel Aviv University. Finkelstein is active in the archaeology of the Levant and is an applicant of archaeological data in reconstructing biblical history. He is also known for applying the exact and life sciences in archaeological and historical reconstruction. Finkelstein is the current excavator of Megiddo, a key site for the study of the Bronze and Iron Ages in the Levant.
Finkelstein is a member of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities and an associé étranger of the French Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres. Finkelstein has received several noteworthy academic and writing awards. In 2005, he won the Dan David Prize for his revision of the history of Israel in the 10th and 9th centuries BCE. In 2009 he was named chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Minister of Culture, and in 2010, received a doctorate honoris causa from the University of Lausanne. He is a member of the selection committee of the Shanghai Archaeology Forum, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
Among Finkelstein's books are The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of its Sacred Texts (2001) and David and Solomon: In Search of the Bible's Sacred Kings and the Roots of the Western Tradition (2006), both written with Neil Asher Silberman. Also he wrote the textbooks on the emergence of Ancient Israel, titled The Archaeology of the Israelite Settlement (1988); on the archaeology and history of the arid zones of the Levant, titled Living on the Fringe (1995); and on the Northern Kingdom of Israel, titled The Forgotten Kingdom (2013).
Background
Family
Israel Finkelstein was born to an Ashkenazi Jewish family in Tel Aviv, Israel, on March 29, 1949. His parents were Zvi (Grisha) Finkelstein (born 1908) and Miriam Finkelstein (maiden name Ellenhorn, born 1910). His great grandfather on his mother's side, Shlomo Ellenhorn, came to Palestine from Grodno (today in Belarus) in the 1850s and settled in Hebron. He was one of the first physicians in the Bikur Cholim Hospital in Jerusalem, and is listed among the group of people who purchased the land in 1878 in order to establish Petah Tikva – the first modern Jewish settlement in Palestine outside the four holy cities. Finkelstein's grandfather, Israel Jacob Ellenhorn, was the first pharmacist in Petah Tikva.
Finkelstein’s father was born in Melitopol (Ukraine). He came to Palestine with his family in 1920. He was in the orange-growing business and was active in the sports organisations of Israel. He served as vice chairman of the Israel Football Association, chairman of Maccabi Israel and was a member of the Israel Olympic Committee.
Finkelstein is married to Joelle (maiden name Cohen). They are the parents of two daughters – Adar (born 1992) and Sarai (born 1996).
Education
Israel Finkelstein attended the PICA elementary school (1956–1963) and Ahad Ha'am High School (1963–1967), both in Petah Tikva. He then served in the Israel Defense Forces (1967–1970). He studied archaeology and Near Eastern civilizations, and geography at Tel Aviv University, receiving his BA in 1974. While there, Finkelstein was a student of Prof. Yohanan Aharoni. He continued as a research student under the supervision of Prof. Moshe Kochavi, receiving his MA in 1978 (thesis on Rural Settlement in the Yarkon Basin in the Iron Age and Persian-Hellenistic Periods). He graduated as a PhD in 1983 with a thesis titled "The Izbet Sartah Excavations and the Israelite Settlement in the Hill Country".
Academic career
From 1976 to 1990, Finkelstein taught at the Department of Land of Israel Studies, Bar-Ilan University, beginning as a teaching assistant. He spent the academic year of 1983–84 in a research group led by Prof. Yigael Yadin in the Institute of Advanced Studies in the Hebrew University, Jerusalem. In 1986 and 1987, Finkelstein taught at the Department for Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, University of Chicago. In 1987 he was appointed an associate professor with tenure at Bar-Ilan University and in 1990 moved to the Department of Archaeology and Ancient Near Eastern Civilizations at Tel Aviv University. In 1992/93 Finkelstein spent a sabbatical year as a visiting scholar at the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, Harvard University. Since 1992, he has been a Full Professor at Tel Aviv University. He served as the chairperson of the Department of Archaeology and Near Eastern Studies (1994–98) and as Director of The Sonia and Marco Nadler Institute of Archaeology (1996–2003). In 1998–99 Finkelstein was a visiting scholar in the Centre de Recherche d’Archéologie Orientale and the École Pratique des Hautes Études in the Sorbonne, Paris.
Finkelstein delivered series of lectures on the history and archaeology of Ancient Israel at the Texas Christian University (2002), the University of Buenos Aires (2011), the College de France in Paris (2012) and the Methodist University of São Paulo (2015), the Tokyo Christian University (2017), the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome (2017) and the University of Zurich (2018). Finkelstein has read over 100 papers in international conferences and given numerous talks in universities around the globe.
Finkelstein has been the Editor of Tel Aviv, the journal of the Institute of Archaeology of Tel Aviv University, since 2008 and Executive Editor of the Monograph Series by the Institute of Archaeology, Tel Aviv University, since 2005. He is a member of editorial boards, including the Palestine Exploration Quarterly and the Archaeology and Biblical Studies series of the Society of Biblical Literature.
Fieldwork
Finkelstein was trained as a field archaeologist in the excavations of Tel Beer Sheva (1971, Director: Yohanan Aharoni) and Tel Aphek (1973–1978, Directors: Moshe Kochavi and Pirhiya Beck). Starting in 1976, he carried out his own fieldwork in a variety of sites and regions:
Past excavations and surveys
‘Izbet Sartah, 1976–1978: Field Director (under Prof. Moshe Kochavi) of excavations at ‘Izbet Sartah, an Iron I-Iron IIA village-site near Rosh Ha‘ayin, east of Tel Aviv. For the results see: I. Finkelstein, Izbet Sartah: An Early Iron Age Site near Rosh Ha‘ayin, Israel, Oxford 1986 (BAR International Series 299).
Southern Sinai, 1976–1978: Surveys of Byzantine monastic remains in southern Sinai. For the results see: I. Finkelstein, Byzantine Monastic Remains in Southern Sinai, Dumbarton Oaks Papers 39 (1985), pp. 39–75.
Bene Beraq, 1977: Director of salvage excavations at the mound of ancient Bene Beraq near Tel Aviv. For the results see: I. Finkelstein, Soundings at Ancient Bene-Beraq, ‘Atiqot 10 (1990), pp. 29–40 (Hebrew).
Tel Ira, 1980: Co-Director of the excavations of the Iron II site of Tel Ira in the Beer-sheba Valley (together with I. Beit-Arieh and B. Cresson). For the results see: I. Finkelstein and I. Beit-Arieh, Area E, in I. Beit-Arieh (ed.), Tel Ira: A Stronghold in the Biblical Negev (monograph Series of the Institute of Archaeology Tel Aviv University 15), Tel Aviv 1999, pp. 67–96.
Shiloh, 1981–1984: Director of the excavations at biblical Shiloh in the highlands north of Jerusalem. The site features Middle Bronze, Late Bronze and Iron I remains. For the results see: I. Finkelstein (ed.), Shiloh: The Archaeology of a Biblical Site (Monograph Series of the Institute of Archaeology Tel Aviv University 10), Tel Aviv 1993.
Southern Samaria Survey, 1981–1987: Director of the survey, ca. 1000 km2. in the highlands north of Jerusalem. For the results see: I. Finkelstein, Z. Lederman and S. Bunimovitz, Highlands of Many Cultures, The Southern Samaria Survey, The Sites (Monograph Series of the Institute of Archaeology Tel Aviv University 14). Tel Aviv
Khirbet ed-Dawwara, 1985–86: Director, excavations at Khirbet ed-Dawwara, an Iron I-early Iron IIA site in the desert fringe northeast of Jerusalem. For the results see: I. Finkelstein, Excavations at Kh. ed-Dawwara: An Iron Age Site Northeast of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv 17 (1990), pp. 163–208.
Dhahr Mirzbaneh, 1987: Sounding at the Intermediate Bronze site of Dhahr Mirzbaneh in the desert fringe northeast of Jerusalem. For the results see: I. Finkelstein, The Central Hill Country in the Intermediate Bronze Age, Israel Exploration Journal 41 (1991), pp. 19–45.
Present excavations
Megiddo, 1994–present: co-Director, the Megiddo Excavations (1994–2012 with David Ussishkin, since 2014 with Matthew J. Adams and Mario A.S. Martin). Megiddo is considered as one of the most important Bronze and Iron Age sites in the Levant. For the results see: I. Finkelstein, D. Ussishkin and B. Halpern (eds.), Megiddo III: The 1992–1996 Seasons (Monograph Series of the Institute of Archaeology Tel Aviv University 18). Tel Aviv 2000. I. Finkelstein, D. Ussishkin and B. Halpern (eds.), Megiddo IV: The 1998–2002 Seasons (Monograph Series of the Institute of Archaeology Tel Aviv University 24), Tel Aviv 2006. I. Finkelstein, D. Ussishkin and E.H. Cline (editors), Megiddo V: The 2004–2008 Seasons (Monograph Series of the Institute of Archaeology Tel Aviv University 31), Winona Lake 2013. I. Finkelstein, M.A.S. Martin and M.J. Adams (eds.), Megiddo VI: The 2010–2014 Seasons (forthcoming).
The Negev Highlands, 2006–present: co-Director of excavations in the Iron Age sites of Atar Haroa and Nahal Boqer, and the Intermediate Bronze Age sites of Mashabe Sade and En Ziq (with Ruth Shahack-Gross). For the results see: R. Shahack-Gross and I. Finkelstein, Settlement Oscillations in the Negev Highlands Revisited: The Impact of Microarchaeological Methods, Radiocarbon 57/2 (2015), pp. 253–264.
Kiriath-Jearim, 2017–present: co-Director, the Shmunis Family excavations at Kiriath-Jearim – a biblical site in the highlands west of Jerusalem associated with the Ark Narrative in the Book of Samuel (with Christophe Nicolle and Thomas Römer, the College de France).
Other projects
In the past
1997–2002: Petrographic study of the Amarna tablets (with Yuval Goren and Nadav Na'aman). For the results see: Y. Goren, I. Finkelstein and N. Na'aman, Inscribed in Clay: Provenance Study of the Amarna Letters and other Ancient Near Eastern Texts (Monograph Series of the Institute of Archaeology Tel Aviv University 23), Tel Aviv 2004.
2009–2014: Principal Investigator of a European Research Council-funded project titled Reconstructing Ancient Israel: The Exact and Life Sciences Perspectives (with Steve Weiner, Weizmann Institute of Science, co-Principal Investigator). The project was organized into 10 tracks: Radiocarbon dating, ancient DNA, geoarchaeology, paleoclimate, petrography, metallurgy, daily mathematics, advanced imaging of ostraca, residue analysis and archaeozoology. Over 40 scholars, advanced students and post-docs were involved in the project. Samples were taken from a large number of sites in Israel and Greece. For the results see: I. Finkelstein, S. Weiner and E. Boaretto (eds.), Reconstructing Ancient Israel: The Exact and Life Sciences Perspectives, special issue of Radiocarbon (57/2), 2015, with a list of all publications until 2015.
Paleoclimate of the Levant (2009-2019), with Dafna Langgut (Tel Aviv University) and Thomas Litt (University of Bonn).
The Archaeological and Historical Realities behind the Pentateuch (2016-2019), with Konrad Schmid (University of Zurich), Thomas Römer and Christophe Nihan (University of Lausanne) and Oded Lipschits (Tel Aviv University).
Ongoing research projects
Geoarchaeological Investigations in the Negev Highlands (2006-) with Ruth Shahack-Gross (University of Haifa).
Iron Age Hebrew Ostraca in the Silicon Age: Computerized Paleography (2008-), directed with Eli Piasetzky (Tel Aviv University). For results see list of publications in http://www-nuclear.tau.ac.il/~eip/ostraca/Publications/Publications.html
Ancient DNA, animals and Humans (2009-), with Meirav Meiri (Tel Aviv University); current cooperation with Joseph Maran and Philipp Stockhammer (Universities of Heidelberg and Munich), Liran Carmel (Hebrew University) and David Reich (Harvard University).
Scholarly contributions
Finkelstein has written on a variety of topics, including the archaeology of the Bronze Age and the exact and life sciences contribution to archaeology. Much of his work has been devoted to the Iron Age and, more specifically, to questions related to the history of Ancient Israel.
The Emergence of Ancient Israel
The classical theories on the emergence of Israel viewed the process as a unique event in the history of the region. Finkelstein suggested that we are dealing with a long-term process of a cyclical nature. He demonstrated that the wave of settlement in the highlands in the Iron Age I (ca. 1150-950 BCE) was the last in a series of such demographic developments – the first had taken place in the Early Bronze and the second in the Middle Bronze. The periods between these peaks were characterized by low settlement activity. Finkelstein explained these oscillations as representing changes along the sedentary/ pastoral-nomadic continuum, which were caused by socioeconomic and political dynamics. Hence, a big portion of the people who settled in the highlands in the early Iron Age were locals of a pastoral-nomadic background. Others, who originated from local sedentary background, moved to the highlands as a result of the Bronze Age collapse – which in turn was related to a long period of dry climate in ca. 1250-1100 BCE. Since eventually these groups formed the Northern Kingdom of Israel, they can be labeled "Israelites" as early as their initial settlement process. The same holds true for the contemporary settlement process in Transjordan and western Syria, which brought about the rise of Moab, Ammon and the Aramean kingdoms of the later phases of the Iron Age.
Finkelstein regards the biblical account on the Conquest of Canaan in the Book of Joshua as an ideological manifesto of the Deuteronomistic author/s of the late 7th century BCE, describing a "conquest to be" under King Josiah of Judah rather than a historical event at the end of the Bronze Age. He proposed that the original Conquest Account may have originated in the Northern Kingdom of Israel in the early 8th century BCE; it could have been influenced by memories of the turmoil that had taken place in the lowlands in the late Iron I (10th century BCE), rather than the end of the Late Bronze Age (late 12th century BCE).
The Low Chronology
Until the 1990s, the chronology of the Iron Age in the Levant had been anchored in the biblical account of the great United Monarchy of David and Solomon. Accordingly, the Iron I ended ca. 1000 BCE and the Iron IIA was dated from 1000 BCE until the campaign of Pharaoh Sheshonq I (biblical Shishak) ca. 925 BCE. The two Iron IIA palaces at Megiddo were conceived as the material manifestation for the Solomonic Empire. While preparing for the excavations at Megiddo in the early 1990s, Finkelstein noticed difficulties in this scheme. Noteworthy among them is the appearance of similar traits of material culture at Megiddo in a layer that was dated to the time of King Solomon in the middle of the 10th century, and at Samaria and Jezreel in contexts dated to the time of the Omride Dynasty (of the Northern Kingdom of Israel) in the early 9th century BCE. To resolve these difficulties, Finkelstein proposed to "lower" the dates of the Iron Age strata in the Levant by several decades.
According to Finkelstein's Low Chronology, the Iron Age I lasted until the middle of the 10th century BCE, while the Iron IIA is dated between the middle of the 10th century and ca. 800 BCE, if not slightly later. This means that the Megiddo palaces and other features which had traditionally been attributed to the time of King Solomon – features which date to the late Iron IIA – should indeed be associated with the endeavors of the Omride Dynasty in the first half of the 9th century BCE. A big debate ensued. Starting in the late 1990s, the focus of the discussion shifted to the interpretation of radiocarbon determinations for organic samples from key sites, such as Tel Rehov and Megiddo. All in all, the radiocarbon results put the Iron I/IIA transition ca. the middle of the 10th century (rather than 1000 BCE as had traditionally been proposed), and the Iron IIA/B transition in the early days of the 8th century (rather than ca. 925 BCE).
In parallel, and not directly connected, Finkelstein dealt with the chronology of Philistine pottery of the Iron Age I. The traditional theory fixed the appearance of Philistine pottery – and hence the settlement of the Philistines in the southern coastal plain of the Levant – in accordance with the confrontation between Ramses III and the Sea Peoples in the early 12th century BCE. In other words, Philistine pottery appears during the last phase of Egyptian rule in Canaan. Finkelstein proposed that the locally-made Monochrome pottery known from several sites in Philistia, which is widely understood as representing the earliest phase of Philistine settlement, should be dated after the withdrawal of Egypt from Canaan in the 1130s.
Finkelstein sees the biblical description of the time of David and Solomon as multilayered. He acknowledges the historicity of the founders of the Davidic Dynasty, places them in the 10th century BCE, and considers the possibility that the description of the rise of David to power conceals old memories of his activity as a leader of an Apiru-band that was active in the southern fringe of Judah. Yet, he sees the description of a great United Monarchy as an ideological construct that represents the ideology of late-monarchic author/s in the late 7th century BCE, first and foremost the pan-Israelite ideology of the days of King Josiah of Judah. According to him, the historical David and Solomon ruled over a small territory in the southern highlands – a territory not very different from that of Jerusalem of the Late Bronze Age. Finkelstein sees much of the description of King Solomon as representing realities from late monarchic times: First, from the later days of the Northern Kingdom (for instance, the reference to Megiddo, Hazor and Gezer in and to the stables, horses and chariots of Solomon). Second, from the time of King Manasseh of Judah in the early 7th century BCE, under Assyrian domination (for instance, the visit of the Queen of Sheba in Jerusalem). He understands the description of the Philistines in the Bible as portraying realities in Philistia in late-monarchic times.
"New Canaan"
Following the results of the excavations at Megiddo, Finkelstein argued that the material culture of the Iron I in the northern valleys continues that of the Late Bronze Age. In other words, the collapse of the Late Bronze city-states under Egyptian domination in the late 12th century BCE was followed by revival of some of the same centers and rise of others in the Iron I. He termed this phenomenon "New Canaan". Accordingly, the major break in the material culture of Canaan took place at the end of the Iron I in the 10th century BCE rather than the end of the Late Bronze Age. Finkelstein associated the violent destruction of the revived city-states with the expansion of the highlanders (early Israelites). He suggested that memories of the turmoil in the lowlands in the late Iron I can be found in northern traditions regarding skirmishes with Canaanite cities which appear in the heroic stories in the Book of Judges.
The Northern Kingdom
Finkelstein dealt with a variety of themes related to the archeology and history of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. He proposed that the first North Israelite territorial polity emerged in the Gibeon-Bethel plateau in the late Iron I and early Iron IIA. He found archaeological evidence for this in the system of fortified sites, such as Tell en-Nasbeh, Khirbet ed-Dawwara, et-Tell ("Ai") and Gibeon. Historical evidence for the existence of this polity can be found in the campaign of Pharaoh Sheshonq I in this region in the middle-to-second half of the 10th century BCE. According to Finkelstein, positive memories in the Bible of the House of Saul, which originated from the North, represent this early Israelite entity. He suggested that this north Israelite polity ruled over much of the territory of the highlands, that it presented a threat to the interests of Egypt of the 22nd Dynasty in Canaan, and that it was taken over during the campaign of Sheshonq I.
Finkelstein proposed that in its early days, the Northern Kingdom (Jeroboam I and his successors) ruled over the Samaria Highlands, the western slopes of the Gilead and the area of the Jezreel Valley. The expansion of Israel further to the north came during the days of the Omride Dynasty in the first half of the 9th century BCE, and even more so in the time of Jeroboam II in the first half of the 8th century BCE. Finkelstein described the special features of Omride architecture and, with his Megiddo team, dealt with different subjects related to the material culture of the Northern Kingdom, such as metallurgy and cult practices.
Finkelstein also reflected on biblical traditions related to the Northern Kingdom, such as the Jacob cycle in Genesis (a study carried out with Thomas Römer), the Exodus tradition, the heroic stories in the Book of Judges and remnants of royal traditions in the Books of Samuel and Kings. He suggested that these North Israelite traditions were first committed to writing in the days of Jeroboam II (first half of the 8th century BCE), that they were brought to Judah with Israelite refugees after the takeover of Israel by Assyria, and that they were later incorporated into the Judahite-dominated Bible. Finkelstein sees the biblical genre of deploying "history" in the service of royal ideology as emerging from Israel (the North) of the 8th century BCE.
Archaeology and history of Jerusalem
Finkelstein has recently dealt with the location of the ancient mound of Jerusalem (with Ido Koch and Oded Lipschits). The conventional wisdom sees that "City of David" ridge as the location of the original settlement of Jerusalem. Finkelstein and his colleagues argued that the "City of David" ridge does not have the silhouette of a mound; that it is located in topographical inferiority relative to the surrounding area; and that the archaeological record of the ridge does not include periods of habitation attested in reliable textual records. According to them, the most suitable location for the core of ancient Jerusalem is the Temple Mount. The large area of the Herodian platform (today's Harem esh-Sharif) may conceal a mound of five hectares and more, which – similar to other capital cities in the Levant – included both the royal compound and habitation quarters. Locating the mound of Ancient Jerusalem on the Temple Mount resolves many of the difficulties pertaining to the "City of David" ridge.
According to Finkelstein, the history of Jerusalem in biblical times should be viewed in terms of three main phases:
Firstly, until the 9th century BCE, Jerusalem was restricted to the mound on the Temple Mount and ruled over a modest area in the southern highlands. Accordingly, Jerusalem of the time of David and Solomon can be compared to Jerusalem of the Amarna period in the 14th century BCE: it had the size of a typical highlands mound (for instance, Shechem), ruled over a restricted area, but still had impact beyond the highlands.
Secondly, the first expansion of Jerusalem came in the 9th century BCE, perhaps in its second half, when the town grew significantly in a southerly direction. Remains of the Iron IIA were unearthed south of al-Aqsa Mosque, above the Gihon Spring and to the south of the Dung Gate of the Old City. In parallel to this development, Judah expanded to the Shephelah in the west and Beer-sheba Valley in the south, and for the first time became a territorial kingdom rather than a city-state restricted to the highlands.
Thirdly, the most impressive phase in the settlement history of Jerusalem commenced in the late 8th century BCE and lasted until its destruction by the Babylonians in 586 BCE. At that time Jerusalem expanded dramatically, to include the entire "City of David" ridge, as well as the "Western Hill" (the Armenian and Jewish Quarter of today's Old City). This expansion was the result of the arrival of Israelite refugees after the demise of the Northern Kingdom in 722-720 BCE. These groups brought with them traits of Northern material culture, and more important – their foundation myths, royal traditions and heroic stories. These Northern traditions were later incorporated into the Judahite Bible.
Jerusalem and Yehud/Judea of the Persian and Hellenistic periods
Finkelstein noted that in the Persian Period, Jerusalem was limited to the mound on the Temple Mount – and even there was sparsely settled – and that Yehud of that time was also thinly settled. As the description of the construction of the wall of Jerusalem in Nehemiah 3 must relate to the big city (extending beyond the old mound on the Temple Mount), it probably portrays the construction of the fortifications by the Hasmoneans.
Finkelstein further noted that many of the sites mentioned in the lists of returnees in Ezra and Nehemiah were not inhabited in the Persian Period and hence sees these lists as reflecting the demographic situation in days of the Hasmoneans. The same holds true, in his opinion, for the genealogies in 1 Chronicles. Finkelstein then looked into the accounts of Judahite monarchs in 2 Chronicles, which do not appear in Kings. He called attention to similarities between these texts and 1 Maccabees, and proposed to understand Chronicles as representing legitimacy needs of the Hasmoneans. This means that at least 2 Chronicles dates to the late 2nd century BCE, probably to the days of John Hyrcanus.
Published works
Books
In addition to the reports of excavations cited above:
Sinai in Antiquity, Tel Aviv 1980 (ed., with Zeev Meshel, Hebrew)
The Archaeology of the Israelite Settlement, Jerusalem 1988,
Archaeological Survey of the Hill Country of Benjamin, Jerusalem 1993, (ed., with Yitzhak Magen)
From Nomadism to Monarchy: Archaeological and Historical Aspects of Early Israel, Jerusalem 1994, (ed., with Nadav Na'aman)
Living on the Fringe: The Archaeology and History of the Negev, Sinai and Neighbouring Regions in the Bronze and Iron Ages, Sheffield 1995,
The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred Texts, New York 2001 (with Neil Asher Silberman). Translated to 12 languages.
David and Solomon: In Search of the Bible's Sacred Kings and the Roots of the Western Tradition, New York 2006, (with Neil Asher Silberman). Translated to six languages.
The Quest for the Historical Israel: Debating Archeology and the History of Early Israel, Atlanta 2007, (with Amihai Mazar)
Un archéologue au pays de la Bible, Paris 2008,
The Forgotten Kingdom. The Archaeology and History of Northern Israel, Atlanta 2013, . Translated to four languages.
Hasmonean Realities behind Ezra, Nehemiah and Chronicles, Atlanta 2018.
Co-editor of three festschrifts – for Nadav Na'aman, David Ussishkin and Benjamin Sass.
Articles
About 400 scholarly articles; for many of them see: https://telaviv.academia.edu/IsraelFinkelstein
Festschrift
Bene Israel: Studies in the Archaeology of Israel and the Levant during the Bronze and Iron Ages in Honour of Israel Finkelstein, Leiden and London 2008 (eds. Alexander Fantalkin and Assaf Yasur-Landau).
Rethinking Israel: Studies in the History and Archaeology of Ancient Israel in Honor of Israel Finkelstein, Winona Lake 2017 (eds. Oded Lipschits, Yuval Gadot and Matthew J. Adams).
The Shmunis Family Conversations in the Archaeology and History of Ancient Israel with Israel Finkelstein
The Shmunis Family Conversations in the Archaeology and History of Ancient Israel with Israel Finkelstein series is a YouTube series hosted by the W.F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research's Albright Live YouTube Channel. As of September 2021, 26 episodes have been released. The series is set as an interview-style conversation between Albright Institute Director Matthew J. Adams and archaeologist Israel Finkelstein. Episodes cover the rise of Ancient Israel as evidenced by archaeology, ancient Near Eastern textual sources, the Bible, and archaeology from the Late Bronze Age through the Hellenistic Period. The episodes are written and directed by Israel Finkelstein and Matthew J. Adams with cinematography and editing by Yuval Pan. The series is Produced by Djehuti Productions and the Albright Institute with a grant from the Shmunis Family Foundation.
Awards and recognition
Finkelstein is the Laureate of the Dan David Prize in 2005. The select committee noted that he is "widely regarded as a leading scholar in the archaeology of the Levant and as a foremost applicant of archaeological knowledge to reconstructing biblical Israelite history. He excels at creatively forging links between archaeology and the exact sciences and he has revolutionized many of these fields. … Finkelstein has had an impact on radically revising the history of Israel in the 10th and 9th centuries BCE. He has transformed the study of history and archaeology in Israeli universities, moving from a ‘monumental’ to a ‘systemic’ study of the archaeological evidence. He has taken what was becoming a rather staid and conservative discipline, with everyone in general agreement as to interpretation of excavation results, and has turned things upside down. … The study of these periods is never again going to be what it once was. … Israel Finkelstein has proven to be creative, generating scholarship no less than discussion, launching ideas and stimulating debates, fearlessly but with imagination and grace."
In 2014, Finkelstein was awarded the Prix Delalande Guérineau: Institut de France, l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, for his book Le Royaume biblique oublié (The Forgotten Kingdom).
He is the recipient of the MacAllister Field Archaeology Award 2017 (The American Schools of Oriental Research).
His other awards include the French decoration of Chevalier de l’ordre des Arts et des Lettres, (2009) and the Doctorat honoris causa of the University of Lausanne (2010).
Criticism
Finkelstein's theories about Saul, David and Solomon have been criticized by fellow archaeologists. Amihai Mazar described Finkelstein's Low Chronology proposal as "premature and unacceptable". Amnon Ben-Tor accused him of employing a “double standard”, citing the biblical text where it suited him and deploring its use where it did not. Other criticisms came from William G. Dever (who dismissed the Low Chronology as "idiosyncratic"), Lawrence Stager, Doron Ben-Ami, Raz Kletter and Anabel Zarzeki-Peleg. David Ussishkin, despite agreeing with many of Finkelstein's theories about the United Monarchy, has also shown doubts and reservations about Finkelstein's Low Chronology.
Writing in the Biblical Archaeology Review and subsequently in the Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, William G. Dever described The Bible Unearthed as a "convoluted story", writing that "This clever, trendy work may deceive lay readers". Evangelical Christian biblical scholar Kenneth Kitchen was also critical of the book, writing that "[A] careful critical perusal of this work—which certainly has much to say about both archaeology and the biblical writings—reveals that we are dealing very largely with a work of imaginative fiction, not a serious or reliable account of the subject", and "Their treatment of the exodus is among the most factually ignorant and misleading that this writer has ever read." Another evangelical, Richard Hess, also being critical, wrote that "The authors always present their interpretation of the archaeological data but do not mention or interact with contemporary alternative approaches. Thus the book is ideologically driven and controlled."
A 2004 debate between Finkelstein and William G. Dever, mediated by Hershel Shanks (editor of the Biblical Archaeology Review), quickly degenerated into insults, with Dever calling Finkelstein "idiosyncratic and doctrinaire" and Finkelstein dismissing Dever as a "jealous academic parasite". Dever later accused Finkelstein of supporting post-Zionism, to which Finkelstein replied by accusing Dever of being "a biblical literalist disguised as a liberal". Shanks described the exchange between the two as "embarassing".
Following the publication of The Forgotten Kingdom, Dever once again harshly criticized Finkelstein: writing in the Biblical Archaeology Review, he described Finkelstein as "a magician and a showman". He stated that the book was full of "numerous errors, misrepresentations, over-simplifications and contradictions". Another, more moderate, review was written on the same magazine by Aaron Burke: while Burke described Finkelstein's book as "ambitious" and praised its literary style, he did not accept Finkelstein's conclusions. He stated that the book engages in several speculations that cannot be proved by archeology, biblical and extra-biblical sources. He also criticized Finkelstein for persistently trying to downgrade the role of David in the development of ancient Israel.
Other landmarks
Selected as one of the 10 most influential researchers in the history of archaeology in the Levant (a Swiss publication, 1993).
Invited to the Salon du Livre in Paris, 2008. Two public debates there: with the French philosopher Armand Abécassis on La Bible et la Terre Sainte, and with the Israeli author Meir Shalev on la Bible de l’ecrivain et la Bible de l’archeologue.
Keynote address in the Annual Meeting of the American Schools of Oriental Research, Nashville 2000.
A ca. 50 pages profile chapter in J.-F. Mondot’s Une Bible pour deux mémoires (Paris 2006).
Invited lecture in the special symposium celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Weizmann Institute (together with Nobel Prize laureates Ada Yonath and Daniel Kahneman, and Lord Wilson, 2009).
Keynote address in the Symposium of Mediterranean Archaeology, Florence 2012.
Two lectures in the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres, Paris, May 2012 and February 2016.
Public lectures in events at universities such as the University of Chicago, Heidelberg University (2014) and Princeton University.
Joint session of the American Schools of Oriental Research and Society of Biblical Literature titled Rethinking Israel – celebrating the publication of Rethinking Israel, Studies in the History and Archaeology of Ancient Israel in Honr of Israel Finkelstein, Boston 2017.
Conversation with Israel Finkelstein and Thomas Romer, central evening event in the International Meeting of the Society for Biblical Literature, Rome, July 2019.
References
External links
Finkelstein's personal website: https://israelfinkelstein.wordpress.com/
The Megiddo Expedition: https://megiddoexpedition.wordpress.com/
The Kiriath-Jearim excavations: https://kiriathjearim.wordpress.com/
The digitized epigraphy website: http://www-nuclear.tau.ac.il/~eip/ostraca/Home/Home.html
Finkelstein's scholarly articles on academia.edu: https://telaviv.academia.edu/IsraelFinkelstein
The Dan David prize, 2005: http://www.dandavidprize.org/laureates/2005/77-past-archaeology/173-prof-israel-finkelstein
The Shmunis Family Conversations in the Archaeology and History of Ancient Israel with Israel Finkelstein, 2020–2021: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvm7MPUI_WJclpUfZgCw1Tfd_cyT4Fh-f
1949 births
Living people
20th-century archaeologists
20th-century Israeli male writers
21st-century archaeologists
21st-century Israeli male writers
Biblical archaeologists
Historical geographers
Israeli archaeologists
Israeli Ashkenazi Jews
Israeli people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent
Tel Aviv University faculty | false | [
"Ogbomosho North is a Local Government Area in Oyo State, Nigeria. Its headquarters is in Ogbomoso and currently headed by Chairman Oladeji A. Olanrewaju.\nThe local government serves as a home to one of Nigeria's best institution of learning, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) and it teaching hospital(still under construction). Also, the Nigerian Baptist Medical Center and Bowen University Teaching hospital are situated there. The SOUN Palace is the major traditional home of the town. Ogbomoso North is the largest local government in the city, being the city's major economic nerve and has a land mass of 235 km.\nIt is the most populous local government in the city as at the 2006 census.\n\nThe postal code of the area is 201.\n\nReferences\n\nLocal Government Areas in Oyo State\nOgbomosho",
"Tzavaat HaRivash (Hebrew: , \"Testament of the Rabbi Yisroel Baal Shem\") is a book of collected teachings from the Baal Shem Tov regarding Divine service, personal refinement, and understanding the Divine. The title of the book is derived from its opening words of the first teaching. The work was not penned by the Baal Shem Tov himself, but rather compiled by his disciples and followers.\n\nTeachings\n\nSubduing physical desires and the evil inclination \nThe book calls for a high degree of self-mastery. In repeated instances, the Baal Shem Tov urges constant attachment to the Divine and separation from unnecessary physical matters. Even when involved with worldly affairs, one should consider the higher worlds to be his true home and long to return there as soon as the necessary business is finished. Although the book was written for those who still felt attachment to physical desires, it teaches that one should strive to distance oneself from them to the point of being actually disgusted by them.\n\nAvoiding pride \nTzavaat HaRivash considers pride to be an evil trait: \"If one sees that his [Divine] service is greater than that of his fellow, he should not become proud, Heaven forbid! As it says in Otiot DeRabi Akiva, 'Let him not say in his heart, \"I am greater than my fellow\" ' \" (Teaching 48). A way to avoid this is to constantly be involved with Divine service at every single moment, so that there is no time to become proud (Teaching 52). \n\nOne possible source of pride is Torah study itself, because there is a danger that the evil inclination will tell him to learn the detailed laws, but in such a way as to avoid fear of Heaven (Teaching 117). To counteract this, one should interrupt his Torah study, rest a little and meditate every hour in order to reattach oneself to G‑d (Teaching 39).\n\nPrayer \nThe Baal Shem Tov attached extremely high importance to daily prayer. In line with his belief that one should serve G‑d \"with all his power\" (Teaching 3), he considered it \"a great kindness from G‑d, may He be blessed, that a man lives after prayer, because according to the ways of nature, he should have died from expending his strength in prayer\" (Teaching 35 and 57, also see 42). Nevertheless, prayer should be recited quietly (Teaching 33).\n\nBecause prayer takes so much energy, the Baal Shem Tov discouraged reciting too many psalms before the main body of prayer, out of fear that one might deplete his strength to the point that he cannot complete the required part of the daily service. Rather, additional psalms and the Song of Songs should be recited afterwards, if he still has strength (Teaching 38).\n\nWhen praying, one is to either look in the siddur or to close one's eyes. The Baal Shem Tov teaches that looking at the letters themselves helps to improve concentration when one is on a lower level of inspiration. When one is cleaving to the higher worlds, however, it is better to close the eyes to maintain the inspiration (Teaching 40).\n\nBeing joyful and avoiding depression \nTzavaat HaRivash on several occasions stresses that one should avoid sadness as much as possible, because this is a ploy by the evil inclination to cause one to stop serving G‑d (Teachings 44-46). On the contrary, one should serve G‑d with joy (Teaching 45 and 46, cf. Psalms 100:2). In particular, prayer is much greater and more potent amidst joy than in sadness and crying (Teaching 107). Further, a son's intense love and joy has the power to dispel his father's anger; the same is true with Israel and G‑d (Teaching 132).\n\nConstant Divine connection \nThe book also teaches that one must constantly think about holy things (Teaching 81). \"Even when going to the lavatory, he should think, 'Am I not separating bad from good?'... And when one goes to sleep, one should think, 'My mind (mochin) will go to the blessed Holy One and be strengthened for His service, may He be blessed.' \" (Teaching 22)\n\nAccuracy \nRabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi was a contemporary of the Baal Shem Tov and a student of his foremost pupil, the Maggid of Mezritch. He writes that while Tzavaat HaRivash was written in Hebrew, the Baal Shem Tov actually didn't teach in Hebrew but rather in Yiddish. Also, those who compiled the Baal Shem Tov's teachings \"did not know how to determine the phraseology exactly in its proper fashion.\" Rabbi Schneur Zalman in fact takes issue with a certain word in Tzavaat HaRivash (sharta, dwelled, in the context of the descent of the Shechinah) and asserts that the Baal Shem Tov actually meant nitlavsha, \"clothed Itself\" (in a state of exile, as opposed to dwelling there as in a home). Nevertheless, he affirms that \"the connotation is absolutely true.\"\n\nOver time, textual variants appeared among the manuscripts. Sometimes the changes were very small differences in individual words. Other times, new material (sometimes attributed to the Maggid of Mezeritch or other students of the Baal Shem Tov) was inserted, yielding more information.\n\nFurther reading \n Tzavaat HaRivash, complete text translated into English and annotated by Rabbi Jacob Immanuel Schochet\n Eighteen Joyous Teachings of the Baal Shem Tov, selections from Tzavaat HaRivash translated and annotated by Rabbi Tzvi Freeman\n\nReferences \n\nBaal Shem Tov\nHasidic literature\nJewish mystical texts\nJewish philosophical and ethical texts\nHebrew-language religious books"
]
|
[
"Peter Sutcliffe",
"Appeal"
]
| C_1e251a63d2f4450d89ad08f87c3cdc9d_0 | Most notable facts about the appeal? | 1 | Most notable facts about the appeal in regards to Peter Sutcliffe? | Peter Sutcliffe | An application by Sutcliffe for a minimum term to be set, offering the possibility of parole after that date if it is thought safe to release him, was heard by the High Court of Justice on 16 July 2010. The High Court decided that Sutcliffe will never be released. Mr Justice Mitting stated: This was a campaign of murder which terrorised the population of a large part of Yorkshire for several years. The only explanation for it, on the jury's verdict, was anger, hatred and obsession. Apart from a terrorist outrage, it is difficult to conceive of circumstances in which one man could account for so many victims. Psychological reports describing his mental state were taken into consideration, as was the severity of his crimes. Barring judicial decisions to the contrary, Sutcliffe will spend the rest of his life in Broadmoor Hospital. On 4 August 2010, a spokeswoman for the Judicial Communications Office confirmed that Sutcliffe had initiated an appeal against the decision. The hearing for Sutcliffe's appeal against the ruling began on 30 November 2010 at the Court of Appeal. It was rejected on 14 January 2011. On 9 March 2011, the Court of Appeal rejected Sutcliffe's application for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court. In December 2015 Sutcliffe was assessed as being "no longer mentally ill". In August 2016, a medical tribunal ruled that he no longer required clinical treatment for his mental condition, and could be returned to prison. Sutcliffe is reported to have been transferred from Broadmoor to Frankland Prison in Durham in August 2016. CANNOTANSWER | On 9 March 2011, the Court of Appeal rejected Sutcliffe's application for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court. | Peter William Sutcliffe (2 June 1946 – 13 November 2020), also known as Peter William Coonan, was an English serial killer who was dubbed the Yorkshire Ripper (an allusion to Jack the Ripper) by the press. On 22 May 1981, he was found guilty of murdering 13 women and attempting to murder seven others between 1975 and 1980. He was sentenced to 20 concurrent sentences of life imprisonment, which were converted to a whole life order in 2010. Two of Sutcliffe's murders took place in Manchester; all the others were in West Yorkshire.
Sutcliffe initially attacked women and girls in residential areas, but appears to have shifted his focus to red-light districts because he was attracted by the vulnerability of prostitutes, and perceived ambivalence of police to prostitutes' safety at the time. He had allegedly regularly used the services of prostitutes in Leeds and Bradford. After his arrest in Sheffield by South Yorkshire Police for driving with false number plates in January 1981, Sutcliffe was transferred to West Yorkshire Police, which questioned him about the killings. He confessed to being the perpetrator, saying that the voice of God had sent him on a mission to kill prostitutes. At his trial, Sutcliffe pleaded not guilty to murder on grounds of diminished responsibility, but he was convicted of murder on a majority verdict. Following his conviction, Sutcliffe began using his mother's maiden name of Coonan.
The search for Sutcliffe was one of the largest and most expensive manhunts in British history, and West Yorkshire Police was criticised for its failure to catch him despite having interviewed him nine times in the course of its five-year investigation. Owing to the sensational nature of the case, the police handled an exceptional amount of information, some of it misleading (including the Wearside Jack hoax recorded message and letters purporting to be from the "Ripper"). Following Sutcliffe's conviction, the government ordered a review of the investigation, conducted by the Inspector of Constabulary Lawrence Byford, known as the "Byford Report". The findings were made fully public in 2006, and confirmed the validity of the criticism against the force. The report led to changes to investigative procedures that were adopted across UK police forces. In 2019, The Guardian described the manhunt as "stunningly mishandled".
Sutcliffe was transferred from prison to Broadmoor Hospital in March 1984 after being diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. The High Court dismissed an appeal by Sutcliffe in 2010, confirming that he would serve a whole life order and never be released from custody. In August 2016, it was ruled that Sutcliffe was mentally fit to be returned to prison, and he was transferred that month to HM Prison Frankland in Durham. He died from COVID-19-related complications in hospital, while in prison custody on 13 November 2020, at the age of 74.
Early life
Peter Sutcliffe was born to a working-class family in Bingley, West Riding of Yorkshire. His parents were John William Sutcliffe and his wife Kathleen Frances (née Coonan), a native of Connemara. Kathleen was a Roman Catholic and John was a member of the choir at the local Anglican church of St Wilfred's; their children were raised in their mother's Catholic faith. Reportedly a loner, Sutcliffe left school aged fifteen and had a series of menial jobs, including two stints as a gravedigger in the 1960s. Between November 1971 and April 1973, he worked at the Baird Television factory on a packaging line. He left this position when he was asked to go on the road as a salesman.
After leaving Baird Television, Sutcliffe worked nightshifts at the Britannia Works of Anderton International from April 1973. In February 1975, he took redundancy and used half of the £400 pay-off to train as a heavy goods vehicle (HGV) driver. On 5 March 1976, Sutcliffe was dismissed for the theft of used tyres. He was unemployed until October 1976, when he found a job as an HGV driver for T. & W.H. Clark (Holdings) Ltd. on the Canal Road Industrial Estate in Bradford.
Sutcliffe, by some reports, hired prostitutes as a young man, and it has been speculated that he had a bad experience during which he was conned out of money by a prostitute and her pimp. Other analyses of his actions have not found evidence that he actually sought the services of prostitutes but note that he nonetheless developed an obsession with them, including "watching them soliciting on the streets of Leeds and Bradford".
Sutcliffe met Sonia Szurma on 14 February 1967; they married on 10 August 1974. Sonia suffered several miscarriages, and they were informed that she would not be able to have children. She resumed a teacher training course, during which time she had an affair with an ice-cream van driver. When Sonia completed the course in 1977 and began teaching, she and Sutcliffe used her salary to buy a house at 6 Garden Lane in Heaton in Bradford, into which they moved on 26 September 1977, and where they were living at the time of Sutcliffe's arrest.
Through his childhood and his early adolescence, Sutcliffe showed no signs of abnormality. But one of his brothers admitted that their father was an abusive alcoholic, stating that their father once smashed a beer glass over Peter's head for sitting in his chair at the Christmas table, after arguing, when the brother was four or five years old. Their father used to whip them with a belt.
Later, in part related to his occupation as a gravedigger, he developed a macabre sense of humour. In his late adolescence, Sutcliffe developed a growing obsession with voyeurism, and spent much time spying on prostitutes and the men seeking their services.
Attacks and murders
Leeds was the hotspot of Ripper activity, with 6 murders and 4 attacks in the city. Sutcliffe's first and last murders also occurred in Leeds.
Sutcliffe's 13 known murder victims were Wilma McCann (Leeds 1975), Emily Jackson (Leeds 1976), Irene Richardson (Leeds 1977), Patricia "Tina" Atkinson (Bradford 1977), Jayne MacDonald (Leeds 1977), Jean Jordan (Manchester 1977), Yvonne Pearson (Bradford 1978), Helen Rytka (Huddersfield 1978), Vera Millward (Manchester 1978), Josephine Whitaker (Halifax 1979), Barbara Leach (Bradford 1979), Marguerite Walls (Leeds 1980) and Jacqueline Hill (Leeds 1980).
He is also known to have attacked 10 other women: a woman of unknown name (Bradford 1969), Anna Rogulskyj (Keighley 1975), Olive Smelt (Halifax 1975), Tracy Browne (Silsden 1975), Marcella Claxton (Leeds 1976), Maureen Long (Bradford 1977) Marilyn Moore (Leeds 1977), Ann Rooney (Leeds 1979) Upadhya Bandara (Leeds 1980), and Theresa Sykes (Huddersfield 1980). Claxton was four months pregnant when she was attacked, and lost the baby she was carrying.
1969
Sutcliffe's first documented assault was of a female prostitute, whom he had met while searching for another woman who had tricked him out of money. He left his friend Trevor Birdsall's minivan and walked up St. Paul's Road in Bradford until he was out of sight. When Sutcliffe returned, he was out of breath, as if he had been running. He told Birdsall to drive off quickly. Sutcliffe said he had followed a prostitute into a garage and hit her over the head with a stone in a sock. According to his statement, Sutcliffe said,
"I got out of the car, went across the road and hit her. The force of the impact tore the toe off the sock and whatever was in it came out. I went back to the car and got in it".
Police visited Sutcliffe's home the next day, as the woman he had attacked had noted Birdsall's vehicle registration plate. He admitted he had hit her, but claimed it was with his hand. The police told him he was "very lucky", as the woman did not want anything more to do with the incident.
1975
Sutcliffe committed his second assault on the night of 5 July 1975 in Keighley. He attacked Anna Rogúlskyj, who was walking alone, striking her unconscious with a ball-peen hammer and slashing her stomach with a knife. Disturbed by a neighbour, he left without killing her. Rogulskyj survived after neurological surgery but she was psychologically traumatised by the attack. She said later:
"I've been afraid to go out much because I feel people are staring and pointing at me. The whole thing is making my life a misery. I sometimes wish I had died in the attack."
On the night of 15 August, Sutcliffe attacked Olive Smelt in Halifax. Employing the same modus operandi, he briefly engaged Smelt with a commonplace pleasantry about the weather before striking hammer blows to her skull from behind. He then disarranged her clothing and slashed her lower back with a knife. Again he was interrupted and left his victim badly injured but alive. Like Rogulskyj, Smelt subsequently suffered severe emotional and mental trauma.
She had told interviewing officer Dept. Supt. Dick Holland (later the Ripper Squad's second in command) that her attacker had a Yorkshire accent, but this information was ignored, as was the fact that neither she nor Rogulskij were in towns with a red light area. On 27 August, Sutcliffe attacked 14-year-old Tracy Browne in Silsden. He struck her from behind and hit her on the head five times while she was walking along a country lane. He ran off when he saw the lights of a passing car, leaving his victim requiring brain surgery. Sutcliffe was not convicted of the attack but confessed to it in 1992.
The first victim to be killed by Sutcliffe was Wilma McCann on 30 October. McCann, from Scott Hall in Leeds, was a mother of four children between the ages of 2 and 7. Sutcliffe struck the back of her skull twice with a hammer, then inflicted "a stab wound to the throat; two stab wounds below the right breast; three stab wounds below the left breast and a series of nine stab wounds around the umbilicus". An extensive inquiry, involving 150 officers of the West Yorkshire Police and 11,000 interviews, failed to find the culprit. In December 2007, McCann's eldest daughter Sonia Newlands killed herself, reportedly after suffering years of anguish and depression over the circumstances of her mother's death, and consequences to her and her siblings.
1976
Sutcliffe committed his next murder in Leeds on 20 January 1976, when he stabbed 42-year-old Emily Jackson 52 times. In dire financial straits, Jackson had been persuaded by her husband to engage in prostitution, using the van of their family roofing business. Sutcliffe picked up Jackson, who was soliciting outside the Gaiety pub on Roundhay Road, then drove about half a mile to some derelict buildings on Enfield Terrace in the Manor Industrial Estate. Sutcliffe hit her on the head with a hammer, dragged her body into a rubbish-strewn yard, then used a sharpened screwdriver to stab her in the neck, chest and abdomen. He stamped on her thigh, leaving behind an impression of his boot.
Sutcliffe attacked 20-year-old Marcella Claxton in Roundhay Park, Leeds, on 9 May. Walking home from a party, she accepted an offer of a lift from Sutcliffe. When she got out of the car to urinate, he hit her from behind with a hammer. Claxton survived and testified against Sutcliffe at his trial. At the time of this attack, Claxton had been four months pregnant and subsequently miscarried her baby. She required multiple, extensive brain operations and suffered from intermittent blackouts and chronic depression.
1977
On 5 February, Sutcliffe attacked Irene Richardson, a Chapeltown prostitute, in Roundhay Park. Richardson was bludgeoned to death with a hammer. Once she was dead, Sutcliffe mutilated her corpse with a knife. Tyre tracks left near the murder scene resulted in a long list of possible suspect vehicles.
Two months later, on 23 April, Sutcliffe killed Patricia "Tina" Atkinson, a prostitute from Bradford, in her flat, where police found a bootprint on the bedclothes. Two months after that, on 26 June, he murdered 16-year-old Jayne MacDonald in Chapeltown. She was not a prostitute and, in the public perception, her murder showed that all women were potential victims. The police described her as the first "innocent" victim. Sutcliffe seriously assaulted Maureen Long in Bradford in July. He was interrupted and fled, leaving her for dead. She was suffering from hypothermia when found and was in hospital for nine weeks. A witness misidentified the make of his car, resulting in more than 300 police officers checking thousands of cars without success.
On 1 October 1977 Sutcliffe murdered Jean Jordan, a prostitute from Manchester. In a confession, Sutcliffe said he had realised the new £5 note he had given her was traceable. After hosting a family party at his new home, he returned to the wasteland behind Manchester's Southern Cemetery, where he had left the body, to retrieve the note but was unable to find it.
On 9 October, Jordan's body was discovered by local dairy worker and future actor Bruce Jones, who had an allotment on land adjoining the site where the body was found and was searching for house bricks when he made the discovery. The £5 note, hidden in a secret compartment in Jordan's handbag, was traced to branches of the Midland Bank in Shipley and Bingley. Police analysis of bank operations allowed them to narrow their field of inquiry to 8,000 employees who could have received it in their wage packet. Over three months the police interviewed 5,000 men, including Sutcliffe. The police found that the alibi given for Sutcliffe's whereabouts was credible; he had indeed spent much of the evening of the killing at a family party. Weeks of intense investigations pertaining to the origins of the £5 note led to nothing, leaving police officers frustrated that they collected an important clue but had been unable to trace the actual firm (or employee within the firm) to which or whom the note had been issued.
On 14 December, Sutcliffe attacked Marilyn Moore, another prostitute from Leeds. She survived and provided police with a description of her attacker. Tyre tracks found at the scene matched those from an earlier attack. Her photofit bore a strong resemblance to Sutcliffe, like other survivors, and she provided a good description of his car, which had been seen in red-light districts. Sutcliffe had been interviewed on this issue.
1978
The police discontinued the search for the person who received the £5 note in January 1978. Although Sutcliffe was interviewed about it, he was not investigated further (he was contacted and disregarded by the Ripper Squad on several further occasions). That month, Sutcliffe killed again. His victim was Yvonne Pearson, a 21-year-old prostitute from Bradford. He repeatedly bludgeoned her about the head with a ball-peen hammer, then jumped on her chest before stuffing horsehair into her mouth from a discarded sofa, under which he hid her body near Lumb Lane.
Ten days later, he killed Helen Rytka, an 18-year-old prostitute from Huddersfield. He struck Rytka on the head five times as she exited his vehicle, before stripping most of the clothes from her body (although her bra and polo-neck jumper were positioned above her breasts) and repeatedly stabbing her in the chest. Her body was found three days later beneath railway arches in Garrards timber-yard to which he had driven her. Sutcliffe said of Rytka while in police custody in 1981: "I had the urge to kill any woman. The urge inside me to kill girls was now practically uncontrollable."
1979
On 4 April 1979, Sutcliffe killed Josephine Whitaker, a 19-year-old building society clerk whom he attacked on Savile Park Moor in Halifax as she was walking home. Despite forensic evidence, police efforts were diverted for several months following receipt of the taped message purporting to be from the murderer taunting Assistant Chief Constable George Oldfield of the West Yorkshire Police, who was leading the investigation. The tape contained a man's voice saying, "I'm Jack. I see you're having no luck catching me. I have the greatest respect for you, George, but Lord, you're no nearer catching me now than four years ago when I started."
Based on the recorded message, police began searching for a man with a Wearside accent, which linguists narrowed down to the Castletown area of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear. The hoaxer, dubbed "Wearside Jack", sent two letters to police and the Daily Mirror in March 1978 boasting of his crimes. The letters, signed "Jack the Ripper", claimed responsibility for the murder of 26-year-old Joan Harrison in Preston in November 1975.
The hoaxer case was re-opened in 2005, and DNA taken from envelopes was entered into the national database, in which it matched that of John Samuel Humble, an unemployed alcoholic and long-time resident of the Ford Estate in Sunderland – a few miles from Castletown – whose DNA had been taken following a drunk and disorderly offence in 2001. On 20 October 2005, Humble was charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice for sending the hoax letters and tape. Humble was remanded in custody and on 21 March 2006 was convicted and sentenced to eight years in prison. Humble died on 30 July 2019, aged 63.
On 1 September, Sutcliffe murdered 20-year-old Barbara Leach, a Bradford University student. Her body was dumped at the rear of 13 Ashgrove under a pile of bricks, close to the university and her lodgings. It was his sixteenth attack. The murder of a woman who was not a prostitute again alarmed the public and prompted an expensive publicity campaign emphasising the Wearside connection. Despite the false lead, Sutcliffe was interviewed on at least two other occasions in 1979. Despite matching several forensic clues and being on the list of 300 names in connection with the £5 note, he was not strongly suspected.
1980
In April 1980, Sutcliffe was arrested for drunk driving. While awaiting trial, he killed two more women. Sutcliffe murdered 47-year-old Marguerite Walls on the night of 20 August 1980, and 20-year-old Jacqueline Hill, a student at Leeds University, on the night of 17 November 1980. Hill's body was found on wasteland near the Arndale Centre. He also attacked three other women, who survived: Uphadya Bandara in Leeds on 24 September 1980; Maureen Lea (known as Mo), an art student attacked in the grounds of Leeds University on 25 October 1980; and 16-year-old Theresa Sykes, attacked in Huddersfield on the night of 5 November 1980. On 25 November 1980, Trevor Birdsall, an associate of Sutcliffe and the unwitting getaway driver as Sutcliffe fled his first documented assault in 1969, reported him to the police as a suspect.
Arrest and trial
On 2 January 1981, Sutcliffe was stopped by the police with 24-year-old prostitute Olivia Reivers in the driveway of Light Trades House in Melbourne Avenue, Broomhill, Sheffield, South Yorkshire. A police check by probationary constable Robert Hydes revealed Sutcliffe's car had false number plates and he was arrested and transferred to Dewsbury Police Station in West Yorkshire. At Dewsbury, he was questioned in relation to the Yorkshire Ripper case as he matched many of the known physical characteristics. The next day police returned to the scene of the arrest and discovered a knife, hammer, and rope he had discarded when he briefly slipped away from the police after telling them he was "bursting for a pee". Sutcliffe hid a second knife in the toilet cistern at the police station when he was permitted to use the toilet. The police obtained a search warrant for his home in Heaton and brought his wife in for questioning.
When Sutcliffe was stripped at the police station he was wearing an inverted V-necked jumper under his trousers. The sleeves had been pulled over his legs and the V-neck exposed his genital area. The fronts of the elbows were padded to protect his knees as, presumably, he knelt over his victims' corpses. The sexual implications of this outfit were considered obvious but it was not known to the public until published by Bilton (2003). After two days of intensive questioning, on the afternoon of 4 January 1981, Sutcliffe suddenly declared he was the Ripper. Over the next day, he calmly described his many attacks. Weeks later he claimed God had told him to murder the women. "The women I killed were filth", he told police. "Bastard prostitutes who were littering the streets. I was just cleaning up the place a bit". Sutcliffe displayed regret only when talking of his youngest murder victim, Jayne MacDonald, and when questioned about the killing of Joan Harrison, he vehemently denied responsibility. Harrison's murder had been linked to the Ripper killings by the "Wearside Jack" claim, but in 2011, DNA evidence revealed the crime had actually been committed by convicted sex offender Christopher Smith, who had died in 2008.
Sutcliffe was charged on 5 January 1981. At his trial, he pleaded not guilty to thirteen charges of murder, but guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility. The basis of his defence was that he claimed to be the tool of God's will. Sutcliffe said he had heard voices that ordered him to kill prostitutes while working as a gravedigger, which he claimed originated from the headstone of a Polish man, Bronisław Zapolski, and that the voices were that of God.
Sutcliffe pleaded guilty to seven charges of attempted murder. The prosecution intended to accept Sutcliffe's plea after four psychiatrists diagnosed him with paranoid schizophrenia, but the trial judge, Justice Sir Leslie Boreham, demanded an unusually-detailed explanation of the prosecution reasoning. After a two-hour representation by the Attorney-General Sir Michael Havers, a ninety-minute lunch break, and another forty minutes of legal discussion, the judge rejected the diminished responsibility plea and the expert testimonies of the psychiatrists, insisting that the case should be dealt with by a jury. The trial proper was set to commence on 5 May 1981.
The trial lasted two weeks, and despite the efforts of his counsel James Chadwin QC, Sutcliffe was found guilty of murder on all counts and was sentenced to twenty concurrent sentences of life imprisonment. The jury rejected the evidence of four psychiatrists that Sutcliffe had paranoid schizophrenia, possibly influenced by the evidence of a prison officer who heard him say to his wife that if he convinced people he was mad then he might get ten years in a "loony bin".
The trial judge said Sutcliffe was beyond redemption, and hoped he would never leave prison. He recommended a minimum term of thirty years to be served before parole could be considered, meaning Sutcliffe would have been unlikely to be freed until at least 2011. On 16 July 2010, the High Court issued Sutcliffe with a whole life tariff, meaning he was never to be released. After his trial, Sutcliffe admitted two other attacks. It was decided that prosecution for these offences was "not in the public interest". West Yorkshire Police made it clear that the victims wished to remain anonymous.
Criticism of authorities
West Yorkshire Police
West Yorkshire Police was criticised for being inadequately prepared for an investigation on this scale. It was one of the largest investigations by a British police force and predated the use of computers. Information on suspects was stored on handwritten index cards. Aside from difficulties in storing and accessing the paperwork (the floor of the incident room was reinforced to cope with the weight of the paper), it was difficult for officers to overcome the information overload of such a large manual system. Sutcliffe was interviewed nine times, but all information the police had about the case was stored in paper form, making cross-referencing difficult, compounded by television appeals for information which generated thousands more documents. The 1982 Byford Report into the investigation concluded: "The ineffectiveness of the major incident room was a serious handicap to the Ripper investigation. While it should have been the effective nerve centre of the whole police operation, the backlog of unprocessed information resulted in the failure to connect vital pieces of related information. This serious fault in the central index system allowed Peter Sutcliffe to continually slip through the net".
The choice of Oldfield to lead the inquiry was criticised by Byford: "The temptation to appoint a 'senior man' on age or service grounds should be resisted. What is needed is an officer of sound professional competence who will inspire confidence and loyalty". He found wanting Oldfield's focus on the hoax confessional tape that seemed to indicate a perpetrator with a Wearside background, and his ignoring advice from survivors of Sutcliffe's attacks and several eminent specialists, including from the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the US, along with dialect analysts such as Stanley Ellis and Jack Windsor Lewis, whom he had also consulted throughout the manhunt, that "Wearside Jack" was a hoaxer. The investigation used it as a point of elimination rather than a line of enquiry and allowed Sutcliffe to avoid scrutiny, as he did not fit the profile of the sender of the tape or letters. The "Wearside Jack" hoaxer was given unusual credibility when analysis of saliva on the envelopes he sent showed he had the same blood group as that which Sutcliffe had left at crime scenes, a type shared by only 6% of the population. The hoaxer appeared to know details of the murders which had not been released to the press, but which in fact he had acquired from pub gossip and his local newspaper.
In response to the police reaction to the murders, the Leeds Revolutionary Feminist Group organised a number of 'Reclaim the Night' marches. The group and other feminists had criticised the police for victim-blaming, especially for the suggestion that women should remain indoors at night. Eleven marches in various towns across the United Kingdom took place on the night of 12 November 1977. They made the point that women should be able to walk anywhere without restriction and that they should not be blamed for men's violence.
In 1988, the mother of Sutcliffe's last victim, Jacqueline Hill, during an action for damages on behalf of her daughter's estate, argued in the case Hill v Chief Constable of West Yorkshire in the High Court that the police had failed to use reasonable care in apprehending Sutcliffe. The House of Lords held that the Chief Constable of West Yorkshire did not owe a duty of care to the victim due to the lack of proximity, and therefore failing on the second limb of the Caparo test. After Sutcliffe's death in November 2020, West Yorkshire Police issued an apology for the "language, tone, and terminology" used by the force at the time of the criminal investigation, nine months after one of the victims' sons wrote on behalf of several of the victims' families.
Attitude towards prostitutes
The attitude in the West Yorkshire Police at the time reflected Sutcliffe's own misogyny and sexist attitudes, according to multiple sources. Jim Hobson, a senior West Yorkshire detective, told a press conference in October 1979 the perpetrator: "has made it clear that he hates prostitutes. Many people do. We, as a police force, will continue to arrest prostitutes. But the Ripper is now killing innocent girls. That indicates your mental state and that you are in urgent need of medical attention. You have made your point. Give yourself up before another innocent woman dies".Joan Smith wrote in Misogynies (1989, 1993), that "even Sutcliffe, at his trial, did not go quite this far; he did at least claim he was demented at the time".
The Attorney General, Sir Michael Havers QC, at the trial in 1981 said of Sutcliffe's victims in his opening statement: "Some were prostitutes, but perhaps the saddest part of the case is that some were not. The last six attacks were on totally respectable women". This drew condemnation from the English Collective of Prostitutes (ECP), who protested outside the Old Bailey. Nina Lopez, who was one of the ECP protestors in 1981, told The Independent forty years later, Sir Michael's comments were "an indictment of the whole way in which the police and the establishment were dealing with the Yorkshire Ripper case".
Byford report
The Inspector of Constabulary Lawrence Byford's 1981 report of an official inquiry into the Ripper case was not released by the Home Office until 1 June 2006. The sections "Description of suspects, photofits and other assaults" and parts of the section on Sutcliffe's "immediate associates" were not disclosed by the Home Office.
Referring to the period between 1969, when Sutcliffe first came to the attention of police, and 1975, the year of the murder of Wilma McCann, the report states: "There is a curious and unexplained lull in Sutcliffe's criminal activities" and "it is my firm conclusion that between 1969 and 1980 Sutcliffe was probably responsible for many attacks on unaccompanied women, which he has not yet admitted, not only in the West Yorkshire and Manchester areas, but also in other parts of the country". In 1969, Sutcliffe, described in the Byford Report as an "otherwise unremarkable young man", came to the notice of police on two occasions over incidents with prostitutes. Later that year, in September 1969, he was also arrested in Bradford's red light district for being in possession of a hammer, an offensive weapon, but he was charged with "going equipped for stealing" as it was assumed he was a potential burglar. The report said that it was clear Sutcliffe had on at least one occasion attacked a Bradford prostitute with a cosh.
Byford's report states:
Police identified a number of attacks which matched Sutcliffe's modus operandi and tried to question the killer, but he was never charged with other crimes.
The Byford Report's major findings were contained in a summary published by the Home Secretary, William Whitelaw, the first time precise details of the bungled police investigation had been disclosed. Byford described delays in following up vital tip-offs from Trevor Birdsall, an associate of Sutcliffe since 1966. On 25 November 1980, Birdsall sent an anonymous letter to police, the text of which ran as follows:
This letter was marked "Priority No. 1". An index card was created on the basis of the letter and a policewoman found Sutcliffe already had three existing index cards in the records. But "for some inexplicable reason", said the Byford Report, the papers remained in a filing tray in the incident room until the murderer's arrest on 2 January [1981], the following year.
Birdsall visited Bradford police station the day after sending the letter to repeat his misgivings about Sutcliffe. He added that he was with Sutcliffe when he got out of a car to pursue a woman with whom he had had a bar room dispute in Halifax on 16 August 1975. This was the date and place of the Olive Smelt attack. A report compiled on the visit was lost, despite a "comprehensive search" which took place after Sutcliffe's arrest, according to the report. Byford said:
Custody
Prison and Broadmoor Hospital
Following his conviction and incarceration, Sutcliffe chose to use the name Coonan, his mother's maiden name. He began his sentence at HM Prison Parkhurst on 22 May 1981. Despite being found sane at his trial, Sutcliffe was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. Attempts to send him to a secure psychiatric unit were blocked. While at Parkhurst he was seriously assaulted by James Costello, a 35-year-old career criminal with several convictions for violence. On 10 January 1983, he followed Sutcliffe into the recess of F2, the hospital wing at Parkhurst, and plunged a broken coffee jar twice into the left side of Sutcliffe's face, creating four wounds requiring thirty stitches. In March 1984, Sutcliffe was sent to Broadmoor Hospital, under Section 47 of the Mental Health Act 1983.
Sutcliffe's wife obtained a separation from him around 1989 and a divorce in July 1994. On 23 February 1996, he was attacked in his room in Broadmoor's Henley Ward. Paul Wilson, a convicted robber, asked to borrow a videotape before attempting to strangle Sutcliffe with the cable from a pair of stereo headphones.
After an attack with a pen by fellow inmate Ian Kay on 10 March 1997, Sutcliffe lost the vision in his left eye, and his right eye was severely damaged. Kay admitted trying to kill Sutcliffe and was ordered to be detained in a secure mental hospital without limit of time. In 2003, it was reported that Sutcliffe had developed diabetes.
Sutcliffe's father died in 2004 and was cremated. On 17 January 2005, Sutcliffe was allowed to visit Grange-over-Sands where the ashes had been scattered. The decision to allow the temporary release was initiated by David Blunkett and ratified by Charles Clarke when he became Home Secretary. Sutcliffe was accompanied by four members of the hospital staff. The visit led to front-page tabloid headlines.
On 22 December 2007, Sutcliffe was attacked by fellow inmate Patrick Sureda, who lunged at him with a metal cutlery knife while shouting, "You fucking raping, murdering bastard, I'll blind your fucking other one!" Sutcliffe flung himself backwards and the blade missed his right eye, stabbing him in the cheek.
On 17 February 2009, it was reported that Sutcliffe was "fit to leave Broadmoor". On 23 March 2010, the Secretary of State for Justice, Jack Straw, was questioned by Julie Kirkbride, Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for Bromsgrove, in the House of Commons seeking reassurance for a constituent, a victim of Sutcliffe, that he would remain in prison. Straw responded that whilst the matter of Sutcliffe's release was a parole board matter, "that all the evidence that I have seen on this case, and it's a great deal, suggests to me that there are no circumstances in which this man will be released".
Appeal
An application by Sutcliffe for a minimum term to be set, offering the possibility of parole after that date if it were thought safe to release him, was heard by the High Court on 16 July 2010. The court decided that Sutcliffe would never be released. Mr Justice Mitting stated:
Psychological reports describing Sutcliffe's mental state were taken into consideration, as was the severity of his crimes. Sutcliffe spent the rest of his life in custody. On 4 August 2010, a spokeswoman for the Judicial Communications Office confirmed that Sutcliffe had initiated an appeal against the decision. The hearing for Sutcliffe's appeal against the ruling began on 30 November 2010 at the Court of Appeal. The appeal was rejected on 14 January 2011. On 9 March 2011, the Court of Appeal rejected Sutcliffe's application for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court.
Later events
In December 2015, Sutcliffe was assessed as being "no longer mentally ill". In August 2016, a medical tribunal ruled that he no longer required clinical treatment for his mental condition, and could be returned to prison. Sutcliffe was reported to have been transferred from Broadmoor to HM Prison Frankland in Durham, County Durham, in August 2016.
In 2017, West Yorkshire Police launched Operation Painthall to determine if Sutcliffe was guilty of unsolved crimes dating back to 1964. This inquiry also looked at the killings of two prostitutes in southern Sweden in 1980. Given that Sutcliffe was a lorry driver, it was theorised that he had been in Denmark and Sweden, making use of the ferry across the Oresund Strait. In December 2017 West Yorkshire Police, in response to a Freedom of Information request, neither confirmed nor denied that Operation Painthall existed. West Yorkshire Police later stated that it was "absolutely certain" that Sutcliffe had never been in Sweden.
Death
Sutcliffe died at University Hospital of North Durham aged 74 on 13 November 2020, having been sent there with COVID-19, after having previously returned to HMP Frankland following treatment for a suspected heart attack at the same hospital two weeks prior. He had a number of underlying health problems, including obesity and diabetes. He reportedly refused treatment. A private funeral ceremony was held, and Sutcliffe's body was cremated.
Media
The song "Night Shift" by English post-punk band Siouxsie and the Banshees on their 1981 album Juju is about Sutcliffe.
On 6 April 1991, Sutcliffe's father, John Sutcliffe, talked about his son on the television discussion programme After Dark.
This Is Personal: The Hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper, a British television crime drama miniseries, first shown on ITV from 26 January to 2 February 2000, is a dramatisation of the real-life investigation into the murders, showing the effect that it had on the health and career of Assistant Chief Constable George Oldfield (Alun Armstrong). The series also starred Richard Ridings and James Laurenson as DSI Dick Holland and Chief Constable Ronald Gregory, respectively. Although broadcast over two weeks, two episodes were shown consecutively each week. The series was nominated for the British Academy Television Award for Best Drama Serial at the 2001 awards.
On 26 August 2016, the police investigation was the subject of BBC Radio 4's The Reunion. Sue MacGregor discussed the investigation with John Domaille, who later became assistant chief constable of West Yorkshire Police; Andy Laptew, who was a junior detective who interviewed Sutcliffe; Elaine Benson, who worked in the incident room and interviewed suspects; David Zackrisson, who investigated the "Wearside Jack" tape and letters in Sunderland; and Christa Ackroyd, a local journalist in Halifax.
A three part series of one hour episodes, The Yorkshire Ripper Files: A very British crime story aired on BBC Four in March 2019. This included interviews with some of the victims, their family, police and journalists who covered the case by filmmaker Liza Williams. In the series she questions whether the attitude of both the police and society towards women prevented Sutcliffe from being caught sooner. On 31 July 2020, the series won the BAFTA prize for Specialist Factual TV programming.
A play written by Olivia Hirst and David Byrne, The Incident Room, premiered at Pleasance as part of the 2019 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The play focuses on the police force hunting Sutcliffe. The play was produced by New Diorama. The third book (and second episodic television adaptation) in David Peace's Red Riding series is set against the backdrop of the Ripper investigation. In that episode, Sutcliffe is played by Joseph Mawle.
In October 2020, it was announced that ITV will produce a new six-part drama series about the Ripper.
In December 2020, Netflix released a four-part documentary entitled The Ripper, which recounts the police investigation into the murders with interviews from living victims, family members of victims and police officers involved in the investigation.
The 2021 podcast "Crime Analysis" covers Peter Sutcliffe's crimes, focusing on the victims, the investigation and forensics, trial, and aftermath including an interview with the son of victim Wilma McCann.
In November 2021, American heavy metal band Slipknot released a song titled "The Chapeltown Rag", which is inspired by the media reporting on the murders.
In February 2022, Channel 5 released a 60-minute documentary entitled The Ripper Speaks: the Lost Tapes, which recounts interviews and Sutcliffe speaking about life in prison and in Broadmoor Hospital, as well the crimes he had committed but which had not been seen or treated as "a Ripper killing".
See also
Gordon Cummins (Blackout Ripper)
Anthony Hardy (Camden Ripper)
Steve Wright (serial killer) (perpetrator of the Ipswich serial murders)
Alun Kyte (Midlands Ripper)
List of prisoners with whole-life orders
List of serial killers by country
List of serial killers by number of victims
Murders of Jacqueline Ansell-Lamb and Barbara Mayo, unsolved murders that for many years were linked to Sutcliffe
Notes
References
Bibliography
External links
(multiple files)
1946 births
1980s trials
2020 deaths
20th-century English criminals
British people convicted of attempted murder
Chapeltown, Leeds
Crime in Manchester
Crime in West Yorkshire
Criminals from Yorkshire
Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in England
English male criminals
English murderers of children
English people convicted of murder
English people of Irish descent
English prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment
English serial killers
Fugitives wanted by the United Kingdom
Male serial killers
Murder in Manchester
Murder in West Yorkshire
People convicted of murder by England and Wales
People detained at Broadmoor Hospital
People from Bingley
People with schizophrenia
Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by England and Wales
Prisoners who died in England and Wales detention
Violence against women in England | true | [
"R v Tang is decision of the High Court of Australia. \n\nIt is notable as the first criminal conviction for a slavery offence in Australia. The case concerned an appeal the State of Victoria against Wei Tang, the operator of a Melbourne brothel. The case has been described by commentators as 'the most crucial test of the effectiveness of our criminal laws against … slavery ever to come before an Australian court'.\n\nFacts \nTang was convicted in 2006 of 5 counts of intentionally possessing a slave and 5 counts of intentionally exercising a power of ownership over a slave. She was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment, with a non-parole period of 6 years. The charges related to five women, all Thai nationals.\n\nThe Victorian Court of Appeal held that the judge's directions to the jury were inadequate, quashed the convictions and ordered that Tang be retried.\n\nThe prosecution was given special leave to appeal to the High Court. Tang was given special leave to cross appeal on the meaning and constitutional validity of section 270.3(1)(a) of the Criminal Code.\n\nThe majority of the High Court, Gleeson CJ, Gummow, Hayne, Heydon, Crennan and Kiefel JJ, upheld the prosecutions appeal, holding that the prosecution did not need to prove that Ms Tang knew or believed that the women were slaves. Tang's appeal on the meaning and validity of the legislation was dismissed. Kirby J dissented.\n\nThe matter was remitted to the Victorian Court of Appeal to consider Tang's appeal against her sentence. The Victorian Court of Appeal upheld her appeal against sentence and Tang was re-sentenced to 9 years’ imprisonment, with a non-parole period of 5 years.\n\nNotes\n\nReferences\n\nHigh Court of Australia cases\nSlavery in Australia\n2008 in Australian law\n2008 in case law\nAustralian criminal law",
"R v De Simoni is a decision of the High Court of Australia.\n\nThe case is notable for the 'De Simoni principle', a doctrine that applies to criminal sentencing law. The rule 'bars sentencing judges from relying on facts that would amount to a more serious crime than the one the offender had been convicted of'. This rule prevents, for example, a judge from relying on aggravating facts in sentencing a manslaughter conviction; if those facts would imply the offender had actually committed a more serious offence.\n\nAccording to LawCite, it is the 128th most cited case of the High Court.\n\nFacts \n\nLuciano De Simoni pleaded guilty before a judge in the District Court of Western Australia to an indictment which alleged he 'stole from one Florence Kathleen Scott with actual violence $180 in money ... '.\n\nA conviction was entered under the WA Criminal Code for the offence of robbery. The Crown then stated the material facts to the court. They were that the victim was a woman of 78 years; at the time of the robbery the respondent struck her with a heavy blow, inflicting a 10 cm wound on the back of her head which needed eight stitches. De Simoni's counsel did not dispute this account. The trial judge then sentenced him to seven years, with a non-parole period of four years.\n\nThe trial judge remarked:'In my view this is a shocking crime ... what you had done - struck from behind on the head with a piece of wood a 78-year-old woman. In my view this crime deserves punishment and substantial punishment'De Simoni appealed, claiming that the trial judge had exceeded his available discretion. The Court of appeal allowed his appeal, but on different grounds; the court held that the facts that De Simoni had wounded his victim, was something the trial judge had taken into account; and that this circumstance of aggravation was prohibited by s582 of the WA Criminal Code.\n\nThe state of Western Australia then appealed to the High Court.\n\nJudgement \nThe High Court overturned the court of appeal. It found that violence was already a factor within the sentencing provisions for robbery under the code; and that the trial judge had only taken into account the fact violence had been committed. They overturned a finding that the trial judge had taken into account the fact of the victim being wounded. However, the affirmed that if the trial judge had done so; it would have been an inappropriate consideration, as wounding would have implied a more serious offence than violent robbery.\n\nThe 'crucial question', according to the court, was whether: 'a judge can be said to rely upon a circumstance of aggravation within the meaning of s. 582, when he takes that circumstance into consideration in imposing a sentence, and by reason of it inflicts a penalty more severe than he would otherwise have imposed.' The High Court then found for Western Australia, and remitted the matter to the Court of Criminal Appeal to give consideration to grounds it had previously excluded under s582.\n\nSignificance \nDe Simoni is an important case in Australian sentencing law, however it has some nuances that can occasionally make it difficult to understand and apply by lower court judges. Some questions associated with the doctrine were recently considered by the High Court in Nguyen v R and Betts v R.\n\nWhile the decision was based on the WA Criminal Code, the rule in De Simoni still applies in Australia's common law criminal jurisdictions. Nyugen v R for example, was an appeal of sentence for a conviction recorded in NSW.\n\nSee also \n\n Veen v R (No 2)\n\nNotes\n\nReferences \n\nHigh Court of Australia cases\nCriminal law"
]
|
[
"Peter Sutcliffe",
"Appeal",
"Most notable facts about the appeal?",
"On 9 March 2011, the Court of Appeal rejected Sutcliffe's application for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court."
]
| C_1e251a63d2f4450d89ad08f87c3cdc9d_0 | Was the final appeal successful? | 2 | Was the final appeal successful for Peter Sutcliffe in 2011? | Peter Sutcliffe | An application by Sutcliffe for a minimum term to be set, offering the possibility of parole after that date if it is thought safe to release him, was heard by the High Court of Justice on 16 July 2010. The High Court decided that Sutcliffe will never be released. Mr Justice Mitting stated: This was a campaign of murder which terrorised the population of a large part of Yorkshire for several years. The only explanation for it, on the jury's verdict, was anger, hatred and obsession. Apart from a terrorist outrage, it is difficult to conceive of circumstances in which one man could account for so many victims. Psychological reports describing his mental state were taken into consideration, as was the severity of his crimes. Barring judicial decisions to the contrary, Sutcliffe will spend the rest of his life in Broadmoor Hospital. On 4 August 2010, a spokeswoman for the Judicial Communications Office confirmed that Sutcliffe had initiated an appeal against the decision. The hearing for Sutcliffe's appeal against the ruling began on 30 November 2010 at the Court of Appeal. It was rejected on 14 January 2011. On 9 March 2011, the Court of Appeal rejected Sutcliffe's application for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court. In December 2015 Sutcliffe was assessed as being "no longer mentally ill". In August 2016, a medical tribunal ruled that he no longer required clinical treatment for his mental condition, and could be returned to prison. Sutcliffe is reported to have been transferred from Broadmoor to Frankland Prison in Durham in August 2016. CANNOTANSWER | Barring judicial decisions to the contrary, Sutcliffe will spend the rest of his life in Broadmoor Hospital. | Peter William Sutcliffe (2 June 1946 – 13 November 2020), also known as Peter William Coonan, was an English serial killer who was dubbed the Yorkshire Ripper (an allusion to Jack the Ripper) by the press. On 22 May 1981, he was found guilty of murdering 13 women and attempting to murder seven others between 1975 and 1980. He was sentenced to 20 concurrent sentences of life imprisonment, which were converted to a whole life order in 2010. Two of Sutcliffe's murders took place in Manchester; all the others were in West Yorkshire.
Sutcliffe initially attacked women and girls in residential areas, but appears to have shifted his focus to red-light districts because he was attracted by the vulnerability of prostitutes, and perceived ambivalence of police to prostitutes' safety at the time. He had allegedly regularly used the services of prostitutes in Leeds and Bradford. After his arrest in Sheffield by South Yorkshire Police for driving with false number plates in January 1981, Sutcliffe was transferred to West Yorkshire Police, which questioned him about the killings. He confessed to being the perpetrator, saying that the voice of God had sent him on a mission to kill prostitutes. At his trial, Sutcliffe pleaded not guilty to murder on grounds of diminished responsibility, but he was convicted of murder on a majority verdict. Following his conviction, Sutcliffe began using his mother's maiden name of Coonan.
The search for Sutcliffe was one of the largest and most expensive manhunts in British history, and West Yorkshire Police was criticised for its failure to catch him despite having interviewed him nine times in the course of its five-year investigation. Owing to the sensational nature of the case, the police handled an exceptional amount of information, some of it misleading (including the Wearside Jack hoax recorded message and letters purporting to be from the "Ripper"). Following Sutcliffe's conviction, the government ordered a review of the investigation, conducted by the Inspector of Constabulary Lawrence Byford, known as the "Byford Report". The findings were made fully public in 2006, and confirmed the validity of the criticism against the force. The report led to changes to investigative procedures that were adopted across UK police forces. In 2019, The Guardian described the manhunt as "stunningly mishandled".
Sutcliffe was transferred from prison to Broadmoor Hospital in March 1984 after being diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. The High Court dismissed an appeal by Sutcliffe in 2010, confirming that he would serve a whole life order and never be released from custody. In August 2016, it was ruled that Sutcliffe was mentally fit to be returned to prison, and he was transferred that month to HM Prison Frankland in Durham. He died from COVID-19-related complications in hospital, while in prison custody on 13 November 2020, at the age of 74.
Early life
Peter Sutcliffe was born to a working-class family in Bingley, West Riding of Yorkshire. His parents were John William Sutcliffe and his wife Kathleen Frances (née Coonan), a native of Connemara. Kathleen was a Roman Catholic and John was a member of the choir at the local Anglican church of St Wilfred's; their children were raised in their mother's Catholic faith. Reportedly a loner, Sutcliffe left school aged fifteen and had a series of menial jobs, including two stints as a gravedigger in the 1960s. Between November 1971 and April 1973, he worked at the Baird Television factory on a packaging line. He left this position when he was asked to go on the road as a salesman.
After leaving Baird Television, Sutcliffe worked nightshifts at the Britannia Works of Anderton International from April 1973. In February 1975, he took redundancy and used half of the £400 pay-off to train as a heavy goods vehicle (HGV) driver. On 5 March 1976, Sutcliffe was dismissed for the theft of used tyres. He was unemployed until October 1976, when he found a job as an HGV driver for T. & W.H. Clark (Holdings) Ltd. on the Canal Road Industrial Estate in Bradford.
Sutcliffe, by some reports, hired prostitutes as a young man, and it has been speculated that he had a bad experience during which he was conned out of money by a prostitute and her pimp. Other analyses of his actions have not found evidence that he actually sought the services of prostitutes but note that he nonetheless developed an obsession with them, including "watching them soliciting on the streets of Leeds and Bradford".
Sutcliffe met Sonia Szurma on 14 February 1967; they married on 10 August 1974. Sonia suffered several miscarriages, and they were informed that she would not be able to have children. She resumed a teacher training course, during which time she had an affair with an ice-cream van driver. When Sonia completed the course in 1977 and began teaching, she and Sutcliffe used her salary to buy a house at 6 Garden Lane in Heaton in Bradford, into which they moved on 26 September 1977, and where they were living at the time of Sutcliffe's arrest.
Through his childhood and his early adolescence, Sutcliffe showed no signs of abnormality. But one of his brothers admitted that their father was an abusive alcoholic, stating that their father once smashed a beer glass over Peter's head for sitting in his chair at the Christmas table, after arguing, when the brother was four or five years old. Their father used to whip them with a belt.
Later, in part related to his occupation as a gravedigger, he developed a macabre sense of humour. In his late adolescence, Sutcliffe developed a growing obsession with voyeurism, and spent much time spying on prostitutes and the men seeking their services.
Attacks and murders
Leeds was the hotspot of Ripper activity, with 6 murders and 4 attacks in the city. Sutcliffe's first and last murders also occurred in Leeds.
Sutcliffe's 13 known murder victims were Wilma McCann (Leeds 1975), Emily Jackson (Leeds 1976), Irene Richardson (Leeds 1977), Patricia "Tina" Atkinson (Bradford 1977), Jayne MacDonald (Leeds 1977), Jean Jordan (Manchester 1977), Yvonne Pearson (Bradford 1978), Helen Rytka (Huddersfield 1978), Vera Millward (Manchester 1978), Josephine Whitaker (Halifax 1979), Barbara Leach (Bradford 1979), Marguerite Walls (Leeds 1980) and Jacqueline Hill (Leeds 1980).
He is also known to have attacked 10 other women: a woman of unknown name (Bradford 1969), Anna Rogulskyj (Keighley 1975), Olive Smelt (Halifax 1975), Tracy Browne (Silsden 1975), Marcella Claxton (Leeds 1976), Maureen Long (Bradford 1977) Marilyn Moore (Leeds 1977), Ann Rooney (Leeds 1979) Upadhya Bandara (Leeds 1980), and Theresa Sykes (Huddersfield 1980). Claxton was four months pregnant when she was attacked, and lost the baby she was carrying.
1969
Sutcliffe's first documented assault was of a female prostitute, whom he had met while searching for another woman who had tricked him out of money. He left his friend Trevor Birdsall's minivan and walked up St. Paul's Road in Bradford until he was out of sight. When Sutcliffe returned, he was out of breath, as if he had been running. He told Birdsall to drive off quickly. Sutcliffe said he had followed a prostitute into a garage and hit her over the head with a stone in a sock. According to his statement, Sutcliffe said,
"I got out of the car, went across the road and hit her. The force of the impact tore the toe off the sock and whatever was in it came out. I went back to the car and got in it".
Police visited Sutcliffe's home the next day, as the woman he had attacked had noted Birdsall's vehicle registration plate. He admitted he had hit her, but claimed it was with his hand. The police told him he was "very lucky", as the woman did not want anything more to do with the incident.
1975
Sutcliffe committed his second assault on the night of 5 July 1975 in Keighley. He attacked Anna Rogúlskyj, who was walking alone, striking her unconscious with a ball-peen hammer and slashing her stomach with a knife. Disturbed by a neighbour, he left without killing her. Rogulskyj survived after neurological surgery but she was psychologically traumatised by the attack. She said later:
"I've been afraid to go out much because I feel people are staring and pointing at me. The whole thing is making my life a misery. I sometimes wish I had died in the attack."
On the night of 15 August, Sutcliffe attacked Olive Smelt in Halifax. Employing the same modus operandi, he briefly engaged Smelt with a commonplace pleasantry about the weather before striking hammer blows to her skull from behind. He then disarranged her clothing and slashed her lower back with a knife. Again he was interrupted and left his victim badly injured but alive. Like Rogulskyj, Smelt subsequently suffered severe emotional and mental trauma.
She had told interviewing officer Dept. Supt. Dick Holland (later the Ripper Squad's second in command) that her attacker had a Yorkshire accent, but this information was ignored, as was the fact that neither she nor Rogulskij were in towns with a red light area. On 27 August, Sutcliffe attacked 14-year-old Tracy Browne in Silsden. He struck her from behind and hit her on the head five times while she was walking along a country lane. He ran off when he saw the lights of a passing car, leaving his victim requiring brain surgery. Sutcliffe was not convicted of the attack but confessed to it in 1992.
The first victim to be killed by Sutcliffe was Wilma McCann on 30 October. McCann, from Scott Hall in Leeds, was a mother of four children between the ages of 2 and 7. Sutcliffe struck the back of her skull twice with a hammer, then inflicted "a stab wound to the throat; two stab wounds below the right breast; three stab wounds below the left breast and a series of nine stab wounds around the umbilicus". An extensive inquiry, involving 150 officers of the West Yorkshire Police and 11,000 interviews, failed to find the culprit. In December 2007, McCann's eldest daughter Sonia Newlands killed herself, reportedly after suffering years of anguish and depression over the circumstances of her mother's death, and consequences to her and her siblings.
1976
Sutcliffe committed his next murder in Leeds on 20 January 1976, when he stabbed 42-year-old Emily Jackson 52 times. In dire financial straits, Jackson had been persuaded by her husband to engage in prostitution, using the van of their family roofing business. Sutcliffe picked up Jackson, who was soliciting outside the Gaiety pub on Roundhay Road, then drove about half a mile to some derelict buildings on Enfield Terrace in the Manor Industrial Estate. Sutcliffe hit her on the head with a hammer, dragged her body into a rubbish-strewn yard, then used a sharpened screwdriver to stab her in the neck, chest and abdomen. He stamped on her thigh, leaving behind an impression of his boot.
Sutcliffe attacked 20-year-old Marcella Claxton in Roundhay Park, Leeds, on 9 May. Walking home from a party, she accepted an offer of a lift from Sutcliffe. When she got out of the car to urinate, he hit her from behind with a hammer. Claxton survived and testified against Sutcliffe at his trial. At the time of this attack, Claxton had been four months pregnant and subsequently miscarried her baby. She required multiple, extensive brain operations and suffered from intermittent blackouts and chronic depression.
1977
On 5 February, Sutcliffe attacked Irene Richardson, a Chapeltown prostitute, in Roundhay Park. Richardson was bludgeoned to death with a hammer. Once she was dead, Sutcliffe mutilated her corpse with a knife. Tyre tracks left near the murder scene resulted in a long list of possible suspect vehicles.
Two months later, on 23 April, Sutcliffe killed Patricia "Tina" Atkinson, a prostitute from Bradford, in her flat, where police found a bootprint on the bedclothes. Two months after that, on 26 June, he murdered 16-year-old Jayne MacDonald in Chapeltown. She was not a prostitute and, in the public perception, her murder showed that all women were potential victims. The police described her as the first "innocent" victim. Sutcliffe seriously assaulted Maureen Long in Bradford in July. He was interrupted and fled, leaving her for dead. She was suffering from hypothermia when found and was in hospital for nine weeks. A witness misidentified the make of his car, resulting in more than 300 police officers checking thousands of cars without success.
On 1 October 1977 Sutcliffe murdered Jean Jordan, a prostitute from Manchester. In a confession, Sutcliffe said he had realised the new £5 note he had given her was traceable. After hosting a family party at his new home, he returned to the wasteland behind Manchester's Southern Cemetery, where he had left the body, to retrieve the note but was unable to find it.
On 9 October, Jordan's body was discovered by local dairy worker and future actor Bruce Jones, who had an allotment on land adjoining the site where the body was found and was searching for house bricks when he made the discovery. The £5 note, hidden in a secret compartment in Jordan's handbag, was traced to branches of the Midland Bank in Shipley and Bingley. Police analysis of bank operations allowed them to narrow their field of inquiry to 8,000 employees who could have received it in their wage packet. Over three months the police interviewed 5,000 men, including Sutcliffe. The police found that the alibi given for Sutcliffe's whereabouts was credible; he had indeed spent much of the evening of the killing at a family party. Weeks of intense investigations pertaining to the origins of the £5 note led to nothing, leaving police officers frustrated that they collected an important clue but had been unable to trace the actual firm (or employee within the firm) to which or whom the note had been issued.
On 14 December, Sutcliffe attacked Marilyn Moore, another prostitute from Leeds. She survived and provided police with a description of her attacker. Tyre tracks found at the scene matched those from an earlier attack. Her photofit bore a strong resemblance to Sutcliffe, like other survivors, and she provided a good description of his car, which had been seen in red-light districts. Sutcliffe had been interviewed on this issue.
1978
The police discontinued the search for the person who received the £5 note in January 1978. Although Sutcliffe was interviewed about it, he was not investigated further (he was contacted and disregarded by the Ripper Squad on several further occasions). That month, Sutcliffe killed again. His victim was Yvonne Pearson, a 21-year-old prostitute from Bradford. He repeatedly bludgeoned her about the head with a ball-peen hammer, then jumped on her chest before stuffing horsehair into her mouth from a discarded sofa, under which he hid her body near Lumb Lane.
Ten days later, he killed Helen Rytka, an 18-year-old prostitute from Huddersfield. He struck Rytka on the head five times as she exited his vehicle, before stripping most of the clothes from her body (although her bra and polo-neck jumper were positioned above her breasts) and repeatedly stabbing her in the chest. Her body was found three days later beneath railway arches in Garrards timber-yard to which he had driven her. Sutcliffe said of Rytka while in police custody in 1981: "I had the urge to kill any woman. The urge inside me to kill girls was now practically uncontrollable."
1979
On 4 April 1979, Sutcliffe killed Josephine Whitaker, a 19-year-old building society clerk whom he attacked on Savile Park Moor in Halifax as she was walking home. Despite forensic evidence, police efforts were diverted for several months following receipt of the taped message purporting to be from the murderer taunting Assistant Chief Constable George Oldfield of the West Yorkshire Police, who was leading the investigation. The tape contained a man's voice saying, "I'm Jack. I see you're having no luck catching me. I have the greatest respect for you, George, but Lord, you're no nearer catching me now than four years ago when I started."
Based on the recorded message, police began searching for a man with a Wearside accent, which linguists narrowed down to the Castletown area of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear. The hoaxer, dubbed "Wearside Jack", sent two letters to police and the Daily Mirror in March 1978 boasting of his crimes. The letters, signed "Jack the Ripper", claimed responsibility for the murder of 26-year-old Joan Harrison in Preston in November 1975.
The hoaxer case was re-opened in 2005, and DNA taken from envelopes was entered into the national database, in which it matched that of John Samuel Humble, an unemployed alcoholic and long-time resident of the Ford Estate in Sunderland – a few miles from Castletown – whose DNA had been taken following a drunk and disorderly offence in 2001. On 20 October 2005, Humble was charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice for sending the hoax letters and tape. Humble was remanded in custody and on 21 March 2006 was convicted and sentenced to eight years in prison. Humble died on 30 July 2019, aged 63.
On 1 September, Sutcliffe murdered 20-year-old Barbara Leach, a Bradford University student. Her body was dumped at the rear of 13 Ashgrove under a pile of bricks, close to the university and her lodgings. It was his sixteenth attack. The murder of a woman who was not a prostitute again alarmed the public and prompted an expensive publicity campaign emphasising the Wearside connection. Despite the false lead, Sutcliffe was interviewed on at least two other occasions in 1979. Despite matching several forensic clues and being on the list of 300 names in connection with the £5 note, he was not strongly suspected.
1980
In April 1980, Sutcliffe was arrested for drunk driving. While awaiting trial, he killed two more women. Sutcliffe murdered 47-year-old Marguerite Walls on the night of 20 August 1980, and 20-year-old Jacqueline Hill, a student at Leeds University, on the night of 17 November 1980. Hill's body was found on wasteland near the Arndale Centre. He also attacked three other women, who survived: Uphadya Bandara in Leeds on 24 September 1980; Maureen Lea (known as Mo), an art student attacked in the grounds of Leeds University on 25 October 1980; and 16-year-old Theresa Sykes, attacked in Huddersfield on the night of 5 November 1980. On 25 November 1980, Trevor Birdsall, an associate of Sutcliffe and the unwitting getaway driver as Sutcliffe fled his first documented assault in 1969, reported him to the police as a suspect.
Arrest and trial
On 2 January 1981, Sutcliffe was stopped by the police with 24-year-old prostitute Olivia Reivers in the driveway of Light Trades House in Melbourne Avenue, Broomhill, Sheffield, South Yorkshire. A police check by probationary constable Robert Hydes revealed Sutcliffe's car had false number plates and he was arrested and transferred to Dewsbury Police Station in West Yorkshire. At Dewsbury, he was questioned in relation to the Yorkshire Ripper case as he matched many of the known physical characteristics. The next day police returned to the scene of the arrest and discovered a knife, hammer, and rope he had discarded when he briefly slipped away from the police after telling them he was "bursting for a pee". Sutcliffe hid a second knife in the toilet cistern at the police station when he was permitted to use the toilet. The police obtained a search warrant for his home in Heaton and brought his wife in for questioning.
When Sutcliffe was stripped at the police station he was wearing an inverted V-necked jumper under his trousers. The sleeves had been pulled over his legs and the V-neck exposed his genital area. The fronts of the elbows were padded to protect his knees as, presumably, he knelt over his victims' corpses. The sexual implications of this outfit were considered obvious but it was not known to the public until published by Bilton (2003). After two days of intensive questioning, on the afternoon of 4 January 1981, Sutcliffe suddenly declared he was the Ripper. Over the next day, he calmly described his many attacks. Weeks later he claimed God had told him to murder the women. "The women I killed were filth", he told police. "Bastard prostitutes who were littering the streets. I was just cleaning up the place a bit". Sutcliffe displayed regret only when talking of his youngest murder victim, Jayne MacDonald, and when questioned about the killing of Joan Harrison, he vehemently denied responsibility. Harrison's murder had been linked to the Ripper killings by the "Wearside Jack" claim, but in 2011, DNA evidence revealed the crime had actually been committed by convicted sex offender Christopher Smith, who had died in 2008.
Sutcliffe was charged on 5 January 1981. At his trial, he pleaded not guilty to thirteen charges of murder, but guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility. The basis of his defence was that he claimed to be the tool of God's will. Sutcliffe said he had heard voices that ordered him to kill prostitutes while working as a gravedigger, which he claimed originated from the headstone of a Polish man, Bronisław Zapolski, and that the voices were that of God.
Sutcliffe pleaded guilty to seven charges of attempted murder. The prosecution intended to accept Sutcliffe's plea after four psychiatrists diagnosed him with paranoid schizophrenia, but the trial judge, Justice Sir Leslie Boreham, demanded an unusually-detailed explanation of the prosecution reasoning. After a two-hour representation by the Attorney-General Sir Michael Havers, a ninety-minute lunch break, and another forty minutes of legal discussion, the judge rejected the diminished responsibility plea and the expert testimonies of the psychiatrists, insisting that the case should be dealt with by a jury. The trial proper was set to commence on 5 May 1981.
The trial lasted two weeks, and despite the efforts of his counsel James Chadwin QC, Sutcliffe was found guilty of murder on all counts and was sentenced to twenty concurrent sentences of life imprisonment. The jury rejected the evidence of four psychiatrists that Sutcliffe had paranoid schizophrenia, possibly influenced by the evidence of a prison officer who heard him say to his wife that if he convinced people he was mad then he might get ten years in a "loony bin".
The trial judge said Sutcliffe was beyond redemption, and hoped he would never leave prison. He recommended a minimum term of thirty years to be served before parole could be considered, meaning Sutcliffe would have been unlikely to be freed until at least 2011. On 16 July 2010, the High Court issued Sutcliffe with a whole life tariff, meaning he was never to be released. After his trial, Sutcliffe admitted two other attacks. It was decided that prosecution for these offences was "not in the public interest". West Yorkshire Police made it clear that the victims wished to remain anonymous.
Criticism of authorities
West Yorkshire Police
West Yorkshire Police was criticised for being inadequately prepared for an investigation on this scale. It was one of the largest investigations by a British police force and predated the use of computers. Information on suspects was stored on handwritten index cards. Aside from difficulties in storing and accessing the paperwork (the floor of the incident room was reinforced to cope with the weight of the paper), it was difficult for officers to overcome the information overload of such a large manual system. Sutcliffe was interviewed nine times, but all information the police had about the case was stored in paper form, making cross-referencing difficult, compounded by television appeals for information which generated thousands more documents. The 1982 Byford Report into the investigation concluded: "The ineffectiveness of the major incident room was a serious handicap to the Ripper investigation. While it should have been the effective nerve centre of the whole police operation, the backlog of unprocessed information resulted in the failure to connect vital pieces of related information. This serious fault in the central index system allowed Peter Sutcliffe to continually slip through the net".
The choice of Oldfield to lead the inquiry was criticised by Byford: "The temptation to appoint a 'senior man' on age or service grounds should be resisted. What is needed is an officer of sound professional competence who will inspire confidence and loyalty". He found wanting Oldfield's focus on the hoax confessional tape that seemed to indicate a perpetrator with a Wearside background, and his ignoring advice from survivors of Sutcliffe's attacks and several eminent specialists, including from the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the US, along with dialect analysts such as Stanley Ellis and Jack Windsor Lewis, whom he had also consulted throughout the manhunt, that "Wearside Jack" was a hoaxer. The investigation used it as a point of elimination rather than a line of enquiry and allowed Sutcliffe to avoid scrutiny, as he did not fit the profile of the sender of the tape or letters. The "Wearside Jack" hoaxer was given unusual credibility when analysis of saliva on the envelopes he sent showed he had the same blood group as that which Sutcliffe had left at crime scenes, a type shared by only 6% of the population. The hoaxer appeared to know details of the murders which had not been released to the press, but which in fact he had acquired from pub gossip and his local newspaper.
In response to the police reaction to the murders, the Leeds Revolutionary Feminist Group organised a number of 'Reclaim the Night' marches. The group and other feminists had criticised the police for victim-blaming, especially for the suggestion that women should remain indoors at night. Eleven marches in various towns across the United Kingdom took place on the night of 12 November 1977. They made the point that women should be able to walk anywhere without restriction and that they should not be blamed for men's violence.
In 1988, the mother of Sutcliffe's last victim, Jacqueline Hill, during an action for damages on behalf of her daughter's estate, argued in the case Hill v Chief Constable of West Yorkshire in the High Court that the police had failed to use reasonable care in apprehending Sutcliffe. The House of Lords held that the Chief Constable of West Yorkshire did not owe a duty of care to the victim due to the lack of proximity, and therefore failing on the second limb of the Caparo test. After Sutcliffe's death in November 2020, West Yorkshire Police issued an apology for the "language, tone, and terminology" used by the force at the time of the criminal investigation, nine months after one of the victims' sons wrote on behalf of several of the victims' families.
Attitude towards prostitutes
The attitude in the West Yorkshire Police at the time reflected Sutcliffe's own misogyny and sexist attitudes, according to multiple sources. Jim Hobson, a senior West Yorkshire detective, told a press conference in October 1979 the perpetrator: "has made it clear that he hates prostitutes. Many people do. We, as a police force, will continue to arrest prostitutes. But the Ripper is now killing innocent girls. That indicates your mental state and that you are in urgent need of medical attention. You have made your point. Give yourself up before another innocent woman dies".Joan Smith wrote in Misogynies (1989, 1993), that "even Sutcliffe, at his trial, did not go quite this far; he did at least claim he was demented at the time".
The Attorney General, Sir Michael Havers QC, at the trial in 1981 said of Sutcliffe's victims in his opening statement: "Some were prostitutes, but perhaps the saddest part of the case is that some were not. The last six attacks were on totally respectable women". This drew condemnation from the English Collective of Prostitutes (ECP), who protested outside the Old Bailey. Nina Lopez, who was one of the ECP protestors in 1981, told The Independent forty years later, Sir Michael's comments were "an indictment of the whole way in which the police and the establishment were dealing with the Yorkshire Ripper case".
Byford report
The Inspector of Constabulary Lawrence Byford's 1981 report of an official inquiry into the Ripper case was not released by the Home Office until 1 June 2006. The sections "Description of suspects, photofits and other assaults" and parts of the section on Sutcliffe's "immediate associates" were not disclosed by the Home Office.
Referring to the period between 1969, when Sutcliffe first came to the attention of police, and 1975, the year of the murder of Wilma McCann, the report states: "There is a curious and unexplained lull in Sutcliffe's criminal activities" and "it is my firm conclusion that between 1969 and 1980 Sutcliffe was probably responsible for many attacks on unaccompanied women, which he has not yet admitted, not only in the West Yorkshire and Manchester areas, but also in other parts of the country". In 1969, Sutcliffe, described in the Byford Report as an "otherwise unremarkable young man", came to the notice of police on two occasions over incidents with prostitutes. Later that year, in September 1969, he was also arrested in Bradford's red light district for being in possession of a hammer, an offensive weapon, but he was charged with "going equipped for stealing" as it was assumed he was a potential burglar. The report said that it was clear Sutcliffe had on at least one occasion attacked a Bradford prostitute with a cosh.
Byford's report states:
Police identified a number of attacks which matched Sutcliffe's modus operandi and tried to question the killer, but he was never charged with other crimes.
The Byford Report's major findings were contained in a summary published by the Home Secretary, William Whitelaw, the first time precise details of the bungled police investigation had been disclosed. Byford described delays in following up vital tip-offs from Trevor Birdsall, an associate of Sutcliffe since 1966. On 25 November 1980, Birdsall sent an anonymous letter to police, the text of which ran as follows:
This letter was marked "Priority No. 1". An index card was created on the basis of the letter and a policewoman found Sutcliffe already had three existing index cards in the records. But "for some inexplicable reason", said the Byford Report, the papers remained in a filing tray in the incident room until the murderer's arrest on 2 January [1981], the following year.
Birdsall visited Bradford police station the day after sending the letter to repeat his misgivings about Sutcliffe. He added that he was with Sutcliffe when he got out of a car to pursue a woman with whom he had had a bar room dispute in Halifax on 16 August 1975. This was the date and place of the Olive Smelt attack. A report compiled on the visit was lost, despite a "comprehensive search" which took place after Sutcliffe's arrest, according to the report. Byford said:
Custody
Prison and Broadmoor Hospital
Following his conviction and incarceration, Sutcliffe chose to use the name Coonan, his mother's maiden name. He began his sentence at HM Prison Parkhurst on 22 May 1981. Despite being found sane at his trial, Sutcliffe was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. Attempts to send him to a secure psychiatric unit were blocked. While at Parkhurst he was seriously assaulted by James Costello, a 35-year-old career criminal with several convictions for violence. On 10 January 1983, he followed Sutcliffe into the recess of F2, the hospital wing at Parkhurst, and plunged a broken coffee jar twice into the left side of Sutcliffe's face, creating four wounds requiring thirty stitches. In March 1984, Sutcliffe was sent to Broadmoor Hospital, under Section 47 of the Mental Health Act 1983.
Sutcliffe's wife obtained a separation from him around 1989 and a divorce in July 1994. On 23 February 1996, he was attacked in his room in Broadmoor's Henley Ward. Paul Wilson, a convicted robber, asked to borrow a videotape before attempting to strangle Sutcliffe with the cable from a pair of stereo headphones.
After an attack with a pen by fellow inmate Ian Kay on 10 March 1997, Sutcliffe lost the vision in his left eye, and his right eye was severely damaged. Kay admitted trying to kill Sutcliffe and was ordered to be detained in a secure mental hospital without limit of time. In 2003, it was reported that Sutcliffe had developed diabetes.
Sutcliffe's father died in 2004 and was cremated. On 17 January 2005, Sutcliffe was allowed to visit Grange-over-Sands where the ashes had been scattered. The decision to allow the temporary release was initiated by David Blunkett and ratified by Charles Clarke when he became Home Secretary. Sutcliffe was accompanied by four members of the hospital staff. The visit led to front-page tabloid headlines.
On 22 December 2007, Sutcliffe was attacked by fellow inmate Patrick Sureda, who lunged at him with a metal cutlery knife while shouting, "You fucking raping, murdering bastard, I'll blind your fucking other one!" Sutcliffe flung himself backwards and the blade missed his right eye, stabbing him in the cheek.
On 17 February 2009, it was reported that Sutcliffe was "fit to leave Broadmoor". On 23 March 2010, the Secretary of State for Justice, Jack Straw, was questioned by Julie Kirkbride, Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for Bromsgrove, in the House of Commons seeking reassurance for a constituent, a victim of Sutcliffe, that he would remain in prison. Straw responded that whilst the matter of Sutcliffe's release was a parole board matter, "that all the evidence that I have seen on this case, and it's a great deal, suggests to me that there are no circumstances in which this man will be released".
Appeal
An application by Sutcliffe for a minimum term to be set, offering the possibility of parole after that date if it were thought safe to release him, was heard by the High Court on 16 July 2010. The court decided that Sutcliffe would never be released. Mr Justice Mitting stated:
Psychological reports describing Sutcliffe's mental state were taken into consideration, as was the severity of his crimes. Sutcliffe spent the rest of his life in custody. On 4 August 2010, a spokeswoman for the Judicial Communications Office confirmed that Sutcliffe had initiated an appeal against the decision. The hearing for Sutcliffe's appeal against the ruling began on 30 November 2010 at the Court of Appeal. The appeal was rejected on 14 January 2011. On 9 March 2011, the Court of Appeal rejected Sutcliffe's application for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court.
Later events
In December 2015, Sutcliffe was assessed as being "no longer mentally ill". In August 2016, a medical tribunal ruled that he no longer required clinical treatment for his mental condition, and could be returned to prison. Sutcliffe was reported to have been transferred from Broadmoor to HM Prison Frankland in Durham, County Durham, in August 2016.
In 2017, West Yorkshire Police launched Operation Painthall to determine if Sutcliffe was guilty of unsolved crimes dating back to 1964. This inquiry also looked at the killings of two prostitutes in southern Sweden in 1980. Given that Sutcliffe was a lorry driver, it was theorised that he had been in Denmark and Sweden, making use of the ferry across the Oresund Strait. In December 2017 West Yorkshire Police, in response to a Freedom of Information request, neither confirmed nor denied that Operation Painthall existed. West Yorkshire Police later stated that it was "absolutely certain" that Sutcliffe had never been in Sweden.
Death
Sutcliffe died at University Hospital of North Durham aged 74 on 13 November 2020, having been sent there with COVID-19, after having previously returned to HMP Frankland following treatment for a suspected heart attack at the same hospital two weeks prior. He had a number of underlying health problems, including obesity and diabetes. He reportedly refused treatment. A private funeral ceremony was held, and Sutcliffe's body was cremated.
Media
The song "Night Shift" by English post-punk band Siouxsie and the Banshees on their 1981 album Juju is about Sutcliffe.
On 6 April 1991, Sutcliffe's father, John Sutcliffe, talked about his son on the television discussion programme After Dark.
This Is Personal: The Hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper, a British television crime drama miniseries, first shown on ITV from 26 January to 2 February 2000, is a dramatisation of the real-life investigation into the murders, showing the effect that it had on the health and career of Assistant Chief Constable George Oldfield (Alun Armstrong). The series also starred Richard Ridings and James Laurenson as DSI Dick Holland and Chief Constable Ronald Gregory, respectively. Although broadcast over two weeks, two episodes were shown consecutively each week. The series was nominated for the British Academy Television Award for Best Drama Serial at the 2001 awards.
On 26 August 2016, the police investigation was the subject of BBC Radio 4's The Reunion. Sue MacGregor discussed the investigation with John Domaille, who later became assistant chief constable of West Yorkshire Police; Andy Laptew, who was a junior detective who interviewed Sutcliffe; Elaine Benson, who worked in the incident room and interviewed suspects; David Zackrisson, who investigated the "Wearside Jack" tape and letters in Sunderland; and Christa Ackroyd, a local journalist in Halifax.
A three part series of one hour episodes, The Yorkshire Ripper Files: A very British crime story aired on BBC Four in March 2019. This included interviews with some of the victims, their family, police and journalists who covered the case by filmmaker Liza Williams. In the series she questions whether the attitude of both the police and society towards women prevented Sutcliffe from being caught sooner. On 31 July 2020, the series won the BAFTA prize for Specialist Factual TV programming.
A play written by Olivia Hirst and David Byrne, The Incident Room, premiered at Pleasance as part of the 2019 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The play focuses on the police force hunting Sutcliffe. The play was produced by New Diorama. The third book (and second episodic television adaptation) in David Peace's Red Riding series is set against the backdrop of the Ripper investigation. In that episode, Sutcliffe is played by Joseph Mawle.
In October 2020, it was announced that ITV will produce a new six-part drama series about the Ripper.
In December 2020, Netflix released a four-part documentary entitled The Ripper, which recounts the police investigation into the murders with interviews from living victims, family members of victims and police officers involved in the investigation.
The 2021 podcast "Crime Analysis" covers Peter Sutcliffe's crimes, focusing on the victims, the investigation and forensics, trial, and aftermath including an interview with the son of victim Wilma McCann.
In November 2021, American heavy metal band Slipknot released a song titled "The Chapeltown Rag", which is inspired by the media reporting on the murders.
In February 2022, Channel 5 released a 60-minute documentary entitled The Ripper Speaks: the Lost Tapes, which recounts interviews and Sutcliffe speaking about life in prison and in Broadmoor Hospital, as well the crimes he had committed but which had not been seen or treated as "a Ripper killing".
See also
Gordon Cummins (Blackout Ripper)
Anthony Hardy (Camden Ripper)
Steve Wright (serial killer) (perpetrator of the Ipswich serial murders)
Alun Kyte (Midlands Ripper)
List of prisoners with whole-life orders
List of serial killers by country
List of serial killers by number of victims
Murders of Jacqueline Ansell-Lamb and Barbara Mayo, unsolved murders that for many years were linked to Sutcliffe
Notes
References
Bibliography
External links
(multiple files)
1946 births
1980s trials
2020 deaths
20th-century English criminals
British people convicted of attempted murder
Chapeltown, Leeds
Crime in Manchester
Crime in West Yorkshire
Criminals from Yorkshire
Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in England
English male criminals
English murderers of children
English people convicted of murder
English people of Irish descent
English prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment
English serial killers
Fugitives wanted by the United Kingdom
Male serial killers
Murder in Manchester
Murder in West Yorkshire
People convicted of murder by England and Wales
People detained at Broadmoor Hospital
People from Bingley
People with schizophrenia
Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by England and Wales
Prisoners who died in England and Wales detention
Violence against women in England | false | [
"Robert Tang Kwok-ching, GBM, SBS, JP (; born 7 January 1947) is a retired Hong Kong judge. He previously served as a permanent judge of the Court of Final Appeal, and before that, the vice-president of the Court of Appeal in Hong Kong. Following his retirement, he was appointed a non-permanent judge of the Court of Final Appeal.\n\nEarly life and education\nBorn in Shanghai, Robert Tang received his education in England. In 1969, he graduated from the University of Birmingham.\n\nLegal career\nTang began his legal career as a barrister at Gray's Inn in England in 1969. He was called to the Bar in Hong Kong in 1970, the Bar of Victoria, Australia in 1984, and the New York Bar in 1986. Tang was appointed as Queen's Counsel in 1986. In 1992, he was admitted as a barrister in Singapore. From 1988 to 1990 he was Chairman of the Hong Kong Bar Association. During his time in private practice, he was eminently successful and was described by his former pupil and current Chief Justice Geoffrey Ma to have had arguably \"the most successful practice” in the profession.\n\nJudicial career\nTang served as a Deputy District Judge in 1982 and as a Deputy High Court Judge in 1986. He was appointed as a Recorder of the High Court in 1995 and appointed a judge of the High Court in April 2004.\n\nHe became a Justice of Appeal of the Court of Appeal of Hong Kong on 3 January 2005 and was later appointed as the Vice-President of the Court of Appeal of Hong Kong on 1 November 2006.\n\nHe was appointed a non-permanent judge of the Court of Final Appeal on 1 September 2010. He then became a permanent judge of the Court on 25 October 2012.\n\nFrom October 2012 to September 2018, Tang was a member of the Law Reform Commission of Hong Kong.\n\nOn 21 March 2018, the judiciary announced that Tang would be appointed as a non-permanent judge following his retirement; Andrew Cheung was named as his successor in the Court of Final Appeal.\n\nFamily\nTang is married to Cissy K. S. Lam and has two children, Hilary and Charles Tang.\n\nHonours\nIn 2004, Tang was awarded the Silver Bauhinia Star for his judicial service in Hong Kong.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n Robert C. Tang's personal website\n\nHong Kong judges\nLiving people\n1947 births\nAlumni of the University of Birmingham\nBritish Hong Kong judges",
"The 1898 Cork Senior Football Championship was the 12th staging of the Cork Senior Football Championship since its establishment by the Cork County Board in 1887.\n\nDohenys were the defending champions.\n\nFermoy won the championship after a successful appeal against Dohenys who defeated them by 0-01 to 0-02 in the final at Cork Park. This was their second championship title overall and their first title since 1895.\n\nResults\n\nFinal\n\nReferences\n\nCork Senior Football Championship"
]
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[
"Peter Sutcliffe",
"Appeal",
"Most notable facts about the appeal?",
"On 9 March 2011, the Court of Appeal rejected Sutcliffe's application for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court.",
"Was the final appeal successful?",
"Barring judicial decisions to the contrary, Sutcliffe will spend the rest of his life in Broadmoor Hospital."
]
| C_1e251a63d2f4450d89ad08f87c3cdc9d_0 | Why was the appeal denied? | 3 | Why was Peter Sutcliffe's appeal denied? | Peter Sutcliffe | An application by Sutcliffe for a minimum term to be set, offering the possibility of parole after that date if it is thought safe to release him, was heard by the High Court of Justice on 16 July 2010. The High Court decided that Sutcliffe will never be released. Mr Justice Mitting stated: This was a campaign of murder which terrorised the population of a large part of Yorkshire for several years. The only explanation for it, on the jury's verdict, was anger, hatred and obsession. Apart from a terrorist outrage, it is difficult to conceive of circumstances in which one man could account for so many victims. Psychological reports describing his mental state were taken into consideration, as was the severity of his crimes. Barring judicial decisions to the contrary, Sutcliffe will spend the rest of his life in Broadmoor Hospital. On 4 August 2010, a spokeswoman for the Judicial Communications Office confirmed that Sutcliffe had initiated an appeal against the decision. The hearing for Sutcliffe's appeal against the ruling began on 30 November 2010 at the Court of Appeal. It was rejected on 14 January 2011. On 9 March 2011, the Court of Appeal rejected Sutcliffe's application for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court. In December 2015 Sutcliffe was assessed as being "no longer mentally ill". In August 2016, a medical tribunal ruled that he no longer required clinical treatment for his mental condition, and could be returned to prison. Sutcliffe is reported to have been transferred from Broadmoor to Frankland Prison in Durham in August 2016. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Peter William Sutcliffe (2 June 1946 – 13 November 2020), also known as Peter William Coonan, was an English serial killer who was dubbed the Yorkshire Ripper (an allusion to Jack the Ripper) by the press. On 22 May 1981, he was found guilty of murdering 13 women and attempting to murder seven others between 1975 and 1980. He was sentenced to 20 concurrent sentences of life imprisonment, which were converted to a whole life order in 2010. Two of Sutcliffe's murders took place in Manchester; all the others were in West Yorkshire.
Sutcliffe initially attacked women and girls in residential areas, but appears to have shifted his focus to red-light districts because he was attracted by the vulnerability of prostitutes, and perceived ambivalence of police to prostitutes' safety at the time. He had allegedly regularly used the services of prostitutes in Leeds and Bradford. After his arrest in Sheffield by South Yorkshire Police for driving with false number plates in January 1981, Sutcliffe was transferred to West Yorkshire Police, which questioned him about the killings. He confessed to being the perpetrator, saying that the voice of God had sent him on a mission to kill prostitutes. At his trial, Sutcliffe pleaded not guilty to murder on grounds of diminished responsibility, but he was convicted of murder on a majority verdict. Following his conviction, Sutcliffe began using his mother's maiden name of Coonan.
The search for Sutcliffe was one of the largest and most expensive manhunts in British history, and West Yorkshire Police was criticised for its failure to catch him despite having interviewed him nine times in the course of its five-year investigation. Owing to the sensational nature of the case, the police handled an exceptional amount of information, some of it misleading (including the Wearside Jack hoax recorded message and letters purporting to be from the "Ripper"). Following Sutcliffe's conviction, the government ordered a review of the investigation, conducted by the Inspector of Constabulary Lawrence Byford, known as the "Byford Report". The findings were made fully public in 2006, and confirmed the validity of the criticism against the force. The report led to changes to investigative procedures that were adopted across UK police forces. In 2019, The Guardian described the manhunt as "stunningly mishandled".
Sutcliffe was transferred from prison to Broadmoor Hospital in March 1984 after being diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. The High Court dismissed an appeal by Sutcliffe in 2010, confirming that he would serve a whole life order and never be released from custody. In August 2016, it was ruled that Sutcliffe was mentally fit to be returned to prison, and he was transferred that month to HM Prison Frankland in Durham. He died from COVID-19-related complications in hospital, while in prison custody on 13 November 2020, at the age of 74.
Early life
Peter Sutcliffe was born to a working-class family in Bingley, West Riding of Yorkshire. His parents were John William Sutcliffe and his wife Kathleen Frances (née Coonan), a native of Connemara. Kathleen was a Roman Catholic and John was a member of the choir at the local Anglican church of St Wilfred's; their children were raised in their mother's Catholic faith. Reportedly a loner, Sutcliffe left school aged fifteen and had a series of menial jobs, including two stints as a gravedigger in the 1960s. Between November 1971 and April 1973, he worked at the Baird Television factory on a packaging line. He left this position when he was asked to go on the road as a salesman.
After leaving Baird Television, Sutcliffe worked nightshifts at the Britannia Works of Anderton International from April 1973. In February 1975, he took redundancy and used half of the £400 pay-off to train as a heavy goods vehicle (HGV) driver. On 5 March 1976, Sutcliffe was dismissed for the theft of used tyres. He was unemployed until October 1976, when he found a job as an HGV driver for T. & W.H. Clark (Holdings) Ltd. on the Canal Road Industrial Estate in Bradford.
Sutcliffe, by some reports, hired prostitutes as a young man, and it has been speculated that he had a bad experience during which he was conned out of money by a prostitute and her pimp. Other analyses of his actions have not found evidence that he actually sought the services of prostitutes but note that he nonetheless developed an obsession with them, including "watching them soliciting on the streets of Leeds and Bradford".
Sutcliffe met Sonia Szurma on 14 February 1967; they married on 10 August 1974. Sonia suffered several miscarriages, and they were informed that she would not be able to have children. She resumed a teacher training course, during which time she had an affair with an ice-cream van driver. When Sonia completed the course in 1977 and began teaching, she and Sutcliffe used her salary to buy a house at 6 Garden Lane in Heaton in Bradford, into which they moved on 26 September 1977, and where they were living at the time of Sutcliffe's arrest.
Through his childhood and his early adolescence, Sutcliffe showed no signs of abnormality. But one of his brothers admitted that their father was an abusive alcoholic, stating that their father once smashed a beer glass over Peter's head for sitting in his chair at the Christmas table, after arguing, when the brother was four or five years old. Their father used to whip them with a belt.
Later, in part related to his occupation as a gravedigger, he developed a macabre sense of humour. In his late adolescence, Sutcliffe developed a growing obsession with voyeurism, and spent much time spying on prostitutes and the men seeking their services.
Attacks and murders
Leeds was the hotspot of Ripper activity, with 6 murders and 4 attacks in the city. Sutcliffe's first and last murders also occurred in Leeds.
Sutcliffe's 13 known murder victims were Wilma McCann (Leeds 1975), Emily Jackson (Leeds 1976), Irene Richardson (Leeds 1977), Patricia "Tina" Atkinson (Bradford 1977), Jayne MacDonald (Leeds 1977), Jean Jordan (Manchester 1977), Yvonne Pearson (Bradford 1978), Helen Rytka (Huddersfield 1978), Vera Millward (Manchester 1978), Josephine Whitaker (Halifax 1979), Barbara Leach (Bradford 1979), Marguerite Walls (Leeds 1980) and Jacqueline Hill (Leeds 1980).
He is also known to have attacked 10 other women: a woman of unknown name (Bradford 1969), Anna Rogulskyj (Keighley 1975), Olive Smelt (Halifax 1975), Tracy Browne (Silsden 1975), Marcella Claxton (Leeds 1976), Maureen Long (Bradford 1977) Marilyn Moore (Leeds 1977), Ann Rooney (Leeds 1979) Upadhya Bandara (Leeds 1980), and Theresa Sykes (Huddersfield 1980). Claxton was four months pregnant when she was attacked, and lost the baby she was carrying.
1969
Sutcliffe's first documented assault was of a female prostitute, whom he had met while searching for another woman who had tricked him out of money. He left his friend Trevor Birdsall's minivan and walked up St. Paul's Road in Bradford until he was out of sight. When Sutcliffe returned, he was out of breath, as if he had been running. He told Birdsall to drive off quickly. Sutcliffe said he had followed a prostitute into a garage and hit her over the head with a stone in a sock. According to his statement, Sutcliffe said,
"I got out of the car, went across the road and hit her. The force of the impact tore the toe off the sock and whatever was in it came out. I went back to the car and got in it".
Police visited Sutcliffe's home the next day, as the woman he had attacked had noted Birdsall's vehicle registration plate. He admitted he had hit her, but claimed it was with his hand. The police told him he was "very lucky", as the woman did not want anything more to do with the incident.
1975
Sutcliffe committed his second assault on the night of 5 July 1975 in Keighley. He attacked Anna Rogúlskyj, who was walking alone, striking her unconscious with a ball-peen hammer and slashing her stomach with a knife. Disturbed by a neighbour, he left without killing her. Rogulskyj survived after neurological surgery but she was psychologically traumatised by the attack. She said later:
"I've been afraid to go out much because I feel people are staring and pointing at me. The whole thing is making my life a misery. I sometimes wish I had died in the attack."
On the night of 15 August, Sutcliffe attacked Olive Smelt in Halifax. Employing the same modus operandi, he briefly engaged Smelt with a commonplace pleasantry about the weather before striking hammer blows to her skull from behind. He then disarranged her clothing and slashed her lower back with a knife. Again he was interrupted and left his victim badly injured but alive. Like Rogulskyj, Smelt subsequently suffered severe emotional and mental trauma.
She had told interviewing officer Dept. Supt. Dick Holland (later the Ripper Squad's second in command) that her attacker had a Yorkshire accent, but this information was ignored, as was the fact that neither she nor Rogulskij were in towns with a red light area. On 27 August, Sutcliffe attacked 14-year-old Tracy Browne in Silsden. He struck her from behind and hit her on the head five times while she was walking along a country lane. He ran off when he saw the lights of a passing car, leaving his victim requiring brain surgery. Sutcliffe was not convicted of the attack but confessed to it in 1992.
The first victim to be killed by Sutcliffe was Wilma McCann on 30 October. McCann, from Scott Hall in Leeds, was a mother of four children between the ages of 2 and 7. Sutcliffe struck the back of her skull twice with a hammer, then inflicted "a stab wound to the throat; two stab wounds below the right breast; three stab wounds below the left breast and a series of nine stab wounds around the umbilicus". An extensive inquiry, involving 150 officers of the West Yorkshire Police and 11,000 interviews, failed to find the culprit. In December 2007, McCann's eldest daughter Sonia Newlands killed herself, reportedly after suffering years of anguish and depression over the circumstances of her mother's death, and consequences to her and her siblings.
1976
Sutcliffe committed his next murder in Leeds on 20 January 1976, when he stabbed 42-year-old Emily Jackson 52 times. In dire financial straits, Jackson had been persuaded by her husband to engage in prostitution, using the van of their family roofing business. Sutcliffe picked up Jackson, who was soliciting outside the Gaiety pub on Roundhay Road, then drove about half a mile to some derelict buildings on Enfield Terrace in the Manor Industrial Estate. Sutcliffe hit her on the head with a hammer, dragged her body into a rubbish-strewn yard, then used a sharpened screwdriver to stab her in the neck, chest and abdomen. He stamped on her thigh, leaving behind an impression of his boot.
Sutcliffe attacked 20-year-old Marcella Claxton in Roundhay Park, Leeds, on 9 May. Walking home from a party, she accepted an offer of a lift from Sutcliffe. When she got out of the car to urinate, he hit her from behind with a hammer. Claxton survived and testified against Sutcliffe at his trial. At the time of this attack, Claxton had been four months pregnant and subsequently miscarried her baby. She required multiple, extensive brain operations and suffered from intermittent blackouts and chronic depression.
1977
On 5 February, Sutcliffe attacked Irene Richardson, a Chapeltown prostitute, in Roundhay Park. Richardson was bludgeoned to death with a hammer. Once she was dead, Sutcliffe mutilated her corpse with a knife. Tyre tracks left near the murder scene resulted in a long list of possible suspect vehicles.
Two months later, on 23 April, Sutcliffe killed Patricia "Tina" Atkinson, a prostitute from Bradford, in her flat, where police found a bootprint on the bedclothes. Two months after that, on 26 June, he murdered 16-year-old Jayne MacDonald in Chapeltown. She was not a prostitute and, in the public perception, her murder showed that all women were potential victims. The police described her as the first "innocent" victim. Sutcliffe seriously assaulted Maureen Long in Bradford in July. He was interrupted and fled, leaving her for dead. She was suffering from hypothermia when found and was in hospital for nine weeks. A witness misidentified the make of his car, resulting in more than 300 police officers checking thousands of cars without success.
On 1 October 1977 Sutcliffe murdered Jean Jordan, a prostitute from Manchester. In a confession, Sutcliffe said he had realised the new £5 note he had given her was traceable. After hosting a family party at his new home, he returned to the wasteland behind Manchester's Southern Cemetery, where he had left the body, to retrieve the note but was unable to find it.
On 9 October, Jordan's body was discovered by local dairy worker and future actor Bruce Jones, who had an allotment on land adjoining the site where the body was found and was searching for house bricks when he made the discovery. The £5 note, hidden in a secret compartment in Jordan's handbag, was traced to branches of the Midland Bank in Shipley and Bingley. Police analysis of bank operations allowed them to narrow their field of inquiry to 8,000 employees who could have received it in their wage packet. Over three months the police interviewed 5,000 men, including Sutcliffe. The police found that the alibi given for Sutcliffe's whereabouts was credible; he had indeed spent much of the evening of the killing at a family party. Weeks of intense investigations pertaining to the origins of the £5 note led to nothing, leaving police officers frustrated that they collected an important clue but had been unable to trace the actual firm (or employee within the firm) to which or whom the note had been issued.
On 14 December, Sutcliffe attacked Marilyn Moore, another prostitute from Leeds. She survived and provided police with a description of her attacker. Tyre tracks found at the scene matched those from an earlier attack. Her photofit bore a strong resemblance to Sutcliffe, like other survivors, and she provided a good description of his car, which had been seen in red-light districts. Sutcliffe had been interviewed on this issue.
1978
The police discontinued the search for the person who received the £5 note in January 1978. Although Sutcliffe was interviewed about it, he was not investigated further (he was contacted and disregarded by the Ripper Squad on several further occasions). That month, Sutcliffe killed again. His victim was Yvonne Pearson, a 21-year-old prostitute from Bradford. He repeatedly bludgeoned her about the head with a ball-peen hammer, then jumped on her chest before stuffing horsehair into her mouth from a discarded sofa, under which he hid her body near Lumb Lane.
Ten days later, he killed Helen Rytka, an 18-year-old prostitute from Huddersfield. He struck Rytka on the head five times as she exited his vehicle, before stripping most of the clothes from her body (although her bra and polo-neck jumper were positioned above her breasts) and repeatedly stabbing her in the chest. Her body was found three days later beneath railway arches in Garrards timber-yard to which he had driven her. Sutcliffe said of Rytka while in police custody in 1981: "I had the urge to kill any woman. The urge inside me to kill girls was now practically uncontrollable."
1979
On 4 April 1979, Sutcliffe killed Josephine Whitaker, a 19-year-old building society clerk whom he attacked on Savile Park Moor in Halifax as she was walking home. Despite forensic evidence, police efforts were diverted for several months following receipt of the taped message purporting to be from the murderer taunting Assistant Chief Constable George Oldfield of the West Yorkshire Police, who was leading the investigation. The tape contained a man's voice saying, "I'm Jack. I see you're having no luck catching me. I have the greatest respect for you, George, but Lord, you're no nearer catching me now than four years ago when I started."
Based on the recorded message, police began searching for a man with a Wearside accent, which linguists narrowed down to the Castletown area of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear. The hoaxer, dubbed "Wearside Jack", sent two letters to police and the Daily Mirror in March 1978 boasting of his crimes. The letters, signed "Jack the Ripper", claimed responsibility for the murder of 26-year-old Joan Harrison in Preston in November 1975.
The hoaxer case was re-opened in 2005, and DNA taken from envelopes was entered into the national database, in which it matched that of John Samuel Humble, an unemployed alcoholic and long-time resident of the Ford Estate in Sunderland – a few miles from Castletown – whose DNA had been taken following a drunk and disorderly offence in 2001. On 20 October 2005, Humble was charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice for sending the hoax letters and tape. Humble was remanded in custody and on 21 March 2006 was convicted and sentenced to eight years in prison. Humble died on 30 July 2019, aged 63.
On 1 September, Sutcliffe murdered 20-year-old Barbara Leach, a Bradford University student. Her body was dumped at the rear of 13 Ashgrove under a pile of bricks, close to the university and her lodgings. It was his sixteenth attack. The murder of a woman who was not a prostitute again alarmed the public and prompted an expensive publicity campaign emphasising the Wearside connection. Despite the false lead, Sutcliffe was interviewed on at least two other occasions in 1979. Despite matching several forensic clues and being on the list of 300 names in connection with the £5 note, he was not strongly suspected.
1980
In April 1980, Sutcliffe was arrested for drunk driving. While awaiting trial, he killed two more women. Sutcliffe murdered 47-year-old Marguerite Walls on the night of 20 August 1980, and 20-year-old Jacqueline Hill, a student at Leeds University, on the night of 17 November 1980. Hill's body was found on wasteland near the Arndale Centre. He also attacked three other women, who survived: Uphadya Bandara in Leeds on 24 September 1980; Maureen Lea (known as Mo), an art student attacked in the grounds of Leeds University on 25 October 1980; and 16-year-old Theresa Sykes, attacked in Huddersfield on the night of 5 November 1980. On 25 November 1980, Trevor Birdsall, an associate of Sutcliffe and the unwitting getaway driver as Sutcliffe fled his first documented assault in 1969, reported him to the police as a suspect.
Arrest and trial
On 2 January 1981, Sutcliffe was stopped by the police with 24-year-old prostitute Olivia Reivers in the driveway of Light Trades House in Melbourne Avenue, Broomhill, Sheffield, South Yorkshire. A police check by probationary constable Robert Hydes revealed Sutcliffe's car had false number plates and he was arrested and transferred to Dewsbury Police Station in West Yorkshire. At Dewsbury, he was questioned in relation to the Yorkshire Ripper case as he matched many of the known physical characteristics. The next day police returned to the scene of the arrest and discovered a knife, hammer, and rope he had discarded when he briefly slipped away from the police after telling them he was "bursting for a pee". Sutcliffe hid a second knife in the toilet cistern at the police station when he was permitted to use the toilet. The police obtained a search warrant for his home in Heaton and brought his wife in for questioning.
When Sutcliffe was stripped at the police station he was wearing an inverted V-necked jumper under his trousers. The sleeves had been pulled over his legs and the V-neck exposed his genital area. The fronts of the elbows were padded to protect his knees as, presumably, he knelt over his victims' corpses. The sexual implications of this outfit were considered obvious but it was not known to the public until published by Bilton (2003). After two days of intensive questioning, on the afternoon of 4 January 1981, Sutcliffe suddenly declared he was the Ripper. Over the next day, he calmly described his many attacks. Weeks later he claimed God had told him to murder the women. "The women I killed were filth", he told police. "Bastard prostitutes who were littering the streets. I was just cleaning up the place a bit". Sutcliffe displayed regret only when talking of his youngest murder victim, Jayne MacDonald, and when questioned about the killing of Joan Harrison, he vehemently denied responsibility. Harrison's murder had been linked to the Ripper killings by the "Wearside Jack" claim, but in 2011, DNA evidence revealed the crime had actually been committed by convicted sex offender Christopher Smith, who had died in 2008.
Sutcliffe was charged on 5 January 1981. At his trial, he pleaded not guilty to thirteen charges of murder, but guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility. The basis of his defence was that he claimed to be the tool of God's will. Sutcliffe said he had heard voices that ordered him to kill prostitutes while working as a gravedigger, which he claimed originated from the headstone of a Polish man, Bronisław Zapolski, and that the voices were that of God.
Sutcliffe pleaded guilty to seven charges of attempted murder. The prosecution intended to accept Sutcliffe's plea after four psychiatrists diagnosed him with paranoid schizophrenia, but the trial judge, Justice Sir Leslie Boreham, demanded an unusually-detailed explanation of the prosecution reasoning. After a two-hour representation by the Attorney-General Sir Michael Havers, a ninety-minute lunch break, and another forty minutes of legal discussion, the judge rejected the diminished responsibility plea and the expert testimonies of the psychiatrists, insisting that the case should be dealt with by a jury. The trial proper was set to commence on 5 May 1981.
The trial lasted two weeks, and despite the efforts of his counsel James Chadwin QC, Sutcliffe was found guilty of murder on all counts and was sentenced to twenty concurrent sentences of life imprisonment. The jury rejected the evidence of four psychiatrists that Sutcliffe had paranoid schizophrenia, possibly influenced by the evidence of a prison officer who heard him say to his wife that if he convinced people he was mad then he might get ten years in a "loony bin".
The trial judge said Sutcliffe was beyond redemption, and hoped he would never leave prison. He recommended a minimum term of thirty years to be served before parole could be considered, meaning Sutcliffe would have been unlikely to be freed until at least 2011. On 16 July 2010, the High Court issued Sutcliffe with a whole life tariff, meaning he was never to be released. After his trial, Sutcliffe admitted two other attacks. It was decided that prosecution for these offences was "not in the public interest". West Yorkshire Police made it clear that the victims wished to remain anonymous.
Criticism of authorities
West Yorkshire Police
West Yorkshire Police was criticised for being inadequately prepared for an investigation on this scale. It was one of the largest investigations by a British police force and predated the use of computers. Information on suspects was stored on handwritten index cards. Aside from difficulties in storing and accessing the paperwork (the floor of the incident room was reinforced to cope with the weight of the paper), it was difficult for officers to overcome the information overload of such a large manual system. Sutcliffe was interviewed nine times, but all information the police had about the case was stored in paper form, making cross-referencing difficult, compounded by television appeals for information which generated thousands more documents. The 1982 Byford Report into the investigation concluded: "The ineffectiveness of the major incident room was a serious handicap to the Ripper investigation. While it should have been the effective nerve centre of the whole police operation, the backlog of unprocessed information resulted in the failure to connect vital pieces of related information. This serious fault in the central index system allowed Peter Sutcliffe to continually slip through the net".
The choice of Oldfield to lead the inquiry was criticised by Byford: "The temptation to appoint a 'senior man' on age or service grounds should be resisted. What is needed is an officer of sound professional competence who will inspire confidence and loyalty". He found wanting Oldfield's focus on the hoax confessional tape that seemed to indicate a perpetrator with a Wearside background, and his ignoring advice from survivors of Sutcliffe's attacks and several eminent specialists, including from the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the US, along with dialect analysts such as Stanley Ellis and Jack Windsor Lewis, whom he had also consulted throughout the manhunt, that "Wearside Jack" was a hoaxer. The investigation used it as a point of elimination rather than a line of enquiry and allowed Sutcliffe to avoid scrutiny, as he did not fit the profile of the sender of the tape or letters. The "Wearside Jack" hoaxer was given unusual credibility when analysis of saliva on the envelopes he sent showed he had the same blood group as that which Sutcliffe had left at crime scenes, a type shared by only 6% of the population. The hoaxer appeared to know details of the murders which had not been released to the press, but which in fact he had acquired from pub gossip and his local newspaper.
In response to the police reaction to the murders, the Leeds Revolutionary Feminist Group organised a number of 'Reclaim the Night' marches. The group and other feminists had criticised the police for victim-blaming, especially for the suggestion that women should remain indoors at night. Eleven marches in various towns across the United Kingdom took place on the night of 12 November 1977. They made the point that women should be able to walk anywhere without restriction and that they should not be blamed for men's violence.
In 1988, the mother of Sutcliffe's last victim, Jacqueline Hill, during an action for damages on behalf of her daughter's estate, argued in the case Hill v Chief Constable of West Yorkshire in the High Court that the police had failed to use reasonable care in apprehending Sutcliffe. The House of Lords held that the Chief Constable of West Yorkshire did not owe a duty of care to the victim due to the lack of proximity, and therefore failing on the second limb of the Caparo test. After Sutcliffe's death in November 2020, West Yorkshire Police issued an apology for the "language, tone, and terminology" used by the force at the time of the criminal investigation, nine months after one of the victims' sons wrote on behalf of several of the victims' families.
Attitude towards prostitutes
The attitude in the West Yorkshire Police at the time reflected Sutcliffe's own misogyny and sexist attitudes, according to multiple sources. Jim Hobson, a senior West Yorkshire detective, told a press conference in October 1979 the perpetrator: "has made it clear that he hates prostitutes. Many people do. We, as a police force, will continue to arrest prostitutes. But the Ripper is now killing innocent girls. That indicates your mental state and that you are in urgent need of medical attention. You have made your point. Give yourself up before another innocent woman dies".Joan Smith wrote in Misogynies (1989, 1993), that "even Sutcliffe, at his trial, did not go quite this far; he did at least claim he was demented at the time".
The Attorney General, Sir Michael Havers QC, at the trial in 1981 said of Sutcliffe's victims in his opening statement: "Some were prostitutes, but perhaps the saddest part of the case is that some were not. The last six attacks were on totally respectable women". This drew condemnation from the English Collective of Prostitutes (ECP), who protested outside the Old Bailey. Nina Lopez, who was one of the ECP protestors in 1981, told The Independent forty years later, Sir Michael's comments were "an indictment of the whole way in which the police and the establishment were dealing with the Yorkshire Ripper case".
Byford report
The Inspector of Constabulary Lawrence Byford's 1981 report of an official inquiry into the Ripper case was not released by the Home Office until 1 June 2006. The sections "Description of suspects, photofits and other assaults" and parts of the section on Sutcliffe's "immediate associates" were not disclosed by the Home Office.
Referring to the period between 1969, when Sutcliffe first came to the attention of police, and 1975, the year of the murder of Wilma McCann, the report states: "There is a curious and unexplained lull in Sutcliffe's criminal activities" and "it is my firm conclusion that between 1969 and 1980 Sutcliffe was probably responsible for many attacks on unaccompanied women, which he has not yet admitted, not only in the West Yorkshire and Manchester areas, but also in other parts of the country". In 1969, Sutcliffe, described in the Byford Report as an "otherwise unremarkable young man", came to the notice of police on two occasions over incidents with prostitutes. Later that year, in September 1969, he was also arrested in Bradford's red light district for being in possession of a hammer, an offensive weapon, but he was charged with "going equipped for stealing" as it was assumed he was a potential burglar. The report said that it was clear Sutcliffe had on at least one occasion attacked a Bradford prostitute with a cosh.
Byford's report states:
Police identified a number of attacks which matched Sutcliffe's modus operandi and tried to question the killer, but he was never charged with other crimes.
The Byford Report's major findings were contained in a summary published by the Home Secretary, William Whitelaw, the first time precise details of the bungled police investigation had been disclosed. Byford described delays in following up vital tip-offs from Trevor Birdsall, an associate of Sutcliffe since 1966. On 25 November 1980, Birdsall sent an anonymous letter to police, the text of which ran as follows:
This letter was marked "Priority No. 1". An index card was created on the basis of the letter and a policewoman found Sutcliffe already had three existing index cards in the records. But "for some inexplicable reason", said the Byford Report, the papers remained in a filing tray in the incident room until the murderer's arrest on 2 January [1981], the following year.
Birdsall visited Bradford police station the day after sending the letter to repeat his misgivings about Sutcliffe. He added that he was with Sutcliffe when he got out of a car to pursue a woman with whom he had had a bar room dispute in Halifax on 16 August 1975. This was the date and place of the Olive Smelt attack. A report compiled on the visit was lost, despite a "comprehensive search" which took place after Sutcliffe's arrest, according to the report. Byford said:
Custody
Prison and Broadmoor Hospital
Following his conviction and incarceration, Sutcliffe chose to use the name Coonan, his mother's maiden name. He began his sentence at HM Prison Parkhurst on 22 May 1981. Despite being found sane at his trial, Sutcliffe was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. Attempts to send him to a secure psychiatric unit were blocked. While at Parkhurst he was seriously assaulted by James Costello, a 35-year-old career criminal with several convictions for violence. On 10 January 1983, he followed Sutcliffe into the recess of F2, the hospital wing at Parkhurst, and plunged a broken coffee jar twice into the left side of Sutcliffe's face, creating four wounds requiring thirty stitches. In March 1984, Sutcliffe was sent to Broadmoor Hospital, under Section 47 of the Mental Health Act 1983.
Sutcliffe's wife obtained a separation from him around 1989 and a divorce in July 1994. On 23 February 1996, he was attacked in his room in Broadmoor's Henley Ward. Paul Wilson, a convicted robber, asked to borrow a videotape before attempting to strangle Sutcliffe with the cable from a pair of stereo headphones.
After an attack with a pen by fellow inmate Ian Kay on 10 March 1997, Sutcliffe lost the vision in his left eye, and his right eye was severely damaged. Kay admitted trying to kill Sutcliffe and was ordered to be detained in a secure mental hospital without limit of time. In 2003, it was reported that Sutcliffe had developed diabetes.
Sutcliffe's father died in 2004 and was cremated. On 17 January 2005, Sutcliffe was allowed to visit Grange-over-Sands where the ashes had been scattered. The decision to allow the temporary release was initiated by David Blunkett and ratified by Charles Clarke when he became Home Secretary. Sutcliffe was accompanied by four members of the hospital staff. The visit led to front-page tabloid headlines.
On 22 December 2007, Sutcliffe was attacked by fellow inmate Patrick Sureda, who lunged at him with a metal cutlery knife while shouting, "You fucking raping, murdering bastard, I'll blind your fucking other one!" Sutcliffe flung himself backwards and the blade missed his right eye, stabbing him in the cheek.
On 17 February 2009, it was reported that Sutcliffe was "fit to leave Broadmoor". On 23 March 2010, the Secretary of State for Justice, Jack Straw, was questioned by Julie Kirkbride, Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for Bromsgrove, in the House of Commons seeking reassurance for a constituent, a victim of Sutcliffe, that he would remain in prison. Straw responded that whilst the matter of Sutcliffe's release was a parole board matter, "that all the evidence that I have seen on this case, and it's a great deal, suggests to me that there are no circumstances in which this man will be released".
Appeal
An application by Sutcliffe for a minimum term to be set, offering the possibility of parole after that date if it were thought safe to release him, was heard by the High Court on 16 July 2010. The court decided that Sutcliffe would never be released. Mr Justice Mitting stated:
Psychological reports describing Sutcliffe's mental state were taken into consideration, as was the severity of his crimes. Sutcliffe spent the rest of his life in custody. On 4 August 2010, a spokeswoman for the Judicial Communications Office confirmed that Sutcliffe had initiated an appeal against the decision. The hearing for Sutcliffe's appeal against the ruling began on 30 November 2010 at the Court of Appeal. The appeal was rejected on 14 January 2011. On 9 March 2011, the Court of Appeal rejected Sutcliffe's application for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court.
Later events
In December 2015, Sutcliffe was assessed as being "no longer mentally ill". In August 2016, a medical tribunal ruled that he no longer required clinical treatment for his mental condition, and could be returned to prison. Sutcliffe was reported to have been transferred from Broadmoor to HM Prison Frankland in Durham, County Durham, in August 2016.
In 2017, West Yorkshire Police launched Operation Painthall to determine if Sutcliffe was guilty of unsolved crimes dating back to 1964. This inquiry also looked at the killings of two prostitutes in southern Sweden in 1980. Given that Sutcliffe was a lorry driver, it was theorised that he had been in Denmark and Sweden, making use of the ferry across the Oresund Strait. In December 2017 West Yorkshire Police, in response to a Freedom of Information request, neither confirmed nor denied that Operation Painthall existed. West Yorkshire Police later stated that it was "absolutely certain" that Sutcliffe had never been in Sweden.
Death
Sutcliffe died at University Hospital of North Durham aged 74 on 13 November 2020, having been sent there with COVID-19, after having previously returned to HMP Frankland following treatment for a suspected heart attack at the same hospital two weeks prior. He had a number of underlying health problems, including obesity and diabetes. He reportedly refused treatment. A private funeral ceremony was held, and Sutcliffe's body was cremated.
Media
The song "Night Shift" by English post-punk band Siouxsie and the Banshees on their 1981 album Juju is about Sutcliffe.
On 6 April 1991, Sutcliffe's father, John Sutcliffe, talked about his son on the television discussion programme After Dark.
This Is Personal: The Hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper, a British television crime drama miniseries, first shown on ITV from 26 January to 2 February 2000, is a dramatisation of the real-life investigation into the murders, showing the effect that it had on the health and career of Assistant Chief Constable George Oldfield (Alun Armstrong). The series also starred Richard Ridings and James Laurenson as DSI Dick Holland and Chief Constable Ronald Gregory, respectively. Although broadcast over two weeks, two episodes were shown consecutively each week. The series was nominated for the British Academy Television Award for Best Drama Serial at the 2001 awards.
On 26 August 2016, the police investigation was the subject of BBC Radio 4's The Reunion. Sue MacGregor discussed the investigation with John Domaille, who later became assistant chief constable of West Yorkshire Police; Andy Laptew, who was a junior detective who interviewed Sutcliffe; Elaine Benson, who worked in the incident room and interviewed suspects; David Zackrisson, who investigated the "Wearside Jack" tape and letters in Sunderland; and Christa Ackroyd, a local journalist in Halifax.
A three part series of one hour episodes, The Yorkshire Ripper Files: A very British crime story aired on BBC Four in March 2019. This included interviews with some of the victims, their family, police and journalists who covered the case by filmmaker Liza Williams. In the series she questions whether the attitude of both the police and society towards women prevented Sutcliffe from being caught sooner. On 31 July 2020, the series won the BAFTA prize for Specialist Factual TV programming.
A play written by Olivia Hirst and David Byrne, The Incident Room, premiered at Pleasance as part of the 2019 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The play focuses on the police force hunting Sutcliffe. The play was produced by New Diorama. The third book (and second episodic television adaptation) in David Peace's Red Riding series is set against the backdrop of the Ripper investigation. In that episode, Sutcliffe is played by Joseph Mawle.
In October 2020, it was announced that ITV will produce a new six-part drama series about the Ripper.
In December 2020, Netflix released a four-part documentary entitled The Ripper, which recounts the police investigation into the murders with interviews from living victims, family members of victims and police officers involved in the investigation.
The 2021 podcast "Crime Analysis" covers Peter Sutcliffe's crimes, focusing on the victims, the investigation and forensics, trial, and aftermath including an interview with the son of victim Wilma McCann.
In November 2021, American heavy metal band Slipknot released a song titled "The Chapeltown Rag", which is inspired by the media reporting on the murders.
In February 2022, Channel 5 released a 60-minute documentary entitled The Ripper Speaks: the Lost Tapes, which recounts interviews and Sutcliffe speaking about life in prison and in Broadmoor Hospital, as well the crimes he had committed but which had not been seen or treated as "a Ripper killing".
See also
Gordon Cummins (Blackout Ripper)
Anthony Hardy (Camden Ripper)
Steve Wright (serial killer) (perpetrator of the Ipswich serial murders)
Alun Kyte (Midlands Ripper)
List of prisoners with whole-life orders
List of serial killers by country
List of serial killers by number of victims
Murders of Jacqueline Ansell-Lamb and Barbara Mayo, unsolved murders that for many years were linked to Sutcliffe
Notes
References
Bibliography
External links
(multiple files)
1946 births
1980s trials
2020 deaths
20th-century English criminals
British people convicted of attempted murder
Chapeltown, Leeds
Crime in Manchester
Crime in West Yorkshire
Criminals from Yorkshire
Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in England
English male criminals
English murderers of children
English people convicted of murder
English people of Irish descent
English prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment
English serial killers
Fugitives wanted by the United Kingdom
Male serial killers
Murder in Manchester
Murder in West Yorkshire
People convicted of murder by England and Wales
People detained at Broadmoor Hospital
People from Bingley
People with schizophrenia
Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by England and Wales
Prisoners who died in England and Wales detention
Violence against women in England | false | [
"Clay v. United States, 403 U.S. 698 (1971), was Muhammad Ali's appeal of his conviction in 1967 for refusing to report for induction into the United States military forces during the Vietnam War. His local draft board had rejected his application for conscientious objector classification. In a unanimous 8–0 ruling (Thurgood Marshall recused himself due to his previous involvement in the case as a U.S. Department of Justice official), the United States Supreme Court reversed the conviction that had been upheld by the Fifth Circuit.\n\nThe Supreme Court found the government had failed to properly specify why Ali's application had been denied, thereby requiring the conviction to be overturned: \"the court said the record shows that [Ali's] beliefs are founded on tenets of the Muslim religion as he understands them.\"\n\nBackground\nIn 1964, Ali failed the U.S. Armed Forces qualifying test because his writing and spelling skills were sub-standard. With the escalation of the Vietnam War, the test standards were lowered in November 1965 and Ali was reclassified as 1-A in February 1966, which meant he was now eligible for the draft and induction into the U.S. Army. When notified of this status, he declared that he would refuse to serve in the U.S. Army and publicly considered himself a conscientious objector. Ali stated that \"War is against the teachings of the Holy Qur'an. I'm not trying to dodge the draft. We are not supposed to take part in no wars unless declared by Allah or The Messenger.\" He also said \"We are not to be the aggressor but we will defend ourselves if attacked.\" Ali also famously said in 1966: \"I ain't got no quarrel with them Viet Cong.\" and \"Why should they ask me to put on a uniform and go ten thousand miles from home and drop bombs and bullets on brown people in Vietnam while so-called Negro people in Louisville are treated like dogs and denied simple human rights?\"\n\nAli appealed his local (Louisville, Kentucky) draft board's rejection of his application for conscientious objector classification. The Justice Department, in response to the State Appeal Board's referral for an advisory recommendation, concluded, contrary to a hearing officer's recommendation, that Ali's claim should be denied, and that Ali did not meet any of the three basic tests for conscientious objector status. The Appeal Board then denied Ali's claim, but without stating its reasons.\n\nIn early 1967, Ali changed his legal residence to Houston, Texas, where his appeal to be reclassified as a Muslim minister was denied 4–0 on February 20. He appeared for his scheduled induction into the U.S. Armed Forces in Houston on April 28. As expected, he refused three times to step forward at the call of his name. An officer warned him he was committing a felony punishable by five years in prison and a fine of $10,000. Once more, Ali refused to budge when his name was called. As a result, on that same day, the New York State Athletic Commission suspended his boxing license and the World Boxing Association stripped him of his title. Other boxing commissions followed suit. He was indicted by a federal grand jury on May 8 and convicted in Houston on June 20 of the criminal offence of violating the Selective Service laws by refusing to be drafted. The trial jury was composed of six men and six women, all of whom were white. The Court of Appeals affirmed the conviction and denied an appeal on May 6, 1968.\n\nIn the U.S. Supreme Court, the government conceded the invalidity of two of the grounds for denial of Ali's claim given in its letter to the appeal board, but argued that there was factual support for the third ground.\n\nOpinion of the Court\nThe Supreme Court decision was handed down on June 28, 1971. The Supreme Court held that, since the appeal board gave no reason for the denial of a conscientious objector exemption to petitioner, and it was impossible to determine on which of the three grounds offered in the Justice Department's letter that board relied, Ali's conviction must be reversed. The Eugene Register-Guard, reporting on the Court's record, cited \"...the boxer's beliefs 'are surely no less religiously based' than those in previous cases.\" The Court incorporated Welsh v. United States, in which the Court had ruled that \"moral and ethical objection to war was as valid as religious objection, thus broadening the qualifications.\"\n\nBob Woodward and Scott Armstrong provide an account of the development of the decision in their 1979 book The Brethren. According to that account, Justice Marshall had recused himself because he had been U.S. Solicitor General when the case began, and the remaining eight justices initially voted 5 to 3 to uphold Ali's conviction. However, Justice John Marshall Harlan II, assigned to write the majority opinion, became convinced that Ali's claim to be a conscientious objector was sincere after reading background material on Black Muslim doctrine provided by one of his law clerks. Justice Harlan concluded that the claim by the Justice Department had been a misrepresentation. Harlan changed his vote, tying the vote at 4 to 4. A deadlock would have resulted in Ali being jailed for draft evasion and, since no opinions are published for deadlocked decisions, he would have never known why he had lost. A compromise proposed by Justice Potter Stewart, in which Ali's conviction would be reversed citing a technical error by the Justice Department, gradually won unanimous assent from the eight voting justices.\n\nSee also\nMuhammad Ali's Greatest Fight, a 2013 television film about the Supreme Court's deliberations on this case\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\nMuhammad Ali\nAmerican conscientious objectors\nUnited States Supreme Court cases\nUnited States Supreme Court cases of the Burger Court\n1971 in United States case law\nHistory of Louisville, Kentucky\nUnited States military case law",
"Douglas v. California, 372 U.S. 353 (1963), was a case before the United States Supreme Court.\n\nBackground\nTwo defendants were tried and convicted in a California state court on felony charges including robbery, assault with a deadly weapon, and assault with intent to commit murder.\n\nA single public defender had been appointed to represent them on these three charges. The attorney's motion for continuance at the beginning of trial was denied, although he stated that he was not as prepared as he should have been. Thereafter the defendants dismissed the defender and renewed motions for separate counsel and for a continuance. These motions were also denied. The defendants were convicted and subsequently filed appeals.\n\nExercising their only right to appeal as of right, they appealed to an intermediate Court of Appeals (District court of appeal of California, second appellate district), and, being indigent, applied to it for appointment of counsel to assist them on appeal. In accordance with a state rule of criminal procedure, that Court made an ex parte examination of the record, determined that appointment of counsel for petitioners would not be \"of advantage to the defendant or helpful to the appellate court\" and denied appointment of counsel. Their appeal was heard without assistance of counsel and their convictions were affirmed. The District Court of Appeal affirmed their convictions after denying their request for appointment of counsel under a California rule of criminal procedure authorizing such denial where after an independent investigation of the record the appellate court determines that appointment of counsel would be helpful to neither the defendant nor the court. (187 Cal App 2d 802, 10 Cal Rptr 188.)\n\nThe California Supreme Court denied their petitions for a discretionary review/hearing. (187 Cal App 2d 813, 10 Cal Rptr 214.)\n\nOpinion of the court\nThe Supreme Court of the United States vacated the judgment of the California District Court of Appeal. In an opinion by Justice Douglas, expressing the view of six members of the Court, it was held that the denial of counsel under the California rule of procedure stated above violated the Fourteenth Amendment.\n\nHeld: Where the merits of the one and only appeal an indigent has as of right are decided without benefit of counsel, an unconstitutional line is drawn between rich and poor. pp. 353–358 \n \nThe Court held that a procedure like the one used by the state appellate court in which an indigent defendant was denied counsel on appeal unless he first made a preliminary showing of merit did not comport with fair procedure. In vacating, the judgment of the state appellate court, the Court stated that where the merits of the one and only appeal an indigent had as of right were decided without benefit of counsel, an unconstitutional line had been drawn between rich and poor.\n\nThe Court vacated the judgment of the state appellate court and remanded for further proceedings consistent with the Court's opinion.\n\nDissent\nClark dissented on the ground that neither the equal protection clause nor the due process clause requires more than what is provided in the California rule.\n\nJustice Harlan, joined by Justice Stewart, dissented on the grounds that the equal protection clause was not apposite, and that the due process clause was not violated. His dissenting opinion also held that the defendants were not denied effective assistance of counsel in the trial court.\n\nExternal links\n \n\nUnited States Supreme Court cases\nUnited States Supreme Court cases of the Warren Court\nUnited States Sixth Amendment appointment of counsel case law\nLegal history of California\n1963 in United States case law\n1963 in California"
]
|
[
"Peter Sutcliffe",
"Appeal",
"Most notable facts about the appeal?",
"On 9 March 2011, the Court of Appeal rejected Sutcliffe's application for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court.",
"Was the final appeal successful?",
"Barring judicial decisions to the contrary, Sutcliffe will spend the rest of his life in Broadmoor Hospital.",
"Why was the appeal denied?",
"I don't know."
]
| C_1e251a63d2f4450d89ad08f87c3cdc9d_0 | Interesting facts about the appeal? | 4 | Interesting facts about Peter Sutcliffe's appeal? | Peter Sutcliffe | An application by Sutcliffe for a minimum term to be set, offering the possibility of parole after that date if it is thought safe to release him, was heard by the High Court of Justice on 16 July 2010. The High Court decided that Sutcliffe will never be released. Mr Justice Mitting stated: This was a campaign of murder which terrorised the population of a large part of Yorkshire for several years. The only explanation for it, on the jury's verdict, was anger, hatred and obsession. Apart from a terrorist outrage, it is difficult to conceive of circumstances in which one man could account for so many victims. Psychological reports describing his mental state were taken into consideration, as was the severity of his crimes. Barring judicial decisions to the contrary, Sutcliffe will spend the rest of his life in Broadmoor Hospital. On 4 August 2010, a spokeswoman for the Judicial Communications Office confirmed that Sutcliffe had initiated an appeal against the decision. The hearing for Sutcliffe's appeal against the ruling began on 30 November 2010 at the Court of Appeal. It was rejected on 14 January 2011. On 9 March 2011, the Court of Appeal rejected Sutcliffe's application for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court. In December 2015 Sutcliffe was assessed as being "no longer mentally ill". In August 2016, a medical tribunal ruled that he no longer required clinical treatment for his mental condition, and could be returned to prison. Sutcliffe is reported to have been transferred from Broadmoor to Frankland Prison in Durham in August 2016. CANNOTANSWER | It was rejected on 14 January 2011. | Peter William Sutcliffe (2 June 1946 – 13 November 2020), also known as Peter William Coonan, was an English serial killer who was dubbed the Yorkshire Ripper (an allusion to Jack the Ripper) by the press. On 22 May 1981, he was found guilty of murdering 13 women and attempting to murder seven others between 1975 and 1980. He was sentenced to 20 concurrent sentences of life imprisonment, which were converted to a whole life order in 2010. Two of Sutcliffe's murders took place in Manchester; all the others were in West Yorkshire.
Sutcliffe initially attacked women and girls in residential areas, but appears to have shifted his focus to red-light districts because he was attracted by the vulnerability of prostitutes, and perceived ambivalence of police to prostitutes' safety at the time. He had allegedly regularly used the services of prostitutes in Leeds and Bradford. After his arrest in Sheffield by South Yorkshire Police for driving with false number plates in January 1981, Sutcliffe was transferred to West Yorkshire Police, which questioned him about the killings. He confessed to being the perpetrator, saying that the voice of God had sent him on a mission to kill prostitutes. At his trial, Sutcliffe pleaded not guilty to murder on grounds of diminished responsibility, but he was convicted of murder on a majority verdict. Following his conviction, Sutcliffe began using his mother's maiden name of Coonan.
The search for Sutcliffe was one of the largest and most expensive manhunts in British history, and West Yorkshire Police was criticised for its failure to catch him despite having interviewed him nine times in the course of its five-year investigation. Owing to the sensational nature of the case, the police handled an exceptional amount of information, some of it misleading (including the Wearside Jack hoax recorded message and letters purporting to be from the "Ripper"). Following Sutcliffe's conviction, the government ordered a review of the investigation, conducted by the Inspector of Constabulary Lawrence Byford, known as the "Byford Report". The findings were made fully public in 2006, and confirmed the validity of the criticism against the force. The report led to changes to investigative procedures that were adopted across UK police forces. In 2019, The Guardian described the manhunt as "stunningly mishandled".
Sutcliffe was transferred from prison to Broadmoor Hospital in March 1984 after being diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. The High Court dismissed an appeal by Sutcliffe in 2010, confirming that he would serve a whole life order and never be released from custody. In August 2016, it was ruled that Sutcliffe was mentally fit to be returned to prison, and he was transferred that month to HM Prison Frankland in Durham. He died from COVID-19-related complications in hospital, while in prison custody on 13 November 2020, at the age of 74.
Early life
Peter Sutcliffe was born to a working-class family in Bingley, West Riding of Yorkshire. His parents were John William Sutcliffe and his wife Kathleen Frances (née Coonan), a native of Connemara. Kathleen was a Roman Catholic and John was a member of the choir at the local Anglican church of St Wilfred's; their children were raised in their mother's Catholic faith. Reportedly a loner, Sutcliffe left school aged fifteen and had a series of menial jobs, including two stints as a gravedigger in the 1960s. Between November 1971 and April 1973, he worked at the Baird Television factory on a packaging line. He left this position when he was asked to go on the road as a salesman.
After leaving Baird Television, Sutcliffe worked nightshifts at the Britannia Works of Anderton International from April 1973. In February 1975, he took redundancy and used half of the £400 pay-off to train as a heavy goods vehicle (HGV) driver. On 5 March 1976, Sutcliffe was dismissed for the theft of used tyres. He was unemployed until October 1976, when he found a job as an HGV driver for T. & W.H. Clark (Holdings) Ltd. on the Canal Road Industrial Estate in Bradford.
Sutcliffe, by some reports, hired prostitutes as a young man, and it has been speculated that he had a bad experience during which he was conned out of money by a prostitute and her pimp. Other analyses of his actions have not found evidence that he actually sought the services of prostitutes but note that he nonetheless developed an obsession with them, including "watching them soliciting on the streets of Leeds and Bradford".
Sutcliffe met Sonia Szurma on 14 February 1967; they married on 10 August 1974. Sonia suffered several miscarriages, and they were informed that she would not be able to have children. She resumed a teacher training course, during which time she had an affair with an ice-cream van driver. When Sonia completed the course in 1977 and began teaching, she and Sutcliffe used her salary to buy a house at 6 Garden Lane in Heaton in Bradford, into which they moved on 26 September 1977, and where they were living at the time of Sutcliffe's arrest.
Through his childhood and his early adolescence, Sutcliffe showed no signs of abnormality. But one of his brothers admitted that their father was an abusive alcoholic, stating that their father once smashed a beer glass over Peter's head for sitting in his chair at the Christmas table, after arguing, when the brother was four or five years old. Their father used to whip them with a belt.
Later, in part related to his occupation as a gravedigger, he developed a macabre sense of humour. In his late adolescence, Sutcliffe developed a growing obsession with voyeurism, and spent much time spying on prostitutes and the men seeking their services.
Attacks and murders
Leeds was the hotspot of Ripper activity, with 6 murders and 4 attacks in the city. Sutcliffe's first and last murders also occurred in Leeds.
Sutcliffe's 13 known murder victims were Wilma McCann (Leeds 1975), Emily Jackson (Leeds 1976), Irene Richardson (Leeds 1977), Patricia "Tina" Atkinson (Bradford 1977), Jayne MacDonald (Leeds 1977), Jean Jordan (Manchester 1977), Yvonne Pearson (Bradford 1978), Helen Rytka (Huddersfield 1978), Vera Millward (Manchester 1978), Josephine Whitaker (Halifax 1979), Barbara Leach (Bradford 1979), Marguerite Walls (Leeds 1980) and Jacqueline Hill (Leeds 1980).
He is also known to have attacked 10 other women: a woman of unknown name (Bradford 1969), Anna Rogulskyj (Keighley 1975), Olive Smelt (Halifax 1975), Tracy Browne (Silsden 1975), Marcella Claxton (Leeds 1976), Maureen Long (Bradford 1977) Marilyn Moore (Leeds 1977), Ann Rooney (Leeds 1979) Upadhya Bandara (Leeds 1980), and Theresa Sykes (Huddersfield 1980). Claxton was four months pregnant when she was attacked, and lost the baby she was carrying.
1969
Sutcliffe's first documented assault was of a female prostitute, whom he had met while searching for another woman who had tricked him out of money. He left his friend Trevor Birdsall's minivan and walked up St. Paul's Road in Bradford until he was out of sight. When Sutcliffe returned, he was out of breath, as if he had been running. He told Birdsall to drive off quickly. Sutcliffe said he had followed a prostitute into a garage and hit her over the head with a stone in a sock. According to his statement, Sutcliffe said,
"I got out of the car, went across the road and hit her. The force of the impact tore the toe off the sock and whatever was in it came out. I went back to the car and got in it".
Police visited Sutcliffe's home the next day, as the woman he had attacked had noted Birdsall's vehicle registration plate. He admitted he had hit her, but claimed it was with his hand. The police told him he was "very lucky", as the woman did not want anything more to do with the incident.
1975
Sutcliffe committed his second assault on the night of 5 July 1975 in Keighley. He attacked Anna Rogúlskyj, who was walking alone, striking her unconscious with a ball-peen hammer and slashing her stomach with a knife. Disturbed by a neighbour, he left without killing her. Rogulskyj survived after neurological surgery but she was psychologically traumatised by the attack. She said later:
"I've been afraid to go out much because I feel people are staring and pointing at me. The whole thing is making my life a misery. I sometimes wish I had died in the attack."
On the night of 15 August, Sutcliffe attacked Olive Smelt in Halifax. Employing the same modus operandi, he briefly engaged Smelt with a commonplace pleasantry about the weather before striking hammer blows to her skull from behind. He then disarranged her clothing and slashed her lower back with a knife. Again he was interrupted and left his victim badly injured but alive. Like Rogulskyj, Smelt subsequently suffered severe emotional and mental trauma.
She had told interviewing officer Dept. Supt. Dick Holland (later the Ripper Squad's second in command) that her attacker had a Yorkshire accent, but this information was ignored, as was the fact that neither she nor Rogulskij were in towns with a red light area. On 27 August, Sutcliffe attacked 14-year-old Tracy Browne in Silsden. He struck her from behind and hit her on the head five times while she was walking along a country lane. He ran off when he saw the lights of a passing car, leaving his victim requiring brain surgery. Sutcliffe was not convicted of the attack but confessed to it in 1992.
The first victim to be killed by Sutcliffe was Wilma McCann on 30 October. McCann, from Scott Hall in Leeds, was a mother of four children between the ages of 2 and 7. Sutcliffe struck the back of her skull twice with a hammer, then inflicted "a stab wound to the throat; two stab wounds below the right breast; three stab wounds below the left breast and a series of nine stab wounds around the umbilicus". An extensive inquiry, involving 150 officers of the West Yorkshire Police and 11,000 interviews, failed to find the culprit. In December 2007, McCann's eldest daughter Sonia Newlands killed herself, reportedly after suffering years of anguish and depression over the circumstances of her mother's death, and consequences to her and her siblings.
1976
Sutcliffe committed his next murder in Leeds on 20 January 1976, when he stabbed 42-year-old Emily Jackson 52 times. In dire financial straits, Jackson had been persuaded by her husband to engage in prostitution, using the van of their family roofing business. Sutcliffe picked up Jackson, who was soliciting outside the Gaiety pub on Roundhay Road, then drove about half a mile to some derelict buildings on Enfield Terrace in the Manor Industrial Estate. Sutcliffe hit her on the head with a hammer, dragged her body into a rubbish-strewn yard, then used a sharpened screwdriver to stab her in the neck, chest and abdomen. He stamped on her thigh, leaving behind an impression of his boot.
Sutcliffe attacked 20-year-old Marcella Claxton in Roundhay Park, Leeds, on 9 May. Walking home from a party, she accepted an offer of a lift from Sutcliffe. When she got out of the car to urinate, he hit her from behind with a hammer. Claxton survived and testified against Sutcliffe at his trial. At the time of this attack, Claxton had been four months pregnant and subsequently miscarried her baby. She required multiple, extensive brain operations and suffered from intermittent blackouts and chronic depression.
1977
On 5 February, Sutcliffe attacked Irene Richardson, a Chapeltown prostitute, in Roundhay Park. Richardson was bludgeoned to death with a hammer. Once she was dead, Sutcliffe mutilated her corpse with a knife. Tyre tracks left near the murder scene resulted in a long list of possible suspect vehicles.
Two months later, on 23 April, Sutcliffe killed Patricia "Tina" Atkinson, a prostitute from Bradford, in her flat, where police found a bootprint on the bedclothes. Two months after that, on 26 June, he murdered 16-year-old Jayne MacDonald in Chapeltown. She was not a prostitute and, in the public perception, her murder showed that all women were potential victims. The police described her as the first "innocent" victim. Sutcliffe seriously assaulted Maureen Long in Bradford in July. He was interrupted and fled, leaving her for dead. She was suffering from hypothermia when found and was in hospital for nine weeks. A witness misidentified the make of his car, resulting in more than 300 police officers checking thousands of cars without success.
On 1 October 1977 Sutcliffe murdered Jean Jordan, a prostitute from Manchester. In a confession, Sutcliffe said he had realised the new £5 note he had given her was traceable. After hosting a family party at his new home, he returned to the wasteland behind Manchester's Southern Cemetery, where he had left the body, to retrieve the note but was unable to find it.
On 9 October, Jordan's body was discovered by local dairy worker and future actor Bruce Jones, who had an allotment on land adjoining the site where the body was found and was searching for house bricks when he made the discovery. The £5 note, hidden in a secret compartment in Jordan's handbag, was traced to branches of the Midland Bank in Shipley and Bingley. Police analysis of bank operations allowed them to narrow their field of inquiry to 8,000 employees who could have received it in their wage packet. Over three months the police interviewed 5,000 men, including Sutcliffe. The police found that the alibi given for Sutcliffe's whereabouts was credible; he had indeed spent much of the evening of the killing at a family party. Weeks of intense investigations pertaining to the origins of the £5 note led to nothing, leaving police officers frustrated that they collected an important clue but had been unable to trace the actual firm (or employee within the firm) to which or whom the note had been issued.
On 14 December, Sutcliffe attacked Marilyn Moore, another prostitute from Leeds. She survived and provided police with a description of her attacker. Tyre tracks found at the scene matched those from an earlier attack. Her photofit bore a strong resemblance to Sutcliffe, like other survivors, and she provided a good description of his car, which had been seen in red-light districts. Sutcliffe had been interviewed on this issue.
1978
The police discontinued the search for the person who received the £5 note in January 1978. Although Sutcliffe was interviewed about it, he was not investigated further (he was contacted and disregarded by the Ripper Squad on several further occasions). That month, Sutcliffe killed again. His victim was Yvonne Pearson, a 21-year-old prostitute from Bradford. He repeatedly bludgeoned her about the head with a ball-peen hammer, then jumped on her chest before stuffing horsehair into her mouth from a discarded sofa, under which he hid her body near Lumb Lane.
Ten days later, he killed Helen Rytka, an 18-year-old prostitute from Huddersfield. He struck Rytka on the head five times as she exited his vehicle, before stripping most of the clothes from her body (although her bra and polo-neck jumper were positioned above her breasts) and repeatedly stabbing her in the chest. Her body was found three days later beneath railway arches in Garrards timber-yard to which he had driven her. Sutcliffe said of Rytka while in police custody in 1981: "I had the urge to kill any woman. The urge inside me to kill girls was now practically uncontrollable."
1979
On 4 April 1979, Sutcliffe killed Josephine Whitaker, a 19-year-old building society clerk whom he attacked on Savile Park Moor in Halifax as she was walking home. Despite forensic evidence, police efforts were diverted for several months following receipt of the taped message purporting to be from the murderer taunting Assistant Chief Constable George Oldfield of the West Yorkshire Police, who was leading the investigation. The tape contained a man's voice saying, "I'm Jack. I see you're having no luck catching me. I have the greatest respect for you, George, but Lord, you're no nearer catching me now than four years ago when I started."
Based on the recorded message, police began searching for a man with a Wearside accent, which linguists narrowed down to the Castletown area of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear. The hoaxer, dubbed "Wearside Jack", sent two letters to police and the Daily Mirror in March 1978 boasting of his crimes. The letters, signed "Jack the Ripper", claimed responsibility for the murder of 26-year-old Joan Harrison in Preston in November 1975.
The hoaxer case was re-opened in 2005, and DNA taken from envelopes was entered into the national database, in which it matched that of John Samuel Humble, an unemployed alcoholic and long-time resident of the Ford Estate in Sunderland – a few miles from Castletown – whose DNA had been taken following a drunk and disorderly offence in 2001. On 20 October 2005, Humble was charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice for sending the hoax letters and tape. Humble was remanded in custody and on 21 March 2006 was convicted and sentenced to eight years in prison. Humble died on 30 July 2019, aged 63.
On 1 September, Sutcliffe murdered 20-year-old Barbara Leach, a Bradford University student. Her body was dumped at the rear of 13 Ashgrove under a pile of bricks, close to the university and her lodgings. It was his sixteenth attack. The murder of a woman who was not a prostitute again alarmed the public and prompted an expensive publicity campaign emphasising the Wearside connection. Despite the false lead, Sutcliffe was interviewed on at least two other occasions in 1979. Despite matching several forensic clues and being on the list of 300 names in connection with the £5 note, he was not strongly suspected.
1980
In April 1980, Sutcliffe was arrested for drunk driving. While awaiting trial, he killed two more women. Sutcliffe murdered 47-year-old Marguerite Walls on the night of 20 August 1980, and 20-year-old Jacqueline Hill, a student at Leeds University, on the night of 17 November 1980. Hill's body was found on wasteland near the Arndale Centre. He also attacked three other women, who survived: Uphadya Bandara in Leeds on 24 September 1980; Maureen Lea (known as Mo), an art student attacked in the grounds of Leeds University on 25 October 1980; and 16-year-old Theresa Sykes, attacked in Huddersfield on the night of 5 November 1980. On 25 November 1980, Trevor Birdsall, an associate of Sutcliffe and the unwitting getaway driver as Sutcliffe fled his first documented assault in 1969, reported him to the police as a suspect.
Arrest and trial
On 2 January 1981, Sutcliffe was stopped by the police with 24-year-old prostitute Olivia Reivers in the driveway of Light Trades House in Melbourne Avenue, Broomhill, Sheffield, South Yorkshire. A police check by probationary constable Robert Hydes revealed Sutcliffe's car had false number plates and he was arrested and transferred to Dewsbury Police Station in West Yorkshire. At Dewsbury, he was questioned in relation to the Yorkshire Ripper case as he matched many of the known physical characteristics. The next day police returned to the scene of the arrest and discovered a knife, hammer, and rope he had discarded when he briefly slipped away from the police after telling them he was "bursting for a pee". Sutcliffe hid a second knife in the toilet cistern at the police station when he was permitted to use the toilet. The police obtained a search warrant for his home in Heaton and brought his wife in for questioning.
When Sutcliffe was stripped at the police station he was wearing an inverted V-necked jumper under his trousers. The sleeves had been pulled over his legs and the V-neck exposed his genital area. The fronts of the elbows were padded to protect his knees as, presumably, he knelt over his victims' corpses. The sexual implications of this outfit were considered obvious but it was not known to the public until published by Bilton (2003). After two days of intensive questioning, on the afternoon of 4 January 1981, Sutcliffe suddenly declared he was the Ripper. Over the next day, he calmly described his many attacks. Weeks later he claimed God had told him to murder the women. "The women I killed were filth", he told police. "Bastard prostitutes who were littering the streets. I was just cleaning up the place a bit". Sutcliffe displayed regret only when talking of his youngest murder victim, Jayne MacDonald, and when questioned about the killing of Joan Harrison, he vehemently denied responsibility. Harrison's murder had been linked to the Ripper killings by the "Wearside Jack" claim, but in 2011, DNA evidence revealed the crime had actually been committed by convicted sex offender Christopher Smith, who had died in 2008.
Sutcliffe was charged on 5 January 1981. At his trial, he pleaded not guilty to thirteen charges of murder, but guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility. The basis of his defence was that he claimed to be the tool of God's will. Sutcliffe said he had heard voices that ordered him to kill prostitutes while working as a gravedigger, which he claimed originated from the headstone of a Polish man, Bronisław Zapolski, and that the voices were that of God.
Sutcliffe pleaded guilty to seven charges of attempted murder. The prosecution intended to accept Sutcliffe's plea after four psychiatrists diagnosed him with paranoid schizophrenia, but the trial judge, Justice Sir Leslie Boreham, demanded an unusually-detailed explanation of the prosecution reasoning. After a two-hour representation by the Attorney-General Sir Michael Havers, a ninety-minute lunch break, and another forty minutes of legal discussion, the judge rejected the diminished responsibility plea and the expert testimonies of the psychiatrists, insisting that the case should be dealt with by a jury. The trial proper was set to commence on 5 May 1981.
The trial lasted two weeks, and despite the efforts of his counsel James Chadwin QC, Sutcliffe was found guilty of murder on all counts and was sentenced to twenty concurrent sentences of life imprisonment. The jury rejected the evidence of four psychiatrists that Sutcliffe had paranoid schizophrenia, possibly influenced by the evidence of a prison officer who heard him say to his wife that if he convinced people he was mad then he might get ten years in a "loony bin".
The trial judge said Sutcliffe was beyond redemption, and hoped he would never leave prison. He recommended a minimum term of thirty years to be served before parole could be considered, meaning Sutcliffe would have been unlikely to be freed until at least 2011. On 16 July 2010, the High Court issued Sutcliffe with a whole life tariff, meaning he was never to be released. After his trial, Sutcliffe admitted two other attacks. It was decided that prosecution for these offences was "not in the public interest". West Yorkshire Police made it clear that the victims wished to remain anonymous.
Criticism of authorities
West Yorkshire Police
West Yorkshire Police was criticised for being inadequately prepared for an investigation on this scale. It was one of the largest investigations by a British police force and predated the use of computers. Information on suspects was stored on handwritten index cards. Aside from difficulties in storing and accessing the paperwork (the floor of the incident room was reinforced to cope with the weight of the paper), it was difficult for officers to overcome the information overload of such a large manual system. Sutcliffe was interviewed nine times, but all information the police had about the case was stored in paper form, making cross-referencing difficult, compounded by television appeals for information which generated thousands more documents. The 1982 Byford Report into the investigation concluded: "The ineffectiveness of the major incident room was a serious handicap to the Ripper investigation. While it should have been the effective nerve centre of the whole police operation, the backlog of unprocessed information resulted in the failure to connect vital pieces of related information. This serious fault in the central index system allowed Peter Sutcliffe to continually slip through the net".
The choice of Oldfield to lead the inquiry was criticised by Byford: "The temptation to appoint a 'senior man' on age or service grounds should be resisted. What is needed is an officer of sound professional competence who will inspire confidence and loyalty". He found wanting Oldfield's focus on the hoax confessional tape that seemed to indicate a perpetrator with a Wearside background, and his ignoring advice from survivors of Sutcliffe's attacks and several eminent specialists, including from the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the US, along with dialect analysts such as Stanley Ellis and Jack Windsor Lewis, whom he had also consulted throughout the manhunt, that "Wearside Jack" was a hoaxer. The investigation used it as a point of elimination rather than a line of enquiry and allowed Sutcliffe to avoid scrutiny, as he did not fit the profile of the sender of the tape or letters. The "Wearside Jack" hoaxer was given unusual credibility when analysis of saliva on the envelopes he sent showed he had the same blood group as that which Sutcliffe had left at crime scenes, a type shared by only 6% of the population. The hoaxer appeared to know details of the murders which had not been released to the press, but which in fact he had acquired from pub gossip and his local newspaper.
In response to the police reaction to the murders, the Leeds Revolutionary Feminist Group organised a number of 'Reclaim the Night' marches. The group and other feminists had criticised the police for victim-blaming, especially for the suggestion that women should remain indoors at night. Eleven marches in various towns across the United Kingdom took place on the night of 12 November 1977. They made the point that women should be able to walk anywhere without restriction and that they should not be blamed for men's violence.
In 1988, the mother of Sutcliffe's last victim, Jacqueline Hill, during an action for damages on behalf of her daughter's estate, argued in the case Hill v Chief Constable of West Yorkshire in the High Court that the police had failed to use reasonable care in apprehending Sutcliffe. The House of Lords held that the Chief Constable of West Yorkshire did not owe a duty of care to the victim due to the lack of proximity, and therefore failing on the second limb of the Caparo test. After Sutcliffe's death in November 2020, West Yorkshire Police issued an apology for the "language, tone, and terminology" used by the force at the time of the criminal investigation, nine months after one of the victims' sons wrote on behalf of several of the victims' families.
Attitude towards prostitutes
The attitude in the West Yorkshire Police at the time reflected Sutcliffe's own misogyny and sexist attitudes, according to multiple sources. Jim Hobson, a senior West Yorkshire detective, told a press conference in October 1979 the perpetrator: "has made it clear that he hates prostitutes. Many people do. We, as a police force, will continue to arrest prostitutes. But the Ripper is now killing innocent girls. That indicates your mental state and that you are in urgent need of medical attention. You have made your point. Give yourself up before another innocent woman dies".Joan Smith wrote in Misogynies (1989, 1993), that "even Sutcliffe, at his trial, did not go quite this far; he did at least claim he was demented at the time".
The Attorney General, Sir Michael Havers QC, at the trial in 1981 said of Sutcliffe's victims in his opening statement: "Some were prostitutes, but perhaps the saddest part of the case is that some were not. The last six attacks were on totally respectable women". This drew condemnation from the English Collective of Prostitutes (ECP), who protested outside the Old Bailey. Nina Lopez, who was one of the ECP protestors in 1981, told The Independent forty years later, Sir Michael's comments were "an indictment of the whole way in which the police and the establishment were dealing with the Yorkshire Ripper case".
Byford report
The Inspector of Constabulary Lawrence Byford's 1981 report of an official inquiry into the Ripper case was not released by the Home Office until 1 June 2006. The sections "Description of suspects, photofits and other assaults" and parts of the section on Sutcliffe's "immediate associates" were not disclosed by the Home Office.
Referring to the period between 1969, when Sutcliffe first came to the attention of police, and 1975, the year of the murder of Wilma McCann, the report states: "There is a curious and unexplained lull in Sutcliffe's criminal activities" and "it is my firm conclusion that between 1969 and 1980 Sutcliffe was probably responsible for many attacks on unaccompanied women, which he has not yet admitted, not only in the West Yorkshire and Manchester areas, but also in other parts of the country". In 1969, Sutcliffe, described in the Byford Report as an "otherwise unremarkable young man", came to the notice of police on two occasions over incidents with prostitutes. Later that year, in September 1969, he was also arrested in Bradford's red light district for being in possession of a hammer, an offensive weapon, but he was charged with "going equipped for stealing" as it was assumed he was a potential burglar. The report said that it was clear Sutcliffe had on at least one occasion attacked a Bradford prostitute with a cosh.
Byford's report states:
Police identified a number of attacks which matched Sutcliffe's modus operandi and tried to question the killer, but he was never charged with other crimes.
The Byford Report's major findings were contained in a summary published by the Home Secretary, William Whitelaw, the first time precise details of the bungled police investigation had been disclosed. Byford described delays in following up vital tip-offs from Trevor Birdsall, an associate of Sutcliffe since 1966. On 25 November 1980, Birdsall sent an anonymous letter to police, the text of which ran as follows:
This letter was marked "Priority No. 1". An index card was created on the basis of the letter and a policewoman found Sutcliffe already had three existing index cards in the records. But "for some inexplicable reason", said the Byford Report, the papers remained in a filing tray in the incident room until the murderer's arrest on 2 January [1981], the following year.
Birdsall visited Bradford police station the day after sending the letter to repeat his misgivings about Sutcliffe. He added that he was with Sutcliffe when he got out of a car to pursue a woman with whom he had had a bar room dispute in Halifax on 16 August 1975. This was the date and place of the Olive Smelt attack. A report compiled on the visit was lost, despite a "comprehensive search" which took place after Sutcliffe's arrest, according to the report. Byford said:
Custody
Prison and Broadmoor Hospital
Following his conviction and incarceration, Sutcliffe chose to use the name Coonan, his mother's maiden name. He began his sentence at HM Prison Parkhurst on 22 May 1981. Despite being found sane at his trial, Sutcliffe was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. Attempts to send him to a secure psychiatric unit were blocked. While at Parkhurst he was seriously assaulted by James Costello, a 35-year-old career criminal with several convictions for violence. On 10 January 1983, he followed Sutcliffe into the recess of F2, the hospital wing at Parkhurst, and plunged a broken coffee jar twice into the left side of Sutcliffe's face, creating four wounds requiring thirty stitches. In March 1984, Sutcliffe was sent to Broadmoor Hospital, under Section 47 of the Mental Health Act 1983.
Sutcliffe's wife obtained a separation from him around 1989 and a divorce in July 1994. On 23 February 1996, he was attacked in his room in Broadmoor's Henley Ward. Paul Wilson, a convicted robber, asked to borrow a videotape before attempting to strangle Sutcliffe with the cable from a pair of stereo headphones.
After an attack with a pen by fellow inmate Ian Kay on 10 March 1997, Sutcliffe lost the vision in his left eye, and his right eye was severely damaged. Kay admitted trying to kill Sutcliffe and was ordered to be detained in a secure mental hospital without limit of time. In 2003, it was reported that Sutcliffe had developed diabetes.
Sutcliffe's father died in 2004 and was cremated. On 17 January 2005, Sutcliffe was allowed to visit Grange-over-Sands where the ashes had been scattered. The decision to allow the temporary release was initiated by David Blunkett and ratified by Charles Clarke when he became Home Secretary. Sutcliffe was accompanied by four members of the hospital staff. The visit led to front-page tabloid headlines.
On 22 December 2007, Sutcliffe was attacked by fellow inmate Patrick Sureda, who lunged at him with a metal cutlery knife while shouting, "You fucking raping, murdering bastard, I'll blind your fucking other one!" Sutcliffe flung himself backwards and the blade missed his right eye, stabbing him in the cheek.
On 17 February 2009, it was reported that Sutcliffe was "fit to leave Broadmoor". On 23 March 2010, the Secretary of State for Justice, Jack Straw, was questioned by Julie Kirkbride, Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for Bromsgrove, in the House of Commons seeking reassurance for a constituent, a victim of Sutcliffe, that he would remain in prison. Straw responded that whilst the matter of Sutcliffe's release was a parole board matter, "that all the evidence that I have seen on this case, and it's a great deal, suggests to me that there are no circumstances in which this man will be released".
Appeal
An application by Sutcliffe for a minimum term to be set, offering the possibility of parole after that date if it were thought safe to release him, was heard by the High Court on 16 July 2010. The court decided that Sutcliffe would never be released. Mr Justice Mitting stated:
Psychological reports describing Sutcliffe's mental state were taken into consideration, as was the severity of his crimes. Sutcliffe spent the rest of his life in custody. On 4 August 2010, a spokeswoman for the Judicial Communications Office confirmed that Sutcliffe had initiated an appeal against the decision. The hearing for Sutcliffe's appeal against the ruling began on 30 November 2010 at the Court of Appeal. The appeal was rejected on 14 January 2011. On 9 March 2011, the Court of Appeal rejected Sutcliffe's application for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court.
Later events
In December 2015, Sutcliffe was assessed as being "no longer mentally ill". In August 2016, a medical tribunal ruled that he no longer required clinical treatment for his mental condition, and could be returned to prison. Sutcliffe was reported to have been transferred from Broadmoor to HM Prison Frankland in Durham, County Durham, in August 2016.
In 2017, West Yorkshire Police launched Operation Painthall to determine if Sutcliffe was guilty of unsolved crimes dating back to 1964. This inquiry also looked at the killings of two prostitutes in southern Sweden in 1980. Given that Sutcliffe was a lorry driver, it was theorised that he had been in Denmark and Sweden, making use of the ferry across the Oresund Strait. In December 2017 West Yorkshire Police, in response to a Freedom of Information request, neither confirmed nor denied that Operation Painthall existed. West Yorkshire Police later stated that it was "absolutely certain" that Sutcliffe had never been in Sweden.
Death
Sutcliffe died at University Hospital of North Durham aged 74 on 13 November 2020, having been sent there with COVID-19, after having previously returned to HMP Frankland following treatment for a suspected heart attack at the same hospital two weeks prior. He had a number of underlying health problems, including obesity and diabetes. He reportedly refused treatment. A private funeral ceremony was held, and Sutcliffe's body was cremated.
Media
The song "Night Shift" by English post-punk band Siouxsie and the Banshees on their 1981 album Juju is about Sutcliffe.
On 6 April 1991, Sutcliffe's father, John Sutcliffe, talked about his son on the television discussion programme After Dark.
This Is Personal: The Hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper, a British television crime drama miniseries, first shown on ITV from 26 January to 2 February 2000, is a dramatisation of the real-life investigation into the murders, showing the effect that it had on the health and career of Assistant Chief Constable George Oldfield (Alun Armstrong). The series also starred Richard Ridings and James Laurenson as DSI Dick Holland and Chief Constable Ronald Gregory, respectively. Although broadcast over two weeks, two episodes were shown consecutively each week. The series was nominated for the British Academy Television Award for Best Drama Serial at the 2001 awards.
On 26 August 2016, the police investigation was the subject of BBC Radio 4's The Reunion. Sue MacGregor discussed the investigation with John Domaille, who later became assistant chief constable of West Yorkshire Police; Andy Laptew, who was a junior detective who interviewed Sutcliffe; Elaine Benson, who worked in the incident room and interviewed suspects; David Zackrisson, who investigated the "Wearside Jack" tape and letters in Sunderland; and Christa Ackroyd, a local journalist in Halifax.
A three part series of one hour episodes, The Yorkshire Ripper Files: A very British crime story aired on BBC Four in March 2019. This included interviews with some of the victims, their family, police and journalists who covered the case by filmmaker Liza Williams. In the series she questions whether the attitude of both the police and society towards women prevented Sutcliffe from being caught sooner. On 31 July 2020, the series won the BAFTA prize for Specialist Factual TV programming.
A play written by Olivia Hirst and David Byrne, The Incident Room, premiered at Pleasance as part of the 2019 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The play focuses on the police force hunting Sutcliffe. The play was produced by New Diorama. The third book (and second episodic television adaptation) in David Peace's Red Riding series is set against the backdrop of the Ripper investigation. In that episode, Sutcliffe is played by Joseph Mawle.
In October 2020, it was announced that ITV will produce a new six-part drama series about the Ripper.
In December 2020, Netflix released a four-part documentary entitled The Ripper, which recounts the police investigation into the murders with interviews from living victims, family members of victims and police officers involved in the investigation.
The 2021 podcast "Crime Analysis" covers Peter Sutcliffe's crimes, focusing on the victims, the investigation and forensics, trial, and aftermath including an interview with the son of victim Wilma McCann.
In November 2021, American heavy metal band Slipknot released a song titled "The Chapeltown Rag", which is inspired by the media reporting on the murders.
In February 2022, Channel 5 released a 60-minute documentary entitled The Ripper Speaks: the Lost Tapes, which recounts interviews and Sutcliffe speaking about life in prison and in Broadmoor Hospital, as well the crimes he had committed but which had not been seen or treated as "a Ripper killing".
See also
Gordon Cummins (Blackout Ripper)
Anthony Hardy (Camden Ripper)
Steve Wright (serial killer) (perpetrator of the Ipswich serial murders)
Alun Kyte (Midlands Ripper)
List of prisoners with whole-life orders
List of serial killers by country
List of serial killers by number of victims
Murders of Jacqueline Ansell-Lamb and Barbara Mayo, unsolved murders that for many years were linked to Sutcliffe
Notes
References
Bibliography
External links
(multiple files)
1946 births
1980s trials
2020 deaths
20th-century English criminals
British people convicted of attempted murder
Chapeltown, Leeds
Crime in Manchester
Crime in West Yorkshire
Criminals from Yorkshire
Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in England
English male criminals
English murderers of children
English people convicted of murder
English people of Irish descent
English prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment
English serial killers
Fugitives wanted by the United Kingdom
Male serial killers
Murder in Manchester
Murder in West Yorkshire
People convicted of murder by England and Wales
People detained at Broadmoor Hospital
People from Bingley
People with schizophrenia
Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by England and Wales
Prisoners who died in England and Wales detention
Violence against women in England | false | [
"The Encyclopedia of the Roman Empire, written by Matthew Bunson in 1994 and published by Facts on File, is a detailed depiction of the history of the Roman Empire. This work, of roughly 494 pages (a 2002 revised version contains 636 pages) stores more than 2,000 entries.\n\nVersions\n US Hardcover revised edition (July 2002), published by Facts on File: \n\nThe book gives the reader much information about the life and decay of Rome, bringing the reader through an interesting voyage in time.\n\nReferences\n\n \n\n1994 non-fiction books\nRoman Empire\nHistory books about ancient Rome",
"Jeremy Poolman is a British novelist, biographer and artist. His first novel, Interesting Facts about the State of Arizona, won the 1997 Commonwealth Writers' Prize, best first book, UK.\n\nHe studied at University College School, and Oxford Brookes University.\nHis work has appeared in The Guardian.\nHe lives in Cornwall.\n\nWorks\nInteresting Facts about the State of Arizona, Faber and Faber, 1996, \nAudacity's Song, Faber and Faber, 1998, \nMy Kind of America, Bloomsbury, 2000, \nSkin, Bloomsbury, 2001, \n\nNon-Fiction\nA Wounded Thing Must Hide: In Search of Libbie Custer, Bloomsbury, 2002, \nGypsy Jem Mace: Being One Man's Search for His Forgotten Famous Ancestor Andre Deutsch, 2008, \nThe Road of Bones: A Journey to the Dark Heart of Russia, Simon & Schuster, Limited, 2011,\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nAuthor's website\n2011 Surrey Heath Literary Festival\n\n20th-century British novelists\n21st-century British novelists\nLiving people\nAlumni of Oxford Brookes University\nPeople educated at University College School\nBritish male novelists\n20th-century British male writers\n21st-century British male writers\nYear of birth missing (living people)"
]
|
[
"Peter Sutcliffe",
"Appeal",
"Most notable facts about the appeal?",
"On 9 March 2011, the Court of Appeal rejected Sutcliffe's application for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court.",
"Was the final appeal successful?",
"Barring judicial decisions to the contrary, Sutcliffe will spend the rest of his life in Broadmoor Hospital.",
"Why was the appeal denied?",
"I don't know.",
"Interesting facts about the appeal?",
"It was rejected on 14 January 2011."
]
| C_1e251a63d2f4450d89ad08f87c3cdc9d_0 | what year was the appeal? | 5 | what year was Peter Sutcliffe's appeal? | Peter Sutcliffe | An application by Sutcliffe for a minimum term to be set, offering the possibility of parole after that date if it is thought safe to release him, was heard by the High Court of Justice on 16 July 2010. The High Court decided that Sutcliffe will never be released. Mr Justice Mitting stated: This was a campaign of murder which terrorised the population of a large part of Yorkshire for several years. The only explanation for it, on the jury's verdict, was anger, hatred and obsession. Apart from a terrorist outrage, it is difficult to conceive of circumstances in which one man could account for so many victims. Psychological reports describing his mental state were taken into consideration, as was the severity of his crimes. Barring judicial decisions to the contrary, Sutcliffe will spend the rest of his life in Broadmoor Hospital. On 4 August 2010, a spokeswoman for the Judicial Communications Office confirmed that Sutcliffe had initiated an appeal against the decision. The hearing for Sutcliffe's appeal against the ruling began on 30 November 2010 at the Court of Appeal. It was rejected on 14 January 2011. On 9 March 2011, the Court of Appeal rejected Sutcliffe's application for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court. In December 2015 Sutcliffe was assessed as being "no longer mentally ill". In August 2016, a medical tribunal ruled that he no longer required clinical treatment for his mental condition, and could be returned to prison. Sutcliffe is reported to have been transferred from Broadmoor to Frankland Prison in Durham in August 2016. CANNOTANSWER | The hearing for Sutcliffe's appeal against the ruling began on 30 November 2010 at the Court of Appeal. | Peter William Sutcliffe (2 June 1946 – 13 November 2020), also known as Peter William Coonan, was an English serial killer who was dubbed the Yorkshire Ripper (an allusion to Jack the Ripper) by the press. On 22 May 1981, he was found guilty of murdering 13 women and attempting to murder seven others between 1975 and 1980. He was sentenced to 20 concurrent sentences of life imprisonment, which were converted to a whole life order in 2010. Two of Sutcliffe's murders took place in Manchester; all the others were in West Yorkshire.
Sutcliffe initially attacked women and girls in residential areas, but appears to have shifted his focus to red-light districts because he was attracted by the vulnerability of prostitutes, and perceived ambivalence of police to prostitutes' safety at the time. He had allegedly regularly used the services of prostitutes in Leeds and Bradford. After his arrest in Sheffield by South Yorkshire Police for driving with false number plates in January 1981, Sutcliffe was transferred to West Yorkshire Police, which questioned him about the killings. He confessed to being the perpetrator, saying that the voice of God had sent him on a mission to kill prostitutes. At his trial, Sutcliffe pleaded not guilty to murder on grounds of diminished responsibility, but he was convicted of murder on a majority verdict. Following his conviction, Sutcliffe began using his mother's maiden name of Coonan.
The search for Sutcliffe was one of the largest and most expensive manhunts in British history, and West Yorkshire Police was criticised for its failure to catch him despite having interviewed him nine times in the course of its five-year investigation. Owing to the sensational nature of the case, the police handled an exceptional amount of information, some of it misleading (including the Wearside Jack hoax recorded message and letters purporting to be from the "Ripper"). Following Sutcliffe's conviction, the government ordered a review of the investigation, conducted by the Inspector of Constabulary Lawrence Byford, known as the "Byford Report". The findings were made fully public in 2006, and confirmed the validity of the criticism against the force. The report led to changes to investigative procedures that were adopted across UK police forces. In 2019, The Guardian described the manhunt as "stunningly mishandled".
Sutcliffe was transferred from prison to Broadmoor Hospital in March 1984 after being diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. The High Court dismissed an appeal by Sutcliffe in 2010, confirming that he would serve a whole life order and never be released from custody. In August 2016, it was ruled that Sutcliffe was mentally fit to be returned to prison, and he was transferred that month to HM Prison Frankland in Durham. He died from COVID-19-related complications in hospital, while in prison custody on 13 November 2020, at the age of 74.
Early life
Peter Sutcliffe was born to a working-class family in Bingley, West Riding of Yorkshire. His parents were John William Sutcliffe and his wife Kathleen Frances (née Coonan), a native of Connemara. Kathleen was a Roman Catholic and John was a member of the choir at the local Anglican church of St Wilfred's; their children were raised in their mother's Catholic faith. Reportedly a loner, Sutcliffe left school aged fifteen and had a series of menial jobs, including two stints as a gravedigger in the 1960s. Between November 1971 and April 1973, he worked at the Baird Television factory on a packaging line. He left this position when he was asked to go on the road as a salesman.
After leaving Baird Television, Sutcliffe worked nightshifts at the Britannia Works of Anderton International from April 1973. In February 1975, he took redundancy and used half of the £400 pay-off to train as a heavy goods vehicle (HGV) driver. On 5 March 1976, Sutcliffe was dismissed for the theft of used tyres. He was unemployed until October 1976, when he found a job as an HGV driver for T. & W.H. Clark (Holdings) Ltd. on the Canal Road Industrial Estate in Bradford.
Sutcliffe, by some reports, hired prostitutes as a young man, and it has been speculated that he had a bad experience during which he was conned out of money by a prostitute and her pimp. Other analyses of his actions have not found evidence that he actually sought the services of prostitutes but note that he nonetheless developed an obsession with them, including "watching them soliciting on the streets of Leeds and Bradford".
Sutcliffe met Sonia Szurma on 14 February 1967; they married on 10 August 1974. Sonia suffered several miscarriages, and they were informed that she would not be able to have children. She resumed a teacher training course, during which time she had an affair with an ice-cream van driver. When Sonia completed the course in 1977 and began teaching, she and Sutcliffe used her salary to buy a house at 6 Garden Lane in Heaton in Bradford, into which they moved on 26 September 1977, and where they were living at the time of Sutcliffe's arrest.
Through his childhood and his early adolescence, Sutcliffe showed no signs of abnormality. But one of his brothers admitted that their father was an abusive alcoholic, stating that their father once smashed a beer glass over Peter's head for sitting in his chair at the Christmas table, after arguing, when the brother was four or five years old. Their father used to whip them with a belt.
Later, in part related to his occupation as a gravedigger, he developed a macabre sense of humour. In his late adolescence, Sutcliffe developed a growing obsession with voyeurism, and spent much time spying on prostitutes and the men seeking their services.
Attacks and murders
Leeds was the hotspot of Ripper activity, with 6 murders and 4 attacks in the city. Sutcliffe's first and last murders also occurred in Leeds.
Sutcliffe's 13 known murder victims were Wilma McCann (Leeds 1975), Emily Jackson (Leeds 1976), Irene Richardson (Leeds 1977), Patricia "Tina" Atkinson (Bradford 1977), Jayne MacDonald (Leeds 1977), Jean Jordan (Manchester 1977), Yvonne Pearson (Bradford 1978), Helen Rytka (Huddersfield 1978), Vera Millward (Manchester 1978), Josephine Whitaker (Halifax 1979), Barbara Leach (Bradford 1979), Marguerite Walls (Leeds 1980) and Jacqueline Hill (Leeds 1980).
He is also known to have attacked 10 other women: a woman of unknown name (Bradford 1969), Anna Rogulskyj (Keighley 1975), Olive Smelt (Halifax 1975), Tracy Browne (Silsden 1975), Marcella Claxton (Leeds 1976), Maureen Long (Bradford 1977) Marilyn Moore (Leeds 1977), Ann Rooney (Leeds 1979) Upadhya Bandara (Leeds 1980), and Theresa Sykes (Huddersfield 1980). Claxton was four months pregnant when she was attacked, and lost the baby she was carrying.
1969
Sutcliffe's first documented assault was of a female prostitute, whom he had met while searching for another woman who had tricked him out of money. He left his friend Trevor Birdsall's minivan and walked up St. Paul's Road in Bradford until he was out of sight. When Sutcliffe returned, he was out of breath, as if he had been running. He told Birdsall to drive off quickly. Sutcliffe said he had followed a prostitute into a garage and hit her over the head with a stone in a sock. According to his statement, Sutcliffe said,
"I got out of the car, went across the road and hit her. The force of the impact tore the toe off the sock and whatever was in it came out. I went back to the car and got in it".
Police visited Sutcliffe's home the next day, as the woman he had attacked had noted Birdsall's vehicle registration plate. He admitted he had hit her, but claimed it was with his hand. The police told him he was "very lucky", as the woman did not want anything more to do with the incident.
1975
Sutcliffe committed his second assault on the night of 5 July 1975 in Keighley. He attacked Anna Rogúlskyj, who was walking alone, striking her unconscious with a ball-peen hammer and slashing her stomach with a knife. Disturbed by a neighbour, he left without killing her. Rogulskyj survived after neurological surgery but she was psychologically traumatised by the attack. She said later:
"I've been afraid to go out much because I feel people are staring and pointing at me. The whole thing is making my life a misery. I sometimes wish I had died in the attack."
On the night of 15 August, Sutcliffe attacked Olive Smelt in Halifax. Employing the same modus operandi, he briefly engaged Smelt with a commonplace pleasantry about the weather before striking hammer blows to her skull from behind. He then disarranged her clothing and slashed her lower back with a knife. Again he was interrupted and left his victim badly injured but alive. Like Rogulskyj, Smelt subsequently suffered severe emotional and mental trauma.
She had told interviewing officer Dept. Supt. Dick Holland (later the Ripper Squad's second in command) that her attacker had a Yorkshire accent, but this information was ignored, as was the fact that neither she nor Rogulskij were in towns with a red light area. On 27 August, Sutcliffe attacked 14-year-old Tracy Browne in Silsden. He struck her from behind and hit her on the head five times while she was walking along a country lane. He ran off when he saw the lights of a passing car, leaving his victim requiring brain surgery. Sutcliffe was not convicted of the attack but confessed to it in 1992.
The first victim to be killed by Sutcliffe was Wilma McCann on 30 October. McCann, from Scott Hall in Leeds, was a mother of four children between the ages of 2 and 7. Sutcliffe struck the back of her skull twice with a hammer, then inflicted "a stab wound to the throat; two stab wounds below the right breast; three stab wounds below the left breast and a series of nine stab wounds around the umbilicus". An extensive inquiry, involving 150 officers of the West Yorkshire Police and 11,000 interviews, failed to find the culprit. In December 2007, McCann's eldest daughter Sonia Newlands killed herself, reportedly after suffering years of anguish and depression over the circumstances of her mother's death, and consequences to her and her siblings.
1976
Sutcliffe committed his next murder in Leeds on 20 January 1976, when he stabbed 42-year-old Emily Jackson 52 times. In dire financial straits, Jackson had been persuaded by her husband to engage in prostitution, using the van of their family roofing business. Sutcliffe picked up Jackson, who was soliciting outside the Gaiety pub on Roundhay Road, then drove about half a mile to some derelict buildings on Enfield Terrace in the Manor Industrial Estate. Sutcliffe hit her on the head with a hammer, dragged her body into a rubbish-strewn yard, then used a sharpened screwdriver to stab her in the neck, chest and abdomen. He stamped on her thigh, leaving behind an impression of his boot.
Sutcliffe attacked 20-year-old Marcella Claxton in Roundhay Park, Leeds, on 9 May. Walking home from a party, she accepted an offer of a lift from Sutcliffe. When she got out of the car to urinate, he hit her from behind with a hammer. Claxton survived and testified against Sutcliffe at his trial. At the time of this attack, Claxton had been four months pregnant and subsequently miscarried her baby. She required multiple, extensive brain operations and suffered from intermittent blackouts and chronic depression.
1977
On 5 February, Sutcliffe attacked Irene Richardson, a Chapeltown prostitute, in Roundhay Park. Richardson was bludgeoned to death with a hammer. Once she was dead, Sutcliffe mutilated her corpse with a knife. Tyre tracks left near the murder scene resulted in a long list of possible suspect vehicles.
Two months later, on 23 April, Sutcliffe killed Patricia "Tina" Atkinson, a prostitute from Bradford, in her flat, where police found a bootprint on the bedclothes. Two months after that, on 26 June, he murdered 16-year-old Jayne MacDonald in Chapeltown. She was not a prostitute and, in the public perception, her murder showed that all women were potential victims. The police described her as the first "innocent" victim. Sutcliffe seriously assaulted Maureen Long in Bradford in July. He was interrupted and fled, leaving her for dead. She was suffering from hypothermia when found and was in hospital for nine weeks. A witness misidentified the make of his car, resulting in more than 300 police officers checking thousands of cars without success.
On 1 October 1977 Sutcliffe murdered Jean Jordan, a prostitute from Manchester. In a confession, Sutcliffe said he had realised the new £5 note he had given her was traceable. After hosting a family party at his new home, he returned to the wasteland behind Manchester's Southern Cemetery, where he had left the body, to retrieve the note but was unable to find it.
On 9 October, Jordan's body was discovered by local dairy worker and future actor Bruce Jones, who had an allotment on land adjoining the site where the body was found and was searching for house bricks when he made the discovery. The £5 note, hidden in a secret compartment in Jordan's handbag, was traced to branches of the Midland Bank in Shipley and Bingley. Police analysis of bank operations allowed them to narrow their field of inquiry to 8,000 employees who could have received it in their wage packet. Over three months the police interviewed 5,000 men, including Sutcliffe. The police found that the alibi given for Sutcliffe's whereabouts was credible; he had indeed spent much of the evening of the killing at a family party. Weeks of intense investigations pertaining to the origins of the £5 note led to nothing, leaving police officers frustrated that they collected an important clue but had been unable to trace the actual firm (or employee within the firm) to which or whom the note had been issued.
On 14 December, Sutcliffe attacked Marilyn Moore, another prostitute from Leeds. She survived and provided police with a description of her attacker. Tyre tracks found at the scene matched those from an earlier attack. Her photofit bore a strong resemblance to Sutcliffe, like other survivors, and she provided a good description of his car, which had been seen in red-light districts. Sutcliffe had been interviewed on this issue.
1978
The police discontinued the search for the person who received the £5 note in January 1978. Although Sutcliffe was interviewed about it, he was not investigated further (he was contacted and disregarded by the Ripper Squad on several further occasions). That month, Sutcliffe killed again. His victim was Yvonne Pearson, a 21-year-old prostitute from Bradford. He repeatedly bludgeoned her about the head with a ball-peen hammer, then jumped on her chest before stuffing horsehair into her mouth from a discarded sofa, under which he hid her body near Lumb Lane.
Ten days later, he killed Helen Rytka, an 18-year-old prostitute from Huddersfield. He struck Rytka on the head five times as she exited his vehicle, before stripping most of the clothes from her body (although her bra and polo-neck jumper were positioned above her breasts) and repeatedly stabbing her in the chest. Her body was found three days later beneath railway arches in Garrards timber-yard to which he had driven her. Sutcliffe said of Rytka while in police custody in 1981: "I had the urge to kill any woman. The urge inside me to kill girls was now practically uncontrollable."
1979
On 4 April 1979, Sutcliffe killed Josephine Whitaker, a 19-year-old building society clerk whom he attacked on Savile Park Moor in Halifax as she was walking home. Despite forensic evidence, police efforts were diverted for several months following receipt of the taped message purporting to be from the murderer taunting Assistant Chief Constable George Oldfield of the West Yorkshire Police, who was leading the investigation. The tape contained a man's voice saying, "I'm Jack. I see you're having no luck catching me. I have the greatest respect for you, George, but Lord, you're no nearer catching me now than four years ago when I started."
Based on the recorded message, police began searching for a man with a Wearside accent, which linguists narrowed down to the Castletown area of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear. The hoaxer, dubbed "Wearside Jack", sent two letters to police and the Daily Mirror in March 1978 boasting of his crimes. The letters, signed "Jack the Ripper", claimed responsibility for the murder of 26-year-old Joan Harrison in Preston in November 1975.
The hoaxer case was re-opened in 2005, and DNA taken from envelopes was entered into the national database, in which it matched that of John Samuel Humble, an unemployed alcoholic and long-time resident of the Ford Estate in Sunderland – a few miles from Castletown – whose DNA had been taken following a drunk and disorderly offence in 2001. On 20 October 2005, Humble was charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice for sending the hoax letters and tape. Humble was remanded in custody and on 21 March 2006 was convicted and sentenced to eight years in prison. Humble died on 30 July 2019, aged 63.
On 1 September, Sutcliffe murdered 20-year-old Barbara Leach, a Bradford University student. Her body was dumped at the rear of 13 Ashgrove under a pile of bricks, close to the university and her lodgings. It was his sixteenth attack. The murder of a woman who was not a prostitute again alarmed the public and prompted an expensive publicity campaign emphasising the Wearside connection. Despite the false lead, Sutcliffe was interviewed on at least two other occasions in 1979. Despite matching several forensic clues and being on the list of 300 names in connection with the £5 note, he was not strongly suspected.
1980
In April 1980, Sutcliffe was arrested for drunk driving. While awaiting trial, he killed two more women. Sutcliffe murdered 47-year-old Marguerite Walls on the night of 20 August 1980, and 20-year-old Jacqueline Hill, a student at Leeds University, on the night of 17 November 1980. Hill's body was found on wasteland near the Arndale Centre. He also attacked three other women, who survived: Uphadya Bandara in Leeds on 24 September 1980; Maureen Lea (known as Mo), an art student attacked in the grounds of Leeds University on 25 October 1980; and 16-year-old Theresa Sykes, attacked in Huddersfield on the night of 5 November 1980. On 25 November 1980, Trevor Birdsall, an associate of Sutcliffe and the unwitting getaway driver as Sutcliffe fled his first documented assault in 1969, reported him to the police as a suspect.
Arrest and trial
On 2 January 1981, Sutcliffe was stopped by the police with 24-year-old prostitute Olivia Reivers in the driveway of Light Trades House in Melbourne Avenue, Broomhill, Sheffield, South Yorkshire. A police check by probationary constable Robert Hydes revealed Sutcliffe's car had false number plates and he was arrested and transferred to Dewsbury Police Station in West Yorkshire. At Dewsbury, he was questioned in relation to the Yorkshire Ripper case as he matched many of the known physical characteristics. The next day police returned to the scene of the arrest and discovered a knife, hammer, and rope he had discarded when he briefly slipped away from the police after telling them he was "bursting for a pee". Sutcliffe hid a second knife in the toilet cistern at the police station when he was permitted to use the toilet. The police obtained a search warrant for his home in Heaton and brought his wife in for questioning.
When Sutcliffe was stripped at the police station he was wearing an inverted V-necked jumper under his trousers. The sleeves had been pulled over his legs and the V-neck exposed his genital area. The fronts of the elbows were padded to protect his knees as, presumably, he knelt over his victims' corpses. The sexual implications of this outfit were considered obvious but it was not known to the public until published by Bilton (2003). After two days of intensive questioning, on the afternoon of 4 January 1981, Sutcliffe suddenly declared he was the Ripper. Over the next day, he calmly described his many attacks. Weeks later he claimed God had told him to murder the women. "The women I killed were filth", he told police. "Bastard prostitutes who were littering the streets. I was just cleaning up the place a bit". Sutcliffe displayed regret only when talking of his youngest murder victim, Jayne MacDonald, and when questioned about the killing of Joan Harrison, he vehemently denied responsibility. Harrison's murder had been linked to the Ripper killings by the "Wearside Jack" claim, but in 2011, DNA evidence revealed the crime had actually been committed by convicted sex offender Christopher Smith, who had died in 2008.
Sutcliffe was charged on 5 January 1981. At his trial, he pleaded not guilty to thirteen charges of murder, but guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility. The basis of his defence was that he claimed to be the tool of God's will. Sutcliffe said he had heard voices that ordered him to kill prostitutes while working as a gravedigger, which he claimed originated from the headstone of a Polish man, Bronisław Zapolski, and that the voices were that of God.
Sutcliffe pleaded guilty to seven charges of attempted murder. The prosecution intended to accept Sutcliffe's plea after four psychiatrists diagnosed him with paranoid schizophrenia, but the trial judge, Justice Sir Leslie Boreham, demanded an unusually-detailed explanation of the prosecution reasoning. After a two-hour representation by the Attorney-General Sir Michael Havers, a ninety-minute lunch break, and another forty minutes of legal discussion, the judge rejected the diminished responsibility plea and the expert testimonies of the psychiatrists, insisting that the case should be dealt with by a jury. The trial proper was set to commence on 5 May 1981.
The trial lasted two weeks, and despite the efforts of his counsel James Chadwin QC, Sutcliffe was found guilty of murder on all counts and was sentenced to twenty concurrent sentences of life imprisonment. The jury rejected the evidence of four psychiatrists that Sutcliffe had paranoid schizophrenia, possibly influenced by the evidence of a prison officer who heard him say to his wife that if he convinced people he was mad then he might get ten years in a "loony bin".
The trial judge said Sutcliffe was beyond redemption, and hoped he would never leave prison. He recommended a minimum term of thirty years to be served before parole could be considered, meaning Sutcliffe would have been unlikely to be freed until at least 2011. On 16 July 2010, the High Court issued Sutcliffe with a whole life tariff, meaning he was never to be released. After his trial, Sutcliffe admitted two other attacks. It was decided that prosecution for these offences was "not in the public interest". West Yorkshire Police made it clear that the victims wished to remain anonymous.
Criticism of authorities
West Yorkshire Police
West Yorkshire Police was criticised for being inadequately prepared for an investigation on this scale. It was one of the largest investigations by a British police force and predated the use of computers. Information on suspects was stored on handwritten index cards. Aside from difficulties in storing and accessing the paperwork (the floor of the incident room was reinforced to cope with the weight of the paper), it was difficult for officers to overcome the information overload of such a large manual system. Sutcliffe was interviewed nine times, but all information the police had about the case was stored in paper form, making cross-referencing difficult, compounded by television appeals for information which generated thousands more documents. The 1982 Byford Report into the investigation concluded: "The ineffectiveness of the major incident room was a serious handicap to the Ripper investigation. While it should have been the effective nerve centre of the whole police operation, the backlog of unprocessed information resulted in the failure to connect vital pieces of related information. This serious fault in the central index system allowed Peter Sutcliffe to continually slip through the net".
The choice of Oldfield to lead the inquiry was criticised by Byford: "The temptation to appoint a 'senior man' on age or service grounds should be resisted. What is needed is an officer of sound professional competence who will inspire confidence and loyalty". He found wanting Oldfield's focus on the hoax confessional tape that seemed to indicate a perpetrator with a Wearside background, and his ignoring advice from survivors of Sutcliffe's attacks and several eminent specialists, including from the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the US, along with dialect analysts such as Stanley Ellis and Jack Windsor Lewis, whom he had also consulted throughout the manhunt, that "Wearside Jack" was a hoaxer. The investigation used it as a point of elimination rather than a line of enquiry and allowed Sutcliffe to avoid scrutiny, as he did not fit the profile of the sender of the tape or letters. The "Wearside Jack" hoaxer was given unusual credibility when analysis of saliva on the envelopes he sent showed he had the same blood group as that which Sutcliffe had left at crime scenes, a type shared by only 6% of the population. The hoaxer appeared to know details of the murders which had not been released to the press, but which in fact he had acquired from pub gossip and his local newspaper.
In response to the police reaction to the murders, the Leeds Revolutionary Feminist Group organised a number of 'Reclaim the Night' marches. The group and other feminists had criticised the police for victim-blaming, especially for the suggestion that women should remain indoors at night. Eleven marches in various towns across the United Kingdom took place on the night of 12 November 1977. They made the point that women should be able to walk anywhere without restriction and that they should not be blamed for men's violence.
In 1988, the mother of Sutcliffe's last victim, Jacqueline Hill, during an action for damages on behalf of her daughter's estate, argued in the case Hill v Chief Constable of West Yorkshire in the High Court that the police had failed to use reasonable care in apprehending Sutcliffe. The House of Lords held that the Chief Constable of West Yorkshire did not owe a duty of care to the victim due to the lack of proximity, and therefore failing on the second limb of the Caparo test. After Sutcliffe's death in November 2020, West Yorkshire Police issued an apology for the "language, tone, and terminology" used by the force at the time of the criminal investigation, nine months after one of the victims' sons wrote on behalf of several of the victims' families.
Attitude towards prostitutes
The attitude in the West Yorkshire Police at the time reflected Sutcliffe's own misogyny and sexist attitudes, according to multiple sources. Jim Hobson, a senior West Yorkshire detective, told a press conference in October 1979 the perpetrator: "has made it clear that he hates prostitutes. Many people do. We, as a police force, will continue to arrest prostitutes. But the Ripper is now killing innocent girls. That indicates your mental state and that you are in urgent need of medical attention. You have made your point. Give yourself up before another innocent woman dies".Joan Smith wrote in Misogynies (1989, 1993), that "even Sutcliffe, at his trial, did not go quite this far; he did at least claim he was demented at the time".
The Attorney General, Sir Michael Havers QC, at the trial in 1981 said of Sutcliffe's victims in his opening statement: "Some were prostitutes, but perhaps the saddest part of the case is that some were not. The last six attacks were on totally respectable women". This drew condemnation from the English Collective of Prostitutes (ECP), who protested outside the Old Bailey. Nina Lopez, who was one of the ECP protestors in 1981, told The Independent forty years later, Sir Michael's comments were "an indictment of the whole way in which the police and the establishment were dealing with the Yorkshire Ripper case".
Byford report
The Inspector of Constabulary Lawrence Byford's 1981 report of an official inquiry into the Ripper case was not released by the Home Office until 1 June 2006. The sections "Description of suspects, photofits and other assaults" and parts of the section on Sutcliffe's "immediate associates" were not disclosed by the Home Office.
Referring to the period between 1969, when Sutcliffe first came to the attention of police, and 1975, the year of the murder of Wilma McCann, the report states: "There is a curious and unexplained lull in Sutcliffe's criminal activities" and "it is my firm conclusion that between 1969 and 1980 Sutcliffe was probably responsible for many attacks on unaccompanied women, which he has not yet admitted, not only in the West Yorkshire and Manchester areas, but also in other parts of the country". In 1969, Sutcliffe, described in the Byford Report as an "otherwise unremarkable young man", came to the notice of police on two occasions over incidents with prostitutes. Later that year, in September 1969, he was also arrested in Bradford's red light district for being in possession of a hammer, an offensive weapon, but he was charged with "going equipped for stealing" as it was assumed he was a potential burglar. The report said that it was clear Sutcliffe had on at least one occasion attacked a Bradford prostitute with a cosh.
Byford's report states:
Police identified a number of attacks which matched Sutcliffe's modus operandi and tried to question the killer, but he was never charged with other crimes.
The Byford Report's major findings were contained in a summary published by the Home Secretary, William Whitelaw, the first time precise details of the bungled police investigation had been disclosed. Byford described delays in following up vital tip-offs from Trevor Birdsall, an associate of Sutcliffe since 1966. On 25 November 1980, Birdsall sent an anonymous letter to police, the text of which ran as follows:
This letter was marked "Priority No. 1". An index card was created on the basis of the letter and a policewoman found Sutcliffe already had three existing index cards in the records. But "for some inexplicable reason", said the Byford Report, the papers remained in a filing tray in the incident room until the murderer's arrest on 2 January [1981], the following year.
Birdsall visited Bradford police station the day after sending the letter to repeat his misgivings about Sutcliffe. He added that he was with Sutcliffe when he got out of a car to pursue a woman with whom he had had a bar room dispute in Halifax on 16 August 1975. This was the date and place of the Olive Smelt attack. A report compiled on the visit was lost, despite a "comprehensive search" which took place after Sutcliffe's arrest, according to the report. Byford said:
Custody
Prison and Broadmoor Hospital
Following his conviction and incarceration, Sutcliffe chose to use the name Coonan, his mother's maiden name. He began his sentence at HM Prison Parkhurst on 22 May 1981. Despite being found sane at his trial, Sutcliffe was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. Attempts to send him to a secure psychiatric unit were blocked. While at Parkhurst he was seriously assaulted by James Costello, a 35-year-old career criminal with several convictions for violence. On 10 January 1983, he followed Sutcliffe into the recess of F2, the hospital wing at Parkhurst, and plunged a broken coffee jar twice into the left side of Sutcliffe's face, creating four wounds requiring thirty stitches. In March 1984, Sutcliffe was sent to Broadmoor Hospital, under Section 47 of the Mental Health Act 1983.
Sutcliffe's wife obtained a separation from him around 1989 and a divorce in July 1994. On 23 February 1996, he was attacked in his room in Broadmoor's Henley Ward. Paul Wilson, a convicted robber, asked to borrow a videotape before attempting to strangle Sutcliffe with the cable from a pair of stereo headphones.
After an attack with a pen by fellow inmate Ian Kay on 10 March 1997, Sutcliffe lost the vision in his left eye, and his right eye was severely damaged. Kay admitted trying to kill Sutcliffe and was ordered to be detained in a secure mental hospital without limit of time. In 2003, it was reported that Sutcliffe had developed diabetes.
Sutcliffe's father died in 2004 and was cremated. On 17 January 2005, Sutcliffe was allowed to visit Grange-over-Sands where the ashes had been scattered. The decision to allow the temporary release was initiated by David Blunkett and ratified by Charles Clarke when he became Home Secretary. Sutcliffe was accompanied by four members of the hospital staff. The visit led to front-page tabloid headlines.
On 22 December 2007, Sutcliffe was attacked by fellow inmate Patrick Sureda, who lunged at him with a metal cutlery knife while shouting, "You fucking raping, murdering bastard, I'll blind your fucking other one!" Sutcliffe flung himself backwards and the blade missed his right eye, stabbing him in the cheek.
On 17 February 2009, it was reported that Sutcliffe was "fit to leave Broadmoor". On 23 March 2010, the Secretary of State for Justice, Jack Straw, was questioned by Julie Kirkbride, Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for Bromsgrove, in the House of Commons seeking reassurance for a constituent, a victim of Sutcliffe, that he would remain in prison. Straw responded that whilst the matter of Sutcliffe's release was a parole board matter, "that all the evidence that I have seen on this case, and it's a great deal, suggests to me that there are no circumstances in which this man will be released".
Appeal
An application by Sutcliffe for a minimum term to be set, offering the possibility of parole after that date if it were thought safe to release him, was heard by the High Court on 16 July 2010. The court decided that Sutcliffe would never be released. Mr Justice Mitting stated:
Psychological reports describing Sutcliffe's mental state were taken into consideration, as was the severity of his crimes. Sutcliffe spent the rest of his life in custody. On 4 August 2010, a spokeswoman for the Judicial Communications Office confirmed that Sutcliffe had initiated an appeal against the decision. The hearing for Sutcliffe's appeal against the ruling began on 30 November 2010 at the Court of Appeal. The appeal was rejected on 14 January 2011. On 9 March 2011, the Court of Appeal rejected Sutcliffe's application for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court.
Later events
In December 2015, Sutcliffe was assessed as being "no longer mentally ill". In August 2016, a medical tribunal ruled that he no longer required clinical treatment for his mental condition, and could be returned to prison. Sutcliffe was reported to have been transferred from Broadmoor to HM Prison Frankland in Durham, County Durham, in August 2016.
In 2017, West Yorkshire Police launched Operation Painthall to determine if Sutcliffe was guilty of unsolved crimes dating back to 1964. This inquiry also looked at the killings of two prostitutes in southern Sweden in 1980. Given that Sutcliffe was a lorry driver, it was theorised that he had been in Denmark and Sweden, making use of the ferry across the Oresund Strait. In December 2017 West Yorkshire Police, in response to a Freedom of Information request, neither confirmed nor denied that Operation Painthall existed. West Yorkshire Police later stated that it was "absolutely certain" that Sutcliffe had never been in Sweden.
Death
Sutcliffe died at University Hospital of North Durham aged 74 on 13 November 2020, having been sent there with COVID-19, after having previously returned to HMP Frankland following treatment for a suspected heart attack at the same hospital two weeks prior. He had a number of underlying health problems, including obesity and diabetes. He reportedly refused treatment. A private funeral ceremony was held, and Sutcliffe's body was cremated.
Media
The song "Night Shift" by English post-punk band Siouxsie and the Banshees on their 1981 album Juju is about Sutcliffe.
On 6 April 1991, Sutcliffe's father, John Sutcliffe, talked about his son on the television discussion programme After Dark.
This Is Personal: The Hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper, a British television crime drama miniseries, first shown on ITV from 26 January to 2 February 2000, is a dramatisation of the real-life investigation into the murders, showing the effect that it had on the health and career of Assistant Chief Constable George Oldfield (Alun Armstrong). The series also starred Richard Ridings and James Laurenson as DSI Dick Holland and Chief Constable Ronald Gregory, respectively. Although broadcast over two weeks, two episodes were shown consecutively each week. The series was nominated for the British Academy Television Award for Best Drama Serial at the 2001 awards.
On 26 August 2016, the police investigation was the subject of BBC Radio 4's The Reunion. Sue MacGregor discussed the investigation with John Domaille, who later became assistant chief constable of West Yorkshire Police; Andy Laptew, who was a junior detective who interviewed Sutcliffe; Elaine Benson, who worked in the incident room and interviewed suspects; David Zackrisson, who investigated the "Wearside Jack" tape and letters in Sunderland; and Christa Ackroyd, a local journalist in Halifax.
A three part series of one hour episodes, The Yorkshire Ripper Files: A very British crime story aired on BBC Four in March 2019. This included interviews with some of the victims, their family, police and journalists who covered the case by filmmaker Liza Williams. In the series she questions whether the attitude of both the police and society towards women prevented Sutcliffe from being caught sooner. On 31 July 2020, the series won the BAFTA prize for Specialist Factual TV programming.
A play written by Olivia Hirst and David Byrne, The Incident Room, premiered at Pleasance as part of the 2019 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The play focuses on the police force hunting Sutcliffe. The play was produced by New Diorama. The third book (and second episodic television adaptation) in David Peace's Red Riding series is set against the backdrop of the Ripper investigation. In that episode, Sutcliffe is played by Joseph Mawle.
In October 2020, it was announced that ITV will produce a new six-part drama series about the Ripper.
In December 2020, Netflix released a four-part documentary entitled The Ripper, which recounts the police investigation into the murders with interviews from living victims, family members of victims and police officers involved in the investigation.
The 2021 podcast "Crime Analysis" covers Peter Sutcliffe's crimes, focusing on the victims, the investigation and forensics, trial, and aftermath including an interview with the son of victim Wilma McCann.
In November 2021, American heavy metal band Slipknot released a song titled "The Chapeltown Rag", which is inspired by the media reporting on the murders.
In February 2022, Channel 5 released a 60-minute documentary entitled The Ripper Speaks: the Lost Tapes, which recounts interviews and Sutcliffe speaking about life in prison and in Broadmoor Hospital, as well the crimes he had committed but which had not been seen or treated as "a Ripper killing".
See also
Gordon Cummins (Blackout Ripper)
Anthony Hardy (Camden Ripper)
Steve Wright (serial killer) (perpetrator of the Ipswich serial murders)
Alun Kyte (Midlands Ripper)
List of prisoners with whole-life orders
List of serial killers by country
List of serial killers by number of victims
Murders of Jacqueline Ansell-Lamb and Barbara Mayo, unsolved murders that for many years were linked to Sutcliffe
Notes
References
Bibliography
External links
(multiple files)
1946 births
1980s trials
2020 deaths
20th-century English criminals
British people convicted of attempted murder
Chapeltown, Leeds
Crime in Manchester
Crime in West Yorkshire
Criminals from Yorkshire
Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in England
English male criminals
English murderers of children
English people convicted of murder
English people of Irish descent
English prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment
English serial killers
Fugitives wanted by the United Kingdom
Male serial killers
Murder in Manchester
Murder in West Yorkshire
People convicted of murder by England and Wales
People detained at Broadmoor Hospital
People from Bingley
People with schizophrenia
Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by England and Wales
Prisoners who died in England and Wales detention
Violence against women in England | false | [
"The \"Appeal to womanhood throughout the world\" (later known as \"Mother's Day Proclamation\") by Julia Ward Howe was an appeal for women to unite for peace in the world. Written in 1870, Howe's \"Appeal to womanhood\" was a pacifist reaction to the carnage of the American Civil War and the Franco-Prussian War. The appeal was tied to Howe's feminist conviction that women had a responsibility to shape their societies at the political level.\n\nIn 1872 Howe asked for the celebration of a \"Mother's Day for Peace\" on 2 June of every year, but she was unsuccessful.<ref name=\"leigh\"> citing Deborah Pickman Clifford, Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory: A Biography of Julia Ward Howe (Boston: Little, Brown, 1979), 187, 207, and Julia Ward Howe, \"How the Fourth of July Should Be Celebrated\", Forum 15 (July 1983); 574</ref> The modern Mother's Day, was established by Anna Jarvis 36 years later. While the day she established was different in significance from what Howe had proposed, Anna Jarvis was reportedly inspired by her mother's work with Howe.\n\nToday, an edited version of the appeal is included in the Unitarian Universalist hymnal Singing the Living Tradition''.\n\nAppeal to womanhood throughout the world\n\nReferences\n\nHymns\n1870 documents\nPacifism\nProclamations\nFeminism\nMother's Day",
"Richards v. Mackall, 113 U.S. 539 (1885), was an appeal from the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia to the High Court on whether or not an appeal from that Court to this Court may be allowed by that Court sitting in special term.\n\nChief Justice Waite delivered the opinion of the Court.\n\n[Filed July 8, 1884]\nSUPREME COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA\nBrooke Mackall, Jr.v. 8,118 Eq. Alfred Richards et al.\n\nAnd now comes the said defendant, Alfred Richards, and appeals to the Supreme Court of the United States from the decree of the general term passed July 5, 1884, in the above cause against him.\n\nWM. B. WEBB for defendant, Richards\nThe above appeal is allowed this 8th day of July 1884.\nBy the court.\nMCARTHUR, Justice\n\nThen follows a citation in proper form, signed by the chief justice of the court, bearing the same date as the order allowing the appeal. This citation was served October 7, 1884. Next in the transcript is the following:\n\nIn the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia the 10th day of July 1884\nBrooke Mackall, Jr. v. No. 8, 118, Eq. In Error\nAlfred Richards et al.\n\nThen follows a supersedeas bond in due form, and at the foot these words:\n\nApproved July 11, 1884 MCARTHUR, Justice. The appeal was docketed in this Court on the fifteenth of October, 1884.\n\nThe grounds of the motion may be stated thus:\nThe citation was not signed by the justice who approved the bond,\nThe citation was not served in time, and\nMrs. Richards and Leonard Mackall, who were defendants below, have not joined in the appeal. §§ 999, 1012, and 705 of the Revised Statutes, taken together, provide in effect that when there is an appeal from the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia to this Court, the citation may be signed by any justice of that court. Such an appeal is to be taken under the same regulations as appeals from the circuit court. § 705. On appeals from the circuit court a judge of that court may sign the citation. § 999. Clearly, therefore, when the appeal is from the Supreme Court of the District, a justice of that court may do the same thing.\n\nThe transcript in this case shows that the appeal was allowed by the court, undoubtedly sitting in special term. This, we think, may be done. An appeal in a proper case is a matter of right. The decree appealed from was the decree of the supreme court, and the court, while sitting in special term, was still the supreme court, and, as such, capable of allowing an appeal to this Court from one of its final decrees, though rendered at general term. As the general term had closed, it was quite proper to apply to the court sitting in special term for the allowance of the appeal. The allowance by the court while in session at special term would not do away with the necessity of a citation because the allowance would not have been made at the same term in which the decree was rendered. Yeaton v. Lenox, 7 Pet. 221; Railroad v. Blair, 100 U. S. 662. As the allowance was made by the court, it was quite regular for the chief justice to sign the citation. The transcript also shows that the bond was approved by the court. It seems to have been presented to the court on 10 July and approved the next day. What was done was, according to the transcript, \"In the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia.\"\n\nEven if the citation was not served in time, which we do not decide, the failure to serve will not work a dismissal of the appeal. Dayton v. Lash, 94 U. S. 112.\n\nThe last ground of the motion to dismiss was not relied upon in argument. The effect of what has been done was to allow a separate appeal by Alfred Richards.\n\nThe motions were overruled.\n\nSee also\nList of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 113\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\nUnited States Supreme Court cases\nUnited States Supreme Court cases of the Waite Court\n1885 in United States case law"
]
|
[
"Jack Webb",
"1967: Dragnet returns"
]
| C_c54a5c03dd1b4879a6f33fcc1c445f57_0 | What was Dragnet about? | 1 | What was Dragnet about? | Jack Webb | Shortly after leaving his position at Warner Bros., Webb teamed with Universal Television to begin work on a new Dragnet series. A pilot telefilm, based on the Harvey Glatman serial killings, was produced in 1966 for NBC, with Webb's Sgt. Joe Friday joined by Harry Morgan as Officer Bill Gannon. (Webb had tried to get Ben Alexander to reprise his role as Frank Smith, but he was unable to get Alexander to leave the ABC series Felony Squad.) The new Dragnet premiered as a midseason replacement series on January 12, 1967, and aired until April 16, 1970. To distinguish it from the original series, the year of production was added to the title (Dragnet 1967, Dragnet 1968, etc.). The revival emphasized crime prevention and outreach to the public. Its attempts to address the contemporary youth-drug culture (such as "The LSD Story" episode, guest-starring Michael Burns as Benjamin John "Blue Boy" Carver, voted 85th-best TV episode of all time by TV Guide and TV Land) have led certain episodes on the topic to achieve cult status due to their strained attempts to be "with-it", such as Joe Friday grilling "Blue Boy" by asking him, "You're pretty high and far out, aren't you? What kind of kick are you on, son?" Don Dubbins, who had acted alongside Webb in The D.I. in 1957, was another featured actor in Mark VII Limited programs beginning in the 1960s. In 1968, Webb and his production partner R.A. Cinader launched Adam-12 on NBC. A spinoff of Dragnet, Adam-12 starred Martin Milner and Kent McCord as a pair of LAPD beat cops, and followed their escapades while on patrol. Running till 1975, for a total of seven seasons, Adam-12 was Webb's second-longest running television series, with the eight seasons recorded by the original Dragnet being the longest. Also in 1968, Webb and Johnny Carson performed a sketch on The Tonight Show that has since become known as the "Copper Clapper Caper" sketch. Webb, in character as Joe Friday, was working on the case of a robbery at a school-bell factory. Carson played the owner of the factory and victim of the theft, which consisted of each bell being relieved of its clapper (the device that makes the bell ring). The sketch's dialogue consisted of Webb and Carson discussing the situation in deadpan style and using alliteration and tongue twisters to describe the incident, each word having either a "c" or "cl" sound at the beginning. Both Webb and Carson tried desperately not to lose composure, but both did, near the end of the sketch. CANNOTANSWER | A pilot telefilm, based on the Harvey Glatman serial killings, | John Randolph Webb (April 2, 1920 – December 23, 1982) was an American actor, television producer, director, and screenwriter, who is most famous for his role as Sgt. Joe Friday in the Dragnet franchise (which he created). He was also the founder of his own production company, Mark VII Limited.
Early life
Webb was born in Santa Monica, California, on April 2, 1920, son of Samuel Chester Webb and Margaret (née Smith) Webb. He grew up in the Bunker Hill section of Los Angeles. His father left home before Webb was born, and Webb never knew him.
In the late 1920s and early 1930s, Webb lived in the parish of Our Lady of Loretto Church and attended Our Lady of Loretto Elementary School in Echo Park, where he served as an altar boy. He then attended Belmont High School, near downtown Los Angeles. Webb was elected student body president of his high school. He wrote to Belmont's student body in the 1938 edition of its yearbook, Campanile, "You who showed me the magnificent warmth of friendship which I know, and you know, I will carry with me forever." Webb attended St. John's University, Minnesota, where he studied art.
During World War II, Webb enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps, but he "washed out" of flight training. He later received a hardship discharge because he was the primary financial support for both his mother and grandmother.
Career
Acting
Following his discharge, he moved to San Francisco, where a wartime shortage of announcers led to a temporary appointment to his own radio show on ABC's KGO Radio. The Jack Webb Show was a half-hour comedy that had a limited run on ABC radio in 1946. Prior to that, he had a one-man program, One Out of Seven, on KGO in which he dramatized a news story from the previous week.
By 1949, he had abandoned comedy for drama, and starred in Pat Novak, for Hire, a radio show originating from KFRC about a man who worked as an unlicensed private detective. The program co-starred Raymond Burr. Pat Novak was notable for writing that imitated the hard-boiled style of such writers as Raymond Chandler, with lines such as: "She drifted into the room like 98 pounds of warm smoke. Her voice was hot and sticky—like a furnace full of marshmallows." Early in 1949, Webb served as the main antagonist of Alan Ladd's protagonist character Dan Holliday in "The Better Man" episode of the radio series "Box 13", which aired on January 2, 1949.
Webb's radio shows included Johnny Madero, Pier 23, Jeff Regan, Investigator, Murder and Mr. Malone, Pete Kelly's Blues, and One Out of Seven. Webb provided all of the voices on One Out of Seven, often vigorously attacking racial prejudice.
Webb's most famous motion-picture role was as the combat-hardened Marine Corps drill instructor at Parris Island in the 1957 film The D.I., with Don Dubbins as a callow Marine private. Webb's hard-nosed approach to this role, that of Drill Instructor Technical Sergeant James Moore, would be reflected in much of his later acting. But The D.I. was a box-office failure.
In 1950, Webb appeared in three films that would become cult classics. In Sunset Boulevard, he's the fiance of William Holden's love interest Nancy Olson (his performance is very animated and jovial, unlike his later deadpan style). He played a war veteran in Marlon Brando's first feature, The Men. And in the film noir Dark City, he co-starred with Harry Morgan, his future partner on the second Dragnet series.
Webb was approached to play the role of Vernon Wormer, Dean of Faber College, in National Lampoon's Animal House, but he turned it down, saying "the movie didn't make any damn sense"; John Vernon ultimately played the role.
Dragnet and stardom
Webb had a featured role as a crime-lab technician in the 1948 film He Walked by Night, based on the real-life murder of a California Highway Patrolman by Erwin Walker. The film was produced in semidocumentary style with technical assistance provided by Detective Sergeant Marty Wynn of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). He Walked By Night's thinly veiled fictionalized recounting of the 1946 Walker crime spree gave Webb the idea for Dragnet: a recurring series based on real cases from LAPD police files, featuring authentic depictions of the modern police detective, including methods, mannerisms, and technical language.
With much assistance from Sgt. Marty Wynn and legendary LAPD chief William H. Parker, Dragnet premiered on NBC Radio in 1949 and ran till 1957. It was also picked up as a television series by NBC, which aired episodes each season from 1952 to 1959. Webb played Sgt. Joe Friday and Barton Yarborough co-starred as Sgt. Ben Romero. After Yarborough's death, Ben Alexander joined the cast.
Webb was a stickler for attention to detail. He believed viewers wanted "realism" and tried to give it to them. Webb had tremendous respect for those in law enforcement. He often said, in interviews, that he was angry about the "ridiculous amount" of abuse to which police were subjected by the press and the public. Webb was also impressed by the long hours, the low pay, and the high injury rate among police investigators of the day, particularly in the LAPD, which had by then acquired a notorious reputation for jettisoning officers who had become ill or injured in the line of duty; in Webb's book, The Badge: True and Terrifying Crime Stories that Could Not Be Presented on TV, from the Creator and Star of "Dragnet", one of Erwin Walker's victims, LAPD detective Lt. Colin Forbes, was among those whose experiences were so noted.
In announcing his vision of Dragnet, Webb said he intended to perform a service for the police by showing them as low-key working-class heroes. Dragnet moved away from earlier portrayals of the police in shows such as Jeff Regan and Pat Novak, which had often shown them as brutal and even corrupt. Dragnet became a successful television show in 1952. Barton Yarborough died of a heart attack in 1951, after filming only two episodes, and Barney Phillips (Sgt. Ed Jacobs) and Herbert Ellis (Officer Frank Smith) temporarily stepped in as partners. Veteran radio and film actor Ben Alexander took over the role of jovial, burly Officer Frank Smith. Alexander was popular and remained a cast member until the show's cancellation in 1959. In 1954, a full-length feature-film adaptation of the series was released, starring Webb, Alexander, and Richard Boone.
The television version of Dragnet began with this narration by George Fenneman: "Ladies and gentlemen, the story you are about to see is true. The names have been changed to protect the innocent." Webb would intone, "This is the city: Los Angeles, California." He would then make a historical or topical point, describe his duties, his partner, and superior on the episode. The radio series had a similar opening, though Webb, as Friday, did not give a unique LA-themed opening. Webb then set the plot by describing a typical day and then led into the story. "It was Wednesday, March 19th. It was cool in Los Angeles. I was at headquarters, working narcotics...." At the end of each show, Fenneman repeated his opening narration, revised to read: "The story you have just seen is true. The names were changed to protect the innocent."
A second announcer, Hal Gibney, usually gave dates when and specific courtrooms where trials were held for the suspects, announcing the trial verdicts after commercial breaks. Many suspects shown to have been found guilty at the end were also shown as having been confined to the California State Prison at San Quentin. Webb frequently recreated entire floors of buildings on sound stages, such as the police headquarters at Los Angeles City Hall and a floor of the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner.
In Dragnet'''s early days, Webb continued to appear in movies, notably as the best friend of William Holden's character in the 1950 Billy Wilder film Sunset Boulevard as Artie Green, assistant director and fiancé to script reader Betty Schaefer (Nancy Olson). In contrast to the pair's straight-arrow image in Dragnet, here Webb played a vicious card sharp in Dark City and Morgan a punch-drunk ex-fighter. Also in 1950, Webb appeared in The Men, the film in which Marlon Brando made his film debut. Both actors played paraplegics undergoing rehabilitation at a veterans' hospital. In a subplot, Webb's character, a cynical intellectual, is fleeced of his life savings by a woman who feigns romantic interest.
In 1951, Webb introduced a short-lived radio series, Pete Kelly's Blues, in an attempt to bring the music he loved to a broader audience. That show became the basis for a 1955 film of the same name. In 1959, a television version was made. Neither was very successful. Pete Kelly was a cornet player who supplemented his income from playing in a nightclub band by working as a private investigator.
1960s
In 1963, Webb took over from William T. Orr as executive producer of the ABC/Warner Bros. detective series 77 Sunset Strip. He brought about wholesale changes in the program and retained only Efrem Zimbalist Jr., in the role of private detective Stuart Bailey. Gone were co-stars Roger Smith and Edd Byrnes and the lively series set. The altered program began with Bailey quietly entering an elevator to an upper floor of a bleak office building. The story lines were far different from those of the first five years of the series. The result was a disaster, and critics accused Webb of being out of touch with the younger generation, a perception that the revival of Dragnet subsequently did nothing to correct. Ratings fell, and 77 Sunset Strip was cancelled before the end of the sixth season. John Gavin's Destry, a light-hearted Western series, filled the remaining three months of the Friday-night time slot vacated on ABC by 77 Sunset Strip.Meanwhile, Webb teamed with actor Jeffrey Hunter to form Apollo Productions. They produced a failed television series, Temple Houston, with Hunter in the title role. In the summer of 1963, Webb pushed Temple Houston to production. The series was loosely based on the life of the frontier lawyer Temple Lea Houston, the youngest son of the legendary Texan Sam Houston. The series was added to the NBC schedule after the planned drama, The Robert Taylor Show, based on case files of the United States Department of Health, Education and Welfare, was suddenly disbanded after making four episodes. Under orders from Webb, Temple Houston episodes were put together in just two or three days each, something previously thought impossible in television production. Work began on August 7, 1963, with the initial airing set for September 19. Jimmy Lydon, a former child actor, adult actor, and a television producer with Warner Bros. at the time, recalled that Webb told the staff, "Fellas, I just sold Temple Houston. We gotta be on the air in four weeks; we can't use the pilot, we have no scripts, no nothing--do it!" Lydon recalled the team having worked around the clock to get Temple Houston on the air. Co-producer William Conrad directed six episodes, two scripts simultaneously on two different soundstages at WB. "We bicycled Jeff (series star Jeffrey Hunter) and Elam (supporting star Jack Elam) between the two companies, and Bill shot 'em both in four-and-a-half days. Two complete one-hour shows!" recalled Lydon.Temple Houston ended after its 26-week run. In a 1965 interview with The Milwaukee Journal, Hunter described the situation:
1967: Dragnet returns
Shortly after leaving his position at Warner Bros., Webb teamed with Universal Television to begin work on a new Dragnet series. A pilot telefilm, based on the Harvey Glatman serial killings, was produced in 1966 for NBC, with Webb's Sgt. Joe Friday joined by Harry Morgan as Officer Bill Gannon. Webb had tried to get Ben Alexander to reprise his role as Frank Smith, but he was unable to get Alexander to leave the ABC series Felony Squad.The new Dragnet premiered as a midseason replacement series on January 12, 1967, and aired until April 16, 1970. To distinguish it from the original series, the year of production was added to the title (Dragnet 1967, Dragnet 1968, etc.). The revival emphasized crime prevention and outreach to the public. Its attempts to address the contemporary youth-drug culture (such as the revival's first episode, "The LSD Story", guest-starring Michael Burns as Benjamin John "Blue Boy" Carver, voted 85th-best TV episode of all time by TV Guide and TV Land) have led certain episodes on the topic to achieve cult status due to their strained attempts to be "with-it", such as Joe Friday grilling "Blue Boy" by asking him, "You're pretty high and far out, aren't you? What kind of kick are you on, son?" Don Dubbins, who had acted alongside Webb in The D.I. in 1957, was another featured actor in Mark VII Limited programs beginning in the 1960s.
In 1968, Webb and his production partner R.A. Cinader launched Adam-12 on NBC. A spinoff of Dragnet, Adam-12 starred Martin Milner and Kent McCord as a pair of LAPD beat cops, and followed their escapades while on patrol. Running till 1975, for a total of seven seasons, Adam-12 was Webb's second-longest running television series, with the eight seasons recorded by the original Dragnet being the longest.
Also in 1968, Webb and Johnny Carson performed a sketch on The Tonight Show that has since become known as the "Copper Clapper Caper" sketch. Webb, in character as Joe Friday, was working on the case of a robbery at a school-bell factory. Carson played the owner of the factory and victim of the theft, which consisted of each bell being relieved of its clapper (the device that makes the bell ring). The sketch's dialogue consisted of Webb and Carson discussing the situation in deadpan style and using alliteration and tongue twisters to describe the incident, each word having either a "c" or "cl" sound at the beginning. Both Webb and Carson tried desperately not to lose composure, but both did, near the end of the sketch.
1970s and 1980s
In 1970, Webb decided to bring an end to Dragnet and cease acting to focus on expanding Mark VII Limited's production profile. In 1971, Webb entered the world of district attorneys and federal government work with two series. The first, The D.A., starred Robert Conrad and Harry Morgan as a pair of Los Angeles County ADAs, with Conrad playing a junior ADA and Morgan his superior. The second, O'Hara, United States Treasury, was a co-production of Webb and David Janssen, the former star of The Fugitive and future star of Harry O, for CBS (a rare non-NBC Mark VII effort) and featured Janssen as a Nebraska county sheriff-turned-United States Treasury Department agent. Neither series lasted very long, as The D.A., Webb's last 30-minute series, was cancelled after 15 episodes and O'Hara ended after 22.
Later in the 1971–72 season, Webb and Cinader launched Emergency!, a spin-off of Adam-12, which focused on the fictional Station 51 Rescue Squad of the L.A. County Fire Department, and its work in coordination with the emergency department staff of the fictional Rampart General Hospital. LACoFD's paramedic program was among the first paramedic services in the United States. Webb cast his ex-wife, Julie London, as well as her second husband and Dragnet ensemble player Bobby Troup, as head nurse Dixie McCall and Dr. Joe Early, respectively, with Randolph Mantooth and Kevin Tighe playing paramedics John Gage and Roy DeSoto and Robert Fuller playing Dr. Kelly Brackett, Rampart's Chief of Emergency Medicine.Emergency! ran as part of NBC's Saturday-night lineup for six entire seasons, and it was a popular series, sometimes winning its time slot against CBS's popular Saturday-night comedy block, which included All in the Family. The series came to an end in 1977, but it spawned a series of telefilms that ran until 1979. Webb's company and Universal also contracted with animator Fred Calvert to produce a spin-off Saturday-morning cartoon show for NBC titled Emergency +4, which ran for three seasons (the last in reruns) and featured the paramedics Gage and DeSoto assisted by four youngsters and their three pets.Emergency! was Webb's last sustained success. Of the remaining series his company produced, the only two that lasted longer than one season were Hec Ramsey, a two-season component of the NBC Mystery Movie wheel series that featured former Have Gun – Will Travel star Richard Boone as a pioneering forensic scientist in the Old West, and Project UFO, an anthology based on the investigations into UFOs as compiled by Project Bluebook that also ran for two seasons beginning in 1978.
Despite his string of short-lived series in the late 1970s, Webb still kept trying to recapture his previous success and decided to bring Dragnet back to television for a third series in 1983. Five scripts had been produced and Kent McCord, one of the stars of Adam-12, was cast as Joe Friday's new partner.
In 1987, Dan Aykroyd and Tom Hanks starred in a movie parody (and homage) to Webb, titled Dragnet, along with Harry Morgan, who reprised his role from the television series as Bill Gannon, who had by now become a captain of detectives. The comedy film was written and directed by Tom Mankiewicz, in his directorial debut. Aykroyd played the role of Joe Friday, described as the namesake nephew of the original series lead, while Hanks co-starred as Detective Officer Pep Streebeck, Friday's new smart-alecky and streetwise partner.
Personal life
Webb's personal life was better defined by his love of jazz than his interest in police work. He had a collection of more than 6,000 jazz recordings. Webb's own recordings reached cult status, including his deadpan delivery of "Try A Little Tenderness". His lifelong interest in the cornet allowed him to move easily in the jazz culture, where he met singer and actress Julie London. They married in 1947 and had daughters Stacy and Lisa,. They divorced in 1954. He was married three more times after that, to Dorothy Towne for two years beginning in 1955, to former Miss USA Jackie Loughery for six years beginning in 1958, and to his longtime associate, Opal Wright, for the last two years of his life.
Stacy Webb authorized and collaborated on a book, Just the Facts, Ma'am: The Authorized Biography of Jack Webb, Creator of Dragnet, Adam-12, and Emergency!, of which Daniel Moyer and Eugene Alvarez were the primary authors. It was published in 1999. Stacy did not live to see the publication of the book, having been killed in a collision with a California Highway Patrol car three years earlier.
Webb died of an apparent heart attack in the early morning hours of December 23, 1982, at age 62. He is interred at Sheltering Hills Plot 1999, Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles, and was given a funeral with full Los Angeles police honors. On Webb's death, Chief Daryl Gates announced that badge number 714, which was used by Joe Friday in Dragnet, would be retired. Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley ordered all flags lowered to half staff in Webb's honor for a day, and Webb was buried with a replica LAPD badge bearing the rank of sergeant and the number 714.
Legacy
Webb has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for radio (at 7040 Hollywood Boulevard) and the other for television (at 6728 Hollywood Boulevard). In 1992, Webb was posthumously inducted into the Television Hall of Fame.
Filmography
Film
Television
Discography
Songs from Pete Kelly's Blues (1955)
You're My Girl: Romantic Reflections by Jack Webb (1958)
Pete Kelly Lets His Hair Down (1958)
Golden Throats volume 1 (1988)
Just the Tracks, Ma'am: The Warner Brothers Recordings (2000)
References
Further reading
September 12, 19, 26, October 3, 1954.
External links
Badge 714 (Dragnet and Webb fan site)
Pat Novak For Hire (Pat Novak For Hire'' fan site)
AAFCollection.info Pictures of Jack Webb as an Air Cadet at the Rankin Aeronautical Academy at Tulare, California in 1943.
Belmont High School (Los Angeles) alumni
American male film actors
Film producers from California
United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II
United States Army Air Forces soldiers
American male radio actors
American male television actors
American radio producers
American radio writers
American male screenwriters
American television directors
Television producers from California
American television writers
Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)
Edgar Award winners
Male actors from Los Angeles
1920 births
1982 deaths
People from Echo Park, Los Angeles
Warner Records artists
20th-century American male actors
American male television writers
20th-century American businesspeople
Film directors from Los Angeles
Screenwriters from California
20th-century American male writers
20th-century American screenwriters
People from Bunker Hill, Los Angeles | true | [
"Dragnet is an American television series. It ran for seasons, from January 12, 1967, to April 16, 1970. To differentiate it from the earlier 1950s Dragnet television series, the year in which each season ended was made part of the on-screen title—the series started as Dragnet 1967 and ended as Dragnet 1970. Known for its over-dramatic acting and fast-paced dialogue, the entire series aired Thursdays at 9:30–10:00 pm (EST) and was directed by Jack Webb.\n\nAll four seasons of this series have been released on DVD; Season 1 (\"Dragnet 1967\") by Universal Studios Home Entertainment, and seasons 2 (\"1968\"), 3 (\"1969\") and 4 (\"1970\") by Shout! Factory.\n\nThis was the second television series in a Dragnet media franchise encompassing film, television, books and comics.\n\nCast\nJack Webb as Sgt. Joe Friday\nHarry Morgan as Officer Bill Gannon\nOther cast members included, Don Ross, Marco Lopez, Clark Howat, Art Balinger, Alfred Shelly, Art Gilmore, Virginia Gregg, Ed Deemer, Howard Culver, Bert Holland, Don Stewart, Len Wayland, William Boyett, Stacy Harris, Stuart Nisbet, Robert Brubaker, Harry Bartell, Robert Patten, Sidney Clute, Anthony Eisley, Virginia Vincent, Don Dubbins and Vic Perrin playing different roles.\n\nSeries overview\n\nTV movie\nThe intended pilot for this series was a two-hour TV-movie titled Dragnet 1966 (with the promotional title World Premiere: Dragnet). This movie was not broadcast until January 27, 1969, about halfway through the third season of the series. This movie is included as an extra in the Dragnet 1968 DVD set.\n\nEpisodes\n\nSeason One (Dragnet 1967)\n\nSeason Two (Dragnet 1968)\n\nSeason Three (Dragnet 1969)\n\nSeason Four (Dragnet 1970)\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nBadge 714.com, Dragnet fan site (Archive copy)\nDragnet episode summaries on Badge 714.com (archive copy)\n\nFictional portrayals of the Los Angeles Police Department\n1967 American television series debuts\n1970 American television series endings\nEnglish-language television shows\nNBC original programming\n1960s American crime drama television series\n1970s American crime drama television series\n1960s American police procedural television series\n1970s American police procedural television series\nAmerican sequel television series\nTelevision shows set in Los Angeles\nTelevision series based on radio series",
"This is a list of episodes of the Dragnet television series that began in 2003. For the second season, the title was altered to L.A. Dragnet. The last two episodes (#21 and #22) first aired in France, the series having been canceled in the United States before they could air.\n\nSeries overview\n\nEpisodes\n\nSeason 1 (2003)\n\nSeason 2 (2003–04)\n\nReferences\n \n\n2003\nDragnet (2003 series)\nDragnet (2003 series)"
]
|
[
"Jack Webb",
"1967: Dragnet returns",
"What was Dragnet about?",
"A pilot telefilm, based on the Harvey Glatman serial killings,"
]
| C_c54a5c03dd1b4879a6f33fcc1c445f57_0 | What role did Jack Webb play in Dragnet | 2 | What role did Jack Webb play in Dragnet | Jack Webb | Shortly after leaving his position at Warner Bros., Webb teamed with Universal Television to begin work on a new Dragnet series. A pilot telefilm, based on the Harvey Glatman serial killings, was produced in 1966 for NBC, with Webb's Sgt. Joe Friday joined by Harry Morgan as Officer Bill Gannon. (Webb had tried to get Ben Alexander to reprise his role as Frank Smith, but he was unable to get Alexander to leave the ABC series Felony Squad.) The new Dragnet premiered as a midseason replacement series on January 12, 1967, and aired until April 16, 1970. To distinguish it from the original series, the year of production was added to the title (Dragnet 1967, Dragnet 1968, etc.). The revival emphasized crime prevention and outreach to the public. Its attempts to address the contemporary youth-drug culture (such as "The LSD Story" episode, guest-starring Michael Burns as Benjamin John "Blue Boy" Carver, voted 85th-best TV episode of all time by TV Guide and TV Land) have led certain episodes on the topic to achieve cult status due to their strained attempts to be "with-it", such as Joe Friday grilling "Blue Boy" by asking him, "You're pretty high and far out, aren't you? What kind of kick are you on, son?" Don Dubbins, who had acted alongside Webb in The D.I. in 1957, was another featured actor in Mark VII Limited programs beginning in the 1960s. In 1968, Webb and his production partner R.A. Cinader launched Adam-12 on NBC. A spinoff of Dragnet, Adam-12 starred Martin Milner and Kent McCord as a pair of LAPD beat cops, and followed their escapades while on patrol. Running till 1975, for a total of seven seasons, Adam-12 was Webb's second-longest running television series, with the eight seasons recorded by the original Dragnet being the longest. Also in 1968, Webb and Johnny Carson performed a sketch on The Tonight Show that has since become known as the "Copper Clapper Caper" sketch. Webb, in character as Joe Friday, was working on the case of a robbery at a school-bell factory. Carson played the owner of the factory and victim of the theft, which consisted of each bell being relieved of its clapper (the device that makes the bell ring). The sketch's dialogue consisted of Webb and Carson discussing the situation in deadpan style and using alliteration and tongue twisters to describe the incident, each word having either a "c" or "cl" sound at the beginning. Both Webb and Carson tried desperately not to lose composure, but both did, near the end of the sketch. CANNOTANSWER | Joe Friday, | John Randolph Webb (April 2, 1920 – December 23, 1982) was an American actor, television producer, director, and screenwriter, who is most famous for his role as Sgt. Joe Friday in the Dragnet franchise (which he created). He was also the founder of his own production company, Mark VII Limited.
Early life
Webb was born in Santa Monica, California, on April 2, 1920, son of Samuel Chester Webb and Margaret (née Smith) Webb. He grew up in the Bunker Hill section of Los Angeles. His father left home before Webb was born, and Webb never knew him.
In the late 1920s and early 1930s, Webb lived in the parish of Our Lady of Loretto Church and attended Our Lady of Loretto Elementary School in Echo Park, where he served as an altar boy. He then attended Belmont High School, near downtown Los Angeles. Webb was elected student body president of his high school. He wrote to Belmont's student body in the 1938 edition of its yearbook, Campanile, "You who showed me the magnificent warmth of friendship which I know, and you know, I will carry with me forever." Webb attended St. John's University, Minnesota, where he studied art.
During World War II, Webb enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps, but he "washed out" of flight training. He later received a hardship discharge because he was the primary financial support for both his mother and grandmother.
Career
Acting
Following his discharge, he moved to San Francisco, where a wartime shortage of announcers led to a temporary appointment to his own radio show on ABC's KGO Radio. The Jack Webb Show was a half-hour comedy that had a limited run on ABC radio in 1946. Prior to that, he had a one-man program, One Out of Seven, on KGO in which he dramatized a news story from the previous week.
By 1949, he had abandoned comedy for drama, and starred in Pat Novak, for Hire, a radio show originating from KFRC about a man who worked as an unlicensed private detective. The program co-starred Raymond Burr. Pat Novak was notable for writing that imitated the hard-boiled style of such writers as Raymond Chandler, with lines such as: "She drifted into the room like 98 pounds of warm smoke. Her voice was hot and sticky—like a furnace full of marshmallows." Early in 1949, Webb served as the main antagonist of Alan Ladd's protagonist character Dan Holliday in "The Better Man" episode of the radio series "Box 13", which aired on January 2, 1949.
Webb's radio shows included Johnny Madero, Pier 23, Jeff Regan, Investigator, Murder and Mr. Malone, Pete Kelly's Blues, and One Out of Seven. Webb provided all of the voices on One Out of Seven, often vigorously attacking racial prejudice.
Webb's most famous motion-picture role was as the combat-hardened Marine Corps drill instructor at Parris Island in the 1957 film The D.I., with Don Dubbins as a callow Marine private. Webb's hard-nosed approach to this role, that of Drill Instructor Technical Sergeant James Moore, would be reflected in much of his later acting. But The D.I. was a box-office failure.
In 1950, Webb appeared in three films that would become cult classics. In Sunset Boulevard, he's the fiance of William Holden's love interest Nancy Olson (his performance is very animated and jovial, unlike his later deadpan style). He played a war veteran in Marlon Brando's first feature, The Men. And in the film noir Dark City, he co-starred with Harry Morgan, his future partner on the second Dragnet series.
Webb was approached to play the role of Vernon Wormer, Dean of Faber College, in National Lampoon's Animal House, but he turned it down, saying "the movie didn't make any damn sense"; John Vernon ultimately played the role.
Dragnet and stardom
Webb had a featured role as a crime-lab technician in the 1948 film He Walked by Night, based on the real-life murder of a California Highway Patrolman by Erwin Walker. The film was produced in semidocumentary style with technical assistance provided by Detective Sergeant Marty Wynn of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). He Walked By Night's thinly veiled fictionalized recounting of the 1946 Walker crime spree gave Webb the idea for Dragnet: a recurring series based on real cases from LAPD police files, featuring authentic depictions of the modern police detective, including methods, mannerisms, and technical language.
With much assistance from Sgt. Marty Wynn and legendary LAPD chief William H. Parker, Dragnet premiered on NBC Radio in 1949 and ran till 1957. It was also picked up as a television series by NBC, which aired episodes each season from 1952 to 1959. Webb played Sgt. Joe Friday and Barton Yarborough co-starred as Sgt. Ben Romero. After Yarborough's death, Ben Alexander joined the cast.
Webb was a stickler for attention to detail. He believed viewers wanted "realism" and tried to give it to them. Webb had tremendous respect for those in law enforcement. He often said, in interviews, that he was angry about the "ridiculous amount" of abuse to which police were subjected by the press and the public. Webb was also impressed by the long hours, the low pay, and the high injury rate among police investigators of the day, particularly in the LAPD, which had by then acquired a notorious reputation for jettisoning officers who had become ill or injured in the line of duty; in Webb's book, The Badge: True and Terrifying Crime Stories that Could Not Be Presented on TV, from the Creator and Star of "Dragnet", one of Erwin Walker's victims, LAPD detective Lt. Colin Forbes, was among those whose experiences were so noted.
In announcing his vision of Dragnet, Webb said he intended to perform a service for the police by showing them as low-key working-class heroes. Dragnet moved away from earlier portrayals of the police in shows such as Jeff Regan and Pat Novak, which had often shown them as brutal and even corrupt. Dragnet became a successful television show in 1952. Barton Yarborough died of a heart attack in 1951, after filming only two episodes, and Barney Phillips (Sgt. Ed Jacobs) and Herbert Ellis (Officer Frank Smith) temporarily stepped in as partners. Veteran radio and film actor Ben Alexander took over the role of jovial, burly Officer Frank Smith. Alexander was popular and remained a cast member until the show's cancellation in 1959. In 1954, a full-length feature-film adaptation of the series was released, starring Webb, Alexander, and Richard Boone.
The television version of Dragnet began with this narration by George Fenneman: "Ladies and gentlemen, the story you are about to see is true. The names have been changed to protect the innocent." Webb would intone, "This is the city: Los Angeles, California." He would then make a historical or topical point, describe his duties, his partner, and superior on the episode. The radio series had a similar opening, though Webb, as Friday, did not give a unique LA-themed opening. Webb then set the plot by describing a typical day and then led into the story. "It was Wednesday, March 19th. It was cool in Los Angeles. I was at headquarters, working narcotics...." At the end of each show, Fenneman repeated his opening narration, revised to read: "The story you have just seen is true. The names were changed to protect the innocent."
A second announcer, Hal Gibney, usually gave dates when and specific courtrooms where trials were held for the suspects, announcing the trial verdicts after commercial breaks. Many suspects shown to have been found guilty at the end were also shown as having been confined to the California State Prison at San Quentin. Webb frequently recreated entire floors of buildings on sound stages, such as the police headquarters at Los Angeles City Hall and a floor of the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner.
In Dragnet'''s early days, Webb continued to appear in movies, notably as the best friend of William Holden's character in the 1950 Billy Wilder film Sunset Boulevard as Artie Green, assistant director and fiancé to script reader Betty Schaefer (Nancy Olson). In contrast to the pair's straight-arrow image in Dragnet, here Webb played a vicious card sharp in Dark City and Morgan a punch-drunk ex-fighter. Also in 1950, Webb appeared in The Men, the film in which Marlon Brando made his film debut. Both actors played paraplegics undergoing rehabilitation at a veterans' hospital. In a subplot, Webb's character, a cynical intellectual, is fleeced of his life savings by a woman who feigns romantic interest.
In 1951, Webb introduced a short-lived radio series, Pete Kelly's Blues, in an attempt to bring the music he loved to a broader audience. That show became the basis for a 1955 film of the same name. In 1959, a television version was made. Neither was very successful. Pete Kelly was a cornet player who supplemented his income from playing in a nightclub band by working as a private investigator.
1960s
In 1963, Webb took over from William T. Orr as executive producer of the ABC/Warner Bros. detective series 77 Sunset Strip. He brought about wholesale changes in the program and retained only Efrem Zimbalist Jr., in the role of private detective Stuart Bailey. Gone were co-stars Roger Smith and Edd Byrnes and the lively series set. The altered program began with Bailey quietly entering an elevator to an upper floor of a bleak office building. The story lines were far different from those of the first five years of the series. The result was a disaster, and critics accused Webb of being out of touch with the younger generation, a perception that the revival of Dragnet subsequently did nothing to correct. Ratings fell, and 77 Sunset Strip was cancelled before the end of the sixth season. John Gavin's Destry, a light-hearted Western series, filled the remaining three months of the Friday-night time slot vacated on ABC by 77 Sunset Strip.Meanwhile, Webb teamed with actor Jeffrey Hunter to form Apollo Productions. They produced a failed television series, Temple Houston, with Hunter in the title role. In the summer of 1963, Webb pushed Temple Houston to production. The series was loosely based on the life of the frontier lawyer Temple Lea Houston, the youngest son of the legendary Texan Sam Houston. The series was added to the NBC schedule after the planned drama, The Robert Taylor Show, based on case files of the United States Department of Health, Education and Welfare, was suddenly disbanded after making four episodes. Under orders from Webb, Temple Houston episodes were put together in just two or three days each, something previously thought impossible in television production. Work began on August 7, 1963, with the initial airing set for September 19. Jimmy Lydon, a former child actor, adult actor, and a television producer with Warner Bros. at the time, recalled that Webb told the staff, "Fellas, I just sold Temple Houston. We gotta be on the air in four weeks; we can't use the pilot, we have no scripts, no nothing--do it!" Lydon recalled the team having worked around the clock to get Temple Houston on the air. Co-producer William Conrad directed six episodes, two scripts simultaneously on two different soundstages at WB. "We bicycled Jeff (series star Jeffrey Hunter) and Elam (supporting star Jack Elam) between the two companies, and Bill shot 'em both in four-and-a-half days. Two complete one-hour shows!" recalled Lydon.Temple Houston ended after its 26-week run. In a 1965 interview with The Milwaukee Journal, Hunter described the situation:
1967: Dragnet returns
Shortly after leaving his position at Warner Bros., Webb teamed with Universal Television to begin work on a new Dragnet series. A pilot telefilm, based on the Harvey Glatman serial killings, was produced in 1966 for NBC, with Webb's Sgt. Joe Friday joined by Harry Morgan as Officer Bill Gannon. Webb had tried to get Ben Alexander to reprise his role as Frank Smith, but he was unable to get Alexander to leave the ABC series Felony Squad.The new Dragnet premiered as a midseason replacement series on January 12, 1967, and aired until April 16, 1970. To distinguish it from the original series, the year of production was added to the title (Dragnet 1967, Dragnet 1968, etc.). The revival emphasized crime prevention and outreach to the public. Its attempts to address the contemporary youth-drug culture (such as the revival's first episode, "The LSD Story", guest-starring Michael Burns as Benjamin John "Blue Boy" Carver, voted 85th-best TV episode of all time by TV Guide and TV Land) have led certain episodes on the topic to achieve cult status due to their strained attempts to be "with-it", such as Joe Friday grilling "Blue Boy" by asking him, "You're pretty high and far out, aren't you? What kind of kick are you on, son?" Don Dubbins, who had acted alongside Webb in The D.I. in 1957, was another featured actor in Mark VII Limited programs beginning in the 1960s.
In 1968, Webb and his production partner R.A. Cinader launched Adam-12 on NBC. A spinoff of Dragnet, Adam-12 starred Martin Milner and Kent McCord as a pair of LAPD beat cops, and followed their escapades while on patrol. Running till 1975, for a total of seven seasons, Adam-12 was Webb's second-longest running television series, with the eight seasons recorded by the original Dragnet being the longest.
Also in 1968, Webb and Johnny Carson performed a sketch on The Tonight Show that has since become known as the "Copper Clapper Caper" sketch. Webb, in character as Joe Friday, was working on the case of a robbery at a school-bell factory. Carson played the owner of the factory and victim of the theft, which consisted of each bell being relieved of its clapper (the device that makes the bell ring). The sketch's dialogue consisted of Webb and Carson discussing the situation in deadpan style and using alliteration and tongue twisters to describe the incident, each word having either a "c" or "cl" sound at the beginning. Both Webb and Carson tried desperately not to lose composure, but both did, near the end of the sketch.
1970s and 1980s
In 1970, Webb decided to bring an end to Dragnet and cease acting to focus on expanding Mark VII Limited's production profile. In 1971, Webb entered the world of district attorneys and federal government work with two series. The first, The D.A., starred Robert Conrad and Harry Morgan as a pair of Los Angeles County ADAs, with Conrad playing a junior ADA and Morgan his superior. The second, O'Hara, United States Treasury, was a co-production of Webb and David Janssen, the former star of The Fugitive and future star of Harry O, for CBS (a rare non-NBC Mark VII effort) and featured Janssen as a Nebraska county sheriff-turned-United States Treasury Department agent. Neither series lasted very long, as The D.A., Webb's last 30-minute series, was cancelled after 15 episodes and O'Hara ended after 22.
Later in the 1971–72 season, Webb and Cinader launched Emergency!, a spin-off of Adam-12, which focused on the fictional Station 51 Rescue Squad of the L.A. County Fire Department, and its work in coordination with the emergency department staff of the fictional Rampart General Hospital. LACoFD's paramedic program was among the first paramedic services in the United States. Webb cast his ex-wife, Julie London, as well as her second husband and Dragnet ensemble player Bobby Troup, as head nurse Dixie McCall and Dr. Joe Early, respectively, with Randolph Mantooth and Kevin Tighe playing paramedics John Gage and Roy DeSoto and Robert Fuller playing Dr. Kelly Brackett, Rampart's Chief of Emergency Medicine.Emergency! ran as part of NBC's Saturday-night lineup for six entire seasons, and it was a popular series, sometimes winning its time slot against CBS's popular Saturday-night comedy block, which included All in the Family. The series came to an end in 1977, but it spawned a series of telefilms that ran until 1979. Webb's company and Universal also contracted with animator Fred Calvert to produce a spin-off Saturday-morning cartoon show for NBC titled Emergency +4, which ran for three seasons (the last in reruns) and featured the paramedics Gage and DeSoto assisted by four youngsters and their three pets.Emergency! was Webb's last sustained success. Of the remaining series his company produced, the only two that lasted longer than one season were Hec Ramsey, a two-season component of the NBC Mystery Movie wheel series that featured former Have Gun – Will Travel star Richard Boone as a pioneering forensic scientist in the Old West, and Project UFO, an anthology based on the investigations into UFOs as compiled by Project Bluebook that also ran for two seasons beginning in 1978.
Despite his string of short-lived series in the late 1970s, Webb still kept trying to recapture his previous success and decided to bring Dragnet back to television for a third series in 1983. Five scripts had been produced and Kent McCord, one of the stars of Adam-12, was cast as Joe Friday's new partner.
In 1987, Dan Aykroyd and Tom Hanks starred in a movie parody (and homage) to Webb, titled Dragnet, along with Harry Morgan, who reprised his role from the television series as Bill Gannon, who had by now become a captain of detectives. The comedy film was written and directed by Tom Mankiewicz, in his directorial debut. Aykroyd played the role of Joe Friday, described as the namesake nephew of the original series lead, while Hanks co-starred as Detective Officer Pep Streebeck, Friday's new smart-alecky and streetwise partner.
Personal life
Webb's personal life was better defined by his love of jazz than his interest in police work. He had a collection of more than 6,000 jazz recordings. Webb's own recordings reached cult status, including his deadpan delivery of "Try A Little Tenderness". His lifelong interest in the cornet allowed him to move easily in the jazz culture, where he met singer and actress Julie London. They married in 1947 and had daughters Stacy and Lisa,. They divorced in 1954. He was married three more times after that, to Dorothy Towne for two years beginning in 1955, to former Miss USA Jackie Loughery for six years beginning in 1958, and to his longtime associate, Opal Wright, for the last two years of his life.
Stacy Webb authorized and collaborated on a book, Just the Facts, Ma'am: The Authorized Biography of Jack Webb, Creator of Dragnet, Adam-12, and Emergency!, of which Daniel Moyer and Eugene Alvarez were the primary authors. It was published in 1999. Stacy did not live to see the publication of the book, having been killed in a collision with a California Highway Patrol car three years earlier.
Webb died of an apparent heart attack in the early morning hours of December 23, 1982, at age 62. He is interred at Sheltering Hills Plot 1999, Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles, and was given a funeral with full Los Angeles police honors. On Webb's death, Chief Daryl Gates announced that badge number 714, which was used by Joe Friday in Dragnet, would be retired. Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley ordered all flags lowered to half staff in Webb's honor for a day, and Webb was buried with a replica LAPD badge bearing the rank of sergeant and the number 714.
Legacy
Webb has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for radio (at 7040 Hollywood Boulevard) and the other for television (at 6728 Hollywood Boulevard). In 1992, Webb was posthumously inducted into the Television Hall of Fame.
Filmography
Film
Television
Discography
Songs from Pete Kelly's Blues (1955)
You're My Girl: Romantic Reflections by Jack Webb (1958)
Pete Kelly Lets His Hair Down (1958)
Golden Throats volume 1 (1988)
Just the Tracks, Ma'am: The Warner Brothers Recordings (2000)
References
Further reading
September 12, 19, 26, October 3, 1954.
External links
Badge 714 (Dragnet and Webb fan site)
Pat Novak For Hire (Pat Novak For Hire'' fan site)
AAFCollection.info Pictures of Jack Webb as an Air Cadet at the Rankin Aeronautical Academy at Tulare, California in 1943.
Belmont High School (Los Angeles) alumni
American male film actors
Film producers from California
United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II
United States Army Air Forces soldiers
American male radio actors
American male television actors
American radio producers
American radio writers
American male screenwriters
American television directors
Television producers from California
American television writers
Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)
Edgar Award winners
Male actors from Los Angeles
1920 births
1982 deaths
People from Echo Park, Los Angeles
Warner Records artists
20th-century American male actors
American male television writers
20th-century American businesspeople
Film directors from Los Angeles
Screenwriters from California
20th-century American male writers
20th-century American screenwriters
People from Bunker Hill, Los Angeles | true | [
"Dragnet may refer to:\n\n Dragnet, a fishing net used in seine fishing\n Dragnet (policing), a coordinated search, named for the fishing net\n\nMedia\n Dragnet (franchise)\n Dragnet (radio series), a 1949–1957 American radio series starring Jack Webb\n Dragnet (1951 TV series), the 1951–1959 American television spinoff from the radio series\n Dragnet (1954 film), a film version of the television and radio series starring and directed by Jack Webb\n Dragnet (1967 TV series), the 1967–1970 revival of the original television series\n Dragnet (1987 film), a parody of the television series starring Dan Aykroyd and Tom Hanks\n Dragnet, also known as The New Dragnet, see Dragnet (franchise)#1989 series: The New Dragnet\n Dragnet (2003 TV series), also known as L.A. Dragnet, see Dragnet (franchise)#2003 series: L.A. Dragnet\n \"Dragnet\" (theme music), from the various series\n The Drag Net, a 1928 American silent film\n Dragnet (1947 film), a 1947 American film starring Henry Wilco\n Dragnet (album), by The Fall\n \"Dragnet\", a poem by Patti Smith in Witt",
"Dragnet – later syndicated as Badge 714 – is an American television series, based on the radio series of the same name, both created by their star, Jack Webb. The shows take their name from the police term dragnet, a system of coordinated measures for apprehending criminals or suspects. Webb reprised his radio role of Los Angeles police detective Sergeant Joe Friday. Ben Alexander co-starred as Friday's partner, Officer Frank Smith.\n\nThe ominous, four-note introduction to the brass and tympani theme music (titled \"Danger Ahead\"), composed by Walter Schumann, is instantly recognizable. It is derived from Miklós Rózsa's score for the 1946 film The Killers.\n\nThis was the first television series in a Dragnet media franchise encompassing film, television, books and comics. The series was filmed at Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California.\n\nHistory\nDuring its early success on radio, Dragnet was popular enough to move to television. More important was that it brought continuity between the television and radio series, using the same script devices and many of the same actors. Liggett & Myers sponsored Dragnet, both on radio and on TV, during the 1950s, with Webb seen smoking Chesterfields.\n\nWebb was comfortable playing Joe Friday on radio but balked at the prospect of playing the role before the cameras; according to author-biographer Michael J. Hayde, Webb's choice for the TV Joe Friday was Hollywood actor Lloyd Nolan, whose casual underplaying Webb admired. But Webb was too well established in the radio Dragnet and the network insisted that he continue in the leading role.\n\nThe template for the TV show was simply the proven radio formula, embellished with visuals. Most early episodes were directly adapted from earlier Dragnet radio shows, and writer James E. Moser wrote the vast majority of the show's episodes through the end of 1954. Webb directed every episode of Dragnet, and was also a very occasional writer on the show.\n\nThe two familiar leads, Jack Webb and Barton Yarborough, settled in for the first season, disrupted when Yarborough suffered a fatal heart attack. Under Webb's authority, the writing staff worked his partner's demise into the storyline, and Sgt. Friday rode with various partners until settling on Ben Alexander as detective Frank Smith, providing some sporadic comic relief. Most of the episodes available to viewers today feature Webb and Alexander. Alexander was also an occasional writer on the show.\n\nJohn Robinson joined the writing staff in 1953, and by 1955 (after Moser left the show for a time), Robinson became Dragnet'''s most frequent script contributor. Note that despite some sources claiming that Robinson was a pen-name of Jack Webb, it was not; Robinson was a separate individual with a long and well-documented scriptwriting career. (Webb, whose full legal name was \"John Randolph Webb\", did occasionally write under the similar pen name of \"John Randolph\".) Frank Burt joined the staff in 1955, and along with Robinson wrote most of the mid-period Dragnet episodes. Moser returned for the final two seasons, while Robinson and Burt reduced their participation in these final years. Overall, well over 200 of the 276 episodes of Dragnet were written (or co-written) by at least one of Moser, Robinson or Burt. There were other less frequent contributors, and two notable Star Trek writers caught an early break, each writing a very late-running Dragnet episode: Gene L. Coon and John Meredyth Lucas.\n\nThe 1950s Dragnet episodes in black-and-white differ significantly from the 1960s Dragnet episodes in color. This first TV series took a documentary approach, with Sgt. Friday and the police force often encountering the seedy side of Los Angeles, with a steady succession of callous fugitives, desperate gunmen, slippery swindlers, and hard bitten women. Most of the cast members were veteran radio actors who could be relied upon to read the matter-of-fact dialogue naturally. Webb used most of his ensemble players again and again in different roles: Jack Kruschen, Vic Perrin, Harry Bartell, Art Gilmore, Peggy Webber, Barney Phillips, Herb Ellis, Carolyn Jones (then billed as Caroline Jones), Clarence Cassell, Virginia Christine, Ralph Moody, Kathleen Freeman, Stacy Harris, Natalie Masters, Virginia Gregg, Olan Soule, Herb Vigran, Peter Leeds, Sarah Selby, and many others. Martin Milner and Lee Marvin made one of their earliest TV appearances on the series; and at the time, going against type playing heavies, Raymond Burr (billed as Ray Burr) appeared in the series' first episode, as Sgt. Friday's superior, Captain Thad Mumford. Webb staged each story with newsreel-like authenticity, enhancing the visual action with extremely tight close-ups (unheard of in the days of tiny television screens), location photography, and unusual camera angles. Much of this inventiveness went unused in the 1960s revival. Although still using convincing dialogue readings, the new Dragnet lost much of the documentary appearance.\n\nJust before the show took its final commercial break, the show's announcer would inform the audience of something related to the case, usually the opening date on which the perpetrator's trial would take place in the Los Angeles County Superior Court (this would be accompanied by an onscreen card so the viewer could read along). After the break the camera faded in for what was presumably the perpetrator's mug shot, consisting of him standing uncomfortably against the wall, while the results of the trial, including the sentencing, were announced. The perpetrator's name and fate were then superimposed over the screen. In most cases, this superimposed material specifically stated in what prison the perpetrator had been incarcerated, or, in the case of perpetrators deemed unfit to stand trial, to what state mental hospital or psychiatric facility they were committed.\n\nIn rare cases, where the perpetrator was found guilty of murder and the death penalty was applied, the place and method of execution was noted on screen. In even rarer cases, such as in the episodes \"The Big Show\" or \"The Big Little Jesus\", there was no trial. In the episode \"The Big Little Jesus\", the content of the episode made it clear that no trial was to be held, and there was no final announcement. In the very rare other Dragnet episodes that did not result in a trial, the narrator would briefly explain why there was no trial, and the on-screen superimposition would describe the fate of the episode's perpetrator.\n\nWhile one early episode of Dragnet centered around a criminal who was found \"not guilty\" by a jury at the start of the episode, no episode ended with a perpetrator caught by Friday and his partner being found \"not guilty\" by a court.\n\nEpisodes\n\nBroadcast history\n\nJanuary 3, 1952 – December 29, 1955: Thursday at 9:00 pm on NBC\nJanuary 5, 1956 – June 26, 1958: Thursday at 8:30 pm on NBC\nSeptember 23, 1958 – April 28, 1959: Tuesday at 7:30 pm on NBC\nJuly 7, 1959 – August 23, 1959: Sunday at 8:30 pm on NBC\n\nRatings\n\nOctober 1951 – April 1952: #20/36.3 (tied with All Star Revue)\nOctober 1952 – April 1953: #4/46.8\nOctober 1953 – April 1954: #2/53.2\nOctober 1954 – April 1955: #3/42.1\nOctober 1955 – April 1956: #8/35.0\nOctober 1956 – April 1957: #11/32.1\nOctober 1957 – April 1958: Not in the Top 30\nOctober 1958 – April 1959: Not in the Top 30\n\nDVD releases\nHalf of the episodes of this series are in the public domain, with an estimated fifty-two episodes released on many DVD labels. A number of these collections recycle the same fifty-two episodes. Often some are mislabeled as there are no onscreen titles.\n\nEclectic DVD released a collection of three episodes.\n\nPlatinum Video released seven episodes from the original series in 2002. The two disc set also includes episodes from Burke's Law; Peter Gunn; Richard Diamond, Private Detective; Mr. Wong, Detective; and Bulldog Drummond.References\n\nSources\n Jason Mittell, Genre and Television: From Cop Shows to Cartoons in American Culture.'' Routledge, 2004, .\n\nExternal links\n\n \n\n1951 American television series debuts\n1959 American television series endings\nAmerican police procedural television series\n1950s American crime drama television series\nEnglish-language television shows\nFictional portrayals of the Los Angeles Police Department\nTelevision shows set in Los Angeles\nTelevision shows filmed in Los Angeles\nBlack-and-white American television shows\nEdgar Award-winning works\nNBC original programming\nPrimetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series winners\nTelevision series by Universal Television\nTelevision series by Mark VII Limited\nTelevision series based on radio series"
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"Joe Friday,"
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| C_c54a5c03dd1b4879a6f33fcc1c445f57_0 | What did Joe Friday do in Dragnet? | 3 | What did Joe Friday do in Dragnet? | Jack Webb | Shortly after leaving his position at Warner Bros., Webb teamed with Universal Television to begin work on a new Dragnet series. A pilot telefilm, based on the Harvey Glatman serial killings, was produced in 1966 for NBC, with Webb's Sgt. Joe Friday joined by Harry Morgan as Officer Bill Gannon. (Webb had tried to get Ben Alexander to reprise his role as Frank Smith, but he was unable to get Alexander to leave the ABC series Felony Squad.) The new Dragnet premiered as a midseason replacement series on January 12, 1967, and aired until April 16, 1970. To distinguish it from the original series, the year of production was added to the title (Dragnet 1967, Dragnet 1968, etc.). The revival emphasized crime prevention and outreach to the public. Its attempts to address the contemporary youth-drug culture (such as "The LSD Story" episode, guest-starring Michael Burns as Benjamin John "Blue Boy" Carver, voted 85th-best TV episode of all time by TV Guide and TV Land) have led certain episodes on the topic to achieve cult status due to their strained attempts to be "with-it", such as Joe Friday grilling "Blue Boy" by asking him, "You're pretty high and far out, aren't you? What kind of kick are you on, son?" Don Dubbins, who had acted alongside Webb in The D.I. in 1957, was another featured actor in Mark VII Limited programs beginning in the 1960s. In 1968, Webb and his production partner R.A. Cinader launched Adam-12 on NBC. A spinoff of Dragnet, Adam-12 starred Martin Milner and Kent McCord as a pair of LAPD beat cops, and followed their escapades while on patrol. Running till 1975, for a total of seven seasons, Adam-12 was Webb's second-longest running television series, with the eight seasons recorded by the original Dragnet being the longest. Also in 1968, Webb and Johnny Carson performed a sketch on The Tonight Show that has since become known as the "Copper Clapper Caper" sketch. Webb, in character as Joe Friday, was working on the case of a robbery at a school-bell factory. Carson played the owner of the factory and victim of the theft, which consisted of each bell being relieved of its clapper (the device that makes the bell ring). The sketch's dialogue consisted of Webb and Carson discussing the situation in deadpan style and using alliteration and tongue twisters to describe the incident, each word having either a "c" or "cl" sound at the beginning. Both Webb and Carson tried desperately not to lose composure, but both did, near the end of the sketch. CANNOTANSWER | Don Dubbins, who had acted alongside Webb | John Randolph Webb (April 2, 1920 – December 23, 1982) was an American actor, television producer, director, and screenwriter, who is most famous for his role as Sgt. Joe Friday in the Dragnet franchise (which he created). He was also the founder of his own production company, Mark VII Limited.
Early life
Webb was born in Santa Monica, California, on April 2, 1920, son of Samuel Chester Webb and Margaret (née Smith) Webb. He grew up in the Bunker Hill section of Los Angeles. His father left home before Webb was born, and Webb never knew him.
In the late 1920s and early 1930s, Webb lived in the parish of Our Lady of Loretto Church and attended Our Lady of Loretto Elementary School in Echo Park, where he served as an altar boy. He then attended Belmont High School, near downtown Los Angeles. Webb was elected student body president of his high school. He wrote to Belmont's student body in the 1938 edition of its yearbook, Campanile, "You who showed me the magnificent warmth of friendship which I know, and you know, I will carry with me forever." Webb attended St. John's University, Minnesota, where he studied art.
During World War II, Webb enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps, but he "washed out" of flight training. He later received a hardship discharge because he was the primary financial support for both his mother and grandmother.
Career
Acting
Following his discharge, he moved to San Francisco, where a wartime shortage of announcers led to a temporary appointment to his own radio show on ABC's KGO Radio. The Jack Webb Show was a half-hour comedy that had a limited run on ABC radio in 1946. Prior to that, he had a one-man program, One Out of Seven, on KGO in which he dramatized a news story from the previous week.
By 1949, he had abandoned comedy for drama, and starred in Pat Novak, for Hire, a radio show originating from KFRC about a man who worked as an unlicensed private detective. The program co-starred Raymond Burr. Pat Novak was notable for writing that imitated the hard-boiled style of such writers as Raymond Chandler, with lines such as: "She drifted into the room like 98 pounds of warm smoke. Her voice was hot and sticky—like a furnace full of marshmallows." Early in 1949, Webb served as the main antagonist of Alan Ladd's protagonist character Dan Holliday in "The Better Man" episode of the radio series "Box 13", which aired on January 2, 1949.
Webb's radio shows included Johnny Madero, Pier 23, Jeff Regan, Investigator, Murder and Mr. Malone, Pete Kelly's Blues, and One Out of Seven. Webb provided all of the voices on One Out of Seven, often vigorously attacking racial prejudice.
Webb's most famous motion-picture role was as the combat-hardened Marine Corps drill instructor at Parris Island in the 1957 film The D.I., with Don Dubbins as a callow Marine private. Webb's hard-nosed approach to this role, that of Drill Instructor Technical Sergeant James Moore, would be reflected in much of his later acting. But The D.I. was a box-office failure.
In 1950, Webb appeared in three films that would become cult classics. In Sunset Boulevard, he's the fiance of William Holden's love interest Nancy Olson (his performance is very animated and jovial, unlike his later deadpan style). He played a war veteran in Marlon Brando's first feature, The Men. And in the film noir Dark City, he co-starred with Harry Morgan, his future partner on the second Dragnet series.
Webb was approached to play the role of Vernon Wormer, Dean of Faber College, in National Lampoon's Animal House, but he turned it down, saying "the movie didn't make any damn sense"; John Vernon ultimately played the role.
Dragnet and stardom
Webb had a featured role as a crime-lab technician in the 1948 film He Walked by Night, based on the real-life murder of a California Highway Patrolman by Erwin Walker. The film was produced in semidocumentary style with technical assistance provided by Detective Sergeant Marty Wynn of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). He Walked By Night's thinly veiled fictionalized recounting of the 1946 Walker crime spree gave Webb the idea for Dragnet: a recurring series based on real cases from LAPD police files, featuring authentic depictions of the modern police detective, including methods, mannerisms, and technical language.
With much assistance from Sgt. Marty Wynn and legendary LAPD chief William H. Parker, Dragnet premiered on NBC Radio in 1949 and ran till 1957. It was also picked up as a television series by NBC, which aired episodes each season from 1952 to 1959. Webb played Sgt. Joe Friday and Barton Yarborough co-starred as Sgt. Ben Romero. After Yarborough's death, Ben Alexander joined the cast.
Webb was a stickler for attention to detail. He believed viewers wanted "realism" and tried to give it to them. Webb had tremendous respect for those in law enforcement. He often said, in interviews, that he was angry about the "ridiculous amount" of abuse to which police were subjected by the press and the public. Webb was also impressed by the long hours, the low pay, and the high injury rate among police investigators of the day, particularly in the LAPD, which had by then acquired a notorious reputation for jettisoning officers who had become ill or injured in the line of duty; in Webb's book, The Badge: True and Terrifying Crime Stories that Could Not Be Presented on TV, from the Creator and Star of "Dragnet", one of Erwin Walker's victims, LAPD detective Lt. Colin Forbes, was among those whose experiences were so noted.
In announcing his vision of Dragnet, Webb said he intended to perform a service for the police by showing them as low-key working-class heroes. Dragnet moved away from earlier portrayals of the police in shows such as Jeff Regan and Pat Novak, which had often shown them as brutal and even corrupt. Dragnet became a successful television show in 1952. Barton Yarborough died of a heart attack in 1951, after filming only two episodes, and Barney Phillips (Sgt. Ed Jacobs) and Herbert Ellis (Officer Frank Smith) temporarily stepped in as partners. Veteran radio and film actor Ben Alexander took over the role of jovial, burly Officer Frank Smith. Alexander was popular and remained a cast member until the show's cancellation in 1959. In 1954, a full-length feature-film adaptation of the series was released, starring Webb, Alexander, and Richard Boone.
The television version of Dragnet began with this narration by George Fenneman: "Ladies and gentlemen, the story you are about to see is true. The names have been changed to protect the innocent." Webb would intone, "This is the city: Los Angeles, California." He would then make a historical or topical point, describe his duties, his partner, and superior on the episode. The radio series had a similar opening, though Webb, as Friday, did not give a unique LA-themed opening. Webb then set the plot by describing a typical day and then led into the story. "It was Wednesday, March 19th. It was cool in Los Angeles. I was at headquarters, working narcotics...." At the end of each show, Fenneman repeated his opening narration, revised to read: "The story you have just seen is true. The names were changed to protect the innocent."
A second announcer, Hal Gibney, usually gave dates when and specific courtrooms where trials were held for the suspects, announcing the trial verdicts after commercial breaks. Many suspects shown to have been found guilty at the end were also shown as having been confined to the California State Prison at San Quentin. Webb frequently recreated entire floors of buildings on sound stages, such as the police headquarters at Los Angeles City Hall and a floor of the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner.
In Dragnet'''s early days, Webb continued to appear in movies, notably as the best friend of William Holden's character in the 1950 Billy Wilder film Sunset Boulevard as Artie Green, assistant director and fiancé to script reader Betty Schaefer (Nancy Olson). In contrast to the pair's straight-arrow image in Dragnet, here Webb played a vicious card sharp in Dark City and Morgan a punch-drunk ex-fighter. Also in 1950, Webb appeared in The Men, the film in which Marlon Brando made his film debut. Both actors played paraplegics undergoing rehabilitation at a veterans' hospital. In a subplot, Webb's character, a cynical intellectual, is fleeced of his life savings by a woman who feigns romantic interest.
In 1951, Webb introduced a short-lived radio series, Pete Kelly's Blues, in an attempt to bring the music he loved to a broader audience. That show became the basis for a 1955 film of the same name. In 1959, a television version was made. Neither was very successful. Pete Kelly was a cornet player who supplemented his income from playing in a nightclub band by working as a private investigator.
1960s
In 1963, Webb took over from William T. Orr as executive producer of the ABC/Warner Bros. detective series 77 Sunset Strip. He brought about wholesale changes in the program and retained only Efrem Zimbalist Jr., in the role of private detective Stuart Bailey. Gone were co-stars Roger Smith and Edd Byrnes and the lively series set. The altered program began with Bailey quietly entering an elevator to an upper floor of a bleak office building. The story lines were far different from those of the first five years of the series. The result was a disaster, and critics accused Webb of being out of touch with the younger generation, a perception that the revival of Dragnet subsequently did nothing to correct. Ratings fell, and 77 Sunset Strip was cancelled before the end of the sixth season. John Gavin's Destry, a light-hearted Western series, filled the remaining three months of the Friday-night time slot vacated on ABC by 77 Sunset Strip.Meanwhile, Webb teamed with actor Jeffrey Hunter to form Apollo Productions. They produced a failed television series, Temple Houston, with Hunter in the title role. In the summer of 1963, Webb pushed Temple Houston to production. The series was loosely based on the life of the frontier lawyer Temple Lea Houston, the youngest son of the legendary Texan Sam Houston. The series was added to the NBC schedule after the planned drama, The Robert Taylor Show, based on case files of the United States Department of Health, Education and Welfare, was suddenly disbanded after making four episodes. Under orders from Webb, Temple Houston episodes were put together in just two or three days each, something previously thought impossible in television production. Work began on August 7, 1963, with the initial airing set for September 19. Jimmy Lydon, a former child actor, adult actor, and a television producer with Warner Bros. at the time, recalled that Webb told the staff, "Fellas, I just sold Temple Houston. We gotta be on the air in four weeks; we can't use the pilot, we have no scripts, no nothing--do it!" Lydon recalled the team having worked around the clock to get Temple Houston on the air. Co-producer William Conrad directed six episodes, two scripts simultaneously on two different soundstages at WB. "We bicycled Jeff (series star Jeffrey Hunter) and Elam (supporting star Jack Elam) between the two companies, and Bill shot 'em both in four-and-a-half days. Two complete one-hour shows!" recalled Lydon.Temple Houston ended after its 26-week run. In a 1965 interview with The Milwaukee Journal, Hunter described the situation:
1967: Dragnet returns
Shortly after leaving his position at Warner Bros., Webb teamed with Universal Television to begin work on a new Dragnet series. A pilot telefilm, based on the Harvey Glatman serial killings, was produced in 1966 for NBC, with Webb's Sgt. Joe Friday joined by Harry Morgan as Officer Bill Gannon. Webb had tried to get Ben Alexander to reprise his role as Frank Smith, but he was unable to get Alexander to leave the ABC series Felony Squad.The new Dragnet premiered as a midseason replacement series on January 12, 1967, and aired until April 16, 1970. To distinguish it from the original series, the year of production was added to the title (Dragnet 1967, Dragnet 1968, etc.). The revival emphasized crime prevention and outreach to the public. Its attempts to address the contemporary youth-drug culture (such as the revival's first episode, "The LSD Story", guest-starring Michael Burns as Benjamin John "Blue Boy" Carver, voted 85th-best TV episode of all time by TV Guide and TV Land) have led certain episodes on the topic to achieve cult status due to their strained attempts to be "with-it", such as Joe Friday grilling "Blue Boy" by asking him, "You're pretty high and far out, aren't you? What kind of kick are you on, son?" Don Dubbins, who had acted alongside Webb in The D.I. in 1957, was another featured actor in Mark VII Limited programs beginning in the 1960s.
In 1968, Webb and his production partner R.A. Cinader launched Adam-12 on NBC. A spinoff of Dragnet, Adam-12 starred Martin Milner and Kent McCord as a pair of LAPD beat cops, and followed their escapades while on patrol. Running till 1975, for a total of seven seasons, Adam-12 was Webb's second-longest running television series, with the eight seasons recorded by the original Dragnet being the longest.
Also in 1968, Webb and Johnny Carson performed a sketch on The Tonight Show that has since become known as the "Copper Clapper Caper" sketch. Webb, in character as Joe Friday, was working on the case of a robbery at a school-bell factory. Carson played the owner of the factory and victim of the theft, which consisted of each bell being relieved of its clapper (the device that makes the bell ring). The sketch's dialogue consisted of Webb and Carson discussing the situation in deadpan style and using alliteration and tongue twisters to describe the incident, each word having either a "c" or "cl" sound at the beginning. Both Webb and Carson tried desperately not to lose composure, but both did, near the end of the sketch.
1970s and 1980s
In 1970, Webb decided to bring an end to Dragnet and cease acting to focus on expanding Mark VII Limited's production profile. In 1971, Webb entered the world of district attorneys and federal government work with two series. The first, The D.A., starred Robert Conrad and Harry Morgan as a pair of Los Angeles County ADAs, with Conrad playing a junior ADA and Morgan his superior. The second, O'Hara, United States Treasury, was a co-production of Webb and David Janssen, the former star of The Fugitive and future star of Harry O, for CBS (a rare non-NBC Mark VII effort) and featured Janssen as a Nebraska county sheriff-turned-United States Treasury Department agent. Neither series lasted very long, as The D.A., Webb's last 30-minute series, was cancelled after 15 episodes and O'Hara ended after 22.
Later in the 1971–72 season, Webb and Cinader launched Emergency!, a spin-off of Adam-12, which focused on the fictional Station 51 Rescue Squad of the L.A. County Fire Department, and its work in coordination with the emergency department staff of the fictional Rampart General Hospital. LACoFD's paramedic program was among the first paramedic services in the United States. Webb cast his ex-wife, Julie London, as well as her second husband and Dragnet ensemble player Bobby Troup, as head nurse Dixie McCall and Dr. Joe Early, respectively, with Randolph Mantooth and Kevin Tighe playing paramedics John Gage and Roy DeSoto and Robert Fuller playing Dr. Kelly Brackett, Rampart's Chief of Emergency Medicine.Emergency! ran as part of NBC's Saturday-night lineup for six entire seasons, and it was a popular series, sometimes winning its time slot against CBS's popular Saturday-night comedy block, which included All in the Family. The series came to an end in 1977, but it spawned a series of telefilms that ran until 1979. Webb's company and Universal also contracted with animator Fred Calvert to produce a spin-off Saturday-morning cartoon show for NBC titled Emergency +4, which ran for three seasons (the last in reruns) and featured the paramedics Gage and DeSoto assisted by four youngsters and their three pets.Emergency! was Webb's last sustained success. Of the remaining series his company produced, the only two that lasted longer than one season were Hec Ramsey, a two-season component of the NBC Mystery Movie wheel series that featured former Have Gun – Will Travel star Richard Boone as a pioneering forensic scientist in the Old West, and Project UFO, an anthology based on the investigations into UFOs as compiled by Project Bluebook that also ran for two seasons beginning in 1978.
Despite his string of short-lived series in the late 1970s, Webb still kept trying to recapture his previous success and decided to bring Dragnet back to television for a third series in 1983. Five scripts had been produced and Kent McCord, one of the stars of Adam-12, was cast as Joe Friday's new partner.
In 1987, Dan Aykroyd and Tom Hanks starred in a movie parody (and homage) to Webb, titled Dragnet, along with Harry Morgan, who reprised his role from the television series as Bill Gannon, who had by now become a captain of detectives. The comedy film was written and directed by Tom Mankiewicz, in his directorial debut. Aykroyd played the role of Joe Friday, described as the namesake nephew of the original series lead, while Hanks co-starred as Detective Officer Pep Streebeck, Friday's new smart-alecky and streetwise partner.
Personal life
Webb's personal life was better defined by his love of jazz than his interest in police work. He had a collection of more than 6,000 jazz recordings. Webb's own recordings reached cult status, including his deadpan delivery of "Try A Little Tenderness". His lifelong interest in the cornet allowed him to move easily in the jazz culture, where he met singer and actress Julie London. They married in 1947 and had daughters Stacy and Lisa,. They divorced in 1954. He was married three more times after that, to Dorothy Towne for two years beginning in 1955, to former Miss USA Jackie Loughery for six years beginning in 1958, and to his longtime associate, Opal Wright, for the last two years of his life.
Stacy Webb authorized and collaborated on a book, Just the Facts, Ma'am: The Authorized Biography of Jack Webb, Creator of Dragnet, Adam-12, and Emergency!, of which Daniel Moyer and Eugene Alvarez were the primary authors. It was published in 1999. Stacy did not live to see the publication of the book, having been killed in a collision with a California Highway Patrol car three years earlier.
Webb died of an apparent heart attack in the early morning hours of December 23, 1982, at age 62. He is interred at Sheltering Hills Plot 1999, Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles, and was given a funeral with full Los Angeles police honors. On Webb's death, Chief Daryl Gates announced that badge number 714, which was used by Joe Friday in Dragnet, would be retired. Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley ordered all flags lowered to half staff in Webb's honor for a day, and Webb was buried with a replica LAPD badge bearing the rank of sergeant and the number 714.
Legacy
Webb has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for radio (at 7040 Hollywood Boulevard) and the other for television (at 6728 Hollywood Boulevard). In 1992, Webb was posthumously inducted into the Television Hall of Fame.
Filmography
Film
Television
Discography
Songs from Pete Kelly's Blues (1955)
You're My Girl: Romantic Reflections by Jack Webb (1958)
Pete Kelly Lets His Hair Down (1958)
Golden Throats volume 1 (1988)
Just the Tracks, Ma'am: The Warner Brothers Recordings (2000)
References
Further reading
September 12, 19, 26, October 3, 1954.
External links
Badge 714 (Dragnet and Webb fan site)
Pat Novak For Hire (Pat Novak For Hire'' fan site)
AAFCollection.info Pictures of Jack Webb as an Air Cadet at the Rankin Aeronautical Academy at Tulare, California in 1943.
Belmont High School (Los Angeles) alumni
American male film actors
Film producers from California
United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II
United States Army Air Forces soldiers
American male radio actors
American male television actors
American radio producers
American radio writers
American male screenwriters
American television directors
Television producers from California
American television writers
Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)
Edgar Award winners
Male actors from Los Angeles
1920 births
1982 deaths
People from Echo Park, Los Angeles
Warner Records artists
20th-century American male actors
American male television writers
20th-century American businesspeople
Film directors from Los Angeles
Screenwriters from California
20th-century American male writers
20th-century American screenwriters
People from Bunker Hill, Los Angeles | true | [
"Dragnet is an American radio, television and motion-picture series, enacting the cases of a dedicated Los Angeles police detective, Sergeant Joe Friday and his partners. The show took its name from the police term \"dragnet\", meaning a system of coordinated measures for apprehending criminals or suspects.\n\nDragnet is perhaps the most famous and influential police procedural drama in media history. The series portrayed police work as dangerous and heroic. Dragnet earned praise for improving the public opinion of police officers.\n\nActor and producer Jack Webb's aims in Dragnet were for realism and unpretentious acting; he achieved both goals, and Dragnet remains a key influence on subsequent police dramas in many media. The show's cultural impact is such that seven decades after its debut, elements of Dragnet are familiar to those who have never seen or heard the program:\nThe ominous, four-note introduction to the brass and timpani theme music (titled \"Danger Ahead\") is instantly recognizable (though its origins date to Miklós Rózsa's score for the 1946 film version of The Killers).\nAnother Dragnet trademark is the show's opening narration: \"Ladies and gentlemen: the story you are about to hear is true. Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent.\" This underwent minor revisions over time. The \"only\" and \"ladies and gentlemen\" were dropped at some point and for the television version \"hear\" was changed to \"see\".\n\nRadio\n\nDragnet began as a radio series, running on the NBC radio network from 1949 to 1957.\n\nTelevision\n\n1951–1959 original\n\n1967–1970 revival\n\nWebb relaunched Dragnet in 1966, with NBC once again chosen to air the series. He tried to persuade Ben Alexander to rejoin him as Frank Smith. Alexander was then committed to an ABC police series, Felony Squad, and the producers would not release him. Webb reluctantly came up with a new character to take the role of Joe Friday's partner, calling upon his longtime friend Harry Morgan to play Officer Bill Gannon. Morgan had previously portrayed rooming-house proprietor Luther Gage in the 1949 radio series episode \"James Vickers\". George Fenneman returned as the show's primary announcer, with John Stephenson replacing Hal Gibney in the role of announcing the trial dates and subsequent punishments for the offenders. Fenneman replaced Stephenson in that role during the fourth season. Unlike the previous Dragnet series, the revival was produced and aired in color.\n\nWebb produced a TV movie pilot for the new version of the show for Universal Television, although the pilot was not aired until January 1969. NBC bought the show on the strength of the movie, and it debuted as a midseason replacement for the sitcom The Hero on Thursday nights in January 1967. To distinguish it from the original, the year was included in the title of the show (i.e., Dragnet 1967). Although Friday had been promoted to lieutenant in the final episode of the 1950s production, Webb chose to have Friday revert to sergeant with his familiar badge, \"714\".\n\nWhen real-life LAPD Sergeant Dan Cooke, Webb's contact in the department during production of the revived Dragnet series, was promoted to lieutenant, he arranged to carry the same lieutenant's badge, number 714, as worn by Joe Friday. Cooke was technical advisor to the KNBC documentary Police Unit 2A-26, directed by John Orland. He brought that to the attention of Webb, who hired Orland to direct and film This is the City, a series of minidocumentaries about Los Angeles that preceded most TV episodes during the 1969 and 1970 seasons. The show had good ratings on NBC's schedule for four seasons, although its popularity did not exceed that of the 1950s version.\n\nMuch as was done 11 years earlier, Webb decided voluntarily to discontinue Dragnet after its fourth season to focus on producing and directing his other projects through Mark VII Limited. The first of these projects was titled Adam-12, a 30-minute police procedural similar to Dragnet, but focusing on patrol officers rather than detectives. The series premiered in the fall of 1968, while Dragnet 1969 was in production, and ran for seven seasons, coming to an end in 1975. In 1971, with producer Robert A. Cinader, Webb developed another pilot originally intended to be centered around the staff of a Los Angeles–area medical center's emergency room. When researching for the pilot, Webb and Cinader were introduced to the Los Angeles County Fire Department's fledgling paramedic program, and the premise was reworked to include the Los Angeles County Fire Department, and Emergency! was born; running as a weekly series until 1977, and as a series of made-for-television movies for two years after that. Emergency! was centered on the then-fictitious Los Angeles County Fire Department paramedic rescue unit, Squad 51.\n\nReruns of this version were popular on local stations, usually during the late afternoon or early evening, in the early 1970s. From 1991 to 1995, they aired on Nick at Nite, then moved to its sister cable channel TV Land. From October 1, 2011, to April 26, 2013, the series ran daily on the digital cable channel Antenna TV, and before that, the show aired on the Retro Television Network.\n\nDragnet aired Monday through Friday on Me-TV. The show was part of the \"CriMe TV\" morning block with Perry Mason and The Rockford Files, with Dragnet airing back to back from 11:00 am until 12:00 pm. In December 2014, Me-TV added a third airing of Dragnet to its late-night lineup; the series airs at 12:30 am following a second episode of Perry Mason. Me-TV ended the run of Dragnet on January 1, 2015, whereupon it became part of Cozi TV's regular lineup. In January 2020 Dragnet returned to MeTV along with its sibling series Adam-12 after Cozi TV dropped both series; Dragnet currently broadcasts two episodes weekday mornings from 5:30 to 6:30 a.m.\n\nWebb's later years\nWebb had begun working on a revival of Dragnet in 1982, writing and producing five scripts and keeping his role as Joe Friday. Once again he needed to create a new character for Friday's partner; Ben Alexander had died in 1969 and Harry Morgan was tied up with his commitments to M*A*S*H, and its already greenlit followup AfterMASH. Webb decided on Kent McCord, the former Adam-12 star who had several guest appearances early in the 1967 revival series, to fill the undefined role. No indication was given whether McCord would be playing a totally new character, or his Jim Reed character from Adam-12. Webb died suddenly from a heart attack on December 23, 1982, and the revival was scrapped.\n\nAfter Webb's death, LAPD Chief Daryl Gates announced that badge number 714—Webb's number on the television show—was retired, and Los Angeles city offices lowered their flags to half staff. At Webb's funeral, the LAPD provided an honor guard, and the chief of police commented on Webb's connection with the LAPD. An LAPD auditorium was named in his honor. Jack Webb's LAPD sergeant's badge and ID card are on display at the Los Angeles Police Academy.\n\nFilm versions\n\nDragnet (1954)\n\nIn 1954, a theatrical feature film titled Dragnet, an adaptation of the series, was released with Webb, Alexander, and Richard Boone. Dennis Weaver plays R. A. Lohrman, a detective captain. The film begins with the shooting of small-time hood Miller Starkie (Dub Taylor) on orders from his boss, Max Troy (Stacy Harris). Friday and Smith's superior is LAPD Intelligence Division Captain Jim Hamilton (Boone), a department member and the film's technical advisor. The Intelligence Division focused on the pursuit of organized-crime figures, and some of Max Troy's habits resemble that of Mickey Cohen, the known Los Angeles underworld boss; for example, Troy's LAPD file reads that he could be found at \"Sunset Strip taverns and joints\", as could Cohen. The film depicts the working relationship between the LAPD and the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office; Friday and Smith work to gather evidence that the DA's office deems sufficient to gain the indictment and ultimate conviction of Troy and his fellows. One scene contains a violent fist-fight involving the two detectives, with the close-up cinematic technique typical of Webb's style of direction. The movie's ending represents a departure from most Dragnet stories; no arrest is made at the story's conclusion. Chester Davitt (Willard Sage), Troy's underling and Starkie's killer, is killed by underworld figures, and Troy succumbs to cancer before the detectives, having gathered sufficient evidence against him, can make the arrest.\n\nThe film earned an estimated $4.7 million at the North American box office during its first year of release.\n\nDragnet 1966 (aired 1969)\nDragnet 1966 is a made-for-TV movie that initiated the return of the Dragnet series to television. It was intended as the TV pilot of Dragnet 1967, but was not aired as planned. It was eventually broadcast in 1969. The movie stars Jack Webb as Sgt. Friday and Harry Morgan as Officer Bill Gannon. The story focuses on crime more typical of the 1960s than of the previous Dragnet era; the detectives are assigned to find a voyeuristic serial killer similar to Harvey Glatman (played by Vic Perrin, who appeared in the 1954 film as an assistant district attorney). Also appearing is Virginia Gregg, who had a role in the 1954 feature and was a frequent guest actor in the 1951–59 series and the 1967–70 episodes, and John Roseboro, a catcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers, who dabbled in acting in the off season; Roseboro played a plainclothes detective who had been the target of racial slurs by a child molester until Friday came to his aid.\n\nDragnet (1987)\n\nIn 1987, a comedy movie version of Dragnet appeared starring Dan Aykroyd as the stiff Joe Friday (the original Detective Friday's nephew), and Tom Hanks as partner Pep Streebeck. The film contrasted the terse, clipped character of Friday, a hero from another age, with the 'real world' of Los Angeles in 1987 to broad comedic effect. Beyond Aykroyd's imitation of Webb's Joe Friday and Harry Morgan's small role reprising Bill Gannon, this film version has few similarities with previous incarnations. The film was more a parody, and a hit with audiences, though no follow-up film was produced. LAPD Lieutenant Dan Cooke, who had served as technical advisor for the Jack Webb series, was technical advisor for this production.\n\nRemakes after Webb's death\n\n1989 series: The New Dragnet\n\nThe show returned to television in the fall of 1989 as The New Dragnet in first-run syndication, featuring new characters, and airing in tandem with The New Adam-12, a remake of another Webb-produced Adam-12. The New Dragnet starred Jeff Osterhage and Bernard White as detectives Vic Daniels and Carl Molina, respectively, and Don Stroud as Captain Lussen. Fifty-two episodes were aired over two seasons. The first 26 episodes aired between October 24, 1989, and January 21, 1990, with the second season of 26 episodes airing between April 19 and September 9, 1990.\n\n2003 series: L.A. Dragnet\n\nIn 2003, a Dragnet series was produced by Dick Wolf, the producer of NBC's Law & Order series and spin-offs, in turn strongly influenced by Dragnet. It aired on ABC, and starred Ed O'Neill as Joe Friday and Ethan Embry as Frank Smith. After a 12-episode season that followed the traditional formula, the format of the series was changed to an ensemble crime drama in an attempt to boost ratings.\n\nIn L.A. Dragnet, Friday was promoted to lieutenant with less screen time and Frank Smith was written out, in favor of younger and ethnically diverse cast played by Eva Longoria, Desmond Harrington, Evan Dexter Parke, and Christina Chang. Roselyn Sanchez was added to the regular cast in a few episodes. With the Dragnet formula no longer in place, the program had the feel of a typical procedural drama. It was cancelled five episodes into its second season. Three episodes premiered on USA Network in early 2004, with the final two on the Sleuth channel in 2006. In places such as the Netherlands, the show is retitled Murder Investigation.\n\nRelated works\n\nMusic\n\nThe theme from Dragnet has been recorded by many artists, achieving popular success. Artists who charted with it include Ray Anthony (1953) and The Art of Noise (1987).\n\nNonfiction\n In 1958, Webb authored The Badge, a book containing chapters of true stories told from the view of a patrolman, sergeant, lieutenant, and others. It had a number of photographs and recently was reissued with a foreword by James Ellroy, author of L.A. Confidential.\n\nParodies\n The Little Shop of Horrors, a 1960 cult classic comedy horror film by Roger Corman, features a parody of the traditional Dragnet dry, hard-boiled voiceover narration throughout, and in the second half of the film, an onscreen parody of Dragnet and Joe Friday's robotic stoicism, a police detective named Joe Fink who says in voiceover \"My name is Fink. Joe Fink... I'm a fink\".\n \"St. George and the Dragonet\", a 1953 short audio satire by Stan Freberg, was a smash hit reaching number one on both the Billboard and the Cash Box record charts. In this satire, Freberg used the line \"Just the facts, ma'am\", which entered popular lexicography as an actual catchphrase from Dragnet, despite the line never being used on the show, except for Season Two, Episode Eight (\"Big Lease\"). Freberg followed \"St. George...\" with \"Little Blue Riding Hood\" and \"Christmas Dragnet\".\n The 1954 Woody Woodpecker cartoon Under the Counter Spy was a parody of Dragnet. At the beginning, a narrator says, \"The story you are about to see is a big fat lie. No names have been changed to protect anybody!\" At the end, a hammer and stamp make the words \"THE END\", and the hammerer hits his thumb.\n The 1955, Three Stooges short Blunder Boys parodies Dragnet. In place of the familiar \"Dragnet\" theme, the first four notes of \"The Song of the Volga Boatmen\", which is in the public domain, is used. At the end of the film, Moe stamps Larry's head with a hammer; Larry's forehead then reads, \"VII 1/2 The End\".\n A 1956 Looney Tunes short, Rocket Squad, starred Daffy Duck and Porky Pig as Sgt. Joe Monday and Det. Schmoe Tuesday, respectively. Daffy narrated, giving a running timeline in the manner of Sgt. Friday. This police adventure ends with both officers convicted and imprisoned for false arrest. The opening title reads: \"Ladies and Gentlemen, the story you are about to see is true. The drawings have been changed to protect the innocent\". Another short, Tree Cornered Tweety, featured Tweety imitating the narrator of Dragnet as he is being pursued by Sylvester again.\n A segment of the Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoon show called \"Bullwinkle's Corner\", which featured Bullwinkle Moose in a poetry reading of \"Tom, Tom the Piper's Son,\" parodied Dragnet, as Bullwinkle is apprehended in the act of stealing a pig by two detectives who interrogate Bullwinkle using a terse, clipped monotone similar in style to Joe Friday and Frank Smith (\"You got a name?\" \"I'm Tom, Tom the Piper's Son.\" \"All right, Piperson, what were you going to do with the pig?\").\n In 1968, Jack Webb appeared in the \"Copper Clapper Caper\" sketch on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, playing the poker-faced Joe Friday interviewing the equally deadpan victim of a robbery (played by Carson). The details of the crime started with the alliterative \"k\" or \"kl\" consonant sound, such as \"Claude Cooper, the kleptomaniac from Cleveland.\"\n A Sesame Street Muppet skit from the early 1970s Dragnet, featuring Sgt. Thursday and his partner, Ben, searching for a fugitive letter ”W” based on a drawing Ben carries with him of the letter; when they do encounter the letter W it disguises itself turning upside down into a letter “M”.\n The final segment of each episode of PBS's Square One was titled \"Mathnet\" and opened with the Dragnet theme and an arrangement of the lines \"The story you're about to see is a fib—but it's short. The names are made up, but the problems are real.\" Each story arc of the show's five-season run lasted five daily episodes (one week) and featured detectives Kate Monday (seasons 1–3) or Pat Tuesday (seasons 4–5) and George Ernest Frankly (all five seasons), of the LAPD in the first two of the show's five seasons and the New York Police Department in the last three seasons, using mathematics to solve crimes.\n In 1983, \"Prog #310\" of UK sci-fi comic 2000AD featured a time-travelling parody of Dragnet in the story \"Chrono Cops\", written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Dave Gibbons. In five pages, \"Joe Saturday\" and \"Ed Thursday\" encounter several time-travel \"tropes\", including a character attempting to kill his own great-grandfather.\n The season-five episode of The Simpsons titled \"Marge on the Lam\" centers around Marge Simpson and neighbor Ruth Powers being pursued by police while illegally driving Ruth's ex-husband's car; the episode ends with a Dragnet-style epilogue detailing the characters' fates, as narrated by original series announcer George Fenneman, then the end credits run over a graphic of a police badge while a version of The Simpsons theme done in the style of the famous \"Dragnet March\" plays. Also, the season-seven episode \"Mother Simpson\" has Homer Simpson's mother, Mona Simpson, as a fugitive from Charles Montgomery Burns, who is about to be captured after 27 years. Burns is helped by officers Joe Friday and Bill Gannon (voiced by Harry Morgan).\n Dragnet is parodied at the end of the episode of The New Adventures of Winnie-the-Pooh titled: \"Sorry, Wrong Slusher\". Winnie-the-Pooh performs a closing narration as a mug shot of Christopher Robin is shown on screen, in the style of Dragnet.\n The Amazon original series Man in the High Castle features a show in the fictional universe where Germany won the Second World War called \"American Reich\", shot in the style of Dragnet. The show's title crawl music is similar to Dragnet, and the title card contains a police badge with a swastika in the center. In keeping with the alternate history, the character equivalent of Friday is a straight-laced Nazi, with catchphrases including \"Ein Volk, Ein Reich, Ein phone call\".\n\nHome media\n\nOriginal series (1951–1959)\nMost, if not all, episodes of this series are in the public domain, and 52 episodes were released by many DVD labels. These collections feature a variety of the same 52 episodes. These include \"The Human Bomb\", \"The Big Actor\", \"The Big Mother\", \"The Big Cast\", \"The Big September Man\", \"The Big Phone Call\", \"The Big Casing\", \"The Big Lamp\", \"The Big Seventeen\", \"The Big .22 Caliber Rifle for Christmas\", \"The Big Grandma\", \"The Big Show\", \"The Big Break\", \"The Big Frank\", \"The Big Hands\", \"The Big Barrette\", \"The Big Dance\", \"The Big Betty\", \"The Big Will\", \"The Big Thief\", \"The Big Little Jesus\", \"The Big Trunk\", \"The Big Boys\", \"The Big Children\", \"The Big Winchester\", \"The Big Shoplift\", \"The Big Hit & Run Killer\", \"The Big Girl\", \"The Big Frame\", \"The Big False Make\", \"The Big Producer\", \"The Big Fraud\", \"The Big Crime\", \"The Big Pair\", \"The Big Missing\", \"The Big Bar\", \"The Big Present\", \"The Big New Year\", \"The Big Rod\", \"The Big Lift\", \"The Big Gap\", \"The Big Look\", \"The Big Glasses\", \"The Big Bird\", \"the Big Smoke\", \"The Big Bounce\", \"The Big Deal\", \"The Big Hat\", \"The Big Net\", \"The Big War\", \"The Big Oskar\", and \"The Big Counterfeit\". Often, some are mislabeled as no onscreen titles are used.\n\nThree collections released from Alpha Video feature four episodes each. Eclectic DVD released a collection of three episodes.\n\nPlatinum Video released seven episodes from the original series in 2002. The episodes are: \"Big Crime\", \"Big Pair\", \"Big Producer\", \"Big Break\", \"Big September Man\", \"Big Betty\", and \"Big Trunk\". The two-disc set includes episodes from Burke's Law, Peter Gunn, Richard Diamond, Private Detective, Mr. Wong, Detective, and Bulldog Drummond.\n\nDragnet feature film (1954)\nThis movie was released on DVD in 2009 as part of Universal Studios' \"Vault Series\".\n\nDragnet pilot movie (1966)\nThis movie is a bonus feature on Shout! Factory's \"Dragnet 1968: Season Two\" (Release Date: July 6, 2010).\n\nDragnet (1967–1970)\nOn June 7, 2005, Universal Studios released the first season on DVD in Region 1. Because sales numbers did not meet Universal's expectations, no plans were made to release the remaining three seasons.\n\nOn March 17, 2010, Shout! Factory acquired the rights to distribute the series under license from Universal. They subsequently released seasons 2–4.\n\nThe New Dragnet (1989)\nNo DVD releases to date of this remake that lasted two seasons.\n\nL.A. Dragnet (2003)\nUniversal Studios Home Entertainment was going to release the first season of this short-lived remake on DVD on November 11, 2003, but this release was cancelled. It is not known if the set will be released, though it is available for viewing on Hulu.\n\nReferences\n\nGeneral sources \n Dunning, John, On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio, Oxford University Press, 1998, .\n Michael J. Hayde, My Name's Friday: The Unauthorized but True Story of Dragnet and the Films of Jack Webb, Cumberland House, 2001, \n Jason Mittell, Genre and Television: From Cop Shows to Cartoons in American Culture. Routledge, 2004, .\n\nExternal links\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n – \"Copper Clappers\" sketch, featuring Johnny Carson and Jack Webb from a 1968 Tonight Show episode\n\n \n1951 American television series debuts\n1954 films\n1959 American television series endings\n1967 American television series debuts\n1969 films\n1970 American television series endings\n1980s American television series\n2003 American television series debuts\n2004 American television series endings\nAmerican Broadcasting Company original programming\nAmerican crime television series\nAmerican police procedural television series\nAmerican television series revived after cancellation\nBlack-and-white American television shows\nEdgar Award-winning works\nEnglish-language television shows\nFictional police officers\nFictional portrayals of the Los Angeles Police Department\nNBC original programming\nTelevision franchises\nTelevision series by Mark VII Limited\nTelevision series by Universal Television\nTelevision shows filmed in Los Angeles\nTelevision shows set in Los Angeles",
"Joe Friday is a fictional character created and portrayed by Jack Webb as the lead for his series Dragnet. Friday is a detective in the Los Angeles Police Department. The character first appeared on June 3, 1949 in the premiere of the NBC radio drama that launched the series. Webb played the character on radio and later television from 1949–1959 and again from 1967–1970, also appearing as Friday in a 1954 theatrical release and a 1966 made-for-TV film.\n\nOriginal series\nFriday had joined the police shortly before World War II; Ben Romero was his first partner. After Friday was discharged from the U.S. Army, he returned to the police and the pair eventually reunited in the Detective Division, prior to the events of the series.\n\nOver the earlier run of the series, Friday was partnered with Sgt. Ben Romero (Barton Yarborough), Sgt. Ed Jacobs (Barney Phillips), Romero's nephew, Officer Bill Lockwood (Martin Milner), and then (for the rest of the radio run as well as the 1954 film and the 1951 television series) Officer Frank Smith (first Herbert Ellis, then Ben Alexander). For the 1960s revival, Friday's partner was Officer Bill Gannon (Harry Morgan).\n\nDuring the 1958–59 season, Friday was promoted to Lieutenant, but when the show was revived in 1967, he was again a Sergeant without any on-screen explanation; Webb later explained that in the real LAPD, the Lieutenant rank is a supervisory position and involved less investigatory time in the field, which would change the structure of the show.\n\nFriday narrated every story, providing details in voiceover of what happened and where. He had several bits of consistent dialogue that remained throughout the series.\n\nThe opening narration in the original 1951–59 TV series remained brief and straightforward: \"This is the city, Los Angeles, California... I work here... I'm a cop.\" What followed was the introduction of the story's plot: \"It was [day of the week and date], it was [weather conditions] in Los Angeles; we were working the [day|night] watch out of [police division]. My partner is [name]. The boss is [name]. My name's Friday.\" In many openings from episodes of the 1967–70 revival series Friday would add assorted details about Los Angeles ranging from its geography and history to its landmarks and population, the latter of which would often lead to observations about how most of the people are good while some go bad, leading to the phrase:\"...That's when I go to work; I carry a badge\".\"Just the facts, ma'am\" is a common catchphrase often attributed to Friday, or less often, to Stan Freberg's works parodying Dragnet. But neither used the exact phrase. While Friday typically used the phrase \"All we want are the facts, ma'am\" when questioning women in the course of police investigations, Freberg's spoof changed the line slightly to \"I just want to get the facts, ma'am\".\n\nFriday carried a regulation .38 snub-nose Smith & Wesson Model 10 revolver while Gannon had a four-inch .38 Smith & Wesson Model 15 revolver. In the Dragnet 1968 episode 2/2 \"The Shooting Board\", Joe Friday states that in his 15-year career as a police officer he had only had to unholster his service gun three times, and had to \"drop the hammer on a man\" twice (his first time being in the 1953 episode \"The Big Thief\", broadcast December 18, 1953, when he was forced to draw on, shoot and kill a fleeing robber who was firing at him), including in that episode; he had stopped off at an all-night laundromat to purchase a pack of cigarettes when he caught someone attempting to slip-wire a change machine and exchanged gunfire with him, killing him (and falling under investigation as there were no other witnesses in the laundromat to corroborate his story that he had been fired upon and returned fire). However, this contradicts the original TV series, and the radio series, several episodes of which depicted Friday getting involved in shootouts, including at least one, \"The Big Break,\" first broadcast on March 19, 1953, which took place over the course of a year, and included two shootouts in the same episode.\n\nPersonal life \nIn his private life, Friday mostly kept to himself and maintained a low social profile. Like Webb, Friday was an Army veteran and a chain smoker, but in contrast Friday was a confirmed bachelor, which often did not go unnoticed by his partners who regularly but futilely advised Friday to marry and settle down. He casually keeps company with Policewoman Dorothy Rivers in the early 1950s, and does not object to his mother's occasional attempts to match him with daughters of her friends. In the original series, Friday lived with his widowed mother in the house in which she reared him, at 1456 Collis Avenue, but later lived alone in a small apartment (in the 1951 TV series, Joe tells Frank that he has received a letter from his mother who had moved East to an undisclosed city where her sister lives and bought a house down the street from her sister's). In contrast, two of his most prominent partners, Frank Smith and Bill Gannon, were married with children.\n\nIn August 1951, Friday gives his age as 34, making him approximately three years older than Webb. Friday's birth date was given as April 2 (the same as Webb's) in the 1969 episode \"Community Relations\", but this is in conflict with that given in the 1954 radio episode \"Big Shock\", where his partner attempts to give Joe a birthday present of fleece-lined slippers, when Friday informs him that his birthday is August 30, not March 30. Like Webb, Friday grew up in Los Angeles and was graduated from Belmont High School.\n\nBadge 714\nWhen the original Dragnet went into syndication, the show was renamed \"Badge 714\", so named for Joe Friday's police badge. A recurring myth was that Jack Webb chose the number 714 because he was a fan of Babe Ruth, who slugged 714 home runs during his career, but it was later asserted in TV commentator Michael J. Hayde's book My Name's Friday that Webb originally wanted the badge number to be \"777\", tripling the lucky number 7, but decided instead to add the last two digits together to get \"14\", thus making the badge number \"714\".\n\nThe badge that Friday carried as a lieutenant during the final season of the 1951–59 series was ultimately used in real life by LAPD officer Dan Cooke. As a sergeant, Cooke had been assigned to be the LAPD's liaison with Webb during the production of the 1967–70 series. Just before filming started on the TV-movie that became the pilot for the revived series, Cooke found the badge that the LAPD had lent to Webb in 1958–59 season. However, Webb informed Cooke that he wanted Friday to be a sergeant in the revived series, and, consequently, would not need the lieutenant's badge from the original show. Cooke put the unused badge in a desk drawer and forgot about it. Years later, after being promoted to lieutenant himself, Cooke found the badge and asked for permission to use it.\n\nWhen Jack Webb died in 1982, LAPD Chief Daryl Gates officially retired Badge 714; Webb was also buried with full police honors, a rarity for a non-policeman.\n\nDragnet and spinoff Adam-12 were the only television shows to use actual LAPD badges.\n\nIn the show's heyday, people would regularly visit the LAPD asking to speak to Sgt. Friday. The official response given by the front desk was, \"Sorry, it's Joe's day off.\"\n\nIn the FX show The Shield, about an LAPD anti-gang unit, one of the officers, Shane, lost his badge in season 2 and it was revealed to be badge number 714.\n\n1955 Three Stooges parody\nThe Three Stooges, (Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and Shemp Howard) performed an 18 minute parody of Dragnet entitled the “Blunder Boys”. After graduating with the lowest honors at criminology school, the stooges join the police force, and they track down a wanted criminal known as the Eel.\n\n1987 film\nDan Aykroyd starred as Joe Friday, namesake and nephew of the original, in the 1987 comedy adaptation film Dragnet. Harry Morgan reprised his television role as Bill Gannon, now Captain, and Tom Hanks appeared as Friday's partner Pep Streebek.\n\n2003 series\nEd O'Neill starred as Joe Friday in Wolf Films' 2003 revival of Dragnet. Since LAPD had discontinued the rank of Detective Sergeant, replacing it with the rank of Detective Three, or D-3, the rank banner on Friday's badge now said \"Detective\" instead of \"Sergeant,\" and Friday was referred to as \"Detective Friday\" instead of \"Sergeant Friday.\" During the first season of the series, Friday's partner was named \"Frank Smith,\" but unlike the character played by Alexander and Ellis on the original series, this Frank Smith, as played by Ethan Embry, was not an experienced, veteran officer, but a young detective being mentored by Friday. On one episode of this show, Friday actually spoke the phrase, \"Just the facts.\"\n\nFriday's partners\nSgt. Ben Romero (Barton Yarborough) (Radio & Television)Sgt. Ed Jacobs (Barney Phillips) (Radio & Television)Off. Bill Lockwood (Martin Milner/Ken Peters) (Radio) Off. Frank Smith (Ben Alexander, Ethan Embry, Harry Bartell, Herb Ellis, Vic Perrin) (Radio, Television & Film)Off. Bill Gannon (Harry Morgan) (Television & Film)\n'''\n\nReception\nIn 2006, TV Land included the line \"This is the city...\" on its \"The 100 Greatest TV Quotes and Catch Phrases\" special.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nDragnet (franchise)\nDrama television characters\nMale characters in radio\nAmerican male characters in television\nFictional characters from Los Angeles\nFictional Los Angeles Police Department detectives\nFictional police sergeants\nFictional police lieutenants\nRadio characters introduced in 1949"
]
|
[
"Jack Webb",
"1967: Dragnet returns",
"What was Dragnet about?",
"A pilot telefilm, based on the Harvey Glatman serial killings,",
"What role did Jack Webb play in Dragnet",
"Joe Friday,",
"What did Joe Friday do in Dragnet?",
"Don Dubbins, who had acted alongside Webb"
]
| C_c54a5c03dd1b4879a6f33fcc1c445f57_0 | Was Dragnet a cop show? | 4 | Was Dragnet a cop show? | Jack Webb | Shortly after leaving his position at Warner Bros., Webb teamed with Universal Television to begin work on a new Dragnet series. A pilot telefilm, based on the Harvey Glatman serial killings, was produced in 1966 for NBC, with Webb's Sgt. Joe Friday joined by Harry Morgan as Officer Bill Gannon. (Webb had tried to get Ben Alexander to reprise his role as Frank Smith, but he was unable to get Alexander to leave the ABC series Felony Squad.) The new Dragnet premiered as a midseason replacement series on January 12, 1967, and aired until April 16, 1970. To distinguish it from the original series, the year of production was added to the title (Dragnet 1967, Dragnet 1968, etc.). The revival emphasized crime prevention and outreach to the public. Its attempts to address the contemporary youth-drug culture (such as "The LSD Story" episode, guest-starring Michael Burns as Benjamin John "Blue Boy" Carver, voted 85th-best TV episode of all time by TV Guide and TV Land) have led certain episodes on the topic to achieve cult status due to their strained attempts to be "with-it", such as Joe Friday grilling "Blue Boy" by asking him, "You're pretty high and far out, aren't you? What kind of kick are you on, son?" Don Dubbins, who had acted alongside Webb in The D.I. in 1957, was another featured actor in Mark VII Limited programs beginning in the 1960s. In 1968, Webb and his production partner R.A. Cinader launched Adam-12 on NBC. A spinoff of Dragnet, Adam-12 starred Martin Milner and Kent McCord as a pair of LAPD beat cops, and followed their escapades while on patrol. Running till 1975, for a total of seven seasons, Adam-12 was Webb's second-longest running television series, with the eight seasons recorded by the original Dragnet being the longest. Also in 1968, Webb and Johnny Carson performed a sketch on The Tonight Show that has since become known as the "Copper Clapper Caper" sketch. Webb, in character as Joe Friday, was working on the case of a robbery at a school-bell factory. Carson played the owner of the factory and victim of the theft, which consisted of each bell being relieved of its clapper (the device that makes the bell ring). The sketch's dialogue consisted of Webb and Carson discussing the situation in deadpan style and using alliteration and tongue twisters to describe the incident, each word having either a "c" or "cl" sound at the beginning. Both Webb and Carson tried desperately not to lose composure, but both did, near the end of the sketch. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | John Randolph Webb (April 2, 1920 – December 23, 1982) was an American actor, television producer, director, and screenwriter, who is most famous for his role as Sgt. Joe Friday in the Dragnet franchise (which he created). He was also the founder of his own production company, Mark VII Limited.
Early life
Webb was born in Santa Monica, California, on April 2, 1920, son of Samuel Chester Webb and Margaret (née Smith) Webb. He grew up in the Bunker Hill section of Los Angeles. His father left home before Webb was born, and Webb never knew him.
In the late 1920s and early 1930s, Webb lived in the parish of Our Lady of Loretto Church and attended Our Lady of Loretto Elementary School in Echo Park, where he served as an altar boy. He then attended Belmont High School, near downtown Los Angeles. Webb was elected student body president of his high school. He wrote to Belmont's student body in the 1938 edition of its yearbook, Campanile, "You who showed me the magnificent warmth of friendship which I know, and you know, I will carry with me forever." Webb attended St. John's University, Minnesota, where he studied art.
During World War II, Webb enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps, but he "washed out" of flight training. He later received a hardship discharge because he was the primary financial support for both his mother and grandmother.
Career
Acting
Following his discharge, he moved to San Francisco, where a wartime shortage of announcers led to a temporary appointment to his own radio show on ABC's KGO Radio. The Jack Webb Show was a half-hour comedy that had a limited run on ABC radio in 1946. Prior to that, he had a one-man program, One Out of Seven, on KGO in which he dramatized a news story from the previous week.
By 1949, he had abandoned comedy for drama, and starred in Pat Novak, for Hire, a radio show originating from KFRC about a man who worked as an unlicensed private detective. The program co-starred Raymond Burr. Pat Novak was notable for writing that imitated the hard-boiled style of such writers as Raymond Chandler, with lines such as: "She drifted into the room like 98 pounds of warm smoke. Her voice was hot and sticky—like a furnace full of marshmallows." Early in 1949, Webb served as the main antagonist of Alan Ladd's protagonist character Dan Holliday in "The Better Man" episode of the radio series "Box 13", which aired on January 2, 1949.
Webb's radio shows included Johnny Madero, Pier 23, Jeff Regan, Investigator, Murder and Mr. Malone, Pete Kelly's Blues, and One Out of Seven. Webb provided all of the voices on One Out of Seven, often vigorously attacking racial prejudice.
Webb's most famous motion-picture role was as the combat-hardened Marine Corps drill instructor at Parris Island in the 1957 film The D.I., with Don Dubbins as a callow Marine private. Webb's hard-nosed approach to this role, that of Drill Instructor Technical Sergeant James Moore, would be reflected in much of his later acting. But The D.I. was a box-office failure.
In 1950, Webb appeared in three films that would become cult classics. In Sunset Boulevard, he's the fiance of William Holden's love interest Nancy Olson (his performance is very animated and jovial, unlike his later deadpan style). He played a war veteran in Marlon Brando's first feature, The Men. And in the film noir Dark City, he co-starred with Harry Morgan, his future partner on the second Dragnet series.
Webb was approached to play the role of Vernon Wormer, Dean of Faber College, in National Lampoon's Animal House, but he turned it down, saying "the movie didn't make any damn sense"; John Vernon ultimately played the role.
Dragnet and stardom
Webb had a featured role as a crime-lab technician in the 1948 film He Walked by Night, based on the real-life murder of a California Highway Patrolman by Erwin Walker. The film was produced in semidocumentary style with technical assistance provided by Detective Sergeant Marty Wynn of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). He Walked By Night's thinly veiled fictionalized recounting of the 1946 Walker crime spree gave Webb the idea for Dragnet: a recurring series based on real cases from LAPD police files, featuring authentic depictions of the modern police detective, including methods, mannerisms, and technical language.
With much assistance from Sgt. Marty Wynn and legendary LAPD chief William H. Parker, Dragnet premiered on NBC Radio in 1949 and ran till 1957. It was also picked up as a television series by NBC, which aired episodes each season from 1952 to 1959. Webb played Sgt. Joe Friday and Barton Yarborough co-starred as Sgt. Ben Romero. After Yarborough's death, Ben Alexander joined the cast.
Webb was a stickler for attention to detail. He believed viewers wanted "realism" and tried to give it to them. Webb had tremendous respect for those in law enforcement. He often said, in interviews, that he was angry about the "ridiculous amount" of abuse to which police were subjected by the press and the public. Webb was also impressed by the long hours, the low pay, and the high injury rate among police investigators of the day, particularly in the LAPD, which had by then acquired a notorious reputation for jettisoning officers who had become ill or injured in the line of duty; in Webb's book, The Badge: True and Terrifying Crime Stories that Could Not Be Presented on TV, from the Creator and Star of "Dragnet", one of Erwin Walker's victims, LAPD detective Lt. Colin Forbes, was among those whose experiences were so noted.
In announcing his vision of Dragnet, Webb said he intended to perform a service for the police by showing them as low-key working-class heroes. Dragnet moved away from earlier portrayals of the police in shows such as Jeff Regan and Pat Novak, which had often shown them as brutal and even corrupt. Dragnet became a successful television show in 1952. Barton Yarborough died of a heart attack in 1951, after filming only two episodes, and Barney Phillips (Sgt. Ed Jacobs) and Herbert Ellis (Officer Frank Smith) temporarily stepped in as partners. Veteran radio and film actor Ben Alexander took over the role of jovial, burly Officer Frank Smith. Alexander was popular and remained a cast member until the show's cancellation in 1959. In 1954, a full-length feature-film adaptation of the series was released, starring Webb, Alexander, and Richard Boone.
The television version of Dragnet began with this narration by George Fenneman: "Ladies and gentlemen, the story you are about to see is true. The names have been changed to protect the innocent." Webb would intone, "This is the city: Los Angeles, California." He would then make a historical or topical point, describe his duties, his partner, and superior on the episode. The radio series had a similar opening, though Webb, as Friday, did not give a unique LA-themed opening. Webb then set the plot by describing a typical day and then led into the story. "It was Wednesday, March 19th. It was cool in Los Angeles. I was at headquarters, working narcotics...." At the end of each show, Fenneman repeated his opening narration, revised to read: "The story you have just seen is true. The names were changed to protect the innocent."
A second announcer, Hal Gibney, usually gave dates when and specific courtrooms where trials were held for the suspects, announcing the trial verdicts after commercial breaks. Many suspects shown to have been found guilty at the end were also shown as having been confined to the California State Prison at San Quentin. Webb frequently recreated entire floors of buildings on sound stages, such as the police headquarters at Los Angeles City Hall and a floor of the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner.
In Dragnet'''s early days, Webb continued to appear in movies, notably as the best friend of William Holden's character in the 1950 Billy Wilder film Sunset Boulevard as Artie Green, assistant director and fiancé to script reader Betty Schaefer (Nancy Olson). In contrast to the pair's straight-arrow image in Dragnet, here Webb played a vicious card sharp in Dark City and Morgan a punch-drunk ex-fighter. Also in 1950, Webb appeared in The Men, the film in which Marlon Brando made his film debut. Both actors played paraplegics undergoing rehabilitation at a veterans' hospital. In a subplot, Webb's character, a cynical intellectual, is fleeced of his life savings by a woman who feigns romantic interest.
In 1951, Webb introduced a short-lived radio series, Pete Kelly's Blues, in an attempt to bring the music he loved to a broader audience. That show became the basis for a 1955 film of the same name. In 1959, a television version was made. Neither was very successful. Pete Kelly was a cornet player who supplemented his income from playing in a nightclub band by working as a private investigator.
1960s
In 1963, Webb took over from William T. Orr as executive producer of the ABC/Warner Bros. detective series 77 Sunset Strip. He brought about wholesale changes in the program and retained only Efrem Zimbalist Jr., in the role of private detective Stuart Bailey. Gone were co-stars Roger Smith and Edd Byrnes and the lively series set. The altered program began with Bailey quietly entering an elevator to an upper floor of a bleak office building. The story lines were far different from those of the first five years of the series. The result was a disaster, and critics accused Webb of being out of touch with the younger generation, a perception that the revival of Dragnet subsequently did nothing to correct. Ratings fell, and 77 Sunset Strip was cancelled before the end of the sixth season. John Gavin's Destry, a light-hearted Western series, filled the remaining three months of the Friday-night time slot vacated on ABC by 77 Sunset Strip.Meanwhile, Webb teamed with actor Jeffrey Hunter to form Apollo Productions. They produced a failed television series, Temple Houston, with Hunter in the title role. In the summer of 1963, Webb pushed Temple Houston to production. The series was loosely based on the life of the frontier lawyer Temple Lea Houston, the youngest son of the legendary Texan Sam Houston. The series was added to the NBC schedule after the planned drama, The Robert Taylor Show, based on case files of the United States Department of Health, Education and Welfare, was suddenly disbanded after making four episodes. Under orders from Webb, Temple Houston episodes were put together in just two or three days each, something previously thought impossible in television production. Work began on August 7, 1963, with the initial airing set for September 19. Jimmy Lydon, a former child actor, adult actor, and a television producer with Warner Bros. at the time, recalled that Webb told the staff, "Fellas, I just sold Temple Houston. We gotta be on the air in four weeks; we can't use the pilot, we have no scripts, no nothing--do it!" Lydon recalled the team having worked around the clock to get Temple Houston on the air. Co-producer William Conrad directed six episodes, two scripts simultaneously on two different soundstages at WB. "We bicycled Jeff (series star Jeffrey Hunter) and Elam (supporting star Jack Elam) between the two companies, and Bill shot 'em both in four-and-a-half days. Two complete one-hour shows!" recalled Lydon.Temple Houston ended after its 26-week run. In a 1965 interview with The Milwaukee Journal, Hunter described the situation:
1967: Dragnet returns
Shortly after leaving his position at Warner Bros., Webb teamed with Universal Television to begin work on a new Dragnet series. A pilot telefilm, based on the Harvey Glatman serial killings, was produced in 1966 for NBC, with Webb's Sgt. Joe Friday joined by Harry Morgan as Officer Bill Gannon. Webb had tried to get Ben Alexander to reprise his role as Frank Smith, but he was unable to get Alexander to leave the ABC series Felony Squad.The new Dragnet premiered as a midseason replacement series on January 12, 1967, and aired until April 16, 1970. To distinguish it from the original series, the year of production was added to the title (Dragnet 1967, Dragnet 1968, etc.). The revival emphasized crime prevention and outreach to the public. Its attempts to address the contemporary youth-drug culture (such as the revival's first episode, "The LSD Story", guest-starring Michael Burns as Benjamin John "Blue Boy" Carver, voted 85th-best TV episode of all time by TV Guide and TV Land) have led certain episodes on the topic to achieve cult status due to their strained attempts to be "with-it", such as Joe Friday grilling "Blue Boy" by asking him, "You're pretty high and far out, aren't you? What kind of kick are you on, son?" Don Dubbins, who had acted alongside Webb in The D.I. in 1957, was another featured actor in Mark VII Limited programs beginning in the 1960s.
In 1968, Webb and his production partner R.A. Cinader launched Adam-12 on NBC. A spinoff of Dragnet, Adam-12 starred Martin Milner and Kent McCord as a pair of LAPD beat cops, and followed their escapades while on patrol. Running till 1975, for a total of seven seasons, Adam-12 was Webb's second-longest running television series, with the eight seasons recorded by the original Dragnet being the longest.
Also in 1968, Webb and Johnny Carson performed a sketch on The Tonight Show that has since become known as the "Copper Clapper Caper" sketch. Webb, in character as Joe Friday, was working on the case of a robbery at a school-bell factory. Carson played the owner of the factory and victim of the theft, which consisted of each bell being relieved of its clapper (the device that makes the bell ring). The sketch's dialogue consisted of Webb and Carson discussing the situation in deadpan style and using alliteration and tongue twisters to describe the incident, each word having either a "c" or "cl" sound at the beginning. Both Webb and Carson tried desperately not to lose composure, but both did, near the end of the sketch.
1970s and 1980s
In 1970, Webb decided to bring an end to Dragnet and cease acting to focus on expanding Mark VII Limited's production profile. In 1971, Webb entered the world of district attorneys and federal government work with two series. The first, The D.A., starred Robert Conrad and Harry Morgan as a pair of Los Angeles County ADAs, with Conrad playing a junior ADA and Morgan his superior. The second, O'Hara, United States Treasury, was a co-production of Webb and David Janssen, the former star of The Fugitive and future star of Harry O, for CBS (a rare non-NBC Mark VII effort) and featured Janssen as a Nebraska county sheriff-turned-United States Treasury Department agent. Neither series lasted very long, as The D.A., Webb's last 30-minute series, was cancelled after 15 episodes and O'Hara ended after 22.
Later in the 1971–72 season, Webb and Cinader launched Emergency!, a spin-off of Adam-12, which focused on the fictional Station 51 Rescue Squad of the L.A. County Fire Department, and its work in coordination with the emergency department staff of the fictional Rampart General Hospital. LACoFD's paramedic program was among the first paramedic services in the United States. Webb cast his ex-wife, Julie London, as well as her second husband and Dragnet ensemble player Bobby Troup, as head nurse Dixie McCall and Dr. Joe Early, respectively, with Randolph Mantooth and Kevin Tighe playing paramedics John Gage and Roy DeSoto and Robert Fuller playing Dr. Kelly Brackett, Rampart's Chief of Emergency Medicine.Emergency! ran as part of NBC's Saturday-night lineup for six entire seasons, and it was a popular series, sometimes winning its time slot against CBS's popular Saturday-night comedy block, which included All in the Family. The series came to an end in 1977, but it spawned a series of telefilms that ran until 1979. Webb's company and Universal also contracted with animator Fred Calvert to produce a spin-off Saturday-morning cartoon show for NBC titled Emergency +4, which ran for three seasons (the last in reruns) and featured the paramedics Gage and DeSoto assisted by four youngsters and their three pets.Emergency! was Webb's last sustained success. Of the remaining series his company produced, the only two that lasted longer than one season were Hec Ramsey, a two-season component of the NBC Mystery Movie wheel series that featured former Have Gun – Will Travel star Richard Boone as a pioneering forensic scientist in the Old West, and Project UFO, an anthology based on the investigations into UFOs as compiled by Project Bluebook that also ran for two seasons beginning in 1978.
Despite his string of short-lived series in the late 1970s, Webb still kept trying to recapture his previous success and decided to bring Dragnet back to television for a third series in 1983. Five scripts had been produced and Kent McCord, one of the stars of Adam-12, was cast as Joe Friday's new partner.
In 1987, Dan Aykroyd and Tom Hanks starred in a movie parody (and homage) to Webb, titled Dragnet, along with Harry Morgan, who reprised his role from the television series as Bill Gannon, who had by now become a captain of detectives. The comedy film was written and directed by Tom Mankiewicz, in his directorial debut. Aykroyd played the role of Joe Friday, described as the namesake nephew of the original series lead, while Hanks co-starred as Detective Officer Pep Streebeck, Friday's new smart-alecky and streetwise partner.
Personal life
Webb's personal life was better defined by his love of jazz than his interest in police work. He had a collection of more than 6,000 jazz recordings. Webb's own recordings reached cult status, including his deadpan delivery of "Try A Little Tenderness". His lifelong interest in the cornet allowed him to move easily in the jazz culture, where he met singer and actress Julie London. They married in 1947 and had daughters Stacy and Lisa,. They divorced in 1954. He was married three more times after that, to Dorothy Towne for two years beginning in 1955, to former Miss USA Jackie Loughery for six years beginning in 1958, and to his longtime associate, Opal Wright, for the last two years of his life.
Stacy Webb authorized and collaborated on a book, Just the Facts, Ma'am: The Authorized Biography of Jack Webb, Creator of Dragnet, Adam-12, and Emergency!, of which Daniel Moyer and Eugene Alvarez were the primary authors. It was published in 1999. Stacy did not live to see the publication of the book, having been killed in a collision with a California Highway Patrol car three years earlier.
Webb died of an apparent heart attack in the early morning hours of December 23, 1982, at age 62. He is interred at Sheltering Hills Plot 1999, Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles, and was given a funeral with full Los Angeles police honors. On Webb's death, Chief Daryl Gates announced that badge number 714, which was used by Joe Friday in Dragnet, would be retired. Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley ordered all flags lowered to half staff in Webb's honor for a day, and Webb was buried with a replica LAPD badge bearing the rank of sergeant and the number 714.
Legacy
Webb has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for radio (at 7040 Hollywood Boulevard) and the other for television (at 6728 Hollywood Boulevard). In 1992, Webb was posthumously inducted into the Television Hall of Fame.
Filmography
Film
Television
Discography
Songs from Pete Kelly's Blues (1955)
You're My Girl: Romantic Reflections by Jack Webb (1958)
Pete Kelly Lets His Hair Down (1958)
Golden Throats volume 1 (1988)
Just the Tracks, Ma'am: The Warner Brothers Recordings (2000)
References
Further reading
September 12, 19, 26, October 3, 1954.
External links
Badge 714 (Dragnet and Webb fan site)
Pat Novak For Hire (Pat Novak For Hire'' fan site)
AAFCollection.info Pictures of Jack Webb as an Air Cadet at the Rankin Aeronautical Academy at Tulare, California in 1943.
Belmont High School (Los Angeles) alumni
American male film actors
Film producers from California
United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II
United States Army Air Forces soldiers
American male radio actors
American male television actors
American radio producers
American radio writers
American male screenwriters
American television directors
Television producers from California
American television writers
Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)
Edgar Award winners
Male actors from Los Angeles
1920 births
1982 deaths
People from Echo Park, Los Angeles
Warner Records artists
20th-century American male actors
American male television writers
20th-century American businesspeople
Film directors from Los Angeles
Screenwriters from California
20th-century American male writers
20th-century American screenwriters
People from Bunker Hill, Los Angeles | false | [
"Dragnet is an American radio, television and motion-picture series, enacting the cases of a dedicated Los Angeles police detective, Sergeant Joe Friday and his partners. The show took its name from the police term \"dragnet\", meaning a system of coordinated measures for apprehending criminals or suspects.\n\nDragnet is perhaps the most famous and influential police procedural drama in media history. The series portrayed police work as dangerous and heroic. Dragnet earned praise for improving the public opinion of police officers.\n\nActor and producer Jack Webb's aims in Dragnet were for realism and unpretentious acting; he achieved both goals, and Dragnet remains a key influence on subsequent police dramas in many media. The show's cultural impact is such that seven decades after its debut, elements of Dragnet are familiar to those who have never seen or heard the program:\nThe ominous, four-note introduction to the brass and timpani theme music (titled \"Danger Ahead\") is instantly recognizable (though its origins date to Miklós Rózsa's score for the 1946 film version of The Killers).\nAnother Dragnet trademark is the show's opening narration: \"Ladies and gentlemen: the story you are about to hear is true. Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent.\" This underwent minor revisions over time. The \"only\" and \"ladies and gentlemen\" were dropped at some point and for the television version \"hear\" was changed to \"see\".\n\nRadio\n\nDragnet began as a radio series, running on the NBC radio network from 1949 to 1957.\n\nTelevision\n\n1951–1959 original\n\n1967–1970 revival\n\nWebb relaunched Dragnet in 1966, with NBC once again chosen to air the series. He tried to persuade Ben Alexander to rejoin him as Frank Smith. Alexander was then committed to an ABC police series, Felony Squad, and the producers would not release him. Webb reluctantly came up with a new character to take the role of Joe Friday's partner, calling upon his longtime friend Harry Morgan to play Officer Bill Gannon. Morgan had previously portrayed rooming-house proprietor Luther Gage in the 1949 radio series episode \"James Vickers\". George Fenneman returned as the show's primary announcer, with John Stephenson replacing Hal Gibney in the role of announcing the trial dates and subsequent punishments for the offenders. Fenneman replaced Stephenson in that role during the fourth season. Unlike the previous Dragnet series, the revival was produced and aired in color.\n\nWebb produced a TV movie pilot for the new version of the show for Universal Television, although the pilot was not aired until January 1969. NBC bought the show on the strength of the movie, and it debuted as a midseason replacement for the sitcom The Hero on Thursday nights in January 1967. To distinguish it from the original, the year was included in the title of the show (i.e., Dragnet 1967). Although Friday had been promoted to lieutenant in the final episode of the 1950s production, Webb chose to have Friday revert to sergeant with his familiar badge, \"714\".\n\nWhen real-life LAPD Sergeant Dan Cooke, Webb's contact in the department during production of the revived Dragnet series, was promoted to lieutenant, he arranged to carry the same lieutenant's badge, number 714, as worn by Joe Friday. Cooke was technical advisor to the KNBC documentary Police Unit 2A-26, directed by John Orland. He brought that to the attention of Webb, who hired Orland to direct and film This is the City, a series of minidocumentaries about Los Angeles that preceded most TV episodes during the 1969 and 1970 seasons. The show had good ratings on NBC's schedule for four seasons, although its popularity did not exceed that of the 1950s version.\n\nMuch as was done 11 years earlier, Webb decided voluntarily to discontinue Dragnet after its fourth season to focus on producing and directing his other projects through Mark VII Limited. The first of these projects was titled Adam-12, a 30-minute police procedural similar to Dragnet, but focusing on patrol officers rather than detectives. The series premiered in the fall of 1968, while Dragnet 1969 was in production, and ran for seven seasons, coming to an end in 1975. In 1971, with producer Robert A. Cinader, Webb developed another pilot originally intended to be centered around the staff of a Los Angeles–area medical center's emergency room. When researching for the pilot, Webb and Cinader were introduced to the Los Angeles County Fire Department's fledgling paramedic program, and the premise was reworked to include the Los Angeles County Fire Department, and Emergency! was born; running as a weekly series until 1977, and as a series of made-for-television movies for two years after that. Emergency! was centered on the then-fictitious Los Angeles County Fire Department paramedic rescue unit, Squad 51.\n\nReruns of this version were popular on local stations, usually during the late afternoon or early evening, in the early 1970s. From 1991 to 1995, they aired on Nick at Nite, then moved to its sister cable channel TV Land. From October 1, 2011, to April 26, 2013, the series ran daily on the digital cable channel Antenna TV, and before that, the show aired on the Retro Television Network.\n\nDragnet aired Monday through Friday on Me-TV. The show was part of the \"CriMe TV\" morning block with Perry Mason and The Rockford Files, with Dragnet airing back to back from 11:00 am until 12:00 pm. In December 2014, Me-TV added a third airing of Dragnet to its late-night lineup; the series airs at 12:30 am following a second episode of Perry Mason. Me-TV ended the run of Dragnet on January 1, 2015, whereupon it became part of Cozi TV's regular lineup. In January 2020 Dragnet returned to MeTV along with its sibling series Adam-12 after Cozi TV dropped both series; Dragnet currently broadcasts two episodes weekday mornings from 5:30 to 6:30 a.m.\n\nWebb's later years\nWebb had begun working on a revival of Dragnet in 1982, writing and producing five scripts and keeping his role as Joe Friday. Once again he needed to create a new character for Friday's partner; Ben Alexander had died in 1969 and Harry Morgan was tied up with his commitments to M*A*S*H, and its already greenlit followup AfterMASH. Webb decided on Kent McCord, the former Adam-12 star who had several guest appearances early in the 1967 revival series, to fill the undefined role. No indication was given whether McCord would be playing a totally new character, or his Jim Reed character from Adam-12. Webb died suddenly from a heart attack on December 23, 1982, and the revival was scrapped.\n\nAfter Webb's death, LAPD Chief Daryl Gates announced that badge number 714—Webb's number on the television show—was retired, and Los Angeles city offices lowered their flags to half staff. At Webb's funeral, the LAPD provided an honor guard, and the chief of police commented on Webb's connection with the LAPD. An LAPD auditorium was named in his honor. Jack Webb's LAPD sergeant's badge and ID card are on display at the Los Angeles Police Academy.\n\nFilm versions\n\nDragnet (1954)\n\nIn 1954, a theatrical feature film titled Dragnet, an adaptation of the series, was released with Webb, Alexander, and Richard Boone. Dennis Weaver plays R. A. Lohrman, a detective captain. The film begins with the shooting of small-time hood Miller Starkie (Dub Taylor) on orders from his boss, Max Troy (Stacy Harris). Friday and Smith's superior is LAPD Intelligence Division Captain Jim Hamilton (Boone), a department member and the film's technical advisor. The Intelligence Division focused on the pursuit of organized-crime figures, and some of Max Troy's habits resemble that of Mickey Cohen, the known Los Angeles underworld boss; for example, Troy's LAPD file reads that he could be found at \"Sunset Strip taverns and joints\", as could Cohen. The film depicts the working relationship between the LAPD and the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office; Friday and Smith work to gather evidence that the DA's office deems sufficient to gain the indictment and ultimate conviction of Troy and his fellows. One scene contains a violent fist-fight involving the two detectives, with the close-up cinematic technique typical of Webb's style of direction. The movie's ending represents a departure from most Dragnet stories; no arrest is made at the story's conclusion. Chester Davitt (Willard Sage), Troy's underling and Starkie's killer, is killed by underworld figures, and Troy succumbs to cancer before the detectives, having gathered sufficient evidence against him, can make the arrest.\n\nThe film earned an estimated $4.7 million at the North American box office during its first year of release.\n\nDragnet 1966 (aired 1969)\nDragnet 1966 is a made-for-TV movie that initiated the return of the Dragnet series to television. It was intended as the TV pilot of Dragnet 1967, but was not aired as planned. It was eventually broadcast in 1969. The movie stars Jack Webb as Sgt. Friday and Harry Morgan as Officer Bill Gannon. The story focuses on crime more typical of the 1960s than of the previous Dragnet era; the detectives are assigned to find a voyeuristic serial killer similar to Harvey Glatman (played by Vic Perrin, who appeared in the 1954 film as an assistant district attorney). Also appearing is Virginia Gregg, who had a role in the 1954 feature and was a frequent guest actor in the 1951–59 series and the 1967–70 episodes, and John Roseboro, a catcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers, who dabbled in acting in the off season; Roseboro played a plainclothes detective who had been the target of racial slurs by a child molester until Friday came to his aid.\n\nDragnet (1987)\n\nIn 1987, a comedy movie version of Dragnet appeared starring Dan Aykroyd as the stiff Joe Friday (the original Detective Friday's nephew), and Tom Hanks as partner Pep Streebeck. The film contrasted the terse, clipped character of Friday, a hero from another age, with the 'real world' of Los Angeles in 1987 to broad comedic effect. Beyond Aykroyd's imitation of Webb's Joe Friday and Harry Morgan's small role reprising Bill Gannon, this film version has few similarities with previous incarnations. The film was more a parody, and a hit with audiences, though no follow-up film was produced. LAPD Lieutenant Dan Cooke, who had served as technical advisor for the Jack Webb series, was technical advisor for this production.\n\nRemakes after Webb's death\n\n1989 series: The New Dragnet\n\nThe show returned to television in the fall of 1989 as The New Dragnet in first-run syndication, featuring new characters, and airing in tandem with The New Adam-12, a remake of another Webb-produced Adam-12. The New Dragnet starred Jeff Osterhage and Bernard White as detectives Vic Daniels and Carl Molina, respectively, and Don Stroud as Captain Lussen. Fifty-two episodes were aired over two seasons. The first 26 episodes aired between October 24, 1989, and January 21, 1990, with the second season of 26 episodes airing between April 19 and September 9, 1990.\n\n2003 series: L.A. Dragnet\n\nIn 2003, a Dragnet series was produced by Dick Wolf, the producer of NBC's Law & Order series and spin-offs, in turn strongly influenced by Dragnet. It aired on ABC, and starred Ed O'Neill as Joe Friday and Ethan Embry as Frank Smith. After a 12-episode season that followed the traditional formula, the format of the series was changed to an ensemble crime drama in an attempt to boost ratings.\n\nIn L.A. Dragnet, Friday was promoted to lieutenant with less screen time and Frank Smith was written out, in favor of younger and ethnically diverse cast played by Eva Longoria, Desmond Harrington, Evan Dexter Parke, and Christina Chang. Roselyn Sanchez was added to the regular cast in a few episodes. With the Dragnet formula no longer in place, the program had the feel of a typical procedural drama. It was cancelled five episodes into its second season. Three episodes premiered on USA Network in early 2004, with the final two on the Sleuth channel in 2006. In places such as the Netherlands, the show is retitled Murder Investigation.\n\nRelated works\n\nMusic\n\nThe theme from Dragnet has been recorded by many artists, achieving popular success. Artists who charted with it include Ray Anthony (1953) and The Art of Noise (1987).\n\nNonfiction\n In 1958, Webb authored The Badge, a book containing chapters of true stories told from the view of a patrolman, sergeant, lieutenant, and others. It had a number of photographs and recently was reissued with a foreword by James Ellroy, author of L.A. Confidential.\n\nParodies\n The Little Shop of Horrors, a 1960 cult classic comedy horror film by Roger Corman, features a parody of the traditional Dragnet dry, hard-boiled voiceover narration throughout, and in the second half of the film, an onscreen parody of Dragnet and Joe Friday's robotic stoicism, a police detective named Joe Fink who says in voiceover \"My name is Fink. Joe Fink... I'm a fink\".\n \"St. George and the Dragonet\", a 1953 short audio satire by Stan Freberg, was a smash hit reaching number one on both the Billboard and the Cash Box record charts. In this satire, Freberg used the line \"Just the facts, ma'am\", which entered popular lexicography as an actual catchphrase from Dragnet, despite the line never being used on the show, except for Season Two, Episode Eight (\"Big Lease\"). Freberg followed \"St. George...\" with \"Little Blue Riding Hood\" and \"Christmas Dragnet\".\n The 1954 Woody Woodpecker cartoon Under the Counter Spy was a parody of Dragnet. At the beginning, a narrator says, \"The story you are about to see is a big fat lie. No names have been changed to protect anybody!\" At the end, a hammer and stamp make the words \"THE END\", and the hammerer hits his thumb.\n The 1955, Three Stooges short Blunder Boys parodies Dragnet. In place of the familiar \"Dragnet\" theme, the first four notes of \"The Song of the Volga Boatmen\", which is in the public domain, is used. At the end of the film, Moe stamps Larry's head with a hammer; Larry's forehead then reads, \"VII 1/2 The End\".\n A 1956 Looney Tunes short, Rocket Squad, starred Daffy Duck and Porky Pig as Sgt. Joe Monday and Det. Schmoe Tuesday, respectively. Daffy narrated, giving a running timeline in the manner of Sgt. Friday. This police adventure ends with both officers convicted and imprisoned for false arrest. The opening title reads: \"Ladies and Gentlemen, the story you are about to see is true. The drawings have been changed to protect the innocent\". Another short, Tree Cornered Tweety, featured Tweety imitating the narrator of Dragnet as he is being pursued by Sylvester again.\n A segment of the Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoon show called \"Bullwinkle's Corner\", which featured Bullwinkle Moose in a poetry reading of \"Tom, Tom the Piper's Son,\" parodied Dragnet, as Bullwinkle is apprehended in the act of stealing a pig by two detectives who interrogate Bullwinkle using a terse, clipped monotone similar in style to Joe Friday and Frank Smith (\"You got a name?\" \"I'm Tom, Tom the Piper's Son.\" \"All right, Piperson, what were you going to do with the pig?\").\n In 1968, Jack Webb appeared in the \"Copper Clapper Caper\" sketch on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, playing the poker-faced Joe Friday interviewing the equally deadpan victim of a robbery (played by Carson). The details of the crime started with the alliterative \"k\" or \"kl\" consonant sound, such as \"Claude Cooper, the kleptomaniac from Cleveland.\"\n A Sesame Street Muppet skit from the early 1970s Dragnet, featuring Sgt. Thursday and his partner, Ben, searching for a fugitive letter ”W” based on a drawing Ben carries with him of the letter; when they do encounter the letter W it disguises itself turning upside down into a letter “M”.\n The final segment of each episode of PBS's Square One was titled \"Mathnet\" and opened with the Dragnet theme and an arrangement of the lines \"The story you're about to see is a fib—but it's short. The names are made up, but the problems are real.\" Each story arc of the show's five-season run lasted five daily episodes (one week) and featured detectives Kate Monday (seasons 1–3) or Pat Tuesday (seasons 4–5) and George Ernest Frankly (all five seasons), of the LAPD in the first two of the show's five seasons and the New York Police Department in the last three seasons, using mathematics to solve crimes.\n In 1983, \"Prog #310\" of UK sci-fi comic 2000AD featured a time-travelling parody of Dragnet in the story \"Chrono Cops\", written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Dave Gibbons. In five pages, \"Joe Saturday\" and \"Ed Thursday\" encounter several time-travel \"tropes\", including a character attempting to kill his own great-grandfather.\n The season-five episode of The Simpsons titled \"Marge on the Lam\" centers around Marge Simpson and neighbor Ruth Powers being pursued by police while illegally driving Ruth's ex-husband's car; the episode ends with a Dragnet-style epilogue detailing the characters' fates, as narrated by original series announcer George Fenneman, then the end credits run over a graphic of a police badge while a version of The Simpsons theme done in the style of the famous \"Dragnet March\" plays. Also, the season-seven episode \"Mother Simpson\" has Homer Simpson's mother, Mona Simpson, as a fugitive from Charles Montgomery Burns, who is about to be captured after 27 years. Burns is helped by officers Joe Friday and Bill Gannon (voiced by Harry Morgan).\n Dragnet is parodied at the end of the episode of The New Adventures of Winnie-the-Pooh titled: \"Sorry, Wrong Slusher\". Winnie-the-Pooh performs a closing narration as a mug shot of Christopher Robin is shown on screen, in the style of Dragnet.\n The Amazon original series Man in the High Castle features a show in the fictional universe where Germany won the Second World War called \"American Reich\", shot in the style of Dragnet. The show's title crawl music is similar to Dragnet, and the title card contains a police badge with a swastika in the center. In keeping with the alternate history, the character equivalent of Friday is a straight-laced Nazi, with catchphrases including \"Ein Volk, Ein Reich, Ein phone call\".\n\nHome media\n\nOriginal series (1951–1959)\nMost, if not all, episodes of this series are in the public domain, and 52 episodes were released by many DVD labels. These collections feature a variety of the same 52 episodes. These include \"The Human Bomb\", \"The Big Actor\", \"The Big Mother\", \"The Big Cast\", \"The Big September Man\", \"The Big Phone Call\", \"The Big Casing\", \"The Big Lamp\", \"The Big Seventeen\", \"The Big .22 Caliber Rifle for Christmas\", \"The Big Grandma\", \"The Big Show\", \"The Big Break\", \"The Big Frank\", \"The Big Hands\", \"The Big Barrette\", \"The Big Dance\", \"The Big Betty\", \"The Big Will\", \"The Big Thief\", \"The Big Little Jesus\", \"The Big Trunk\", \"The Big Boys\", \"The Big Children\", \"The Big Winchester\", \"The Big Shoplift\", \"The Big Hit & Run Killer\", \"The Big Girl\", \"The Big Frame\", \"The Big False Make\", \"The Big Producer\", \"The Big Fraud\", \"The Big Crime\", \"The Big Pair\", \"The Big Missing\", \"The Big Bar\", \"The Big Present\", \"The Big New Year\", \"The Big Rod\", \"The Big Lift\", \"The Big Gap\", \"The Big Look\", \"The Big Glasses\", \"The Big Bird\", \"the Big Smoke\", \"The Big Bounce\", \"The Big Deal\", \"The Big Hat\", \"The Big Net\", \"The Big War\", \"The Big Oskar\", and \"The Big Counterfeit\". Often, some are mislabeled as no onscreen titles are used.\n\nThree collections released from Alpha Video feature four episodes each. Eclectic DVD released a collection of three episodes.\n\nPlatinum Video released seven episodes from the original series in 2002. The episodes are: \"Big Crime\", \"Big Pair\", \"Big Producer\", \"Big Break\", \"Big September Man\", \"Big Betty\", and \"Big Trunk\". The two-disc set includes episodes from Burke's Law, Peter Gunn, Richard Diamond, Private Detective, Mr. Wong, Detective, and Bulldog Drummond.\n\nDragnet feature film (1954)\nThis movie was released on DVD in 2009 as part of Universal Studios' \"Vault Series\".\n\nDragnet pilot movie (1966)\nThis movie is a bonus feature on Shout! Factory's \"Dragnet 1968: Season Two\" (Release Date: July 6, 2010).\n\nDragnet (1967–1970)\nOn June 7, 2005, Universal Studios released the first season on DVD in Region 1. Because sales numbers did not meet Universal's expectations, no plans were made to release the remaining three seasons.\n\nOn March 17, 2010, Shout! Factory acquired the rights to distribute the series under license from Universal. They subsequently released seasons 2–4.\n\nThe New Dragnet (1989)\nNo DVD releases to date of this remake that lasted two seasons.\n\nL.A. Dragnet (2003)\nUniversal Studios Home Entertainment was going to release the first season of this short-lived remake on DVD on November 11, 2003, but this release was cancelled. It is not known if the set will be released, though it is available for viewing on Hulu.\n\nReferences\n\nGeneral sources \n Dunning, John, On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio, Oxford University Press, 1998, .\n Michael J. Hayde, My Name's Friday: The Unauthorized but True Story of Dragnet and the Films of Jack Webb, Cumberland House, 2001, \n Jason Mittell, Genre and Television: From Cop Shows to Cartoons in American Culture. Routledge, 2004, .\n\nExternal links\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n – \"Copper Clappers\" sketch, featuring Johnny Carson and Jack Webb from a 1968 Tonight Show episode\n\n \n1951 American television series debuts\n1954 films\n1959 American television series endings\n1967 American television series debuts\n1969 films\n1970 American television series endings\n1980s American television series\n2003 American television series debuts\n2004 American television series endings\nAmerican Broadcasting Company original programming\nAmerican crime television series\nAmerican police procedural television series\nAmerican television series revived after cancellation\nBlack-and-white American television shows\nEdgar Award-winning works\nEnglish-language television shows\nFictional police officers\nFictional portrayals of the Los Angeles Police Department\nNBC original programming\nTelevision franchises\nTelevision series by Mark VII Limited\nTelevision series by Universal Television\nTelevision shows filmed in Los Angeles\nTelevision shows set in Los Angeles",
"Dragnet – later syndicated as Badge 714 – is an American television series, based on the radio series of the same name, both created by their star, Jack Webb. The shows take their name from the police term dragnet, a system of coordinated measures for apprehending criminals or suspects. Webb reprised his radio role of Los Angeles police detective Sergeant Joe Friday. Ben Alexander co-starred as Friday's partner, Officer Frank Smith.\n\nThe ominous, four-note introduction to the brass and tympani theme music (titled \"Danger Ahead\"), composed by Walter Schumann, is instantly recognizable. It is derived from Miklós Rózsa's score for the 1946 film The Killers.\n\nThis was the first television series in a Dragnet media franchise encompassing film, television, books and comics. The series was filmed at Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California.\n\nHistory\nDuring its early success on radio, Dragnet was popular enough to move to television. More important was that it brought continuity between the television and radio series, using the same script devices and many of the same actors. Liggett & Myers sponsored Dragnet, both on radio and on TV, during the 1950s, with Webb seen smoking Chesterfields.\n\nWebb was comfortable playing Joe Friday on radio but balked at the prospect of playing the role before the cameras; according to author-biographer Michael J. Hayde, Webb's choice for the TV Joe Friday was Hollywood actor Lloyd Nolan, whose casual underplaying Webb admired. But Webb was too well established in the radio Dragnet and the network insisted that he continue in the leading role.\n\nThe template for the TV show was simply the proven radio formula, embellished with visuals. Most early episodes were directly adapted from earlier Dragnet radio shows, and writer James E. Moser wrote the vast majority of the show's episodes through the end of 1954. Webb directed every episode of Dragnet, and was also a very occasional writer on the show.\n\nThe two familiar leads, Jack Webb and Barton Yarborough, settled in for the first season, disrupted when Yarborough suffered a fatal heart attack. Under Webb's authority, the writing staff worked his partner's demise into the storyline, and Sgt. Friday rode with various partners until settling on Ben Alexander as detective Frank Smith, providing some sporadic comic relief. Most of the episodes available to viewers today feature Webb and Alexander. Alexander was also an occasional writer on the show.\n\nJohn Robinson joined the writing staff in 1953, and by 1955 (after Moser left the show for a time), Robinson became Dragnet'''s most frequent script contributor. Note that despite some sources claiming that Robinson was a pen-name of Jack Webb, it was not; Robinson was a separate individual with a long and well-documented scriptwriting career. (Webb, whose full legal name was \"John Randolph Webb\", did occasionally write under the similar pen name of \"John Randolph\".) Frank Burt joined the staff in 1955, and along with Robinson wrote most of the mid-period Dragnet episodes. Moser returned for the final two seasons, while Robinson and Burt reduced their participation in these final years. Overall, well over 200 of the 276 episodes of Dragnet were written (or co-written) by at least one of Moser, Robinson or Burt. There were other less frequent contributors, and two notable Star Trek writers caught an early break, each writing a very late-running Dragnet episode: Gene L. Coon and John Meredyth Lucas.\n\nThe 1950s Dragnet episodes in black-and-white differ significantly from the 1960s Dragnet episodes in color. This first TV series took a documentary approach, with Sgt. Friday and the police force often encountering the seedy side of Los Angeles, with a steady succession of callous fugitives, desperate gunmen, slippery swindlers, and hard bitten women. Most of the cast members were veteran radio actors who could be relied upon to read the matter-of-fact dialogue naturally. Webb used most of his ensemble players again and again in different roles: Jack Kruschen, Vic Perrin, Harry Bartell, Art Gilmore, Peggy Webber, Barney Phillips, Herb Ellis, Carolyn Jones (then billed as Caroline Jones), Clarence Cassell, Virginia Christine, Ralph Moody, Kathleen Freeman, Stacy Harris, Natalie Masters, Virginia Gregg, Olan Soule, Herb Vigran, Peter Leeds, Sarah Selby, and many others. Martin Milner and Lee Marvin made one of their earliest TV appearances on the series; and at the time, going against type playing heavies, Raymond Burr (billed as Ray Burr) appeared in the series' first episode, as Sgt. Friday's superior, Captain Thad Mumford. Webb staged each story with newsreel-like authenticity, enhancing the visual action with extremely tight close-ups (unheard of in the days of tiny television screens), location photography, and unusual camera angles. Much of this inventiveness went unused in the 1960s revival. Although still using convincing dialogue readings, the new Dragnet lost much of the documentary appearance.\n\nJust before the show took its final commercial break, the show's announcer would inform the audience of something related to the case, usually the opening date on which the perpetrator's trial would take place in the Los Angeles County Superior Court (this would be accompanied by an onscreen card so the viewer could read along). After the break the camera faded in for what was presumably the perpetrator's mug shot, consisting of him standing uncomfortably against the wall, while the results of the trial, including the sentencing, were announced. The perpetrator's name and fate were then superimposed over the screen. In most cases, this superimposed material specifically stated in what prison the perpetrator had been incarcerated, or, in the case of perpetrators deemed unfit to stand trial, to what state mental hospital or psychiatric facility they were committed.\n\nIn rare cases, where the perpetrator was found guilty of murder and the death penalty was applied, the place and method of execution was noted on screen. In even rarer cases, such as in the episodes \"The Big Show\" or \"The Big Little Jesus\", there was no trial. In the episode \"The Big Little Jesus\", the content of the episode made it clear that no trial was to be held, and there was no final announcement. In the very rare other Dragnet episodes that did not result in a trial, the narrator would briefly explain why there was no trial, and the on-screen superimposition would describe the fate of the episode's perpetrator.\n\nWhile one early episode of Dragnet centered around a criminal who was found \"not guilty\" by a jury at the start of the episode, no episode ended with a perpetrator caught by Friday and his partner being found \"not guilty\" by a court.\n\nEpisodes\n\nBroadcast history\n\nJanuary 3, 1952 – December 29, 1955: Thursday at 9:00 pm on NBC\nJanuary 5, 1956 – June 26, 1958: Thursday at 8:30 pm on NBC\nSeptember 23, 1958 – April 28, 1959: Tuesday at 7:30 pm on NBC\nJuly 7, 1959 – August 23, 1959: Sunday at 8:30 pm on NBC\n\nRatings\n\nOctober 1951 – April 1952: #20/36.3 (tied with All Star Revue)\nOctober 1952 – April 1953: #4/46.8\nOctober 1953 – April 1954: #2/53.2\nOctober 1954 – April 1955: #3/42.1\nOctober 1955 – April 1956: #8/35.0\nOctober 1956 – April 1957: #11/32.1\nOctober 1957 – April 1958: Not in the Top 30\nOctober 1958 – April 1959: Not in the Top 30\n\nDVD releases\nHalf of the episodes of this series are in the public domain, with an estimated fifty-two episodes released on many DVD labels. A number of these collections recycle the same fifty-two episodes. Often some are mislabeled as there are no onscreen titles.\n\nEclectic DVD released a collection of three episodes.\n\nPlatinum Video released seven episodes from the original series in 2002. The two disc set also includes episodes from Burke's Law; Peter Gunn; Richard Diamond, Private Detective; Mr. Wong, Detective; and Bulldog Drummond.References\n\nSources\n Jason Mittell, Genre and Television: From Cop Shows to Cartoons in American Culture.'' Routledge, 2004, .\n\nExternal links\n\n \n\n1951 American television series debuts\n1959 American television series endings\nAmerican police procedural television series\n1950s American crime drama television series\nEnglish-language television shows\nFictional portrayals of the Los Angeles Police Department\nTelevision shows set in Los Angeles\nTelevision shows filmed in Los Angeles\nBlack-and-white American television shows\nEdgar Award-winning works\nNBC original programming\nPrimetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series winners\nTelevision series by Universal Television\nTelevision series by Mark VII Limited\nTelevision series based on radio series"
]
|
[
"Jack Webb",
"1967: Dragnet returns",
"What was Dragnet about?",
"A pilot telefilm, based on the Harvey Glatman serial killings,",
"What role did Jack Webb play in Dragnet",
"Joe Friday,",
"What did Joe Friday do in Dragnet?",
"Don Dubbins, who had acted alongside Webb",
"Was Dragnet a cop show?",
"I don't know."
]
| C_c54a5c03dd1b4879a6f33fcc1c445f57_0 | How long did Jack Webb act in Dragnet? | 5 | How long did Jack Webb act in Dragnet? | Jack Webb | Shortly after leaving his position at Warner Bros., Webb teamed with Universal Television to begin work on a new Dragnet series. A pilot telefilm, based on the Harvey Glatman serial killings, was produced in 1966 for NBC, with Webb's Sgt. Joe Friday joined by Harry Morgan as Officer Bill Gannon. (Webb had tried to get Ben Alexander to reprise his role as Frank Smith, but he was unable to get Alexander to leave the ABC series Felony Squad.) The new Dragnet premiered as a midseason replacement series on January 12, 1967, and aired until April 16, 1970. To distinguish it from the original series, the year of production was added to the title (Dragnet 1967, Dragnet 1968, etc.). The revival emphasized crime prevention and outreach to the public. Its attempts to address the contemporary youth-drug culture (such as "The LSD Story" episode, guest-starring Michael Burns as Benjamin John "Blue Boy" Carver, voted 85th-best TV episode of all time by TV Guide and TV Land) have led certain episodes on the topic to achieve cult status due to their strained attempts to be "with-it", such as Joe Friday grilling "Blue Boy" by asking him, "You're pretty high and far out, aren't you? What kind of kick are you on, son?" Don Dubbins, who had acted alongside Webb in The D.I. in 1957, was another featured actor in Mark VII Limited programs beginning in the 1960s. In 1968, Webb and his production partner R.A. Cinader launched Adam-12 on NBC. A spinoff of Dragnet, Adam-12 starred Martin Milner and Kent McCord as a pair of LAPD beat cops, and followed their escapades while on patrol. Running till 1975, for a total of seven seasons, Adam-12 was Webb's second-longest running television series, with the eight seasons recorded by the original Dragnet being the longest. Also in 1968, Webb and Johnny Carson performed a sketch on The Tonight Show that has since become known as the "Copper Clapper Caper" sketch. Webb, in character as Joe Friday, was working on the case of a robbery at a school-bell factory. Carson played the owner of the factory and victim of the theft, which consisted of each bell being relieved of its clapper (the device that makes the bell ring). The sketch's dialogue consisted of Webb and Carson discussing the situation in deadpan style and using alliteration and tongue twisters to describe the incident, each word having either a "c" or "cl" sound at the beginning. Both Webb and Carson tried desperately not to lose composure, but both did, near the end of the sketch. CANNOTANSWER | Dragnet 1967, Dragnet 1968, etc. | John Randolph Webb (April 2, 1920 – December 23, 1982) was an American actor, television producer, director, and screenwriter, who is most famous for his role as Sgt. Joe Friday in the Dragnet franchise (which he created). He was also the founder of his own production company, Mark VII Limited.
Early life
Webb was born in Santa Monica, California, on April 2, 1920, son of Samuel Chester Webb and Margaret (née Smith) Webb. He grew up in the Bunker Hill section of Los Angeles. His father left home before Webb was born, and Webb never knew him.
In the late 1920s and early 1930s, Webb lived in the parish of Our Lady of Loretto Church and attended Our Lady of Loretto Elementary School in Echo Park, where he served as an altar boy. He then attended Belmont High School, near downtown Los Angeles. Webb was elected student body president of his high school. He wrote to Belmont's student body in the 1938 edition of its yearbook, Campanile, "You who showed me the magnificent warmth of friendship which I know, and you know, I will carry with me forever." Webb attended St. John's University, Minnesota, where he studied art.
During World War II, Webb enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps, but he "washed out" of flight training. He later received a hardship discharge because he was the primary financial support for both his mother and grandmother.
Career
Acting
Following his discharge, he moved to San Francisco, where a wartime shortage of announcers led to a temporary appointment to his own radio show on ABC's KGO Radio. The Jack Webb Show was a half-hour comedy that had a limited run on ABC radio in 1946. Prior to that, he had a one-man program, One Out of Seven, on KGO in which he dramatized a news story from the previous week.
By 1949, he had abandoned comedy for drama, and starred in Pat Novak, for Hire, a radio show originating from KFRC about a man who worked as an unlicensed private detective. The program co-starred Raymond Burr. Pat Novak was notable for writing that imitated the hard-boiled style of such writers as Raymond Chandler, with lines such as: "She drifted into the room like 98 pounds of warm smoke. Her voice was hot and sticky—like a furnace full of marshmallows." Early in 1949, Webb served as the main antagonist of Alan Ladd's protagonist character Dan Holliday in "The Better Man" episode of the radio series "Box 13", which aired on January 2, 1949.
Webb's radio shows included Johnny Madero, Pier 23, Jeff Regan, Investigator, Murder and Mr. Malone, Pete Kelly's Blues, and One Out of Seven. Webb provided all of the voices on One Out of Seven, often vigorously attacking racial prejudice.
Webb's most famous motion-picture role was as the combat-hardened Marine Corps drill instructor at Parris Island in the 1957 film The D.I., with Don Dubbins as a callow Marine private. Webb's hard-nosed approach to this role, that of Drill Instructor Technical Sergeant James Moore, would be reflected in much of his later acting. But The D.I. was a box-office failure.
In 1950, Webb appeared in three films that would become cult classics. In Sunset Boulevard, he's the fiance of William Holden's love interest Nancy Olson (his performance is very animated and jovial, unlike his later deadpan style). He played a war veteran in Marlon Brando's first feature, The Men. And in the film noir Dark City, he co-starred with Harry Morgan, his future partner on the second Dragnet series.
Webb was approached to play the role of Vernon Wormer, Dean of Faber College, in National Lampoon's Animal House, but he turned it down, saying "the movie didn't make any damn sense"; John Vernon ultimately played the role.
Dragnet and stardom
Webb had a featured role as a crime-lab technician in the 1948 film He Walked by Night, based on the real-life murder of a California Highway Patrolman by Erwin Walker. The film was produced in semidocumentary style with technical assistance provided by Detective Sergeant Marty Wynn of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). He Walked By Night's thinly veiled fictionalized recounting of the 1946 Walker crime spree gave Webb the idea for Dragnet: a recurring series based on real cases from LAPD police files, featuring authentic depictions of the modern police detective, including methods, mannerisms, and technical language.
With much assistance from Sgt. Marty Wynn and legendary LAPD chief William H. Parker, Dragnet premiered on NBC Radio in 1949 and ran till 1957. It was also picked up as a television series by NBC, which aired episodes each season from 1952 to 1959. Webb played Sgt. Joe Friday and Barton Yarborough co-starred as Sgt. Ben Romero. After Yarborough's death, Ben Alexander joined the cast.
Webb was a stickler for attention to detail. He believed viewers wanted "realism" and tried to give it to them. Webb had tremendous respect for those in law enforcement. He often said, in interviews, that he was angry about the "ridiculous amount" of abuse to which police were subjected by the press and the public. Webb was also impressed by the long hours, the low pay, and the high injury rate among police investigators of the day, particularly in the LAPD, which had by then acquired a notorious reputation for jettisoning officers who had become ill or injured in the line of duty; in Webb's book, The Badge: True and Terrifying Crime Stories that Could Not Be Presented on TV, from the Creator and Star of "Dragnet", one of Erwin Walker's victims, LAPD detective Lt. Colin Forbes, was among those whose experiences were so noted.
In announcing his vision of Dragnet, Webb said he intended to perform a service for the police by showing them as low-key working-class heroes. Dragnet moved away from earlier portrayals of the police in shows such as Jeff Regan and Pat Novak, which had often shown them as brutal and even corrupt. Dragnet became a successful television show in 1952. Barton Yarborough died of a heart attack in 1951, after filming only two episodes, and Barney Phillips (Sgt. Ed Jacobs) and Herbert Ellis (Officer Frank Smith) temporarily stepped in as partners. Veteran radio and film actor Ben Alexander took over the role of jovial, burly Officer Frank Smith. Alexander was popular and remained a cast member until the show's cancellation in 1959. In 1954, a full-length feature-film adaptation of the series was released, starring Webb, Alexander, and Richard Boone.
The television version of Dragnet began with this narration by George Fenneman: "Ladies and gentlemen, the story you are about to see is true. The names have been changed to protect the innocent." Webb would intone, "This is the city: Los Angeles, California." He would then make a historical or topical point, describe his duties, his partner, and superior on the episode. The radio series had a similar opening, though Webb, as Friday, did not give a unique LA-themed opening. Webb then set the plot by describing a typical day and then led into the story. "It was Wednesday, March 19th. It was cool in Los Angeles. I was at headquarters, working narcotics...." At the end of each show, Fenneman repeated his opening narration, revised to read: "The story you have just seen is true. The names were changed to protect the innocent."
A second announcer, Hal Gibney, usually gave dates when and specific courtrooms where trials were held for the suspects, announcing the trial verdicts after commercial breaks. Many suspects shown to have been found guilty at the end were also shown as having been confined to the California State Prison at San Quentin. Webb frequently recreated entire floors of buildings on sound stages, such as the police headquarters at Los Angeles City Hall and a floor of the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner.
In Dragnet'''s early days, Webb continued to appear in movies, notably as the best friend of William Holden's character in the 1950 Billy Wilder film Sunset Boulevard as Artie Green, assistant director and fiancé to script reader Betty Schaefer (Nancy Olson). In contrast to the pair's straight-arrow image in Dragnet, here Webb played a vicious card sharp in Dark City and Morgan a punch-drunk ex-fighter. Also in 1950, Webb appeared in The Men, the film in which Marlon Brando made his film debut. Both actors played paraplegics undergoing rehabilitation at a veterans' hospital. In a subplot, Webb's character, a cynical intellectual, is fleeced of his life savings by a woman who feigns romantic interest.
In 1951, Webb introduced a short-lived radio series, Pete Kelly's Blues, in an attempt to bring the music he loved to a broader audience. That show became the basis for a 1955 film of the same name. In 1959, a television version was made. Neither was very successful. Pete Kelly was a cornet player who supplemented his income from playing in a nightclub band by working as a private investigator.
1960s
In 1963, Webb took over from William T. Orr as executive producer of the ABC/Warner Bros. detective series 77 Sunset Strip. He brought about wholesale changes in the program and retained only Efrem Zimbalist Jr., in the role of private detective Stuart Bailey. Gone were co-stars Roger Smith and Edd Byrnes and the lively series set. The altered program began with Bailey quietly entering an elevator to an upper floor of a bleak office building. The story lines were far different from those of the first five years of the series. The result was a disaster, and critics accused Webb of being out of touch with the younger generation, a perception that the revival of Dragnet subsequently did nothing to correct. Ratings fell, and 77 Sunset Strip was cancelled before the end of the sixth season. John Gavin's Destry, a light-hearted Western series, filled the remaining three months of the Friday-night time slot vacated on ABC by 77 Sunset Strip.Meanwhile, Webb teamed with actor Jeffrey Hunter to form Apollo Productions. They produced a failed television series, Temple Houston, with Hunter in the title role. In the summer of 1963, Webb pushed Temple Houston to production. The series was loosely based on the life of the frontier lawyer Temple Lea Houston, the youngest son of the legendary Texan Sam Houston. The series was added to the NBC schedule after the planned drama, The Robert Taylor Show, based on case files of the United States Department of Health, Education and Welfare, was suddenly disbanded after making four episodes. Under orders from Webb, Temple Houston episodes were put together in just two or three days each, something previously thought impossible in television production. Work began on August 7, 1963, with the initial airing set for September 19. Jimmy Lydon, a former child actor, adult actor, and a television producer with Warner Bros. at the time, recalled that Webb told the staff, "Fellas, I just sold Temple Houston. We gotta be on the air in four weeks; we can't use the pilot, we have no scripts, no nothing--do it!" Lydon recalled the team having worked around the clock to get Temple Houston on the air. Co-producer William Conrad directed six episodes, two scripts simultaneously on two different soundstages at WB. "We bicycled Jeff (series star Jeffrey Hunter) and Elam (supporting star Jack Elam) between the two companies, and Bill shot 'em both in four-and-a-half days. Two complete one-hour shows!" recalled Lydon.Temple Houston ended after its 26-week run. In a 1965 interview with The Milwaukee Journal, Hunter described the situation:
1967: Dragnet returns
Shortly after leaving his position at Warner Bros., Webb teamed with Universal Television to begin work on a new Dragnet series. A pilot telefilm, based on the Harvey Glatman serial killings, was produced in 1966 for NBC, with Webb's Sgt. Joe Friday joined by Harry Morgan as Officer Bill Gannon. Webb had tried to get Ben Alexander to reprise his role as Frank Smith, but he was unable to get Alexander to leave the ABC series Felony Squad.The new Dragnet premiered as a midseason replacement series on January 12, 1967, and aired until April 16, 1970. To distinguish it from the original series, the year of production was added to the title (Dragnet 1967, Dragnet 1968, etc.). The revival emphasized crime prevention and outreach to the public. Its attempts to address the contemporary youth-drug culture (such as the revival's first episode, "The LSD Story", guest-starring Michael Burns as Benjamin John "Blue Boy" Carver, voted 85th-best TV episode of all time by TV Guide and TV Land) have led certain episodes on the topic to achieve cult status due to their strained attempts to be "with-it", such as Joe Friday grilling "Blue Boy" by asking him, "You're pretty high and far out, aren't you? What kind of kick are you on, son?" Don Dubbins, who had acted alongside Webb in The D.I. in 1957, was another featured actor in Mark VII Limited programs beginning in the 1960s.
In 1968, Webb and his production partner R.A. Cinader launched Adam-12 on NBC. A spinoff of Dragnet, Adam-12 starred Martin Milner and Kent McCord as a pair of LAPD beat cops, and followed their escapades while on patrol. Running till 1975, for a total of seven seasons, Adam-12 was Webb's second-longest running television series, with the eight seasons recorded by the original Dragnet being the longest.
Also in 1968, Webb and Johnny Carson performed a sketch on The Tonight Show that has since become known as the "Copper Clapper Caper" sketch. Webb, in character as Joe Friday, was working on the case of a robbery at a school-bell factory. Carson played the owner of the factory and victim of the theft, which consisted of each bell being relieved of its clapper (the device that makes the bell ring). The sketch's dialogue consisted of Webb and Carson discussing the situation in deadpan style and using alliteration and tongue twisters to describe the incident, each word having either a "c" or "cl" sound at the beginning. Both Webb and Carson tried desperately not to lose composure, but both did, near the end of the sketch.
1970s and 1980s
In 1970, Webb decided to bring an end to Dragnet and cease acting to focus on expanding Mark VII Limited's production profile. In 1971, Webb entered the world of district attorneys and federal government work with two series. The first, The D.A., starred Robert Conrad and Harry Morgan as a pair of Los Angeles County ADAs, with Conrad playing a junior ADA and Morgan his superior. The second, O'Hara, United States Treasury, was a co-production of Webb and David Janssen, the former star of The Fugitive and future star of Harry O, for CBS (a rare non-NBC Mark VII effort) and featured Janssen as a Nebraska county sheriff-turned-United States Treasury Department agent. Neither series lasted very long, as The D.A., Webb's last 30-minute series, was cancelled after 15 episodes and O'Hara ended after 22.
Later in the 1971–72 season, Webb and Cinader launched Emergency!, a spin-off of Adam-12, which focused on the fictional Station 51 Rescue Squad of the L.A. County Fire Department, and its work in coordination with the emergency department staff of the fictional Rampart General Hospital. LACoFD's paramedic program was among the first paramedic services in the United States. Webb cast his ex-wife, Julie London, as well as her second husband and Dragnet ensemble player Bobby Troup, as head nurse Dixie McCall and Dr. Joe Early, respectively, with Randolph Mantooth and Kevin Tighe playing paramedics John Gage and Roy DeSoto and Robert Fuller playing Dr. Kelly Brackett, Rampart's Chief of Emergency Medicine.Emergency! ran as part of NBC's Saturday-night lineup for six entire seasons, and it was a popular series, sometimes winning its time slot against CBS's popular Saturday-night comedy block, which included All in the Family. The series came to an end in 1977, but it spawned a series of telefilms that ran until 1979. Webb's company and Universal also contracted with animator Fred Calvert to produce a spin-off Saturday-morning cartoon show for NBC titled Emergency +4, which ran for three seasons (the last in reruns) and featured the paramedics Gage and DeSoto assisted by four youngsters and their three pets.Emergency! was Webb's last sustained success. Of the remaining series his company produced, the only two that lasted longer than one season were Hec Ramsey, a two-season component of the NBC Mystery Movie wheel series that featured former Have Gun – Will Travel star Richard Boone as a pioneering forensic scientist in the Old West, and Project UFO, an anthology based on the investigations into UFOs as compiled by Project Bluebook that also ran for two seasons beginning in 1978.
Despite his string of short-lived series in the late 1970s, Webb still kept trying to recapture his previous success and decided to bring Dragnet back to television for a third series in 1983. Five scripts had been produced and Kent McCord, one of the stars of Adam-12, was cast as Joe Friday's new partner.
In 1987, Dan Aykroyd and Tom Hanks starred in a movie parody (and homage) to Webb, titled Dragnet, along with Harry Morgan, who reprised his role from the television series as Bill Gannon, who had by now become a captain of detectives. The comedy film was written and directed by Tom Mankiewicz, in his directorial debut. Aykroyd played the role of Joe Friday, described as the namesake nephew of the original series lead, while Hanks co-starred as Detective Officer Pep Streebeck, Friday's new smart-alecky and streetwise partner.
Personal life
Webb's personal life was better defined by his love of jazz than his interest in police work. He had a collection of more than 6,000 jazz recordings. Webb's own recordings reached cult status, including his deadpan delivery of "Try A Little Tenderness". His lifelong interest in the cornet allowed him to move easily in the jazz culture, where he met singer and actress Julie London. They married in 1947 and had daughters Stacy and Lisa,. They divorced in 1954. He was married three more times after that, to Dorothy Towne for two years beginning in 1955, to former Miss USA Jackie Loughery for six years beginning in 1958, and to his longtime associate, Opal Wright, for the last two years of his life.
Stacy Webb authorized and collaborated on a book, Just the Facts, Ma'am: The Authorized Biography of Jack Webb, Creator of Dragnet, Adam-12, and Emergency!, of which Daniel Moyer and Eugene Alvarez were the primary authors. It was published in 1999. Stacy did not live to see the publication of the book, having been killed in a collision with a California Highway Patrol car three years earlier.
Webb died of an apparent heart attack in the early morning hours of December 23, 1982, at age 62. He is interred at Sheltering Hills Plot 1999, Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles, and was given a funeral with full Los Angeles police honors. On Webb's death, Chief Daryl Gates announced that badge number 714, which was used by Joe Friday in Dragnet, would be retired. Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley ordered all flags lowered to half staff in Webb's honor for a day, and Webb was buried with a replica LAPD badge bearing the rank of sergeant and the number 714.
Legacy
Webb has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for radio (at 7040 Hollywood Boulevard) and the other for television (at 6728 Hollywood Boulevard). In 1992, Webb was posthumously inducted into the Television Hall of Fame.
Filmography
Film
Television
Discography
Songs from Pete Kelly's Blues (1955)
You're My Girl: Romantic Reflections by Jack Webb (1958)
Pete Kelly Lets His Hair Down (1958)
Golden Throats volume 1 (1988)
Just the Tracks, Ma'am: The Warner Brothers Recordings (2000)
References
Further reading
September 12, 19, 26, October 3, 1954.
External links
Badge 714 (Dragnet and Webb fan site)
Pat Novak For Hire (Pat Novak For Hire'' fan site)
AAFCollection.info Pictures of Jack Webb as an Air Cadet at the Rankin Aeronautical Academy at Tulare, California in 1943.
Belmont High School (Los Angeles) alumni
American male film actors
Film producers from California
United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II
United States Army Air Forces soldiers
American male radio actors
American male television actors
American radio producers
American radio writers
American male screenwriters
American television directors
Television producers from California
American television writers
Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)
Edgar Award winners
Male actors from Los Angeles
1920 births
1982 deaths
People from Echo Park, Los Angeles
Warner Records artists
20th-century American male actors
American male television writers
20th-century American businesspeople
Film directors from Los Angeles
Screenwriters from California
20th-century American male writers
20th-century American screenwriters
People from Bunker Hill, Los Angeles | true | [
"Dragnet may refer to:\n\n Dragnet, a fishing net used in seine fishing\n Dragnet (policing), a coordinated search, named for the fishing net\n\nMedia\n Dragnet (franchise)\n Dragnet (radio series), a 1949–1957 American radio series starring Jack Webb\n Dragnet (1951 TV series), the 1951–1959 American television spinoff from the radio series\n Dragnet (1954 film), a film version of the television and radio series starring and directed by Jack Webb\n Dragnet (1967 TV series), the 1967–1970 revival of the original television series\n Dragnet (1987 film), a parody of the television series starring Dan Aykroyd and Tom Hanks\n Dragnet, also known as The New Dragnet, see Dragnet (franchise)#1989 series: The New Dragnet\n Dragnet (2003 TV series), also known as L.A. Dragnet, see Dragnet (franchise)#2003 series: L.A. Dragnet\n \"Dragnet\" (theme music), from the various series\n The Drag Net, a 1928 American silent film\n Dragnet (1947 film), a 1947 American film starring Henry Wilco\n Dragnet (album), by The Fall\n \"Dragnet\", a poem by Patti Smith in Witt",
"Dragnet – later syndicated as Badge 714 – is an American television series, based on the radio series of the same name, both created by their star, Jack Webb. The shows take their name from the police term dragnet, a system of coordinated measures for apprehending criminals or suspects. Webb reprised his radio role of Los Angeles police detective Sergeant Joe Friday. Ben Alexander co-starred as Friday's partner, Officer Frank Smith.\n\nThe ominous, four-note introduction to the brass and tympani theme music (titled \"Danger Ahead\"), composed by Walter Schumann, is instantly recognizable. It is derived from Miklós Rózsa's score for the 1946 film The Killers.\n\nThis was the first television series in a Dragnet media franchise encompassing film, television, books and comics. The series was filmed at Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California.\n\nHistory\nDuring its early success on radio, Dragnet was popular enough to move to television. More important was that it brought continuity between the television and radio series, using the same script devices and many of the same actors. Liggett & Myers sponsored Dragnet, both on radio and on TV, during the 1950s, with Webb seen smoking Chesterfields.\n\nWebb was comfortable playing Joe Friday on radio but balked at the prospect of playing the role before the cameras; according to author-biographer Michael J. Hayde, Webb's choice for the TV Joe Friday was Hollywood actor Lloyd Nolan, whose casual underplaying Webb admired. But Webb was too well established in the radio Dragnet and the network insisted that he continue in the leading role.\n\nThe template for the TV show was simply the proven radio formula, embellished with visuals. Most early episodes were directly adapted from earlier Dragnet radio shows, and writer James E. Moser wrote the vast majority of the show's episodes through the end of 1954. Webb directed every episode of Dragnet, and was also a very occasional writer on the show.\n\nThe two familiar leads, Jack Webb and Barton Yarborough, settled in for the first season, disrupted when Yarborough suffered a fatal heart attack. Under Webb's authority, the writing staff worked his partner's demise into the storyline, and Sgt. Friday rode with various partners until settling on Ben Alexander as detective Frank Smith, providing some sporadic comic relief. Most of the episodes available to viewers today feature Webb and Alexander. Alexander was also an occasional writer on the show.\n\nJohn Robinson joined the writing staff in 1953, and by 1955 (after Moser left the show for a time), Robinson became Dragnet'''s most frequent script contributor. Note that despite some sources claiming that Robinson was a pen-name of Jack Webb, it was not; Robinson was a separate individual with a long and well-documented scriptwriting career. (Webb, whose full legal name was \"John Randolph Webb\", did occasionally write under the similar pen name of \"John Randolph\".) Frank Burt joined the staff in 1955, and along with Robinson wrote most of the mid-period Dragnet episodes. Moser returned for the final two seasons, while Robinson and Burt reduced their participation in these final years. Overall, well over 200 of the 276 episodes of Dragnet were written (or co-written) by at least one of Moser, Robinson or Burt. There were other less frequent contributors, and two notable Star Trek writers caught an early break, each writing a very late-running Dragnet episode: Gene L. Coon and John Meredyth Lucas.\n\nThe 1950s Dragnet episodes in black-and-white differ significantly from the 1960s Dragnet episodes in color. This first TV series took a documentary approach, with Sgt. Friday and the police force often encountering the seedy side of Los Angeles, with a steady succession of callous fugitives, desperate gunmen, slippery swindlers, and hard bitten women. Most of the cast members were veteran radio actors who could be relied upon to read the matter-of-fact dialogue naturally. Webb used most of his ensemble players again and again in different roles: Jack Kruschen, Vic Perrin, Harry Bartell, Art Gilmore, Peggy Webber, Barney Phillips, Herb Ellis, Carolyn Jones (then billed as Caroline Jones), Clarence Cassell, Virginia Christine, Ralph Moody, Kathleen Freeman, Stacy Harris, Natalie Masters, Virginia Gregg, Olan Soule, Herb Vigran, Peter Leeds, Sarah Selby, and many others. Martin Milner and Lee Marvin made one of their earliest TV appearances on the series; and at the time, going against type playing heavies, Raymond Burr (billed as Ray Burr) appeared in the series' first episode, as Sgt. Friday's superior, Captain Thad Mumford. Webb staged each story with newsreel-like authenticity, enhancing the visual action with extremely tight close-ups (unheard of in the days of tiny television screens), location photography, and unusual camera angles. Much of this inventiveness went unused in the 1960s revival. Although still using convincing dialogue readings, the new Dragnet lost much of the documentary appearance.\n\nJust before the show took its final commercial break, the show's announcer would inform the audience of something related to the case, usually the opening date on which the perpetrator's trial would take place in the Los Angeles County Superior Court (this would be accompanied by an onscreen card so the viewer could read along). After the break the camera faded in for what was presumably the perpetrator's mug shot, consisting of him standing uncomfortably against the wall, while the results of the trial, including the sentencing, were announced. The perpetrator's name and fate were then superimposed over the screen. In most cases, this superimposed material specifically stated in what prison the perpetrator had been incarcerated, or, in the case of perpetrators deemed unfit to stand trial, to what state mental hospital or psychiatric facility they were committed.\n\nIn rare cases, where the perpetrator was found guilty of murder and the death penalty was applied, the place and method of execution was noted on screen. In even rarer cases, such as in the episodes \"The Big Show\" or \"The Big Little Jesus\", there was no trial. In the episode \"The Big Little Jesus\", the content of the episode made it clear that no trial was to be held, and there was no final announcement. In the very rare other Dragnet episodes that did not result in a trial, the narrator would briefly explain why there was no trial, and the on-screen superimposition would describe the fate of the episode's perpetrator.\n\nWhile one early episode of Dragnet centered around a criminal who was found \"not guilty\" by a jury at the start of the episode, no episode ended with a perpetrator caught by Friday and his partner being found \"not guilty\" by a court.\n\nEpisodes\n\nBroadcast history\n\nJanuary 3, 1952 – December 29, 1955: Thursday at 9:00 pm on NBC\nJanuary 5, 1956 – June 26, 1958: Thursday at 8:30 pm on NBC\nSeptember 23, 1958 – April 28, 1959: Tuesday at 7:30 pm on NBC\nJuly 7, 1959 – August 23, 1959: Sunday at 8:30 pm on NBC\n\nRatings\n\nOctober 1951 – April 1952: #20/36.3 (tied with All Star Revue)\nOctober 1952 – April 1953: #4/46.8\nOctober 1953 – April 1954: #2/53.2\nOctober 1954 – April 1955: #3/42.1\nOctober 1955 – April 1956: #8/35.0\nOctober 1956 – April 1957: #11/32.1\nOctober 1957 – April 1958: Not in the Top 30\nOctober 1958 – April 1959: Not in the Top 30\n\nDVD releases\nHalf of the episodes of this series are in the public domain, with an estimated fifty-two episodes released on many DVD labels. A number of these collections recycle the same fifty-two episodes. Often some are mislabeled as there are no onscreen titles.\n\nEclectic DVD released a collection of three episodes.\n\nPlatinum Video released seven episodes from the original series in 2002. The two disc set also includes episodes from Burke's Law; Peter Gunn; Richard Diamond, Private Detective; Mr. Wong, Detective; and Bulldog Drummond.References\n\nSources\n Jason Mittell, Genre and Television: From Cop Shows to Cartoons in American Culture.'' Routledge, 2004, .\n\nExternal links\n\n \n\n1951 American television series debuts\n1959 American television series endings\nAmerican police procedural television series\n1950s American crime drama television series\nEnglish-language television shows\nFictional portrayals of the Los Angeles Police Department\nTelevision shows set in Los Angeles\nTelevision shows filmed in Los Angeles\nBlack-and-white American television shows\nEdgar Award-winning works\nNBC original programming\nPrimetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series winners\nTelevision series by Universal Television\nTelevision series by Mark VII Limited\nTelevision series based on radio series"
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"House of Gold & Bones (2012-2013)"
]
| C_d3598cdf63114915bfebd9d071e42bda_0 | When was the album released? | 1 | When was the album House of Gold & Bones by Stone Sour released? | Stone Sour | The band released a song called "The Pessimist" as a free download on their Facebook page on March 27, 2012. The song was previously only available on the iTunes deluxe version of the soundtrack to Transformers: Dark of the Moon. They also released their first DVD Live at Brighton in the same year, capturing their performance on November 7, 2010. It was announced via Instagram on May 3, 2012 that bassist Shawn Economaki had parted ways with the band on amicable terms. He was replaced in the studio by current Skid Row bassist Rachel Bolan. Stone Sour started recording their fourth studio album in early 2012. Corey Taylor stated that the album would end up being a double album or concept album, and described the album's sound as "Pink Floyd's The Wall meets Alice in Chains's Dirt". It was later announced that the new material would be released as two separate albums. The first album, House of Gold & Bones - Part 1 was released worldwide on October 23, 2012, and the second album House of Gold & Bones - Part 2 was released worldwide on April 9, 2013. The project also has a 4-part graphic novel series that accompanies the albums, telling the linear storyline featured in the twin albums' lyrics. The first two songs from Part 1, "Gone Sovereign" and the first official single, "Absolute Zero" were released for radio airplay in mid/late August 2012. The first single from House of Gold & Bones Part 2 was "Do Me a Favor". It was released digitally on February 12. Guitarist Josh Rand stated in an interview with O2 Academy that there was a song recorded for Part 1, an instrumental which was deemed 'not up to par' by the band. The song will likely be released in the future once James Root and Josh Rand do 'some stuff to it guitar-wise'. On October 5, 2012, Johny Chow of Fireball Ministry and Cavalera Conspiracy was announced as the bassist for the band on the House of Gold & Bones tour cycle. Stone Sour subsequently played Soundwave Festival 2013 in Australia and on the Sunday at Download Festival 2013. Guitarist James Root did not tour with Stone Sour in the winter of 2013, as he had to take a brief hiatus from the group to work on .5: The Gray Chapter with Slipknot, although it was later revealed that he was fired from the band due to musical differences. He claimed that the band wanted to focus on "radio play and money," in which Root fought against, and that led to a split. Christian Martucci filled in for Root during that period. CANNOTANSWER | October 23, 2012, | Stone Sour was an American rock band formed in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1992. The band performed for five years before disbanding in 1997. They reunited in 2000 and since 2015, the group has consisted of Corey Taylor (lead vocals, guitar), Josh Rand (guitar), Christian Martucci (guitar), Johny Chow (bass) and Roy Mayorga (drums). Longtime members Joel Ekman (drums, percussion) and Shawn Economaki (bass guitar) left the band in 2006 and 2011, respectively. Former lead guitarist Jim Root left in 2014.
To date, Stone Sour has released six studio albums: Stone Sour (2002); Come What(ever) May (2006); Audio Secrecy (2010); House of Gold & Bones – Part 1 (2012); House of Gold & Bones – Part 2 (2013) and Hydrograd (2017). They also released a digital live album, Live in Moscow, in 2007. Their album, Hydrograd was released in June 2017 and is their first album to feature guitarist Christian Martucci and bassist Johny Chow.
Stone Sour earned the group two Grammy Award nominations, both for Best Metal Performance, for the singles "Get Inside", in 2003, and "Inhale", in 2004. From their album Come What(ever) May, the group received another Grammy Award nomination for Best Metal Performance for the single "30/30-150", in 2007. The band has sold 2.1 million albums in the United States as of April 2017.
History
Formation and early years (1992–1997)
Stone Sour was founded by Corey Taylor, who later became the vocalist of Slipknot, and former drummer Joel Ekman; the band's name comes from a cocktail menu at a local bar. Taylor's longtime friend Shawn Economaki joined shortly after, and filled in as the bass player. During these formative years, Stone Sour recorded two demo tapes, in 1993 and 1994. In 1995, Jim Root, who is now part of Slipknot with Taylor, joined the band. In 1996, this lineup recorded another demo tape, songs from which would be used in 2002 on their self-titled debut album. In 1997, the band went on hiatus, during which Taylor and Root spent most of their time with Slipknot, who were another up-and-coming act in Des Moines and would soon earn a record deal.
Stone Sour and hiatus (2000–2004)
After Josh Rand joined the band, the band recorded their debut self-titled album in Cedar Falls. Upon release, the album charted at number 46 on the Billboard 200. The song "Bother", which was featured on the Spider-Man soundtrack (credited only to Taylor), peaked at number 2 on the Mainstream Rock Chart as well as number 4 on the Modern Rock Tracks and 56 on the Billboard Hot 100. The next single, "Inhale", peaked at 18 on the Mainstream Rock chart. The group received two Grammy Award nominations for Best Metal Performance for the singles "Get Inside" and "Inhale" in 2003 and 2004 respectively. The album went on to achieve Gold certification. The band toured for six months with label mates Sinch and Chevelle before going on a temporary hiatus as Taylor and Root went back to join Slipknot for another album and tour.
Come What(ever) May (2005–2007)
The band came back in 2006 to release their second studio album, Come What(ever) May. They parted ways with drummer Joel Ekman, currently drumming for Isaac James, who left to take care of his cancer-stricken son, and later recruited current drummer, Roy Mayorga (Soulfly, and later Amebix and Hellyeah). The track "30/30-150" was recorded with Godsmack drummer Shannon Larkin. The album was released on August 1, 2006. It was met with positive reviews from critics, and sold 80,000 copies in the first week, allowing it to debut at number four on the Billboard 200. The band toured for the next year and a half, releasing the Live in Moscow album exclusively to iTunes on August 14, 2007.
The single "Sillyworld" peaked at number 2 on the Mainstream Rock charts in 2006. "Through Glass" proved to be successful peaking at number 1 on the Mainstream Rock Chart, 2 on the Modern Rock Tracks, 12 on the Adult Top 40 and 39 on the Billboard Hot 100 also in 2006. They released two more singles in 2007, "Made of Scars" and "Zzyzx Rd.", which managed to peak at numbers 21 and 29 on the Mainstream Rock charts respectively. In 2006 they received a Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance nomination for the single "30/30-150".
Audio Secrecy (2009–2011)
The band's third album Audio Secrecy, was recorded at the Blackbird Studios in Nashville, Tennessee with producer Nick Raskulinecz, who was the producer for the band's second album Come What(ever) May. and released on September 7, 2010 . Taylor stated that "Audio Secrecy is the summation of everything we want, everything we crave and everything we fight for...The dimensions go further than anything we've ever tried before. It's metal, rock, slow, soft, hard, fast, bitter, beautiful and most importantly, it's real. You can't get an album like this out of a band that doesn't exist. We're throwing caution out the damn window."
Stone Sour played the first annual Rockstar Energy Drink Uproar Festival with Avenged Sevenfold and Hollywood Undead among others. Stone Sour set the release date of Audio Secrecy as September 7. Stone Sour were part of the Soundwave Festival in late February/early March in Australia 2011. Stone Sour headlined The Avalanche Tour, supported by Theory of a Deadman, Skillet, Halestorm and Art of Dying. It was also announced that a Stone Sour live DVD will be released, filmed at the Brighton Centre in the United Kingdom. The band toured with Avenged Sevenfold, New Medicine and Hollywood Undead on the "Nightmare After Christmas Tour" 2011.
On April 16, 2011, it was announced that bassist Shawn Economaki had left the tour for personal reasons. Jason Christopher, who had played with Corey Taylor previously during his solo performances and with the Junk Beer Kidnap Band, filled in for the tour. In May 2011, Stone Sour canceled the remaining dates from their headline tour as drummer, Roy Mayorga suffered a minor stroke. He made a full recovery. The band played their last show of 2011 at the second day of the Rock in Rio IV festival, which took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, between September 23 – October 2. Drummer Roy Mayorga was not present at the show as he was expecting his first child back home, and filling-in for him was ex-Dream Theater and The Winery Dogs drummer Mike Portnoy. Bassist Shawn Economaki was also absent from the performance.
House of Gold & Bones (2012–2013)
The band released a song called "The Pessimist" as a free download on their Facebook page on March 27, 2012. The song was previously only available on the iTunes deluxe version of the soundtrack to Transformers: Dark of the Moon. They also released their first DVD Live at Brighton in the same year, capturing their performance on November 7, 2010.
It was announced via Instagram on May 3, 2012, that bassist Shawn Economaki had parted ways with the band on amicable terms. He was replaced in the studio by current Skid Row bassist Rachel Bolan. Stone Sour started recording their fourth studio album in early 2012. Corey Taylor stated that the album would end up being a double album or concept album, and described the album's sound as "Pink Floyd's The Wall meets Alice in Chains's Dirt". It was later announced that the new material would be released as two separate albums. The first album, House of Gold & Bones – Part 1 was released worldwide on October 23, 2012, and the second album House of Gold & Bones – Part 2 was released worldwide on April 9, 2013. The project also has a 4-part graphic novel series that accompanies the albums, telling the linear storyline featured in the twin albums' lyrics.
The first two songs from Part 1, "Gone Sovereign" and the first official single, "Absolute Zero" were released for radio airplay in mid/late August 2012. The first single from House of Gold & Bones Part 2 was "Do Me a Favor". It was released digitally on February 12. Guitarist Josh Rand stated in an interview with O2 Academy that there was a song recorded for Part 1, an instrumental which was deemed 'not up to par' by the band. The song will likely be released in the future once James Root and Josh Rand do 'some stuff to it guitar-wise'.
On October 5, 2012, Johny Chow of Fireball Ministry and Cavalera Conspiracy was announced as the bassist for the band on the House of Gold & Bones tour cycle. Stone Sour subsequently played Soundwave Festival 2013 in Australia and on the Sunday at Download Festival 2013. Guitarist James Root did not tour with Stone Sour in the winter of 2013, as he had to take a brief hiatus from the group to work on .5: The Gray Chapter with Slipknot, although it was later revealed that he was fired from the band due to musical differences. He claimed that the band wanted to focus on "radio play and money," which Root fought against, leading to his departure. Christian Martucci filled in for Root during that period.
The Burbank EP duology (2014–2016)
On October 5, 2014, it was announced via Stone Sour's Facebook page that the band had begun recording a covers EP, which is due to be titled Meanwhile in Burbank... and released in 2015. Corey Taylor stated about the covers EP: "This is something that we've been talking about since the first album came out, with [Stone Sour]. We've always wanted to do this. Even as people have come, people have gone, this is still something we've always come back to, and we just never had the opportunity to do it. And we just kind of said, 'Well, screw it.'" On February 9, 2015, Stone Sour released an official music video and track, which is a cover version of the Metal Church's song "The Dark". The EP was released on April 18, 2015. Corey Taylor confirmed that two more covers EPs are to be produced, they will be titled Straight Outta Burbank and No Sleep Till Burbank and will feature covers of songs by Rage Against The Machine, Mötley Crüe, Bad Brains and Violent Femmes. Straight Outta Burbank..., the second volume in the series, has since been released.
Per Blabbermouth.net, On March 29, 2016, frontman Corey Taylor told the "Someone Who Isn't Me" podcast: "Originally we were going to do three [covers EPs], and now it sounds like we're just going to do the two and just keep the other stuff we recorded as extra content for when we make the next album."
Hydrograd (2017–2019)
On July 26, 2016, Taylor announced the band had written and demoed 18 songs for their sixth studio album, with plans to enter the studio in January for a likely mid-2017 release. On January 23, 2017, Taylor revealed that the band was in the process of recording their upcoming album named Hydrograd. Taylor indicated that the album would incorporate heavy metal elements found in previous releases, alongside hard rock styles. Four singles have been released ahead of the album in promotion; "Fabuless", "Song #3", "Taipei Person/Allah Tea" and "Mercy" (A live recording from Sphere Studios), with St. Marie being released as single following the album's release. Hydrograd released worldwide on June 30, 2017 to generally positive reviews. The band also released an exclusive cover of the Rage Against the Machine song "Bombtrack" for the Metal Hammer compilation Metal Hammer Goes 90s in August 2017.
In Spring 2018, Stone Sour embarked on Ozzy Osbourne's US 2018 tour for the Spring and Fall. On May 6, 2019, it was announced that Roy Mayorga joining Hellyeah as their new drummer, and replacing the original Hellyeah drummer Vinnie Paul, who died on June 22, 2018.
On November 6, 2019, the band announced that they would be releasing a live album titled, Hello, You Bastards: Live in Reno, on December 13 of the same year.
Indefinite hiatus (2020–present)
On August 10, 2020, Taylor announced on 'The Green Room with Neil Griffiths' podcast that Stone Sour was taking a hiatus, saying: "I feel like Stone Sour has kinda run its course for now," "We all talked as a band and decided to kinda put Stone Sour in indefinite hiatus. That's the way it is. We've put it on the shelf for now. Everyone's kind of going and doing their own thing."
Musical style
Throughout the band's career, their musical style has been described as alternative metal, hard rock, heavy metal, and alternative rock. Their music features double bass drum patterns, heavy guitar riffs, dual guitar harmonies and vocally combining screaming with singing.
Guitarist Josh Rand stated in an interview, that he tries to bring a metal aspect and elements of thrash metal in their music. He also stated that his writing style is different than Slipknot's writing style.
Stone Sour's fourth and fifth albums, House of Gold & Bones - Part 1 and Part 2 are notable for their concept album format, and have led to comparisons to progressive rock bands. When asked about this, Josh Rand stated: "I still think it's us. We never said that we would be Genesis or Dream Theater or Yes or any of those types of bands. We're not a prog band. We said we're going to adopt the ideas of those stories and stuff, but it's still going to be a Stone Sour record, where you can still pull those individual songs. We just wanted to offer something more - in a world where it's all about singles, we just wanted to do something different. We've always evolved from record to record, if you listen to our entire catalog."
Band members
Official members
Corey Taylor – lead vocals, occasional rhythm guitar, keyboards (1992–1997, 2000–present)
Josh Rand – rhythm guitar, occasional lead guitar, backing vocals (1993, 2000–present), bass (2000)
Roy Mayorga – drums, keyboards (2006–present)
Johny Chow – bass, backing vocals (2012–present)
Christian Martucci – lead guitar, backing vocals (2014–present)
Former members
Jim Root – lead guitar (1995–1997, 2000–2014)
Joel Ekman – drums (1992–1997, 2000–2006)
Shawn Economaki – bass (1993–1997, 2000–2012)
Former touring musicians
Jason Christopher – bass, backing vocals (2011)
Mike Portnoy – drums (2011)
Jonah Nimoy – rhythm guitar (2018)
R.J. Ronquillo – rhythm guitar (2018)
Timeline
Recording timeline
Discography
Stone Sour (2002)
Come What(ever) May (2006)
Audio Secrecy (2010)
House of Gold & Bones – Part 1 (2012)
House of Gold & Bones – Part 2 (2013)
Hydrograd (2017)
Accolades
Grammy Awards
|-
| || "Get Inside" || Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance ||
|-
| || "Inhale" || Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance ||
|-
| || "30/30-150" || Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance ||
Revolver Golden Gods
|-
| 2013 || Roy Mayorga || Golden Gods Award for Best Drummer ||
|-
| 2013 || Corey Taylor || Golden Gods Award for Best Vocalist ||
|-
| 2012 || "House of Gold & Bones - Part 1" || Golden Gods Award for Album of the Year ||
Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards
|-
| 2013 || Stone Sour || Best International Band ||
Loudwire Music Awards
|-
| 2012 || Stone Sour || Rock Band of the Year ||
|-
| rowspan="3" | 2017 || Stone Sour || Hard Rock Artist of the Year ||
|-
| Hydrograd || Hard Rock Album of the Year ||
|-
| Corey Taylor || Best Vocalist ||
Bandit Rock Awards
|-
| 2018 || Hydrograd || Best International Album ||
References
External links
1992 establishments in Iowa
Musical groups established in 1992
Musical groups disestablished in 1997
Musical groups reestablished in 2001
Roadrunner Records artists
Alternative rock groups from Iowa
Heavy metal musical groups from Iowa
Musical groups from Des Moines, Iowa
American alternative metal musical groups
American hard rock musical groups | true | [
"When the Bough Breaks is the second solo album from Black Sabbath drummer Bill Ward. It was originally released on April 27, 1997, on Cleopatra Records.\n\nTrack listing\n\"Hate\" – 5:00\n\"Children Killing Children\" – 3:51\n\"Growth\" – 5:45\n\"When I was a Child\" – 4:54\n\"Please Help Mommy (She's a Junkie)\" – 6:40\n\"Shine\" – 5:06\n\"Step Lightly (On the Grass)\" – 5:59\n\"Love & Innocence\" – 1:00\n\"Animals\" – 6:32\n\"Nighthawks Stars & Pines\" – 6:45\n\"Try Life\" – 5:35\n\"When the Bough Breaks\" – 9:45\n\nCD Cleopatra CL9981 (US 1997)\n\nMusicians\n\nBill Ward - vocals, lyrics, musical arrangements\nKeith Lynch - guitars\nPaul Ill - bass, double bass, synthesizer, tape loops\nRonnie Ciago - drums\n\nCover art and reprint issues\n\nAs originally released, this album featured cover art that had two roses on it. After it was released, Bill Ward (as with Ward One, his first solo album) stated on his website that the released cover art was not the correct one that was intended to be released. Additionally, the liner notes for the original printing had lyrics that were so small, most people needed a magnifying glass to read them. This was eventually corrected in 2000 when the version of the album with Bill on the cover from the 70's was released. The album was later on released in a special digipak style of case, but this was later said to be released prematurely, and was withdrawn.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nWhen the Bough Breaks at Bill Ward's site\nWhen the Bough Breaks at Black Sabbath Online\n\nBill Ward (musician) albums\nBlack Sabbath\n1997 albums\nCleopatra Records albums",
"Push Rewind is the debut solo album by American pop singer Chris Wallace. It was released digitally on September 4, 2012.\n\nThe album was taken off of iTunes in late 2013 and was re-released on March 4, 2014.\n\nBackground\nAfter Chris' previous band, The White Tie Affair broke up, Chris began working on a solo album.\n\nOn August 23, 2012, Chris tweeted that his first solo album, Push Rewind, would be available on iTunes on September 4. On September 4, 2012, his debut solo album was released via ThinkSay Records.\n\nRelease and promotion\n\nSingles\n\"Remember When (Push Rewind)\" was released as the lead single off of the album on June 12, 2012. The song was available for free for the week of September 4, 2012 as iTunes' Single of the Week to help promote the album. The song has so far reached number 2 on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100.\n\n\"Keep Me Crazy\" was announced as the second single from the album. It was originally released to mainstream pop radio on April 22, 2013 but it was re-released on July 30, 2013.\n\nTrack listing\n\nRelease history\n\nReferences\n\n2012 debut albums"
]
|
[
"Stone Sour",
"House of Gold & Bones (2012-2013)",
"When was the album released?",
"October 23, 2012,"
]
| C_d3598cdf63114915bfebd9d071e42bda_0 | Were there any singles? | 2 | Were there any singles in the album House of Gold & Bones by Stone Sour? | Stone Sour | The band released a song called "The Pessimist" as a free download on their Facebook page on March 27, 2012. The song was previously only available on the iTunes deluxe version of the soundtrack to Transformers: Dark of the Moon. They also released their first DVD Live at Brighton in the same year, capturing their performance on November 7, 2010. It was announced via Instagram on May 3, 2012 that bassist Shawn Economaki had parted ways with the band on amicable terms. He was replaced in the studio by current Skid Row bassist Rachel Bolan. Stone Sour started recording their fourth studio album in early 2012. Corey Taylor stated that the album would end up being a double album or concept album, and described the album's sound as "Pink Floyd's The Wall meets Alice in Chains's Dirt". It was later announced that the new material would be released as two separate albums. The first album, House of Gold & Bones - Part 1 was released worldwide on October 23, 2012, and the second album House of Gold & Bones - Part 2 was released worldwide on April 9, 2013. The project also has a 4-part graphic novel series that accompanies the albums, telling the linear storyline featured in the twin albums' lyrics. The first two songs from Part 1, "Gone Sovereign" and the first official single, "Absolute Zero" were released for radio airplay in mid/late August 2012. The first single from House of Gold & Bones Part 2 was "Do Me a Favor". It was released digitally on February 12. Guitarist Josh Rand stated in an interview with O2 Academy that there was a song recorded for Part 1, an instrumental which was deemed 'not up to par' by the band. The song will likely be released in the future once James Root and Josh Rand do 'some stuff to it guitar-wise'. On October 5, 2012, Johny Chow of Fireball Ministry and Cavalera Conspiracy was announced as the bassist for the band on the House of Gold & Bones tour cycle. Stone Sour subsequently played Soundwave Festival 2013 in Australia and on the Sunday at Download Festival 2013. Guitarist James Root did not tour with Stone Sour in the winter of 2013, as he had to take a brief hiatus from the group to work on .5: The Gray Chapter with Slipknot, although it was later revealed that he was fired from the band due to musical differences. He claimed that the band wanted to focus on "radio play and money," in which Root fought against, and that led to a split. Christian Martucci filled in for Root during that period. CANNOTANSWER | The first two songs from Part 1, "Gone Sovereign" and the first official single, "Absolute Zero" | Stone Sour was an American rock band formed in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1992. The band performed for five years before disbanding in 1997. They reunited in 2000 and since 2015, the group has consisted of Corey Taylor (lead vocals, guitar), Josh Rand (guitar), Christian Martucci (guitar), Johny Chow (bass) and Roy Mayorga (drums). Longtime members Joel Ekman (drums, percussion) and Shawn Economaki (bass guitar) left the band in 2006 and 2011, respectively. Former lead guitarist Jim Root left in 2014.
To date, Stone Sour has released six studio albums: Stone Sour (2002); Come What(ever) May (2006); Audio Secrecy (2010); House of Gold & Bones – Part 1 (2012); House of Gold & Bones – Part 2 (2013) and Hydrograd (2017). They also released a digital live album, Live in Moscow, in 2007. Their album, Hydrograd was released in June 2017 and is their first album to feature guitarist Christian Martucci and bassist Johny Chow.
Stone Sour earned the group two Grammy Award nominations, both for Best Metal Performance, for the singles "Get Inside", in 2003, and "Inhale", in 2004. From their album Come What(ever) May, the group received another Grammy Award nomination for Best Metal Performance for the single "30/30-150", in 2007. The band has sold 2.1 million albums in the United States as of April 2017.
History
Formation and early years (1992–1997)
Stone Sour was founded by Corey Taylor, who later became the vocalist of Slipknot, and former drummer Joel Ekman; the band's name comes from a cocktail menu at a local bar. Taylor's longtime friend Shawn Economaki joined shortly after, and filled in as the bass player. During these formative years, Stone Sour recorded two demo tapes, in 1993 and 1994. In 1995, Jim Root, who is now part of Slipknot with Taylor, joined the band. In 1996, this lineup recorded another demo tape, songs from which would be used in 2002 on their self-titled debut album. In 1997, the band went on hiatus, during which Taylor and Root spent most of their time with Slipknot, who were another up-and-coming act in Des Moines and would soon earn a record deal.
Stone Sour and hiatus (2000–2004)
After Josh Rand joined the band, the band recorded their debut self-titled album in Cedar Falls. Upon release, the album charted at number 46 on the Billboard 200. The song "Bother", which was featured on the Spider-Man soundtrack (credited only to Taylor), peaked at number 2 on the Mainstream Rock Chart as well as number 4 on the Modern Rock Tracks and 56 on the Billboard Hot 100. The next single, "Inhale", peaked at 18 on the Mainstream Rock chart. The group received two Grammy Award nominations for Best Metal Performance for the singles "Get Inside" and "Inhale" in 2003 and 2004 respectively. The album went on to achieve Gold certification. The band toured for six months with label mates Sinch and Chevelle before going on a temporary hiatus as Taylor and Root went back to join Slipknot for another album and tour.
Come What(ever) May (2005–2007)
The band came back in 2006 to release their second studio album, Come What(ever) May. They parted ways with drummer Joel Ekman, currently drumming for Isaac James, who left to take care of his cancer-stricken son, and later recruited current drummer, Roy Mayorga (Soulfly, and later Amebix and Hellyeah). The track "30/30-150" was recorded with Godsmack drummer Shannon Larkin. The album was released on August 1, 2006. It was met with positive reviews from critics, and sold 80,000 copies in the first week, allowing it to debut at number four on the Billboard 200. The band toured for the next year and a half, releasing the Live in Moscow album exclusively to iTunes on August 14, 2007.
The single "Sillyworld" peaked at number 2 on the Mainstream Rock charts in 2006. "Through Glass" proved to be successful peaking at number 1 on the Mainstream Rock Chart, 2 on the Modern Rock Tracks, 12 on the Adult Top 40 and 39 on the Billboard Hot 100 also in 2006. They released two more singles in 2007, "Made of Scars" and "Zzyzx Rd.", which managed to peak at numbers 21 and 29 on the Mainstream Rock charts respectively. In 2006 they received a Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance nomination for the single "30/30-150".
Audio Secrecy (2009–2011)
The band's third album Audio Secrecy, was recorded at the Blackbird Studios in Nashville, Tennessee with producer Nick Raskulinecz, who was the producer for the band's second album Come What(ever) May. and released on September 7, 2010 . Taylor stated that "Audio Secrecy is the summation of everything we want, everything we crave and everything we fight for...The dimensions go further than anything we've ever tried before. It's metal, rock, slow, soft, hard, fast, bitter, beautiful and most importantly, it's real. You can't get an album like this out of a band that doesn't exist. We're throwing caution out the damn window."
Stone Sour played the first annual Rockstar Energy Drink Uproar Festival with Avenged Sevenfold and Hollywood Undead among others. Stone Sour set the release date of Audio Secrecy as September 7. Stone Sour were part of the Soundwave Festival in late February/early March in Australia 2011. Stone Sour headlined The Avalanche Tour, supported by Theory of a Deadman, Skillet, Halestorm and Art of Dying. It was also announced that a Stone Sour live DVD will be released, filmed at the Brighton Centre in the United Kingdom. The band toured with Avenged Sevenfold, New Medicine and Hollywood Undead on the "Nightmare After Christmas Tour" 2011.
On April 16, 2011, it was announced that bassist Shawn Economaki had left the tour for personal reasons. Jason Christopher, who had played with Corey Taylor previously during his solo performances and with the Junk Beer Kidnap Band, filled in for the tour. In May 2011, Stone Sour canceled the remaining dates from their headline tour as drummer, Roy Mayorga suffered a minor stroke. He made a full recovery. The band played their last show of 2011 at the second day of the Rock in Rio IV festival, which took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, between September 23 – October 2. Drummer Roy Mayorga was not present at the show as he was expecting his first child back home, and filling-in for him was ex-Dream Theater and The Winery Dogs drummer Mike Portnoy. Bassist Shawn Economaki was also absent from the performance.
House of Gold & Bones (2012–2013)
The band released a song called "The Pessimist" as a free download on their Facebook page on March 27, 2012. The song was previously only available on the iTunes deluxe version of the soundtrack to Transformers: Dark of the Moon. They also released their first DVD Live at Brighton in the same year, capturing their performance on November 7, 2010.
It was announced via Instagram on May 3, 2012, that bassist Shawn Economaki had parted ways with the band on amicable terms. He was replaced in the studio by current Skid Row bassist Rachel Bolan. Stone Sour started recording their fourth studio album in early 2012. Corey Taylor stated that the album would end up being a double album or concept album, and described the album's sound as "Pink Floyd's The Wall meets Alice in Chains's Dirt". It was later announced that the new material would be released as two separate albums. The first album, House of Gold & Bones – Part 1 was released worldwide on October 23, 2012, and the second album House of Gold & Bones – Part 2 was released worldwide on April 9, 2013. The project also has a 4-part graphic novel series that accompanies the albums, telling the linear storyline featured in the twin albums' lyrics.
The first two songs from Part 1, "Gone Sovereign" and the first official single, "Absolute Zero" were released for radio airplay in mid/late August 2012. The first single from House of Gold & Bones Part 2 was "Do Me a Favor". It was released digitally on February 12. Guitarist Josh Rand stated in an interview with O2 Academy that there was a song recorded for Part 1, an instrumental which was deemed 'not up to par' by the band. The song will likely be released in the future once James Root and Josh Rand do 'some stuff to it guitar-wise'.
On October 5, 2012, Johny Chow of Fireball Ministry and Cavalera Conspiracy was announced as the bassist for the band on the House of Gold & Bones tour cycle. Stone Sour subsequently played Soundwave Festival 2013 in Australia and on the Sunday at Download Festival 2013. Guitarist James Root did not tour with Stone Sour in the winter of 2013, as he had to take a brief hiatus from the group to work on .5: The Gray Chapter with Slipknot, although it was later revealed that he was fired from the band due to musical differences. He claimed that the band wanted to focus on "radio play and money," which Root fought against, leading to his departure. Christian Martucci filled in for Root during that period.
The Burbank EP duology (2014–2016)
On October 5, 2014, it was announced via Stone Sour's Facebook page that the band had begun recording a covers EP, which is due to be titled Meanwhile in Burbank... and released in 2015. Corey Taylor stated about the covers EP: "This is something that we've been talking about since the first album came out, with [Stone Sour]. We've always wanted to do this. Even as people have come, people have gone, this is still something we've always come back to, and we just never had the opportunity to do it. And we just kind of said, 'Well, screw it.'" On February 9, 2015, Stone Sour released an official music video and track, which is a cover version of the Metal Church's song "The Dark". The EP was released on April 18, 2015. Corey Taylor confirmed that two more covers EPs are to be produced, they will be titled Straight Outta Burbank and No Sleep Till Burbank and will feature covers of songs by Rage Against The Machine, Mötley Crüe, Bad Brains and Violent Femmes. Straight Outta Burbank..., the second volume in the series, has since been released.
Per Blabbermouth.net, On March 29, 2016, frontman Corey Taylor told the "Someone Who Isn't Me" podcast: "Originally we were going to do three [covers EPs], and now it sounds like we're just going to do the two and just keep the other stuff we recorded as extra content for when we make the next album."
Hydrograd (2017–2019)
On July 26, 2016, Taylor announced the band had written and demoed 18 songs for their sixth studio album, with plans to enter the studio in January for a likely mid-2017 release. On January 23, 2017, Taylor revealed that the band was in the process of recording their upcoming album named Hydrograd. Taylor indicated that the album would incorporate heavy metal elements found in previous releases, alongside hard rock styles. Four singles have been released ahead of the album in promotion; "Fabuless", "Song #3", "Taipei Person/Allah Tea" and "Mercy" (A live recording from Sphere Studios), with St. Marie being released as single following the album's release. Hydrograd released worldwide on June 30, 2017 to generally positive reviews. The band also released an exclusive cover of the Rage Against the Machine song "Bombtrack" for the Metal Hammer compilation Metal Hammer Goes 90s in August 2017.
In Spring 2018, Stone Sour embarked on Ozzy Osbourne's US 2018 tour for the Spring and Fall. On May 6, 2019, it was announced that Roy Mayorga joining Hellyeah as their new drummer, and replacing the original Hellyeah drummer Vinnie Paul, who died on June 22, 2018.
On November 6, 2019, the band announced that they would be releasing a live album titled, Hello, You Bastards: Live in Reno, on December 13 of the same year.
Indefinite hiatus (2020–present)
On August 10, 2020, Taylor announced on 'The Green Room with Neil Griffiths' podcast that Stone Sour was taking a hiatus, saying: "I feel like Stone Sour has kinda run its course for now," "We all talked as a band and decided to kinda put Stone Sour in indefinite hiatus. That's the way it is. We've put it on the shelf for now. Everyone's kind of going and doing their own thing."
Musical style
Throughout the band's career, their musical style has been described as alternative metal, hard rock, heavy metal, and alternative rock. Their music features double bass drum patterns, heavy guitar riffs, dual guitar harmonies and vocally combining screaming with singing.
Guitarist Josh Rand stated in an interview, that he tries to bring a metal aspect and elements of thrash metal in their music. He also stated that his writing style is different than Slipknot's writing style.
Stone Sour's fourth and fifth albums, House of Gold & Bones - Part 1 and Part 2 are notable for their concept album format, and have led to comparisons to progressive rock bands. When asked about this, Josh Rand stated: "I still think it's us. We never said that we would be Genesis or Dream Theater or Yes or any of those types of bands. We're not a prog band. We said we're going to adopt the ideas of those stories and stuff, but it's still going to be a Stone Sour record, where you can still pull those individual songs. We just wanted to offer something more - in a world where it's all about singles, we just wanted to do something different. We've always evolved from record to record, if you listen to our entire catalog."
Band members
Official members
Corey Taylor – lead vocals, occasional rhythm guitar, keyboards (1992–1997, 2000–present)
Josh Rand – rhythm guitar, occasional lead guitar, backing vocals (1993, 2000–present), bass (2000)
Roy Mayorga – drums, keyboards (2006–present)
Johny Chow – bass, backing vocals (2012–present)
Christian Martucci – lead guitar, backing vocals (2014–present)
Former members
Jim Root – lead guitar (1995–1997, 2000–2014)
Joel Ekman – drums (1992–1997, 2000–2006)
Shawn Economaki – bass (1993–1997, 2000–2012)
Former touring musicians
Jason Christopher – bass, backing vocals (2011)
Mike Portnoy – drums (2011)
Jonah Nimoy – rhythm guitar (2018)
R.J. Ronquillo – rhythm guitar (2018)
Timeline
Recording timeline
Discography
Stone Sour (2002)
Come What(ever) May (2006)
Audio Secrecy (2010)
House of Gold & Bones – Part 1 (2012)
House of Gold & Bones – Part 2 (2013)
Hydrograd (2017)
Accolades
Grammy Awards
|-
| || "Get Inside" || Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance ||
|-
| || "Inhale" || Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance ||
|-
| || "30/30-150" || Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance ||
Revolver Golden Gods
|-
| 2013 || Roy Mayorga || Golden Gods Award for Best Drummer ||
|-
| 2013 || Corey Taylor || Golden Gods Award for Best Vocalist ||
|-
| 2012 || "House of Gold & Bones - Part 1" || Golden Gods Award for Album of the Year ||
Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards
|-
| 2013 || Stone Sour || Best International Band ||
Loudwire Music Awards
|-
| 2012 || Stone Sour || Rock Band of the Year ||
|-
| rowspan="3" | 2017 || Stone Sour || Hard Rock Artist of the Year ||
|-
| Hydrograd || Hard Rock Album of the Year ||
|-
| Corey Taylor || Best Vocalist ||
Bandit Rock Awards
|-
| 2018 || Hydrograd || Best International Album ||
References
External links
1992 establishments in Iowa
Musical groups established in 1992
Musical groups disestablished in 1997
Musical groups reestablished in 2001
Roadrunner Records artists
Alternative rock groups from Iowa
Heavy metal musical groups from Iowa
Musical groups from Des Moines, Iowa
American alternative metal musical groups
American hard rock musical groups | true | [
"Lena Rice defeated May Jacks 6–4, 6–1 in the all comers' final to win the ladies' singles tennis title at the 1889 Wimbledon Championships. The reigning champion Blanche Hillyard did not defend her title. Despite previous draws there were only four competitors in the tournament, the smallest entry ever for any competition at Wimbledon.\n\nDraw\n\nAll Comers'\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nLadies' Singles\nWimbledon Championship by year – Women's singles\nWimbledon Championships - Singles\nWimbledon Championships - Singles",
"\"If There's Any Justice\" is the first single taken from British R&B singer Lemar's second album, Time to Grow (2004). Originally offered to Hear'Say, the song was rejected by the group after they decided it was \"too mature\" for them. It would eventually become a top-10 hit for Lemar, peaking at 3 on the UK Singles Chart, his fourth in a row to reach the top 10. Outside the UK, the song reached No. 1 in Hungary and entered the top 40 in France, Ireland, and New Zealand.\n\nLyrical content\nThe lyrics refer to Lemar being in love with a girl who already has a man. He claims that if he had met her first, he would be her man instead. He is making it clear in the song that he feels that there is no justice in the world because of this fact.\n\nCover versions\nDutch singer Floortje Smit covered the song—retitled \"Justice\"—for her debut album \"Fearless\". James Blunt performed an acoustic version of the song on BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge (part of Jo Wiley's show), later released on the compilation album \"Radio 1's Live Lounge\".\n\nTrack listings\n UK CD1\n \"If There's Any Justice\" (radio edit) – 3:29\n \"If There's Any Justice\" (Ron G remix featuring Cassidy) – 3:55\n\n UK CD2\n \"If There's Any Justice\" (album version) – 3:49\n \"If There's Any Justice\" (5am remix featuring Cassidy) – 3:34\n \"All I Ever Do/My Boo (Part II)\" – 4:12\n \"If There's Any Justice\" (video) – 3:49\n\n UK 12-inch vinyl\nA1. \"If There's Any Justice\" (Kardinal Beats remix featuring Cassidy) – 3:34\nA2. \"If There's Any Justice\" (Ron G remix featuring Cassidy) – 3:53\nA3. \"If There's Any Justice\" (Cutfather & Joe remix featuring Cassidy) – 3:17\nB1. \"If There's Any Justice\" (5am remix featuring Cassidy) – 3:34\nB2. \"If There's Any Justice\" (First Man remix) – 3:30\nB3. \"If There's Any Justice\" (accapella) – 3:40\n\nCharts and certifications\n\nWeekly charts\n\nYear-end charts\n\nCertifications\n\nReferences\n\n2004 singles\n2004 songs\nLemar songs\nNumber-one singles in Hungary\nSongs written by Mick Leeson\nSongs written by Peter Vale\nSony Music UK singles"
]
|
[
"Stone Sour",
"House of Gold & Bones (2012-2013)",
"When was the album released?",
"October 23, 2012,",
"Were there any singles?",
"The first two songs from Part 1, \"Gone Sovereign\" and the first official single, \"Absolute Zero\""
]
| C_d3598cdf63114915bfebd9d071e42bda_0 | Did the single reach the charts? | 3 | Did Stone Sour's first official single "Absolute Zero" reach the charts? | Stone Sour | The band released a song called "The Pessimist" as a free download on their Facebook page on March 27, 2012. The song was previously only available on the iTunes deluxe version of the soundtrack to Transformers: Dark of the Moon. They also released their first DVD Live at Brighton in the same year, capturing their performance on November 7, 2010. It was announced via Instagram on May 3, 2012 that bassist Shawn Economaki had parted ways with the band on amicable terms. He was replaced in the studio by current Skid Row bassist Rachel Bolan. Stone Sour started recording their fourth studio album in early 2012. Corey Taylor stated that the album would end up being a double album or concept album, and described the album's sound as "Pink Floyd's The Wall meets Alice in Chains's Dirt". It was later announced that the new material would be released as two separate albums. The first album, House of Gold & Bones - Part 1 was released worldwide on October 23, 2012, and the second album House of Gold & Bones - Part 2 was released worldwide on April 9, 2013. The project also has a 4-part graphic novel series that accompanies the albums, telling the linear storyline featured in the twin albums' lyrics. The first two songs from Part 1, "Gone Sovereign" and the first official single, "Absolute Zero" were released for radio airplay in mid/late August 2012. The first single from House of Gold & Bones Part 2 was "Do Me a Favor". It was released digitally on February 12. Guitarist Josh Rand stated in an interview with O2 Academy that there was a song recorded for Part 1, an instrumental which was deemed 'not up to par' by the band. The song will likely be released in the future once James Root and Josh Rand do 'some stuff to it guitar-wise'. On October 5, 2012, Johny Chow of Fireball Ministry and Cavalera Conspiracy was announced as the bassist for the band on the House of Gold & Bones tour cycle. Stone Sour subsequently played Soundwave Festival 2013 in Australia and on the Sunday at Download Festival 2013. Guitarist James Root did not tour with Stone Sour in the winter of 2013, as he had to take a brief hiatus from the group to work on .5: The Gray Chapter with Slipknot, although it was later revealed that he was fired from the band due to musical differences. He claimed that the band wanted to focus on "radio play and money," in which Root fought against, and that led to a split. Christian Martucci filled in for Root during that period. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Stone Sour was an American rock band formed in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1992. The band performed for five years before disbanding in 1997. They reunited in 2000 and since 2015, the group has consisted of Corey Taylor (lead vocals, guitar), Josh Rand (guitar), Christian Martucci (guitar), Johny Chow (bass) and Roy Mayorga (drums). Longtime members Joel Ekman (drums, percussion) and Shawn Economaki (bass guitar) left the band in 2006 and 2011, respectively. Former lead guitarist Jim Root left in 2014.
To date, Stone Sour has released six studio albums: Stone Sour (2002); Come What(ever) May (2006); Audio Secrecy (2010); House of Gold & Bones – Part 1 (2012); House of Gold & Bones – Part 2 (2013) and Hydrograd (2017). They also released a digital live album, Live in Moscow, in 2007. Their album, Hydrograd was released in June 2017 and is their first album to feature guitarist Christian Martucci and bassist Johny Chow.
Stone Sour earned the group two Grammy Award nominations, both for Best Metal Performance, for the singles "Get Inside", in 2003, and "Inhale", in 2004. From their album Come What(ever) May, the group received another Grammy Award nomination for Best Metal Performance for the single "30/30-150", in 2007. The band has sold 2.1 million albums in the United States as of April 2017.
History
Formation and early years (1992–1997)
Stone Sour was founded by Corey Taylor, who later became the vocalist of Slipknot, and former drummer Joel Ekman; the band's name comes from a cocktail menu at a local bar. Taylor's longtime friend Shawn Economaki joined shortly after, and filled in as the bass player. During these formative years, Stone Sour recorded two demo tapes, in 1993 and 1994. In 1995, Jim Root, who is now part of Slipknot with Taylor, joined the band. In 1996, this lineup recorded another demo tape, songs from which would be used in 2002 on their self-titled debut album. In 1997, the band went on hiatus, during which Taylor and Root spent most of their time with Slipknot, who were another up-and-coming act in Des Moines and would soon earn a record deal.
Stone Sour and hiatus (2000–2004)
After Josh Rand joined the band, the band recorded their debut self-titled album in Cedar Falls. Upon release, the album charted at number 46 on the Billboard 200. The song "Bother", which was featured on the Spider-Man soundtrack (credited only to Taylor), peaked at number 2 on the Mainstream Rock Chart as well as number 4 on the Modern Rock Tracks and 56 on the Billboard Hot 100. The next single, "Inhale", peaked at 18 on the Mainstream Rock chart. The group received two Grammy Award nominations for Best Metal Performance for the singles "Get Inside" and "Inhale" in 2003 and 2004 respectively. The album went on to achieve Gold certification. The band toured for six months with label mates Sinch and Chevelle before going on a temporary hiatus as Taylor and Root went back to join Slipknot for another album and tour.
Come What(ever) May (2005–2007)
The band came back in 2006 to release their second studio album, Come What(ever) May. They parted ways with drummer Joel Ekman, currently drumming for Isaac James, who left to take care of his cancer-stricken son, and later recruited current drummer, Roy Mayorga (Soulfly, and later Amebix and Hellyeah). The track "30/30-150" was recorded with Godsmack drummer Shannon Larkin. The album was released on August 1, 2006. It was met with positive reviews from critics, and sold 80,000 copies in the first week, allowing it to debut at number four on the Billboard 200. The band toured for the next year and a half, releasing the Live in Moscow album exclusively to iTunes on August 14, 2007.
The single "Sillyworld" peaked at number 2 on the Mainstream Rock charts in 2006. "Through Glass" proved to be successful peaking at number 1 on the Mainstream Rock Chart, 2 on the Modern Rock Tracks, 12 on the Adult Top 40 and 39 on the Billboard Hot 100 also in 2006. They released two more singles in 2007, "Made of Scars" and "Zzyzx Rd.", which managed to peak at numbers 21 and 29 on the Mainstream Rock charts respectively. In 2006 they received a Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance nomination for the single "30/30-150".
Audio Secrecy (2009–2011)
The band's third album Audio Secrecy, was recorded at the Blackbird Studios in Nashville, Tennessee with producer Nick Raskulinecz, who was the producer for the band's second album Come What(ever) May. and released on September 7, 2010 . Taylor stated that "Audio Secrecy is the summation of everything we want, everything we crave and everything we fight for...The dimensions go further than anything we've ever tried before. It's metal, rock, slow, soft, hard, fast, bitter, beautiful and most importantly, it's real. You can't get an album like this out of a band that doesn't exist. We're throwing caution out the damn window."
Stone Sour played the first annual Rockstar Energy Drink Uproar Festival with Avenged Sevenfold and Hollywood Undead among others. Stone Sour set the release date of Audio Secrecy as September 7. Stone Sour were part of the Soundwave Festival in late February/early March in Australia 2011. Stone Sour headlined The Avalanche Tour, supported by Theory of a Deadman, Skillet, Halestorm and Art of Dying. It was also announced that a Stone Sour live DVD will be released, filmed at the Brighton Centre in the United Kingdom. The band toured with Avenged Sevenfold, New Medicine and Hollywood Undead on the "Nightmare After Christmas Tour" 2011.
On April 16, 2011, it was announced that bassist Shawn Economaki had left the tour for personal reasons. Jason Christopher, who had played with Corey Taylor previously during his solo performances and with the Junk Beer Kidnap Band, filled in for the tour. In May 2011, Stone Sour canceled the remaining dates from their headline tour as drummer, Roy Mayorga suffered a minor stroke. He made a full recovery. The band played their last show of 2011 at the second day of the Rock in Rio IV festival, which took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, between September 23 – October 2. Drummer Roy Mayorga was not present at the show as he was expecting his first child back home, and filling-in for him was ex-Dream Theater and The Winery Dogs drummer Mike Portnoy. Bassist Shawn Economaki was also absent from the performance.
House of Gold & Bones (2012–2013)
The band released a song called "The Pessimist" as a free download on their Facebook page on March 27, 2012. The song was previously only available on the iTunes deluxe version of the soundtrack to Transformers: Dark of the Moon. They also released their first DVD Live at Brighton in the same year, capturing their performance on November 7, 2010.
It was announced via Instagram on May 3, 2012, that bassist Shawn Economaki had parted ways with the band on amicable terms. He was replaced in the studio by current Skid Row bassist Rachel Bolan. Stone Sour started recording their fourth studio album in early 2012. Corey Taylor stated that the album would end up being a double album or concept album, and described the album's sound as "Pink Floyd's The Wall meets Alice in Chains's Dirt". It was later announced that the new material would be released as two separate albums. The first album, House of Gold & Bones – Part 1 was released worldwide on October 23, 2012, and the second album House of Gold & Bones – Part 2 was released worldwide on April 9, 2013. The project also has a 4-part graphic novel series that accompanies the albums, telling the linear storyline featured in the twin albums' lyrics.
The first two songs from Part 1, "Gone Sovereign" and the first official single, "Absolute Zero" were released for radio airplay in mid/late August 2012. The first single from House of Gold & Bones Part 2 was "Do Me a Favor". It was released digitally on February 12. Guitarist Josh Rand stated in an interview with O2 Academy that there was a song recorded for Part 1, an instrumental which was deemed 'not up to par' by the band. The song will likely be released in the future once James Root and Josh Rand do 'some stuff to it guitar-wise'.
On October 5, 2012, Johny Chow of Fireball Ministry and Cavalera Conspiracy was announced as the bassist for the band on the House of Gold & Bones tour cycle. Stone Sour subsequently played Soundwave Festival 2013 in Australia and on the Sunday at Download Festival 2013. Guitarist James Root did not tour with Stone Sour in the winter of 2013, as he had to take a brief hiatus from the group to work on .5: The Gray Chapter with Slipknot, although it was later revealed that he was fired from the band due to musical differences. He claimed that the band wanted to focus on "radio play and money," which Root fought against, leading to his departure. Christian Martucci filled in for Root during that period.
The Burbank EP duology (2014–2016)
On October 5, 2014, it was announced via Stone Sour's Facebook page that the band had begun recording a covers EP, which is due to be titled Meanwhile in Burbank... and released in 2015. Corey Taylor stated about the covers EP: "This is something that we've been talking about since the first album came out, with [Stone Sour]. We've always wanted to do this. Even as people have come, people have gone, this is still something we've always come back to, and we just never had the opportunity to do it. And we just kind of said, 'Well, screw it.'" On February 9, 2015, Stone Sour released an official music video and track, which is a cover version of the Metal Church's song "The Dark". The EP was released on April 18, 2015. Corey Taylor confirmed that two more covers EPs are to be produced, they will be titled Straight Outta Burbank and No Sleep Till Burbank and will feature covers of songs by Rage Against The Machine, Mötley Crüe, Bad Brains and Violent Femmes. Straight Outta Burbank..., the second volume in the series, has since been released.
Per Blabbermouth.net, On March 29, 2016, frontman Corey Taylor told the "Someone Who Isn't Me" podcast: "Originally we were going to do three [covers EPs], and now it sounds like we're just going to do the two and just keep the other stuff we recorded as extra content for when we make the next album."
Hydrograd (2017–2019)
On July 26, 2016, Taylor announced the band had written and demoed 18 songs for their sixth studio album, with plans to enter the studio in January for a likely mid-2017 release. On January 23, 2017, Taylor revealed that the band was in the process of recording their upcoming album named Hydrograd. Taylor indicated that the album would incorporate heavy metal elements found in previous releases, alongside hard rock styles. Four singles have been released ahead of the album in promotion; "Fabuless", "Song #3", "Taipei Person/Allah Tea" and "Mercy" (A live recording from Sphere Studios), with St. Marie being released as single following the album's release. Hydrograd released worldwide on June 30, 2017 to generally positive reviews. The band also released an exclusive cover of the Rage Against the Machine song "Bombtrack" for the Metal Hammer compilation Metal Hammer Goes 90s in August 2017.
In Spring 2018, Stone Sour embarked on Ozzy Osbourne's US 2018 tour for the Spring and Fall. On May 6, 2019, it was announced that Roy Mayorga joining Hellyeah as their new drummer, and replacing the original Hellyeah drummer Vinnie Paul, who died on June 22, 2018.
On November 6, 2019, the band announced that they would be releasing a live album titled, Hello, You Bastards: Live in Reno, on December 13 of the same year.
Indefinite hiatus (2020–present)
On August 10, 2020, Taylor announced on 'The Green Room with Neil Griffiths' podcast that Stone Sour was taking a hiatus, saying: "I feel like Stone Sour has kinda run its course for now," "We all talked as a band and decided to kinda put Stone Sour in indefinite hiatus. That's the way it is. We've put it on the shelf for now. Everyone's kind of going and doing their own thing."
Musical style
Throughout the band's career, their musical style has been described as alternative metal, hard rock, heavy metal, and alternative rock. Their music features double bass drum patterns, heavy guitar riffs, dual guitar harmonies and vocally combining screaming with singing.
Guitarist Josh Rand stated in an interview, that he tries to bring a metal aspect and elements of thrash metal in their music. He also stated that his writing style is different than Slipknot's writing style.
Stone Sour's fourth and fifth albums, House of Gold & Bones - Part 1 and Part 2 are notable for their concept album format, and have led to comparisons to progressive rock bands. When asked about this, Josh Rand stated: "I still think it's us. We never said that we would be Genesis or Dream Theater or Yes or any of those types of bands. We're not a prog band. We said we're going to adopt the ideas of those stories and stuff, but it's still going to be a Stone Sour record, where you can still pull those individual songs. We just wanted to offer something more - in a world where it's all about singles, we just wanted to do something different. We've always evolved from record to record, if you listen to our entire catalog."
Band members
Official members
Corey Taylor – lead vocals, occasional rhythm guitar, keyboards (1992–1997, 2000–present)
Josh Rand – rhythm guitar, occasional lead guitar, backing vocals (1993, 2000–present), bass (2000)
Roy Mayorga – drums, keyboards (2006–present)
Johny Chow – bass, backing vocals (2012–present)
Christian Martucci – lead guitar, backing vocals (2014–present)
Former members
Jim Root – lead guitar (1995–1997, 2000–2014)
Joel Ekman – drums (1992–1997, 2000–2006)
Shawn Economaki – bass (1993–1997, 2000–2012)
Former touring musicians
Jason Christopher – bass, backing vocals (2011)
Mike Portnoy – drums (2011)
Jonah Nimoy – rhythm guitar (2018)
R.J. Ronquillo – rhythm guitar (2018)
Timeline
Recording timeline
Discography
Stone Sour (2002)
Come What(ever) May (2006)
Audio Secrecy (2010)
House of Gold & Bones – Part 1 (2012)
House of Gold & Bones – Part 2 (2013)
Hydrograd (2017)
Accolades
Grammy Awards
|-
| || "Get Inside" || Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance ||
|-
| || "Inhale" || Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance ||
|-
| || "30/30-150" || Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance ||
Revolver Golden Gods
|-
| 2013 || Roy Mayorga || Golden Gods Award for Best Drummer ||
|-
| 2013 || Corey Taylor || Golden Gods Award for Best Vocalist ||
|-
| 2012 || "House of Gold & Bones - Part 1" || Golden Gods Award for Album of the Year ||
Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards
|-
| 2013 || Stone Sour || Best International Band ||
Loudwire Music Awards
|-
| 2012 || Stone Sour || Rock Band of the Year ||
|-
| rowspan="3" | 2017 || Stone Sour || Hard Rock Artist of the Year ||
|-
| Hydrograd || Hard Rock Album of the Year ||
|-
| Corey Taylor || Best Vocalist ||
Bandit Rock Awards
|-
| 2018 || Hydrograd || Best International Album ||
References
External links
1992 establishments in Iowa
Musical groups established in 1992
Musical groups disestablished in 1997
Musical groups reestablished in 2001
Roadrunner Records artists
Alternative rock groups from Iowa
Heavy metal musical groups from Iowa
Musical groups from Des Moines, Iowa
American alternative metal musical groups
American hard rock musical groups | false | [
"\"Oh Baby!\" is a song by the Dutch group Twenty 4 Seven. It was released as the first single from their third album, I Wanna Show You. The video was shot in London, and filmed by director Steve Walker. A midtempo ballad, \"Oh Baby\" did not have the same impact on the charts as the group's previous singles, although it did reach the top 40 charts in several European countries.\n\nCharts\n\nWeekly charts\n\nYear-end charts\n\nReferences\n\n1994 singles\n1994 songs\nTwenty 4 Seven songs\n1990s ballads\nPop ballads\nCNR Music singles\nZYX Music singles",
"\"Back to the World\" is the first single from R&B singer Tevin Campbell's third album of the same name. Written by Jamey Jaz, Rahsaan Patterson and Mikelyn Roderick, it was the only single from his third album to garner decent success on the charts, peaking at No. 16 on the R&B Charts. It was also the only single from the album to reach the Hot 100, peaking at No. 47. This is Tevin's 10th and last single to date to reach the top 20 on the R&B Charts.\n\nChart performance\n\nWeekly charts\n\nYear-end charts\n\nReferences\n\nTevin Campbell songs\n1996 singles\n1996 songs\nSongs written by Rahsaan Patterson\nContemporary R&B ballads\n1990s ballads"
]
|
[
"Stone Sour",
"House of Gold & Bones (2012-2013)",
"When was the album released?",
"October 23, 2012,",
"Were there any singles?",
"The first two songs from Part 1, \"Gone Sovereign\" and the first official single, \"Absolute Zero\"",
"Did the single reach the charts?",
"I don't know."
]
| C_d3598cdf63114915bfebd9d071e42bda_0 | Did the band tour? | 4 | Did the band Stone Sour tour? | Stone Sour | The band released a song called "The Pessimist" as a free download on their Facebook page on March 27, 2012. The song was previously only available on the iTunes deluxe version of the soundtrack to Transformers: Dark of the Moon. They also released their first DVD Live at Brighton in the same year, capturing their performance on November 7, 2010. It was announced via Instagram on May 3, 2012 that bassist Shawn Economaki had parted ways with the band on amicable terms. He was replaced in the studio by current Skid Row bassist Rachel Bolan. Stone Sour started recording their fourth studio album in early 2012. Corey Taylor stated that the album would end up being a double album or concept album, and described the album's sound as "Pink Floyd's The Wall meets Alice in Chains's Dirt". It was later announced that the new material would be released as two separate albums. The first album, House of Gold & Bones - Part 1 was released worldwide on October 23, 2012, and the second album House of Gold & Bones - Part 2 was released worldwide on April 9, 2013. The project also has a 4-part graphic novel series that accompanies the albums, telling the linear storyline featured in the twin albums' lyrics. The first two songs from Part 1, "Gone Sovereign" and the first official single, "Absolute Zero" were released for radio airplay in mid/late August 2012. The first single from House of Gold & Bones Part 2 was "Do Me a Favor". It was released digitally on February 12. Guitarist Josh Rand stated in an interview with O2 Academy that there was a song recorded for Part 1, an instrumental which was deemed 'not up to par' by the band. The song will likely be released in the future once James Root and Josh Rand do 'some stuff to it guitar-wise'. On October 5, 2012, Johny Chow of Fireball Ministry and Cavalera Conspiracy was announced as the bassist for the band on the House of Gold & Bones tour cycle. Stone Sour subsequently played Soundwave Festival 2013 in Australia and on the Sunday at Download Festival 2013. Guitarist James Root did not tour with Stone Sour in the winter of 2013, as he had to take a brief hiatus from the group to work on .5: The Gray Chapter with Slipknot, although it was later revealed that he was fired from the band due to musical differences. He claimed that the band wanted to focus on "radio play and money," in which Root fought against, and that led to a split. Christian Martucci filled in for Root during that period. CANNOTANSWER | On October 5, 2012, Johny Chow of Fireball Ministry and Cavalera Conspiracy was announced as the bassist for the band on the House of Gold & Bones tour cycle. | Stone Sour was an American rock band formed in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1992. The band performed for five years before disbanding in 1997. They reunited in 2000 and since 2015, the group has consisted of Corey Taylor (lead vocals, guitar), Josh Rand (guitar), Christian Martucci (guitar), Johny Chow (bass) and Roy Mayorga (drums). Longtime members Joel Ekman (drums, percussion) and Shawn Economaki (bass guitar) left the band in 2006 and 2011, respectively. Former lead guitarist Jim Root left in 2014.
To date, Stone Sour has released six studio albums: Stone Sour (2002); Come What(ever) May (2006); Audio Secrecy (2010); House of Gold & Bones – Part 1 (2012); House of Gold & Bones – Part 2 (2013) and Hydrograd (2017). They also released a digital live album, Live in Moscow, in 2007. Their album, Hydrograd was released in June 2017 and is their first album to feature guitarist Christian Martucci and bassist Johny Chow.
Stone Sour earned the group two Grammy Award nominations, both for Best Metal Performance, for the singles "Get Inside", in 2003, and "Inhale", in 2004. From their album Come What(ever) May, the group received another Grammy Award nomination for Best Metal Performance for the single "30/30-150", in 2007. The band has sold 2.1 million albums in the United States as of April 2017.
History
Formation and early years (1992–1997)
Stone Sour was founded by Corey Taylor, who later became the vocalist of Slipknot, and former drummer Joel Ekman; the band's name comes from a cocktail menu at a local bar. Taylor's longtime friend Shawn Economaki joined shortly after, and filled in as the bass player. During these formative years, Stone Sour recorded two demo tapes, in 1993 and 1994. In 1995, Jim Root, who is now part of Slipknot with Taylor, joined the band. In 1996, this lineup recorded another demo tape, songs from which would be used in 2002 on their self-titled debut album. In 1997, the band went on hiatus, during which Taylor and Root spent most of their time with Slipknot, who were another up-and-coming act in Des Moines and would soon earn a record deal.
Stone Sour and hiatus (2000–2004)
After Josh Rand joined the band, the band recorded their debut self-titled album in Cedar Falls. Upon release, the album charted at number 46 on the Billboard 200. The song "Bother", which was featured on the Spider-Man soundtrack (credited only to Taylor), peaked at number 2 on the Mainstream Rock Chart as well as number 4 on the Modern Rock Tracks and 56 on the Billboard Hot 100. The next single, "Inhale", peaked at 18 on the Mainstream Rock chart. The group received two Grammy Award nominations for Best Metal Performance for the singles "Get Inside" and "Inhale" in 2003 and 2004 respectively. The album went on to achieve Gold certification. The band toured for six months with label mates Sinch and Chevelle before going on a temporary hiatus as Taylor and Root went back to join Slipknot for another album and tour.
Come What(ever) May (2005–2007)
The band came back in 2006 to release their second studio album, Come What(ever) May. They parted ways with drummer Joel Ekman, currently drumming for Isaac James, who left to take care of his cancer-stricken son, and later recruited current drummer, Roy Mayorga (Soulfly, and later Amebix and Hellyeah). The track "30/30-150" was recorded with Godsmack drummer Shannon Larkin. The album was released on August 1, 2006. It was met with positive reviews from critics, and sold 80,000 copies in the first week, allowing it to debut at number four on the Billboard 200. The band toured for the next year and a half, releasing the Live in Moscow album exclusively to iTunes on August 14, 2007.
The single "Sillyworld" peaked at number 2 on the Mainstream Rock charts in 2006. "Through Glass" proved to be successful peaking at number 1 on the Mainstream Rock Chart, 2 on the Modern Rock Tracks, 12 on the Adult Top 40 and 39 on the Billboard Hot 100 also in 2006. They released two more singles in 2007, "Made of Scars" and "Zzyzx Rd.", which managed to peak at numbers 21 and 29 on the Mainstream Rock charts respectively. In 2006 they received a Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance nomination for the single "30/30-150".
Audio Secrecy (2009–2011)
The band's third album Audio Secrecy, was recorded at the Blackbird Studios in Nashville, Tennessee with producer Nick Raskulinecz, who was the producer for the band's second album Come What(ever) May. and released on September 7, 2010 . Taylor stated that "Audio Secrecy is the summation of everything we want, everything we crave and everything we fight for...The dimensions go further than anything we've ever tried before. It's metal, rock, slow, soft, hard, fast, bitter, beautiful and most importantly, it's real. You can't get an album like this out of a band that doesn't exist. We're throwing caution out the damn window."
Stone Sour played the first annual Rockstar Energy Drink Uproar Festival with Avenged Sevenfold and Hollywood Undead among others. Stone Sour set the release date of Audio Secrecy as September 7. Stone Sour were part of the Soundwave Festival in late February/early March in Australia 2011. Stone Sour headlined The Avalanche Tour, supported by Theory of a Deadman, Skillet, Halestorm and Art of Dying. It was also announced that a Stone Sour live DVD will be released, filmed at the Brighton Centre in the United Kingdom. The band toured with Avenged Sevenfold, New Medicine and Hollywood Undead on the "Nightmare After Christmas Tour" 2011.
On April 16, 2011, it was announced that bassist Shawn Economaki had left the tour for personal reasons. Jason Christopher, who had played with Corey Taylor previously during his solo performances and with the Junk Beer Kidnap Band, filled in for the tour. In May 2011, Stone Sour canceled the remaining dates from their headline tour as drummer, Roy Mayorga suffered a minor stroke. He made a full recovery. The band played their last show of 2011 at the second day of the Rock in Rio IV festival, which took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, between September 23 – October 2. Drummer Roy Mayorga was not present at the show as he was expecting his first child back home, and filling-in for him was ex-Dream Theater and The Winery Dogs drummer Mike Portnoy. Bassist Shawn Economaki was also absent from the performance.
House of Gold & Bones (2012–2013)
The band released a song called "The Pessimist" as a free download on their Facebook page on March 27, 2012. The song was previously only available on the iTunes deluxe version of the soundtrack to Transformers: Dark of the Moon. They also released their first DVD Live at Brighton in the same year, capturing their performance on November 7, 2010.
It was announced via Instagram on May 3, 2012, that bassist Shawn Economaki had parted ways with the band on amicable terms. He was replaced in the studio by current Skid Row bassist Rachel Bolan. Stone Sour started recording their fourth studio album in early 2012. Corey Taylor stated that the album would end up being a double album or concept album, and described the album's sound as "Pink Floyd's The Wall meets Alice in Chains's Dirt". It was later announced that the new material would be released as two separate albums. The first album, House of Gold & Bones – Part 1 was released worldwide on October 23, 2012, and the second album House of Gold & Bones – Part 2 was released worldwide on April 9, 2013. The project also has a 4-part graphic novel series that accompanies the albums, telling the linear storyline featured in the twin albums' lyrics.
The first two songs from Part 1, "Gone Sovereign" and the first official single, "Absolute Zero" were released for radio airplay in mid/late August 2012. The first single from House of Gold & Bones Part 2 was "Do Me a Favor". It was released digitally on February 12. Guitarist Josh Rand stated in an interview with O2 Academy that there was a song recorded for Part 1, an instrumental which was deemed 'not up to par' by the band. The song will likely be released in the future once James Root and Josh Rand do 'some stuff to it guitar-wise'.
On October 5, 2012, Johny Chow of Fireball Ministry and Cavalera Conspiracy was announced as the bassist for the band on the House of Gold & Bones tour cycle. Stone Sour subsequently played Soundwave Festival 2013 in Australia and on the Sunday at Download Festival 2013. Guitarist James Root did not tour with Stone Sour in the winter of 2013, as he had to take a brief hiatus from the group to work on .5: The Gray Chapter with Slipknot, although it was later revealed that he was fired from the band due to musical differences. He claimed that the band wanted to focus on "radio play and money," which Root fought against, leading to his departure. Christian Martucci filled in for Root during that period.
The Burbank EP duology (2014–2016)
On October 5, 2014, it was announced via Stone Sour's Facebook page that the band had begun recording a covers EP, which is due to be titled Meanwhile in Burbank... and released in 2015. Corey Taylor stated about the covers EP: "This is something that we've been talking about since the first album came out, with [Stone Sour]. We've always wanted to do this. Even as people have come, people have gone, this is still something we've always come back to, and we just never had the opportunity to do it. And we just kind of said, 'Well, screw it.'" On February 9, 2015, Stone Sour released an official music video and track, which is a cover version of the Metal Church's song "The Dark". The EP was released on April 18, 2015. Corey Taylor confirmed that two more covers EPs are to be produced, they will be titled Straight Outta Burbank and No Sleep Till Burbank and will feature covers of songs by Rage Against The Machine, Mötley Crüe, Bad Brains and Violent Femmes. Straight Outta Burbank..., the second volume in the series, has since been released.
Per Blabbermouth.net, On March 29, 2016, frontman Corey Taylor told the "Someone Who Isn't Me" podcast: "Originally we were going to do three [covers EPs], and now it sounds like we're just going to do the two and just keep the other stuff we recorded as extra content for when we make the next album."
Hydrograd (2017–2019)
On July 26, 2016, Taylor announced the band had written and demoed 18 songs for their sixth studio album, with plans to enter the studio in January for a likely mid-2017 release. On January 23, 2017, Taylor revealed that the band was in the process of recording their upcoming album named Hydrograd. Taylor indicated that the album would incorporate heavy metal elements found in previous releases, alongside hard rock styles. Four singles have been released ahead of the album in promotion; "Fabuless", "Song #3", "Taipei Person/Allah Tea" and "Mercy" (A live recording from Sphere Studios), with St. Marie being released as single following the album's release. Hydrograd released worldwide on June 30, 2017 to generally positive reviews. The band also released an exclusive cover of the Rage Against the Machine song "Bombtrack" for the Metal Hammer compilation Metal Hammer Goes 90s in August 2017.
In Spring 2018, Stone Sour embarked on Ozzy Osbourne's US 2018 tour for the Spring and Fall. On May 6, 2019, it was announced that Roy Mayorga joining Hellyeah as their new drummer, and replacing the original Hellyeah drummer Vinnie Paul, who died on June 22, 2018.
On November 6, 2019, the band announced that they would be releasing a live album titled, Hello, You Bastards: Live in Reno, on December 13 of the same year.
Indefinite hiatus (2020–present)
On August 10, 2020, Taylor announced on 'The Green Room with Neil Griffiths' podcast that Stone Sour was taking a hiatus, saying: "I feel like Stone Sour has kinda run its course for now," "We all talked as a band and decided to kinda put Stone Sour in indefinite hiatus. That's the way it is. We've put it on the shelf for now. Everyone's kind of going and doing their own thing."
Musical style
Throughout the band's career, their musical style has been described as alternative metal, hard rock, heavy metal, and alternative rock. Their music features double bass drum patterns, heavy guitar riffs, dual guitar harmonies and vocally combining screaming with singing.
Guitarist Josh Rand stated in an interview, that he tries to bring a metal aspect and elements of thrash metal in their music. He also stated that his writing style is different than Slipknot's writing style.
Stone Sour's fourth and fifth albums, House of Gold & Bones - Part 1 and Part 2 are notable for their concept album format, and have led to comparisons to progressive rock bands. When asked about this, Josh Rand stated: "I still think it's us. We never said that we would be Genesis or Dream Theater or Yes or any of those types of bands. We're not a prog band. We said we're going to adopt the ideas of those stories and stuff, but it's still going to be a Stone Sour record, where you can still pull those individual songs. We just wanted to offer something more - in a world where it's all about singles, we just wanted to do something different. We've always evolved from record to record, if you listen to our entire catalog."
Band members
Official members
Corey Taylor – lead vocals, occasional rhythm guitar, keyboards (1992–1997, 2000–present)
Josh Rand – rhythm guitar, occasional lead guitar, backing vocals (1993, 2000–present), bass (2000)
Roy Mayorga – drums, keyboards (2006–present)
Johny Chow – bass, backing vocals (2012–present)
Christian Martucci – lead guitar, backing vocals (2014–present)
Former members
Jim Root – lead guitar (1995–1997, 2000–2014)
Joel Ekman – drums (1992–1997, 2000–2006)
Shawn Economaki – bass (1993–1997, 2000–2012)
Former touring musicians
Jason Christopher – bass, backing vocals (2011)
Mike Portnoy – drums (2011)
Jonah Nimoy – rhythm guitar (2018)
R.J. Ronquillo – rhythm guitar (2018)
Timeline
Recording timeline
Discography
Stone Sour (2002)
Come What(ever) May (2006)
Audio Secrecy (2010)
House of Gold & Bones – Part 1 (2012)
House of Gold & Bones – Part 2 (2013)
Hydrograd (2017)
Accolades
Grammy Awards
|-
| || "Get Inside" || Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance ||
|-
| || "Inhale" || Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance ||
|-
| || "30/30-150" || Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance ||
Revolver Golden Gods
|-
| 2013 || Roy Mayorga || Golden Gods Award for Best Drummer ||
|-
| 2013 || Corey Taylor || Golden Gods Award for Best Vocalist ||
|-
| 2012 || "House of Gold & Bones - Part 1" || Golden Gods Award for Album of the Year ||
Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards
|-
| 2013 || Stone Sour || Best International Band ||
Loudwire Music Awards
|-
| 2012 || Stone Sour || Rock Band of the Year ||
|-
| rowspan="3" | 2017 || Stone Sour || Hard Rock Artist of the Year ||
|-
| Hydrograd || Hard Rock Album of the Year ||
|-
| Corey Taylor || Best Vocalist ||
Bandit Rock Awards
|-
| 2018 || Hydrograd || Best International Album ||
References
External links
1992 establishments in Iowa
Musical groups established in 1992
Musical groups disestablished in 1997
Musical groups reestablished in 2001
Roadrunner Records artists
Alternative rock groups from Iowa
Heavy metal musical groups from Iowa
Musical groups from Des Moines, Iowa
American alternative metal musical groups
American hard rock musical groups | true | [
"Death Hawks is a Finnish psychedelic rock band formed in 2011.\n\nHistory\n\nDeath Hawks was put together in the spring of 2010 to arrange and record songs by singer Teemu Markkula, but it soon metamorphosed into a solid band. Death Hawks played its first show with a complete lineup in April 2011.\n\nDeath Hawks’ intense live shows, with their psychedelic meanderings, soon created an organic hype around the band. Death Hawks recorded their debut album “Death & Decay” in the summer of 2011 and it was released in February 2012 through Tampere-based GAEA records.\nDeath & Decay received generally good reviews and the music media noticed the new and young psychedelic rock band singing about dark subjects (usually addressed by heavier bands) combining e.g. blues and krautrock to a folkier songwriting with their psychedelic way. Media started to talk about the band as a future Finnish music export name. Death & Decay reached number 10 on Finnish album charts.\n\nAfter the record release the band continued to do shows with a more frequent pace touring all over Finland and from January 2013 on touring across Europe too. In January the band did a week long Swedish tour and some shows in The Netherlands. In April 2013 Death Hawks did a small Finnish tour with Graveyard (band) from Sweden and in May participated in Fullsteam Ahead Tour (organised together by Makia Clothing and Lapin Kulta) which featured selected Finnish bands touring with a steamboat in the Finnish archipelago. A document film was released from the tour.\nIn the winter and spring of 2013 Death Hawks also started the recording of their sophomore album.\n\nThe self-titled second album came out September 2013 from GAEA Records. The album “Death Hawks” reached number 15 on Finnish album charts. \nAfter some shows in Finland Death Hawks joined the German hard rock band Kadavar for their tour in Germany and Austria in October 2013. January 2014 Death Hawks did a short Scandinavian tour followed by two gigs in Oslo, Norway where the album “Death Hawks” was among the top 10 finalists nominated for Nordic Music Prize 2013 (an annual award for the Best Nordic Album Of The Year). \nDeath Hawks’ second album got also nominated in Emma gala 2014 (the “Finnish Grammys”) and it was chosen as the best album of 2013 by Soundi magazine.\n\nIn May 2014 the band did their first longer European tour including Sweden, Poland, Germany, Austria, Hungary and Croatia. In summer they performed near every weekend playing the biggest festivals in Finland and also stopping by in Sweden and Russia. \nOctober 2014 Death Hawks toured Germany and later that year performed in UK, Poland and France.\n\nIn the beginning of 2015 Death Hawks started to write new material for their third studio album. In April they had a brief break from studio work to play at Roadburn Festival in Netherlands. In May the band headed to Suomenlinna Studios with producer Janne Lastumäki and engineer Ilari Larjosto. By the end of the summer the album was ready to be sent to press. In that summer Death Hawks also did some shows in Finland, Germany and Sweden. On November 13, 2015 the album Sun Future Moon was released through Svart Records. In November and December the band also did a vast tour of Finland and a smaller tour in Norway. In Finland they toured with the experimental rock band Circle (band).\n\nThe year 2016 was all about playing shows and touring for Death Hawks. They played close to a hundred shows and did three wider tours that year. In March they did a Finnish tour and in April Death Hawks embarked on a month long European Tour called Cobra Run 2016. After that the band played a lot of summer festivals and in September they headed back to Central Europe and Scandinavia for a couple of weeks. The rest of the year Death Hawks continued playing shows and did a couple also with the Swedish Blues Pills.\n\nThe members of Death Hawks also had a previous band together in 2005-2007 called Genzale.\nThis band featured all of the members from Death Hawks plus a second guitarist Niko Matiskainen. \nGenzale recorded one promotional album in 2006 which consisted of eight songs and was never released officially.\n\nDiscography\n\nAlbums\n Death & Decay (Gaea Records) (2012)\n Death Hawks (Gaea Records) (2013)\n Sun Future Moon (Svart Records) (2015)\n Psychic Harmony (Svart Records) (2019)\n\nEP's and Singles\n Humanoids - single\" (Digital single Gaea Records) (2013)\n Death Hawks / Kiki Pau - Split 7\" (Promotional release by Music Finland) (2013)\n The song \"Buddiman\" by Death Hawks was released on Vähän multaa päälle compilation album (Fonal Records) (2012)\n\nBand members \nCurrent members\nTeemu Markkula – vocals, guitar \nRiku Pirttiniemi – bass, vocals\nTenho Mattila – keyboards, synthesizers, saxophone\nMiikka Heikkinen – drums, percussion\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \nDeath Hawks in Alt Agency & Management's roster\nhttp://www.deathhawks.com/\nDeath Hawks in last.fm\nDeath Hawks album review on The Line Of Best Fit\n\nFinnish rock music groups\nMusical quartets\n2011 establishments in Finland",
"The Talk on Corners Tour is the second concert tour by Irish band, The Corrs. Beginning November 1997, the tour supported the band's second studio album, Talk on Corners. To date, it is their longest tour, with over 150 dates in Europe, Australasia, Asia and North America. The tour began with the band performing in theatres and nightclubs and progressed to arenas and amphitheaters; along with a mix of music festival appearances.\n\nBackground\nAfter promoting their second studio album, the band began tour rehearsals in October 1997 at The Factory Studios in Dublin. After rehearsals, the band promoted the tour on various radio stations throughout Europe. In February 1998 the band began their tour of Australia and New Zealand, while in New Zealand the band shot the video for \"What Can I Do?\". In March 1998, the band began their tour of the United Kingdom, where the performed at the Royal Albert Hall on Saint Patrick's Day with Mick Fleetwood joining the band for \"Dreams\", \"Haste to the Wedding\" and \"Toss the Feathers\". The show helped push \"Dreams\" to the top spot on British charts. It Also propelled their success to become the 2nd biggest band from Ireland behind U2.\n\nOnce breaking UK music scene, the band set out to follow the success in the US, where the tours in October 1998. During their stay in Chicago, the band shot the video for \"So Young\". In December, the band set of on a large UK/European tour and selling out 5 night at Wembley Arena, and selling out more than half of the other venues on the tour. In March 1999, the band toured North America with The Rolling Stones as part of their No Security Tour. In July 1999, the band set off on a summer festival tour as they did the previous July (1998). But on 17 July 1999 the band did the biggest concert to date, in front of a home crowd of 45,000 people at Lansdowne Road.\n\nOpening acts\nDakota Moon (3–22 December 1998)\nPicturehouse (14 January–1 February 1999)\nBabel Fish (3–8 February 1999)\nBrian Kennedy (20–26 February 1999)\nAn Pierlé (Amsterdam)\nCatie Curtis (Alexandria, Chicago, West Hollywood and Solana Beach)\n\nSetlist\nThe following setlist is obtained from the 5 June 1998 concert at the Portsmouth Guildhall in Portsmouth, England. It does not represent all concerts during the tour.\n\"Instrumental Sequence\"\n\"When He's Not Around\"\n\"No Good for Me\"\n\"Love to Love You\"\n\"Instrumental Sequence\" (contains elements of \"(Lough) Erin Shore\")\n\"Forgiven, Not Forgotten\"\n\"Joy of Life\"\n\"Intimacy\"\n\"What Can I Do?\"\n\"The Right Time\"\n\"Queen of Hollywood\"\n\"Dreams\"\n\"Instrumental Sequence\" (contains elements of \"Haste to the Wedding\")\n\"Runaway\"\n\"Only When I Sleep\"\n\"Hopelessly Addicted\"\n\"I Never Loved You Anyway\"\nEncore\n\"So Young\"\n\"Toss the Feathers\"\n\nTour dates\n\nFestivals and other miscellaneous performances\n\nConcierto Básico 40\nFleadh Festival\nDerby Day Picnic\nGuinness Fleadh Music Festival\nOhne Filter\nStorsjöyran\nMidtfyns Festival\nParty in the Park\nBalinger Open Air\nDoctor Music Festival\nMontreux Jazz Festival\nAxion Beach Rock\nGurtenfestival\nNuits de Fourvière\nSziget Festival\nRadio 1 Roadshow\nSopot International Song Festival\nXVI Commonwealth Games Closing Ceremony\nCity in the Park\nGlastonbury Festival\nXacobeo '99\nStadsfesten Skellefteå\nSolidays\n\nCancellations and rescheduled shows\n\nPersonnel\n\nBand\nAndrea Corr (lead vocals, tin whistle)\nSharon Corr (violin, keyboards, vocals)\nCaroline Corr (drums, bodhran, piano, vocals)\nJim Corr (guitars, keyboards, vocals)\nKeith Duffy (bass)\nAnthony Drennan (lead guitar)\nConor Brady (lead guitar) (replaced Anto during the Genesis tour; 1997–1998)\n\nManagement & Agents\nJohn Hughes (manager)\nEmma Hill (management assistant)\nJohn Giddings at Solo ITG (international agent)\nBarry Gaster (Irish agent)\n\nThe Crew\nHenry McGroggan (tour manager)\nAiden Lee (production manager)\nLiam McCarthy (lighting designer)\nMax Bisgrove (sound engineer)\nPaul 'Mini' Moore (monitor engineer)\nDeclan Hogan (drum technician)\nJohn Parsons (guitar technician)\nOisin Murray (midi technician)\nJay Mascrey (makeup)\n\nReferences\n\n1997 concert tours\n1998 concert tours\n1999 concert tours\nThe Corrs concert tours"
]
|
[
"Stone Sour",
"House of Gold & Bones (2012-2013)",
"When was the album released?",
"October 23, 2012,",
"Were there any singles?",
"The first two songs from Part 1, \"Gone Sovereign\" and the first official single, \"Absolute Zero\"",
"Did the single reach the charts?",
"I don't know.",
"Did the band tour?",
"On October 5, 2012, Johny Chow of Fireball Ministry and Cavalera Conspiracy was announced as the bassist for the band on the House of Gold & Bones tour cycle."
]
| C_d3598cdf63114915bfebd9d071e42bda_0 | Who did they tour with? | 5 | Who did Stone Sour tour with? | Stone Sour | The band released a song called "The Pessimist" as a free download on their Facebook page on March 27, 2012. The song was previously only available on the iTunes deluxe version of the soundtrack to Transformers: Dark of the Moon. They also released their first DVD Live at Brighton in the same year, capturing their performance on November 7, 2010. It was announced via Instagram on May 3, 2012 that bassist Shawn Economaki had parted ways with the band on amicable terms. He was replaced in the studio by current Skid Row bassist Rachel Bolan. Stone Sour started recording their fourth studio album in early 2012. Corey Taylor stated that the album would end up being a double album or concept album, and described the album's sound as "Pink Floyd's The Wall meets Alice in Chains's Dirt". It was later announced that the new material would be released as two separate albums. The first album, House of Gold & Bones - Part 1 was released worldwide on October 23, 2012, and the second album House of Gold & Bones - Part 2 was released worldwide on April 9, 2013. The project also has a 4-part graphic novel series that accompanies the albums, telling the linear storyline featured in the twin albums' lyrics. The first two songs from Part 1, "Gone Sovereign" and the first official single, "Absolute Zero" were released for radio airplay in mid/late August 2012. The first single from House of Gold & Bones Part 2 was "Do Me a Favor". It was released digitally on February 12. Guitarist Josh Rand stated in an interview with O2 Academy that there was a song recorded for Part 1, an instrumental which was deemed 'not up to par' by the band. The song will likely be released in the future once James Root and Josh Rand do 'some stuff to it guitar-wise'. On October 5, 2012, Johny Chow of Fireball Ministry and Cavalera Conspiracy was announced as the bassist for the band on the House of Gold & Bones tour cycle. Stone Sour subsequently played Soundwave Festival 2013 in Australia and on the Sunday at Download Festival 2013. Guitarist James Root did not tour with Stone Sour in the winter of 2013, as he had to take a brief hiatus from the group to work on .5: The Gray Chapter with Slipknot, although it was later revealed that he was fired from the band due to musical differences. He claimed that the band wanted to focus on "radio play and money," in which Root fought against, and that led to a split. Christian Martucci filled in for Root during that period. CANNOTANSWER | Christian Martucci filled in for Root during that period. | Stone Sour was an American rock band formed in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1992. The band performed for five years before disbanding in 1997. They reunited in 2000 and since 2015, the group has consisted of Corey Taylor (lead vocals, guitar), Josh Rand (guitar), Christian Martucci (guitar), Johny Chow (bass) and Roy Mayorga (drums). Longtime members Joel Ekman (drums, percussion) and Shawn Economaki (bass guitar) left the band in 2006 and 2011, respectively. Former lead guitarist Jim Root left in 2014.
To date, Stone Sour has released six studio albums: Stone Sour (2002); Come What(ever) May (2006); Audio Secrecy (2010); House of Gold & Bones – Part 1 (2012); House of Gold & Bones – Part 2 (2013) and Hydrograd (2017). They also released a digital live album, Live in Moscow, in 2007. Their album, Hydrograd was released in June 2017 and is their first album to feature guitarist Christian Martucci and bassist Johny Chow.
Stone Sour earned the group two Grammy Award nominations, both for Best Metal Performance, for the singles "Get Inside", in 2003, and "Inhale", in 2004. From their album Come What(ever) May, the group received another Grammy Award nomination for Best Metal Performance for the single "30/30-150", in 2007. The band has sold 2.1 million albums in the United States as of April 2017.
History
Formation and early years (1992–1997)
Stone Sour was founded by Corey Taylor, who later became the vocalist of Slipknot, and former drummer Joel Ekman; the band's name comes from a cocktail menu at a local bar. Taylor's longtime friend Shawn Economaki joined shortly after, and filled in as the bass player. During these formative years, Stone Sour recorded two demo tapes, in 1993 and 1994. In 1995, Jim Root, who is now part of Slipknot with Taylor, joined the band. In 1996, this lineup recorded another demo tape, songs from which would be used in 2002 on their self-titled debut album. In 1997, the band went on hiatus, during which Taylor and Root spent most of their time with Slipknot, who were another up-and-coming act in Des Moines and would soon earn a record deal.
Stone Sour and hiatus (2000–2004)
After Josh Rand joined the band, the band recorded their debut self-titled album in Cedar Falls. Upon release, the album charted at number 46 on the Billboard 200. The song "Bother", which was featured on the Spider-Man soundtrack (credited only to Taylor), peaked at number 2 on the Mainstream Rock Chart as well as number 4 on the Modern Rock Tracks and 56 on the Billboard Hot 100. The next single, "Inhale", peaked at 18 on the Mainstream Rock chart. The group received two Grammy Award nominations for Best Metal Performance for the singles "Get Inside" and "Inhale" in 2003 and 2004 respectively. The album went on to achieve Gold certification. The band toured for six months with label mates Sinch and Chevelle before going on a temporary hiatus as Taylor and Root went back to join Slipknot for another album and tour.
Come What(ever) May (2005–2007)
The band came back in 2006 to release their second studio album, Come What(ever) May. They parted ways with drummer Joel Ekman, currently drumming for Isaac James, who left to take care of his cancer-stricken son, and later recruited current drummer, Roy Mayorga (Soulfly, and later Amebix and Hellyeah). The track "30/30-150" was recorded with Godsmack drummer Shannon Larkin. The album was released on August 1, 2006. It was met with positive reviews from critics, and sold 80,000 copies in the first week, allowing it to debut at number four on the Billboard 200. The band toured for the next year and a half, releasing the Live in Moscow album exclusively to iTunes on August 14, 2007.
The single "Sillyworld" peaked at number 2 on the Mainstream Rock charts in 2006. "Through Glass" proved to be successful peaking at number 1 on the Mainstream Rock Chart, 2 on the Modern Rock Tracks, 12 on the Adult Top 40 and 39 on the Billboard Hot 100 also in 2006. They released two more singles in 2007, "Made of Scars" and "Zzyzx Rd.", which managed to peak at numbers 21 and 29 on the Mainstream Rock charts respectively. In 2006 they received a Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance nomination for the single "30/30-150".
Audio Secrecy (2009–2011)
The band's third album Audio Secrecy, was recorded at the Blackbird Studios in Nashville, Tennessee with producer Nick Raskulinecz, who was the producer for the band's second album Come What(ever) May. and released on September 7, 2010 . Taylor stated that "Audio Secrecy is the summation of everything we want, everything we crave and everything we fight for...The dimensions go further than anything we've ever tried before. It's metal, rock, slow, soft, hard, fast, bitter, beautiful and most importantly, it's real. You can't get an album like this out of a band that doesn't exist. We're throwing caution out the damn window."
Stone Sour played the first annual Rockstar Energy Drink Uproar Festival with Avenged Sevenfold and Hollywood Undead among others. Stone Sour set the release date of Audio Secrecy as September 7. Stone Sour were part of the Soundwave Festival in late February/early March in Australia 2011. Stone Sour headlined The Avalanche Tour, supported by Theory of a Deadman, Skillet, Halestorm and Art of Dying. It was also announced that a Stone Sour live DVD will be released, filmed at the Brighton Centre in the United Kingdom. The band toured with Avenged Sevenfold, New Medicine and Hollywood Undead on the "Nightmare After Christmas Tour" 2011.
On April 16, 2011, it was announced that bassist Shawn Economaki had left the tour for personal reasons. Jason Christopher, who had played with Corey Taylor previously during his solo performances and with the Junk Beer Kidnap Band, filled in for the tour. In May 2011, Stone Sour canceled the remaining dates from their headline tour as drummer, Roy Mayorga suffered a minor stroke. He made a full recovery. The band played their last show of 2011 at the second day of the Rock in Rio IV festival, which took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, between September 23 – October 2. Drummer Roy Mayorga was not present at the show as he was expecting his first child back home, and filling-in for him was ex-Dream Theater and The Winery Dogs drummer Mike Portnoy. Bassist Shawn Economaki was also absent from the performance.
House of Gold & Bones (2012–2013)
The band released a song called "The Pessimist" as a free download on their Facebook page on March 27, 2012. The song was previously only available on the iTunes deluxe version of the soundtrack to Transformers: Dark of the Moon. They also released their first DVD Live at Brighton in the same year, capturing their performance on November 7, 2010.
It was announced via Instagram on May 3, 2012, that bassist Shawn Economaki had parted ways with the band on amicable terms. He was replaced in the studio by current Skid Row bassist Rachel Bolan. Stone Sour started recording their fourth studio album in early 2012. Corey Taylor stated that the album would end up being a double album or concept album, and described the album's sound as "Pink Floyd's The Wall meets Alice in Chains's Dirt". It was later announced that the new material would be released as two separate albums. The first album, House of Gold & Bones – Part 1 was released worldwide on October 23, 2012, and the second album House of Gold & Bones – Part 2 was released worldwide on April 9, 2013. The project also has a 4-part graphic novel series that accompanies the albums, telling the linear storyline featured in the twin albums' lyrics.
The first two songs from Part 1, "Gone Sovereign" and the first official single, "Absolute Zero" were released for radio airplay in mid/late August 2012. The first single from House of Gold & Bones Part 2 was "Do Me a Favor". It was released digitally on February 12. Guitarist Josh Rand stated in an interview with O2 Academy that there was a song recorded for Part 1, an instrumental which was deemed 'not up to par' by the band. The song will likely be released in the future once James Root and Josh Rand do 'some stuff to it guitar-wise'.
On October 5, 2012, Johny Chow of Fireball Ministry and Cavalera Conspiracy was announced as the bassist for the band on the House of Gold & Bones tour cycle. Stone Sour subsequently played Soundwave Festival 2013 in Australia and on the Sunday at Download Festival 2013. Guitarist James Root did not tour with Stone Sour in the winter of 2013, as he had to take a brief hiatus from the group to work on .5: The Gray Chapter with Slipknot, although it was later revealed that he was fired from the band due to musical differences. He claimed that the band wanted to focus on "radio play and money," which Root fought against, leading to his departure. Christian Martucci filled in for Root during that period.
The Burbank EP duology (2014–2016)
On October 5, 2014, it was announced via Stone Sour's Facebook page that the band had begun recording a covers EP, which is due to be titled Meanwhile in Burbank... and released in 2015. Corey Taylor stated about the covers EP: "This is something that we've been talking about since the first album came out, with [Stone Sour]. We've always wanted to do this. Even as people have come, people have gone, this is still something we've always come back to, and we just never had the opportunity to do it. And we just kind of said, 'Well, screw it.'" On February 9, 2015, Stone Sour released an official music video and track, which is a cover version of the Metal Church's song "The Dark". The EP was released on April 18, 2015. Corey Taylor confirmed that two more covers EPs are to be produced, they will be titled Straight Outta Burbank and No Sleep Till Burbank and will feature covers of songs by Rage Against The Machine, Mötley Crüe, Bad Brains and Violent Femmes. Straight Outta Burbank..., the second volume in the series, has since been released.
Per Blabbermouth.net, On March 29, 2016, frontman Corey Taylor told the "Someone Who Isn't Me" podcast: "Originally we were going to do three [covers EPs], and now it sounds like we're just going to do the two and just keep the other stuff we recorded as extra content for when we make the next album."
Hydrograd (2017–2019)
On July 26, 2016, Taylor announced the band had written and demoed 18 songs for their sixth studio album, with plans to enter the studio in January for a likely mid-2017 release. On January 23, 2017, Taylor revealed that the band was in the process of recording their upcoming album named Hydrograd. Taylor indicated that the album would incorporate heavy metal elements found in previous releases, alongside hard rock styles. Four singles have been released ahead of the album in promotion; "Fabuless", "Song #3", "Taipei Person/Allah Tea" and "Mercy" (A live recording from Sphere Studios), with St. Marie being released as single following the album's release. Hydrograd released worldwide on June 30, 2017 to generally positive reviews. The band also released an exclusive cover of the Rage Against the Machine song "Bombtrack" for the Metal Hammer compilation Metal Hammer Goes 90s in August 2017.
In Spring 2018, Stone Sour embarked on Ozzy Osbourne's US 2018 tour for the Spring and Fall. On May 6, 2019, it was announced that Roy Mayorga joining Hellyeah as their new drummer, and replacing the original Hellyeah drummer Vinnie Paul, who died on June 22, 2018.
On November 6, 2019, the band announced that they would be releasing a live album titled, Hello, You Bastards: Live in Reno, on December 13 of the same year.
Indefinite hiatus (2020–present)
On August 10, 2020, Taylor announced on 'The Green Room with Neil Griffiths' podcast that Stone Sour was taking a hiatus, saying: "I feel like Stone Sour has kinda run its course for now," "We all talked as a band and decided to kinda put Stone Sour in indefinite hiatus. That's the way it is. We've put it on the shelf for now. Everyone's kind of going and doing their own thing."
Musical style
Throughout the band's career, their musical style has been described as alternative metal, hard rock, heavy metal, and alternative rock. Their music features double bass drum patterns, heavy guitar riffs, dual guitar harmonies and vocally combining screaming with singing.
Guitarist Josh Rand stated in an interview, that he tries to bring a metal aspect and elements of thrash metal in their music. He also stated that his writing style is different than Slipknot's writing style.
Stone Sour's fourth and fifth albums, House of Gold & Bones - Part 1 and Part 2 are notable for their concept album format, and have led to comparisons to progressive rock bands. When asked about this, Josh Rand stated: "I still think it's us. We never said that we would be Genesis or Dream Theater or Yes or any of those types of bands. We're not a prog band. We said we're going to adopt the ideas of those stories and stuff, but it's still going to be a Stone Sour record, where you can still pull those individual songs. We just wanted to offer something more - in a world where it's all about singles, we just wanted to do something different. We've always evolved from record to record, if you listen to our entire catalog."
Band members
Official members
Corey Taylor – lead vocals, occasional rhythm guitar, keyboards (1992–1997, 2000–present)
Josh Rand – rhythm guitar, occasional lead guitar, backing vocals (1993, 2000–present), bass (2000)
Roy Mayorga – drums, keyboards (2006–present)
Johny Chow – bass, backing vocals (2012–present)
Christian Martucci – lead guitar, backing vocals (2014–present)
Former members
Jim Root – lead guitar (1995–1997, 2000–2014)
Joel Ekman – drums (1992–1997, 2000–2006)
Shawn Economaki – bass (1993–1997, 2000–2012)
Former touring musicians
Jason Christopher – bass, backing vocals (2011)
Mike Portnoy – drums (2011)
Jonah Nimoy – rhythm guitar (2018)
R.J. Ronquillo – rhythm guitar (2018)
Timeline
Recording timeline
Discography
Stone Sour (2002)
Come What(ever) May (2006)
Audio Secrecy (2010)
House of Gold & Bones – Part 1 (2012)
House of Gold & Bones – Part 2 (2013)
Hydrograd (2017)
Accolades
Grammy Awards
|-
| || "Get Inside" || Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance ||
|-
| || "Inhale" || Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance ||
|-
| || "30/30-150" || Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance ||
Revolver Golden Gods
|-
| 2013 || Roy Mayorga || Golden Gods Award for Best Drummer ||
|-
| 2013 || Corey Taylor || Golden Gods Award for Best Vocalist ||
|-
| 2012 || "House of Gold & Bones - Part 1" || Golden Gods Award for Album of the Year ||
Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards
|-
| 2013 || Stone Sour || Best International Band ||
Loudwire Music Awards
|-
| 2012 || Stone Sour || Rock Band of the Year ||
|-
| rowspan="3" | 2017 || Stone Sour || Hard Rock Artist of the Year ||
|-
| Hydrograd || Hard Rock Album of the Year ||
|-
| Corey Taylor || Best Vocalist ||
Bandit Rock Awards
|-
| 2018 || Hydrograd || Best International Album ||
References
External links
1992 establishments in Iowa
Musical groups established in 1992
Musical groups disestablished in 1997
Musical groups reestablished in 2001
Roadrunner Records artists
Alternative rock groups from Iowa
Heavy metal musical groups from Iowa
Musical groups from Des Moines, Iowa
American alternative metal musical groups
American hard rock musical groups | true | [
"The 1965 Tour de France started with 130 cyclists, divided into 13 teams of 10 cyclists:\n\nThe Molteni-Ignis team was a combined team, with 5 cyclists from Molteni and 5 from Ignis.\n\nJacques Anquetil, who won the previous four Tours de France (1961–1964), did not participate in this tour; this made Raymond Poulidor, who became second in the previous Tour, the main favourite.\n\nStart list\n\nBy team\n\nBy rider\n\nBy nationality\n\nReferences\n\n1965 Tour de France\n1965",
"The 1996 Great Britain Lions tour was a rugby league tour by the Great Britain team which took place from September to November 1996. The tour included games in Papua New Guinea, Fiji and New Zealand, however due to the ongoing Super League war and with the Australian team under the control of the Australian Rugby League, the team did not play any matches in Australia. The tour was generally considered as a disaster, with Great Britain failing to win any games in New Zealand, and several players being sent home early from the tour in order to cut costs.\n\nTouring squad\nGreat Britain coach Phil Larder selected a 32-man squad to take on the tour. A notable omission from the squad was Martin Offiah, who took part in the previous three Great Britain tours, but had told Larder he did not have the enthusiasm for another six-week tour. Several changes were made to the initial squad selected, as Gary Connolly, Lee Jackson and Jason Robinson were informed they would not be allowed to play due to their contracts with the ARL. There were also a number of other withdrawals, with John Bentley returning to rugby union, and Shaun Edwards, Paul Newlove and Steve McNamara all ruled out due to injury.\n\nFormer Wigan second row forward Denis Betts, who was playing with the New Zealand-based Auckland Warriors in the Australian Rugby League premiership, made history with his selection. The 25 test veteran became the first player selected to tour while playing in the Australian premiership and not in the English premiership.\n\nLarder's assistant coaches on the tour were Clive Griffiths and Gary Hetherington and the tour manager was Phil Lowe. Andy Farrell was appointed as the tour captain, with Denis Betts named as vice-captain.\n\nPapua New Guinea\n\nFiji\n\nNew Zealand\n\nFirst Test\n\n2nd Test\n\n3rd Test\n\nReferences\nGeneral\n\nSpecific\n\nExternal links\n1996 Great Britain Tour of the Pacific at wigan.rlfans.com\nNew Zealand vs Great Britain 1996 at rugbyleagueproject.org\n\nGreat Britain national rugby league team tours\nRugby league tours of New Zealand\nRugby league tours of Papua New Guinea\nFiji–United Kingdom relations\nNew Zealand–United Kingdom relations\nPapua New Guinea–United Kingdom relations\nGreat Britain Lions tour\nGreat Britain Lions tour\nGreat Britain Lions tour\nGreat Britain Lions tour\nGreat Britain Lions tour"
]
|
[
"Stone Sour",
"House of Gold & Bones (2012-2013)",
"When was the album released?",
"October 23, 2012,",
"Were there any singles?",
"The first two songs from Part 1, \"Gone Sovereign\" and the first official single, \"Absolute Zero\"",
"Did the single reach the charts?",
"I don't know.",
"Did the band tour?",
"On October 5, 2012, Johny Chow of Fireball Ministry and Cavalera Conspiracy was announced as the bassist for the band on the House of Gold & Bones tour cycle.",
"Who did they tour with?",
"Christian Martucci filled in for Root during that period."
]
| C_d3598cdf63114915bfebd9d071e42bda_0 | What else is notable about this time? | 6 | Besides Christian Martucci filling in for Root, what else is notable about Stone Sour's tour?? | Stone Sour | The band released a song called "The Pessimist" as a free download on their Facebook page on March 27, 2012. The song was previously only available on the iTunes deluxe version of the soundtrack to Transformers: Dark of the Moon. They also released their first DVD Live at Brighton in the same year, capturing their performance on November 7, 2010. It was announced via Instagram on May 3, 2012 that bassist Shawn Economaki had parted ways with the band on amicable terms. He was replaced in the studio by current Skid Row bassist Rachel Bolan. Stone Sour started recording their fourth studio album in early 2012. Corey Taylor stated that the album would end up being a double album or concept album, and described the album's sound as "Pink Floyd's The Wall meets Alice in Chains's Dirt". It was later announced that the new material would be released as two separate albums. The first album, House of Gold & Bones - Part 1 was released worldwide on October 23, 2012, and the second album House of Gold & Bones - Part 2 was released worldwide on April 9, 2013. The project also has a 4-part graphic novel series that accompanies the albums, telling the linear storyline featured in the twin albums' lyrics. The first two songs from Part 1, "Gone Sovereign" and the first official single, "Absolute Zero" were released for radio airplay in mid/late August 2012. The first single from House of Gold & Bones Part 2 was "Do Me a Favor". It was released digitally on February 12. Guitarist Josh Rand stated in an interview with O2 Academy that there was a song recorded for Part 1, an instrumental which was deemed 'not up to par' by the band. The song will likely be released in the future once James Root and Josh Rand do 'some stuff to it guitar-wise'. On October 5, 2012, Johny Chow of Fireball Ministry and Cavalera Conspiracy was announced as the bassist for the band on the House of Gold & Bones tour cycle. Stone Sour subsequently played Soundwave Festival 2013 in Australia and on the Sunday at Download Festival 2013. Guitarist James Root did not tour with Stone Sour in the winter of 2013, as he had to take a brief hiatus from the group to work on .5: The Gray Chapter with Slipknot, although it was later revealed that he was fired from the band due to musical differences. He claimed that the band wanted to focus on "radio play and money," in which Root fought against, and that led to a split. Christian Martucci filled in for Root during that period. CANNOTANSWER | The band released a song called "The Pessimist" as a free download on their Facebook page on March 27, 2012. | Stone Sour was an American rock band formed in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1992. The band performed for five years before disbanding in 1997. They reunited in 2000 and since 2015, the group has consisted of Corey Taylor (lead vocals, guitar), Josh Rand (guitar), Christian Martucci (guitar), Johny Chow (bass) and Roy Mayorga (drums). Longtime members Joel Ekman (drums, percussion) and Shawn Economaki (bass guitar) left the band in 2006 and 2011, respectively. Former lead guitarist Jim Root left in 2014.
To date, Stone Sour has released six studio albums: Stone Sour (2002); Come What(ever) May (2006); Audio Secrecy (2010); House of Gold & Bones – Part 1 (2012); House of Gold & Bones – Part 2 (2013) and Hydrograd (2017). They also released a digital live album, Live in Moscow, in 2007. Their album, Hydrograd was released in June 2017 and is their first album to feature guitarist Christian Martucci and bassist Johny Chow.
Stone Sour earned the group two Grammy Award nominations, both for Best Metal Performance, for the singles "Get Inside", in 2003, and "Inhale", in 2004. From their album Come What(ever) May, the group received another Grammy Award nomination for Best Metal Performance for the single "30/30-150", in 2007. The band has sold 2.1 million albums in the United States as of April 2017.
History
Formation and early years (1992–1997)
Stone Sour was founded by Corey Taylor, who later became the vocalist of Slipknot, and former drummer Joel Ekman; the band's name comes from a cocktail menu at a local bar. Taylor's longtime friend Shawn Economaki joined shortly after, and filled in as the bass player. During these formative years, Stone Sour recorded two demo tapes, in 1993 and 1994. In 1995, Jim Root, who is now part of Slipknot with Taylor, joined the band. In 1996, this lineup recorded another demo tape, songs from which would be used in 2002 on their self-titled debut album. In 1997, the band went on hiatus, during which Taylor and Root spent most of their time with Slipknot, who were another up-and-coming act in Des Moines and would soon earn a record deal.
Stone Sour and hiatus (2000–2004)
After Josh Rand joined the band, the band recorded their debut self-titled album in Cedar Falls. Upon release, the album charted at number 46 on the Billboard 200. The song "Bother", which was featured on the Spider-Man soundtrack (credited only to Taylor), peaked at number 2 on the Mainstream Rock Chart as well as number 4 on the Modern Rock Tracks and 56 on the Billboard Hot 100. The next single, "Inhale", peaked at 18 on the Mainstream Rock chart. The group received two Grammy Award nominations for Best Metal Performance for the singles "Get Inside" and "Inhale" in 2003 and 2004 respectively. The album went on to achieve Gold certification. The band toured for six months with label mates Sinch and Chevelle before going on a temporary hiatus as Taylor and Root went back to join Slipknot for another album and tour.
Come What(ever) May (2005–2007)
The band came back in 2006 to release their second studio album, Come What(ever) May. They parted ways with drummer Joel Ekman, currently drumming for Isaac James, who left to take care of his cancer-stricken son, and later recruited current drummer, Roy Mayorga (Soulfly, and later Amebix and Hellyeah). The track "30/30-150" was recorded with Godsmack drummer Shannon Larkin. The album was released on August 1, 2006. It was met with positive reviews from critics, and sold 80,000 copies in the first week, allowing it to debut at number four on the Billboard 200. The band toured for the next year and a half, releasing the Live in Moscow album exclusively to iTunes on August 14, 2007.
The single "Sillyworld" peaked at number 2 on the Mainstream Rock charts in 2006. "Through Glass" proved to be successful peaking at number 1 on the Mainstream Rock Chart, 2 on the Modern Rock Tracks, 12 on the Adult Top 40 and 39 on the Billboard Hot 100 also in 2006. They released two more singles in 2007, "Made of Scars" and "Zzyzx Rd.", which managed to peak at numbers 21 and 29 on the Mainstream Rock charts respectively. In 2006 they received a Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance nomination for the single "30/30-150".
Audio Secrecy (2009–2011)
The band's third album Audio Secrecy, was recorded at the Blackbird Studios in Nashville, Tennessee with producer Nick Raskulinecz, who was the producer for the band's second album Come What(ever) May. and released on September 7, 2010 . Taylor stated that "Audio Secrecy is the summation of everything we want, everything we crave and everything we fight for...The dimensions go further than anything we've ever tried before. It's metal, rock, slow, soft, hard, fast, bitter, beautiful and most importantly, it's real. You can't get an album like this out of a band that doesn't exist. We're throwing caution out the damn window."
Stone Sour played the first annual Rockstar Energy Drink Uproar Festival with Avenged Sevenfold and Hollywood Undead among others. Stone Sour set the release date of Audio Secrecy as September 7. Stone Sour were part of the Soundwave Festival in late February/early March in Australia 2011. Stone Sour headlined The Avalanche Tour, supported by Theory of a Deadman, Skillet, Halestorm and Art of Dying. It was also announced that a Stone Sour live DVD will be released, filmed at the Brighton Centre in the United Kingdom. The band toured with Avenged Sevenfold, New Medicine and Hollywood Undead on the "Nightmare After Christmas Tour" 2011.
On April 16, 2011, it was announced that bassist Shawn Economaki had left the tour for personal reasons. Jason Christopher, who had played with Corey Taylor previously during his solo performances and with the Junk Beer Kidnap Band, filled in for the tour. In May 2011, Stone Sour canceled the remaining dates from their headline tour as drummer, Roy Mayorga suffered a minor stroke. He made a full recovery. The band played their last show of 2011 at the second day of the Rock in Rio IV festival, which took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, between September 23 – October 2. Drummer Roy Mayorga was not present at the show as he was expecting his first child back home, and filling-in for him was ex-Dream Theater and The Winery Dogs drummer Mike Portnoy. Bassist Shawn Economaki was also absent from the performance.
House of Gold & Bones (2012–2013)
The band released a song called "The Pessimist" as a free download on their Facebook page on March 27, 2012. The song was previously only available on the iTunes deluxe version of the soundtrack to Transformers: Dark of the Moon. They also released their first DVD Live at Brighton in the same year, capturing their performance on November 7, 2010.
It was announced via Instagram on May 3, 2012, that bassist Shawn Economaki had parted ways with the band on amicable terms. He was replaced in the studio by current Skid Row bassist Rachel Bolan. Stone Sour started recording their fourth studio album in early 2012. Corey Taylor stated that the album would end up being a double album or concept album, and described the album's sound as "Pink Floyd's The Wall meets Alice in Chains's Dirt". It was later announced that the new material would be released as two separate albums. The first album, House of Gold & Bones – Part 1 was released worldwide on October 23, 2012, and the second album House of Gold & Bones – Part 2 was released worldwide on April 9, 2013. The project also has a 4-part graphic novel series that accompanies the albums, telling the linear storyline featured in the twin albums' lyrics.
The first two songs from Part 1, "Gone Sovereign" and the first official single, "Absolute Zero" were released for radio airplay in mid/late August 2012. The first single from House of Gold & Bones Part 2 was "Do Me a Favor". It was released digitally on February 12. Guitarist Josh Rand stated in an interview with O2 Academy that there was a song recorded for Part 1, an instrumental which was deemed 'not up to par' by the band. The song will likely be released in the future once James Root and Josh Rand do 'some stuff to it guitar-wise'.
On October 5, 2012, Johny Chow of Fireball Ministry and Cavalera Conspiracy was announced as the bassist for the band on the House of Gold & Bones tour cycle. Stone Sour subsequently played Soundwave Festival 2013 in Australia and on the Sunday at Download Festival 2013. Guitarist James Root did not tour with Stone Sour in the winter of 2013, as he had to take a brief hiatus from the group to work on .5: The Gray Chapter with Slipknot, although it was later revealed that he was fired from the band due to musical differences. He claimed that the band wanted to focus on "radio play and money," which Root fought against, leading to his departure. Christian Martucci filled in for Root during that period.
The Burbank EP duology (2014–2016)
On October 5, 2014, it was announced via Stone Sour's Facebook page that the band had begun recording a covers EP, which is due to be titled Meanwhile in Burbank... and released in 2015. Corey Taylor stated about the covers EP: "This is something that we've been talking about since the first album came out, with [Stone Sour]. We've always wanted to do this. Even as people have come, people have gone, this is still something we've always come back to, and we just never had the opportunity to do it. And we just kind of said, 'Well, screw it.'" On February 9, 2015, Stone Sour released an official music video and track, which is a cover version of the Metal Church's song "The Dark". The EP was released on April 18, 2015. Corey Taylor confirmed that two more covers EPs are to be produced, they will be titled Straight Outta Burbank and No Sleep Till Burbank and will feature covers of songs by Rage Against The Machine, Mötley Crüe, Bad Brains and Violent Femmes. Straight Outta Burbank..., the second volume in the series, has since been released.
Per Blabbermouth.net, On March 29, 2016, frontman Corey Taylor told the "Someone Who Isn't Me" podcast: "Originally we were going to do three [covers EPs], and now it sounds like we're just going to do the two and just keep the other stuff we recorded as extra content for when we make the next album."
Hydrograd (2017–2019)
On July 26, 2016, Taylor announced the band had written and demoed 18 songs for their sixth studio album, with plans to enter the studio in January for a likely mid-2017 release. On January 23, 2017, Taylor revealed that the band was in the process of recording their upcoming album named Hydrograd. Taylor indicated that the album would incorporate heavy metal elements found in previous releases, alongside hard rock styles. Four singles have been released ahead of the album in promotion; "Fabuless", "Song #3", "Taipei Person/Allah Tea" and "Mercy" (A live recording from Sphere Studios), with St. Marie being released as single following the album's release. Hydrograd released worldwide on June 30, 2017 to generally positive reviews. The band also released an exclusive cover of the Rage Against the Machine song "Bombtrack" for the Metal Hammer compilation Metal Hammer Goes 90s in August 2017.
In Spring 2018, Stone Sour embarked on Ozzy Osbourne's US 2018 tour for the Spring and Fall. On May 6, 2019, it was announced that Roy Mayorga joining Hellyeah as their new drummer, and replacing the original Hellyeah drummer Vinnie Paul, who died on June 22, 2018.
On November 6, 2019, the band announced that they would be releasing a live album titled, Hello, You Bastards: Live in Reno, on December 13 of the same year.
Indefinite hiatus (2020–present)
On August 10, 2020, Taylor announced on 'The Green Room with Neil Griffiths' podcast that Stone Sour was taking a hiatus, saying: "I feel like Stone Sour has kinda run its course for now," "We all talked as a band and decided to kinda put Stone Sour in indefinite hiatus. That's the way it is. We've put it on the shelf for now. Everyone's kind of going and doing their own thing."
Musical style
Throughout the band's career, their musical style has been described as alternative metal, hard rock, heavy metal, and alternative rock. Their music features double bass drum patterns, heavy guitar riffs, dual guitar harmonies and vocally combining screaming with singing.
Guitarist Josh Rand stated in an interview, that he tries to bring a metal aspect and elements of thrash metal in their music. He also stated that his writing style is different than Slipknot's writing style.
Stone Sour's fourth and fifth albums, House of Gold & Bones - Part 1 and Part 2 are notable for their concept album format, and have led to comparisons to progressive rock bands. When asked about this, Josh Rand stated: "I still think it's us. We never said that we would be Genesis or Dream Theater or Yes or any of those types of bands. We're not a prog band. We said we're going to adopt the ideas of those stories and stuff, but it's still going to be a Stone Sour record, where you can still pull those individual songs. We just wanted to offer something more - in a world where it's all about singles, we just wanted to do something different. We've always evolved from record to record, if you listen to our entire catalog."
Band members
Official members
Corey Taylor – lead vocals, occasional rhythm guitar, keyboards (1992–1997, 2000–present)
Josh Rand – rhythm guitar, occasional lead guitar, backing vocals (1993, 2000–present), bass (2000)
Roy Mayorga – drums, keyboards (2006–present)
Johny Chow – bass, backing vocals (2012–present)
Christian Martucci – lead guitar, backing vocals (2014–present)
Former members
Jim Root – lead guitar (1995–1997, 2000–2014)
Joel Ekman – drums (1992–1997, 2000–2006)
Shawn Economaki – bass (1993–1997, 2000–2012)
Former touring musicians
Jason Christopher – bass, backing vocals (2011)
Mike Portnoy – drums (2011)
Jonah Nimoy – rhythm guitar (2018)
R.J. Ronquillo – rhythm guitar (2018)
Timeline
Recording timeline
Discography
Stone Sour (2002)
Come What(ever) May (2006)
Audio Secrecy (2010)
House of Gold & Bones – Part 1 (2012)
House of Gold & Bones – Part 2 (2013)
Hydrograd (2017)
Accolades
Grammy Awards
|-
| || "Get Inside" || Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance ||
|-
| || "Inhale" || Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance ||
|-
| || "30/30-150" || Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance ||
Revolver Golden Gods
|-
| 2013 || Roy Mayorga || Golden Gods Award for Best Drummer ||
|-
| 2013 || Corey Taylor || Golden Gods Award for Best Vocalist ||
|-
| 2012 || "House of Gold & Bones - Part 1" || Golden Gods Award for Album of the Year ||
Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards
|-
| 2013 || Stone Sour || Best International Band ||
Loudwire Music Awards
|-
| 2012 || Stone Sour || Rock Band of the Year ||
|-
| rowspan="3" | 2017 || Stone Sour || Hard Rock Artist of the Year ||
|-
| Hydrograd || Hard Rock Album of the Year ||
|-
| Corey Taylor || Best Vocalist ||
Bandit Rock Awards
|-
| 2018 || Hydrograd || Best International Album ||
References
External links
1992 establishments in Iowa
Musical groups established in 1992
Musical groups disestablished in 1997
Musical groups reestablished in 2001
Roadrunner Records artists
Alternative rock groups from Iowa
Heavy metal musical groups from Iowa
Musical groups from Des Moines, Iowa
American alternative metal musical groups
American hard rock musical groups | true | [
"\"What Else Is There?\" is the third single from the Norwegian duo Röyksopp's second album The Understanding. It features the vocals of Karin Dreijer from the Swedish electronica duo The Knife. The album was released in the UK with the help of Astralwerks.\n\nThe single was used in an O2 television advertisement in the Czech Republic and in Slovakia during 2008. It was also used in the 2006 film Cashback and the 2007 film, Meet Bill. Trentemøller's remix of \"What Else is There?\" was featured in an episode of the HBO show Entourage.\n\nThe song was covered by extreme metal band Enslaved as a bonus track for their album E.\n\nThe song was listed as the 375th best song of the 2000s by Pitchfork Media.\n\nOfficial versions\n\"What Else Is There?\" (Album Version) – 5:17\n\"What Else Is There?\" (Radio Edit) – 3:38\n\"What Else Is There?\" (Jacques Lu Cont Radio Mix) – 3:46\n\"What Else Is There?\" (The Emperor Machine Vocal Version) – 8:03\n\"What Else Is There?\" (The Emperor Machine Dub Version) – 7:51\n\"What Else Is There?\" (Thin White Duke Mix) – 8:25\n\"What Else Is There?\" (Thin White Duke Edit) – 4:50\n\"What Else Is There?\" (Thin White Duke Remix) (Radio Edit) – 3:06\n\"What Else Is There?\" (Trentemøller Remix) – 7:42\n\"What Else Is There?\" (Vitalic Remix) – 5:14\n\nResponse\nThe single was officially released on 5 December 2005 in the UK. The single had a limited release on 21 November 2005 to promote the upcoming album. On the UK Singles Chart, it peaked at number 32, while on the UK Dance Chart, it reached number one.\n\nMusic video\nThe music video was directed by Martin de Thurah. It features Norwegian model Marianne Schröder who is shown lip-syncing Dreijer's voice. Schröder is depicted as a floating woman traveling across stormy landscapes and within empty houses. Dreijer makes a cameo appearance as a woman wearing an Elizabethan ruff while dining alone at a festive table.\n\nMovie spots\n\nThe song is also featured in the movie Meet Bill as characters played by Jessica Alba and Aaron Eckhart smoke marijuana while listening to it. It is also part of the end credits music of the film Cashback.\n\nCharts\n\nReferences\n\n2005 singles\nRöyksopp songs\nAstralwerks singles\nSongs written by Svein Berge\nSongs written by Torbjørn Brundtland\n2004 songs\nSongs written by Roger Greenaway\nSongs written by Olof Dreijer\nSongs written by Karin Dreijer",
"Else-Marie is a compound given name, composed of Else and Marie. Notable people with the name include:\n\n Else Marie Jakobsen (1927–2012), Norwegian designer and textile artist\n Else-Marie Lindgren (born 1949), Swedish politician\n Else-Marie Ljungdahl (born 1942), Swedish sprint canoer\n\nCompound given names"
]
|
[
"Stone Sour",
"House of Gold & Bones (2012-2013)",
"When was the album released?",
"October 23, 2012,",
"Were there any singles?",
"The first two songs from Part 1, \"Gone Sovereign\" and the first official single, \"Absolute Zero\"",
"Did the single reach the charts?",
"I don't know.",
"Did the band tour?",
"On October 5, 2012, Johny Chow of Fireball Ministry and Cavalera Conspiracy was announced as the bassist for the band on the House of Gold & Bones tour cycle.",
"Who did they tour with?",
"Christian Martucci filled in for Root during that period.",
"What else is notable about this time?",
"The band released a song called \"The Pessimist\" as a free download on their Facebook page on March 27, 2012."
]
| C_d3598cdf63114915bfebd9d071e42bda_0 | Did fans like the song? | 7 | Did fans like Stone Sour's song "The Pessimist"? | Stone Sour | The band released a song called "The Pessimist" as a free download on their Facebook page on March 27, 2012. The song was previously only available on the iTunes deluxe version of the soundtrack to Transformers: Dark of the Moon. They also released their first DVD Live at Brighton in the same year, capturing their performance on November 7, 2010. It was announced via Instagram on May 3, 2012 that bassist Shawn Economaki had parted ways with the band on amicable terms. He was replaced in the studio by current Skid Row bassist Rachel Bolan. Stone Sour started recording their fourth studio album in early 2012. Corey Taylor stated that the album would end up being a double album or concept album, and described the album's sound as "Pink Floyd's The Wall meets Alice in Chains's Dirt". It was later announced that the new material would be released as two separate albums. The first album, House of Gold & Bones - Part 1 was released worldwide on October 23, 2012, and the second album House of Gold & Bones - Part 2 was released worldwide on April 9, 2013. The project also has a 4-part graphic novel series that accompanies the albums, telling the linear storyline featured in the twin albums' lyrics. The first two songs from Part 1, "Gone Sovereign" and the first official single, "Absolute Zero" were released for radio airplay in mid/late August 2012. The first single from House of Gold & Bones Part 2 was "Do Me a Favor". It was released digitally on February 12. Guitarist Josh Rand stated in an interview with O2 Academy that there was a song recorded for Part 1, an instrumental which was deemed 'not up to par' by the band. The song will likely be released in the future once James Root and Josh Rand do 'some stuff to it guitar-wise'. On October 5, 2012, Johny Chow of Fireball Ministry and Cavalera Conspiracy was announced as the bassist for the band on the House of Gold & Bones tour cycle. Stone Sour subsequently played Soundwave Festival 2013 in Australia and on the Sunday at Download Festival 2013. Guitarist James Root did not tour with Stone Sour in the winter of 2013, as he had to take a brief hiatus from the group to work on .5: The Gray Chapter with Slipknot, although it was later revealed that he was fired from the band due to musical differences. He claimed that the band wanted to focus on "radio play and money," in which Root fought against, and that led to a split. Christian Martucci filled in for Root during that period. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Stone Sour was an American rock band formed in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1992. The band performed for five years before disbanding in 1997. They reunited in 2000 and since 2015, the group has consisted of Corey Taylor (lead vocals, guitar), Josh Rand (guitar), Christian Martucci (guitar), Johny Chow (bass) and Roy Mayorga (drums). Longtime members Joel Ekman (drums, percussion) and Shawn Economaki (bass guitar) left the band in 2006 and 2011, respectively. Former lead guitarist Jim Root left in 2014.
To date, Stone Sour has released six studio albums: Stone Sour (2002); Come What(ever) May (2006); Audio Secrecy (2010); House of Gold & Bones – Part 1 (2012); House of Gold & Bones – Part 2 (2013) and Hydrograd (2017). They also released a digital live album, Live in Moscow, in 2007. Their album, Hydrograd was released in June 2017 and is their first album to feature guitarist Christian Martucci and bassist Johny Chow.
Stone Sour earned the group two Grammy Award nominations, both for Best Metal Performance, for the singles "Get Inside", in 2003, and "Inhale", in 2004. From their album Come What(ever) May, the group received another Grammy Award nomination for Best Metal Performance for the single "30/30-150", in 2007. The band has sold 2.1 million albums in the United States as of April 2017.
History
Formation and early years (1992–1997)
Stone Sour was founded by Corey Taylor, who later became the vocalist of Slipknot, and former drummer Joel Ekman; the band's name comes from a cocktail menu at a local bar. Taylor's longtime friend Shawn Economaki joined shortly after, and filled in as the bass player. During these formative years, Stone Sour recorded two demo tapes, in 1993 and 1994. In 1995, Jim Root, who is now part of Slipknot with Taylor, joined the band. In 1996, this lineup recorded another demo tape, songs from which would be used in 2002 on their self-titled debut album. In 1997, the band went on hiatus, during which Taylor and Root spent most of their time with Slipknot, who were another up-and-coming act in Des Moines and would soon earn a record deal.
Stone Sour and hiatus (2000–2004)
After Josh Rand joined the band, the band recorded their debut self-titled album in Cedar Falls. Upon release, the album charted at number 46 on the Billboard 200. The song "Bother", which was featured on the Spider-Man soundtrack (credited only to Taylor), peaked at number 2 on the Mainstream Rock Chart as well as number 4 on the Modern Rock Tracks and 56 on the Billboard Hot 100. The next single, "Inhale", peaked at 18 on the Mainstream Rock chart. The group received two Grammy Award nominations for Best Metal Performance for the singles "Get Inside" and "Inhale" in 2003 and 2004 respectively. The album went on to achieve Gold certification. The band toured for six months with label mates Sinch and Chevelle before going on a temporary hiatus as Taylor and Root went back to join Slipknot for another album and tour.
Come What(ever) May (2005–2007)
The band came back in 2006 to release their second studio album, Come What(ever) May. They parted ways with drummer Joel Ekman, currently drumming for Isaac James, who left to take care of his cancer-stricken son, and later recruited current drummer, Roy Mayorga (Soulfly, and later Amebix and Hellyeah). The track "30/30-150" was recorded with Godsmack drummer Shannon Larkin. The album was released on August 1, 2006. It was met with positive reviews from critics, and sold 80,000 copies in the first week, allowing it to debut at number four on the Billboard 200. The band toured for the next year and a half, releasing the Live in Moscow album exclusively to iTunes on August 14, 2007.
The single "Sillyworld" peaked at number 2 on the Mainstream Rock charts in 2006. "Through Glass" proved to be successful peaking at number 1 on the Mainstream Rock Chart, 2 on the Modern Rock Tracks, 12 on the Adult Top 40 and 39 on the Billboard Hot 100 also in 2006. They released two more singles in 2007, "Made of Scars" and "Zzyzx Rd.", which managed to peak at numbers 21 and 29 on the Mainstream Rock charts respectively. In 2006 they received a Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance nomination for the single "30/30-150".
Audio Secrecy (2009–2011)
The band's third album Audio Secrecy, was recorded at the Blackbird Studios in Nashville, Tennessee with producer Nick Raskulinecz, who was the producer for the band's second album Come What(ever) May. and released on September 7, 2010 . Taylor stated that "Audio Secrecy is the summation of everything we want, everything we crave and everything we fight for...The dimensions go further than anything we've ever tried before. It's metal, rock, slow, soft, hard, fast, bitter, beautiful and most importantly, it's real. You can't get an album like this out of a band that doesn't exist. We're throwing caution out the damn window."
Stone Sour played the first annual Rockstar Energy Drink Uproar Festival with Avenged Sevenfold and Hollywood Undead among others. Stone Sour set the release date of Audio Secrecy as September 7. Stone Sour were part of the Soundwave Festival in late February/early March in Australia 2011. Stone Sour headlined The Avalanche Tour, supported by Theory of a Deadman, Skillet, Halestorm and Art of Dying. It was also announced that a Stone Sour live DVD will be released, filmed at the Brighton Centre in the United Kingdom. The band toured with Avenged Sevenfold, New Medicine and Hollywood Undead on the "Nightmare After Christmas Tour" 2011.
On April 16, 2011, it was announced that bassist Shawn Economaki had left the tour for personal reasons. Jason Christopher, who had played with Corey Taylor previously during his solo performances and with the Junk Beer Kidnap Band, filled in for the tour. In May 2011, Stone Sour canceled the remaining dates from their headline tour as drummer, Roy Mayorga suffered a minor stroke. He made a full recovery. The band played their last show of 2011 at the second day of the Rock in Rio IV festival, which took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, between September 23 – October 2. Drummer Roy Mayorga was not present at the show as he was expecting his first child back home, and filling-in for him was ex-Dream Theater and The Winery Dogs drummer Mike Portnoy. Bassist Shawn Economaki was also absent from the performance.
House of Gold & Bones (2012–2013)
The band released a song called "The Pessimist" as a free download on their Facebook page on March 27, 2012. The song was previously only available on the iTunes deluxe version of the soundtrack to Transformers: Dark of the Moon. They also released their first DVD Live at Brighton in the same year, capturing their performance on November 7, 2010.
It was announced via Instagram on May 3, 2012, that bassist Shawn Economaki had parted ways with the band on amicable terms. He was replaced in the studio by current Skid Row bassist Rachel Bolan. Stone Sour started recording their fourth studio album in early 2012. Corey Taylor stated that the album would end up being a double album or concept album, and described the album's sound as "Pink Floyd's The Wall meets Alice in Chains's Dirt". It was later announced that the new material would be released as two separate albums. The first album, House of Gold & Bones – Part 1 was released worldwide on October 23, 2012, and the second album House of Gold & Bones – Part 2 was released worldwide on April 9, 2013. The project also has a 4-part graphic novel series that accompanies the albums, telling the linear storyline featured in the twin albums' lyrics.
The first two songs from Part 1, "Gone Sovereign" and the first official single, "Absolute Zero" were released for radio airplay in mid/late August 2012. The first single from House of Gold & Bones Part 2 was "Do Me a Favor". It was released digitally on February 12. Guitarist Josh Rand stated in an interview with O2 Academy that there was a song recorded for Part 1, an instrumental which was deemed 'not up to par' by the band. The song will likely be released in the future once James Root and Josh Rand do 'some stuff to it guitar-wise'.
On October 5, 2012, Johny Chow of Fireball Ministry and Cavalera Conspiracy was announced as the bassist for the band on the House of Gold & Bones tour cycle. Stone Sour subsequently played Soundwave Festival 2013 in Australia and on the Sunday at Download Festival 2013. Guitarist James Root did not tour with Stone Sour in the winter of 2013, as he had to take a brief hiatus from the group to work on .5: The Gray Chapter with Slipknot, although it was later revealed that he was fired from the band due to musical differences. He claimed that the band wanted to focus on "radio play and money," which Root fought against, leading to his departure. Christian Martucci filled in for Root during that period.
The Burbank EP duology (2014–2016)
On October 5, 2014, it was announced via Stone Sour's Facebook page that the band had begun recording a covers EP, which is due to be titled Meanwhile in Burbank... and released in 2015. Corey Taylor stated about the covers EP: "This is something that we've been talking about since the first album came out, with [Stone Sour]. We've always wanted to do this. Even as people have come, people have gone, this is still something we've always come back to, and we just never had the opportunity to do it. And we just kind of said, 'Well, screw it.'" On February 9, 2015, Stone Sour released an official music video and track, which is a cover version of the Metal Church's song "The Dark". The EP was released on April 18, 2015. Corey Taylor confirmed that two more covers EPs are to be produced, they will be titled Straight Outta Burbank and No Sleep Till Burbank and will feature covers of songs by Rage Against The Machine, Mötley Crüe, Bad Brains and Violent Femmes. Straight Outta Burbank..., the second volume in the series, has since been released.
Per Blabbermouth.net, On March 29, 2016, frontman Corey Taylor told the "Someone Who Isn't Me" podcast: "Originally we were going to do three [covers EPs], and now it sounds like we're just going to do the two and just keep the other stuff we recorded as extra content for when we make the next album."
Hydrograd (2017–2019)
On July 26, 2016, Taylor announced the band had written and demoed 18 songs for their sixth studio album, with plans to enter the studio in January for a likely mid-2017 release. On January 23, 2017, Taylor revealed that the band was in the process of recording their upcoming album named Hydrograd. Taylor indicated that the album would incorporate heavy metal elements found in previous releases, alongside hard rock styles. Four singles have been released ahead of the album in promotion; "Fabuless", "Song #3", "Taipei Person/Allah Tea" and "Mercy" (A live recording from Sphere Studios), with St. Marie being released as single following the album's release. Hydrograd released worldwide on June 30, 2017 to generally positive reviews. The band also released an exclusive cover of the Rage Against the Machine song "Bombtrack" for the Metal Hammer compilation Metal Hammer Goes 90s in August 2017.
In Spring 2018, Stone Sour embarked on Ozzy Osbourne's US 2018 tour for the Spring and Fall. On May 6, 2019, it was announced that Roy Mayorga joining Hellyeah as their new drummer, and replacing the original Hellyeah drummer Vinnie Paul, who died on June 22, 2018.
On November 6, 2019, the band announced that they would be releasing a live album titled, Hello, You Bastards: Live in Reno, on December 13 of the same year.
Indefinite hiatus (2020–present)
On August 10, 2020, Taylor announced on 'The Green Room with Neil Griffiths' podcast that Stone Sour was taking a hiatus, saying: "I feel like Stone Sour has kinda run its course for now," "We all talked as a band and decided to kinda put Stone Sour in indefinite hiatus. That's the way it is. We've put it on the shelf for now. Everyone's kind of going and doing their own thing."
Musical style
Throughout the band's career, their musical style has been described as alternative metal, hard rock, heavy metal, and alternative rock. Their music features double bass drum patterns, heavy guitar riffs, dual guitar harmonies and vocally combining screaming with singing.
Guitarist Josh Rand stated in an interview, that he tries to bring a metal aspect and elements of thrash metal in their music. He also stated that his writing style is different than Slipknot's writing style.
Stone Sour's fourth and fifth albums, House of Gold & Bones - Part 1 and Part 2 are notable for their concept album format, and have led to comparisons to progressive rock bands. When asked about this, Josh Rand stated: "I still think it's us. We never said that we would be Genesis or Dream Theater or Yes or any of those types of bands. We're not a prog band. We said we're going to adopt the ideas of those stories and stuff, but it's still going to be a Stone Sour record, where you can still pull those individual songs. We just wanted to offer something more - in a world where it's all about singles, we just wanted to do something different. We've always evolved from record to record, if you listen to our entire catalog."
Band members
Official members
Corey Taylor – lead vocals, occasional rhythm guitar, keyboards (1992–1997, 2000–present)
Josh Rand – rhythm guitar, occasional lead guitar, backing vocals (1993, 2000–present), bass (2000)
Roy Mayorga – drums, keyboards (2006–present)
Johny Chow – bass, backing vocals (2012–present)
Christian Martucci – lead guitar, backing vocals (2014–present)
Former members
Jim Root – lead guitar (1995–1997, 2000–2014)
Joel Ekman – drums (1992–1997, 2000–2006)
Shawn Economaki – bass (1993–1997, 2000–2012)
Former touring musicians
Jason Christopher – bass, backing vocals (2011)
Mike Portnoy – drums (2011)
Jonah Nimoy – rhythm guitar (2018)
R.J. Ronquillo – rhythm guitar (2018)
Timeline
Recording timeline
Discography
Stone Sour (2002)
Come What(ever) May (2006)
Audio Secrecy (2010)
House of Gold & Bones – Part 1 (2012)
House of Gold & Bones – Part 2 (2013)
Hydrograd (2017)
Accolades
Grammy Awards
|-
| || "Get Inside" || Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance ||
|-
| || "Inhale" || Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance ||
|-
| || "30/30-150" || Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance ||
Revolver Golden Gods
|-
| 2013 || Roy Mayorga || Golden Gods Award for Best Drummer ||
|-
| 2013 || Corey Taylor || Golden Gods Award for Best Vocalist ||
|-
| 2012 || "House of Gold & Bones - Part 1" || Golden Gods Award for Album of the Year ||
Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards
|-
| 2013 || Stone Sour || Best International Band ||
Loudwire Music Awards
|-
| 2012 || Stone Sour || Rock Band of the Year ||
|-
| rowspan="3" | 2017 || Stone Sour || Hard Rock Artist of the Year ||
|-
| Hydrograd || Hard Rock Album of the Year ||
|-
| Corey Taylor || Best Vocalist ||
Bandit Rock Awards
|-
| 2018 || Hydrograd || Best International Album ||
References
External links
1992 establishments in Iowa
Musical groups established in 1992
Musical groups disestablished in 1997
Musical groups reestablished in 2001
Roadrunner Records artists
Alternative rock groups from Iowa
Heavy metal musical groups from Iowa
Musical groups from Des Moines, Iowa
American alternative metal musical groups
American hard rock musical groups | false | [
"Vendaval (Gale in English) is a song of the former Banda Calypso. It was the first single.\n\nThe song \nDid not have national impact, but had a good impact in Belém and in cities of the Northeast. The music was present in top 3 compilations of the band, Os 20 Super Sucessos, Os Maiores Sucessos and As 20+. Also achieved considerable success in 2001, when it was re-recorded by the band sergipana Calcinha Preta being present in your CD volume 7, Seu Coração vai A´render o que é Paixão\n\nToday \nAccording to Joelma and Chimbinha, the fans ask many old songs for new shows, songs like Vendaval and others of the same age. On tour Sweden the band did not take the repertoire of music and made a simple presentation without choreography or effects, simply Joelma and the public.\n\n1999 singles\n1999 songs",
"\"We Sold Our Souls to Metal\" is a single by American heavy metal band Soulfly. The lyric video of this song was unveiled on June 30, 2015 and is the first song played on the album Archangel. According to Max Cavalera, this song is a dedication to heavy metal and their fans, \"This lyric video is a celebration of all forms of metal. This song was written as an anthem for metalheads all over the world! We gathered footage and photos from our tribe, showing how free the spirit of metal really is. Respect!\"\n\nThis song is thrashy with punk vocals during choruses, though it ends in a very Pink Floyd-like way, which Cavalera was conflicted about saying, \"I don't know why we did that. I still don't know if it was the right thing, but it came out like that. Marc [Rizzo] just did some really crazy guitars at the end of it that is just, like… It goes from total metal into crazy Pink Floyd, but it works. I mean, it's really wild. And we like wild stuff. I always was drawn to weird, weird stuff, and that's definitely weird, in a good way.\"\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nSOULFLY - We Sold Our Souls To Metal (OFFICIAL LYRIC VIDEO). YouTube.\n\nSoulfly songs\nSongs written by Max Cavalera\n2015 singles\n2015 songs\nNuclear Blast Records singles"
]
|
[
"Stone Sour",
"House of Gold & Bones (2012-2013)",
"When was the album released?",
"October 23, 2012,",
"Were there any singles?",
"The first two songs from Part 1, \"Gone Sovereign\" and the first official single, \"Absolute Zero\"",
"Did the single reach the charts?",
"I don't know.",
"Did the band tour?",
"On October 5, 2012, Johny Chow of Fireball Ministry and Cavalera Conspiracy was announced as the bassist for the band on the House of Gold & Bones tour cycle.",
"Who did they tour with?",
"Christian Martucci filled in for Root during that period.",
"What else is notable about this time?",
"The band released a song called \"The Pessimist\" as a free download on their Facebook page on March 27, 2012.",
"Did fans like the song?",
"I don't know."
]
| C_d3598cdf63114915bfebd9d071e42bda_0 | Are there any other interesting aspects about this article? | 8 | Besides the information about Stone Sour's tour and album House of Gold & Bones, are there any other interesting aspects about this article? | Stone Sour | The band released a song called "The Pessimist" as a free download on their Facebook page on March 27, 2012. The song was previously only available on the iTunes deluxe version of the soundtrack to Transformers: Dark of the Moon. They also released their first DVD Live at Brighton in the same year, capturing their performance on November 7, 2010. It was announced via Instagram on May 3, 2012 that bassist Shawn Economaki had parted ways with the band on amicable terms. He was replaced in the studio by current Skid Row bassist Rachel Bolan. Stone Sour started recording their fourth studio album in early 2012. Corey Taylor stated that the album would end up being a double album or concept album, and described the album's sound as "Pink Floyd's The Wall meets Alice in Chains's Dirt". It was later announced that the new material would be released as two separate albums. The first album, House of Gold & Bones - Part 1 was released worldwide on October 23, 2012, and the second album House of Gold & Bones - Part 2 was released worldwide on April 9, 2013. The project also has a 4-part graphic novel series that accompanies the albums, telling the linear storyline featured in the twin albums' lyrics. The first two songs from Part 1, "Gone Sovereign" and the first official single, "Absolute Zero" were released for radio airplay in mid/late August 2012. The first single from House of Gold & Bones Part 2 was "Do Me a Favor". It was released digitally on February 12. Guitarist Josh Rand stated in an interview with O2 Academy that there was a song recorded for Part 1, an instrumental which was deemed 'not up to par' by the band. The song will likely be released in the future once James Root and Josh Rand do 'some stuff to it guitar-wise'. On October 5, 2012, Johny Chow of Fireball Ministry and Cavalera Conspiracy was announced as the bassist for the band on the House of Gold & Bones tour cycle. Stone Sour subsequently played Soundwave Festival 2013 in Australia and on the Sunday at Download Festival 2013. Guitarist James Root did not tour with Stone Sour in the winter of 2013, as he had to take a brief hiatus from the group to work on .5: The Gray Chapter with Slipknot, although it was later revealed that he was fired from the band due to musical differences. He claimed that the band wanted to focus on "radio play and money," in which Root fought against, and that led to a split. Christian Martucci filled in for Root during that period. CANNOTANSWER | It was announced via Instagram on May 3, 2012 that bassist Shawn Economaki had parted ways with the band on amicable terms. | Stone Sour was an American rock band formed in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1992. The band performed for five years before disbanding in 1997. They reunited in 2000 and since 2015, the group has consisted of Corey Taylor (lead vocals, guitar), Josh Rand (guitar), Christian Martucci (guitar), Johny Chow (bass) and Roy Mayorga (drums). Longtime members Joel Ekman (drums, percussion) and Shawn Economaki (bass guitar) left the band in 2006 and 2011, respectively. Former lead guitarist Jim Root left in 2014.
To date, Stone Sour has released six studio albums: Stone Sour (2002); Come What(ever) May (2006); Audio Secrecy (2010); House of Gold & Bones – Part 1 (2012); House of Gold & Bones – Part 2 (2013) and Hydrograd (2017). They also released a digital live album, Live in Moscow, in 2007. Their album, Hydrograd was released in June 2017 and is their first album to feature guitarist Christian Martucci and bassist Johny Chow.
Stone Sour earned the group two Grammy Award nominations, both for Best Metal Performance, for the singles "Get Inside", in 2003, and "Inhale", in 2004. From their album Come What(ever) May, the group received another Grammy Award nomination for Best Metal Performance for the single "30/30-150", in 2007. The band has sold 2.1 million albums in the United States as of April 2017.
History
Formation and early years (1992–1997)
Stone Sour was founded by Corey Taylor, who later became the vocalist of Slipknot, and former drummer Joel Ekman; the band's name comes from a cocktail menu at a local bar. Taylor's longtime friend Shawn Economaki joined shortly after, and filled in as the bass player. During these formative years, Stone Sour recorded two demo tapes, in 1993 and 1994. In 1995, Jim Root, who is now part of Slipknot with Taylor, joined the band. In 1996, this lineup recorded another demo tape, songs from which would be used in 2002 on their self-titled debut album. In 1997, the band went on hiatus, during which Taylor and Root spent most of their time with Slipknot, who were another up-and-coming act in Des Moines and would soon earn a record deal.
Stone Sour and hiatus (2000–2004)
After Josh Rand joined the band, the band recorded their debut self-titled album in Cedar Falls. Upon release, the album charted at number 46 on the Billboard 200. The song "Bother", which was featured on the Spider-Man soundtrack (credited only to Taylor), peaked at number 2 on the Mainstream Rock Chart as well as number 4 on the Modern Rock Tracks and 56 on the Billboard Hot 100. The next single, "Inhale", peaked at 18 on the Mainstream Rock chart. The group received two Grammy Award nominations for Best Metal Performance for the singles "Get Inside" and "Inhale" in 2003 and 2004 respectively. The album went on to achieve Gold certification. The band toured for six months with label mates Sinch and Chevelle before going on a temporary hiatus as Taylor and Root went back to join Slipknot for another album and tour.
Come What(ever) May (2005–2007)
The band came back in 2006 to release their second studio album, Come What(ever) May. They parted ways with drummer Joel Ekman, currently drumming for Isaac James, who left to take care of his cancer-stricken son, and later recruited current drummer, Roy Mayorga (Soulfly, and later Amebix and Hellyeah). The track "30/30-150" was recorded with Godsmack drummer Shannon Larkin. The album was released on August 1, 2006. It was met with positive reviews from critics, and sold 80,000 copies in the first week, allowing it to debut at number four on the Billboard 200. The band toured for the next year and a half, releasing the Live in Moscow album exclusively to iTunes on August 14, 2007.
The single "Sillyworld" peaked at number 2 on the Mainstream Rock charts in 2006. "Through Glass" proved to be successful peaking at number 1 on the Mainstream Rock Chart, 2 on the Modern Rock Tracks, 12 on the Adult Top 40 and 39 on the Billboard Hot 100 also in 2006. They released two more singles in 2007, "Made of Scars" and "Zzyzx Rd.", which managed to peak at numbers 21 and 29 on the Mainstream Rock charts respectively. In 2006 they received a Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance nomination for the single "30/30-150".
Audio Secrecy (2009–2011)
The band's third album Audio Secrecy, was recorded at the Blackbird Studios in Nashville, Tennessee with producer Nick Raskulinecz, who was the producer for the band's second album Come What(ever) May. and released on September 7, 2010 . Taylor stated that "Audio Secrecy is the summation of everything we want, everything we crave and everything we fight for...The dimensions go further than anything we've ever tried before. It's metal, rock, slow, soft, hard, fast, bitter, beautiful and most importantly, it's real. You can't get an album like this out of a band that doesn't exist. We're throwing caution out the damn window."
Stone Sour played the first annual Rockstar Energy Drink Uproar Festival with Avenged Sevenfold and Hollywood Undead among others. Stone Sour set the release date of Audio Secrecy as September 7. Stone Sour were part of the Soundwave Festival in late February/early March in Australia 2011. Stone Sour headlined The Avalanche Tour, supported by Theory of a Deadman, Skillet, Halestorm and Art of Dying. It was also announced that a Stone Sour live DVD will be released, filmed at the Brighton Centre in the United Kingdom. The band toured with Avenged Sevenfold, New Medicine and Hollywood Undead on the "Nightmare After Christmas Tour" 2011.
On April 16, 2011, it was announced that bassist Shawn Economaki had left the tour for personal reasons. Jason Christopher, who had played with Corey Taylor previously during his solo performances and with the Junk Beer Kidnap Band, filled in for the tour. In May 2011, Stone Sour canceled the remaining dates from their headline tour as drummer, Roy Mayorga suffered a minor stroke. He made a full recovery. The band played their last show of 2011 at the second day of the Rock in Rio IV festival, which took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, between September 23 – October 2. Drummer Roy Mayorga was not present at the show as he was expecting his first child back home, and filling-in for him was ex-Dream Theater and The Winery Dogs drummer Mike Portnoy. Bassist Shawn Economaki was also absent from the performance.
House of Gold & Bones (2012–2013)
The band released a song called "The Pessimist" as a free download on their Facebook page on March 27, 2012. The song was previously only available on the iTunes deluxe version of the soundtrack to Transformers: Dark of the Moon. They also released their first DVD Live at Brighton in the same year, capturing their performance on November 7, 2010.
It was announced via Instagram on May 3, 2012, that bassist Shawn Economaki had parted ways with the band on amicable terms. He was replaced in the studio by current Skid Row bassist Rachel Bolan. Stone Sour started recording their fourth studio album in early 2012. Corey Taylor stated that the album would end up being a double album or concept album, and described the album's sound as "Pink Floyd's The Wall meets Alice in Chains's Dirt". It was later announced that the new material would be released as two separate albums. The first album, House of Gold & Bones – Part 1 was released worldwide on October 23, 2012, and the second album House of Gold & Bones – Part 2 was released worldwide on April 9, 2013. The project also has a 4-part graphic novel series that accompanies the albums, telling the linear storyline featured in the twin albums' lyrics.
The first two songs from Part 1, "Gone Sovereign" and the first official single, "Absolute Zero" were released for radio airplay in mid/late August 2012. The first single from House of Gold & Bones Part 2 was "Do Me a Favor". It was released digitally on February 12. Guitarist Josh Rand stated in an interview with O2 Academy that there was a song recorded for Part 1, an instrumental which was deemed 'not up to par' by the band. The song will likely be released in the future once James Root and Josh Rand do 'some stuff to it guitar-wise'.
On October 5, 2012, Johny Chow of Fireball Ministry and Cavalera Conspiracy was announced as the bassist for the band on the House of Gold & Bones tour cycle. Stone Sour subsequently played Soundwave Festival 2013 in Australia and on the Sunday at Download Festival 2013. Guitarist James Root did not tour with Stone Sour in the winter of 2013, as he had to take a brief hiatus from the group to work on .5: The Gray Chapter with Slipknot, although it was later revealed that he was fired from the band due to musical differences. He claimed that the band wanted to focus on "radio play and money," which Root fought against, leading to his departure. Christian Martucci filled in for Root during that period.
The Burbank EP duology (2014–2016)
On October 5, 2014, it was announced via Stone Sour's Facebook page that the band had begun recording a covers EP, which is due to be titled Meanwhile in Burbank... and released in 2015. Corey Taylor stated about the covers EP: "This is something that we've been talking about since the first album came out, with [Stone Sour]. We've always wanted to do this. Even as people have come, people have gone, this is still something we've always come back to, and we just never had the opportunity to do it. And we just kind of said, 'Well, screw it.'" On February 9, 2015, Stone Sour released an official music video and track, which is a cover version of the Metal Church's song "The Dark". The EP was released on April 18, 2015. Corey Taylor confirmed that two more covers EPs are to be produced, they will be titled Straight Outta Burbank and No Sleep Till Burbank and will feature covers of songs by Rage Against The Machine, Mötley Crüe, Bad Brains and Violent Femmes. Straight Outta Burbank..., the second volume in the series, has since been released.
Per Blabbermouth.net, On March 29, 2016, frontman Corey Taylor told the "Someone Who Isn't Me" podcast: "Originally we were going to do three [covers EPs], and now it sounds like we're just going to do the two and just keep the other stuff we recorded as extra content for when we make the next album."
Hydrograd (2017–2019)
On July 26, 2016, Taylor announced the band had written and demoed 18 songs for their sixth studio album, with plans to enter the studio in January for a likely mid-2017 release. On January 23, 2017, Taylor revealed that the band was in the process of recording their upcoming album named Hydrograd. Taylor indicated that the album would incorporate heavy metal elements found in previous releases, alongside hard rock styles. Four singles have been released ahead of the album in promotion; "Fabuless", "Song #3", "Taipei Person/Allah Tea" and "Mercy" (A live recording from Sphere Studios), with St. Marie being released as single following the album's release. Hydrograd released worldwide on June 30, 2017 to generally positive reviews. The band also released an exclusive cover of the Rage Against the Machine song "Bombtrack" for the Metal Hammer compilation Metal Hammer Goes 90s in August 2017.
In Spring 2018, Stone Sour embarked on Ozzy Osbourne's US 2018 tour for the Spring and Fall. On May 6, 2019, it was announced that Roy Mayorga joining Hellyeah as their new drummer, and replacing the original Hellyeah drummer Vinnie Paul, who died on June 22, 2018.
On November 6, 2019, the band announced that they would be releasing a live album titled, Hello, You Bastards: Live in Reno, on December 13 of the same year.
Indefinite hiatus (2020–present)
On August 10, 2020, Taylor announced on 'The Green Room with Neil Griffiths' podcast that Stone Sour was taking a hiatus, saying: "I feel like Stone Sour has kinda run its course for now," "We all talked as a band and decided to kinda put Stone Sour in indefinite hiatus. That's the way it is. We've put it on the shelf for now. Everyone's kind of going and doing their own thing."
Musical style
Throughout the band's career, their musical style has been described as alternative metal, hard rock, heavy metal, and alternative rock. Their music features double bass drum patterns, heavy guitar riffs, dual guitar harmonies and vocally combining screaming with singing.
Guitarist Josh Rand stated in an interview, that he tries to bring a metal aspect and elements of thrash metal in their music. He also stated that his writing style is different than Slipknot's writing style.
Stone Sour's fourth and fifth albums, House of Gold & Bones - Part 1 and Part 2 are notable for their concept album format, and have led to comparisons to progressive rock bands. When asked about this, Josh Rand stated: "I still think it's us. We never said that we would be Genesis or Dream Theater or Yes or any of those types of bands. We're not a prog band. We said we're going to adopt the ideas of those stories and stuff, but it's still going to be a Stone Sour record, where you can still pull those individual songs. We just wanted to offer something more - in a world where it's all about singles, we just wanted to do something different. We've always evolved from record to record, if you listen to our entire catalog."
Band members
Official members
Corey Taylor – lead vocals, occasional rhythm guitar, keyboards (1992–1997, 2000–present)
Josh Rand – rhythm guitar, occasional lead guitar, backing vocals (1993, 2000–present), bass (2000)
Roy Mayorga – drums, keyboards (2006–present)
Johny Chow – bass, backing vocals (2012–present)
Christian Martucci – lead guitar, backing vocals (2014–present)
Former members
Jim Root – lead guitar (1995–1997, 2000–2014)
Joel Ekman – drums (1992–1997, 2000–2006)
Shawn Economaki – bass (1993–1997, 2000–2012)
Former touring musicians
Jason Christopher – bass, backing vocals (2011)
Mike Portnoy – drums (2011)
Jonah Nimoy – rhythm guitar (2018)
R.J. Ronquillo – rhythm guitar (2018)
Timeline
Recording timeline
Discography
Stone Sour (2002)
Come What(ever) May (2006)
Audio Secrecy (2010)
House of Gold & Bones – Part 1 (2012)
House of Gold & Bones – Part 2 (2013)
Hydrograd (2017)
Accolades
Grammy Awards
|-
| || "Get Inside" || Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance ||
|-
| || "Inhale" || Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance ||
|-
| || "30/30-150" || Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance ||
Revolver Golden Gods
|-
| 2013 || Roy Mayorga || Golden Gods Award for Best Drummer ||
|-
| 2013 || Corey Taylor || Golden Gods Award for Best Vocalist ||
|-
| 2012 || "House of Gold & Bones - Part 1" || Golden Gods Award for Album of the Year ||
Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards
|-
| 2013 || Stone Sour || Best International Band ||
Loudwire Music Awards
|-
| 2012 || Stone Sour || Rock Band of the Year ||
|-
| rowspan="3" | 2017 || Stone Sour || Hard Rock Artist of the Year ||
|-
| Hydrograd || Hard Rock Album of the Year ||
|-
| Corey Taylor || Best Vocalist ||
Bandit Rock Awards
|-
| 2018 || Hydrograd || Best International Album ||
References
External links
1992 establishments in Iowa
Musical groups established in 1992
Musical groups disestablished in 1997
Musical groups reestablished in 2001
Roadrunner Records artists
Alternative rock groups from Iowa
Heavy metal musical groups from Iowa
Musical groups from Des Moines, Iowa
American alternative metal musical groups
American hard rock musical groups | false | [
"Přírodní park Třebíčsko (before Oblast klidu Třebíčsko) is a natural park near Třebíč in the Czech Republic. There are many interesting plants. The park was founded in 1983.\n\nKobylinec and Ptáčovský kopeček\n\nKobylinec is a natural monument situated ca 0,5 km from the village of Trnava.\nThe area of this monument is 0,44 ha. Pulsatilla grandis can be found here and in the Ptáčovský kopeček park near Ptáčov near Třebíč. Both monuments are very popular for tourists.\n\nPonds\n\nIn the natural park there are some interesting ponds such as Velký Bor, Malý Bor, Buršík near Přeckov and a brook Březinka. Dams on the brook are examples of European beaver activity.\n\nSyenitové skály near Pocoucov\n\nSyenitové skály (rocks of syenit) near Pocoucov is one of famed locations. There are interesting granite boulders. The area of the reservation is 0,77 ha.\n\nExternal links\nParts of this article or all article was translated from Czech. The original article is :cs:Přírodní park Třebíčsko.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nNature near the village Trnava which is there\n\nTřebíč\nParks in the Czech Republic\nTourist attractions in the Vysočina Region",
"Damn Interesting is an independent website founded by Alan Bellows in 2005. The website presents true stories from science, history, and psychology, primarily as long-form articles, often illustrated with original artwork. Works are written by various authors, and published at irregular intervals. The website openly rejects advertising, relying on reader and listener donations to cover operating costs.\n\nAs of October 2012, each article is also published as a podcast under the same name. In November 2019, a second podcast was launched under the title Damn Interesting Week, featuring unscripted commentary on an assortment of news articles featured on the website's \"Curated Links\" section that week. In mid-2020, a third podcast called Damn Interesting Curio Cabinet began highlighting the website's periodic short-form articles in the same radioplay format as the original podcast.\n\nIn July 2009, Damn Interesting published the print book Alien Hand Syndrome through Workman Publishing. It contains some favorites from the site and some exclusive content.\n\nAwards and recognition \nIn August 2007, PC Magazine named Damn Interesting one of the \"Top 100 Undiscovered Web Sites\".\nThe article \"The Zero-Armed Bandit\" by Alan Bellows won a 2015 Sidney Award from David Brooks in The New York Times.\nThe article \"Ghoulish Acts and Dastardly Deeds\" by Alan Bellows was cited as \"nonfiction journalism from 2017 that will stand the test of time\" by Conor Friedersdorf in The Atlantic.\nThe article \"Dupes and Duplicity\" by Jennifer Lee Noonan won a 2020 Sidney Award from David Brooks in the New York Times.\n\nAccusing The Dollop of plagiarism \n\nOn July 9, 2015, Bellows posted an open letter accusing The Dollop, a comedy podcast about history, of plagiarism due to their repeated use of verbatim text from Damn Interesting articles without permission or attribution. Dave Anthony, the writer of The Dollop, responded on reddit, admitting to using Damn Interesting content, but claiming that the use was protected by fair use, and that \"historical facts are not copyrightable.\" In an article about the controversy on Plagiarism Today, Jonathan Bailey concluded, \"Any way one looks at it, The Dollop failed its ethical obligations to all of the people, not just those writing for Damn Interesting, who put in the time, energy and expertise into writing the original content upon which their show is based.\"\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n Official website\n\n2005 podcast debuts"
]
|
[
"Stone Sour",
"House of Gold & Bones (2012-2013)",
"When was the album released?",
"October 23, 2012,",
"Were there any singles?",
"The first two songs from Part 1, \"Gone Sovereign\" and the first official single, \"Absolute Zero\"",
"Did the single reach the charts?",
"I don't know.",
"Did the band tour?",
"On October 5, 2012, Johny Chow of Fireball Ministry and Cavalera Conspiracy was announced as the bassist for the band on the House of Gold & Bones tour cycle.",
"Who did they tour with?",
"Christian Martucci filled in for Root during that period.",
"What else is notable about this time?",
"The band released a song called \"The Pessimist\" as a free download on their Facebook page on March 27, 2012.",
"Did fans like the song?",
"I don't know.",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"It was announced via Instagram on May 3, 2012 that bassist Shawn Economaki had parted ways with the band on amicable terms."
]
| C_d3598cdf63114915bfebd9d071e42bda_0 | Who replaced him? | 9 | Who replaced Stone Sour's bassist Shawn Economaki? | Stone Sour | The band released a song called "The Pessimist" as a free download on their Facebook page on March 27, 2012. The song was previously only available on the iTunes deluxe version of the soundtrack to Transformers: Dark of the Moon. They also released their first DVD Live at Brighton in the same year, capturing their performance on November 7, 2010. It was announced via Instagram on May 3, 2012 that bassist Shawn Economaki had parted ways with the band on amicable terms. He was replaced in the studio by current Skid Row bassist Rachel Bolan. Stone Sour started recording their fourth studio album in early 2012. Corey Taylor stated that the album would end up being a double album or concept album, and described the album's sound as "Pink Floyd's The Wall meets Alice in Chains's Dirt". It was later announced that the new material would be released as two separate albums. The first album, House of Gold & Bones - Part 1 was released worldwide on October 23, 2012, and the second album House of Gold & Bones - Part 2 was released worldwide on April 9, 2013. The project also has a 4-part graphic novel series that accompanies the albums, telling the linear storyline featured in the twin albums' lyrics. The first two songs from Part 1, "Gone Sovereign" and the first official single, "Absolute Zero" were released for radio airplay in mid/late August 2012. The first single from House of Gold & Bones Part 2 was "Do Me a Favor". It was released digitally on February 12. Guitarist Josh Rand stated in an interview with O2 Academy that there was a song recorded for Part 1, an instrumental which was deemed 'not up to par' by the band. The song will likely be released in the future once James Root and Josh Rand do 'some stuff to it guitar-wise'. On October 5, 2012, Johny Chow of Fireball Ministry and Cavalera Conspiracy was announced as the bassist for the band on the House of Gold & Bones tour cycle. Stone Sour subsequently played Soundwave Festival 2013 in Australia and on the Sunday at Download Festival 2013. Guitarist James Root did not tour with Stone Sour in the winter of 2013, as he had to take a brief hiatus from the group to work on .5: The Gray Chapter with Slipknot, although it was later revealed that he was fired from the band due to musical differences. He claimed that the band wanted to focus on "radio play and money," in which Root fought against, and that led to a split. Christian Martucci filled in for Root during that period. CANNOTANSWER | He was replaced in the studio by current Skid Row bassist Rachel Bolan. | Stone Sour was an American rock band formed in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1992. The band performed for five years before disbanding in 1997. They reunited in 2000 and since 2015, the group has consisted of Corey Taylor (lead vocals, guitar), Josh Rand (guitar), Christian Martucci (guitar), Johny Chow (bass) and Roy Mayorga (drums). Longtime members Joel Ekman (drums, percussion) and Shawn Economaki (bass guitar) left the band in 2006 and 2011, respectively. Former lead guitarist Jim Root left in 2014.
To date, Stone Sour has released six studio albums: Stone Sour (2002); Come What(ever) May (2006); Audio Secrecy (2010); House of Gold & Bones – Part 1 (2012); House of Gold & Bones – Part 2 (2013) and Hydrograd (2017). They also released a digital live album, Live in Moscow, in 2007. Their album, Hydrograd was released in June 2017 and is their first album to feature guitarist Christian Martucci and bassist Johny Chow.
Stone Sour earned the group two Grammy Award nominations, both for Best Metal Performance, for the singles "Get Inside", in 2003, and "Inhale", in 2004. From their album Come What(ever) May, the group received another Grammy Award nomination for Best Metal Performance for the single "30/30-150", in 2007. The band has sold 2.1 million albums in the United States as of April 2017.
History
Formation and early years (1992–1997)
Stone Sour was founded by Corey Taylor, who later became the vocalist of Slipknot, and former drummer Joel Ekman; the band's name comes from a cocktail menu at a local bar. Taylor's longtime friend Shawn Economaki joined shortly after, and filled in as the bass player. During these formative years, Stone Sour recorded two demo tapes, in 1993 and 1994. In 1995, Jim Root, who is now part of Slipknot with Taylor, joined the band. In 1996, this lineup recorded another demo tape, songs from which would be used in 2002 on their self-titled debut album. In 1997, the band went on hiatus, during which Taylor and Root spent most of their time with Slipknot, who were another up-and-coming act in Des Moines and would soon earn a record deal.
Stone Sour and hiatus (2000–2004)
After Josh Rand joined the band, the band recorded their debut self-titled album in Cedar Falls. Upon release, the album charted at number 46 on the Billboard 200. The song "Bother", which was featured on the Spider-Man soundtrack (credited only to Taylor), peaked at number 2 on the Mainstream Rock Chart as well as number 4 on the Modern Rock Tracks and 56 on the Billboard Hot 100. The next single, "Inhale", peaked at 18 on the Mainstream Rock chart. The group received two Grammy Award nominations for Best Metal Performance for the singles "Get Inside" and "Inhale" in 2003 and 2004 respectively. The album went on to achieve Gold certification. The band toured for six months with label mates Sinch and Chevelle before going on a temporary hiatus as Taylor and Root went back to join Slipknot for another album and tour.
Come What(ever) May (2005–2007)
The band came back in 2006 to release their second studio album, Come What(ever) May. They parted ways with drummer Joel Ekman, currently drumming for Isaac James, who left to take care of his cancer-stricken son, and later recruited current drummer, Roy Mayorga (Soulfly, and later Amebix and Hellyeah). The track "30/30-150" was recorded with Godsmack drummer Shannon Larkin. The album was released on August 1, 2006. It was met with positive reviews from critics, and sold 80,000 copies in the first week, allowing it to debut at number four on the Billboard 200. The band toured for the next year and a half, releasing the Live in Moscow album exclusively to iTunes on August 14, 2007.
The single "Sillyworld" peaked at number 2 on the Mainstream Rock charts in 2006. "Through Glass" proved to be successful peaking at number 1 on the Mainstream Rock Chart, 2 on the Modern Rock Tracks, 12 on the Adult Top 40 and 39 on the Billboard Hot 100 also in 2006. They released two more singles in 2007, "Made of Scars" and "Zzyzx Rd.", which managed to peak at numbers 21 and 29 on the Mainstream Rock charts respectively. In 2006 they received a Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance nomination for the single "30/30-150".
Audio Secrecy (2009–2011)
The band's third album Audio Secrecy, was recorded at the Blackbird Studios in Nashville, Tennessee with producer Nick Raskulinecz, who was the producer for the band's second album Come What(ever) May. and released on September 7, 2010 . Taylor stated that "Audio Secrecy is the summation of everything we want, everything we crave and everything we fight for...The dimensions go further than anything we've ever tried before. It's metal, rock, slow, soft, hard, fast, bitter, beautiful and most importantly, it's real. You can't get an album like this out of a band that doesn't exist. We're throwing caution out the damn window."
Stone Sour played the first annual Rockstar Energy Drink Uproar Festival with Avenged Sevenfold and Hollywood Undead among others. Stone Sour set the release date of Audio Secrecy as September 7. Stone Sour were part of the Soundwave Festival in late February/early March in Australia 2011. Stone Sour headlined The Avalanche Tour, supported by Theory of a Deadman, Skillet, Halestorm and Art of Dying. It was also announced that a Stone Sour live DVD will be released, filmed at the Brighton Centre in the United Kingdom. The band toured with Avenged Sevenfold, New Medicine and Hollywood Undead on the "Nightmare After Christmas Tour" 2011.
On April 16, 2011, it was announced that bassist Shawn Economaki had left the tour for personal reasons. Jason Christopher, who had played with Corey Taylor previously during his solo performances and with the Junk Beer Kidnap Band, filled in for the tour. In May 2011, Stone Sour canceled the remaining dates from their headline tour as drummer, Roy Mayorga suffered a minor stroke. He made a full recovery. The band played their last show of 2011 at the second day of the Rock in Rio IV festival, which took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, between September 23 – October 2. Drummer Roy Mayorga was not present at the show as he was expecting his first child back home, and filling-in for him was ex-Dream Theater and The Winery Dogs drummer Mike Portnoy. Bassist Shawn Economaki was also absent from the performance.
House of Gold & Bones (2012–2013)
The band released a song called "The Pessimist" as a free download on their Facebook page on March 27, 2012. The song was previously only available on the iTunes deluxe version of the soundtrack to Transformers: Dark of the Moon. They also released their first DVD Live at Brighton in the same year, capturing their performance on November 7, 2010.
It was announced via Instagram on May 3, 2012, that bassist Shawn Economaki had parted ways with the band on amicable terms. He was replaced in the studio by current Skid Row bassist Rachel Bolan. Stone Sour started recording their fourth studio album in early 2012. Corey Taylor stated that the album would end up being a double album or concept album, and described the album's sound as "Pink Floyd's The Wall meets Alice in Chains's Dirt". It was later announced that the new material would be released as two separate albums. The first album, House of Gold & Bones – Part 1 was released worldwide on October 23, 2012, and the second album House of Gold & Bones – Part 2 was released worldwide on April 9, 2013. The project also has a 4-part graphic novel series that accompanies the albums, telling the linear storyline featured in the twin albums' lyrics.
The first two songs from Part 1, "Gone Sovereign" and the first official single, "Absolute Zero" were released for radio airplay in mid/late August 2012. The first single from House of Gold & Bones Part 2 was "Do Me a Favor". It was released digitally on February 12. Guitarist Josh Rand stated in an interview with O2 Academy that there was a song recorded for Part 1, an instrumental which was deemed 'not up to par' by the band. The song will likely be released in the future once James Root and Josh Rand do 'some stuff to it guitar-wise'.
On October 5, 2012, Johny Chow of Fireball Ministry and Cavalera Conspiracy was announced as the bassist for the band on the House of Gold & Bones tour cycle. Stone Sour subsequently played Soundwave Festival 2013 in Australia and on the Sunday at Download Festival 2013. Guitarist James Root did not tour with Stone Sour in the winter of 2013, as he had to take a brief hiatus from the group to work on .5: The Gray Chapter with Slipknot, although it was later revealed that he was fired from the band due to musical differences. He claimed that the band wanted to focus on "radio play and money," which Root fought against, leading to his departure. Christian Martucci filled in for Root during that period.
The Burbank EP duology (2014–2016)
On October 5, 2014, it was announced via Stone Sour's Facebook page that the band had begun recording a covers EP, which is due to be titled Meanwhile in Burbank... and released in 2015. Corey Taylor stated about the covers EP: "This is something that we've been talking about since the first album came out, with [Stone Sour]. We've always wanted to do this. Even as people have come, people have gone, this is still something we've always come back to, and we just never had the opportunity to do it. And we just kind of said, 'Well, screw it.'" On February 9, 2015, Stone Sour released an official music video and track, which is a cover version of the Metal Church's song "The Dark". The EP was released on April 18, 2015. Corey Taylor confirmed that two more covers EPs are to be produced, they will be titled Straight Outta Burbank and No Sleep Till Burbank and will feature covers of songs by Rage Against The Machine, Mötley Crüe, Bad Brains and Violent Femmes. Straight Outta Burbank..., the second volume in the series, has since been released.
Per Blabbermouth.net, On March 29, 2016, frontman Corey Taylor told the "Someone Who Isn't Me" podcast: "Originally we were going to do three [covers EPs], and now it sounds like we're just going to do the two and just keep the other stuff we recorded as extra content for when we make the next album."
Hydrograd (2017–2019)
On July 26, 2016, Taylor announced the band had written and demoed 18 songs for their sixth studio album, with plans to enter the studio in January for a likely mid-2017 release. On January 23, 2017, Taylor revealed that the band was in the process of recording their upcoming album named Hydrograd. Taylor indicated that the album would incorporate heavy metal elements found in previous releases, alongside hard rock styles. Four singles have been released ahead of the album in promotion; "Fabuless", "Song #3", "Taipei Person/Allah Tea" and "Mercy" (A live recording from Sphere Studios), with St. Marie being released as single following the album's release. Hydrograd released worldwide on June 30, 2017 to generally positive reviews. The band also released an exclusive cover of the Rage Against the Machine song "Bombtrack" for the Metal Hammer compilation Metal Hammer Goes 90s in August 2017.
In Spring 2018, Stone Sour embarked on Ozzy Osbourne's US 2018 tour for the Spring and Fall. On May 6, 2019, it was announced that Roy Mayorga joining Hellyeah as their new drummer, and replacing the original Hellyeah drummer Vinnie Paul, who died on June 22, 2018.
On November 6, 2019, the band announced that they would be releasing a live album titled, Hello, You Bastards: Live in Reno, on December 13 of the same year.
Indefinite hiatus (2020–present)
On August 10, 2020, Taylor announced on 'The Green Room with Neil Griffiths' podcast that Stone Sour was taking a hiatus, saying: "I feel like Stone Sour has kinda run its course for now," "We all talked as a band and decided to kinda put Stone Sour in indefinite hiatus. That's the way it is. We've put it on the shelf for now. Everyone's kind of going and doing their own thing."
Musical style
Throughout the band's career, their musical style has been described as alternative metal, hard rock, heavy metal, and alternative rock. Their music features double bass drum patterns, heavy guitar riffs, dual guitar harmonies and vocally combining screaming with singing.
Guitarist Josh Rand stated in an interview, that he tries to bring a metal aspect and elements of thrash metal in their music. He also stated that his writing style is different than Slipknot's writing style.
Stone Sour's fourth and fifth albums, House of Gold & Bones - Part 1 and Part 2 are notable for their concept album format, and have led to comparisons to progressive rock bands. When asked about this, Josh Rand stated: "I still think it's us. We never said that we would be Genesis or Dream Theater or Yes or any of those types of bands. We're not a prog band. We said we're going to adopt the ideas of those stories and stuff, but it's still going to be a Stone Sour record, where you can still pull those individual songs. We just wanted to offer something more - in a world where it's all about singles, we just wanted to do something different. We've always evolved from record to record, if you listen to our entire catalog."
Band members
Official members
Corey Taylor – lead vocals, occasional rhythm guitar, keyboards (1992–1997, 2000–present)
Josh Rand – rhythm guitar, occasional lead guitar, backing vocals (1993, 2000–present), bass (2000)
Roy Mayorga – drums, keyboards (2006–present)
Johny Chow – bass, backing vocals (2012–present)
Christian Martucci – lead guitar, backing vocals (2014–present)
Former members
Jim Root – lead guitar (1995–1997, 2000–2014)
Joel Ekman – drums (1992–1997, 2000–2006)
Shawn Economaki – bass (1993–1997, 2000–2012)
Former touring musicians
Jason Christopher – bass, backing vocals (2011)
Mike Portnoy – drums (2011)
Jonah Nimoy – rhythm guitar (2018)
R.J. Ronquillo – rhythm guitar (2018)
Timeline
Recording timeline
Discography
Stone Sour (2002)
Come What(ever) May (2006)
Audio Secrecy (2010)
House of Gold & Bones – Part 1 (2012)
House of Gold & Bones – Part 2 (2013)
Hydrograd (2017)
Accolades
Grammy Awards
|-
| || "Get Inside" || Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance ||
|-
| || "Inhale" || Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance ||
|-
| || "30/30-150" || Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance ||
Revolver Golden Gods
|-
| 2013 || Roy Mayorga || Golden Gods Award for Best Drummer ||
|-
| 2013 || Corey Taylor || Golden Gods Award for Best Vocalist ||
|-
| 2012 || "House of Gold & Bones - Part 1" || Golden Gods Award for Album of the Year ||
Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards
|-
| 2013 || Stone Sour || Best International Band ||
Loudwire Music Awards
|-
| 2012 || Stone Sour || Rock Band of the Year ||
|-
| rowspan="3" | 2017 || Stone Sour || Hard Rock Artist of the Year ||
|-
| Hydrograd || Hard Rock Album of the Year ||
|-
| Corey Taylor || Best Vocalist ||
Bandit Rock Awards
|-
| 2018 || Hydrograd || Best International Album ||
References
External links
1992 establishments in Iowa
Musical groups established in 1992
Musical groups disestablished in 1997
Musical groups reestablished in 2001
Roadrunner Records artists
Alternative rock groups from Iowa
Heavy metal musical groups from Iowa
Musical groups from Des Moines, Iowa
American alternative metal musical groups
American hard rock musical groups | true | [
"The 7th General Junta was the meeting of the General Junta, the parliament of the Principality of Asturias, with the membership determined by the results of the regional election held on 27 May 2007. The congress met for the first time on 21 June 2007.\n\nElection \nThe 7th Asturian regional election was held on 27 May 2007. At the election the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) remained the largest party in the General Junta but fell short of a majority again.\n\nHistory \nThe new parliament met for the first time on 21 June 2007. María Jesús Álvarez (PSOE) was elected as the president of the General Junta, with the support of PSOE and IU-BA-LV.\n\nDeaths, resignations and suspensions \nThe 7th General Junta has seen the following deaths, resignations and suspensions:\n\n 26 November 2008 - Manuel Aurelio Martín (IU/IX) and Noemí Martín (IU/IX) resigned after being appointed Minister of Rural Affairs and Fisheries and Minister of Social Welfare and Housing in the Asturian Government. Diana Camafeita (IU/IX) and Emilia Vázquez (IU/IX) replaced them respectively on 11 December 2008.\n 22 December 2009 - Francisco Javier García (IU/IX) resigned due to political disagreements with his party. Roberto Colunga (BA) replaced him on 4 February 2010.\n 13 July 2010 - Roberto Colunga (BA) left the United Left-Bloc of Asturias-The Greens group due to political disagreements with United Left, the biggest member of the coalition. He officially joined the Mixed group on 1 August 2010.\n 3 January 2011 - Pelayo Roces (PP) resigned in order to support former deputy prime minister of Spain, Francisco Álvarez-Cascos, who left the party after he wasn't picked as nominee for President of Asturias ahead of the 2007 Asturian regional election. José Manuel Felgueres replaced him on 10 February 2011.\n 31 January 2011 - Emilio Rodríguez (PP) resigned in order to join Asturias Forum (FAC), a split from the People's Party led by former deputy prime minister of Spain, Francisco Álvarez-Cascos. Pablo Álvarez (PP) replaced him on 17 February 2011.\n 3 February 2011 - Cristina Coto (PP) resigned in order to join Asturias Forum (FAC). María Isabel Pérez (PP) replaced her on 24 February 2011.\n 8 February 2011 - Marcial González (PP) resigned in order to join Asturias Forum (FAC). Rebeca Heli Álvarez (PP) replaced him on 10 March 2011.\n 17 February 2011 - Luis Servando Peláez (PP) resigned in order to join Asturias Forum (FAC). Álvaro Álvarez (PP) replaced him on 10 March 2011.\n\nMembers\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n\n Official website of the General Junta\n All members of the General Junta\n\nGeneral Junta of the Principality of Asturias\n2007 establishments in Spain",
"Shemp may refer to:\n Fake Shemp, someone who appears in a film as a replacement for another actor or person\n Shemp Howard (1895-1955), American actor, source of the above term after actors replaced him in films after his death"
]
|
[
"Stone Sour",
"House of Gold & Bones (2012-2013)",
"When was the album released?",
"October 23, 2012,",
"Were there any singles?",
"The first two songs from Part 1, \"Gone Sovereign\" and the first official single, \"Absolute Zero\"",
"Did the single reach the charts?",
"I don't know.",
"Did the band tour?",
"On October 5, 2012, Johny Chow of Fireball Ministry and Cavalera Conspiracy was announced as the bassist for the band on the House of Gold & Bones tour cycle.",
"Who did they tour with?",
"Christian Martucci filled in for Root during that period.",
"What else is notable about this time?",
"The band released a song called \"The Pessimist\" as a free download on their Facebook page on March 27, 2012.",
"Did fans like the song?",
"I don't know.",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"It was announced via Instagram on May 3, 2012 that bassist Shawn Economaki had parted ways with the band on amicable terms.",
"Who replaced him?",
"He was replaced in the studio by current Skid Row bassist Rachel Bolan."
]
| C_d3598cdf63114915bfebd9d071e42bda_0 | Did they tour after? | 10 | Did Stone Sour tour after Rachel Bolan replaced Shawn Economaki? | Stone Sour | The band released a song called "The Pessimist" as a free download on their Facebook page on March 27, 2012. The song was previously only available on the iTunes deluxe version of the soundtrack to Transformers: Dark of the Moon. They also released their first DVD Live at Brighton in the same year, capturing their performance on November 7, 2010. It was announced via Instagram on May 3, 2012 that bassist Shawn Economaki had parted ways with the band on amicable terms. He was replaced in the studio by current Skid Row bassist Rachel Bolan. Stone Sour started recording their fourth studio album in early 2012. Corey Taylor stated that the album would end up being a double album or concept album, and described the album's sound as "Pink Floyd's The Wall meets Alice in Chains's Dirt". It was later announced that the new material would be released as two separate albums. The first album, House of Gold & Bones - Part 1 was released worldwide on October 23, 2012, and the second album House of Gold & Bones - Part 2 was released worldwide on April 9, 2013. The project also has a 4-part graphic novel series that accompanies the albums, telling the linear storyline featured in the twin albums' lyrics. The first two songs from Part 1, "Gone Sovereign" and the first official single, "Absolute Zero" were released for radio airplay in mid/late August 2012. The first single from House of Gold & Bones Part 2 was "Do Me a Favor". It was released digitally on February 12. Guitarist Josh Rand stated in an interview with O2 Academy that there was a song recorded for Part 1, an instrumental which was deemed 'not up to par' by the band. The song will likely be released in the future once James Root and Josh Rand do 'some stuff to it guitar-wise'. On October 5, 2012, Johny Chow of Fireball Ministry and Cavalera Conspiracy was announced as the bassist for the band on the House of Gold & Bones tour cycle. Stone Sour subsequently played Soundwave Festival 2013 in Australia and on the Sunday at Download Festival 2013. Guitarist James Root did not tour with Stone Sour in the winter of 2013, as he had to take a brief hiatus from the group to work on .5: The Gray Chapter with Slipknot, although it was later revealed that he was fired from the band due to musical differences. He claimed that the band wanted to focus on "radio play and money," in which Root fought against, and that led to a split. Christian Martucci filled in for Root during that period. CANNOTANSWER | Stone Sour subsequently played Soundwave Festival 2013 in Australia | Stone Sour was an American rock band formed in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1992. The band performed for five years before disbanding in 1997. They reunited in 2000 and since 2015, the group has consisted of Corey Taylor (lead vocals, guitar), Josh Rand (guitar), Christian Martucci (guitar), Johny Chow (bass) and Roy Mayorga (drums). Longtime members Joel Ekman (drums, percussion) and Shawn Economaki (bass guitar) left the band in 2006 and 2011, respectively. Former lead guitarist Jim Root left in 2014.
To date, Stone Sour has released six studio albums: Stone Sour (2002); Come What(ever) May (2006); Audio Secrecy (2010); House of Gold & Bones – Part 1 (2012); House of Gold & Bones – Part 2 (2013) and Hydrograd (2017). They also released a digital live album, Live in Moscow, in 2007. Their album, Hydrograd was released in June 2017 and is their first album to feature guitarist Christian Martucci and bassist Johny Chow.
Stone Sour earned the group two Grammy Award nominations, both for Best Metal Performance, for the singles "Get Inside", in 2003, and "Inhale", in 2004. From their album Come What(ever) May, the group received another Grammy Award nomination for Best Metal Performance for the single "30/30-150", in 2007. The band has sold 2.1 million albums in the United States as of April 2017.
History
Formation and early years (1992–1997)
Stone Sour was founded by Corey Taylor, who later became the vocalist of Slipknot, and former drummer Joel Ekman; the band's name comes from a cocktail menu at a local bar. Taylor's longtime friend Shawn Economaki joined shortly after, and filled in as the bass player. During these formative years, Stone Sour recorded two demo tapes, in 1993 and 1994. In 1995, Jim Root, who is now part of Slipknot with Taylor, joined the band. In 1996, this lineup recorded another demo tape, songs from which would be used in 2002 on their self-titled debut album. In 1997, the band went on hiatus, during which Taylor and Root spent most of their time with Slipknot, who were another up-and-coming act in Des Moines and would soon earn a record deal.
Stone Sour and hiatus (2000–2004)
After Josh Rand joined the band, the band recorded their debut self-titled album in Cedar Falls. Upon release, the album charted at number 46 on the Billboard 200. The song "Bother", which was featured on the Spider-Man soundtrack (credited only to Taylor), peaked at number 2 on the Mainstream Rock Chart as well as number 4 on the Modern Rock Tracks and 56 on the Billboard Hot 100. The next single, "Inhale", peaked at 18 on the Mainstream Rock chart. The group received two Grammy Award nominations for Best Metal Performance for the singles "Get Inside" and "Inhale" in 2003 and 2004 respectively. The album went on to achieve Gold certification. The band toured for six months with label mates Sinch and Chevelle before going on a temporary hiatus as Taylor and Root went back to join Slipknot for another album and tour.
Come What(ever) May (2005–2007)
The band came back in 2006 to release their second studio album, Come What(ever) May. They parted ways with drummer Joel Ekman, currently drumming for Isaac James, who left to take care of his cancer-stricken son, and later recruited current drummer, Roy Mayorga (Soulfly, and later Amebix and Hellyeah). The track "30/30-150" was recorded with Godsmack drummer Shannon Larkin. The album was released on August 1, 2006. It was met with positive reviews from critics, and sold 80,000 copies in the first week, allowing it to debut at number four on the Billboard 200. The band toured for the next year and a half, releasing the Live in Moscow album exclusively to iTunes on August 14, 2007.
The single "Sillyworld" peaked at number 2 on the Mainstream Rock charts in 2006. "Through Glass" proved to be successful peaking at number 1 on the Mainstream Rock Chart, 2 on the Modern Rock Tracks, 12 on the Adult Top 40 and 39 on the Billboard Hot 100 also in 2006. They released two more singles in 2007, "Made of Scars" and "Zzyzx Rd.", which managed to peak at numbers 21 and 29 on the Mainstream Rock charts respectively. In 2006 they received a Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance nomination for the single "30/30-150".
Audio Secrecy (2009–2011)
The band's third album Audio Secrecy, was recorded at the Blackbird Studios in Nashville, Tennessee with producer Nick Raskulinecz, who was the producer for the band's second album Come What(ever) May. and released on September 7, 2010 . Taylor stated that "Audio Secrecy is the summation of everything we want, everything we crave and everything we fight for...The dimensions go further than anything we've ever tried before. It's metal, rock, slow, soft, hard, fast, bitter, beautiful and most importantly, it's real. You can't get an album like this out of a band that doesn't exist. We're throwing caution out the damn window."
Stone Sour played the first annual Rockstar Energy Drink Uproar Festival with Avenged Sevenfold and Hollywood Undead among others. Stone Sour set the release date of Audio Secrecy as September 7. Stone Sour were part of the Soundwave Festival in late February/early March in Australia 2011. Stone Sour headlined The Avalanche Tour, supported by Theory of a Deadman, Skillet, Halestorm and Art of Dying. It was also announced that a Stone Sour live DVD will be released, filmed at the Brighton Centre in the United Kingdom. The band toured with Avenged Sevenfold, New Medicine and Hollywood Undead on the "Nightmare After Christmas Tour" 2011.
On April 16, 2011, it was announced that bassist Shawn Economaki had left the tour for personal reasons. Jason Christopher, who had played with Corey Taylor previously during his solo performances and with the Junk Beer Kidnap Band, filled in for the tour. In May 2011, Stone Sour canceled the remaining dates from their headline tour as drummer, Roy Mayorga suffered a minor stroke. He made a full recovery. The band played their last show of 2011 at the second day of the Rock in Rio IV festival, which took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, between September 23 – October 2. Drummer Roy Mayorga was not present at the show as he was expecting his first child back home, and filling-in for him was ex-Dream Theater and The Winery Dogs drummer Mike Portnoy. Bassist Shawn Economaki was also absent from the performance.
House of Gold & Bones (2012–2013)
The band released a song called "The Pessimist" as a free download on their Facebook page on March 27, 2012. The song was previously only available on the iTunes deluxe version of the soundtrack to Transformers: Dark of the Moon. They also released their first DVD Live at Brighton in the same year, capturing their performance on November 7, 2010.
It was announced via Instagram on May 3, 2012, that bassist Shawn Economaki had parted ways with the band on amicable terms. He was replaced in the studio by current Skid Row bassist Rachel Bolan. Stone Sour started recording their fourth studio album in early 2012. Corey Taylor stated that the album would end up being a double album or concept album, and described the album's sound as "Pink Floyd's The Wall meets Alice in Chains's Dirt". It was later announced that the new material would be released as two separate albums. The first album, House of Gold & Bones – Part 1 was released worldwide on October 23, 2012, and the second album House of Gold & Bones – Part 2 was released worldwide on April 9, 2013. The project also has a 4-part graphic novel series that accompanies the albums, telling the linear storyline featured in the twin albums' lyrics.
The first two songs from Part 1, "Gone Sovereign" and the first official single, "Absolute Zero" were released for radio airplay in mid/late August 2012. The first single from House of Gold & Bones Part 2 was "Do Me a Favor". It was released digitally on February 12. Guitarist Josh Rand stated in an interview with O2 Academy that there was a song recorded for Part 1, an instrumental which was deemed 'not up to par' by the band. The song will likely be released in the future once James Root and Josh Rand do 'some stuff to it guitar-wise'.
On October 5, 2012, Johny Chow of Fireball Ministry and Cavalera Conspiracy was announced as the bassist for the band on the House of Gold & Bones tour cycle. Stone Sour subsequently played Soundwave Festival 2013 in Australia and on the Sunday at Download Festival 2013. Guitarist James Root did not tour with Stone Sour in the winter of 2013, as he had to take a brief hiatus from the group to work on .5: The Gray Chapter with Slipknot, although it was later revealed that he was fired from the band due to musical differences. He claimed that the band wanted to focus on "radio play and money," which Root fought against, leading to his departure. Christian Martucci filled in for Root during that period.
The Burbank EP duology (2014–2016)
On October 5, 2014, it was announced via Stone Sour's Facebook page that the band had begun recording a covers EP, which is due to be titled Meanwhile in Burbank... and released in 2015. Corey Taylor stated about the covers EP: "This is something that we've been talking about since the first album came out, with [Stone Sour]. We've always wanted to do this. Even as people have come, people have gone, this is still something we've always come back to, and we just never had the opportunity to do it. And we just kind of said, 'Well, screw it.'" On February 9, 2015, Stone Sour released an official music video and track, which is a cover version of the Metal Church's song "The Dark". The EP was released on April 18, 2015. Corey Taylor confirmed that two more covers EPs are to be produced, they will be titled Straight Outta Burbank and No Sleep Till Burbank and will feature covers of songs by Rage Against The Machine, Mötley Crüe, Bad Brains and Violent Femmes. Straight Outta Burbank..., the second volume in the series, has since been released.
Per Blabbermouth.net, On March 29, 2016, frontman Corey Taylor told the "Someone Who Isn't Me" podcast: "Originally we were going to do three [covers EPs], and now it sounds like we're just going to do the two and just keep the other stuff we recorded as extra content for when we make the next album."
Hydrograd (2017–2019)
On July 26, 2016, Taylor announced the band had written and demoed 18 songs for their sixth studio album, with plans to enter the studio in January for a likely mid-2017 release. On January 23, 2017, Taylor revealed that the band was in the process of recording their upcoming album named Hydrograd. Taylor indicated that the album would incorporate heavy metal elements found in previous releases, alongside hard rock styles. Four singles have been released ahead of the album in promotion; "Fabuless", "Song #3", "Taipei Person/Allah Tea" and "Mercy" (A live recording from Sphere Studios), with St. Marie being released as single following the album's release. Hydrograd released worldwide on June 30, 2017 to generally positive reviews. The band also released an exclusive cover of the Rage Against the Machine song "Bombtrack" for the Metal Hammer compilation Metal Hammer Goes 90s in August 2017.
In Spring 2018, Stone Sour embarked on Ozzy Osbourne's US 2018 tour for the Spring and Fall. On May 6, 2019, it was announced that Roy Mayorga joining Hellyeah as their new drummer, and replacing the original Hellyeah drummer Vinnie Paul, who died on June 22, 2018.
On November 6, 2019, the band announced that they would be releasing a live album titled, Hello, You Bastards: Live in Reno, on December 13 of the same year.
Indefinite hiatus (2020–present)
On August 10, 2020, Taylor announced on 'The Green Room with Neil Griffiths' podcast that Stone Sour was taking a hiatus, saying: "I feel like Stone Sour has kinda run its course for now," "We all talked as a band and decided to kinda put Stone Sour in indefinite hiatus. That's the way it is. We've put it on the shelf for now. Everyone's kind of going and doing their own thing."
Musical style
Throughout the band's career, their musical style has been described as alternative metal, hard rock, heavy metal, and alternative rock. Their music features double bass drum patterns, heavy guitar riffs, dual guitar harmonies and vocally combining screaming with singing.
Guitarist Josh Rand stated in an interview, that he tries to bring a metal aspect and elements of thrash metal in their music. He also stated that his writing style is different than Slipknot's writing style.
Stone Sour's fourth and fifth albums, House of Gold & Bones - Part 1 and Part 2 are notable for their concept album format, and have led to comparisons to progressive rock bands. When asked about this, Josh Rand stated: "I still think it's us. We never said that we would be Genesis or Dream Theater or Yes or any of those types of bands. We're not a prog band. We said we're going to adopt the ideas of those stories and stuff, but it's still going to be a Stone Sour record, where you can still pull those individual songs. We just wanted to offer something more - in a world where it's all about singles, we just wanted to do something different. We've always evolved from record to record, if you listen to our entire catalog."
Band members
Official members
Corey Taylor – lead vocals, occasional rhythm guitar, keyboards (1992–1997, 2000–present)
Josh Rand – rhythm guitar, occasional lead guitar, backing vocals (1993, 2000–present), bass (2000)
Roy Mayorga – drums, keyboards (2006–present)
Johny Chow – bass, backing vocals (2012–present)
Christian Martucci – lead guitar, backing vocals (2014–present)
Former members
Jim Root – lead guitar (1995–1997, 2000–2014)
Joel Ekman – drums (1992–1997, 2000–2006)
Shawn Economaki – bass (1993–1997, 2000–2012)
Former touring musicians
Jason Christopher – bass, backing vocals (2011)
Mike Portnoy – drums (2011)
Jonah Nimoy – rhythm guitar (2018)
R.J. Ronquillo – rhythm guitar (2018)
Timeline
Recording timeline
Discography
Stone Sour (2002)
Come What(ever) May (2006)
Audio Secrecy (2010)
House of Gold & Bones – Part 1 (2012)
House of Gold & Bones – Part 2 (2013)
Hydrograd (2017)
Accolades
Grammy Awards
|-
| || "Get Inside" || Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance ||
|-
| || "Inhale" || Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance ||
|-
| || "30/30-150" || Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance ||
Revolver Golden Gods
|-
| 2013 || Roy Mayorga || Golden Gods Award for Best Drummer ||
|-
| 2013 || Corey Taylor || Golden Gods Award for Best Vocalist ||
|-
| 2012 || "House of Gold & Bones - Part 1" || Golden Gods Award for Album of the Year ||
Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards
|-
| 2013 || Stone Sour || Best International Band ||
Loudwire Music Awards
|-
| 2012 || Stone Sour || Rock Band of the Year ||
|-
| rowspan="3" | 2017 || Stone Sour || Hard Rock Artist of the Year ||
|-
| Hydrograd || Hard Rock Album of the Year ||
|-
| Corey Taylor || Best Vocalist ||
Bandit Rock Awards
|-
| 2018 || Hydrograd || Best International Album ||
References
External links
1992 establishments in Iowa
Musical groups established in 1992
Musical groups disestablished in 1997
Musical groups reestablished in 2001
Roadrunner Records artists
Alternative rock groups from Iowa
Heavy metal musical groups from Iowa
Musical groups from Des Moines, Iowa
American alternative metal musical groups
American hard rock musical groups | true | [
"\nThis is a list of the 29 players who earned their 2011 PGA Tour card through Q School in 2010. Note: Michael Putnam and Justin Hicks had already qualified for the PGA Tour by placing in the Top 25 during the 2010 Nationwide Tour season; they did not count among the Top 25 Q school graduates, but Putnam did improve his status.\n\nPlayers in yellow are 2011 PGA Tour rookies.\n\n2011 Results\n\n*PGA Tour rookie in 2011\nT = Tied \nGreen background indicates the player retained his PGA Tour card for 2012 (finished inside the top 125). \nYellow background indicates the player did not retain his PGA Tour card for 2012, but retained conditional status (finished between 126-150). \nRed background indicates the player did not retain his PGA Tour card for 2012 (finished outside the top 150).\n\nWinners on the PGA Tour in 2011\n\nRunners-up on the PGA Tour in 2011\n\nSee also\n2010 Nationwide Tour graduates\n\nReferences\nShort bios from pgatour.com\n\nPGA Tour Qualifying School\nPGA Tour Qualifying School Graduates\nPGA Tour Qualifying School Graduates",
"For the 1922 Tour de France, although World War I was already a few years ago, its economic impact was not yet over. The cycling companies were still not able to sponsor the cyclists in the way they did before the war, so as in 1919, 1920 and 1921 they bundled their forces under the nick La Sportive. The cyclists were divided in two categories, this time named 1ère classe (first class), the professionals, and 2ème classe (second class), the amateurs.\n\nThe French cyclists Henri and Francis Pélissier had stopped the 1920 Tour de France after Henri received a penalty from the Tour organisation for throwing away a tire. For this reason, the Pélissier brothers did not start in the 1921 and 1922 Tours.\n\nBy starting number\n\nBy nationality\n\nReferences\n\n1922 Tour de France\n1922"
]
|
[
"Stone Sour",
"House of Gold & Bones (2012-2013)",
"When was the album released?",
"October 23, 2012,",
"Were there any singles?",
"The first two songs from Part 1, \"Gone Sovereign\" and the first official single, \"Absolute Zero\"",
"Did the single reach the charts?",
"I don't know.",
"Did the band tour?",
"On October 5, 2012, Johny Chow of Fireball Ministry and Cavalera Conspiracy was announced as the bassist for the band on the House of Gold & Bones tour cycle.",
"Who did they tour with?",
"Christian Martucci filled in for Root during that period.",
"What else is notable about this time?",
"The band released a song called \"The Pessimist\" as a free download on their Facebook page on March 27, 2012.",
"Did fans like the song?",
"I don't know.",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"It was announced via Instagram on May 3, 2012 that bassist Shawn Economaki had parted ways with the band on amicable terms.",
"Who replaced him?",
"He was replaced in the studio by current Skid Row bassist Rachel Bolan.",
"Did they tour after?",
"Stone Sour subsequently played Soundwave Festival 2013 in Australia"
]
| C_d3598cdf63114915bfebd9d071e42bda_0 | Did they record anything else at that time? | 11 | Besides House of Gold & Bones, did Stone Sour record anything else after Rachel Bolan replaced Shawn Economaki? | Stone Sour | The band released a song called "The Pessimist" as a free download on their Facebook page on March 27, 2012. The song was previously only available on the iTunes deluxe version of the soundtrack to Transformers: Dark of the Moon. They also released their first DVD Live at Brighton in the same year, capturing their performance on November 7, 2010. It was announced via Instagram on May 3, 2012 that bassist Shawn Economaki had parted ways with the band on amicable terms. He was replaced in the studio by current Skid Row bassist Rachel Bolan. Stone Sour started recording their fourth studio album in early 2012. Corey Taylor stated that the album would end up being a double album or concept album, and described the album's sound as "Pink Floyd's The Wall meets Alice in Chains's Dirt". It was later announced that the new material would be released as two separate albums. The first album, House of Gold & Bones - Part 1 was released worldwide on October 23, 2012, and the second album House of Gold & Bones - Part 2 was released worldwide on April 9, 2013. The project also has a 4-part graphic novel series that accompanies the albums, telling the linear storyline featured in the twin albums' lyrics. The first two songs from Part 1, "Gone Sovereign" and the first official single, "Absolute Zero" were released for radio airplay in mid/late August 2012. The first single from House of Gold & Bones Part 2 was "Do Me a Favor". It was released digitally on February 12. Guitarist Josh Rand stated in an interview with O2 Academy that there was a song recorded for Part 1, an instrumental which was deemed 'not up to par' by the band. The song will likely be released in the future once James Root and Josh Rand do 'some stuff to it guitar-wise'. On October 5, 2012, Johny Chow of Fireball Ministry and Cavalera Conspiracy was announced as the bassist for the band on the House of Gold & Bones tour cycle. Stone Sour subsequently played Soundwave Festival 2013 in Australia and on the Sunday at Download Festival 2013. Guitarist James Root did not tour with Stone Sour in the winter of 2013, as he had to take a brief hiatus from the group to work on .5: The Gray Chapter with Slipknot, although it was later revealed that he was fired from the band due to musical differences. He claimed that the band wanted to focus on "radio play and money," in which Root fought against, and that led to a split. Christian Martucci filled in for Root during that period. CANNOTANSWER | The first single from House of Gold & Bones Part 2 was "Do Me a Favor | Stone Sour was an American rock band formed in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1992. The band performed for five years before disbanding in 1997. They reunited in 2000 and since 2015, the group has consisted of Corey Taylor (lead vocals, guitar), Josh Rand (guitar), Christian Martucci (guitar), Johny Chow (bass) and Roy Mayorga (drums). Longtime members Joel Ekman (drums, percussion) and Shawn Economaki (bass guitar) left the band in 2006 and 2011, respectively. Former lead guitarist Jim Root left in 2014.
To date, Stone Sour has released six studio albums: Stone Sour (2002); Come What(ever) May (2006); Audio Secrecy (2010); House of Gold & Bones – Part 1 (2012); House of Gold & Bones – Part 2 (2013) and Hydrograd (2017). They also released a digital live album, Live in Moscow, in 2007. Their album, Hydrograd was released in June 2017 and is their first album to feature guitarist Christian Martucci and bassist Johny Chow.
Stone Sour earned the group two Grammy Award nominations, both for Best Metal Performance, for the singles "Get Inside", in 2003, and "Inhale", in 2004. From their album Come What(ever) May, the group received another Grammy Award nomination for Best Metal Performance for the single "30/30-150", in 2007. The band has sold 2.1 million albums in the United States as of April 2017.
History
Formation and early years (1992–1997)
Stone Sour was founded by Corey Taylor, who later became the vocalist of Slipknot, and former drummer Joel Ekman; the band's name comes from a cocktail menu at a local bar. Taylor's longtime friend Shawn Economaki joined shortly after, and filled in as the bass player. During these formative years, Stone Sour recorded two demo tapes, in 1993 and 1994. In 1995, Jim Root, who is now part of Slipknot with Taylor, joined the band. In 1996, this lineup recorded another demo tape, songs from which would be used in 2002 on their self-titled debut album. In 1997, the band went on hiatus, during which Taylor and Root spent most of their time with Slipknot, who were another up-and-coming act in Des Moines and would soon earn a record deal.
Stone Sour and hiatus (2000–2004)
After Josh Rand joined the band, the band recorded their debut self-titled album in Cedar Falls. Upon release, the album charted at number 46 on the Billboard 200. The song "Bother", which was featured on the Spider-Man soundtrack (credited only to Taylor), peaked at number 2 on the Mainstream Rock Chart as well as number 4 on the Modern Rock Tracks and 56 on the Billboard Hot 100. The next single, "Inhale", peaked at 18 on the Mainstream Rock chart. The group received two Grammy Award nominations for Best Metal Performance for the singles "Get Inside" and "Inhale" in 2003 and 2004 respectively. The album went on to achieve Gold certification. The band toured for six months with label mates Sinch and Chevelle before going on a temporary hiatus as Taylor and Root went back to join Slipknot for another album and tour.
Come What(ever) May (2005–2007)
The band came back in 2006 to release their second studio album, Come What(ever) May. They parted ways with drummer Joel Ekman, currently drumming for Isaac James, who left to take care of his cancer-stricken son, and later recruited current drummer, Roy Mayorga (Soulfly, and later Amebix and Hellyeah). The track "30/30-150" was recorded with Godsmack drummer Shannon Larkin. The album was released on August 1, 2006. It was met with positive reviews from critics, and sold 80,000 copies in the first week, allowing it to debut at number four on the Billboard 200. The band toured for the next year and a half, releasing the Live in Moscow album exclusively to iTunes on August 14, 2007.
The single "Sillyworld" peaked at number 2 on the Mainstream Rock charts in 2006. "Through Glass" proved to be successful peaking at number 1 on the Mainstream Rock Chart, 2 on the Modern Rock Tracks, 12 on the Adult Top 40 and 39 on the Billboard Hot 100 also in 2006. They released two more singles in 2007, "Made of Scars" and "Zzyzx Rd.", which managed to peak at numbers 21 and 29 on the Mainstream Rock charts respectively. In 2006 they received a Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance nomination for the single "30/30-150".
Audio Secrecy (2009–2011)
The band's third album Audio Secrecy, was recorded at the Blackbird Studios in Nashville, Tennessee with producer Nick Raskulinecz, who was the producer for the band's second album Come What(ever) May. and released on September 7, 2010 . Taylor stated that "Audio Secrecy is the summation of everything we want, everything we crave and everything we fight for...The dimensions go further than anything we've ever tried before. It's metal, rock, slow, soft, hard, fast, bitter, beautiful and most importantly, it's real. You can't get an album like this out of a band that doesn't exist. We're throwing caution out the damn window."
Stone Sour played the first annual Rockstar Energy Drink Uproar Festival with Avenged Sevenfold and Hollywood Undead among others. Stone Sour set the release date of Audio Secrecy as September 7. Stone Sour were part of the Soundwave Festival in late February/early March in Australia 2011. Stone Sour headlined The Avalanche Tour, supported by Theory of a Deadman, Skillet, Halestorm and Art of Dying. It was also announced that a Stone Sour live DVD will be released, filmed at the Brighton Centre in the United Kingdom. The band toured with Avenged Sevenfold, New Medicine and Hollywood Undead on the "Nightmare After Christmas Tour" 2011.
On April 16, 2011, it was announced that bassist Shawn Economaki had left the tour for personal reasons. Jason Christopher, who had played with Corey Taylor previously during his solo performances and with the Junk Beer Kidnap Band, filled in for the tour. In May 2011, Stone Sour canceled the remaining dates from their headline tour as drummer, Roy Mayorga suffered a minor stroke. He made a full recovery. The band played their last show of 2011 at the second day of the Rock in Rio IV festival, which took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, between September 23 – October 2. Drummer Roy Mayorga was not present at the show as he was expecting his first child back home, and filling-in for him was ex-Dream Theater and The Winery Dogs drummer Mike Portnoy. Bassist Shawn Economaki was also absent from the performance.
House of Gold & Bones (2012–2013)
The band released a song called "The Pessimist" as a free download on their Facebook page on March 27, 2012. The song was previously only available on the iTunes deluxe version of the soundtrack to Transformers: Dark of the Moon. They also released their first DVD Live at Brighton in the same year, capturing their performance on November 7, 2010.
It was announced via Instagram on May 3, 2012, that bassist Shawn Economaki had parted ways with the band on amicable terms. He was replaced in the studio by current Skid Row bassist Rachel Bolan. Stone Sour started recording their fourth studio album in early 2012. Corey Taylor stated that the album would end up being a double album or concept album, and described the album's sound as "Pink Floyd's The Wall meets Alice in Chains's Dirt". It was later announced that the new material would be released as two separate albums. The first album, House of Gold & Bones – Part 1 was released worldwide on October 23, 2012, and the second album House of Gold & Bones – Part 2 was released worldwide on April 9, 2013. The project also has a 4-part graphic novel series that accompanies the albums, telling the linear storyline featured in the twin albums' lyrics.
The first two songs from Part 1, "Gone Sovereign" and the first official single, "Absolute Zero" were released for radio airplay in mid/late August 2012. The first single from House of Gold & Bones Part 2 was "Do Me a Favor". It was released digitally on February 12. Guitarist Josh Rand stated in an interview with O2 Academy that there was a song recorded for Part 1, an instrumental which was deemed 'not up to par' by the band. The song will likely be released in the future once James Root and Josh Rand do 'some stuff to it guitar-wise'.
On October 5, 2012, Johny Chow of Fireball Ministry and Cavalera Conspiracy was announced as the bassist for the band on the House of Gold & Bones tour cycle. Stone Sour subsequently played Soundwave Festival 2013 in Australia and on the Sunday at Download Festival 2013. Guitarist James Root did not tour with Stone Sour in the winter of 2013, as he had to take a brief hiatus from the group to work on .5: The Gray Chapter with Slipknot, although it was later revealed that he was fired from the band due to musical differences. He claimed that the band wanted to focus on "radio play and money," which Root fought against, leading to his departure. Christian Martucci filled in for Root during that period.
The Burbank EP duology (2014–2016)
On October 5, 2014, it was announced via Stone Sour's Facebook page that the band had begun recording a covers EP, which is due to be titled Meanwhile in Burbank... and released in 2015. Corey Taylor stated about the covers EP: "This is something that we've been talking about since the first album came out, with [Stone Sour]. We've always wanted to do this. Even as people have come, people have gone, this is still something we've always come back to, and we just never had the opportunity to do it. And we just kind of said, 'Well, screw it.'" On February 9, 2015, Stone Sour released an official music video and track, which is a cover version of the Metal Church's song "The Dark". The EP was released on April 18, 2015. Corey Taylor confirmed that two more covers EPs are to be produced, they will be titled Straight Outta Burbank and No Sleep Till Burbank and will feature covers of songs by Rage Against The Machine, Mötley Crüe, Bad Brains and Violent Femmes. Straight Outta Burbank..., the second volume in the series, has since been released.
Per Blabbermouth.net, On March 29, 2016, frontman Corey Taylor told the "Someone Who Isn't Me" podcast: "Originally we were going to do three [covers EPs], and now it sounds like we're just going to do the two and just keep the other stuff we recorded as extra content for when we make the next album."
Hydrograd (2017–2019)
On July 26, 2016, Taylor announced the band had written and demoed 18 songs for their sixth studio album, with plans to enter the studio in January for a likely mid-2017 release. On January 23, 2017, Taylor revealed that the band was in the process of recording their upcoming album named Hydrograd. Taylor indicated that the album would incorporate heavy metal elements found in previous releases, alongside hard rock styles. Four singles have been released ahead of the album in promotion; "Fabuless", "Song #3", "Taipei Person/Allah Tea" and "Mercy" (A live recording from Sphere Studios), with St. Marie being released as single following the album's release. Hydrograd released worldwide on June 30, 2017 to generally positive reviews. The band also released an exclusive cover of the Rage Against the Machine song "Bombtrack" for the Metal Hammer compilation Metal Hammer Goes 90s in August 2017.
In Spring 2018, Stone Sour embarked on Ozzy Osbourne's US 2018 tour for the Spring and Fall. On May 6, 2019, it was announced that Roy Mayorga joining Hellyeah as their new drummer, and replacing the original Hellyeah drummer Vinnie Paul, who died on June 22, 2018.
On November 6, 2019, the band announced that they would be releasing a live album titled, Hello, You Bastards: Live in Reno, on December 13 of the same year.
Indefinite hiatus (2020–present)
On August 10, 2020, Taylor announced on 'The Green Room with Neil Griffiths' podcast that Stone Sour was taking a hiatus, saying: "I feel like Stone Sour has kinda run its course for now," "We all talked as a band and decided to kinda put Stone Sour in indefinite hiatus. That's the way it is. We've put it on the shelf for now. Everyone's kind of going and doing their own thing."
Musical style
Throughout the band's career, their musical style has been described as alternative metal, hard rock, heavy metal, and alternative rock. Their music features double bass drum patterns, heavy guitar riffs, dual guitar harmonies and vocally combining screaming with singing.
Guitarist Josh Rand stated in an interview, that he tries to bring a metal aspect and elements of thrash metal in their music. He also stated that his writing style is different than Slipknot's writing style.
Stone Sour's fourth and fifth albums, House of Gold & Bones - Part 1 and Part 2 are notable for their concept album format, and have led to comparisons to progressive rock bands. When asked about this, Josh Rand stated: "I still think it's us. We never said that we would be Genesis or Dream Theater or Yes or any of those types of bands. We're not a prog band. We said we're going to adopt the ideas of those stories and stuff, but it's still going to be a Stone Sour record, where you can still pull those individual songs. We just wanted to offer something more - in a world where it's all about singles, we just wanted to do something different. We've always evolved from record to record, if you listen to our entire catalog."
Band members
Official members
Corey Taylor – lead vocals, occasional rhythm guitar, keyboards (1992–1997, 2000–present)
Josh Rand – rhythm guitar, occasional lead guitar, backing vocals (1993, 2000–present), bass (2000)
Roy Mayorga – drums, keyboards (2006–present)
Johny Chow – bass, backing vocals (2012–present)
Christian Martucci – lead guitar, backing vocals (2014–present)
Former members
Jim Root – lead guitar (1995–1997, 2000–2014)
Joel Ekman – drums (1992–1997, 2000–2006)
Shawn Economaki – bass (1993–1997, 2000–2012)
Former touring musicians
Jason Christopher – bass, backing vocals (2011)
Mike Portnoy – drums (2011)
Jonah Nimoy – rhythm guitar (2018)
R.J. Ronquillo – rhythm guitar (2018)
Timeline
Recording timeline
Discography
Stone Sour (2002)
Come What(ever) May (2006)
Audio Secrecy (2010)
House of Gold & Bones – Part 1 (2012)
House of Gold & Bones – Part 2 (2013)
Hydrograd (2017)
Accolades
Grammy Awards
|-
| || "Get Inside" || Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance ||
|-
| || "Inhale" || Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance ||
|-
| || "30/30-150" || Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance ||
Revolver Golden Gods
|-
| 2013 || Roy Mayorga || Golden Gods Award for Best Drummer ||
|-
| 2013 || Corey Taylor || Golden Gods Award for Best Vocalist ||
|-
| 2012 || "House of Gold & Bones - Part 1" || Golden Gods Award for Album of the Year ||
Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards
|-
| 2013 || Stone Sour || Best International Band ||
Loudwire Music Awards
|-
| 2012 || Stone Sour || Rock Band of the Year ||
|-
| rowspan="3" | 2017 || Stone Sour || Hard Rock Artist of the Year ||
|-
| Hydrograd || Hard Rock Album of the Year ||
|-
| Corey Taylor || Best Vocalist ||
Bandit Rock Awards
|-
| 2018 || Hydrograd || Best International Album ||
References
External links
1992 establishments in Iowa
Musical groups established in 1992
Musical groups disestablished in 1997
Musical groups reestablished in 2001
Roadrunner Records artists
Alternative rock groups from Iowa
Heavy metal musical groups from Iowa
Musical groups from Des Moines, Iowa
American alternative metal musical groups
American hard rock musical groups | true | [
"\"If You Can Do Anything Else\" is a song written by Billy Livsey and Don Schlitz, and recorded by American country music artist George Strait. It was released in February 2001 as the third and final single from his self-titled album. The song reached number 5 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart in July 2001. It also peaked at number 51 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.\n\nContent\nThe song is about man who is giving his woman the option to leave him. He gives her many different options for all the things she can do. At the end he gives her the option to stay with him if she really can’t find anything else to do. He says he will be alright if she leaves, but really it seems he wants her to stay.\n\nChart performance\n\"If You Can Do Anything Else\" debuted at number 60 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks for the week of March 3, 2001.\n\nYear-end charts\n\nReferences\n\n2001 singles\n2000 songs\nGeorge Strait songs\nSongs written by Billy Livsey\nSongs written by Don Schlitz\nSong recordings produced by Tony Brown (record producer)\nMCA Nashville Records singles",
"In baseball, a fair ball is a batted ball that entitles the batter to attempt to reach first base. By contrast, a foul ball is a batted ball that does not entitle the batter to attempt to reach first base. Whether a batted ball is fair or foul is determined by the location of the ball at the appropriate reference point, as follows:\n\n if the ball leaves the playing field without touching anything, the point where the ball leaves the field;\n else, if the ball first lands past first or third base without touching anything, the point where the ball lands;\n else, if the ball rolls or bounces past first or third base without touching anything other than the ground, the point where the ball passes the base;\n else, if the ball touches anything other than the ground (such as an umpire, a player, or any equipment left on the field) before any of the above happens, the point of such touching;\n else (the ball comes to a rest before reaching first or third base), the point where the ball comes to a rest.\n\nIf any part of the ball is on or above fair territory at the appropriate reference point, it is fair; else it is foul. Fair territory or fair ground is defined as the area of the playing field between the two foul lines, and includes the foul lines themselves and the foul poles. However, certain exceptions exist:\n\n A ball that touches first, second, or third base is always fair.\n Under Rule 5.09(a)(7)-(8), if a batted ball touches the batter or his bat while the batter is in the batter's box and not intentionally interfering with the course of the ball, the ball is foul.\n A ball that hits the foul pole without first having touched anything else off the bat is fair.\n Ground rules may provide whether a ball hitting specific objects (e.g. roof, overhead speaker) is fair or foul.\n\nOn a fair ball, the batter attempts to reach first base or any subsequent base, runners attempt to advance and fielders try to record outs. A fair ball is considered a live ball until the ball becomes dead by leaving the field or any other method.\n\nReferences\n\nBaseball rules"
]
|
[
"Stone Sour",
"House of Gold & Bones (2012-2013)",
"When was the album released?",
"October 23, 2012,",
"Were there any singles?",
"The first two songs from Part 1, \"Gone Sovereign\" and the first official single, \"Absolute Zero\"",
"Did the single reach the charts?",
"I don't know.",
"Did the band tour?",
"On October 5, 2012, Johny Chow of Fireball Ministry and Cavalera Conspiracy was announced as the bassist for the band on the House of Gold & Bones tour cycle.",
"Who did they tour with?",
"Christian Martucci filled in for Root during that period.",
"What else is notable about this time?",
"The band released a song called \"The Pessimist\" as a free download on their Facebook page on March 27, 2012.",
"Did fans like the song?",
"I don't know.",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"It was announced via Instagram on May 3, 2012 that bassist Shawn Economaki had parted ways with the band on amicable terms.",
"Who replaced him?",
"He was replaced in the studio by current Skid Row bassist Rachel Bolan.",
"Did they tour after?",
"Stone Sour subsequently played Soundwave Festival 2013 in Australia",
"Did they record anything else at that time?",
"The first single from House of Gold & Bones Part 2 was \"Do Me a Favor"
]
| C_d3598cdf63114915bfebd9d071e42bda_0 | Was the album a success? | 12 | Was the album House of Gold & Bones Part 2 by Stone Sour a success? | Stone Sour | The band released a song called "The Pessimist" as a free download on their Facebook page on March 27, 2012. The song was previously only available on the iTunes deluxe version of the soundtrack to Transformers: Dark of the Moon. They also released their first DVD Live at Brighton in the same year, capturing their performance on November 7, 2010. It was announced via Instagram on May 3, 2012 that bassist Shawn Economaki had parted ways with the band on amicable terms. He was replaced in the studio by current Skid Row bassist Rachel Bolan. Stone Sour started recording their fourth studio album in early 2012. Corey Taylor stated that the album would end up being a double album or concept album, and described the album's sound as "Pink Floyd's The Wall meets Alice in Chains's Dirt". It was later announced that the new material would be released as two separate albums. The first album, House of Gold & Bones - Part 1 was released worldwide on October 23, 2012, and the second album House of Gold & Bones - Part 2 was released worldwide on April 9, 2013. The project also has a 4-part graphic novel series that accompanies the albums, telling the linear storyline featured in the twin albums' lyrics. The first two songs from Part 1, "Gone Sovereign" and the first official single, "Absolute Zero" were released for radio airplay in mid/late August 2012. The first single from House of Gold & Bones Part 2 was "Do Me a Favor". It was released digitally on February 12. Guitarist Josh Rand stated in an interview with O2 Academy that there was a song recorded for Part 1, an instrumental which was deemed 'not up to par' by the band. The song will likely be released in the future once James Root and Josh Rand do 'some stuff to it guitar-wise'. On October 5, 2012, Johny Chow of Fireball Ministry and Cavalera Conspiracy was announced as the bassist for the band on the House of Gold & Bones tour cycle. Stone Sour subsequently played Soundwave Festival 2013 in Australia and on the Sunday at Download Festival 2013. Guitarist James Root did not tour with Stone Sour in the winter of 2013, as he had to take a brief hiatus from the group to work on .5: The Gray Chapter with Slipknot, although it was later revealed that he was fired from the band due to musical differences. He claimed that the band wanted to focus on "radio play and money," in which Root fought against, and that led to a split. Christian Martucci filled in for Root during that period. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Stone Sour was an American rock band formed in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1992. The band performed for five years before disbanding in 1997. They reunited in 2000 and since 2015, the group has consisted of Corey Taylor (lead vocals, guitar), Josh Rand (guitar), Christian Martucci (guitar), Johny Chow (bass) and Roy Mayorga (drums). Longtime members Joel Ekman (drums, percussion) and Shawn Economaki (bass guitar) left the band in 2006 and 2011, respectively. Former lead guitarist Jim Root left in 2014.
To date, Stone Sour has released six studio albums: Stone Sour (2002); Come What(ever) May (2006); Audio Secrecy (2010); House of Gold & Bones – Part 1 (2012); House of Gold & Bones – Part 2 (2013) and Hydrograd (2017). They also released a digital live album, Live in Moscow, in 2007. Their album, Hydrograd was released in June 2017 and is their first album to feature guitarist Christian Martucci and bassist Johny Chow.
Stone Sour earned the group two Grammy Award nominations, both for Best Metal Performance, for the singles "Get Inside", in 2003, and "Inhale", in 2004. From their album Come What(ever) May, the group received another Grammy Award nomination for Best Metal Performance for the single "30/30-150", in 2007. The band has sold 2.1 million albums in the United States as of April 2017.
History
Formation and early years (1992–1997)
Stone Sour was founded by Corey Taylor, who later became the vocalist of Slipknot, and former drummer Joel Ekman; the band's name comes from a cocktail menu at a local bar. Taylor's longtime friend Shawn Economaki joined shortly after, and filled in as the bass player. During these formative years, Stone Sour recorded two demo tapes, in 1993 and 1994. In 1995, Jim Root, who is now part of Slipknot with Taylor, joined the band. In 1996, this lineup recorded another demo tape, songs from which would be used in 2002 on their self-titled debut album. In 1997, the band went on hiatus, during which Taylor and Root spent most of their time with Slipknot, who were another up-and-coming act in Des Moines and would soon earn a record deal.
Stone Sour and hiatus (2000–2004)
After Josh Rand joined the band, the band recorded their debut self-titled album in Cedar Falls. Upon release, the album charted at number 46 on the Billboard 200. The song "Bother", which was featured on the Spider-Man soundtrack (credited only to Taylor), peaked at number 2 on the Mainstream Rock Chart as well as number 4 on the Modern Rock Tracks and 56 on the Billboard Hot 100. The next single, "Inhale", peaked at 18 on the Mainstream Rock chart. The group received two Grammy Award nominations for Best Metal Performance for the singles "Get Inside" and "Inhale" in 2003 and 2004 respectively. The album went on to achieve Gold certification. The band toured for six months with label mates Sinch and Chevelle before going on a temporary hiatus as Taylor and Root went back to join Slipknot for another album and tour.
Come What(ever) May (2005–2007)
The band came back in 2006 to release their second studio album, Come What(ever) May. They parted ways with drummer Joel Ekman, currently drumming for Isaac James, who left to take care of his cancer-stricken son, and later recruited current drummer, Roy Mayorga (Soulfly, and later Amebix and Hellyeah). The track "30/30-150" was recorded with Godsmack drummer Shannon Larkin. The album was released on August 1, 2006. It was met with positive reviews from critics, and sold 80,000 copies in the first week, allowing it to debut at number four on the Billboard 200. The band toured for the next year and a half, releasing the Live in Moscow album exclusively to iTunes on August 14, 2007.
The single "Sillyworld" peaked at number 2 on the Mainstream Rock charts in 2006. "Through Glass" proved to be successful peaking at number 1 on the Mainstream Rock Chart, 2 on the Modern Rock Tracks, 12 on the Adult Top 40 and 39 on the Billboard Hot 100 also in 2006. They released two more singles in 2007, "Made of Scars" and "Zzyzx Rd.", which managed to peak at numbers 21 and 29 on the Mainstream Rock charts respectively. In 2006 they received a Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance nomination for the single "30/30-150".
Audio Secrecy (2009–2011)
The band's third album Audio Secrecy, was recorded at the Blackbird Studios in Nashville, Tennessee with producer Nick Raskulinecz, who was the producer for the band's second album Come What(ever) May. and released on September 7, 2010 . Taylor stated that "Audio Secrecy is the summation of everything we want, everything we crave and everything we fight for...The dimensions go further than anything we've ever tried before. It's metal, rock, slow, soft, hard, fast, bitter, beautiful and most importantly, it's real. You can't get an album like this out of a band that doesn't exist. We're throwing caution out the damn window."
Stone Sour played the first annual Rockstar Energy Drink Uproar Festival with Avenged Sevenfold and Hollywood Undead among others. Stone Sour set the release date of Audio Secrecy as September 7. Stone Sour were part of the Soundwave Festival in late February/early March in Australia 2011. Stone Sour headlined The Avalanche Tour, supported by Theory of a Deadman, Skillet, Halestorm and Art of Dying. It was also announced that a Stone Sour live DVD will be released, filmed at the Brighton Centre in the United Kingdom. The band toured with Avenged Sevenfold, New Medicine and Hollywood Undead on the "Nightmare After Christmas Tour" 2011.
On April 16, 2011, it was announced that bassist Shawn Economaki had left the tour for personal reasons. Jason Christopher, who had played with Corey Taylor previously during his solo performances and with the Junk Beer Kidnap Band, filled in for the tour. In May 2011, Stone Sour canceled the remaining dates from their headline tour as drummer, Roy Mayorga suffered a minor stroke. He made a full recovery. The band played their last show of 2011 at the second day of the Rock in Rio IV festival, which took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, between September 23 – October 2. Drummer Roy Mayorga was not present at the show as he was expecting his first child back home, and filling-in for him was ex-Dream Theater and The Winery Dogs drummer Mike Portnoy. Bassist Shawn Economaki was also absent from the performance.
House of Gold & Bones (2012–2013)
The band released a song called "The Pessimist" as a free download on their Facebook page on March 27, 2012. The song was previously only available on the iTunes deluxe version of the soundtrack to Transformers: Dark of the Moon. They also released their first DVD Live at Brighton in the same year, capturing their performance on November 7, 2010.
It was announced via Instagram on May 3, 2012, that bassist Shawn Economaki had parted ways with the band on amicable terms. He was replaced in the studio by current Skid Row bassist Rachel Bolan. Stone Sour started recording their fourth studio album in early 2012. Corey Taylor stated that the album would end up being a double album or concept album, and described the album's sound as "Pink Floyd's The Wall meets Alice in Chains's Dirt". It was later announced that the new material would be released as two separate albums. The first album, House of Gold & Bones – Part 1 was released worldwide on October 23, 2012, and the second album House of Gold & Bones – Part 2 was released worldwide on April 9, 2013. The project also has a 4-part graphic novel series that accompanies the albums, telling the linear storyline featured in the twin albums' lyrics.
The first two songs from Part 1, "Gone Sovereign" and the first official single, "Absolute Zero" were released for radio airplay in mid/late August 2012. The first single from House of Gold & Bones Part 2 was "Do Me a Favor". It was released digitally on February 12. Guitarist Josh Rand stated in an interview with O2 Academy that there was a song recorded for Part 1, an instrumental which was deemed 'not up to par' by the band. The song will likely be released in the future once James Root and Josh Rand do 'some stuff to it guitar-wise'.
On October 5, 2012, Johny Chow of Fireball Ministry and Cavalera Conspiracy was announced as the bassist for the band on the House of Gold & Bones tour cycle. Stone Sour subsequently played Soundwave Festival 2013 in Australia and on the Sunday at Download Festival 2013. Guitarist James Root did not tour with Stone Sour in the winter of 2013, as he had to take a brief hiatus from the group to work on .5: The Gray Chapter with Slipknot, although it was later revealed that he was fired from the band due to musical differences. He claimed that the band wanted to focus on "radio play and money," which Root fought against, leading to his departure. Christian Martucci filled in for Root during that period.
The Burbank EP duology (2014–2016)
On October 5, 2014, it was announced via Stone Sour's Facebook page that the band had begun recording a covers EP, which is due to be titled Meanwhile in Burbank... and released in 2015. Corey Taylor stated about the covers EP: "This is something that we've been talking about since the first album came out, with [Stone Sour]. We've always wanted to do this. Even as people have come, people have gone, this is still something we've always come back to, and we just never had the opportunity to do it. And we just kind of said, 'Well, screw it.'" On February 9, 2015, Stone Sour released an official music video and track, which is a cover version of the Metal Church's song "The Dark". The EP was released on April 18, 2015. Corey Taylor confirmed that two more covers EPs are to be produced, they will be titled Straight Outta Burbank and No Sleep Till Burbank and will feature covers of songs by Rage Against The Machine, Mötley Crüe, Bad Brains and Violent Femmes. Straight Outta Burbank..., the second volume in the series, has since been released.
Per Blabbermouth.net, On March 29, 2016, frontman Corey Taylor told the "Someone Who Isn't Me" podcast: "Originally we were going to do three [covers EPs], and now it sounds like we're just going to do the two and just keep the other stuff we recorded as extra content for when we make the next album."
Hydrograd (2017–2019)
On July 26, 2016, Taylor announced the band had written and demoed 18 songs for their sixth studio album, with plans to enter the studio in January for a likely mid-2017 release. On January 23, 2017, Taylor revealed that the band was in the process of recording their upcoming album named Hydrograd. Taylor indicated that the album would incorporate heavy metal elements found in previous releases, alongside hard rock styles. Four singles have been released ahead of the album in promotion; "Fabuless", "Song #3", "Taipei Person/Allah Tea" and "Mercy" (A live recording from Sphere Studios), with St. Marie being released as single following the album's release. Hydrograd released worldwide on June 30, 2017 to generally positive reviews. The band also released an exclusive cover of the Rage Against the Machine song "Bombtrack" for the Metal Hammer compilation Metal Hammer Goes 90s in August 2017.
In Spring 2018, Stone Sour embarked on Ozzy Osbourne's US 2018 tour for the Spring and Fall. On May 6, 2019, it was announced that Roy Mayorga joining Hellyeah as their new drummer, and replacing the original Hellyeah drummer Vinnie Paul, who died on June 22, 2018.
On November 6, 2019, the band announced that they would be releasing a live album titled, Hello, You Bastards: Live in Reno, on December 13 of the same year.
Indefinite hiatus (2020–present)
On August 10, 2020, Taylor announced on 'The Green Room with Neil Griffiths' podcast that Stone Sour was taking a hiatus, saying: "I feel like Stone Sour has kinda run its course for now," "We all talked as a band and decided to kinda put Stone Sour in indefinite hiatus. That's the way it is. We've put it on the shelf for now. Everyone's kind of going and doing their own thing."
Musical style
Throughout the band's career, their musical style has been described as alternative metal, hard rock, heavy metal, and alternative rock. Their music features double bass drum patterns, heavy guitar riffs, dual guitar harmonies and vocally combining screaming with singing.
Guitarist Josh Rand stated in an interview, that he tries to bring a metal aspect and elements of thrash metal in their music. He also stated that his writing style is different than Slipknot's writing style.
Stone Sour's fourth and fifth albums, House of Gold & Bones - Part 1 and Part 2 are notable for their concept album format, and have led to comparisons to progressive rock bands. When asked about this, Josh Rand stated: "I still think it's us. We never said that we would be Genesis or Dream Theater or Yes or any of those types of bands. We're not a prog band. We said we're going to adopt the ideas of those stories and stuff, but it's still going to be a Stone Sour record, where you can still pull those individual songs. We just wanted to offer something more - in a world where it's all about singles, we just wanted to do something different. We've always evolved from record to record, if you listen to our entire catalog."
Band members
Official members
Corey Taylor – lead vocals, occasional rhythm guitar, keyboards (1992–1997, 2000–present)
Josh Rand – rhythm guitar, occasional lead guitar, backing vocals (1993, 2000–present), bass (2000)
Roy Mayorga – drums, keyboards (2006–present)
Johny Chow – bass, backing vocals (2012–present)
Christian Martucci – lead guitar, backing vocals (2014–present)
Former members
Jim Root – lead guitar (1995–1997, 2000–2014)
Joel Ekman – drums (1992–1997, 2000–2006)
Shawn Economaki – bass (1993–1997, 2000–2012)
Former touring musicians
Jason Christopher – bass, backing vocals (2011)
Mike Portnoy – drums (2011)
Jonah Nimoy – rhythm guitar (2018)
R.J. Ronquillo – rhythm guitar (2018)
Timeline
Recording timeline
Discography
Stone Sour (2002)
Come What(ever) May (2006)
Audio Secrecy (2010)
House of Gold & Bones – Part 1 (2012)
House of Gold & Bones – Part 2 (2013)
Hydrograd (2017)
Accolades
Grammy Awards
|-
| || "Get Inside" || Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance ||
|-
| || "Inhale" || Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance ||
|-
| || "30/30-150" || Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance ||
Revolver Golden Gods
|-
| 2013 || Roy Mayorga || Golden Gods Award for Best Drummer ||
|-
| 2013 || Corey Taylor || Golden Gods Award for Best Vocalist ||
|-
| 2012 || "House of Gold & Bones - Part 1" || Golden Gods Award for Album of the Year ||
Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards
|-
| 2013 || Stone Sour || Best International Band ||
Loudwire Music Awards
|-
| 2012 || Stone Sour || Rock Band of the Year ||
|-
| rowspan="3" | 2017 || Stone Sour || Hard Rock Artist of the Year ||
|-
| Hydrograd || Hard Rock Album of the Year ||
|-
| Corey Taylor || Best Vocalist ||
Bandit Rock Awards
|-
| 2018 || Hydrograd || Best International Album ||
References
External links
1992 establishments in Iowa
Musical groups established in 1992
Musical groups disestablished in 1997
Musical groups reestablished in 2001
Roadrunner Records artists
Alternative rock groups from Iowa
Heavy metal musical groups from Iowa
Musical groups from Des Moines, Iowa
American alternative metal musical groups
American hard rock musical groups | false | [
"Collaborations 2 is the tenth studio album by Punjabi singer Sukshinder Shinda, released on 26 February 2009 worldwide making his second collaborated album. The album was also released internationally to USA, Canada, and U.K.\n\nThe album was preceded by the lead single, Ghum Shum Ghum Shum which featured Rahat Fateh Ali Khan. The song was also Shinda's first with Rahat. Following the success of his first single, Yarrian Banai Rakhi Yaarian featuring Jazzy B, was released which was another success. Despite success with two singles from the album, the album received positive reviews.\n\nTrack listing\n\nReferences\n\n2009 albums",
"Myriam is the second studio album by Myriam. On her website it is also called \"Myriam: Lo que Soy, lo que Pretendo y lo que Fui\" (Myriam: What I Am, What I Pretend and What I Was) making reference to the lyrics of the album's first single \"Hasta El Limite\". It includes eleven songs with the collaboration of Tiziano Ferro, Leonel (ex Sin Bandera). Again Myriam co-wrote a song along with Estrella. In this album Myriam brought a more fresh concept, almost 100% pop genre with a little touches of flamenco. It was released in July, 2004.\n\nAlbum information\nIt was recorded in Argentina and the producer was Cachorro López who had also worked with Julieta Venegas. Myriam's career was at a low point, as she was being criticized for her third place in Desafio de Estrellas, but all that was eclipsed by the success of this album. \"Hasta el Limite\" was the first single from the album; it was Myriam's first song with a promotional video, and stayed in the charts for more than 6 months. The second single was \"Porque Soy Mujer\" which was written by Myriam and her ex-classmate Estrella.\n\nThe album was a commercial success. Within two weeks of the launch date it reached gold status in Mexico, and sold more than 200,000 copies certificating 2× Platinum. The album was a Latin success in USA selling gold status, 50,000 copies.\n\nTrack listing\n\nReferences\n\n2003 albums\nMyriam Montemayor Cruz albums"
]
|
[
"'03 Bonnie & Clyde",
"Toni Braxton feud"
]
| C_f1b8013d09bf479eb738835750c33c05_0 | Who is Tony Braxton | 1 | Who is Tony Braxton | '03 Bonnie & Clyde | On October 8, 2002, Toni Braxton and her team released a statement claiming that Jay-Z's song "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" had stolen Braxton's idea to sample the 1996 Tupac Shakur song "Me and My Girlfriend". Braxton sampled Shakur's song on the track "Me & My Boyfriend", included on Braxton's album, More Than a Woman (2002). In a call to a New York radio station, Braxton stated that "Jay-Z and Beyonce are messing with my money. They're trying to steal my mojo". Braxton said her song was recorded over the summer of 2002, and alleged that Jay-Z only decided to do "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" after she played her version of the song for Def Jam Recordings. Kanye West responded to Braxton's claim in an interview for MTV News, "I had no idea about Toni Braxton's [song]. She can't act like ain't nobody ever heard 'Me and My Girlfriend' before. People hear the song all the time. I can [understand her complaint] if it [was] an original song." West defended the song's sample, stating that the idea came to him after listening to a friend's Makaveli album one night. Roc-A-Fella Records' Co-CEO responded to Braxton's claims: Jay is a talented dude. I don't think he would steal anything intentionally. It's an ill coincidence, and things happen for a reason. We'll see what happens behind it... I read it in the paper, and Jay and I were talking about it this morning and it was a little funny. I know he didn't intentionally make the same record she made. I don't think he even heard it. [My] reaction is, 'Sorry, it wasn't intentional.' Jay makes records and puts them out. This [sh--] is music. It's just music. We don't sit around and have a blueprint to [f---] anybody's life up. The music business has been good to us. I'm not getting into any beef or nothing over music. Speaking for MTV News, Jay-Z responded to Braxton's claims: "I wouldn't want to take it from her. I don't even think like that. My first thought would be, 'Maybe I could call her up, maybe I could get on that record.' The most obvious [explanation] is it's neither one of our records. It's not like you made an original idea. She's not in hip-hop, but it happens in hip-hop often. We go to sample the same thing and my record came out first. I'm sorry. What can I do?" He went on saying that if he had known they were both planning to sample the same Tupac song, he would have arranged a duet with her. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | "03 Bonnie & Clyde" is a song recorded by American rapper Jay-Z featuring his then-girlfriend, now wife, American singer Beyoncé Knowles. It was released on October 10, 2002. It was composed by Shawn Carter, Kanye West, Prince Nelson, Tupac Shakur, Darryl Harper, Ricky Rouse and Tyrone Wrice for Jay-Z's seventh studio album The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse (2002). The song was released as the album's lead single on October 10, 2002. A R&B song, "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" sampled its beat from American rapper Tupac Shakur's 1996 song "Me and My Girlfriend", paraphrasing its chorus, and was inspired by the crime film Bonnie and Clyde. The instrumentation is based on programmed drums, bass instruments, and a flamenco guitar.
"'03 Bonnie & Clyde" was generally received with favorable reviews by music critics, who complimented the combination of Jay-Z's and Beyoncé's musical styles, their collaboration and the song's production. The single reached number four on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Jay-Z's second top ten single and Beyoncé's first as a solo artist. It charted at number two in the United Kingdom and peaked in the top twenty in other European territories. "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA).
The accompanying music video was directed by Chris Robinson, and features Jay-Z and Beyoncé playing a modern-day version of the 1920s bank robbers Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker. It was nominated for Best Hip-Hop Video at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards. "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" spawned a feud with American recording artist Toni Braxton, who had also sampled "Me and My Girlfriend" in her 2002 song "Me & My Boyfriend". She accused West and Jay-Z of stealing the idea of using the song as a sample, which was later denied by both of them. "03 Bonnie & Clyde" was performed by Jay-Z and Beyoncé on several television shows and was later included on the set list of their concert performances and tours, most notably on their co-headlining On the Run and On the Run II tours.
Production and release
"'03 Bonnie & Clyde" marked the first collaboration between rapper Jay-Z and R&B singer Beyoncé Knowles. While listening to Shakur's The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory, producer Kanye West suggested that American rapper Tupac Shakur's song "Me and My Girlfriend" would make a good sample to use on Jay-Z's duet with Knowles. West told MTV News that Jay-Z had asked him on the telephone for a duet for him and Knowles: "We got this joint, it has to be the best beat you ever made." He continued:
So I went home and called my dog, E Base, who plays a lot of instruments up at Baseline [studio] for me and [producer] Just Blaze. [E] came through. I programmed the drums in 10 minutes, and then he played all the different parts. This version is all live bass, live guitars, [live] chords on it. I brought it to Hov that night, he heard it, he thought of the video treatment before he thought of the rap. He just knew it was gonna be the one.
Tensions arose during the conception of "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" over the sampling of "Me and My Girlfriend". Senior Vice President of A&R Tina Davis commented on the issue, "We only had one day to clear the [Tupac Shakur] sample [from 'Me and my Girlfriend'] that was used on '03 Bonnie and Clyde' last year with Jay-Z and Knowles [Beyoncé]. We were back and forth with Afeni Shakur all day until we got the clearance. And then it's a hit."
"'03 Bonnie & Clyde" was released on October 10, 2002, as the lead single from Jay-Z's album The Blueprint²: The Gift & the Curse. Knowles later included the song as a bonus track on international editions of her 2003 debut solo album Dangerously in Love. In 2003, Now That's What I Call Music! included "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" as the opening track of the 12th volume of the US release and the fifteenth track of the 54th volume of the UK release. The song's release was the first indication of Jay-Z's and Knowles' romantic status, spawning rumors about a burgeoning relationship. Their relationship was not made public until Jay-Z featured on Knowles' songs "Crazy In Love" (2003) and "Déjà Vu" (2006). The latter's release also marked the debut of the solo career of Knowles, leaving Destiny's Child on hiatus.
Composition
"'03 Bonnie & Clyde" features drums and live instrumentation such as bass instruments and guitar chords. It also consists of a beat sampled from "Me and My Girlfriend". The song was inspired by the 1967 American crime film Bonnie and Clyde as Jay-Z and Beyoncé proclaim themselves as the current version of the criminal duo. Ethan Brown of New York magazine noted that its patina of flamenco guitar was reminiscent of that in Jay-Z's 2001 collaboration with R. Kelly on "Fiesta." Beyoncé mimics the hook of "Me and My Girlfriend" on the chorus as she sings, "Down to ride to the very end, me and my boyfriend".
Some lyrics sung by Beyoncé were sampled from "If I Was Your Girlfriend" by American recording artist Prince. On the second verse, Jay-Z references the relationship between Bobby Brown and Whitney Houston, and the American television comedy-drama series Sex and the City as he raps: "She riiides wit' me / The new Bobby and Whitney / Only time we don't speak is during 'Sex and the City' / Put us together, how they gon' stop both of us? / When I'm off track, Mommy is keeping me focused". The verse then continues: "Let's lock this down like it's supposed to be/ The new '03 Bonnie and Clyde, Hov and B".
Critical reception
"'03 Bonnie & Clyde" was received favorably by critics, who commended the use of different samples, and commented on the relationship between Jay-Z and Beyoncé. Chris Ryan of Spin magazine described "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" as a highlight on The Blueprint 2: The Gift & the Curse, stating that it consists of "a house party in a crib as big as the Georgia Dome." John Bush from AllMusic included the song as a highlight on the album, further describing it as "a slick R&B crossover with Beyoncé Knowles". Marc L. Hill of PopMatters viewed it as the "obligatory radio song" of the album. Awarding the song a rating of eight out of ten possible points, Dele Fadele of NME complimented it as "a cool duet" between Jay-Z and Beyoncé. John Robinson of the same publication wrote that as the couple describe their life, it's not all "Lexus and sipping Cris". He added, "A similarly relaxed production makes for a behind-the-diamante-net-curtains classic".
Ethan Brown of New York magazine named "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" as a follow-up to the previous "Bonnie & Clyde Part II" by Jay-Z featuring rapper Foxy Brown. Erik Parker, music editor of Vibe magazine, was divided on the song's sample, writing that it was "tasteless but well-executed", and complimented West's production as "impeccable". Margena A. Christian of Jet magazine praised Jay-Z's and Beyoncé's collaboration, favoring the former's "dropping lyrics" and the latter's "cooing silky vocals". Chuck Taylor of Billboard magazine wrote that though it was unclear at the time whether the couple were together or not, but they created good music together. Taylor praised the song's ability to showcase what each artist does best: Jay-Z "spitting" verses of praise, and Beyoncé's sweets coos and hooks. Taylor noted that the sampled acoustic guitar "added spice to the track, setting it up for future success". In a more negative review, Nathan Rabin of The A.V. Club described the song as "terrible" and different from the other songs on The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse.
Rap-Up credited "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" for giving Beyoncé a "little street-credit". The staff members of Vibe magazine placed the song at number two on a list of the best Bonnie and Clyde inspired songs. On a list of the 10 Best Jay-Z Songs, Dean Silfenv of AOL placed "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" at number six. Popjustice listed "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" at number 66 on its list of the best singles of 2003. It was nominated for the Best Collaboration at the 2003 BET Awards, but lost to Snoop Dogg's song "Beautiful". In a 2013 list of Jay-Z's 20 Biggest Billboard Hits, "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" was ranked at number 6. Elijah Watson and Erika Ramirez of Billboard magazine noted that the song proved the couple was "unstoppable from jump".
Chart performance
"'03 Bonnie & Clyde" reached the top ten on music charts in six European countries. It peaked at number six on the Norway Singles Chart and on the Danish Singles Chart, number eight on the Italian Singles Chart, and topped the Swiss Singles Charts. In Canada, the song peaked at number four and became Jay-Z's highest charting single until it was surpassed by his 2009 Alicia Keys-assisted song "Empire State of Mind", which peaked at number three. In the United Kingdom, "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart. At the time, it became his highest charting single in Britain since "Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)" achieved the same feat in November 1998. It peaked at number four on the New Zealand Singles Chart, becoming his highest charting single in that territory. The song also became Jay-Z's highest charting single in Australia, where it peaked at number two. "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" was certified platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), denoting shipment of 70,000 copies.
"'03 Bonnie & Clyde" broke into the top five of the Billboard Hot 100 at number four; it became the highest-charting single that references the famous bank robbers Bonnie and Clyde. The record was previously held by Georgie Fame's 1967 single "The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde." Following the performance of "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" on Saturday Night Live (SNL) on November 2, 2002, its radio audience increased by 12%, allowing the song to advance into the top ten of the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, at number seven. This gave Jay-Z his 12th top 10 single, tying him with rapper P. Diddy, who had the same number of top 10 singles on that chart. "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" was his first top 10 since his 2001 single "Girls, Girls, Girls". It was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), denoting sales of 500,000 copies.The song sold over 1 million copies in US.
Music video
Chris Robinson directed the song's accompanying music video and filmed in Mexico, during October 2002. June Ambrose was hired as the personal stylist, and Johnathon Schaech and Lance Reddick appear in the video as the police officers on their tail. Jay-Z and Beyoncé play a modern-day version of the 1930s bank robbers Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker. The video is loosely based on the American 1993 romance crime film True Romance, which stars Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette as two lovers on the run from cocaine dealers. The choreography used in the clip suggests a relationship beyond screen, as Jay-Z wraps his arm around Beyoncé while singing his part of the chorus. The video also marked a departure for the "clean-cut Beyoncé" and created a symbiotic relationship between her and Jay-Z, allowing them to exchange audiences. The video was premiered on MTV on November 8, 2002.
The music video begins as police officers and Reddick discuss the criminal duo and ways to catch them. As the song begins, Jay-Z is seen driving a gunmetal grey Aston Martin Vanquish while Beyoncé sits in the passenger seat. As they drive through the sepia sands of Mexico, clips of the police from the beginning of the video are cut into the scene. As Jay-Z and Beyoncé pull over to a hotel, they cover the car to avoid notice from the police. As Beyoncé and Jay-Z count money in the bedroom, the police discover their hiding place and go upstairs only to find that the two have fled the scene in their car. Scenes of Beyoncé and Jay-Z at a Mexican bar are inter-cut with scenes of an intimate time in a phone-booth; behind the phone booth, spray-painted onto a wall is a tribute to Tupac Shakur. The duo again elude the police who are following one step behind. After Beyoncé performs her verse in an empty pool, the police form a blockade on the highway in an attempt to catch her and Jay-Z, only to be stumped again as two gas station attendant decoys are found driving the car. The video ends as Beyoncé and Jay-Z light a bonfire on the beach and drive away in a different car.
Corey Moss of MTV News noted that the end of the video does not reveal how the "real" Bonnie and Clyde met their end. The story continues in the 2004 video for Jay-Z's song "99 Problems". The music video for "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" was nominated for Best Hip-Hop Video at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards. In the official top 20 countdown of Jay-Z music videos, MTV UK listed the clip at number 10.
Controversy
On October 8, 2002, Toni Braxton and her team released a statement claiming that Jay-Z's song "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" had stolen Braxton's idea to sample the 1996 Tupac Shakur song "Me and My Girlfriend". Braxton sampled Shakur's song on the track "Me & My Boyfriend", included on Braxton's album, More Than a Woman (2002). In a call to a New York radio station, hosted by Wendy Williams, Braxton stated that "Jay-Z and Beyoncé are messing with my money. They're trying to steal my mojo". Braxton said her song was recorded over the summer of 2002, and alleged that Jay-Z only decided to do "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" after she played her version of the song for Def Jam Recordings.
Kanye West responded to Braxton's claim in an interview for MTV News, "I had no idea about Toni Braxton's [song]. She can't act like ain't nobody ever heard 'Me and My Girlfriend' before. People hear the song all the time. I can [understand her complaint] if it [was] an original song." West defended the song's sample, stating that the idea came to him after listening to a friend's Makaveli album one night. Roc-A-Fella Records' Co-CEO Damon Dash responded to Braxton's claims:
Speaking for MTV News, Jay-Z responded to Braxton's claims: "I wouldn't want to take it from her. I don't even think like that. My first thought would be, 'Maybe I could call her up, maybe I could get on that record.' The most obvious [explanation] is it's neither one of our records. It's not like you made an original idea. She's not in hip-hop, but it happens in hip-hop often. We go to sample the same thing and my record came out first. I'm sorry. What can I do?" He went on saying that if he had known they were both planning to sample the same Tupac song, he would have arranged a duet with her.
Live performances
On November 2, 2002, Jay-Z and Beyoncé performed the song together at Saturday Night Live (SNL). Later, on November 21, 2002 they appeared on MTV's TRL for Spankin' New Music Week where they also performed the song. In 2009, Beyoncé performed an abbreviated version of "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" during her I Am... Yours revue, held at the Encore Las Vegas Theatre in July and August. The song was later included on the 2009 live album I Am... Yours: An Intimate Performance at Wynn Las Vegas which was chronicling the revue. In August 2011, Beyoncé performed "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" again during her revue 4 Intimate Nights with Beyoncé and included the song on the DVD Live at Roseland: Elements of 4 released in November 2011. During the concerts, Beyoncé announced the song by saying, "It's 2002... I started to feel a little lonely till one day...". "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" was included on Jay-Z's live album Live in Brooklyn released on October 11, 2012 after he performed the song during eight shows in Brooklyn. In 2013, Jay-Z included the song on the set list of his Legends of the Summer Stadium Tour.
"'03 Bonnie & Clyde" was part of the set list of Beyoncé and Jay-Z's co-headlining On the Run Tour (2014) where the shows were opened with the performance of the song. A black-and-white video was shown on the screen accompanied by sirens as the duo appeared onstage surrounded by smoke. They started performing the song with Beyoncé wearing a see-through fishnet mask and Jay-Z wearing black sunglasses, a star-speckled shirt, black jacket and gold chains. The song was in line with the show's overall criminalistic theme. d /54
Formats and track listings
Digital EP
"'03 Bonnie & Clyde" (Radio Edit, Hey Arnold!: The Movie Version) – 3:27
"'03 Bonnie & Clyde" (Explicit) – 3:26
"U Don't Know" (Remix) (Jay-Z & M.O.P.) – 4:28
CD single
"'03 Bonnie & Clyde" (Radio Edit) – 3:28
"U Don't Know" (Remix) – 4:27
"'03 Bonnie & Clyde" (Instrumental) – 3:27
Credits and personnel
Adapted from The Blueprint²: The Gift & the Curse's liner notes.
E-Base – bass, guitar, instrumentation, Keyboards
Shawn Carter – vocals (rap), composer
Jason Goldstein – mixing
D. Harper – composer
Gimel "Young Guru" Katon – engineer, mixing
Beyoncé Knowles – vocals
Prince Nelson – additional writing from sample
R. Rouse – composer
Tupac Shakur – additional writing from sample
Kanye West – composer, producer
Shane "Bermy" Woodley – engineer
Tyrone Wrice – composer
Charts and certifications
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
See also
"'97 Bonnie & Clyde," 1998 song by Eminem
References
2002 singles
Beyoncé songs
Songs about Bonnie and Clyde
Jay-Z songs
Kanye West songs
Music videos directed by Chris Robinson (director)
Number-one singles in Switzerland
Roc-A-Fella Records singles
Song recordings produced by Kanye West
Songs written by Jay-Z
Songs written by Kanye West
Songs written by Prince (musician) | false | [
"Seven Compositions (Trio) 1989 is a live album by American composer and saxophonist Anthony Braxton recorded in France in 1989 and released on the hatART label.\n\nReception\n\nAllMusic awarded the album 4 stars and the review by Scott Yanow stated \"As usual Braxton's improvising is quite advanced and original but is colorful and fiery enough to always hold on to open-eared listener's attention. This is one of literally dozens of stimulating Anthony Braxton sessions currently available\". On All About Jazz Troy Collins noted \"Seven Compositions (Trio) 1989 is a telling document of Braxton's versatility as an innovative composer and congenial collaborator\".\n\nTrack listing\nAll compositions by Anthony Braxton except where noted.\n\n \"Composition 40D / Composition 40G (+63)\" – 19:36\n \"All The Things You Are / The Angular Apron / Composition 6A\" (Jerome Kern, Oscar Hammerstein II / Tony Oxley / Anthony Braxton) – 26:36\n \"Composition 40J / Composition 110A (+108B+69J)\" – 12:06\n\nPersonnel\nAnthony Braxton – flute, sopranino saxophone, soprano saxophone, alto saxophone, C melody saxophone, clarinet\nAdelhard Roidinger – bass \nTony Oxley – drums\n\nReferences\n\nHathut Records live albums\nAnthony Braxton live albums\n1990 live albums",
"Duo (Wesleyan) 1994 is a live album by composer and saxophonist Anthony Braxton with percussionist Abraham Adzinyah recorded at Wesleyan University in 1994 and released on the Leo label.\n\nReception\n\nThe Allmusic review by Chris Kelsey stated \"Braxton is never better than when he allows himself the most freedom. Here, though he is reined in a bit by the regular beat of Adzinyah's Middle-Eastern drumming, the saxophonist is relatively unencumbered by formal concerns; this is the best possible framework in which to hear Braxton's improvising. ... In contexts like this, Braxton is the most focused and intense of improvisors. It's evident, when listening to him play what is essentially \"free\" music, how little he really needs in the way of external organization. ... This set is a prime example of how transcendent an artist he can be, when left to his own devices\".\n\nTrack listing\nAll compositions by Anthony Braxton and Abraham Adzinyah.\n\nDisc one\n \"Untitled\" – 51:12\nDisc two\n \"Untitled\" – 49:48\n\nPersonnel\n Anthony Braxton – reeds\nAbraham Adzinyah – percussion\n\nReferences\n\nAnthony Braxton live albums\n1994 live albums\nLeo Records live albums"
]
|
[
"'03 Bonnie & Clyde",
"Toni Braxton feud",
"Who is Tony Braxton",
"I don't know."
]
| C_f1b8013d09bf479eb738835750c33c05_0 | What was the fraud with tony braxton about | 2 | What was the feud with toni braxton and '03 Bonnie & Clyde about? | '03 Bonnie & Clyde | On October 8, 2002, Toni Braxton and her team released a statement claiming that Jay-Z's song "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" had stolen Braxton's idea to sample the 1996 Tupac Shakur song "Me and My Girlfriend". Braxton sampled Shakur's song on the track "Me & My Boyfriend", included on Braxton's album, More Than a Woman (2002). In a call to a New York radio station, Braxton stated that "Jay-Z and Beyonce are messing with my money. They're trying to steal my mojo". Braxton said her song was recorded over the summer of 2002, and alleged that Jay-Z only decided to do "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" after she played her version of the song for Def Jam Recordings. Kanye West responded to Braxton's claim in an interview for MTV News, "I had no idea about Toni Braxton's [song]. She can't act like ain't nobody ever heard 'Me and My Girlfriend' before. People hear the song all the time. I can [understand her complaint] if it [was] an original song." West defended the song's sample, stating that the idea came to him after listening to a friend's Makaveli album one night. Roc-A-Fella Records' Co-CEO responded to Braxton's claims: Jay is a talented dude. I don't think he would steal anything intentionally. It's an ill coincidence, and things happen for a reason. We'll see what happens behind it... I read it in the paper, and Jay and I were talking about it this morning and it was a little funny. I know he didn't intentionally make the same record she made. I don't think he even heard it. [My] reaction is, 'Sorry, it wasn't intentional.' Jay makes records and puts them out. This [sh--] is music. It's just music. We don't sit around and have a blueprint to [f---] anybody's life up. The music business has been good to us. I'm not getting into any beef or nothing over music. Speaking for MTV News, Jay-Z responded to Braxton's claims: "I wouldn't want to take it from her. I don't even think like that. My first thought would be, 'Maybe I could call her up, maybe I could get on that record.' The most obvious [explanation] is it's neither one of our records. It's not like you made an original idea. She's not in hip-hop, but it happens in hip-hop often. We go to sample the same thing and my record came out first. I'm sorry. What can I do?" He went on saying that if he had known they were both planning to sample the same Tupac song, he would have arranged a duet with her. CANNOTANSWER | Toni Braxton and her team released a statement claiming that Jay-Z's song "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" had stolen Braxton's idea | "03 Bonnie & Clyde" is a song recorded by American rapper Jay-Z featuring his then-girlfriend, now wife, American singer Beyoncé Knowles. It was released on October 10, 2002. It was composed by Shawn Carter, Kanye West, Prince Nelson, Tupac Shakur, Darryl Harper, Ricky Rouse and Tyrone Wrice for Jay-Z's seventh studio album The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse (2002). The song was released as the album's lead single on October 10, 2002. A R&B song, "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" sampled its beat from American rapper Tupac Shakur's 1996 song "Me and My Girlfriend", paraphrasing its chorus, and was inspired by the crime film Bonnie and Clyde. The instrumentation is based on programmed drums, bass instruments, and a flamenco guitar.
"'03 Bonnie & Clyde" was generally received with favorable reviews by music critics, who complimented the combination of Jay-Z's and Beyoncé's musical styles, their collaboration and the song's production. The single reached number four on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Jay-Z's second top ten single and Beyoncé's first as a solo artist. It charted at number two in the United Kingdom and peaked in the top twenty in other European territories. "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA).
The accompanying music video was directed by Chris Robinson, and features Jay-Z and Beyoncé playing a modern-day version of the 1920s bank robbers Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker. It was nominated for Best Hip-Hop Video at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards. "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" spawned a feud with American recording artist Toni Braxton, who had also sampled "Me and My Girlfriend" in her 2002 song "Me & My Boyfriend". She accused West and Jay-Z of stealing the idea of using the song as a sample, which was later denied by both of them. "03 Bonnie & Clyde" was performed by Jay-Z and Beyoncé on several television shows and was later included on the set list of their concert performances and tours, most notably on their co-headlining On the Run and On the Run II tours.
Production and release
"'03 Bonnie & Clyde" marked the first collaboration between rapper Jay-Z and R&B singer Beyoncé Knowles. While listening to Shakur's The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory, producer Kanye West suggested that American rapper Tupac Shakur's song "Me and My Girlfriend" would make a good sample to use on Jay-Z's duet with Knowles. West told MTV News that Jay-Z had asked him on the telephone for a duet for him and Knowles: "We got this joint, it has to be the best beat you ever made." He continued:
So I went home and called my dog, E Base, who plays a lot of instruments up at Baseline [studio] for me and [producer] Just Blaze. [E] came through. I programmed the drums in 10 minutes, and then he played all the different parts. This version is all live bass, live guitars, [live] chords on it. I brought it to Hov that night, he heard it, he thought of the video treatment before he thought of the rap. He just knew it was gonna be the one.
Tensions arose during the conception of "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" over the sampling of "Me and My Girlfriend". Senior Vice President of A&R Tina Davis commented on the issue, "We only had one day to clear the [Tupac Shakur] sample [from 'Me and my Girlfriend'] that was used on '03 Bonnie and Clyde' last year with Jay-Z and Knowles [Beyoncé]. We were back and forth with Afeni Shakur all day until we got the clearance. And then it's a hit."
"'03 Bonnie & Clyde" was released on October 10, 2002, as the lead single from Jay-Z's album The Blueprint²: The Gift & the Curse. Knowles later included the song as a bonus track on international editions of her 2003 debut solo album Dangerously in Love. In 2003, Now That's What I Call Music! included "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" as the opening track of the 12th volume of the US release and the fifteenth track of the 54th volume of the UK release. The song's release was the first indication of Jay-Z's and Knowles' romantic status, spawning rumors about a burgeoning relationship. Their relationship was not made public until Jay-Z featured on Knowles' songs "Crazy In Love" (2003) and "Déjà Vu" (2006). The latter's release also marked the debut of the solo career of Knowles, leaving Destiny's Child on hiatus.
Composition
"'03 Bonnie & Clyde" features drums and live instrumentation such as bass instruments and guitar chords. It also consists of a beat sampled from "Me and My Girlfriend". The song was inspired by the 1967 American crime film Bonnie and Clyde as Jay-Z and Beyoncé proclaim themselves as the current version of the criminal duo. Ethan Brown of New York magazine noted that its patina of flamenco guitar was reminiscent of that in Jay-Z's 2001 collaboration with R. Kelly on "Fiesta." Beyoncé mimics the hook of "Me and My Girlfriend" on the chorus as she sings, "Down to ride to the very end, me and my boyfriend".
Some lyrics sung by Beyoncé were sampled from "If I Was Your Girlfriend" by American recording artist Prince. On the second verse, Jay-Z references the relationship between Bobby Brown and Whitney Houston, and the American television comedy-drama series Sex and the City as he raps: "She riiides wit' me / The new Bobby and Whitney / Only time we don't speak is during 'Sex and the City' / Put us together, how they gon' stop both of us? / When I'm off track, Mommy is keeping me focused". The verse then continues: "Let's lock this down like it's supposed to be/ The new '03 Bonnie and Clyde, Hov and B".
Critical reception
"'03 Bonnie & Clyde" was received favorably by critics, who commended the use of different samples, and commented on the relationship between Jay-Z and Beyoncé. Chris Ryan of Spin magazine described "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" as a highlight on The Blueprint 2: The Gift & the Curse, stating that it consists of "a house party in a crib as big as the Georgia Dome." John Bush from AllMusic included the song as a highlight on the album, further describing it as "a slick R&B crossover with Beyoncé Knowles". Marc L. Hill of PopMatters viewed it as the "obligatory radio song" of the album. Awarding the song a rating of eight out of ten possible points, Dele Fadele of NME complimented it as "a cool duet" between Jay-Z and Beyoncé. John Robinson of the same publication wrote that as the couple describe their life, it's not all "Lexus and sipping Cris". He added, "A similarly relaxed production makes for a behind-the-diamante-net-curtains classic".
Ethan Brown of New York magazine named "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" as a follow-up to the previous "Bonnie & Clyde Part II" by Jay-Z featuring rapper Foxy Brown. Erik Parker, music editor of Vibe magazine, was divided on the song's sample, writing that it was "tasteless but well-executed", and complimented West's production as "impeccable". Margena A. Christian of Jet magazine praised Jay-Z's and Beyoncé's collaboration, favoring the former's "dropping lyrics" and the latter's "cooing silky vocals". Chuck Taylor of Billboard magazine wrote that though it was unclear at the time whether the couple were together or not, but they created good music together. Taylor praised the song's ability to showcase what each artist does best: Jay-Z "spitting" verses of praise, and Beyoncé's sweets coos and hooks. Taylor noted that the sampled acoustic guitar "added spice to the track, setting it up for future success". In a more negative review, Nathan Rabin of The A.V. Club described the song as "terrible" and different from the other songs on The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse.
Rap-Up credited "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" for giving Beyoncé a "little street-credit". The staff members of Vibe magazine placed the song at number two on a list of the best Bonnie and Clyde inspired songs. On a list of the 10 Best Jay-Z Songs, Dean Silfenv of AOL placed "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" at number six. Popjustice listed "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" at number 66 on its list of the best singles of 2003. It was nominated for the Best Collaboration at the 2003 BET Awards, but lost to Snoop Dogg's song "Beautiful". In a 2013 list of Jay-Z's 20 Biggest Billboard Hits, "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" was ranked at number 6. Elijah Watson and Erika Ramirez of Billboard magazine noted that the song proved the couple was "unstoppable from jump".
Chart performance
"'03 Bonnie & Clyde" reached the top ten on music charts in six European countries. It peaked at number six on the Norway Singles Chart and on the Danish Singles Chart, number eight on the Italian Singles Chart, and topped the Swiss Singles Charts. In Canada, the song peaked at number four and became Jay-Z's highest charting single until it was surpassed by his 2009 Alicia Keys-assisted song "Empire State of Mind", which peaked at number three. In the United Kingdom, "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart. At the time, it became his highest charting single in Britain since "Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)" achieved the same feat in November 1998. It peaked at number four on the New Zealand Singles Chart, becoming his highest charting single in that territory. The song also became Jay-Z's highest charting single in Australia, where it peaked at number two. "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" was certified platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), denoting shipment of 70,000 copies.
"'03 Bonnie & Clyde" broke into the top five of the Billboard Hot 100 at number four; it became the highest-charting single that references the famous bank robbers Bonnie and Clyde. The record was previously held by Georgie Fame's 1967 single "The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde." Following the performance of "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" on Saturday Night Live (SNL) on November 2, 2002, its radio audience increased by 12%, allowing the song to advance into the top ten of the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, at number seven. This gave Jay-Z his 12th top 10 single, tying him with rapper P. Diddy, who had the same number of top 10 singles on that chart. "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" was his first top 10 since his 2001 single "Girls, Girls, Girls". It was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), denoting sales of 500,000 copies.The song sold over 1 million copies in US.
Music video
Chris Robinson directed the song's accompanying music video and filmed in Mexico, during October 2002. June Ambrose was hired as the personal stylist, and Johnathon Schaech and Lance Reddick appear in the video as the police officers on their tail. Jay-Z and Beyoncé play a modern-day version of the 1930s bank robbers Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker. The video is loosely based on the American 1993 romance crime film True Romance, which stars Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette as two lovers on the run from cocaine dealers. The choreography used in the clip suggests a relationship beyond screen, as Jay-Z wraps his arm around Beyoncé while singing his part of the chorus. The video also marked a departure for the "clean-cut Beyoncé" and created a symbiotic relationship between her and Jay-Z, allowing them to exchange audiences. The video was premiered on MTV on November 8, 2002.
The music video begins as police officers and Reddick discuss the criminal duo and ways to catch them. As the song begins, Jay-Z is seen driving a gunmetal grey Aston Martin Vanquish while Beyoncé sits in the passenger seat. As they drive through the sepia sands of Mexico, clips of the police from the beginning of the video are cut into the scene. As Jay-Z and Beyoncé pull over to a hotel, they cover the car to avoid notice from the police. As Beyoncé and Jay-Z count money in the bedroom, the police discover their hiding place and go upstairs only to find that the two have fled the scene in their car. Scenes of Beyoncé and Jay-Z at a Mexican bar are inter-cut with scenes of an intimate time in a phone-booth; behind the phone booth, spray-painted onto a wall is a tribute to Tupac Shakur. The duo again elude the police who are following one step behind. After Beyoncé performs her verse in an empty pool, the police form a blockade on the highway in an attempt to catch her and Jay-Z, only to be stumped again as two gas station attendant decoys are found driving the car. The video ends as Beyoncé and Jay-Z light a bonfire on the beach and drive away in a different car.
Corey Moss of MTV News noted that the end of the video does not reveal how the "real" Bonnie and Clyde met their end. The story continues in the 2004 video for Jay-Z's song "99 Problems". The music video for "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" was nominated for Best Hip-Hop Video at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards. In the official top 20 countdown of Jay-Z music videos, MTV UK listed the clip at number 10.
Controversy
On October 8, 2002, Toni Braxton and her team released a statement claiming that Jay-Z's song "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" had stolen Braxton's idea to sample the 1996 Tupac Shakur song "Me and My Girlfriend". Braxton sampled Shakur's song on the track "Me & My Boyfriend", included on Braxton's album, More Than a Woman (2002). In a call to a New York radio station, hosted by Wendy Williams, Braxton stated that "Jay-Z and Beyoncé are messing with my money. They're trying to steal my mojo". Braxton said her song was recorded over the summer of 2002, and alleged that Jay-Z only decided to do "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" after she played her version of the song for Def Jam Recordings.
Kanye West responded to Braxton's claim in an interview for MTV News, "I had no idea about Toni Braxton's [song]. She can't act like ain't nobody ever heard 'Me and My Girlfriend' before. People hear the song all the time. I can [understand her complaint] if it [was] an original song." West defended the song's sample, stating that the idea came to him after listening to a friend's Makaveli album one night. Roc-A-Fella Records' Co-CEO Damon Dash responded to Braxton's claims:
Speaking for MTV News, Jay-Z responded to Braxton's claims: "I wouldn't want to take it from her. I don't even think like that. My first thought would be, 'Maybe I could call her up, maybe I could get on that record.' The most obvious [explanation] is it's neither one of our records. It's not like you made an original idea. She's not in hip-hop, but it happens in hip-hop often. We go to sample the same thing and my record came out first. I'm sorry. What can I do?" He went on saying that if he had known they were both planning to sample the same Tupac song, he would have arranged a duet with her.
Live performances
On November 2, 2002, Jay-Z and Beyoncé performed the song together at Saturday Night Live (SNL). Later, on November 21, 2002 they appeared on MTV's TRL for Spankin' New Music Week where they also performed the song. In 2009, Beyoncé performed an abbreviated version of "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" during her I Am... Yours revue, held at the Encore Las Vegas Theatre in July and August. The song was later included on the 2009 live album I Am... Yours: An Intimate Performance at Wynn Las Vegas which was chronicling the revue. In August 2011, Beyoncé performed "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" again during her revue 4 Intimate Nights with Beyoncé and included the song on the DVD Live at Roseland: Elements of 4 released in November 2011. During the concerts, Beyoncé announced the song by saying, "It's 2002... I started to feel a little lonely till one day...". "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" was included on Jay-Z's live album Live in Brooklyn released on October 11, 2012 after he performed the song during eight shows in Brooklyn. In 2013, Jay-Z included the song on the set list of his Legends of the Summer Stadium Tour.
"'03 Bonnie & Clyde" was part of the set list of Beyoncé and Jay-Z's co-headlining On the Run Tour (2014) where the shows were opened with the performance of the song. A black-and-white video was shown on the screen accompanied by sirens as the duo appeared onstage surrounded by smoke. They started performing the song with Beyoncé wearing a see-through fishnet mask and Jay-Z wearing black sunglasses, a star-speckled shirt, black jacket and gold chains. The song was in line with the show's overall criminalistic theme. d /54
Formats and track listings
Digital EP
"'03 Bonnie & Clyde" (Radio Edit, Hey Arnold!: The Movie Version) – 3:27
"'03 Bonnie & Clyde" (Explicit) – 3:26
"U Don't Know" (Remix) (Jay-Z & M.O.P.) – 4:28
CD single
"'03 Bonnie & Clyde" (Radio Edit) – 3:28
"U Don't Know" (Remix) – 4:27
"'03 Bonnie & Clyde" (Instrumental) – 3:27
Credits and personnel
Adapted from The Blueprint²: The Gift & the Curse's liner notes.
E-Base – bass, guitar, instrumentation, Keyboards
Shawn Carter – vocals (rap), composer
Jason Goldstein – mixing
D. Harper – composer
Gimel "Young Guru" Katon – engineer, mixing
Beyoncé Knowles – vocals
Prince Nelson – additional writing from sample
R. Rouse – composer
Tupac Shakur – additional writing from sample
Kanye West – composer, producer
Shane "Bermy" Woodley – engineer
Tyrone Wrice – composer
Charts and certifications
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
See also
"'97 Bonnie & Clyde," 1998 song by Eminem
References
2002 singles
Beyoncé songs
Songs about Bonnie and Clyde
Jay-Z songs
Kanye West songs
Music videos directed by Chris Robinson (director)
Number-one singles in Switzerland
Roc-A-Fella Records singles
Song recordings produced by Kanye West
Songs written by Jay-Z
Songs written by Kanye West
Songs written by Prince (musician) | true | [
"\"If I Don't Have You\" is a song by American singer Tamar Braxton. It was released on May 27, 2015 as a digital download through Epic and Streamline Records, replacing \"Let Me Know\" (2014) as the lead single from Braxton's fourth studio album Calling All Lovers. The song was written by Braxton, Kevin Randolph, Tony Russell, Makeba Riddick-Woods, Ernest Clark, Marcos Palacios, LaShawn Daniels, and Tiyon \"TC\" Mack, while production was handled by Da Internz.\n\n\"If I Don't Have You\" is a mid-tempo R&B ballad with lyrics revolving around unrequited love and the end of a relationship. Braxton said that the single was partially inspired by her past romantic relationships, and emphasized the importance of transparency with oneself. Critical response to \"If I Don't Have You\" was positive, with critics praising its composition. It received a nomination for the Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards. The single peaked at number 18 on the Hot R&B Songs Billboard chart and number 19 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay Billboard chart.\n\nIn an accompanying music video released on June 9, 2015, Braxton plays a prostitute who develops a one-sided relationship with one of her clients. The visual features American television personality NeNe Leakes as the brothel's madam. Even though the song focuses on a romantic relationship, the video does not include a male lead. The clip received positive responses from critics.\n\nBackground and release \n\"If I Don't Have You\" was written by Tamar Braxton, Kevin Randolph, Tony Russell, Makeba Riddick-Woods, Ernest Clark, Marcos Palacios, LaShawn Daniels, and Tiyon \"TC\" Mack; the song was produced by Da Internz. The audio was mixed by Mack, and Gene Gremaldi worked as the mastering engineer.\n\nThe song was made available on May 27, 2015 as a digital download through Epic and Streamline Records. It was promoted as the lead single from Braxton's fourth studio album Calling All Lovers. Braxton's 2014 song \"Let Me Know\" was initially designated as the album's lead single before it was replaced by \"If I Don't Have You\". The release was scheduled alongside the premiere of the fourth season of the reality television series Braxton Family Values. Prior to the release of \"If I Don't Have You\", Braxton had posted the hashtag \"#TamartianSurprise\" on her social media accounts.\n\nComposition and lyrics \n\n\"If I Don't Have You\" is a mid-tempo R&B ballad that lasts four minutes and 12 seconds. Brent Faulkner of PopMatters viewed the single as a \"throwback soul record\". The instrumental includes a piano, and the song focuses on unrequited love and the end of a relationship. Lyrics include: “You should know if I don’t have you, Rocks me to the core / I can’t love no more / If I don’t have you, know I’m done for sure / Nobody worth fighting for.” Throughout the single, Braxton uses her upper register to sing: \"I can't love no more / If I don't have you / Know I'm done for sure / Nobody worth fighting for\" and \"I'm tired of these walls / That's on my life / I'll lose my mind if I don't have you.\"\n\nAccording to Essence's Imani Brammer, \"If I Don't Have You\" functions as an \"ode to vulnerability and honesty\". Braxton explained: \"The whole vibe of 'If I Don't Have You' is about being transparent, being aware with yourself.\" The singer also connected the single's content with her past romantic relationships by commenting: \"I have nothing to hide about how I feel. Before I was married I kissed a lot of frogs and ogres, I talk about those experiences candidly.\"\n\nReception \nCritical reception towards \"If I Don't Have You\" was primarily positive upon its release. It received a nomination for the Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards. The song received positive comparisons to Keyshia Cole's 2013 single \"I Choose You\" and Alicia Keys' 2003 song \"You Don't Know My Name\". In a review for Calling All Lovers, Diamond Hillyer of Vibe praised the song's composition as \"sprightly instrumentals\" that would appeal to listeners. Matthew Scott Donnelly of PopCrush wrote that the track was appropriate for those who are in \"the mood for a good cry (or perhaps an all-out profound wail)\". Idolator's Mike Wass praised Braxton's vocals on the single, but later reassessed \"If I Don't Have You\" as a \"little undercooked\" in comparison to other tracks on Calling All Lovers.\n\n\"If I Don't Have You\" peaked at number 18 on the Hot R&B Songs Billboard chart on August 1, 2015, and remained on the chart for eight weeks. It also reached number 19 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay Billboard chart on August 15, 2015, and stayed on the chart for 19 weeks.\n\nMusic video and promotion\n\nMusic video \n\nA lyric video for the single was released on June 11, 2015. The lyrics are displayed on a series of black-and-white newspaper clippings and colored graphics. The single's cover art also includes the chorus and the first verse. An accompanying music video, directed by Darren Craig, was made available through Braxton's Vevo account on July 9, 2015, approximately two months following the single's release. Prior to its premiere, Braxton had shown a preview on her official website.\n\nThe music video takes place in a brothel, in which the singer plays one of its prostitutes, along with her close friends Shateria Moragne-el, Khadijah Hagg, and Malika Haqq in similar roles. While discussing her character in the visual's narrative, Braxton explained \"it doesn't necessarily mean that we're selling ourselves. It just means we're all looking for something\". In the video, Braxton develops a one-sided relationship with one of the clients. A majority of the clip focuses on Braxton performing the song while modeling. It ends with the singer left alone while crying about her lost love. Even though the single's lyrics focus on missing a romantic partner, the video does not prominently feature a male lead. Braxton's mother also appears in the visual as one of the brothel's customers.\n\nAmerican television personality NeNe Leakes appears as the brothel's madam in the video's opening sequence. In the visual, Nene orders Braxton and the other women to \"get on their backs and make her money\". Afiya Augustine noted that Nene's performance was heavily influenced by camp. During an interview with Entertainment Tonight, Braxton said that Leakes was the first person to call to participate in the video; she explained that if Leakes was unable to play the madam, then she would have altered the entire concept for the visuals. Braxton said that she intentionally made the time period for the video ambiguous to read as either the 1930s or 2015. When writing about the video's style, Wetpaint's Afiya Augustine attributed it as having a \"jazzy, art deco, 1920s feel\". Sophie Schillaci of Entertainment Tonight connected the video with the 1989 film Harlem Nights.\n\nThe video received positive responses from critics. While he questioned how the visuals matched the song, Kevin Apaza of Direct Lyrics praised Braxton's wardrobe and appearance, writing that she \"serv[ed] body, face and life throughout the whole of it\". The clip was noted as having \"diva-driven cinematic visuals\" by Diamond Hillyer.\n\nLive performance \nBraxton performed \"If I Don't Have You\" on the BET Awards 2015, along with American singers K. Michelle and Patti LaBelle. As part of the performance, Michelle sang her 2015 single \"Hard to Do\" and the three artists performed LaBelle's 1983 single \"If Only You Knew\". The performance was noted by media outlets as ending the rivalry between Braxton and Michelle; Braxton said: “Life is all about forgiveness, love, and unity, so tonight, I’m sorry K. Michelle, and I also forgive you.” The two artists previously had disagreements after Braxton joked about Michelle's allegations that she was physically abused by her ex-boyfriend. A writer for BET described the performance as a \"battle of the ballads\".\n\nTrack listing\n\nCredits and personnel \nCredits adapted from the liner notes of Calling All Lovers.\n\nManagement\n\nEMI Blackwood Music Inc \nMiserable Girl Inc. (BMI)\nEMI Blackwood Music Inc \nJanice Combs Publishing and Yoga Flames Music (BMI) \nEMI April Music Inc \nThe Book Productions (ASCAP) \nSony/ATV TwoWorks (ASCAP) \n\nSony/ATV Viva Panama (ASCAP) \nSony/ATV Tunes LLC \nMake Ah Sound (ASCAP) \nChicago Wind (ASCAP)\nBMG \nStankin Music (ASCAP)\n\nPersonnel\n Songwriting – Tamar Braxton, Kevin Randolph, Tony Russell, Makeba Riddick-Woods, Ernest Clark, Marcos Palacios, LaShawn Daniels, and Tiyon \"TC\" Mack \n Production – Da Internz\n Mixing – Tiyon \"TC\" Mack\n Mastering engineer – Gene Gremaldi\n\nCharts\n\nRelease history\n\nReferences\n\n2010s ballads\n2014 songs\nEpic Records singles\nContemporary R&B ballads\nSongs written by LaShawn Daniels\nSongs written by Makeba Riddick\nSongs written by Tamar Braxton\nSoul ballads\nTamar Braxton songs",
"\"Deadwood\" is a song by American recording artist Toni Braxton released on September 14, 2017. The song serves as the lead single from Braxton's eighth studio album Sex & Cigarettes (2018). Written by Braxton, Royce Doherty, Kwame Ogoo and Fred Ball and produced by Ball.\n\nBackground and release\nOn August 25, 2017, it was announced that director Bille Woodruff was directing a new music video for Braxton confirming the name of a new single titled \"Deadwood\". On September 5, 2017, in an interview with The Insider, Braxton confirmed the title of her upcoming eighth studio album Sex & Cigarettes stating \"I feel like I'm older, I wanna say what I feel. I don't wanna be censored\". Braxton released the cover art of the single on September 12, 2017.\n\nCritical reception\nThe song was met with positive reviews from critics. That Grape Juice favored the track \"Ever in fine-form, this gorgeous guitar-led offering proves that her tone has lost none of its buttery brilliance. The production serves as a slick, crisp vehicle driving the song's lyrical agenda and does so dynamically. Marvellous melody and memorable hook too.\" Essence stated: \"Deadwood, is the first step to revealing an uncensored Braxton. It's the debut track from her upcoming album, which is set for release at the top of 2018, and sees the singer exploring a complicated love.\" Rap-Up gave a positive review of the track stating \"Toni Braxton comes back to life with 'Deadwood,' the first single off her forthcoming album Sex & Cigarettes. Over guitar strums, hard drums, and soothing violin strings, the R&B songbird sings about heartbreak and rejuvenation with a soulful air.\"\n\nMusic video\nThe music video was filmed on August 24, 2017, and directed by Bille Woodruff. The audio video for the song was released to Braxton's Vevo account on September 14, 2017. The video premiered on October 6, 2017.\n\nCredits and personnel \nCredits adapted from the liner notes of Sex & Cigarettes.\n\n Jonathan Allen – recording\n Fred Ball – instruments, producer, writer\n Paul Boutin – mixing, percussion\n Toni Braxton – producer, vocals, writer\n Royce Doherty – writer\n Ben Epstein – bass\n\n Clarissa Farran – strings arranger\n Steve Fitzmaurice – recording\n Earl Harvin – drums\n Kwame Ogoo – backing vocalist, guitar, writer\n Hilary Skewes – stings contractor\n\nCharts\n\nRelease history\n\nReferences\n\n2017 singles\nToni Braxton songs\nSongs written by Toni Braxton\nContemporary R&B ballads\n2017 songs\nDef Jam Recordings singles\nSongs written by Fred Ball (producer)\nSoul ballads\nSongs about heartache\n2010s ballads"
]
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"'03 Bonnie & Clyde",
"Toni Braxton feud",
"Who is Tony Braxton",
"I don't know.",
"What was the fraud with tony braxton about",
"Toni Braxton and her team released a statement claiming that Jay-Z's song \"'03 Bonnie & Clyde\" had stolen Braxton's idea"
]
| C_f1b8013d09bf479eb738835750c33c05_0 | why did they think they stole the idea | 3 | why did toni braxton think Jay-Z stole the idea for '03 Bonnie & Clyde | '03 Bonnie & Clyde | On October 8, 2002, Toni Braxton and her team released a statement claiming that Jay-Z's song "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" had stolen Braxton's idea to sample the 1996 Tupac Shakur song "Me and My Girlfriend". Braxton sampled Shakur's song on the track "Me & My Boyfriend", included on Braxton's album, More Than a Woman (2002). In a call to a New York radio station, Braxton stated that "Jay-Z and Beyonce are messing with my money. They're trying to steal my mojo". Braxton said her song was recorded over the summer of 2002, and alleged that Jay-Z only decided to do "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" after she played her version of the song for Def Jam Recordings. Kanye West responded to Braxton's claim in an interview for MTV News, "I had no idea about Toni Braxton's [song]. She can't act like ain't nobody ever heard 'Me and My Girlfriend' before. People hear the song all the time. I can [understand her complaint] if it [was] an original song." West defended the song's sample, stating that the idea came to him after listening to a friend's Makaveli album one night. Roc-A-Fella Records' Co-CEO responded to Braxton's claims: Jay is a talented dude. I don't think he would steal anything intentionally. It's an ill coincidence, and things happen for a reason. We'll see what happens behind it... I read it in the paper, and Jay and I were talking about it this morning and it was a little funny. I know he didn't intentionally make the same record she made. I don't think he even heard it. [My] reaction is, 'Sorry, it wasn't intentional.' Jay makes records and puts them out. This [sh--] is music. It's just music. We don't sit around and have a blueprint to [f---] anybody's life up. The music business has been good to us. I'm not getting into any beef or nothing over music. Speaking for MTV News, Jay-Z responded to Braxton's claims: "I wouldn't want to take it from her. I don't even think like that. My first thought would be, 'Maybe I could call her up, maybe I could get on that record.' The most obvious [explanation] is it's neither one of our records. It's not like you made an original idea. She's not in hip-hop, but it happens in hip-hop often. We go to sample the same thing and my record came out first. I'm sorry. What can I do?" He went on saying that if he had known they were both planning to sample the same Tupac song, he would have arranged a duet with her. CANNOTANSWER | Braxton sampled Shakur's song on the track "Me & My Boyfriend", included on Braxton's album, More Than a Woman (2002). | "03 Bonnie & Clyde" is a song recorded by American rapper Jay-Z featuring his then-girlfriend, now wife, American singer Beyoncé Knowles. It was released on October 10, 2002. It was composed by Shawn Carter, Kanye West, Prince Nelson, Tupac Shakur, Darryl Harper, Ricky Rouse and Tyrone Wrice for Jay-Z's seventh studio album The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse (2002). The song was released as the album's lead single on October 10, 2002. A R&B song, "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" sampled its beat from American rapper Tupac Shakur's 1996 song "Me and My Girlfriend", paraphrasing its chorus, and was inspired by the crime film Bonnie and Clyde. The instrumentation is based on programmed drums, bass instruments, and a flamenco guitar.
"'03 Bonnie & Clyde" was generally received with favorable reviews by music critics, who complimented the combination of Jay-Z's and Beyoncé's musical styles, their collaboration and the song's production. The single reached number four on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Jay-Z's second top ten single and Beyoncé's first as a solo artist. It charted at number two in the United Kingdom and peaked in the top twenty in other European territories. "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA).
The accompanying music video was directed by Chris Robinson, and features Jay-Z and Beyoncé playing a modern-day version of the 1920s bank robbers Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker. It was nominated for Best Hip-Hop Video at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards. "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" spawned a feud with American recording artist Toni Braxton, who had also sampled "Me and My Girlfriend" in her 2002 song "Me & My Boyfriend". She accused West and Jay-Z of stealing the idea of using the song as a sample, which was later denied by both of them. "03 Bonnie & Clyde" was performed by Jay-Z and Beyoncé on several television shows and was later included on the set list of their concert performances and tours, most notably on their co-headlining On the Run and On the Run II tours.
Production and release
"'03 Bonnie & Clyde" marked the first collaboration between rapper Jay-Z and R&B singer Beyoncé Knowles. While listening to Shakur's The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory, producer Kanye West suggested that American rapper Tupac Shakur's song "Me and My Girlfriend" would make a good sample to use on Jay-Z's duet with Knowles. West told MTV News that Jay-Z had asked him on the telephone for a duet for him and Knowles: "We got this joint, it has to be the best beat you ever made." He continued:
So I went home and called my dog, E Base, who plays a lot of instruments up at Baseline [studio] for me and [producer] Just Blaze. [E] came through. I programmed the drums in 10 minutes, and then he played all the different parts. This version is all live bass, live guitars, [live] chords on it. I brought it to Hov that night, he heard it, he thought of the video treatment before he thought of the rap. He just knew it was gonna be the one.
Tensions arose during the conception of "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" over the sampling of "Me and My Girlfriend". Senior Vice President of A&R Tina Davis commented on the issue, "We only had one day to clear the [Tupac Shakur] sample [from 'Me and my Girlfriend'] that was used on '03 Bonnie and Clyde' last year with Jay-Z and Knowles [Beyoncé]. We were back and forth with Afeni Shakur all day until we got the clearance. And then it's a hit."
"'03 Bonnie & Clyde" was released on October 10, 2002, as the lead single from Jay-Z's album The Blueprint²: The Gift & the Curse. Knowles later included the song as a bonus track on international editions of her 2003 debut solo album Dangerously in Love. In 2003, Now That's What I Call Music! included "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" as the opening track of the 12th volume of the US release and the fifteenth track of the 54th volume of the UK release. The song's release was the first indication of Jay-Z's and Knowles' romantic status, spawning rumors about a burgeoning relationship. Their relationship was not made public until Jay-Z featured on Knowles' songs "Crazy In Love" (2003) and "Déjà Vu" (2006). The latter's release also marked the debut of the solo career of Knowles, leaving Destiny's Child on hiatus.
Composition
"'03 Bonnie & Clyde" features drums and live instrumentation such as bass instruments and guitar chords. It also consists of a beat sampled from "Me and My Girlfriend". The song was inspired by the 1967 American crime film Bonnie and Clyde as Jay-Z and Beyoncé proclaim themselves as the current version of the criminal duo. Ethan Brown of New York magazine noted that its patina of flamenco guitar was reminiscent of that in Jay-Z's 2001 collaboration with R. Kelly on "Fiesta." Beyoncé mimics the hook of "Me and My Girlfriend" on the chorus as she sings, "Down to ride to the very end, me and my boyfriend".
Some lyrics sung by Beyoncé were sampled from "If I Was Your Girlfriend" by American recording artist Prince. On the second verse, Jay-Z references the relationship between Bobby Brown and Whitney Houston, and the American television comedy-drama series Sex and the City as he raps: "She riiides wit' me / The new Bobby and Whitney / Only time we don't speak is during 'Sex and the City' / Put us together, how they gon' stop both of us? / When I'm off track, Mommy is keeping me focused". The verse then continues: "Let's lock this down like it's supposed to be/ The new '03 Bonnie and Clyde, Hov and B".
Critical reception
"'03 Bonnie & Clyde" was received favorably by critics, who commended the use of different samples, and commented on the relationship between Jay-Z and Beyoncé. Chris Ryan of Spin magazine described "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" as a highlight on The Blueprint 2: The Gift & the Curse, stating that it consists of "a house party in a crib as big as the Georgia Dome." John Bush from AllMusic included the song as a highlight on the album, further describing it as "a slick R&B crossover with Beyoncé Knowles". Marc L. Hill of PopMatters viewed it as the "obligatory radio song" of the album. Awarding the song a rating of eight out of ten possible points, Dele Fadele of NME complimented it as "a cool duet" between Jay-Z and Beyoncé. John Robinson of the same publication wrote that as the couple describe their life, it's not all "Lexus and sipping Cris". He added, "A similarly relaxed production makes for a behind-the-diamante-net-curtains classic".
Ethan Brown of New York magazine named "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" as a follow-up to the previous "Bonnie & Clyde Part II" by Jay-Z featuring rapper Foxy Brown. Erik Parker, music editor of Vibe magazine, was divided on the song's sample, writing that it was "tasteless but well-executed", and complimented West's production as "impeccable". Margena A. Christian of Jet magazine praised Jay-Z's and Beyoncé's collaboration, favoring the former's "dropping lyrics" and the latter's "cooing silky vocals". Chuck Taylor of Billboard magazine wrote that though it was unclear at the time whether the couple were together or not, but they created good music together. Taylor praised the song's ability to showcase what each artist does best: Jay-Z "spitting" verses of praise, and Beyoncé's sweets coos and hooks. Taylor noted that the sampled acoustic guitar "added spice to the track, setting it up for future success". In a more negative review, Nathan Rabin of The A.V. Club described the song as "terrible" and different from the other songs on The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse.
Rap-Up credited "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" for giving Beyoncé a "little street-credit". The staff members of Vibe magazine placed the song at number two on a list of the best Bonnie and Clyde inspired songs. On a list of the 10 Best Jay-Z Songs, Dean Silfenv of AOL placed "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" at number six. Popjustice listed "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" at number 66 on its list of the best singles of 2003. It was nominated for the Best Collaboration at the 2003 BET Awards, but lost to Snoop Dogg's song "Beautiful". In a 2013 list of Jay-Z's 20 Biggest Billboard Hits, "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" was ranked at number 6. Elijah Watson and Erika Ramirez of Billboard magazine noted that the song proved the couple was "unstoppable from jump".
Chart performance
"'03 Bonnie & Clyde" reached the top ten on music charts in six European countries. It peaked at number six on the Norway Singles Chart and on the Danish Singles Chart, number eight on the Italian Singles Chart, and topped the Swiss Singles Charts. In Canada, the song peaked at number four and became Jay-Z's highest charting single until it was surpassed by his 2009 Alicia Keys-assisted song "Empire State of Mind", which peaked at number three. In the United Kingdom, "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart. At the time, it became his highest charting single in Britain since "Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)" achieved the same feat in November 1998. It peaked at number four on the New Zealand Singles Chart, becoming his highest charting single in that territory. The song also became Jay-Z's highest charting single in Australia, where it peaked at number two. "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" was certified platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), denoting shipment of 70,000 copies.
"'03 Bonnie & Clyde" broke into the top five of the Billboard Hot 100 at number four; it became the highest-charting single that references the famous bank robbers Bonnie and Clyde. The record was previously held by Georgie Fame's 1967 single "The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde." Following the performance of "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" on Saturday Night Live (SNL) on November 2, 2002, its radio audience increased by 12%, allowing the song to advance into the top ten of the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, at number seven. This gave Jay-Z his 12th top 10 single, tying him with rapper P. Diddy, who had the same number of top 10 singles on that chart. "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" was his first top 10 since his 2001 single "Girls, Girls, Girls". It was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), denoting sales of 500,000 copies.The song sold over 1 million copies in US.
Music video
Chris Robinson directed the song's accompanying music video and filmed in Mexico, during October 2002. June Ambrose was hired as the personal stylist, and Johnathon Schaech and Lance Reddick appear in the video as the police officers on their tail. Jay-Z and Beyoncé play a modern-day version of the 1930s bank robbers Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker. The video is loosely based on the American 1993 romance crime film True Romance, which stars Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette as two lovers on the run from cocaine dealers. The choreography used in the clip suggests a relationship beyond screen, as Jay-Z wraps his arm around Beyoncé while singing his part of the chorus. The video also marked a departure for the "clean-cut Beyoncé" and created a symbiotic relationship between her and Jay-Z, allowing them to exchange audiences. The video was premiered on MTV on November 8, 2002.
The music video begins as police officers and Reddick discuss the criminal duo and ways to catch them. As the song begins, Jay-Z is seen driving a gunmetal grey Aston Martin Vanquish while Beyoncé sits in the passenger seat. As they drive through the sepia sands of Mexico, clips of the police from the beginning of the video are cut into the scene. As Jay-Z and Beyoncé pull over to a hotel, they cover the car to avoid notice from the police. As Beyoncé and Jay-Z count money in the bedroom, the police discover their hiding place and go upstairs only to find that the two have fled the scene in their car. Scenes of Beyoncé and Jay-Z at a Mexican bar are inter-cut with scenes of an intimate time in a phone-booth; behind the phone booth, spray-painted onto a wall is a tribute to Tupac Shakur. The duo again elude the police who are following one step behind. After Beyoncé performs her verse in an empty pool, the police form a blockade on the highway in an attempt to catch her and Jay-Z, only to be stumped again as two gas station attendant decoys are found driving the car. The video ends as Beyoncé and Jay-Z light a bonfire on the beach and drive away in a different car.
Corey Moss of MTV News noted that the end of the video does not reveal how the "real" Bonnie and Clyde met their end. The story continues in the 2004 video for Jay-Z's song "99 Problems". The music video for "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" was nominated for Best Hip-Hop Video at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards. In the official top 20 countdown of Jay-Z music videos, MTV UK listed the clip at number 10.
Controversy
On October 8, 2002, Toni Braxton and her team released a statement claiming that Jay-Z's song "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" had stolen Braxton's idea to sample the 1996 Tupac Shakur song "Me and My Girlfriend". Braxton sampled Shakur's song on the track "Me & My Boyfriend", included on Braxton's album, More Than a Woman (2002). In a call to a New York radio station, hosted by Wendy Williams, Braxton stated that "Jay-Z and Beyoncé are messing with my money. They're trying to steal my mojo". Braxton said her song was recorded over the summer of 2002, and alleged that Jay-Z only decided to do "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" after she played her version of the song for Def Jam Recordings.
Kanye West responded to Braxton's claim in an interview for MTV News, "I had no idea about Toni Braxton's [song]. She can't act like ain't nobody ever heard 'Me and My Girlfriend' before. People hear the song all the time. I can [understand her complaint] if it [was] an original song." West defended the song's sample, stating that the idea came to him after listening to a friend's Makaveli album one night. Roc-A-Fella Records' Co-CEO Damon Dash responded to Braxton's claims:
Speaking for MTV News, Jay-Z responded to Braxton's claims: "I wouldn't want to take it from her. I don't even think like that. My first thought would be, 'Maybe I could call her up, maybe I could get on that record.' The most obvious [explanation] is it's neither one of our records. It's not like you made an original idea. She's not in hip-hop, but it happens in hip-hop often. We go to sample the same thing and my record came out first. I'm sorry. What can I do?" He went on saying that if he had known they were both planning to sample the same Tupac song, he would have arranged a duet with her.
Live performances
On November 2, 2002, Jay-Z and Beyoncé performed the song together at Saturday Night Live (SNL). Later, on November 21, 2002 they appeared on MTV's TRL for Spankin' New Music Week where they also performed the song. In 2009, Beyoncé performed an abbreviated version of "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" during her I Am... Yours revue, held at the Encore Las Vegas Theatre in July and August. The song was later included on the 2009 live album I Am... Yours: An Intimate Performance at Wynn Las Vegas which was chronicling the revue. In August 2011, Beyoncé performed "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" again during her revue 4 Intimate Nights with Beyoncé and included the song on the DVD Live at Roseland: Elements of 4 released in November 2011. During the concerts, Beyoncé announced the song by saying, "It's 2002... I started to feel a little lonely till one day...". "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" was included on Jay-Z's live album Live in Brooklyn released on October 11, 2012 after he performed the song during eight shows in Brooklyn. In 2013, Jay-Z included the song on the set list of his Legends of the Summer Stadium Tour.
"'03 Bonnie & Clyde" was part of the set list of Beyoncé and Jay-Z's co-headlining On the Run Tour (2014) where the shows were opened with the performance of the song. A black-and-white video was shown on the screen accompanied by sirens as the duo appeared onstage surrounded by smoke. They started performing the song with Beyoncé wearing a see-through fishnet mask and Jay-Z wearing black sunglasses, a star-speckled shirt, black jacket and gold chains. The song was in line with the show's overall criminalistic theme. d /54
Formats and track listings
Digital EP
"'03 Bonnie & Clyde" (Radio Edit, Hey Arnold!: The Movie Version) – 3:27
"'03 Bonnie & Clyde" (Explicit) – 3:26
"U Don't Know" (Remix) (Jay-Z & M.O.P.) – 4:28
CD single
"'03 Bonnie & Clyde" (Radio Edit) – 3:28
"U Don't Know" (Remix) – 4:27
"'03 Bonnie & Clyde" (Instrumental) – 3:27
Credits and personnel
Adapted from The Blueprint²: The Gift & the Curse's liner notes.
E-Base – bass, guitar, instrumentation, Keyboards
Shawn Carter – vocals (rap), composer
Jason Goldstein – mixing
D. Harper – composer
Gimel "Young Guru" Katon – engineer, mixing
Beyoncé Knowles – vocals
Prince Nelson – additional writing from sample
R. Rouse – composer
Tupac Shakur – additional writing from sample
Kanye West – composer, producer
Shane "Bermy" Woodley – engineer
Tyrone Wrice – composer
Charts and certifications
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
See also
"'97 Bonnie & Clyde," 1998 song by Eminem
References
2002 singles
Beyoncé songs
Songs about Bonnie and Clyde
Jay-Z songs
Kanye West songs
Music videos directed by Chris Robinson (director)
Number-one singles in Switzerland
Roc-A-Fella Records singles
Song recordings produced by Kanye West
Songs written by Jay-Z
Songs written by Kanye West
Songs written by Prince (musician) | true | [
"\"Invisible Children\" is a song by American DJ KSHMR and Australian DJ Tigerlily. It was released on September 16, 2016 via Spinnin' Records.\n\nBackground \nKSHMR spoke of the collaboration, saying \"Tigerlily first sent the idea to Tiësto, who suggested that she and I work on it together.\" The name refers to \"slum kids\", who KSHMR said are in places where \"poverty is so rampant that people begin to stop noticing.\"\n\nThe song has been accused of plagiarizing the song \"IndiRasta\" by Israeli musician Jango. However, KSHMR has denied these accusations, claiming that they just happened to use the same vocal sample and he hadn't known of Jango's song beforehand. Jango himself also denied that KSHMR copied his work: \"the project file that you all think \"tigerlily stole\" from me is one big bulls**t ==. it's just a huge coincidence ... the project was on my computer the whole time and no one stole it,Even though that would be cool if kshmr actually liked the idea and made it better. Thank you all for defending me though,You guys are the best\"[sic]\n\nCharts\n\nReferences \n\nElectronic songs\nSpinnin' Records singles\n2016 songs\n2016 singles\nKSHMR songs\nSongs written by Kshmr",
"C. G. Jung, in his book \"Memories, Dreams, Reflections\", recalls a conversation he had with a Native American man, one Ochwiay Biano an elder of the Taos Pueblo in New Mexico. [Mr. Biano is also known by the English name \"Chief Mountain Lake.\"] Ochwiay Biano said,\n\n“How cruel the whites are: their lips are thin, their noses sharp, their faces furrowed and distorted by holes. Their eyes have a staring expression. They are always seeking something. What are they seeking? The whites always want something, they are always uneasy and restless. We do not know what they want, we do not understand them, we think that they are mad.” I asked him why he thought the whites were all mad. “They say they think with their heads,” he replied.\n\n“Why, of course. What do you think with?” I asked him in surprise.\n\n“We think here,” he said, indicating his heart.^ \n\nLater in the 1925 visit, he learned from the Chief that his people, like the Elongyi tribe of Kenya, rose in the morning and spit in their palms, thereby presenting their soul-stuff to the sun to welcome it in an expression of sympathetic magic. Jung marveled that the people of the pueblo knew why they were there.\n\nNotes\n\nPueblo people"
]
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